Maximus paused for a moment and said apologetically, "Let’s follow Quintus’s suggestion and use prisoners from other Pannonian tribes to exchange for our previous captives from the Aldeans. Gaius, you are right as well, but Capito cannot be blamed. In actuality, I’ve been too impatient and greedy, wanting both to quickly seize Segestica’s territories and to retain enough labor to rapidly build roads and bridges and revive the vigor of this conquered land..."
But, in reality, our Nix Tribe is still quite weak and does not have the ability to do both at the same time; we must take things step by step, so—"
He then looked at Capito: "The primary task for the Public Works Department is still to quickly construct the bridge connecting the east and west camps. As for building the road to Snowdonia, you can set out the plans first, and once they are ready, construct it section by section according to the schematics, as materials needed for road construction must also be prepared."
"As you command, leader," Capito said. "Today, Spukala has already led the Public Works Department personnel to thoroughly survey the terrain and river conditions on both sides of the main camp. I have also dispatched a messenger to Snowdonia. I believe in two or three days, some experienced craftsmen from the tribe will arrive, and then we can start building the bridge."
"Very well." Maximus nodded in satisfaction and then said, "Pigeris, next you inform Alakosia to discuss the prisoner exchange with the Aldeans. Also, I remember the Alde iron mines are managed by Budocaribas and those northern Alde tribes, correct?"
"Including the Xisaites elder and other former eastern tribes," Pigeris explained. "In fact, the iron mine is located on the edge of the Alde western tribal territory. Based on its position, it should have been managed by the western mountain tribes of Alde, but it has remained unexploited for years until our need for iron reignited its operation. The former Great Chief of Alde had Budocaribas, Xisaites, and other tribal leaders jointly take over in consideration of the displaced northern and eastern tribal peoples..."
"Now that Budocaribas and Xisaites are relocating their tribes here, the iron mine has to be handed over to other Alde tribes. Well, have Alakosia relay to Budocaribas my request that a stable-operating tribe takes over the mine to ensure a steady supply of iron ore to our tribe."
"Next, I want to discuss an issue." Maximus looked at the gathered people and said slowly, "Previously, due to our tribe’s short settlement period and small landholding, the territories management was fairly simple. The central Political Affairs Hall directed affairs, and the town administrative chiefs followed its directives. We had only two camps, and Snowdonia’s administrative role is still held by me. In reality, the Nix Tribe only has one town administrative chief—Sicropus.
But now, our territory has expanded, and the population has increased. It is insufficient to manage all this land with only town administrative chiefs. There are so many villages across the Sava River, and we need to relocate the foreign auxiliaries from each village, move in new tribesmen, and allocate land for them—a whole series of tasks that necessitate dedicated management. Therefore, I have decided to establish the role of village chief, who will manage their village and lead the villagers in executing various directives from higher authorities."
"Who will the village chiefs report to directly? Our Political Affairs Hall?" Vallerus asked.
"They will be directly managed by town administrative chiefs. We will demarcate the territories that each town should govern, and naturally, the villages within these territorial boundaries will fall under that town’s jurisdiction. Snowdonia, Westeni, and the two camps we recently captured on the Kupa River side have not yet established villages due to their short establishment time. However, we will first delineate the land that each camp should govern, and when villages form in the future, village chiefs will be appointed. On the Sava River side, the villages will temporarily be governed by this camp."
"How will village chiefs be appointed? From the original tribesmen in the villages?" Karina asked, as this is the responsibility of the Civil Affairs Department.
"It’s best to promote from our original tribesmen. They should meet several criteria: familiarity with our various decrees, a consistent adherence to laws and regulations, having considerable experience and knowledge, possessing some charisma, and being capable of speaking some Illyrian. The most crucial point is they should have never held any official position within the tribe nor served as soldiers, so they can remain in the village to govern the villagers."
After Maximus finished outlining the requirements for a village chief, everyone fell into thought.
A moment later, Karina first spoke: "In that case, only those elders from our Supply Camp who are still physically fit yet lack specialized skills are suitable as village chiefs."
"And those formerly soldiers who are now disabled due to injuries might also be suitable," Quintus interjected. "Though they might have mobility issues, they have ample energy and a commanding presence, ensuring they uphold decrees without ambiguity."
The others agreed in unison.
Seeing everyone reach a consensus, Maximus decisively said, "Alright, in a moment, let’s select the village chief candidates from among our disabled but mobile and communicative veterans and the elders from the original Supply Camp. In a few days, we will migrate them and other tribesmen to the various villages here."
"Leader, will the newly appointed village chiefs also receive salaries from the tribe? Should they have subordinates?" Gaius asked with concern.
Maximus had considered this and replied, "Village chiefs are the lowest level of officials in our tribe and certainly deserve a salary. They can also appoint assistants, like patrol officers to maintain village order, agricultural advisors to supervise and guide farming, and enunciation officers to deliver and announce decrees. However, these personnel are considered temporary assistants appointed by the village chief and are not part of the tribe’s formal cadre, so they do not receive salaries.
Furthermore, village disputes and minor conflicts cannot be solely decided by the village chief. They must be adjudicated jointly by the village chief, the priest of the village altar, and the tribesmen with a knight’s rank or higher, with consensus reached to be valid.
Of course, matters involving deaths or serious violations of decrees must be referred to the town court for trial, and villagers can appeal judgments in the town court if dissatisfied.
Moreover, tribesmen with a knight’s rank or higher have the right to supervise and propose suggestions within their village. If issues are found, they can directly report to the Civil Affairs Department, which must take it seriously..."
The group started to murmur among themselves, as they realized for the first time the difference in status within the tribe between renowned tribesmen with titles and ordinary tribesmen.
"Leader, with what you just mentioned, I am not worried that these village chiefs will mismanage the villages," Volenus shifted the topic. "But even after granting promotions based on contributions in this war, our tribe still has very few villagers with a knight’s rank, likely not enough for one per village. Additionally, we haven’t even completed the first temple yet, so building an altar in each village may be a long way off."
"You are correct. These are long-term plans that can be formally written into tribal decrees," Maximus calmly replied. "For now, if there are no knights in a village, a first-class tribesman with sufficient seniority can temporarily substitute for a knight’s role. As for village priests, it will likely be a longer time before they can be realized, to be addressed in the future."
"Leader, I was thinking, from what you said about village chiefs, temporary assistants, knights, and village priests... With these people, managing a village with thousands of residents should be feasible," Capito raised his query. "But if a village’s population grows to several thousand, this number of people might be insufficient, and perhaps the village should be upgraded to a town?"
"If a village’s population grows, we will relocate some of the people to other places and allocate new lands to them. Randomly elevating a village to town status is not advisable because establishing a town means we must allocate officials, consuming tribal resources.
Furthermore, a town needs a sufficient population and land to sustain itself. If towns are too close, they may hinder each other’s development due to inadequate sustenance."
Maximus pondered thoughtfully, "...Given the current state of our tribe, Snowdonia, Westeni by the Kupa River bank, and the recently conquered third camp can exist as towns within our tribe.
The fourth camp, however, is not feasible. Its narrow terrain and limited population make it insufficient to become a town, though it borders Brochi’s territory and can serve as a defensive camp, with soldiers regularly stationed there.
Lin Kou Village also lacks the conditions to become a town, but its location is crucial and could be turned into a checkpoint. This camp—"
Maximus pointed to the ground, speaking emphatically, "Surrounded by many villages, fertile and vast lands, and convenient river transport... It will inevitably develop into a large town in the future, making it suitable as our tribal center, allowing us to concentrate manpower and resources to rapidly grow and strengthen the tribe."
After Maximus finished speaking, Gaius chimed in, "Leader, you are right. The tribe is currently quite poor and indeed should not establish too many towns; four bequeathed is sufficient."
"Leader, since the number of towns has been determined, shouldn’t we give the new town names so we can refer to them more conveniently and to demonstrate to the Segestica people that things are entirely different now?" Kefisofon suggested.