As Perturabo had remarked to his respected foster father Mikhail, he had not overlooked the Kislevite tendency toward alcoholism and other vices, and he was thoroughly prepared to address them.
In truth, as Perturabo expanded his reach, the disorder brought by war and political upheaval led to a surge in black market dealings, theft, robbery, and murder. One of the reasons he had paused his expansion was to deal with the elements causing these disturbances.
Furthermore, Perturabo found that the manpower required for his industrialization program far exceeded what his current territories could provide. His need for disposable labor was a bottomless abyss.
While Perturabo could have simply reinstituted slavery, a blunt return to such a system would have incited rebellion among the Kislevite people. According to his precise calculations, traditional slavery was inefficient. He needed a new method to acquire labor that could be controlled and directed into the furnaces of his industrial machine.
He realized he could simultaneously solve the rising crime rate and the labor shortage. To this end, he established an institution that would become the most feared entity in all of Kislev.
"Gulag." This word existed in the Kislevite tongue to describe labor reform camps. Legend said the term had been part of their language since the time their ancestors dwelt on Terra, the homeworld of humanity.
In the distant past, the Kislevite state would cast criminals—or anyone who opposed the government—into these concentrated labor camps, usually located in remote areas. Within these camps, those declared to have sinned against the state were forced into hard labor to atone for their crimes.
Before Perturabo's arrival, this institution had passed into history. Under the fractured feudalism of old Kislev, no central authority possessed the organizational strength to support such facilities.
When Perturabo discovered records of this institution within the vast archives of the monastery, he was nearly ecstatic. He had found the solution to his predicament.
Upon rebuilding the Gulag system, the Streltsi began providing the necessary "manpower" to make it operational.
First to be processed were the common criminals. Those whose crimes did not warrant death were extracted from their cells and escorted to mines in remote regions. They were set to digging for the minerals Perturabo's factories desperately required. Using convict labor significantly reduced the cost of these resources.
The Gulag was not limited to mines; many were structured as factories or farms. Under the watchful eyes of Streltsi guards, the prisoners labored as submissively as oxen.
As the system grew, the supply of common criminals could no longer satisfy the monster's hunger. By Perturabo's decree, the courts in his territory began sentencing offenders to the Gulag rather than traditional prisons.
Simultaneously, the old nobles who resisted him, the drunks on the streets, and those guilty of absenteeism were all sent to the camps. There, they were told to "purify" themselves through labor and pay their debt to society.
To ensure the prisoners worked effectively, Perturabo used his genius to design a comprehensive system of management.
Under this system, prisoners were assigned "quotas"—standardized amounts of work to be completed daily. Only by meeting these standards could they receive enough food, clothing, and basic supplies to survive. Driven by hunger and the will to live, the prisoners were forced to struggle for their existence.
Yet Perturabo was not unreasonable. His calculations showed that providing incentives would yield even higher efficiency. As a man obsessed with efficiency, he would not waste such an opportunity.
He designed a "promotion" system within the Gulag to encourage diligence. Prisoners who exceeded their daily quotas were rewarded with better food, clothing, and additional supplies.
Those who showed consistent dedication could be promoted to "foreman." This role granted a degree of freedom and the authority to direct others, along with the best rations. Most importantly, exceptional performance could lead to a reduction in sentence or even a full pardon.
Seeing a glimmer of hope to change their miserable lives through hard work, the prisoners began to increase their efficiency voluntarily. This was exactly what Perturabo intended.
Under Perturabo's guiding hand, Gulags rose across his territories. Countless prisoners were transported to these remote camps, providing their ruler with immense profit.
Social order improved dramatically. The people of Kislev lived in fear of being sent to the Gulag to work day and night, and as a result, they became exceptionally law-abiding.
When the supply of internal criminals began to dwindle, Perturabo added a new source of labor: prisoners of war. These were the soldiers who had once served the defeated Kislevite lords.
Perturabo refused to support idle mouths. After every victory, he sent captured enemy soldiers to the Gulag to create profit in dark mines or sweatshops, offsetting the costs of the war.
He also identified a further opportunity to motivate prisoners and gain fearless soldiers: the "Penal Battalions," assault units composed entirely of Gulag convicts seeking redemption.