Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Territory Development (Part 1)
This world is both idealistic and materialistic. To make the serfs work diligently, in addition to psychological motivation, material abundance is also necessary.
If there’s not enough food, no matter how you push them or promise grand visions, if they’re hungry, they won’t have the energy.
But with Su Li’s ample supply of food, everyone in the Hesse Territory was full of spirit and energy.
Especially since Su Li had the assistance of the [Daily Intelligence] system, every few days there would be a pleasant surprise to boost the morale of all the territory’s people, making them enthusiastically engage in the territory’s development.
Therefore, the development of the Hesse Territory was very impressive. In just half a month, with the aid of the [Daily Intelligence] system, Su Li had managed to establish a stable foothold on this fertile land.
After half a month of careful management, various endeavors in the territory had developed remarkably.
Su Li’s castle had been cleaned thoroughly, and the attendants and slaves completed the repairs of the main building, leaving it spotless. A spring rain had fallen in between, but there wasn’t any draft or leak inside the rooms. In his room, listening to the sound of rain pattering outside and raindrops hitting various objects, he felt very peaceful—a tranquility amidst the clatter. His mood was exceptionally content, and he was particularly satisfied with life. Thus, midway through, he practiced contentedly three times with Hilude and Avril at the window where the rain flowed down like a curtain.
This spring rain also nourished all things; the stables and pastures within his castle and territory were completed, piled high with the green fodder harvested by the serfs.
The castle’s stables were divided into two sections: on the left was the Raptor House where the Death’s Claw resided. The little Griffin, after more than a month of development, already had quite a few signs of a fierce beast’s majesty and could no longer fit on Su Li’s shoulder. So Su Li built it a separate room, and besides Su Li, any serf or attendant entering might be attacked by this fierce little creature.
On the right side of the stables were Su Li’s majestic warhorses. There were six warhorses in total; besides the two he brought from Bauhinia Castle, three were Horned Horses captured along the way, and the last one was a trophy obtained from a failed capture operation by the Knights after entering the territory.
According to the Daily Intelligence, in the fertile Central Plain, north of the territory, amidst the low hills named Green Leaf Land, there was a significant herd of Horned Horses. These Horned Horses had some Unicorn bloodline, with one long and one short horn on their foreheads, were quite aggressive, and highly wild. Once tamed, they made excellent heavy cavalry mounts.
Su Li once sent Frederick with the knights to ambush, but these Horned Horses were highly alert. Frederick, along with four Elite Knights, six formal knights, and more than twenty Armed Attendants, only managed to capture seven excellent horses. The majority of the wild herd escaped. To capture more, they would have to wait for the next intelligence update.
Besides the six fine horses in his stable, the territory’s pastures held many livestock. There were a total of 36 warhorses, which didn’t perfectly match the number of knights, but this was quite normal.
In this world, knights are divided into Charging Knights and Walking Knights. For instance, the territory’s most powerful Knight Oerstein is a Walking Knight. He, along with his Fine Gold Warhammer and golden Lion Mastiff Beast, always appears together, chopping down hordes of Giants and beasts in ground battles.
Generally, looking at a knight’s weapon, you can tell what kind of knight they are. Those wielding lances or long halberds usually fight on horseback, whereas those carrying warhammers or sword and shield are typically Walking Knights.
This relates to the Empire’s enemies being full of bizarre creatures. If relying solely on Armed Attendants, infantry alone can hardly withstand the direct assault of the monsters. Therefore, a Knight Order usually has several squads of Walking Knights leading Armed Attendants in combat, boosting their morale.
The knights of the Hesse Territory generally followed this convention. About 50 knights divided into 3 squads of Charging Knights and 2 squads of Walking Knights.
And to ensure the knights’ logistical support during marches and battles, the pasture also bore 32 pack horses and draft horses, all of which were acquired by Su Li for transporting supplies along the way. After all, as he traveled, he collected a lot along the route, and he brought a large amount of food and tools, so adequate transport was necessary.
Besides the warhorses and pack horses for the knights, the pasture also housed 12 plow oxen, 8 dairy cows, and 50 sheep!
With the support of his Daily Intelligence system, the serfs smoothly captured more than a dozen mountain goats in the northern Green Leaf Hills. To boost morale along the way, Su Li even ordered the slaughter of three sheep, using roasted mutton to inspire everyone’s enthusiasm.
And within the pasture, the most significant growth was undoubtedly the Fire Rabbit. The pregnant female rabbit successfully gave birth, producing 8 kits!
Ordinary rabbits can have litters of 6-14 kits, but since the Fire Rabbit is larger, this female having 8 is relatively high-yield for Fire Rabbits. When Su Li heard of the successful birth, he specially went to see this territory’s great contributor. Initially, Su Li intended to try making spicy rabbit heads, but these newborn little kits, still without fur and pink, cuddling together, were quite cute. So, Su Li decided to be lenient, planning to wait until they grew a bit and had more meat.
And as the pasture produced more, fishing and hunting in the territory remained stable. Twice, fish shoals passed through the area, and ten smoking sheds were erected. Amidst the showers of sparks, they eventually preserved over 80 baskets of smoked fish, weighing about six thousand pounds. Minister of the Seal Lauren specially built two cellars to store this abundant food.
The remaining fresh fish were all given as rewards by Su Li to the soldiers and serfs, making the serfs more motivated every day. Everyone said serving under the lord was a blessing bestowed by the Divine Spirit. In other territories, even free people managing farms couldn’t necessarily live as well as they did.
This was not entirely due to Su Li’s generosity, but because these dead fish would spoil if not eaten quickly.
Meanwhile, the territory’s fishpond development was impressive, having expanded to more than 20 meters, packed with at least a thousand live fish. This scale was the result of the serfs’ full-fledged digging, though Armed Attendants dug for a period before being called back to the training ground by Knight Oerstein. Lending them as labor for a day or two was tolerable for Knight Oerstein, but a whole week, considering the Dragon Blood Stone, made him suppress his temper, but an entire half-month without proper duties was unacceptable for him as the Military Commander.
However, Su Li did not oppose his chief’s decision, because during this time the [Daily Intelligence] also alerted him that a pack of Forest Wolves would appear, attacking the woodcutting camp harvesting timber for the territory’s ten serfs.
A wolf pack, numbering only about thirty, was easily slaughtered under Frederick’s lead with a unit of knights and over thirty Armed Attendants, thanks to Su Li’s intelligence warning. Ten hunters joyously skinned them all, gathering over a thousand pounds of wolf meat.