Chapter 400: Chapter 382: Great Harvest and the Envoy of Jinhe Town
Jinhe Town, Black Mountain Castle.
In the open space near Black Mountain Castle, carriages loaded with gold, silver, and spices were parked.
The complex carvings and artworks that once displayed the nobility and religious status were all removed by the Salvation Army, packed, and ready to be transported to the docks.
Merchants and citizens who had been waiting there with bonds in hand exchanged goods for bonds until the waterline reached the limit of the cargo ships, prompting them to curse the sailors and servants as they left.
The original artisan settlement near Black Mountain Castle had been completely taken over by wizards led by Patrick and military equipment cultivators from the Salvation Army.
Amidst the clinking sounds, a large number of precious crystal products were shattered, turning into particles of electro-gold used for warfare.
The production of this electro-gold was equally peculiar, requiring a material called Golden Fleece, which was an excellent textile fabric and also an essential ingredient in alchemy.
This Golden Fleece comes from the Shattered Stone Plain in the north, where frequent storms occur due to climatic reasons, often resulting in the appearance of magical sheep that can attract lightning.
When these magical sheep crossbreed with ordinary sheep, Golden Sheep gradually emerge.
By wrapping this Golden Fleece around crystals, using sound vibration techniques to constantly rub the fleece against the crystal, and finally roasting it with flames in conjunction with the alchemical ritual, electro-gold can be magically produced.
With the sound of clinking coming from the artisan workshops ringing in his ears, Horn steadied his mind and handed out the battle reports one by one.
In the banquet hall on the second floor of Black Mountain Castle, windows were wide open, and curtains were billowing back and forth.
Sitting at the long table were essentially the Legion Commander of the Salvation Army and other high-ranking officials, most of whom had previously participated in the battle.
They sat upright at the table, still chattering about military affairs.
However, the Salvation Army was too far away, and with too many people, the supply route was temporarily unable to keep up, and they still needed to deploy troops to the surroundings, capturing those small castles and church monasteries to consolidate their gains.
So, aside from advancing ten miles to build fortresses and outposts, no major actions were taken for now.
Originally, Horn’s plan was to continue pushing forward, considering that even though Nidesar, the key figure, was dead, the dozen or so Nikosak who escaped could not pose a significant threat.
But now that Nidesar was still alive, it introduced many uncertainties, and his plan became slightly more cautious than before.
The casualties from this battle weren’t too significant, but Nidesar was indeed a formidable opponent, even more troublesome than Bo Ao Lie.
If he really managed to hide in a fortress with other Extraordinary Knights of Jinhe Town, Horn would have no choice but to continue the fortress advancement strategy.
This didn’t affect Horn’s current dominant position but slowed down the overall pace of the war and greatly increased the chance of a two-front battle.
This undoubtedly meant the war would be significantly prolonged.
After relaying this information, the entire meeting hall fell silent for a while. After several previous meetings, they gradually became aware of the interconnections between Lower Reif County and Langsande County.
If it weren’t for Rapids City attracting the Directive Company’s firepower at the front, they might have faced the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.
"Don’t always look so grim; it’s not all bad news." Horn tossed a few documents out, "See for yourselves."
The leaders of the Salvation Army, who were culturally synchronized to a second-year level, focused their gaze and showed expressions of surprise.
This year, Kush Territory and half of Jinhe Town experienced a miraculous bumper harvest.
According to sample statistics from the Saint Scythe Monastery, the average wheat grain yield in Kush Territory was estimated to be over 100 pounds per acre.
Especially the newly added mountain potato fields, where, despite the absence of fertilizer and self-reliance under normal circumstances, the root crops could grow everywhere.
With fertilizer and cultivation care, the yield in the first planting phase reached a terrifying 1,200 pounds per acre.
Abbot Chervis of the Saint Scythe Monastery even shouted the slogan "A thousand-pound root crop, two mules can’t pull it."
The 40,000 acres of root fields controlled by the Saint Plow Monastery produced over 25,000 tons of root crops, though root crops couldn’t be consumed directly and needed to be steamed, boiled, and cleansed.
Consequently, the demand for fuel in Langsande County surged again, driving up the price of peat from Daze Village.
After processing and reprocessing, the roots controlled by the Saint Plow Monastery yielded approximately 16,000 tons of edible portions.
Of these 16,000 tons of roots, a portion was used to feed livestock, and another portion was turned into starch products for sale and to supplement military rations.
However, as a precaution, they were still used to supplement military rations since this year, farmers were exempt from grain levies.
Due to this policy, the Salvation Army Government even had to purchase additional grain from farmers.
"Do we have enough funds?" Kolman raised his hand and asked, "With the army expanded, military rations are no small expense."
"Don’t worry about that; we still have enough money to buy military rations," Horn said confidently.
Surprisingly, the price of grain in Langsande County this year was much lower than in previous years, dropping significantly compared to the flood period.
The main reasons were twofold: bumper harvests, and the high yield of root crops increased the grain supply, causing prices to naturally drop.
The second reason was that Langsande County was sealed off internally and externally; outside merchants couldn’t enter, and locals couldn’t leave. Only the Salvation Army Government and North People were willing and able to buy the grain.
But due to distrust of outsiders, farmers still preferred to sell their grain to the Salvation Army Government.
The money received from selling grain turned mostly into farm tools and building materials, the former to renovate land for easier cultivation, and the latter to aid in reconstruction.
Many people’s houses and homes were destroyed by floods in previous disasters, and constant warfare left no time for repairs.
Even though there was war at the front, they couldn’t just keep staring at holes in the roof—rainy season was approaching, and repairs had to be expedited.
In addition to purchasing farm tools and building materials, some savvy villagers bought Holy War Bonds, while others saved the money for contingency.
However, according to Cheka’s investigation, for various reasons, some farmers still faced poor harvests and other issues, even leading to private high-interest loans among civilians.
This time, the high-interest loans were not collected by citizens or wealthy merchants from small farmers; instead, they were collected by bountiful farmers from those with poor harvests.
Although the Holy Seat Bank could provide low or even interest-free loans, these farmers insisted on borrowing from their neighbors, leaving Horn helpless.
Nevertheless, the Salvation Army Government had no problem with military rations.
No problem with military rations doesn’t mean everything else is problem-free.
Due to maintaining a high proportion of the military, along with various transportation costs and losses, outside of food, Horn’s Holy Treasury was diminishing rapidly.
If not for the Holy War Bonds and revenue from exploiting new lands, Horn would be bankrupt before swallowing up Jinhe Town.
Saying this, Horn had already completed the collection of military rations for at least three months; otherwise, he wouldn’t propose expanding the army to ten thousand men again.
Thinking this, Horn opened the soldier’s statistics list in his hand.
Oddly enough, he initially thought that after this battle, a large number of new Blessed would appear, just like last time.
But the fact was, the number of Blessed appearing was leveling off at the original pace, and he couldn’t figure out the path of this Divine Favor’s propagation.
Could it be that more Blessed would only emerge with greater casualties? That made no sense at all—Horn scratched his chin, feeling that there must be some other connection he hadn’t discovered yet.
While they were still discussing the next steps in the war, a Child Soldier rushed in from outside, whispering into Horn’s ear as he leaned over.
Horn’s eyebrows raised slightly, and he slowly walked over to the window.
"Envoys sent from the nobles of Jinhe Town?" Horn looked towards the five carriages on the periphery of the camp, "What are they here for?"