Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

Having secured Frederick's confirmation and support, Su Li immediately said with a smile, "Very well, the first decree passed by our court in the territory will be the 'Diligent Farming Act': To work wholeheartedly for the Hessen territory and create value is the sacred duty of every serf. The territory will reward and punish accordingly. The three serfs who produce the most each year will be rewarded for their contributions by the lord himself, who will release them from serfdom. Conversely, the three serfs with the lowest annual output will be punished with immediate execution."

Su Li couldn't bear the thought of only he and his compatriots suffering from the forced internal competition he experienced in his previous life. He wanted others to taste the exploitation of capitalists as well. Sharing the bitterness together, only the 'involution kings' and those 'involution-killed' could escape this life of drudgery.

Frederick's eyes widened instantly. He had thought that Young Master Su Li felt he was being too murderous, but it turned out that the lord felt he wasn't cruel enough!

He gasped, "Lord, executing three serfs every year is no small loss of wealth. If you add the freed serfs, your wealth loss will probably be more than a dozen gold coins."

Su Li said calmly with a smile, "Sir Frederick, you must learn to look at the problem from a holistic perspective. Perhaps executing three serfs does indeed lose nearly ten gold coins, but in terms of overall revenue, we will profit greatly. A farmer's annual income is at least one gold coin, so even if the overall work efficiency of the serfs increases by just 1%, 1000 serfs can easily make up for this loss. Surely you don't think our territory doesn't even have 1000 serfs?"

"The more mysterious the punishment, the more unpredictable the power. None of the serfs know how much grain and wealth those around them are producing, so they fear becoming the last to be eliminated and can only desperately engage in internal competition. Efficiency may increase by more than 100%. We can easily make up for this tiny loss."

Frederick was greatly shocked upon hearing this. Young Master Su Li was truly a demon who manipulated people's hearts! He could already imagine that once this decree was passed, all the serfs would never have a moment of peace.

Therefore, this decree could not be issued in the lord's name. A territory always needed someone to play the 'white face' and someone to play the 'red face'.

Undoubtedly, the lord was always benevolent and generous, his grace and light benefiting every citizen of the territory.

The one who proposed this cruel decree could only be the harsh officials of the court. Therefore, at noon, Frederick drafted this decree in his own name.

The effect of the 'Diligent Farming Act' was extremely significant. As soon as the decree was promulgated, the serfs felt like the sky had fallen. More than 50 slaves reclaimed a full 60 acres of land in just one afternoon!

It was as if the Grim Reaper was holding a scythe to everyone's neck.

Whenever a serf wanted to slack off, the sight of others frantically engaging in internal competition would scare them into a cold sweat.

People who have participated in studies or work know that it is easy to have a three-minute burst of enthusiasm. When they think of certain things, they feel that they cannot slack off and must study hard and strive with all their might.

However, 99.99% of people cannot sustain this enthusiasm. After the three-minute burst is over, they begin to slack off.

But the problem was that the 'Diligent Farming Act' was truly hanging over everyone's neck. As soon as they slacked off, the pressure of death would suddenly close in, like a rust-flavored rope tightening around their throats.

In this situation, all the serfs had no choice but to repeatedly muster their three-minute enthusiasm and engage in internal competition with their lives on the line.

Until the sun set, and the golden afterglow disappeared from the earth, the moon rose, illuminating the tranquil, fertile land. The knights patrolling and maintaining security within the territory returned one after another, but these serfs were still working hard in the fields, clearing out some rubble, crushing weeds, hardened soil, and so on, and leveling the ground.

Standing on the castle wall, Su Li looked eastward and could clearly see a stretch of leveled fields that had been reclaimed. Some of the fields had even been planted with crops such as wheat and carrots.

It wasn't until 7:30 PM, when the spring night had completely darkened, that Vandal left the fields and excitedly came to the castle that night.

The white-bearded old man ran all the way up the city wall to Su Li, his expression fanatical and ferocious: "Respected Lord, the serfs in your territory are simply the most perfect followers of the Goddess of the Morning Dawn! Even in the Church of the Morning Dawn, people as diligent and hardworking as them are rare. They work from dawn till dusk, endure hardship, and bury themselves in hard work. How well this fits the doctrines of our church!"

"Praise the Goddess of the Morning Dawn! Following you to the Hessen Mountains must be a divine decree given to me by the gods. This is the promised land of our Church of the Morning Dawn."

"You don't know what happened. During today's preaching, I faintly felt the grace of the Goddess of the Morning Dawn, especially when planting the wheat seeds you arranged. I felt like I was feeling the gaze of the Goddess of the Morning Dawn."

"Our territory is definitely a sacred place blessed by the gods, and a great harvest will surely come in the near future!"

Su Li looked at the old druid in surprise. In his impression, this old man was aloof, gloomy, and deeply embittered, completely unlike his current appearance.

Now, he had a fanatical expression, his eyes seemed to be glowing, and his rough, bark-like face was covered with wrinkles. It was like withered trees blooming in spring, and iron trees flowering. That paired night in a quilt, a pear tree pressing crabapple, his mental state was like this.

At this moment, let alone worrying about him secretly fleeing the territory, you couldn't drive him away even with a stick.

Su Li didn't expect that the greatest impact of the promulgation of this 'Diligent Farming Act' would be on this powerful priest of the Church of the Morning Dawn, an elite-level druid.

If he could see the loyalty option at this moment, then this old druid would definitely be at full value.

But this was a good thing, and Su Li happened to have some ideas about farming that he wanted to talk to this old druid about.

So Su Li said with a smile, "Of course, it is a cause for celebration that the light of the Goddess of the Morning Dawn can shine on our territory, but we cannot lie under the protection of the goddess and sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Instead, we should actively expand and turn more vast land into our fertile fields through labor, shouldn't we?"

After hearing this, Vandal felt like he had met a kindred spirit and finally met a wise lord. He excitedly clapped his legs and exclaimed, "Lord, you are simply the perfect saint of our Church of the Morning Dawn! Every word you say gloriously proclaims our doctrines. The Goddess of the Morning Dawn should choose you as her divine champion."

Su Li couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. So this is how bosses in his previous life felt when they were drawing big cakes for people! No wonder they were all so happy to do it!

Although Su Li had never been a lord, he had eaten big cakes for a lifetime in his previous life, and ultimately ate until he died, so he had ample experience as a beast of burden.

He vaguely felt that he had found the knack for being a lord.

However, drawing big cakes for the priest of the Church of the Morning Dawn was just a small matter that made him smile. He quickly refocused his energy on the main business and said to Vandal, "You need to speed up the progress in terms of farmland. Starting tomorrow, divide the serfs into three farms and plant wheat, carrots, and cabbage respectively, so that they are familiar with the cultivation of one crop and further improve the speed of farming."

Vandal patted his chest and guaranteed, "Tomorrow, the serfs will no longer clean the rooms of the stronghold. I will transfer another 70 serfs and divide them into three groups. I will at least guarantee that 150 acres of farmland will be reclaimed tomorrow!"