Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

After successfully negotiating with the Halflings, Su Li returned to his territory in high spirits with his team.

During this trip, he gained 800 gold coins, successfully recruited a Halfling family, and secured the allegiance of 12 Halfling archers and 20 Ogres.

The 12 Halfling archers would accompany Su Li's armed guards, participating in every battle the territory faced.

The 20 Ogres would remain in the territory, mainly involved in construction. These 20 Ogres did not include the Ogre Bull Warriors; those powerful warriors were left in the Halfling territory to protect the Halfling manor's safety. The Ogres who came to Su Li's territory were all coolie mercenaries, each one a favorite laborer of construction contractors. They were incredibly strong, able to easily carry a log on their own. With their help, the speed of house construction would be rapid. Moreover, their demands were low; they only needed enough food to fill their bellies. If they could also get a few copper coins each day, their dull faces would be filled with simple smiles all day long.

After returning to his territory, Su Li immediately went to the vicinity of the farm and found his Chancellor, Laun.

At this time, the land surrounding the three farms had already been cultivated into neat and tidy fields, with rows and rows of crops planted so uniformly. The ridges between the fields were full of lush green seedlings, filling people with hope for the future.

This Chancellor was indeed a talent from the Gryphon Academy. His planning for the territory was very reasonable, and every piece of land was cultivated meticulously, with thoughtful reservations for sufficient water conservancy facilities.

As long as the territory had enough manpower, this place could immediately become a prosperous farmland with complete water conservancy, tidy ridges, and crisscrossing paths.

The territory's Minister of Agriculture, Vandal, was guiding the serfs to cultivate these farmlands as intensively as possible, ensuring that each field yielded the most grain.

When Su Li arrived, Laun and Vandal were leading four armored guards in supervising the serfs as they carried water from the river and reservoir to irrigate the fields.

In farming, the stages of cultivating the land and planting the seeds are the easiest. A woman can manage several acres of farmland, and if necessary, animal power can be used for plowing. However, a family or a farm needs strong male labor because the subsequent irrigation and harvesting are much more arduous.

Especially these newly cultivated farmlands, which are not considered well-irrigated fields. To irrigate them, one must rely on the heavens or on human labor to carry water, irrigating little by little.

After all, the divine magic of the Church of the Dawn can enhance the fertility of the farmland and feed the plants, but it cannot solve the problem of the plants' need for water.

If there is not enough watering, the output of these farmlands will also be affected.

Su Li was, of course, very dissatisfied with this primitive and laborious irrigation method.

When Laun saw Su Li, he quickly saluted and said, "Praise the gods, Lord, you have returned from your conquest so quickly. It seems your conquest was very successful."

Su Li nodded and said, "This trip was relatively smooth, but my loyal minister, I am not very satisfied with the internal affairs. Can this primitive method of watering meet the needs of 1200 acres of land?"

Laun turned to look at a dark-skinned serf carrying two buckets of water, sweating profusely as he walked between the ridges, and explained his difficulties, "Lord, I know this method is clumsy, but even this inefficient method is difficult to popularize in the territory. Our craftsmen cannot make so many wooden buckets. There are only a hundred or so wooden buckets being used for watering now. It would be good if half of the 1200 acres could be fully irrigated; the remaining half can only rely on the heavens."

Su Li had thought that developing the territory would be difficult, but the shortage of materials here greatly exceeded his expectations. There weren't even enough wooden buckets! And this was with the help of a dwarven forging master.

Su Li took a deep breath and said to Laun, "My minister, I underestimated the difficulty of your work. But there is good news: a Halfling construction team will soon arrive in the territory, bringing 20 strong Ogres. Arrange them properly and have them come here as soon as possible to build water conservancy projects, prioritizing the construction of canals to the fields that have not yet been irrigated."

Hearing the news from Su Li, Laun immediately became excited: "A Halfling construction team? This is really great news. As long as we can provide the Ogres with enough food, all our water conservancy projects can be excavated at a speed visible to the naked eye. Reservoirs can be formed quickly, and ditches can extend hundreds of meters overnight."

Ogres are undoubtedly coolies that every Minister of Internal Affairs loves. The only difficulty is how to fill their always-hungry bellies. They are different from those cheap human gray livestock; if you always feed them rough grains and don't often improve their meals with meat, they will riot in anger.

But fortunately, Hei Sen territory now has no shortage of meat. The meat harvested from fishing and hunting often cannot be smoked in time by the smoking houses, making it perfect for satisfying the Ogres' always-hungry stomachs. And the well-fed Ogres will work at a speed that is ten times, or even dozens of times, faster than ordinary human serfs.

Not long after the two spoke, the territory's knights brought the Halfling construction team's foreman and the Halfling archers back with warhorses and packhorses.

When the brothers Harry Lai and Harry Te saw the simple environment of the Black Forest territory, they were not disappointed; instead, their eyes were filled with excitement.

Harry Lai is the nephew of the Halfling patriarch, more flexible in mind, and responsible for the construction team's projects. Seeing all this, his eyes were practically glowing: "God above, this is a newly emerging and very wealthy pioneering territory. Their lord may have thousands of gold coins! This is a paradise for Halflings to get rich. Halflings will contract the construction of castles and city walls, open taverns, and work as chefs. A steady stream of golden crowns will flow into the family's pockets."

Laun warmly greeted them. He knew the Halflings' cooking skills very well. Legend has it that a Halfling chef once resolved a conflict between armies with just a roasted wild boar.

"Your Excellency Harry Lai, there must be a lot of opportunities here for you to get rich. But first, perhaps we can hold a bonfire party to welcome your arrival and boost the morale of the territory's residents. I am really fed up with the dark food cooked by those ignorant village women. Then we can take the opportunity to talk about our cooperation, such as windmills, waterwheels, and the water supply system for the farm."

The latest novel is first published on Liǔ 9 Shū Bā!

While Laun was enthusiastically communicating with Harry Lai, Su Li also received important information from Harry Te. Knight Orstein sent back a formal knight to report to Su Li in person.

"Lord, Commander Orstein found a farm built by Badlands nomads in the valley of Greenleaf Land. According to your order, we are standing by there, waiting for you to go to support us."

Harry Te immediately raised his bow, stood on a rock, and shouted excitedly in a high-pitched voice: "Oh, Lord, this is the time for our Halflings to show our strength. Perhaps we can let the big guys see how powerful the Halfling archers are."