Under the Red Dragon

The weather was clear, with not a cloud in the sky, and the morning sun was rising over the azure blue expanse.

The calm and vast sea shimmered in the sunlight, occasionally disturbed by lone sharks chased by schools of dolphins, their various fins slicing through the surface, stirring up rippling waves.

Schools of fish leaped from the water, exposing their white bellies. Seabirds and gulls foraging in the sea swooped across the surface, their sharp claws piercing the unfortunate prey before soaring into the sky.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore and the cries of birds hunting awakened the creatures and humans inhabiting this land, and the quiet golden seacoast town gradually came to life.

In the nine heavens, a dragon flew across the sky, the massive blue beast dancing with the morning glow, occasionally emitting a dragon's roar, as it patrolled its territory, proclaiming its authority over this land.

The silent forest also bustled with activity, as countless birds flapped their wings and flew out of the dense canopy, creating a grand spectacle that startled the beasts running through the forest.

A dragon with scales that shimmered like green jade soared through the jungle, surrounded by birds, the wind it generated rustling the leaves of the forest.

The people of Golden Seacoast Town had grown accustomed to such scenes, and everyone began to busy themselves with their own affairs. Adventurers and gold seekers entered the tall, dense jungle in groups, commencing their daily work.

Only some newcomers to the town would look up at the sky with astonishment, exclaiming loudly, only to have bedraggled ladies throw clothes-drying poles from the second-floor windows, smashing the heads of several fools.

Others carried axes, sickles, hoes, and the like, following strange-looking kobolds and centaurs, servants of the dragons, into the forest.

Outside the town's perimeter, tall wooden stakes were driven into the flat ground, each impaling the head of a monster, the heads of the Sahuagin who had invaded the town.

There were also the heads of monsters and beasts that had tried to sneak into the town to hunt, as well as many ferocious species not accepted by the dragons.

Interspersed among them were the heads of humans and dragon servants, the fools who had violated the dragons' will, now displayed here to warn monsters and humans alike.

However, the people were not afraid of this scene; in their eyes, it represented a kind of order. Every kingdom has its own unique order, and the dragon kingdom has its own.

These people followed the kobolds, who barked all the way, to the river area near the center of the forest, where they would cultivate fertile fields in the dragon-designated areas along the riverbanks and plant related crops.

The grain seeds and various vegetable seeds traded from the human kingdoms or brought by the adventurers who came to the Land of Gold would be tested in the reclaimed wasteland.

In the dragons' plan, the riverbanks in the forest would be planted with wheat, barley, potatoes, corn, and other grain crops, and the most fertile riverbanks would become the granary of the territory.

Of course, these grain seeds needed to be test-planted to see which crops were best suited to grow in this land, and high-yielding crops would be selected for cultivation as the main crops in the future.

However, due to clearing the forest for fields and reclaiming wasteland, the first year's harvest might not be particularly ideal, even if the land was fertile enough, it would require careful cultivation to get more returns.

And now the territory was seriously short of manpower, so only extensive slash-and-burn cultivation could be adopted.

Fortunately, the climate in this area was warm and rainy, which was very suitable for crop growth. These planted grains could be harvested at least four or five times a year, which could temporarily make up for quality with quantity.

A kobold supported a hunchbacked human and stopped in front of the land to be reclaimed, looking very respectful to the human.

This kobold was called Ba Gong, the nephew of Bagg, the leader of the kobold tribe. According to inside information he got from Bagg, the dragons seemed to intend to teach these dragon servants to read and write.

Because the dragons thought these dragon servants were too stupid. The dragons liked smart and capable servants, and they didn't like fools.

So these dragon servants also began to respect knowledge and wisdom, although they still admired power.

This old man was a human who possessed knowledge and wisdom, so he was respected by these kobolds.

"Cough, cough," the human old man Holm was already more than fifty years old, which was considered a long life among ordinary people.

He was once a serf of a noble baron. Under the baron's propaganda, he knew that he could become a free man after coming to this land.

He could also rely on his own hands to gain a foothold, so he resolutely decided to bring his family on the noble's ship to this place. They were the first batch of humans to set foot on this place through trade.

He and his family of six brought tempting gold coins to the noble baron, and brought a bright future for himself. Facts proved that, given the opportunity, many ordinary people also had considerable insight and the courage to fight.

The experienced former serf Holm squatted down, his dry and skinny hand grabbed a handful of black soil, carefully twisted it between his palms, his somewhat cloudy eyes lit up, and then revealed a happy smile.

"This is really good land," Holm stood up, looked around with satisfaction, his old and dry voice full of excitement, "I have never seen such fertile land, perhaps only the core family territory of those noble lords can have it,"

He turned to the kobold Ba Gong and said: "This whole area of land is suitable for planting leached black soil. According to the current scale of the town and the number of places you reported, it probably only needs to be reclaimed, um,"

Holm drew a range in front of him with his thin fingers, "Reclaiming such a large area of land is enough to temporarily meet the food demand, and the yield of these grains will increase after careful cultivation and making the land mature."

"And those lands that have not been reclaimed in time, as long as these dwarf pines, dwarf palms and shrubs are cut down, you can sprinkle some crop seeds casually, without careful care,"

Talking about the field he was good at, the human old man Holm became energetic. He led the kobold Ba Gong, who was happily spinning around in front of him, and pointed to the open space between the trees in the forest and said: "For example, these open spaces, if there are not enough people to cut down trees and reclaim farmland, you can also sprinkle the seeds of chickpeas, carrots, peas, and pumpkins,"

"These crops can grow well without our care, and the yield is very large, and it can also fill the shortage of vegetables, so there is no need to pick wild vegetables from the forest."

"There is no need to trade from other human principalities, and it can also mature the land in advance, and then reclaim it to plant other grains when there are enough people."

Holm's eyes were bright, as if he saw a bright future, he suddenly sighed: "These noble dragons are really generous, even such fertile land is willing to share with us ordinary people, thank the great True Dragon!"

Woof woof, the kobold Ba Gong was so happy that he forgot to speak the common language, only caring about writing down the words of the human old man in front of him. He wanted to write these words down and report them to his superiors to prove that he was also a capable kobold, not a fool in the eyes of the dragons.