e-booksonline Chapter 90: The Capital, Salinger
Chapter 90: The Capital, Salinger
A week later, Mrs. Moriel had already prepared for today's meeting at the round table in the courtyard of the pit-style house.
Old Hall was the first to report: "The men from Harland came early this morning to pick up the ballistae, and the delivery has been completed. The ballistae have all been handed over for this month, the spare parts list has been verified, and the payment for the grain and coarse salt has been deposited into the warehouse."
Ron nodded and asked if Harland was present when the delivery was made.
Old Hall said he wasn't there; Grayson came instead.
Fanta then reported: "The daily training schedule for the Knights' Camp has been finalized. Asadin completed his breakthrough this morning and became a full-fledged knight."
Ron put down the black bread he was holding. "Asadin broke through?"
He looked at the old butler standing beside old Hall. Old Hall nodded slightly, his expression not much different from usual, but his fingers holding the account book paused on the pages for a few moments before turning the page.
Ron turned to Fender.
"Let him begin formal training at the Knights' Camp today and be assigned to the guard. Mary's training will also be arranged, continuing to be personally led by her mother. She will begin morning exercises with the Women's Guard tomorrow morning."
Mrs. Morrill pushed a freshly baked potato pie toward Mary.
"Eat more. Sword practitioners can't go hungry." Mary took the plate and whispered a thank you.
Asadin glanced at the potato pie on his sister's plate, which was clearly larger than the others, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Leonardo da Vinci was the last to speak, saying that after receiving the sword, Sanlier voluntarily added an extra hour of practice every day and is now sparring with Asadin at the training ground.
Ron nodded and said, "Let him practice. Bring Belladon along tomorrow too, don't let him just watch."
Leonardo da Vinci grinned and said that the kid Belladon had been secretly learning from Shanlier for a long time. Every time he taught Shanlier swordsmanship, the kid would squat by the training ground and imitate him with a tree branch.
When old Hall heard this, he looked up from his ledger and said, "I broke that branch."
Everyone at the table laughed, even Mrs. Moriel, who was standing to the side holding a kettle, shook her head slightly.
Thun suddenly trotted in, holding a letter in his hand.
"My lord, it was sent by Lord Dorgon."
Ron nodded, opened the letter, and after reading it, he put it directly into the stove and burned it.
"Doron brings news that the last batch of pioneering lords for this year is preparing to depart. However, the number of refugees coming to Gorubak Castle this year is three times that of previous years, and this number is still increasing. The provinces of Brington and Obana are experiencing a great famine, and the number of refugees on the border next year will break the record of previous years. The number of refugees on the border next year may exceed 200,000."
Old Hall pondered for a moment and said, "Young master, this is an opportunity, an opportunity to significantly increase the population, but the territory's food production cannot support a larger population."
The problem Old Hall mentioned is also a key reason why most territories cannot expand rapidly.
The Blackthorn Wasteland is vast but too barren. Despite nearly a century of development, the only truly native crop is the ground potato.
Although the yield is astonishing, the planting requirements are too high. If it weren't for the natural canyon terrain of Harvest Town, the territory simply couldn't support so many people.
Tang En stood up and reported: "In Fengshou Town, 865 mu of land has been reclaimed for rock potatoes and cliff fields. It will only take half a month to reach the goal of 1,000 mu."
Tang En added, "During this period, my subordinates also planned a new area for planting rock potatoes, which is only 300 acres at most. It will be difficult to increase it further unless the canyon area is expanded."
Ron nodded; in this respect, Ton had perfectly accomplished the predetermined objective.
Ron affirmed, "You are a qualified political officer. How well are you using the grafting techniques I taught you?"
This is the key to the territory's future food production; ground potatoes are ultimately too limiting.
When Tang En mentioned his old profession, his eyes lit up: "Lord, the method you taught is feasible. Four experimental crops have survived and are being planted in small batches. We will need another month to determine whether they will bear fruit."
Ron nodded slowly after listening.
"I will go to Fengshou Town tomorrow to induce labor."
Upon hearing this, Old Hall was the first to be stunned.
The most famous of the growth-enhancing spells is growth acceleration. It is a nature-based spell. Although it is a support spell and does not require high mental strength, it still requires 15 points of mental strength, which is what professional mages call the early stage of a mage apprentice.
Ron nodded matter-of-factly: "I have reached the late stage of the Apprenticeship of the Architect Mage, and my mental strength has also luckily met the requirements."
Old Hall's mouth gaped slightly. A late-stage apprentice in architecture could reach the level of an early-stage apprentice in a professional mage, which far surpassed his own level.
Young Master's talent is terrifying!
Old Hall kept the last sentence to himself, without saying it aloud.
Old Hall happily agreed, "That's wonderful."
He was pleased that Ron had broken through again. In just a few months in the wasteland, he had jumped three levels from knight apprentice to the late stage of architectural mage, and his future prospects were limitless.
As for whether new varieties can be bred, Old Hall didn't care.
Although he knew nothing about farming, the Blackthorn Wasteland had been developed for over a hundred years, and no lord had ever successfully cultivated a new variety of crops; no matter how well it was hidden, it was impossible not to carry out large-scale planting.
"Then let Duolong proceed according to plan. The first batch shouldn't have too many people. If the experiment is successful, then continue. If the experiment fails, the subsequent batches just need to keep the population above 10,000."
Ron quickly made a decision: if he couldn't cultivate it, he would have to build high-rise buildings within his territory to grow rock potatoes.
………………
The capital of the kingdom is Saringer.
Headquarters of the Inspectorate Knights.
Marvel slammed his tin cup on the table, splashing beer and soaking the map on the table.
"Tony is a Sky Knight, and he also has five Earth Knights and fifty regular knights under his command. Even if they were ambushed, it's impossible that they wouldn't be able to get the message back."
He stared at the location of Gorubak Fortress on the map.
"Unless that woman makes a move."
In the kingdom, someone actually dared to touch members of their Inspectorate Knights; they must be tired of living.
The Imperial Knights dared to act so eccentrically in the kingdom because of both the king's protection and their own formidable strength.
The entire Order of the Disciplinary Knights consists of two thousand members. The minimum entry requirement is to become a formal knight. Ten members form a squad, with the squad leader being an Earth Knight. Fifty members form a company, with the company leader being a newly recruited Sky Knight.
Two hundred men form a large brigade, with the brigade commander being a late-stage or peak Sky Knight, while Marville, the Grand Commander, is one of the kingdom's six legendary knights.
"Tony's squadron had been in charge of tracking down the remnants of the Ashwood family, and when the last news came back, they were at Fort Grubbak."
Upon hearing the name Gorubakburg, Marvel's face instantly darkened.
This is because another legendary knight is stationed in the kingdom's Gorubak Castle.