Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

When Su Li arrived at Bjorn's Cove after lunch, the slaves there were also having their midday meal.

The slaves' lunch wasn't as lavish as the nobles'. It consisted of a loaf of black bread mixed with sawdust and wheat bran, four vegetable balls with a little salt, and a bowl of vegetable soup. It wasn't abundant, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.

What truly replenished their energy and ensured their physical strength was a bowl of meat broth mixed with wheat bran, minced venison, and dried small fish, along with a wooden cup of cheese or mare's milk wine.

This meal plan demonstrated the territory's current productivity composition in all aspects. Farming, hunting, and animal husbandry together constituted the source of the territory's food.

Being able to guarantee this level of food supply was also achieved with the assistance of Su Li's intelligence system.

Outside of the Black Forest Territory, most serfs were treated like gray livestock. Forget eating meat in large quantities, they didn't even know what meat tasted like.

Vampires once circulated a joke widely to mock the Empire.

It said that three skeletons met one day and talked about their origins.

The first skeleton said: "I come from the desert kingdom of Nehekhara, and I was a warrior under a great Pharaoh during my lifetime."

The second skeleton said: "I come from Westria, and I served a famous vampire count during my lifetime."

The third skeleton said: "I come from the Empire, and, well, I'm not a skeleton, I'm an old farmer, I'm not dead yet!"

The Empire's farmers were already so miserable, so the Empire's slaves were really almost like skeletons.

Therefore, the Black Forest Territory's food was truly generous enough to be called a virtue!

Even many free people were envious. The lives of most free people within the Black Forest Territory were not comparable to these slaves.

When Su Li passed through Black Forest Town, he specifically looked at the lives of the territory's residents, which were completely difficult.

There was no way around it, life in a new territory was not easy, food was scarce, and the grain routes had not yet been fully formed.

To obtain food, the residents could only buy it at high prices.

In this case, the invisible hand of the free market really pushed the price of food to an extremely high level.

A pound of millet sold for 10 copper coins!

A pound of beef cost one silver coin!

Relying on merchants to talk about social relief and responsibility was a joke!

Disaster relief was something that only socialists would do. Our great capitalist society could save itself, the weak only deserved to be eliminated, and only the strong could survive.

These merchants were counting on selling at higher prices to earn wealth. Asking them to sell food at low prices was more difficult than killing them.

The Lord High Seal-bearer, Laun, was also very opposed to Su Li's relief policy. Why take out three thousand pounds of vegetables and wild herbs and one thousand pounds of grain for low-price sales every day when they could make money?

This was not in line with the policies of the nobles or the interests of the merchants, and would incur the resentment of many people.

This golden grain was all distributed to the poor! What a sin!

But Su Li's attitude was tough, and he drove away a large number of merchant representatives and senior executives of the Chamber of Commerce who tried to persuade him to abandon this policy.

He didn't lack food, and the residents didn't lack wealth, so why artificially cause these residents to live in such despair?

A large number of bankrupt free people were actually not in his interest.

He hoped that the Black Forest Territory could become prosperous and attract more northern immigrants to the south. He wanted to build the Black Forest Territory into a model holy land of the Blazing Sun Goddess in the human world, becoming a prosperous and devout territory that everyone yearned for.

It was not beneficial to his grand plan if one free family came and one went bankrupt.

Moreover, in addition to causing inflation, such high food prices meant that a large amount of wealth was harvested by merchants. Besides causing the Black Forest Territory to become hungry and poor, there would not be too many benefits.

This territory was his, Lord Su Li's territory, not the merchants' territory!

Lord Su Li was willing to provide relief to the people and show off his virtues, and neither merchants nor officials could do anything about it.

After watching the slaves' meals for a while, Su Li asked the Lord High Seal-bearer, Laun, who was following him, "How is the health of the slaves?"

Laun replied in detail: "They are taken care of by the sisters of the Church of the Morning Light, and their health is very good."

Su Li raised an eyebrow and said with a smile: "These sisters are really kind. They have to guide the serfs in farming and take care of their illnesses. Without the Church of the Morning Light, the number of serfs would be reduced a lot just due to birth, old age, sickness, and death."

Laun nodded and said: "Yes. The members of the Hospital Knights are only willing to help knights, armed attendants, and free people. They are unwilling to even contact merchants and prostitutes, let alone slaves. Without the sisters of the Church of the Morning Light, our farming business would be affected in all aspects."

So Su Li paid attention to the serf affairs. He snapped his fingers, and a middle-aged man with a gray beard walked out from behind him.

"Let me introduce you. This is our territory's future Minister of Industry, Sheriff Gallowayke."

This middle-aged man in tattered linen clothes gave Laun a somewhat restrained greeting. He formed a claw shape with his right hand, grabbed his left shoulder, and bowed, ensuring that his tall figure was lower than Laun's.

"Greetings, Lord High Seal-bearer, may the Bear God bless you with strength and health, and protect you from all cold winds and diseases."

Laun frowned. He was knowledgeable and recognized this etiquette at a glance. This was Kislevite!

Their etiquette required that they never turn their backs to the Tsar, and they could never be taller than the Tsar when speaking.

This bear claw salute represented the Bear God's strong claws resting on their shoulders, giving them a strong physique and great protection. The Bear God's followers believed that this etiquette could protect them from the erosion of cold and keep them away from diseases and maintain their health.

"Lord, where did you find such a Kislevite? Can you rely on a slave to serve as the Minister of Industry?"

Su Li smiled confidently and said: "My minister, don't forget, you were also raised by me from among the slaves. Who can say that you are unreliable?"

Su Li's authority was enough to guarantee that no one dared to question his appointment in the slightest.

In this world, there was no election system.

As long as the lord was willing, he could let a businessman who had never been in politics serve as the Minister of Finance, let a brewing servant who had never managed a city serve as the Minister of Finance of the entire territory, or even let a prostitute or mistress he liked serve as the Lord High Seal-bearer of the territory!

Many times, Su Li felt out of place in this world because he was too normal.

So after hearing Su Li say this, Laun wisely shut up. The Lord's appointment had always been perfect, and no one could question it.

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Then Su Li continued: "Another slave caravan has come to Black Forest Town, my Lord High Seal-bearer, haven't you gone to see it?"

Laun immediately replied: "I went to see it, and I borrowed more than 50 gold coins from the Church of the Morning Light, and they bought two nuns."

"At the same time, farmers from other farms and autonomous territories are also buying slaves there, and business is very hot. With the addition of these slaves, our farms throughout the Black Forest Territory can develop very well."

Now the territory's development is gradually getting on the right track, and Su Li doesn't need to personally meet every caravan that visits. Like this slave hunting group, the slaves they send don't need Su Li to take action, and various territories, knights, and farms can buy them all.

Su Li pointed to Sheriff and said: "Sheriff is an expert in managing slaves. In the future, he will be responsible for how to motivate serfs."

Kislev was an affiliated country in the northeast of the Empire, covered by ice and snow, and the territory worshiped the northern Bear God and the southern Winter God, Ulric.

The most famous were their gray livestock. Their serfs were hardworking and famous throughout the continent.

Giving Sheriff the task of handling this matter might allow the effect of the "Land Reclamation Law" to continue to increase.

Sheriff quickly replied: "It is my honor to serve the Lord. I hope that my ability can help the territory's farming business develop."

Su Li led him to the dam of Bjorn's Cove and looked down at the vast farmland below.

The earthy yellow arable land was neatly ridged and divided into fertile farms by paths, ditches, and belts of trees.

Some active slaves had already returned to the fields after finishing their meals and began to cultivate. Under the guidance of the nuns of the Church of the Morning Light, they worked intensively, working enthusiastically and meticulously.

This surprised Sheriff, who said: "Lord, the work enthusiasm of the serfs in your territory is simply amazing. I think this must not only depend on good food."

Su Li said with a smile: "You can learn more about the specific reasons later. My Lord High Seal-bearer, introduce him to the farming situation in our territory. The Minister of Agriculture is not here, so you two must work together to develop the territory's farming business."

Laun stepped forward and pointed to the slaves who were cultivating below and said: "Lord, you see, the serfs are now planting autumn wheat. The Border Prince Territory is located at the southernmost tip of the Empire. As long as we arrange it reasonably, the farmland can achieve three harvests a year."

"The problem now is that, due to the lack of professional sowing equipment, we have only sown two thousand acres of farmland this morning. If the Minister of Industry can integrate the territory's engineers and halflings, it is best to prioritize the development of a batch of professional sowing equipment."

Su Li asked: "Do we only grow this one crop?"

Laun shook his head and introduced in detail: "The Minister of Agriculture, Vandal, once submitted a detailed plan to me. The Church of the Morning Light plans to sow from west to east, first rushing to plant wheat and soybeans, and then, as time goes by, after missing the planting period, gradually sowing beets, pumpkins, barley, rapeseed, and so on to the east."

"If everything goes well, we can ensure that various plants mature at different times, so that there won't be so much food that cannot be eaten in time and rots."

"And we can also make full use of these 40,000 acres of arable land."

Su Li's eyes lit up and said with a smile: "This plan is good. The most important thing in farming is stability, and there should not be too much fluctuation. A continuous income is the guarantee of the territory's stability."

"But we must also ensure the yield of wheat, after all, wheat is a grain that can be stored for several years. Are there any measures in this regard?"

Laun nodded and said with a smile: "Of course. We always have some magical means to ensure the output of wheat fields."

Then Laun pointed to a piece of fertile land that had already been cultivated and said: "A new Grain Father, Bolevik, has settled there. As a new natural spirit, he can perform a blood sacrifice. The territory is preparing a large amount of flesh and blood for him to ensure that the scale of this blood sacrifice farmland is as large as possible, at least reaching more than two hundred acres!"

"Do you want to go and see the new natural spirit?"