Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

From the end of July to the middle of August, the weather became increasingly hot.

However, the wilderness summer was far less harsh than that of Debe, and even at noon, it was quite cool as long as one stayed in the shade.

Since clearing out the tribes within a twenty-mile radius, Highcliff Keep had been free from war.

For half a month, the orcish brutes had been divided into two teams: one responsible for hunting, and the other sweating in the planned training grounds, alternating between the two.

The gnoll tribe, under Hogg's iron fist, had also been successfully united.

After all, the law of the wilderness was the survival of the fittest.

The gnoll tribe had a total of one hundred and twenty members, of which more than ninety were strong, fertile female gnolls, and the remaining thirty included ten female gnoll pups.

The other twenty gnoll pups were only one or two years old and had not yet reached reproductive age.

The entire gnoll tribe only had Hogg and his other two brothers—Scarface and Limp—who met the standards for reproduction.

Li Wei, who desperately wanted a gnoll scout, ordered the three wolves to take on the responsibility of being breeding models.

This led to the three gnolls having to 'deliver grain' at least twice every night for the past half month.

Of course, the effect was significant, with about ten female gnolls already pregnant and expected to give birth to a bunch of wolf pups in a few months.

In half a month, Highcliff Keep had changed a lot.

Wooden houses rose from the top of the hill, allowing the orcish brutes to no longer sleep in tents.

The gnolls also lived together with the orcs.

Due to various comprehensive reasons, the two groups got along well and no conflicts occurred.

Li Wei only needed to give a general direction for these matters, and the details were not his concern.

Having free time, he made a simple recliner, lay down under a crooked-neck tree every day, and took out 'Knight Abin' to appreciate.

"Sir, is this strength okay?"

Old Neil, wearing a straw hat, stood beside Li Wei and fanned him obsequiously, looking like an old farmer in the field.

"It's okay, keep it up." Li Wei yawned and looked at the distant plains.

A group of kobolds were wielding hoes in the fields, diligently turning over the patches of grass, letting the hot sun kill the roots.

In half a month, with the daily efforts of these kobolds from morning to sunset, a full five hundred acres of wasteland had been reclaimed.

However, the reclaimed wasteland could not be used directly; it had to be exposed to the sun to kill the grass roots before being re-cultivated for planting crops.

Li Wei had calculated the time, and the best season for planting wheat was from October to November.

There was still more than a month before planting wheat, and there was plenty of time.

Farming was not just talk; it was a technical job, with strict requirements for when to plant, when to weed, when to harvest, and so on.

Applying farm manure could increase crop yields by several percent, which was undoubtedly a powerful weapon in this world where no fertilizer was ever used!

Li Wei naturally used it without hesitation.

Fertilizing was not just about picking up animal manure; it had to be fermented before use, otherwise it would only have the opposite effect.

The first step was to make compost, to produce farm manure before using it.

Li Wei handed this task over to the dozen or so goblins.

It had to be said...

After castrating these dozen goblins, they became much more obedient, only working, eating, and sleeping every day, and not thinking about escaping.

What Li Wei admired most was their vitality; after having their roots of sin cut off, the goblins, who received no medical treatment at all, only saw two or three die, and the rest all survived.

Truly like weeds.

This also gave him the idea of developing a slave business, capturing these goblins, castrating them, and then training them for a period of time, they could be sold as farm slaves to those nobles who even needed to work in the fields themselves.

In the previous life of Game of Thrones, there were Unsullied soldiers, and Li Wei also wanted to create an Unsullied Goblin Corps.

However, Li Wei was just thinking about it; probably only a lord like him, who had no money and no people, would be crazy enough to use goblins for work.

Other nobles, out of consideration for their reputation, would definitely not use goblins as workers.

Under his instructions, the goblins gathered the picked-up manure in a prepared place, crushed the dry stems of wild grass, and mixed them thoroughly with fine soil and a certain amount of water.

Then, they covered it with weeds to avoid exposure to the sun, and then they just needed to wait until it was time to plant wheat to use it.

Just then, a cavalryman rushed down from Highcliff Keep in the distance and stopped steadily in front of Li Wei.

"Sir, your letter."

Hogg jumped off the dire wolf, knelt on one knee, and handed Li Wei two unopened letters.

Compared to half a month ago, Hogg had changed greatly; his height had not only grown from one and a third blades to one and a half, making him a full circle stronger than before, and his eyes were full of murderous intent.

Since the gnolls currently only had Hogg and his other two companions with dire wolves.

The task of patrolling the territory of Highcliff Keep fell on the three of them, and in the past half month, the three gnolls had killed countless lone goblins or kobolds who had wandered into the territory.

"Oh, from Whiteflow City?"

Looking at the Martell family crest on the sealing wax, Li Wei roughly guessed who sent it.

Unrolling the rolled parchment letter, Li Wei began to read silently.

He guessed correctly; the letter was sent by Leah.

The first half of it first asked if his development operations were going smoothly, and the second half described her experiences in Whiteflow City during this time.

After he left, Freena began to put pressure on the Southern Territory, asking the current Grand Duke of the Southern Territory to release Leah's mother.

Unfortunately, the effect was minimal; the Little Grand Duke of the Southern Territory strongly rejected this request, arguing that she was a usurper.

He also stated that Leah was also a usurper and hoped that Freena would send her back to the Southern Territory to give her the punishment she deserved.

This was within Li Wei's expectations; if the Southern Territory really released Leah's mother, Li Wei would have to suspect that these people were all related to goblins.

When Damon and the others decided to seize the throne, it was destined to antagonize the Martell family of the Northern Territory, and this was irreversible.

When both sides had already become enemies, holding Leah's mother in their hands was obviously a powerful trump card that could make Leah and the others hesitant.

Li Wei smelled the approaching storm from it.

Whether it was for the sake of the Martell family's reputation or to bring the Southern Territory under the Martell family's control, war between the two sides was inevitable.

Although Leah did not explain in detail in the letter, Li Wei saw from the clues that the Northern Territory was now preparing for war.

Originally, the Northern Territory was located in the wilderness and was the poorest province in Debe. Freena had long wanted to plot other rich territories, and with a reason to launch military operations against the Southern Territory, she would definitely not let go of this opportunity.

After all, throughout history, no matter what you do, you must have a legitimate reason.

And now Freena not only had an excuse to send troops, but also had strong military strength, so she would definitely not miss this opportunity.