No one would have thought that Beiye Town, with a population of less than 30,000, would receive nearly 200,000 gold coins in advance. Now, not only did they have to pay for the reconstruction of the entire town, but they also had to pay for the construction of public service facilities such as elementary schools, public squares, fountains, gardens, roads, drainage facilities, and city walls. This made Spear very happy.
This was because he realized that without spending a lot of manpower and building materials, almost half of the profits would flow into the family's treasury. If the reconstruction and development of a small town could earn the family more than 300,000 Gold Fords, then the fifteen towns in Fengle Plains and Xingan Plains could earn the family more than 4.5 million Gold Fords …
Steward Kedan, who was in charge of the reconstruction and development of all the towns in the family territory, was not so optimistic. After a detailed investigation, he wrote a report to Laurist. The report said that the area of Beiye Town would double after the reconstruction, and the three surrounding villages would be merged. The population would also increase from the original 10,000 to more than 30,000, so he suggested upgrading the town to a city.
Steward Kedan's report said that the increase in the population of Beiye Town was due to the peace in the family territory in the past ten years, which greatly increased the birth rate. A family basically had more than two or three children. Secondly, the continuous opening of factories and workshops in the family territory made it easy for the young men in the villages around Beiye Town to find jobs in the town. Therefore, he suggested merging the 13 villages in Beiye Town into seven. The empty fields would be reorganized into small farms, which were modeled after the houses in the town, and sold to the residents.
The residents of Fengle Plain were really rich. Steward Spear was right. The four-story apartment building, which was supposed to be the most in demand, cost only about 20 gold coins for an area of 80 to 120 square meters, but few people bought it. Instead, the three-story single-family building with a roof, a small garden in the front, and a courtyard in the back was in short supply. One of these small buildings cost more than 60 gold coins, and there were only 960 units. Every 240 units formed a small district, and four districts formed a large community. As a result, the houses in this community were quickly sold out. Therefore, Master Xiluba modified the model and built three more communities to meet the demand. The four communities alone doubled the size of Beiye Town.
Chief Steward Kedan believed that most of the residents in Plentiful Pleasure Plains had someone in their family armed forces. The generous treatment and generous rewards, as well as tax exemptions for their family members, allowed their family's annual income to exceed ten gold fords. Therefore, they were very confident when buying a house. Some even bought two houses just for their children to marry. There were also those wealthy subjects who opened workshops to do business. They even snatched up all the shops in the commercial district and the expensive land in the wealthy district.
Laurist accepted Majordomo Cordan's report to merge the thirteen villages under Northern Field Town into seven and convert the empty fields into small farms for sale. However, he rejected the idea of Northern Field Town becoming a city. In the Galinthea continent, a city meant that it had a population of 50,000 residents, and it also had to have supporting public service facilities and a complete administrative organization. The reconstruction of Northern Field Town would be completed in two years, and there would only be 30,000 residents. In the next few years, Laurist did not think that the population would increase greatly. Perhaps some would even be diverted away.
The entire north would become the Norton Family's territory. Just as Fatty Shi had said, the eastern and southern parts of the north could be developed into seven Plentiful Pleasure Plains. The surrounding areas would also belong to the Norton Family's sphere of influence. Adding on the territories of the three families' allies, Laurist did not think that there would be any more refugees in the north. The north had always been vast and sparsely populated.
After dealing with administrative matters, Laurist hurried to the eastern part of the north. The newly formed Hunting Cavalry Corps was stationed there. As the Corps Commander, Joske and Yuri came to welcome them. When Laurist asked about their military strength, Joske straightforwardly said that currently, only the first Hunting Cavalry Corps of 15,000 people had the strength to fight against the Fisablun Family's Ranger Corps. The remaining three Corps still needed a long period of training before they could go into battle. He and Yuri had already prepared to continue training during the winter, striving to transfer some experts to allow the second Hunting Cavalry Corps to go into battle next spring.
To be able to form a Hunting Cavalry Corps of 60,000 people in a year and allow the first Corps to have combat strength, Laurist was very satisfied. Currently, the north only allowed entry and not exit, so the Fisablun Family could not possibly know that Laurist had formed another light cavalry corps. Then next year, when the Flying Tiger Corps and Monolith Corps attacked the Iberian Kingdom and the Fisablun Family fought in the southern and Winston Province, the Hunting Cavalry Corps would become a sharp knife stabbing at the back of the Fisablun Family. They would sweep through the Muye Province and suppress the Fisablun Family's power in the Eastern Barren Province and the Jinchuan Region, seizing the initiative in one fell swoop.
After leaving the Hunting Cavalry Corps, Laurist went to inspect the Flying Tiger Corps and Monolith Corps that had returned to the north. In this attack on the imperial capital, the Flying Tiger Corps had fought for thousands of miles, while the Monolith Corps had landed and launched a surprise attack. They had outstanding military achievements and reputation, and most importantly, they had suffered extremely little damage. After returning to the north, the two corps were now resting and reorganizing. When they attacked the Iberian Kingdom next year, they would once again become the main force of the family's armed attack.
The family knights present were very excited, but only Ovis was gloomy. Laurist knew what was on his mind, because on the way back from the Flying Tiger Corps, Laurist had given an order for Ovis to hand over the remaining 420 catapults of the Thunderbolt Catapult Camp to the Kenneth Family: 150, Baron Filim 120, and Baron Shahin 100. The rest of the catapults would be handed over to the Guard Camp that guarded Kebo City.
Currently, the Thunderbolt Catapult Camp only had people and no catapults. This was the reason why Ovis was in a bad mood. He really could not understand why Laurist would give the Thunderbolt catapults to someone else, even if it was an ally of his family. This was the family's most powerful killing machine. The journey to the imperial capital had proven this point. The castles and strongholds along the way could not withstand the stone bullets of the Thunderbolt catapults, and they were all smashed into ruins. If there were no catapults, who knew how many loyal and brave soldiers of the family would have to be sacrificed to conquer those castles and strongholds that were armed to the teeth.
Laurist lightly patted Ovis on the shoulder. "Don't you feel that the distance of your catapults is getting closer and closer?"
Ovis nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. I realized that the stone bullets that can normally be thrown up to 400 meters can only be thrown up to 300 meters when we reached the imperial capital and fought against the Royal Guard Legion. I always thought that this was because the stone bullets were not standardized."
Laurist shook his head. "No, it's a problem with the catapults. The launching of the catapults relies on steel spring blades, and the steel spring blades have a degree of fatigue. The steel spring blades refined by Master Yu Lian have been tested. The steel spring blades will deform and distort after being thrown a thousand times. It is very difficult to see with the naked eye, and it can only be seen clearly when it is removed. After these steel spring blades deform and distort, the distance at which the stone bullets can be thrown will get closer and closer. At this time, there is no other way but to change the steel spring blades.
Your Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion has fought for thousands of miles this time and achieved great merits. These catapults also need to be repaired after the expedition, but Baron Camora of the military logistics department thinks that it is more economical to replace them with new ones than to repair them. It is better to use these catapults as a favor. In any case, the three allies have long since requested our family to supply them with these great weapons of mass destruction. We can exchange them for funds and favors for the family before they are scrapped. This is the best way to deal with these Thunderbolt Catapults, so I have accepted Baron Camora's suggestion.
Go find Baron Camora. He has already prepared a brand new 500 catapults for you. However, when we attack the Iberian Kingdom next year, your Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion will be on the defensive side most of the time. Even after the battle, your catapults will still have to be left to the guards who are in charge of defending. "
"Then are you going to give us a new batch?" Ovis asked happily.
"No, I will give you a batch of weapons that are better than the catapults. It is just that you will need to put in a lot of hard work and effort to master these weapons. They are not something that can be easily mastered, and require a long period of training and practice. However, I guarantee that once you see their power, you will love them so much that you will not be able to put them down. "
Laurist was talking about the bronze cannons used on land. He had originally wanted to equip them with the various armies immediately. However, he realized that equipping the bronze cannons was not a good deal for the family's armed forces. The cost was too high, and every shot cost money! Furthermore, the Thunderbolt Catapults that the family's armed forces were currently equipped with were already the most advanced projectile weapons on the continent. They were not like cannons, where one shot cost several large silver coins. The stone bullets they shot could even be found on the spot. No one treated these stones as treasures.
Some time ago, after Master Sid, Master Falin, and Master Julien received the conferment order, they were moved to tears. It was as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they poured all of their hearts and minds into innovation and production. After that, they sent him a report, saying that they had discovered a new type of bronze alloy. If it was used to manufacture cannons, it might be able to reduce the cost by a third, and its performance might even be improved. Currently, it was in the midst of an intense trial production. Once it succeeded, it would mean that the two bronze cannons from before could now be used to manufacture three.
In reality, the cost of the bronze cannons was not particularly high. It was just that the gunpowder and projectiles it fired were many times more expensive than the stone bullets fired by the catapults. Laurist's most urgent wish was for the cost of gunpowder to be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, this was only a beautiful wish. Professor Bob of the gunpowder laboratory had yet to find a substitute for saltpeter. He could only rely on accumulating dung to slowly gather soil saltpeter and purify it, which resulted in the high cost of gunpowder.
Laurist only paid attention to one thing about the bronze alloy that Master Sid and Master Julien had discovered. It was not to reduce the cost of the bronze cannons, but to reduce the weight of the bronze cannons. This would allow them to be loaded onto chariots for rapid movement and deployment on land. Laurist believed that when Overkiss saw the cannons, he would toss the Thunderbolt Catapults to god knows where and not be as reluctant as he was now.
Overkiss, who was in a hurry to find Baron Camorra to claim the new catapults, saluted Laurist with a knight's salute and hurriedly ran out of the tent. However, he immediately thought of something and retreated. "Your Highness, I don't know if the army commander has reported something to you … I don't know if I should say it …"
"What is it? Say it."
"It's like this. When the army was still in the capital, didn't His Majesty ask the army commander for the Thunderbolt Catapults? After the army commander rejected him, His Majesty brought a few scholars and craftsmen to my camp to copy the design and structure of the catapults. Because he is His Majesty, I couldn't stop him. However, the army commander scolded me afterwards, saying that I shouldn't have let them enter the camp. However, he is His Majesty, so I didn't dare to reject him. After that, I asked for punishment and wrote a report to submit. I wonder if the army commander has passed it to you? I've waited for so many days, but the punishment still hasn't come … "
Laurist laughed. Ferocious Tiger Ross had reported this to him before, but he did not submit Overkiss' report. It was likely that he was trying to cover up for him. However, Laurist did not care about this matter. Since he had ordered Overkiss' Thunderbolt Catapults to move out, he was naturally aware that the secret had been leaked. There was no lack of intelligent people in this world. Some people could figure out the theory behind something new the moment they saw it. It was like magic. It was mysterious before it was exposed, but it was worthless once the truth was revealed.
Even though Overkiss was burly and had a face full of beard, and he was originally a bandit, he was a deserter before he became a bandit. He was even a squad leader in the Crisen Empire's army, so he naturally respected the royal family. The second prince had used his status as the king to swagger into the army camp to spy on the secret of the catapults. Overkiss could not really stop him. After all, he did not have the confidence of Ferocious Tiger Ross. He did not give the second prince any face.
"I know. Even if they drew the blueprints, they wouldn't be able to make a catapult like ours. It's impossible for them to get their hands on the steel springs, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to replicate it. I forgive you this time, Overkiss. However, I don't want to hear that there will be a next time. Don't forget that you're a knight of the Norton Family. You don't have to listen to orders that aren't from your direct superior, even if he's the king. I gave the Thunderbolt Catapult Camp to you because of your loyalty and diligence, not because of your cautiousness and caution … "Laurist said lightly.
Overkiss' face turned red, and he stood at attention. "Your Highness, there will never be a next time. I promise you."
"Very well. Remember your promise. Go and find Baron Camorra."
After sending Overkiss away, Laurist felt a little gloomy. This second prince was really shameless. He even went out to investigate his family's ultimate weapon, the catapult. Even though he could not make a catapult like his family's, the theory was not difficult. He believed that there would soon be a knockoff version of the catapult. In the future, the era of war where both sides threw stones at each other was coming.
Just as he sat down and took two sips of the fragrant tea brewed by Schwald, Tagger appeared in front of him like the wind. "Your Highness, bad news. Lord Redi is being pursued …"
Laurist raised his head abruptly. "What did you say? Wasn't Redi traveling to the four central duchies? He should be going to Morent City next. What happened? Who's pursuing him? "
"Uh, this …" Tagger said, "Your Highness, when Lord Redi was traveling, our family was preparing to set up an intelligence network in the four central duchies. So, I asked Lord Redi for a small favor and got rid of some local trash. In the end, Lord Redi met an envoy sent by Duke Fisablen when he was making his move in the Handa Duchy. That envoy recognized Lord Redi and identified him as a spy sent by our family. Lord Redi killed the envoy in a fit of rage.
He is now wanted by the four central duchies and is being pursued. Lord Redi killed a few of their Gold Knights, and the four central duchies sent two level 1 swordsmen to deal with him. Duke Fisablen sent Grandmaster Shandi to take revenge for the envoy. Our intelligence agents in the four central duchies could not do anything to save Lord Redi. They only know that Lord Redi's last trace disappeared in the swamp of Egret Lake … "
"Grandmaster Shandi? Hmph! "Laurist stood up angrily." Prepare the horse, I am going to find Redi! "
… …
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