Chapter 194: Plan

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto this marshland, dyeing it a warm golden yellow; from afar, it looked like a tranquil and mysterious painting.

A dry, hard-packed dirt road cut across two potholed wetlands, thrusting into the stone forest and leading straight to the northern woodlands.

Years ago, after Leisen brought the Heiling Tribe under his control, he built this road to transport various resources.

At this moment, Ruidar was leading a Knight Squad, escorting assassins and captives as they slowly entered Swamp Town.

Inside the carriage, Feilidun was bound tightly, completely unable to move.

Looking at the scenery before him, both familiar and strange, he finally believed what Ruidar had said—Baron Leisen would never return, and the Sain Territory was finished.

In all the days he had been a captive, he had never felt as decadent and desperate as he did now.

The troop slowly traversed this hard-packed dirt road, and before long, they arrived before Zhaozebao.

Watching the orderly Knight Squad, Jialier's gaze kept darting between Luoning and Ruidar; he did not know whose credit it was that Shanlin Town could possess such a squad so quickly.

"Lord Luoning, I see that your men are all equipped with Ironwood Armor. I wonder when the batch of weapons and equipment promised to us will be transported to Wushan City?"

Jialier was the captain of the First Knight Squad of Wushan Castle, and he was the very person who had signed the order with Luoning.

Luoning had originally been looking over his Knight Squad with great interest, but he was suddenly stumped by Jialier's question.

He pondered slightly and immediately said, "Rest assured, there are still more than three months left of the six-month production period; it will certainly be completed before the end of April."

This was not Luoning speaking blindly.

On one hand, the Wubei Territory no longer had any war, so the urgency of its own demand for weapons and armor had decreased; the items produced by the Ironwood Workshop could be taken out first to fulfill the order.

On the other hand, Luoning now had so much more labor at his disposal that by allocating a little more to the Ironwood Workshop, he could significantly increase production capacity.

By then, not only would he be able to complete Jialier's order, but he could even begin to officially sell through the Tieti Family's Caravan.

"My Lord!"

While the two were talking, Ruidar had already dismounted; he came before Luoning to salute respectfully and reported, "The Shadow Assassin and the five knights including Feilidun, who was under Leisen, have already been escorted here by me."

Luoning nodded and patted Ruidar's shoulder with great trust, "Well done!"

While speaking, Luoning noticed that Ruidar's cultivation progress had reached 26/800; this was the result of the other party's own practice, as Luoning had not used any Energy Essence for Ruidar.

Of course, during this period, Luoning had not added points for Maiken either. Now, relying on his own practice, Maiken's progress had only reached 4/1500.

In the same amount of time, Ruidar had increased his progress by 26 points, while Maiken had only increased by 4 points.

In other words, if relying purely on self-practice, Ruidar's rate of progress was more than six times that of Maiken.

Sure enough, the gap between Blazing Sun Aptitude and Gold Talent could still be reflected in cultivation speed.

After Luoning greeted Huoen, Jennie, and the others who had accompanied them, he began the handover of the criminals.

After successfully handing over the Shadow and Feilidun and the others to Jialier, Luoning had nothing more to do with Leisen's trial; everything that followed would be handled by Wushan Castle.

Besides the handover of criminals, the defense issues of Swamp Town also needed to be taken over by Luoning's people.

Maiken from Muma City and Baron Talun were only here to help after all, and since Luoning had not paid any aid fees, it was ultimately inappropriate to let them stay in Swamp Town for too long.

That night, a simple yet sumptuous banquet was held in Zhaozebao.

It was mainly to thank Jialier, Maiken, and Baron Talun for their care during this period, and also for tomorrow's farewell.

After the banquet, in the study, Luoning summoned his knights.

"After occupying the Heiling Tribe, Magician Jennie was responsible for the census work."

Ruidar handed over the census results of the Heiling Tribe, "This is the personnel list of the Heiling Tribe."

"Thank you for your hard work, Jennie," Luoning said.

Jennie bowed slightly, maintaining sufficient humility, "My Lord does not need to be so polite; this is what I should do."

Luoning spread out the parchment, and the elegant handwriting clearly recorded the personnel situation of the Heiling Tribe.

The Heiling Tribe had a total of 1,270 people, making it the largest in population among the four savage tribes.

As of now, although the census of Swamp Town had not yet been completed, the number registered in Luoning's hands had already reached over 4,400.

Once the census of Swamp Town was completed, the population would definitely break the 10,000 mark.

"How is the situation in the Heiling Tribe now?" Luoning asked.

"The situation is now stably under control, but perhaps because they have changed leaders several times in a row, the nerves of the people there are still on edge."

Luoning nodded slowly, "Qiaofuli, you were previously the leader of the Heiling Tribe; after things here are finished, you will return to the Heiling Tribe to soothe their emotions."

Qiaofuli bowed in compliance, "As you command, my Lord."

Luoning turned to ask a question he was more concerned about: "What about the casualties from this attack on the Heiling Tribe?"

After all, it was the first war with full participation in the true sense, so there would inevitably be casualties.

"The casualties this time were very small."

Ruidar reported truthfully, "One cavalryman died in battle, and two infantrymen died in battle; among them, the cavalryman was a new recruit recruited from Shanlin Town, while the infantrymen were guards who had followed my Lord from Wushan Castle early on."

"Besides this, twelve others were injured. However, after so many days, the injured have all recovered one after another."

Luoning felt a secret sigh of relief in his heart; such casualty numbers were still acceptable to him.

"The compassionate payment of 1 gold coin for each person who died in battle must be distributed."

Luoning thought for a moment and said, "I will entrust Jialier to pass the payment to the families of those two guards from Wushan Castle."

Back then, in order to gather troops, Luoning had promised in Wushan Castle that as long as they were willing to follow him to Shanlin Town, a compassionate payment of 1 gold coin would be issued if they died in battle.

This would not be breaking his word.

"In addition to the compassionate payment, the families of the fallen soldiers will also enjoy tax reductions; within the next five years, their families will be exempt from corvée labor, and they will only need to pay half of the taxes."

Luoning looked at Ruidar and Wilson, "When recruiting new soldiers later, this point can be announced in advance."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Luoning scanned the crowd, "Although my becoming the Viscount of Wubei Territory this time is a joyous thing, I hope that everyone will not relax their nerves amidst the joy; after all, this is only the beginning."

Not to mention the external environment, for the Wubei Territory to develop and grow, there were still many things waiting for them to do.

But this sentence made everyone's eyes light up.

Among this group, Jiamu and Huoen wanted to restore the glory of their ancestors, Qiaofuli, Babulin, and others wanted to shed their status as savages and build a career, Dawei and others wanted to become Conferred Knights, Chahaer wanted to be the head Steward, and Wilson was also thinking about elevating his social class...

They all belonged to the category of people with dreams, and now that Luoning had given them hope, they naturally would not miss out.

"We swear to follow you to the death, my lord!"

Luoning was very satisfied with this reaction; he smiled and said, "Starting from tomorrow, Maiken, you are responsible for training the Guards and taking over the defense of Swamp Town."

"Ruidar, the training of the new recruits must continue; we need more soldiers to patrol the Wubei Territory."

Ruidar nodded, "My lord, there are still surviving Cavalry, Infantry, and Archers in Leisen's Knight Squad, currently being held at the Heiling Tribe."

"As long as these people choose to submit, they can be kept and continue to be used," Luoning said.

It takes quite a bit of energy and time to train an ordinary person into a qualified soldier.

Although this group once pledged loyalty to Leisen, now that he is gone, as long as they obey orders and follow commands, Luoning does not mind continuing to use them.

"I understand, my lord."

In fact, Ruidar had the same intention when he kept them.

"There is one more most important matter."

Luoning said: "From now on, movement between Swamp Town, Shanlin Town, Huitu Village, and Heiling Village will be very frequent. To ensure safety along the way, we must organize the Cavalry to patrol the routes, and at the same time, clear away any dangers as soon as they are discovered."

Communication between the villages is inevitable.

Not to mention anything else, Wilson needs to take his assistants and the Village Chiefs of each village to other places to guide agricultural planting work.

Besides this, communication and intermarriage between villagers, the transport of grain, and the transport of Silk and porcelain produced later all require a safe route.

"Now that the Wubei Territory has no enemies, the matter of forming the Hunter Squad mentioned before must be put on the agenda."

Luoning said: "Strive to clear out all danger points around Swamp Town, Shanlin Town, and the several villages as soon as possible." (End of chapter)