Chapter 356: Resources of Jushi City

After Keruien was defeated, although the wealth in Jushi Castle had been almost completely looted, some industries still remained.

For instance, the Letter Bird management station in the west; no one would be bored enough to roast and eat the Letter Birds, which didn't have much meat on them anyway.

Nowadays, Jushi City, Chishan Town, Anbian City, and Wushan Castle can all communicate via Letter Birds, which allows Maiken and Ruidar to communicate at the first opportunity.

At the same time, if there is an urgent matter, one can establish contact with Wubei Territory through Wushan Castle.

This "transfer through one point" method is still a bit troublesome, so Luoning intends to have the Letter Bird administrator at Jushi Castle spend some effort to establish a Bird Path between Zhaozebao and Jushi Castle.

Before long, Maiken came galloping back on his warhorse, with Dandi and the Administrator Sailin behind him.

"My Lord, you have finally come!"

Maiken and Sailin hurriedly dismounted and saluted Luoning.

Luoning looked the two of them up and down; after several months, he saw more independence in them.

It seems that during this period of handling the various affairs of Jushi City alone, both of them have grown quite a bit.

"You two are now big figures who can stand on your own; well done!"

Maiken gave an honest smile, "My Lord, you flatter me."

Sailin also bowed slightly, "Any achievement I have today is entirely due to your trust and support, My Lord!"

He once served Baron Leisen of Swamp Town; after the latter died, not only was he not shunned by Luoning, but he was instead put in an important position and arranged to serve as the Administrator in Jushi City.

Now that everything in Jushi City is moving toward stability, Sailin can be considered to have entered the core circle, which is something he never dreamed of.

The more this is the case, the more he cherishes this opportunity.

"Alright, let's not talk outside."

The three of them chatted for a moment before entering Jushi Castle.

After becoming the Lord of Jushi City, although Luoning had never been to this castle, his private residence had always been preserved.

In the living room, Maiken and Sailin reported on the main situation in Jushi City.

After experiencing the initial panic, this city has now generally stabilized.

Although violent conflict incidents still occur from time to time, ever since Maiken formed a Knight Squad, such things have become increasingly rare.

"The overall strength of the Jushi City Knight Squad is not strong; besides me, there is only one Advanced Knight and two Intermediate Knights, and the remaining six are all Primary."

Maiken said, "However, these people, plus the Archers, Infantry, and cavalry, are already quite enough to maintain order inside and outside Jushi City."

Although a Knight Squad is not large in number, with only 118 people, they hold an absolute advantage when facing ordinary people.

As long as there are no large-scale violent incidents, this many people are enough to suppress them.

Luoning, however, said, "One Knight Squad is not enough; you can appropriately expand recruitment according to the situation."

According to the configuration of ten Knight Squads per Knight Order, Luoning plans to place three in Wubei Territory, two on Jiliu Island, and five for Jushi City and Chishan Town combined.

Anbian City is deployed with one Knight Order from Wushan Castle, and with his five Knight Squads, the defensive power of the Southwest Territory of Wushan Territory will become very strong.

However, forming so many Knight Squads is not something that can be done overnight.

Even though Luoning now has his own iron mines, Blacksmiths, and the Tie-wood Forest to provide weapons and equipment, the warhorses required for the cavalry, as well as the logistics personnel, wages, and provisions, are all issues that need to be coordinated.

Expanding blindly in one go would also bring about no small number of problems.

Next, Luoning and Maiken discussed in earnest the matter of recruiting soldiers and buying horses in Jushi Territory, deciding to train the Infantry first, while the configuration of cavalry and Professional Knights would be relatively slowed down.

To have these five Knight Squads fully equipped and initially capable of combat within two years is the preliminary plan the two of them have set.

"My Lord, this is the roster for Jushi City and Chishan Town, as well as the resources here."

Sailin, who had returned, walked over holding several simply bound notebooks; these were the papers he brought when he left Swamp Town, and they are almost used up now.

"For resources like grain and paper that Jushi City and Chishan Town lack, you can apply to Wilson and Chahar, but everything must be recorded."

Luoning said while taking the notebooks.

Although this wealth is essentially his, he does not manage all the accounts himself.

Therefore, the flow of resources between the several territories still requires detailed itemized lists.

"This subordinate understands!"

Sailin replied respectfully, "The transport team of the Luogena Chamber of Commerce returns between Wubei Territory and Jushi City; whatever we need, we usually have it transported through him."

As soon as the roster was in his hands, a line of text appeared before Luoning's eyes:

【"Gongchengluedi" achievement reached, Attribute Point +1000, Energy Essence +2000】

This indicates that the five towns with populations of over ten thousand that Luoning possesses have met the requirements for the achievement.

Luoning took a look at the achievement interface.

He originally wanted to see how many cities were needed for the next stage, but discovered that the description of the Gongchengluedi achievement had changed:

【Gongchengluedi】: Possess a large city with a population of over 100,000, Reward: Attribute Point +2000, Energy Essence +4000

The reward is very considerable, but the requirements are equally harsh.

A population of 100,000 cannot even compare to an average small county in modern times, but in this world, it is not something found everywhere.

One of the main reasons is that the grain yield is insufficient, which limits population growth. Besides that, poor medical and sanitary conditions and frequent wars are also major causes.

Luoning is still very confident about completing this achievement.

The population of the four towns in Wubei Territory has now reached 55,000; later, by establishing Wubei City near the port and incorporating these four towns into it, it will only be about 40,000 short of 100,000.

Not to mention continuing to introduce population, just relying on the current policy of stimulating childbirth, plus the fact that farmers have more surplus grain in their hands, the population of Wubei Territory will also grow.

Reaching 100,000 is just a matter of time.

Coming back to his senses, Luoning flipped through the notebook that Sailin had recorded regarding the resources of Jushi City.

Compared to Wubei Territory, the richness of resources here is relatively less.

Sailin surveyed the situation of the arable land in Jushi City; the grain produced annually from the farmland between the mountains barely manages to be self-sufficient, but if it were to support the grain consumption of Chishan Town, it would fall far short.

However, Sali Town and Kaxier Town near the Altai River produce more grain, and their lords are Feilipu and Suo'ersitan, who have fought alongside Luoning; purchasing from them should be no problem.

Besides grain, what Jushi City has the most of is stone mines.

It is just a pity that the people here like to build houses with wood, as it is convenient to harvest, so the stone mines appear to have no great value or use.

Luoning flipped through them earnestly; the stone mines here are all non-metallic ores, and besides the common granite, there are also limestone, quartz, colored ores, and so on.

"Jushi City still has great value in the future."

Stone materials might eventually become one of the sources of income for Jushi City.

I also wonder if there are phosphate rock mines here; if there are, I could consider producing phosphate fertilizer in the later stages to allow the territory's grain production to receive a greater boost.

Although Wubei Territory currently has organic fertilizer and Zhaoze fertilizer, the effects are still not as good as the effects of chemical fertilizer.

It is just a pity that producing chemical fertilizer is a complex chemical industrial process that requires precise control.

Perhaps in the long years of the future, he will be able to reproduce chemical fertilizer in this world, but for Along time before that, composting will be the mainstream.

Luoning closed the resource booklet and said to Sailin, "Later, have Jim the potter from Huitu Village come to Jushi City to inspect it when he has time; there should be mineral materials here that can be used to make glaze."

Sailin's eyes lit up.

Porcelain and glaze—he had heard Wilson speak of them and knew these were special products of Wubei Territory and were things that made money.

If the stones of Jushi City could assist in the production of porcelain, then there would surely be an additional source of fiscal revenue here in the future. (End of chapter)