Chapter 63: 63 Purchasing Slaves

Andongni compromised in the end; in his own words, for the sake of the friendship between the Viper Slave Exchange and Luoning, he was willing to take a loss this time to strengthen the relationship with Shanlin Town.

Such words are best taken with a grain of salt; in any world, how much truth is there when a merchant is doing business? Claiming a loss is one thing, but whether they actually lost money, or how much they earned, is something outsiders can never know.

For Luoning, being able to purchase this batch of slaves at the lowest possible cost was enough.

Purchasing slaves naturally involves a selection process.

This time, Luoning did not go in person; he no longer wanted to step even half a foot into the sales area of the slave agency, as the scenes inside would cause him mental discomfort.

Thus, this glorious and great task fell upon the shoulders of Tangmu and Jialun.

Fortunately, selecting slaves was not a difficult task; it was nothing more than haggling with Andongni and trying one's best to pick out the young, strong males and the plump, young females.

However, Luoning was also prepared for the possibility that there might be a few slaves with poor constitutions among the group.

After all, he had pressed the price quite hard this time; since Andongni could not obtain greater profit from the price, he could only earn a little back on the "quality."

This was also within reason, and Luoning could understand it.

However, sneaking in one or two poor ones was fine, but if too many were slipped in, he would not agree to it.

"My Lord, why are you buying these slaves? Is the territory lacking people to work?" Ruidar asked, puzzled.

These words pulled Luoning's thoughts back; this newly joined Knight knew very little about the situation in Shanlin Town.

"Shanlin Town currently doesn't have many people, everything is still in the initial stages, and we lack all kinds of labor."

Ruidar nodded slowly and said with concern, "Buying slaves is a good choice, but wanting to manage them well and make good use of them is a bit difficult."

Perhaps Ruidar possessed some knowledge regarding management, which was why he made such a judgment.

These slaves were perhaps due to being domesticated, so their thinking and cognition had more or less regressed.

In terms of task completion and efficiency, they would be somewhat lower than normal Serfs, and their speed in learning and accepting new things would also be slower; it would only be possible by relying on the slave owner to constantly whip them into shape.

Wanting to make them recover is Along and difficult process.

In the initial stage, Luoning decided to adopt the method of using both the carrot and the stick, letting them work diligently for him while also letting them understand that as long as they could do well, even slaves would have rewards.

Ultimately, if he could turn the slaves into normal people, help them shake off their state of being walking corpses, and even activate their subjective initiative, that was what Luoning wanted.

Fortunately, the number of slaves purchased this time was small, making them relatively easier to manage, and he could also take this opportunity to accumulate some experience in slave management to prepare for the future.

"Ruidar, Maiken, after we go back this time, you two can join forces to conduct intensive training for our Guards and enhance their combat effectiveness. Cavalry, Infantry, and Archers must all be equipped."

Luoning looked at the two Advanced Knights beside him and began to prepare for subsequent development.

"There are many wilder tribes active in the woodlands to the east and north of our Wushan Territory. Rather than spending money to buy slaves, I would rather conquer them and incorporate the people of the wilder tribes into Shanlin Town."

Ruidar and Maiken's eyes lit up upon hearing this, especially Maiken.

Recently, he had been quite envious of Aierlong, who could not only spread the Lord's benevolence and enhance the Lord's prestige in the hearts of the people, but also create wealth for the Lord by making Spell Scrolls.

Yet he could only help train the Guards and be responsible for the unchallenging territorial defense; he felt his own role was truly too small.

Now, thinking that he could fight the wilder tribes for Luoning, with such a goal, his life's path for the coming period suddenly brightened up.

"My Lord, what is the scale of the wilder tribes you mentioned?" Ruidar began to assess the enemy and friendly combat strength.

To this, Luoning could only spread his hands, "Sorry, I cannot answer this question, because I also have no detailed intelligence regarding the wilder tribes, and no useful clues were found in the study of the previous Administrator, Pulinsite; we are unclear about their specific scale."

Although that was said, the wilder tribes had not invaded Shanlin Town for a very long time, which meant their scale shouldn't be large, right?

Ruidar rubbed his chin and pondered, "Then after we go back, I will act as a scout and search the woods to see if I can find their tracks."

As he spoke, he looked at Maiken, "Maiken will continue to be responsible for Guard training and defense."

"No problem!" Maiken replied.

Perhaps because of their superior-subordinate relationship in their previous lives, Maiken had no objections to Ruidar's arrangements and followed them accordingly.

With about a hundred slaves, the selection process was still quite time-consuming and laborious, especially since Jialun and Tangmu kept Luoning's instructions firmly in mind, carefully selecting almost every single one, absolutely refusing to let Andongni easily slip in a bad one.

But Andongni was, after all, an old hand at the slave agency; he had experienced thousands, if not ten thousand, transactions. He could always package slightly inferior slaves as good goods and then slip them in when the customer wasn't paying attention. As long as he grasped the scale, the customer wouldn't cause trouble.

Just like that, over an hour passed. Fifty males and fifty females, plus one carpenter and one mason each; Jialun and Tangmu finally finished selecting.

The two looked at each other and let out Along sigh of relief.

Now, when they closed their eyes, they could see all kinds of bodies appearing in their minds. Those naked slaves had also caused a shock to their hearts.

Fortunately, fortunately they could follow Luoning and would not experience this life like a beast.

After the selection was completed, Andongni brought these slaves to a vacant hall and made them kneel on the ground, loudly and repeatedly chanting Luoning's name, so that they would firmly remember their master's name and brand it into their brains.

After finishing all this, Andongni gave each slave a simple hemp garment and fed them two pieces of black bread so they would have the strength to hit the road.

By the time the 102 slaves were escorted out by Andongni and his guards, more than four hours had already passed.

During this period, Andongni arranged for Luoning to have lunch; it must be said, the food was still acceptable.

Luoning sat on horseback, looking at this group of slaves standing before him; they remained silent and expressionless, keeping their heads lowered.

However, Luoning keenly noticed that some were trembling, perhaps still stemming from the fear of the unknown, because they did not know how their master would treat them.

"Raise your heads, slaves!" Luoning shouted loudly.

Perhaps not knowing that the person speaking was their master, only a portion of the slaves raised their heads.

Andongni roared from the side, "Your master has ordered you to raise your heads! Look carefully and remember his face; that is the object you must be loyal to even in death!"

"From now on, your bodies and your souls will belong to him!"

"Now, kneel to your master, call his name, and offer your loyalty!"

Andongni's roars echoed one after another, and the slaves began to chant:

"Lord Luoning..."

"Lord Luoning..."

"Lord Luoning..."

It was sparse and listless.

Luoning glanced at Andongni; before completely leaving the slave agency, it was clear that this guy's words were more effective.

Returning his gaze to this group of Slaves, for a moment he actually did not know what to say to these people.

After brewing for a moment, he finally spoke: "From now on, you are people of Shanlin Town. As long as you work hard, I will provide you with food, clothing, and build a place for you to settle down!"

"Now, stand up and set off with me!"

This time, Luoning's words received a reaction; it was unknown whether they acknowledged his status as their master, or if they were moved by the mention of housing and food in his words.

They stood up, saying things like "thank you, my lord," "many thanks, my lord," and that they would work hard, responding to Luoning's command and silently following behind the group.

(End of this chapter)