Chapter 95: 96. Population Breakthrough

After ending the intense rhythm of his offensive, Luoning's pace of life slowed down once again.

Although life in Ziguo Village was not as comfortable as in Shanlin Town, in order to teach the Mulberry Cutting Method and the Layering Method to Huoen, Luoning needed to spend a fair amount of time and patience on demonstrations, especially the latter method, which he had only seen others use and had never tried himself.

During these past two days, Luoning also inspected the fields cleared in Ziguo Village and selected ten mu of land, planning them into a mulberry planting base.

Planting mulberries also required the Ridge Tillage Method, and compared to wheat cultivation, the ridges for mulberry trees needed to be slightly higher. Luoning taught this method to Huoen in advance and told him that when planting, a spacing of about eighty to ninety centimeters should be maintained between every two plants.

Oral instruction was ultimately only for guidance; the extent to which the expansion of mulberry planting could be executed would still depend on Huoen's operational ability.

Seeing that the other party was very serious and even taking detailed notes, there should still be some hope.

Luoning did not expect this matter to be completed within a year; that was not very practical.

He was only seventeen years old this year, and time was on his side. He had Along time to improve conditions and eventually bring silk out of this mountain forest.

On the afternoon of the third day, accompanied by Huoen, Luoning arrived at the northernmost edge of the Ziguo Tribe.

The Wubei Woodland was not small, and there was a large area further north, but no humans lived there, let alone savage tribes.

"So you mean, there were once refugees, nobles who took their people north and took root there, forming tribes just like yours? It's just that later on, these tribes all vanished without a trace?"

Luoning stood on a high slope, gazing toward the north; he felt as if he could even see the ocean churning with waves on the horizon.

It was said that the north of Wushan Territory was surrounded by the ocean, but it had always remained in an undeveloped state, which was quite unusual.

Logically speaking, shouldn't the seaside be more prosperous?

For example, Jianjiao City in Wushan Territory was Wushan Territory's seaport city, and Dennis Port connected Wushan Territory with the Auduin Kingdom, with extremely frequent trade, paying an unknown amount of gold coins in tribute to Wushan Castle every year.

To be surrounded by the sea in the north yet remain undeveloped was truly surprising.

He spread out the map and took a look; it was also possible that this area protruding to the north was too "isolated overseas," with very long trade routes to other places, and on top of that, no highly profitable development resources had been discovered, leading to the lack of human footprints in the north.

"Yes, my Lord!"

Huoen said, "I once went to the north to investigate. There were indeed traces of human activity there; I saw wooden houses, stone houses, and quite a few white bones on the ground, but I didn't find many human figures."

He recalled, a trace of panic appearing on his face, "I felt that the disappearance of the people there was not normal, so I didn't dare to go any deeper."

Is that so?

Luoning frowned and looked at the Guard Officer Maiken who was guarding by his side.

The latter understood, "My Lord, rest assured. Once I have time, I will take men to thoroughly scout this northern area and mark out the dangerous zones in advance."

Luoning nodded, "Ziguo Village has already existed safely for these years, so even if there are any dangerous areas, the impact won't be significant. As for the scouting, wait until you have promoted to a Bronze Knight before considering it."

"Understood, my Lord."

Huoen stood to the side listening to the conversation between these two master and servant, feeling that it was strange.

Promoting to the Bronze level was not an easy matter; some people would get stuck at the Advanced Knight stage for a lifetime.

But listening to these two talk, it seemed like a certainty, or even a very easy task.

Could it be that this Maiken had already reached the edge of a breakthrough?

Huoen recalled the scene a few days ago where Maiken completely crushed Sileiyin, and he nodded secretly in his heart; it was truly possible.

"Da-da-da~"

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and the group could not help but look up, only to see Ailin and Jennie riding over on horses.

Luoning had left three of Sileiyin's warhorses for Jennie's family; they had been learning horsemanship over the past two days, and it seemed they had mastered it quite well now.

Before long, the two horses arrived in front of the crowd.

Ailin nimbly flipped off her horse and said with a smile, "Brother Luoning, your Administrator Wilson is back from the Huitu Tribe."

After getting along for a few days, the little one Ailin still couldn't resist the temptation of calling him brother and finally said it.

"Oh?"

Luoning smiled, "It seems Wilson has finished registering the people of the Huitu Tribe."

"Yes, my Lord."

Jennie flipped off her horse, "Wilson said he wants to report the work situation to you. In addition, Zhuweite has also followed your instructions and brought back a large bag of the Huitu Tribe's specialty, 'gray soil'."

The specialty of Qingzhu Village was bamboo, and the specialty of Ziguo Village was sericulture; Luoning was very curious about what the "gray soil" that Babulin and the others spoke of as the Huitu Tribe's specialty actually was.

"Then let's go back."

Luoning was somewhat impatient; he took Ailin's horse and flipped onto it, "Little Ailin, do you want to come up?"

Ailin's face turned red, and after hesitating for a moment, she said weakly, "I, I'll just ride my mother's horse."

"Hahaha~"

Luoning laughed; teasing the little one could still bring him some amusement, it was just a pity the little girl was too young.

"Maiken, you accompany Ailin and the others back."

He turned his horse around and galloped toward the village.

Before long, he arrived at the living room, where Wilson and Zhuweite were waiting for him.

As soon as Luoning entered, the two hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Zhuweite said, "My Lord, Ruidar asked me to tell you that the situation in Huitu Village is going smoothly. All the subjects already know that you are their master, and you can go to inspect at any time."

"I know. You were able to stabilize things in such a short time; you have done very well!"

Wilson handed over the organized booklet, "My Lord, this is the census result of the Huitu Tribe. Compared to Qingzhu Village and Ziguo Village, the Huitu Tribe has more craftsmen."

He introduced, "I inquired, and there are three carpenters alone, one of whom has a skill level likely on par with William. In addition, there are two masons, and quite a few able-bodied men."

Luoning laughed; the Huitu Tribe was indeed worthy of having sucked the blood of its allies, it was truly much stronger.

"Wilson, your ability is getting stronger and stronger."

He gave a compliment and took the booklet.

As soon as the parchment was in his hand, system text appeared before his eyes—

【Achievement "Population Prosperity" reached, Attribute Point +50, Energy Essence +100】

The population of Huitu Village was 455 in total. Adding the populations of Shanlin Town, Qingzhu Village, and Ziguo Village, the number of subjects Luoning possessed had now reached 3,180, surpassing the achievement requirement of the 3,000 mark.

Luoning casually opened the achievement interface, and the information on it had updated:

【Population Prosperity】: The registered population of the territory has reached five thousand people. Reward: Attribute Point +100, Energy Essence +200.

The quantity requirement did not increase by much at once, only two thousand, so it does not look very difficult.

If Luoning conquers the Heiling Tribe and then purchases some more Slaves, perhaps he will be able to complete this achievement.

(End of this chapter)