Chapter 60: Chapter 2: Commencement of Hydraulic Construction
After negotiating with the Half-Elves, Su Li returned to the territory with great confidence.
On this outing, he gained 800 Gold Coins, successfully recruited a Half-Elf family to join him, and gained the allegiance of 12 Half-Elf Archers and 20 Ogres.
These 12 Half-Elf Archers will follow Su Li’s Armed Attendants in every battle within the territory.
The 20 Ogres will remain in the territory, mainly participating in construction. These 20 Ogres do not include those Ogre Bull Warriors, who are left in the Half-Elf territory to guard the Half-Elf estate’s safety. The Ogres coming to Su Li’s territory are those labor mercenaries, highly favored by construction contractors due to their immense strength, capable of easily lifting a log by themselves. With their help, house construction progresses rapidly, and their demands are minimal, needing only enough food to satisfy their hunger. If they receive a few Copper Coins daily, their simple faces would beam with a hearty smile all day.
Upon returning to the territory, Su Li immediately rushed to the farm’s vicinity to find his Minister of the Seal, Lauren.
By this time, around the three farms, neat fertile fields had been cultivated, planted in orderly rows, and filled with verdant sprouts, instilling hope for the future.
This Minister of the Seal certainly deserves the Griffin Academy’s recognition; he has planned the territory remarkably well, with each plot meticulously cultivated and adequately reserving space for irrigation facilities.
Once the territory has sufficient manpower, this place can immediately become a fertile farmland with complete irrigation, orderly fields, and crisscrossing paths.
The Minister of Agriculture, Vandar, is guiding the serfs to work painstakingly on the farmland to maximize grain harvests from each field.
When Su Li arrived, Lauren and Vandar, accompanied by four armored Armed Attendants, were supervising serfs drawing water from the river and reservoir to irrigate the farmland.
Actually, in farming, the stages of land cultivation and seed planting are the lighter tasks, feasible for a woman to manage several acres of good land, and if needed, they can also use animal power for plowing. However, a household or farm requires robust male labor mainly due to the increased intensity of irrigation and harvesting.
Especially now, with these newly cultivated lands lacking completed irrigation facilities, irrigation depends heavily on manual labor for water transport, painstakingly watering bit by bit.
After all, the Dawn Church’s Divine Magic can enhance soil fertility, nourishing plants, but it cannot address the issue of plants needing water.
If the watering is insufficient, the output of these farmlands will be affected similarly.
Su Li was naturally unsatisfied with such a primitive and labor-intensive method of irrigation.
Upon seeing Su Li, Lauren hurriedly saluted, saying, "Praise the Divine Spirit! Lord, you returned from the conquest so quickly. It seems your conquest was very smooth."
Su Li nodded, saying, "This trip was relatively smooth, but my loyal minister, the internal affairs situation here makes it hard to satisfy me. Can this primitive watering method meet the needs of 1200 acres of land?"
Lauren turned to look at a dark-skinned serf walking with two buckets of water sweating profusely through the field ridges, venting his difficulties: "Lord, I know this method is cumbersome, but even this inefficient method is hard to implement widely in the territory. Our artisans can’t produce enough buckets—we have only about a hundred to water with. If half of the 1200 acres are fully irrigated, it would be an achievement; the rest will have to depend on nature for sustenance."
Su Li expected pioneer territory to be tough, but the shortfall in supplies here greatly exceeded his expectations. Even the supply of wooden buckets fell short! And this was despite having help from the Dwarf Master of Casting.
Taking a deep breath, Su Li said to Lauren, "My minister, I underestimated the difficulty of your work. However, there is good news; a Half-Elf construction team is coming to the territory with 20 strong Ogres. Arrange for them properly and ensure they start the irrigation engineering immediately, prioritizing channels reaching the lands yet to be irrigated."
Upon hearing Su Li’s message, Lauren became immediately excited: "A Half-Elf construction team? This is indeed remarkable news! As long as we can provide adequate food for the Ogres, all our water projects can be dug out at a noticeable speed; reservoirs can quickly form, and channels can stretch hundreds of meters overnight."
Ogres are undoubtedly beloved laborers for every Minister of Internal Affairs; the only challenge is satiating their perpetually hungry bellies. Unlike those cheap human labor stock, feeding them coarse grains consistently without occasionally providing meat can incite them to violent unrest.
Fortunately, Hesse Territory currently lacks no meat; the bounty from hunting and fishing often surpasses the capacity of smokehouses. This abundance is perfect for meeting the Ogres’ constant hunger, and a fed Ogre’s construction speed will be dozens of times, if not hundreds, faster than that of ordinary human serfs.
During their conversation, the Knights of the territory brought the foreman of the Half-Elf construction team and Half-Elf Archers on horseback first.
Harillah and Harriet, the two brothers, felt not disappointed by the simple environment of Hesse Territory. Instead, excitement shone in their eyes.
Harillah, the nephew of the Half-Elf chieftain, with a keen mind and responsible for the construction projects, looked around with eyes glowing: "Praise the Divine Spirit! This is a newly emerging and incredibly affluent Pioneer Territory—their lord likely holds thousands of Gold Coins! It’s a paradise of wealth for Half-Elves, where they can undertake castle walls, open taverns, serve as chefs, and see Golden Crowns flow endlessly into their family pockets."
Lauren warmly stepped forward; he was well aware of Half-Elf culinary skills, having heard legends of Half-Elf chefs once resolving a military conflict merely by roasting a wild boar.
"Lord Harillah, here you will find ample opportunities for wealth and prosperity. But first, we might host a bonfire banquet, welcoming your arrival and boosting the morale of the inhabitants. I am truly fed up with those ignorant village women cooking dark food. Then perhaps we can discuss cooperation, such as windmills, waterwheels, and farm water systems."
While Lauren engaged Harillah enthusiastically, Su Li received crucial intelligence from Harriet, brought by Knight Stein, who returned personally to report to Su Li.
"Lord, Commander-in-Chief Oerstein discovered a farm built by nomads in a valley of Green Leaf Land, according to your orders, awaiting your support deployment."
Harriet immediately raised his bow, standing atop a rock, excitedly shouting in pointed tones: "Oh, Lord! This is exactly when the Half-Elves can show their prowess. Perhaps we can let the big guys witness the might of Half-Elf Archery."