"Erosion, is it the legendary ......" Duke's memories of erosion came to him, and he was very surprised.

Because according to his current memory, it is impossible for the erosion to appear in the northern fortress, or anywhere except in the middle of the continent.

"That's right, it's the dark side of the legendary world, the evil forces that make the tainted creatures fall and tend to self-destruct. Vlavic replied in the affirmative.

"But isn't the entrance to the erosion in the middle of the continent, and has it long been suppressed by the Church of Light under the Basilica of Radiance? Duke blurted out his memories of what he had learned, and he knew how devastating it would be if the entrance to erosion appeared in the Dark Mountains adjacent to the Stronghold of the North.

"We are only suspicious now, and we can't rule out the possibility that the cultists used evil rituals to drive these demonic beasts, so please don't worry too much, the lord. Vlavich reminded him in due course, "We would like to ask the lord to write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor and the Church to state this matter separately, so that the Imperial Capital and the Church can judge this matter." ”

"Hmm...... That's a safe way to do it. Duke nodded, "I'll write a letter later and have the Pegasus messenger send it over." ”

"Lord, we don't have Pegasus messengers anymore. Joseph wiped his forehead with a small handkerchief in embarrassment, "Last month, we cut the last Pegasus messenger due to the high maintenance fee. ”

Duke put his hands on his forehead, this poor and sour territory really made him desperate.

Pegasus is a special horse bred by the Norse Empire, with huge wings, which cost only one-third of the cost of the traditional flying giant griffin, and can fly faster. So many nobles will hire a few Pegasus knights as special messengers to quickly deliver information.

"Then let the soldiers send them over quickly. Duke Kesheng said unlovingly, "After all, this matter will take a long time to confirm, so let's discuss how to deal with the matter in front of us." ”

He strengthened his spirits, after all, he was now the master of this territory, and this was also the foundation of his life in another world. If you don't build this place well, your life in another world will be predictably miserable.

"How many people and soldiers do we have in our territory, and whether the production of food is enough to maintain the needs of the territory. He asked his ministers a series of questions.

"We now have less than 10,000 people, mostly serfs and untouchables. There were just over 300 soldiers, but they were poorly equipped and untrained. The production of grain is basically sufficient for the needs of the territory, and there is still a lot of wasteland that remains uncultivated, and occasionally a small part is exported, which is almost the only profitable commercial activity in the territory," the Home Secretary said, but the content was not very pleasant.

Although he had already known that this duke was very watery, the population of less than 10,000, the three-digit old, weak, sick and disabled troops, and the barely self-sufficient food production still made Duke's jaw drop.

"Has our dukedom always been so barren?" asked Duke.

"Of course not, the first Duke of the North owns all the territories in the north of the Norse Empire, with millions of people and 100,000 elite troops, making it the richest and most powerful place in the entire empire. ”

Surprisingly, it was the chief knight Lenia who answered the question, and her face was flushed with excitement and her eyes were full of yearning.

"Lord, you are the last hope of the Flewolf family, please be sure to restore the legacy of your ancestors. Lenia obviously couldn't contain her excitement, and walked directly to Duke and grabbed his hands, and the two ministers behind just stretched out their hands and stopped stopping them.

Duke couldn't figure out what was going on, and was clutched by Lenia's iron-gloved hands, and no matter how much he tried to break free, he couldn't break free.

"I, Lenia Garder, the current head of the Gard family, will be the sharpest blade in your hand to cut through all obstacles before you. Lenia just knelt down on one knee in front of Duke and pronounced her oath.

This Nizi was greatly stimulated.

He took advantage of Lenia's excitement to quietly break free from his bound hands.

He felt as if he should have placed a sword on the chief knight's shoulder, but he reached out his right hand and stroked her hair gently.

"Yes, Lenia, I will definitely regain the glory of my ancestors. Duke thinks that knights can actually be addictive. "I'm here to do this. ”

Lenia whispered in agreement, blushing in shame, the strange atmosphere and the touch on her head already made her realize that she seemed to have done something terrible.

So she didn't pay attention to the meaning of Duke's words, so she quickly stood up and stood aside again.

Duke rubbed his hands together with some regret, only to realize that he was still in the castle hall.

"Ahem, in fact, what I want to say today is that we need to develop the economy and armaments of the territory. Speaking of business, Duke's face began to become serious, "Restoring the glory of the Duke of the North is a difficult task, but we should focus on the situation in front of us now. ”

"Joseph, you get rid of that batch of crystal nuclei as soon as possible, you can give up some benefits appropriately, but you must be fast, we urgently need this money to build the territory. Duke said earnestly to Joseph.

Joseph said yes in silence.

Duke turned to Lenia again and said, "Lenia, our soldiers are terrible, I want you to make the necessary selection of the existing soldiers, and then complete the training. ”

"Yes. Lenia pursed her lips and gave a knightly salute gladly taking the order.

"There is still a population, and our people are still too small to fully cultivate even the land of the small northern fortress. ”

Duke knew that in this era, population and manpower were still the main manifestations of productivity, and with enough population, many things could be done relatively smoothly.

Moreover, if they can successfully implement industrial and technological innovations, the value created by these populations will not be simply additive.

"But our territory is not particularly attractive to the freedmen. Joseph said with some concern.

"No, no, no, what I want is that you use the money to bring some slaves and homeless people back along the way, and we will find a way to settle them. Duke explained.

"But......" Joseph opened his mouth.

"Then let's do it first, you two go first, Vlavic, you come with me, I have something else to say to you. Duke interrupted Joseph, for there was no way to explain it to him because no follow-up decree had yet been issued.

He nodded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Knight and left his seat and walked towards the back garden of the castle.