Once Bai Xuan made a decision, he would never drag his feet, he immediately asked people to bring paper money and wrote a letter, asking the king to make Ember City his fief, and with a request that if the request was granted, he would be rewarded with twice the required materials for ordinary fiefdoms, and as for the reason, he also wrote a little vaguely, I believe His Majesty the King can understand it.

He had rarely seen His Majesty the King during his time in the royal capital, and the King had spent most of his time recuperating, perhaps because of his aggravated illness, and he was reluctant to see anyone, including his own sons and close ministers.

This does not bode well, but hopefully this letter will help.

Carres wanted to deliver the letter in person, but considering Bai Xuan's safety concerns, he couldn't leave, so he had to send two of his most powerful personal guards back to the royal capital, and told them to bring enough horses and deliver them as soon as possible.

The letter had been sent out, and there was nothing to do, Bai Xuan decided to go to Ember City to walk around and inspect the small city, and the group rode out of the post station and slowly walked along the city wall.

"This city wall only extends here?" asked Dong Lei as he walked, and it only took ten minutes for Bai Xuan to find that he had come to an end.

The city wall is actually very simple, the height is only about six meters, the thickness is close to two meters, all composed of stone strips, every thirty meters there is an arrow tower two meters higher than the city wall, it is a semi-Gothic spire style, semi-Gothic refers to in order to save stones, this spire is very low, only takes care of practicality, and does not take much care of aesthetics.

But that's enough, Bai Xuan is completely observing from the perspective of a fortification, and doesn't think about whether it's good or not.

"Your Highness, this section of the wall has already exceeded, well, according to the calculation you just mentioned, more than five ...... Kilometer. "Winter Thunder is not used to this unit of measurement," the stone is mined nearby, and even so, it has been built successively for more than 30 years, which is a big project, and it has been built with the border in mind, so the city wall is very strong. ”

Under normal circumstances, defense should be fine, but if it is to defend against a large army, it is definitely not enough.

"Is it still being built now?" Bai Xuan reached out and touched the stones, which felt hard to the touch.

"This place is sparsely populated, and there are even fewer available artisan coolies, so the repair stops, otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long, and it is still being built, but the progress is extremely slow, and the cost given by the royal capital is very small, and it can only barely survive by relying on the taxes here. ”

If you build a city with a complete wall, it is impossible to think of it in a short time, so defense is not the best solution.

The construction of the walls of Ember City started from the north, that is, in the direction of facing the Black Curse Forest, and the east and west directions were also being built, and the south, that is, in the direction of the chalk inland, was put at the end, according to the current progress, if it took another fifty or sixty years, it would probably be possible to complete the siege, so that Ember City would become a city surrounded by complete walls.

Fifty or sixty years?Bai Xuan shook his head, it seemed that he needed to start from other aspects, such as better weapons.

Next, the group went to the port to see, said that it was a port, in fact, it is a wharf of the Juliu River, as its name suggests, the width of the Juliu River is more than 50 meters in this vicinity, the water flow is gentle, and the water depth also meets the requirements of the general ship docking, and it is very qualified as a wharf.

But if it is a river port, this kind of infrastructure is completely linked to economic development, and with the current development, it will take at least one or two decades to develop here into a good river port.

Most of the buildings in the city are stone houses, and there are also many earthen houses in the fringe areas, most of which are the residences of farmers and commoners. This kind of earthen house is made of clay firing and hardening into blocks, and the essence is still clods, mixed with some special substances, the hardness is far worse than that of bricks, but it is stronger than rammed earth, and it is easier to shape.

The commercial facilities in the city are quite perfect, there are a few relatively large hotels, taverns, blacksmith shops, weapons shops, and various handicraft workshops, which are basically developed according to the needs of the flow of people, and there are almost no other unrelated industries.

"Where are things like grain, furs, and alien beast ores traded?" Bai Xuan asked Dong Lei, who barely saw the grocery store.

"Those are all in the Demon Leaf Market in Ember City, right in the center of the city, I have gathered all the shops of a trade nature together, which is convenient for trading and management, and now it has a certain scale, and it is also the main source of tax revenue. Winter Thunder replied.

Bai Xuan nodded, this should be what Dong Lei is good at, which shows that this fat man is indeed quite business-minded, and the economy can develop, and everything else can be developed, including the most expensive military.

"Your Highness wants to go and see it?"

"Will there be a difference?"

"Yes, Your Highness, the elk you won is in Paul's shop, and his shop is in the market. Carres replied.

"Then go and see, do you want to go?" Bai Xuan turned his head and asked the elf's opinion, she might not like this kind of noisy place.

"Is there a lot for sale?" said Falling God as he put his hood on, "that should be fun." ”

Bai Xuan smiled slightly, it seems that even elves have the nature of women who love shopping.

The Wildhorned Elk, he had already asked Paul and Master Thomas to deal with it, the magic materials were all useful, and the rest could be sold, and he was also trying to see the results.

When he arrived at the entrance of the market and looked at the turquoise zigzag leaf petal emblem on the arch of the door, Bai Xuan was still slightly surprised, he thought that this was just a very small place, dirty, tattered, and disorganized, but this was not the case.

The market as a whole covers a large area, the planning is very reasonable, a bit like the farmers' market in later generations, the stalls are also in a row, all kinds of goods are stacked neatly, the ground is relatively clean, there should be a special person to clean, there is a small wooden house at the door, there is a wooden sign with a sword and shield hanging on it, and there are several soldiers wearing standard equipment to guard there.

"Viscount Winter Thunder, this place is better than I thought. Bai Xuan dismounted, and Dong Lei beckoned the soldiers to come and take the horses away.

"Your Highness has won the prize, and it took a long time for this trading market to be standardized and managed, and it has slowly formed its current scale. The fat man grinned, "But after a long time, these hunting groups and merchants who come and go also know the benefits, and the regulated market is conducive to their efficient and safe transactions, and they will take the initiative to restrain their personnel to abide by the rules, and now it is much better." ”

Bai Xuan nodded, affirming Viscount Winter Lei's achievements, and then walked inside, Luoshen and Karles followed behind him, their eyes were very vigilant.

The bustling market is in stark contrast to the sparse flow of people outside, followed by all kinds of noise, shouting, bargaining, scolding, and even strange animal calls.

"Could it be that there are still living beasts trading?" Bai Xuan listened to the voice that looked like a cat and not a cat, like a dog and not a dog, and doubts rose in his heart.