Thirty swift birds draped in vehicles and lay still on the ground. Victor and his guards will ride these swift birds back to Pinghu Town, their horses as pack beasts, carrying heavy chain mail weapons and some precious materials, mainly the associated crystals of the silver mines, and silver ingots.

Victor is going to bring these things to Pinghu Town, ask jewelers to process them into jewelry, and then try to sell them. Although the alchemy auxiliaries can also make exquisite silver jewelry, their craft works have the style of the alchemy empire, which is self-contained, and is incompatible with this era, and can easily fall into the eyes of those who care, bringing unnecessary trouble to Victor.

All transactions involving gold and silver should be handled with extreme caution.

The alchemy militia bundled up the last pack of goods, and the team was ready to go. Victor held the hilt of his sword in his hand and said to Busso: "From now on, the mountain fortress will no longer produce ordinary fine iron equipment, you must come up with the equipment plan of the Alchemy Dragon Lizard Team as soon as possible to meet the combat and gathering needs of mountains, swamps, forests, and plain terrain, the key is to be able to replenish on the spot." ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Before leaving, Victor made significant adjustments to the production tasks of the mountain fortress according to the actual situation.

The hill camp would become a real armament production base, where Victor planned to build a large furnace to make ordinary weapons and armor from the poor iron ore and refined iron provided by the Yorks. Although recruiting hired workers and mining iron ore was also a major expense, there was no longer a need for transport teams between the hill camp and the mountain fortress, and at least 40 alchemy militias could be liberated.

The mountain fortress is responsible for smelting minerals in the mountainous area, building special equipment, raising swift birds, collecting mountain goods, and making various potions. At the same time, Victor also launched a plan to open up the Swamp.

At the heart of this plan is, of course, trade with the lizardmen, and the wizard Imerson is the key to it. On top of that, there's a lot of work to be done, including digging platforms into cliff faces, building large lifting equipment, sending alchemy militia squads deep into the swamp, gathering intel on the lizardfolk tribe, and assembling a formidable armed transport force.

Victor is going to build a solid forward base under the cliff, create 3 more alchemy dragon lizards, and gather 5 dragon lizard battle squads, each team is equipped with 1 dragon lizard, 2 barberry militia, 4 spirit monkey militia, 4 alchemy war mastiffs, 10 alchemy crows, dragon lizards and war mastiffs must wear special Thur silver armor, and the alchemy militia is equipped with the most sophisticated Thur silver equipment. 50 militiamen, 20 auxiliaries and 20 mastiffs were to be stationed at the forward base.

This plan requires at least 100 alchemist humans, and the mountain fortress has a total of 818 alchemist humans.

At present, there are a total of 1,177 alchemy humans in existence, Randall wants to retain an elite force, each smuggling caravan needs to install 15 alchemy militias, the mountain fortress also needs to maintain a considerable number of alchemy humans, collect silver resources, and the Raven Town in the north also needs people. Victor really felt that the number of alchemy humans was too small and too small.

Randall has a large number of freedfolk hired laborers, and there is a lot of logistical cost to maintain them, and Victor has many secrets that no one else can know. Alchemy creatures work hard, no need for compensation, and the supply loss is almost zero, but Victor's stall is too big, and these more than 1,000 alchemy creatures seem to be a little insufficient.

Don't forget, alchemy humans only have a lifespan of 15 years, and if you don't use them to the extreme, Victor feels sorry for the manufacturing cost of 1200 gold soles. He can only manage to optimize the efficiency of the use of alchemy humans now. For example, large furnaces were built near ore veins to minimize the number of people involved in transportation. However, building a furnace requires more energy crystals. Before getting the second batch of red crystals, the fortress could only continue to maintain a trolley transport team of 280 people

The reality is so contradictory, Victor couldn't help but sigh: "Except for the alchemy dragon lizard, isn't there no natural creature that can act as a mountain transportation force?"

Busso immediately said: "The black wool argali, with hard bones, thick and tough meat, smelly, difficult to eat, has a strong weight-bearing capacity, can carry 500 pounds of heavy objects in the mountains, and can be tamed. ”

Victor stayed for a moment and grunted, "Don't say it sooner......"

It is not that cattle and horses cannot transport supplies in the mountains, but they need a simple mountain road, otherwise they can easily break their legs and feet. However, building horse trails in mountainous areas is time-consuming, laborious and difficult to maintain. During the rainy season, improvised horse trails can easily be washed away by flash floods. Therefore, the alchemical militia still undertook the work of transporting mountain fortresses.

The black argali, in Busso's mouth, may be extinct, but it reminds Victor. The kingdom of Neville is densely forested and rugged, and the Neville people must have domesticated pack beasts that resemble black argali.

Bringing Neville's mountain beasts over will not only satisfy the needs of the mountain fortresses, liberate more alchemist militias, but also improve the transportation efficiency of smuggling caravans.

Thinking of this, Victor was in a good mood and asked, "Busso, what else do you need here?"

Busso said, "My lord, the parchment scroll has run out. We need more sheepskin scrolls. ”

Victor once ordered the alchemy auxiliaries to copy the techniques they had mastered in Chinese characters on parchment scrolls. If Ant-Man captures the Centaur Hills and the Alchemy Tower is lost, Victor will take these valuable scrolls of knowledge and evacuate the territory.

Knowledge is wealth, and knowledge is the power that can change destiny.

Even if he loses the Alchemy Tower, Victor will be able to make a comeback with these knowledge scrolls. To do this, he procured 3,200 parchment scrolls and gave them to Busso.

"Give me a number. Victor waved his hand very proudly.

"70,000 copies. ”

"Okay......! 70,000?" Victor lowered his arm frozen in mid-air and exclaimed angrily, "How many sheepskin scrolls do you say?"

"70,000 copies. Busso repeats it clearly, very clearly.

Victor froze and asked in a deep voice, "Why do you need so many sheepskin scrolls?"

"My lord, it took us 526 parchment scrolls to paint the craftsmanship and graphics of the Thorsilver battleship. In order to transcribe the contents of the side of our will, 70,000 copies of the parchment scroll are only the first batch, and more are needed to come. ”

A parchment scroll is also known as parchment, but it is not paper, it is parchment. The craftsman first dehairs the sheepskin, tanns it into leather, and then stretches it to the extreme with a special wooden frame, thins it with a knife, and dries it into sheets. Each sheepskin can be used to make 6 sheepskin scrolls.

The Solim family in the south is the largest maker of parchment scrolls in Gambis, and they have mastered a unique process that allows them to produce parchment scrolls that will not rot for hundreds of years, and their prices are not cheap.

12 parchment scrolls are worth 1 gold sol, and with the cost of transportation and the caravan's profits, it costs even more. Victor buys sheepskin scrolls from the Chebman family, which costs 1 gold sol for every 8 copies, and 3,200 parchment scrolls cost a total of 400 gold soles.

The knowledge in the will side of the alchemy auxiliaries does not involve advanced theories, but contains the basic information of tens of thousands of plants, animals, and minerals, as well as the smelting technology of various ores, the alloy manufacturing process, the potion production process, the weapon manufacturing process, the castle design scheme, the manufacturing process of large trebuchets and bed crossbows, the manufacture of ships, the manufacture of transport vehicles, and so on.

Now, it would cost 526 parchment scrolls just to copy the design drawings of the Thoryin battleship, and those 70,000 parchment scrolls would definitely not be enough! As for how many parchment scrolls were needed to completely transcribe the knowledge, Victor didn't know, and he didn't want to figure it out, he only knew that the price of the parchment scrolls would skyrocket, until he couldn't afford them!

"Busso, do you know how to make paper?"

"My lord, I don't have any information about paper here. ”

"I knew that...... I don't know how to make paper. ”

Victor exhaled heavily, the alchemy empire can directly load knowledge into the will side of the alchemy humans, and the alchemy tower can extract the memories of alchemy creatures, which is more advanced than the computer technology on the earth. Alchemists will definitely not use paper as a carrier of civilization, even if the alchemy empire has paper, most of it is used by alchemists to wipe their butts. Obviously, alchemist humans don't need to make paper for alchemists.

"Pause knowledge transcription. We'll fix this later. ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Victor stepped onto the vehicle, the swift bird raised its head and roared, and the team headed east.

Four hours later, Victor arrived in Pinghu Town. The two-meter-tall Swiftbird mount caused an immediate sensation, so much so that the crowd of onlookers at the castle chased Swiftbird into the town.

That's right, it's the castle.

The construction of the castle began in February of last year's water season, lasted 11 months, mobilized 4,000 young people, and finally completed in January of this autumn season.

The castle covers an area of 24 acres, with the lowest wall 40 meters high and the tallest tower 48 meters, with a total of 107 rooms, 6 towers, and 12 cellars. In the courtyard there are two warehouses, a stable, a blacksmith's shop, and a well. If the castle is fully stocked, it can support more than 700 people for a year.

The castle is made of solid limestone, and the walls are 6 meters thick, and the walls are so smooth that there is not a single gap in sight, and it is impossible for even a great knight of the wind system to climb the 38-meter-high wall under the rain of arrows and fire oil. Although this majestic Viscount Castle was built on flat ground, heavy trebuchets were necessary to capture it. The trebuchets on the castle are not ornaments, and their superiority will allow them to smash the enemy's trebuchets into powder.

There are only castles that have collapsed from the inside, and there are no castles that have fallen. This is not an empty phrase.

In addition to being used as a military defense, the castle is also of great political significance. The castle represents the power, status, strength and prestige of the lord family, and has the effect of uniting people's hearts. It can be said that there is a castle before there is a family.

With the addition of the mountain castle and the castle of Raventown, Victor currently owns three castles, but he can't deny that this castle marks the fact that Viscount Randall is the rightful lord of the territory, and even the king and the church can change that. Although, this is only an auxiliary fort.

The castle is still 2,600 meters away from the fence on the west side of Pinghu Town, and according to Victor's plan, a 35-meter-high wall and two other auxiliary forts will be built along this castle in the future, expanding Pinghu Town into a city of 48 square kilometers. The three auxiliary forts guard the northern, western, and southern walls, while the main fort is located on the shore of the Pinghu Lake in the east, adjacent to the water.

In the future, not only Pinghu Town will have a fortress, three auxiliary forts, but also a giant fortress will be built in the hill camp, and each village will be built into a fort and a town.

Randall has 9,000 square kilometers, Raven Town 1,300 square kilometers, and Victor wants to build 2 cities, 9 towns and 16 villages, a total of 2 fortresses and 14 castles. With its giant brick kilns and rock bricks, this castle is just the beginning, and Victor's vision is no longer limited to realms and castles, there are more important things waiting for him to build.

In any case, the castle meant a lot to the Randall family, who would wander around the castle if they had nothing to do, and some of them would not leave.

In the castle's master bedroom, the huge bed was covered with silver bricks, and Lilia lay on it, her fair and beautiful legs crossed, carefully counting each of the accompanying crystals, her eyes sparkling.

Victor couldn't help but say, "Don't you feel too hard to sleep on it?"

"I don't think so. Lilia didn't look up, holding a piece of blue crystal, and smiled lightly.

"These things are worthless. ”

Victor slapped his peach-like buttocks and lay down on the silver mattress, really panicking. Lilia immediately leaned on Victor's chest, her apricot eyes were round, and she shook and shook the blue crystal in front of Victor, "This is a gem, and below is silver, how can it be worthless?!"

Victor snatched the blue crystal from the little woman's hand, threw it aside, and said, "If you can't eat, you can't drink, you can't resist the cold, you can't defeat the enemy, what is it worth?"

"I don't believe it. Lilia did not hesitate to take Victor's embrace, turned over and picked up the two crystals, and said happily: "I used to dream of lying on gold, surrounded by precious stones! ”

"Little money fans. Victor pinched Lilia's face and said dotingly, "These must be made into jewelry and silverware, but it is difficult to sell them for a high price." ”

Lilia asked, puzzled, "Why, aren't jewelry and silverware expensive?"

"We have no problem with this silver being minted into silverware ourselves, and if we take it out and sell it, we will be in big trouble, and even if it is made into silver plates and candlesticks, it will only be secretly sold by free folk traders. At present, only the trading houses of the Marquis de Leopold, the Minister of Finance, could legally deal in gold and silverware. The fine silver plates they made could mint more than 70 silver coins, but they could only sell for 30 silver soles. It's the same with gold. ”

"These crystals are just rough stones, so they're even less valuable. Victor grabbed a handful of crystals and let them slip out of his hand, explaining, "You can only sell them for a high price if you make them into jewelry." And the price of jewelry is not only due to the level of material and craftsmanship. In fact, it is the reputation of the craftsman and the person who wears the jewelry that really determines the price of the jewelry. ”

"Master Ben Benjamin of the royal capital of Gambis was a jeweller for the royal family, and his jewellery could be sold for thousands of gold soles. Jewelry made by unknown craftsmen, even if it is more beautiful than Ben Ben Ben's work, is unlikely to fetch a high price. Ben Benjamin was the royal jeweler, and his fame represented the status of the jeweler. And it's the status that makes up for the value of jewelry. ”

"Her Royal Highness Princess Roland has used tableware to be sought after by the children of the nobility, this is the celebrity effect. And these things, made into jewelry, can only be sold to vassals. How much can a vassal spend on it?"

"It's not worth much....."

Seeing that Lilia became extremely lost, Victor smiled and comforted: "Don't be discouraged, maybe the jewelry you used can be sold for sky-high prices in the future?"

"Really?"

"Well, I promise I'll collect Lilia's jewelry at a sky-high price. Victor laughed and said, "Okay." Tell me how many people are now contributing to the construction of houses. ”

Lilia leaned back into her husband's arms and said, "In the beginning, only 235 families were willing to pay for the house, but since the castle was built, the number of families who have contributed to the house has increased to 421, and we have collected 12,630 gold soles, deducting the deposit of 10,000 gold soles from the church, and the balance is 2,630 gold soles. ”

"After that, no one wants to pay for a house anymore?"

"How so?"

Victor frowned, Randall led to provide 600 places to build houses, and planned to recruit 600 free people's families, nearly 3,000 registered citizens, and select stewards and soldiers from them. Although, 30 Kinsol is a lot of money for the freedmen, but it is not enough for the capable and knowledgeable freedmen, not to mention that Victor also provided loans.

The freedmen who built houses and households could serve as stewards and soldiers, and they were paid every month. In three years, their family will be converted into a lord, and they will be able to rent 80 acres of land. In a few years, you will be able to earn back 30 goldsoles.

It stands to reason that with such favorable conditions, 600 places should be snapped up, why are so many people missing? Could it be that the freedmen hired by Randall are short-sighted farmers?

Lilia sighed and said, "All 300 stewards have been recruited, and 60 security soldiers have also been recruited, but only 93 mercenaries have been recruited. When the freedmen heard that only mercenaries were now recruited, they were reluctant to build houses. ”

"I see. ”

Victor nodded, he kind of understood, why Nelson said that the free people were unreliable!

Free people are afraid of death!

Victor thought it would be easy to recruit soldiers among the homeless, but it wasn't.

In ancient times, the displaced people of the earth often wandered around to survive because of famine and war, and lived a life of life and death. At this time, as long as someone organizes recruitment, an army can be pulled up immediately. However, the wild resources of this world are abundant, and the homeless people are not easy to starve to death, they are afraid of monsters and beasts, and in the end, they are afraid of death. Most crucially, the church acted as an organizer of the displaced people, who asked the lord to shelter the displaced people, provide food and work. If the territory is in danger, the church will also arrange for the evacuation of displaced people.

Can an organized outcast still be called a nomad, and can mercenaries be recruited from it?

The homeless had a church to rely on, they had no sense of belonging to the realm and the kingdom, and the lord hated the homeless because of it. It was the Church that drew a deep chasm between the populace and the aristocracy, which also hindered Victor's development.

After all, Randall is a pioneer leader, and it is reasonable that the outcasts are afraid of becoming cannon fodder for the Randall family. Until the entrance to the Swamp is blocked, recruiting mercenaries will be difficult, and Victor has little to do about it.

However, those 93 mercenaries have vision and courage, and they are many times stronger than those outcasts who think they are smart but are actually cowardly, and can be trained as elites and non-commissioned officers.

The fire refining real gold can be regarded as a comfort.

Victor smiled and asked, "Did Nelson jump in a hurry?"

"Sister Linda is about to give birth, and my brother follows Father Miller's ass every day, and he hasn't bothered to jump his feet. Lilia smiled and said, "By the way, the deed hasn't been issued yet, and the sheepskin scroll is not enough." Honey, can you get some sheepskin scrolls out of the hill camp?"

Victor was silent for a moment, he couldn't tell Lilia that all of the more than 3,000 parchment scrolls had been used.

"I'll still have those parchment scrolls useful, you can ask Alice to buy some more." ”

"Okay. ”

Lilia nodded, picked up another crystal and played with it. Victor fell into deep thought.

Sheepskin scrolls are unbearable, and papermaking is imperative!

Expensive parchment scrolls are the monopoly of knowledge by the aristocracy and the church, and cheap paper will give birth to many commoner scholars and promote the development of civilization, and a strong human civilization is capable of facing unpredictable opponents, which is in line with Victor's needs.

However, Victor doesn't know how to make paper, and that's not his job.

As a lord, Victor has a lot of manpower at his disposal, and he can have others make paper, but paper making is only a superficial problem.

The problem of inventing paper and recruiting mercenaries made Victor realize that it was time to build a system!

The lease employment system, which combines land lease and tenant employment, is in line with the reality of Randall's territory, but there must be a system on top of the system.

If the system is the root system and the backbone, then the system is the branches and leaves, and the combination of the two can become a towering tree.

On the basis of the vassal system, the lord had a military system, an education system, a judicial system, an internal political system, and a trade system. In the same way, Victor wants to build these systems on the basis of a lease-hire system. Papermaking can be incorporated into the educational and scientific research system, and mercenaries can be incorporated into the military system.

The specific content of each system, Victor still needs time to consider, but the general principle will not change.

Merit must be rewarded, and punishment must be punished, to ensure a relatively fair upward channel, and strive to convert freedmen into supporters, to train supporters into helpers, and through permanent land leases, let excellent helpers become Victor's supporters.

Once the system is perfected, the leasing and employment system can burst out with unimaginable vitality. Invention and creation will continue to flow, army building will develop rapidly, and the territory will run on its own. It should be said that the huge organization built by Victor will continue to grow.

In a way, this has touched the interests of the church. Because the freedmen will find a sense of belonging in the tenancy-employment system, they will become the children of Victor, they will no longer be lambs of the church, they may have faith, but they may not be religious.

Lilia didn't know what Victor was thinking at this moment, she picked up a piece of red crystal, gestured it on her chest, and said, "Honey, how about I make a pendant with this crystal?"

Victor looked around, and saw a snow-white ravine behind the red crystal. Four years have passed, Lilia is 22 years old, compared with the 18-year-old youth, she has more mature charm, big breasts and buttocks, long legs and thin waist, fair complexion, and picturesque eyebrows.

The beauty was on the side, and Victor couldn't help but move his index finger, he reached out and grabbed Yingying's slender waist, and was about to kiss the seductive red lips, Lilia giggled, twisted her body, and got rid of Victor's clutches like a snake.

"Huh?!, you actually used the Spirit Monkey Secret Form to reject me?" said Victor dissatisfied.

Lilia leaned over and kissed her husband on the lips and smiled, "Honey, you have to save your strength now." ”

"Dare you underestimate me! You weren't the obedient I cleaned up that time?!" Victor was furious.

"Someone is waiting for you at Silvermoon Manor. Lilia pursed her lips with a look of jealousy, but a sly smile in her eyes.

"Nicole?"

"No! it's Mrs. Judy. ”