Peaceful days always pass quickly, and when the beastmen invaded, Rhodes was busy on the front line every day, and every day was dangerous and fearful. Later, there was a rebellion in Erlengrad, and he was also in a state of mental tension all the time, as Caroline said - the time was stretched. It's like every day is like the New Year. And now, at last, the days of peace and quiet have arrived. Days like this go by very quickly.

Every day doesn't change much, and although it changes over time, when you put yourself in your shoes, every day is so uneventful. Wake up every morning to the rising sun and the busy town, eat a working meal at noon, go around in the afternoon, and return to the castle at night to rest and sleep. Reciprocating cycles. But if you think about it, life is like this, you can't live a wonderful life every day, and it's normal for the days to fly by after quieting.

And when everything settles down, all that's left is to move forward step by step according to the plan and plan. Fortunately, after more than a year of development, so far, Blackhammer Fort has not deviated much on the path of development, everything is expected. All expenses and income are within the controllable range.

Sitting in the office, Rhodes closed his eyes and thought back on the road he had traveled in the past three years, which was not legendary, but it was also singable and crying. It's just that there is always a good attendant missing, it seems that this is a curse, and the attendant who stays by his side never lasts more than two years. Either he died in battle, or he was seriously wounded. Tallinnam ...... Rhodes suddenly remembered his last squire, when he was in the Cipher Castle, he and Tallinnham were lost, and from then on, there was no longer a squire by the side of the Lord of Blackhammer. It's been almost two years now, and I don't know how this kid is now, dead or alive......

Just as he was thinking, Alves' footsteps sounded outside the door. This kid has always been free to shuttle around the castle, and Rhodes gave him the privilege of coming in without knocking, but this guy always maintains the last etiquette. He insisted on knocking on the door before entering. Over time, Rod won't care about him, you can do whatever you like~~

"The census you want me to do is done, and here's the report. ”

As soon as Alves entered, he got down to business. Like Rhodes, Alves' style of doing things is to get down to business first and gossip later.

"Unexpectedly, in just one year after I came to Blackhammer Castle, the population here has swelled to eight thousand three, which is simply more than when the Ring City was at its most prosperous. ”

Alves handed over the report and sat on the couch in his office, habitually boasting about himself.

"So, the population growth of Blackhammer is all dependent on your management?"

Rod taunted daily.

"You can't say that, it's the general trend, as you said, standing on the tuyere, pigs will fly. The Rebellion of Errengrad, combined with the annihilation of the Ring, brought a large number of aliens to Blackhammer. Of course, it is also our arrangement in advance that can smoothly accept these refugees. ”

Alves said, picking up the large bottle on the table and pouring himself a glass of wine. He sipped on his drink and looked up at the map of Blackhammer Fort behind Rhodes' desk.

"I think you've studied the terrain of Blackhammer Castle a long time ago, right?"

Alves asked, pointing to the map hanging from the wall behind Rhodes.

"The research on the ground is thorough, but the underground is not yet. ”

Rod replied casually, looking at the detailed census report to himself.

"You can't see or touch the underground, how can you study?"

"The Dwarven engineering team will help me figure it out, and although they are still very small in number, I believe they will gradually increase in the future. By the way, have you done the statistics of how many dwarves are in Black Hammer Castle in Dulong City?"

Rod buried his head in the report and continued to ask.

"Nope. Dwarves are not under your jurisdiction, and I don't think we have the authority to investigate this. Of course, if you want to figure it out, I can talk to them. ”

"Forget it, it's not much anyway. I recognize the most important ones. ”

"There were one thousand and twenty wheat growers, five hundred and fifty-five barley growers, eight hundred and thirty-one potato growers, and three hundred and three other crop growers. The total number of people engaged in agriculture - two thousand seven hundred and nine?"

"Well, as of a week ago, I did the classification and totaling, and made an average of the salaries of various industries, all in this table, how about it?

Alves asked, putting down his glass and staring at Rhodes.

"That's a lot. ”

"More?"

"Well, that's a lot. The total population of Blackhammer Fort is less than 9,000, and more than 2,700 people are engaged in agriculture, accounting for one-third of the total population. What does this prove?"

Rod put down the report and looked at Alves with a smile.

"Proof what?"

"Prove that we're still a town, not a city. The high dependence on agriculture is not a good thing, the climate in the north is not suitable for large-scale development of agriculture, almost all crops are ripe here once a year, the yield is not good, in addition, there are blizzards and hail in the north such disastrous weather, once encountered, crops will be lost, and many really valuable cash crops can not be planted, except for ice pepper can bring huge profits, other crops, most of them are just low-end products, used for food and saturation winemaking. Agriculture can be developed, but it is not a major industry for the North. Expansion will not bring about a multiplication of benefits, so we should do our best to support industry and commerce rather than agriculture in the future. Of course, agriculture is the foundation. I can't put it. ”

"Makes sense......"

"Industrial products have added value, and one shipload of furniture and ironware can be exchanged for ten shiploads of grain, the value of which is self-evident. Of course, as I said earlier, the necessary agriculture must be maintained, otherwise, if one day we go to war with the Empire, and there is no food imports, everything will be over. ”

Half-reclining in his chair, Rhodes continued—

"Let's transform slowly, this is easy to say, but it is difficult to do, it may take years, or more than ten years. I wondered if I could consult with the dwarven engineers to design an efficient sowing and harvesting machine that would reduce the number of people engaged in agriculture and divert surplus labor to other industries. ”

Alves had a puzzled look on his face, he really couldn't imagine that there was such a machine? In the whole old world, machinery was basically used for military purposes, how could anyone have nothing to do with agricultural machinery when they were full? For the sake of the peasants, to help the peasants get rich, no lord would worry about this. What Rod had in mind was a model of the harvester.