Chapter 170: The Beginnings of Factions

The cost of supporting a person in this era was not high. They only needed to provide housing and food, and arrange some instructors for training. In Su Lun’s plan, after these children lived there for a while, specialists would test them.

At the same time, some would teach them culture. When they grew older, they would receive training based on their abilities. In Su Lun’s plan, most of them would become soldiers or basic managers in Su Lun’s industries. They might even become low-level city workers.

Of course, before giving them all sorts of education, their loyalty needed to be checked. This had to be personally confirmed by Su Lun. With the System in place, spies or those with hidden motives would be discovered immediately.

If Zhenbei City developed better and better, many people would inevitably try to get involved. Su Lun did not want others to take a share of the territory he had worked so hard to build. That was one reason why he intentionally built his territory far away.

Su Lun planned for the Outer City to have six main streets running horizontally and vertically. These streets crisscrossed and divided the city into blocks. The entire city looked orderly.

After building the residential neighborhoods, Su Lun directed the slaves to construct roads. The roads in the Outer City were six meters wide. They also used Pack Beasts to repeatedly press the ground until it was firm, then paved it with stone slabs. Sewers and drainage ditches were built on both sides of the roads. Other supporting facilities like public toilets and public baths were also constructed.

At the same time, the city’s water supply network needed to be laid. These water pipes would eventually cover the entire city. Besides these, a trading area was also built at the same time. Because Northguard Keep produced White Sugar and Rum, as well as a large quantity of furs, the number of trade Caravans coming gradually increased.

In the last month before the heavy snow blocked the roads last year, twelve trade Caravans came to Zhenbei City. Although it couldn’t compare to Karlt City, it was quite good for a newly built city. Commercial activities not only brought money but also various supplies urgently needed by the territory.

Zhenbei City did not produce cloth or salt. Many supplies had to be brought by Caravans. Before upgrading Zhenbei City, the Inner City trading market had been removed. Now, he needed to complete the construction of the trading market before spring arrived and the snow melted.

Part of the Inner City trading market was turned into a Training Ground, and the other part was converted into stables.

After establishing trade with Zhenbei City, the merchant guilds repeatedly asked to set up branches in Zhenbei City. At the time, because it was uncertain whether Su Lun’s territory could be held, they were not allowed to set up branches. After the upgrade to Zhenbei City, and seeing how Su Lun’s territory was developing, those merchants would definitely establish branches here. But by then, the relationship between the two sides would change.

Su Lun planned to build some houses and warehouses in the trading area. He would rent these places to the merchant guilds.

The territory’s Military Camp also needed to be moved out of the Inner City and rebuilt in the Outer City. As for the Military Camp in the Inner City, it would become the base for the Lord’s Guard.

Besides these, shops along the streets would also be built as quickly as possible. After all, in Su Lun’s plan, trade played a very important part in Zhenbei City.

Places like Taverns, inns, Blacksmith Shops, and general stores were all needed. For the Mercenaries in this world, the Tavern was their favorite place after the brothel. Of course, Su Lun had other reasons for building Taverns, like attracting more wandering Heroes and gathering information.

Su Lun specifically set aside a piece of land in the territory to build a martial arena. This was specifically for settling personal grudges. After all, fighting was forbidden in Zhenbei City. Anyone who broke this rule would be severely punished. But simply suppressing conflicts wasn’t a solution. So Su Lun specifically assigned a martial arena for them to resolve things themselves.

The construction of the martial arena was simple. There was an open space in the middle, and Su Lun even arranged spectator seats around it. When two parties agreed to fight, tickets would be sold. Such a large space couldn’t be given to them for free.

Moreover, the martial arena could be upgraded to a Wonder Building: the Grand Colosseum. The martial arena was built very quickly. A Pack Beast was brought in to level the ground, then a circular stone seating area was built around it. The seating went from low to high. The entire martial arena combined features of the ancient Roman Colosseum and modern stadiums.

However, its scale was several times smaller. Unlike a colosseum that could hold tens of thousands, this martial arena could only accommodate a little over two thousand people. Of course, being small had its advantages. The difficulty of building such a martial arena was much lower. With two thousand slaves working on it, it was completed in a week.

[Martial Arena: A stage for settling personal grudges, and also a place for combat performances. Blood and glory more easily inspire courage in people. City Prosperity +3, Public Order +10, Martial Spirit +10]

Su Lun was a bit surprised when he saw the martial arena’s attributes. This structure, built to maintain public order, could also increase martial spirit.

Located in the Northern Wasteland, without martial spirit, they would eventually be wiped out by surrounding tribes. Su Lun suddenly became interested in the Wonder Building, the Grand Colosseum.

As Zhenbei City developed, Su Lun noticed that his generals had started to form several factions. The highest-ranking were Chris and Heatherway. As Su Lun’s closest allies, they often represented his will.

Chris held administrative power over the territory, while Heatherway controlled many supernatural items. Also, Chris herself was the strongest besides Su Lun. Her talent skill, Charm Magic, was too powerful. The Barbarians and Drow Elves couldn’t resist it. Only a few, like Johnson and Carina, could withstand it.

Next in rank were Johnson and Jushi. Their entire Barbarian Guard was the strongest army under Su Lun. However, after the Drow Elves joined, Su Lun formed some troops with them. Now the Drow Elves’ strength was also good. But compared to the Barbarians, it was difficult for them to grow. After all, Elves were known for their low birth rate and long growth periods.

Moreover, the Drow Elves had now split into two factions. One was led by Carina, and the other by Aydin. As the first Drow Elf to swear loyalty to Su Lun, Su Lun gave him significant authority.

At the same time, within the Drow Elves, because females were respected, they always looked down on male Drow Elves. This worsened the internal conflicts among the Drow Elves. Su Lun did not try to resolve these conflicts. The internal conflicts among the Drow Elves did not affect the territory’s development and were still under control.

Because of these internal conflicts, it was easier for Su Lun to control this Drow Elf tribe.

The next faction consisted of humans. This included several humans, among them Harrison. This faction’s power was scattered and weak, but they had the largest numbers.

However, humans had great potential. After all, humans were the most numerous in Zhenbei City. Once the snow melted and Zhenbei City continued to develop, the human population would grow even more. With such a large base, it wouldn’t be long before they caught up. By then, the Barbarian faction and the Drow Elf faction might have to join forces to withstand the pressure from the human faction.

Su Lun wasn’t worried about this. As a human himself, he understood human nature well. Even if the human faction became stronger in Northguard Keep later on, they would definitely split into even more factions internally.

The factions under Su Lun now were just beginning to form. Even in the future, they wouldn’t affect Su Lun’s control over the territory.

—

“My Lord!” When Su Lun approached, all the Soldiers and generals bowed their heads in respect.

Su Lun scanned the crowd and said, “The Militia system in the territory will remain. All Militia members must set aside five days each month for military training. The best among them can be selected to join the army.”

“Ji En, after the snow melts, continue to buy slaves from Karlt City and nearby cities. At the same time, work on building good relations with lords in various places. Give them money and recruit more Refugees.”

“As you command, my Lord,” Ji En replied respectfully.

“Marnes, the trade Caravans will arrive soon. Keep a close watch. I don’t want to hear about anyone evading taxes!”

“Rest assured, I will watch them closely. I won’t let them pay one copper coin less,” Marnes promised, thumping his chest.

“Harrison, make sure your Militia stay alert. I don’t want anyone causing trouble in my territory.”

“As you command, my Lord. I will personally lead the patrols,” Harrison said firmly.

“From now on, we will hold a meeting every ten days. Summarize any problems you encounter and report all your work. There are no rewards for doing well, but there will be penalties for doing poorly,” Su Lun said.

Hearing this, everyone felt a chill and nodded in agreement.

The meeting ended, and Su Lun turned to leave.

“M-my Lord!” A Guard rushed in, out of breath. “The sentries report many Half-elves are approaching!”

“Half-elves?” A look of surprise flashed in Su Lun’s eyes. “Let’s go see.”

At the same time, he heard the System’s notification sound.

“Congratulations, Host. The Recruitment Token effect has activated. A Half-elf tribe wishes to join your territory.”

Su Lun was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected the System’s Recruitment Token to be so effective this time, actually recruiting a Half-elf tribe. Half-elves were quite numerous in this world, though not comparable to humans. This race was known for producing Archers. So far, many Half-elves still lived in tribal forms. They had always been subordinates of the Elves.

Su Lun mounted his horse and rushed out of the city gate, heading quickly toward the Half-elves’ location. Soon, at the border of his territory, he saw a group of Half-elves migrating with their families.