Chapter 158: Harvest Altar

To handle the city’s growth, Su Lun set up a City Hall to manage the city. The officials in the City Hall were also selected from former staff members, and for now, he personally acted as the Chancellor. Unlike in his previous life where compulsory education was common, in this era, aside from nobles, clergy, merchants, scholars, wizards, and others, the vast majority of commoners were illiterate.

It was nearly impossible to find suitable officials from among the slaves and refugees. Su Lun had no choice but to pick the best from a bad lot. To turn them into qualified grassroots officials, Su Lun skipped meeting with Chris and Heatherway for a week to exchange bodily fluids, and instead started a fast-track training program for grassroots officials.

He selected those who could read from among these serfs, refugees, and freemen, and personally gave them an intensive training course that lasted one week. Only then did he let them start working.

Su Lun was already thinking about setting up a school in his territory. This school would not teach advanced subjects; it would only teach them to read and write, along with some basic knowledge. Compared to schools in his previous life, it would only cover language and math, and only at an elementary school level.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to build a better school, but there weren’t enough teachers, and for the territory’s officials, this level of education was enough for now.

Starting a school was not easy. Space and supplies were manageable, but the main issue was teachers. There were too few people who had knowledge. The clergy were out of the question—they would turn the school into a seminary if they came. As for nobles, aside from those who wanted to develop new territories, what noble in their right mind would come to the Northern Wilderness unless they were bored?

Was the masquerade ball not fun enough? Was being a guardian knight not interesting? Or did they think the Northern blizzards were more comfortable than a warm bed with a maid?

The only people Su Lun could try to recruit were bankrupt merchants. Most of these merchants had some education and were better at math. Also, because they were bankrupt and had enjoyed wealth before, they likely wanted to make a comeback, so they could be hired with some money. Su Lun’s idea was good, but unfortunately, the Northern Wilderness had entered winter, and sending a caravan to Northguard Keep was too difficult.

The plan to start a school had to be postponed for now. What Su Lun needed to do now was to assign land and houses to the refugees. The land exchange policy in Northguard Keep limited each person to ten acres of land. Apart from land obtained through military merit, which was tax-free for three years, all other land acquired through other means was subject to normal taxes.

The taxes in Northguard Keep were not high—they collected 30% of the harvest. In this era, many nobles taxed at 50%, and besides that, they also collected poll taxes, gate taxes, and various strange, numerous taxes, some even as specific as one egg or one stick of firewood.

Everything in the territory belonged to the lord. Hunting wild animals in the mountains was forbidden without the lord’s permission. Catching wild rabbits in the fields was not allowed. Even if the lord’s horse trampled your crops or ate your seedlings, you had to let it trample and eat.

Compared to these nobles, the taxes in Northguard Keep were pitifully low. Su Lun canceled all those taxes like one stick of firewood or one egg. He also abolished the poll tax and implemented a land-based tax system, collecting only land taxes. He changed all the overly complicated and numerous taxes.

Canceling those complex taxes greatly reduced the opportunities for lower-level officials to take advantage and engage in corruption. It was almost impossible to completely eradicate this problem; even in his previous life with advanced technology and a prosperous society, it wasn’t achieved, so it was even harder here.

Therefore, a monitoring system was necessary. Su Lun would not test human nature with money. The current commercial tax he imposed was very low, only 3.33%. After all, his territory was too desolate, and aside from caravans coming to buy white sugar and rum, there were no other trade caravans.

Moreover, goods like grain, cloth, salt, and other daily necessities were currently tax-free. Of course, this was only temporary. Once the territory developed to a certain level, the commercial tax would definitely change. For now, it was just to attract people to come and trade.

Just after Su Lun set up the Administrative Hall, he heard the System’s notification sound.

“Congratulations, Host. Your territory, Northguard Keep, has met the upgrade requirements. The territory is leveling up.”

“Territory: Northguard Keep (Large Town/Small City)

Lord: Su Lun; Location: Northern Wasteland

Popular Support: 85 (Your people respect you)

Taxes: 18 Gold Nar, 13 Silver Nael

Income: 6,000 Gold Nar (grain/year), 35,000 Gold Nar (White Sugar Trade/month), 4,800 Gold Nar (alcohol trade/month), 3,000 Gold Nar (caravan trade/month)

Treasury: 56,343 (Gold Nar), Grain: 25,000 units (one unit is 100 catties), Salted Fish: 35,426, Dried Meat: 18,543, White Sugar: 1,300 catties, Alcohol: 324 barrels, Iron Ingots: 58,352.

Population: 6,353 people (not including Goblins, Kobolds, Gnolls)

Livestock: 103 cattle, 233 Zebra Antelope, 17 Pack Beasts, 360 horses.

Constable: Harrison; Tax Official: Marnes; Guard Captain: Jushi; Defense Officer: Johnson; Town Chancellor: Su Lun; Castle Steward: Chris; Head Maid: Chris; Caravan Manager: Ji En; Magic Advisor: Heatherway; Magic Advisor: Carina; Scout Captain: Aydin;

Public Security: 80 (Good public security gives citizens a greater sense of belonging and promotes commercial development)

Prosperity: 15 (A prosperous market can attract more people to settle and trade)

Population needed for upgrade: 20,000 people

Military: Barbarian Guard: 74 people, Spearman: 85 people, Archer: 87 people, Drow Elf Guard: 21 people, Spirit of War: 13 people

Town Defense: 75 (Protected by tall walls)

Territory Specialties: White Sugar, Salted Fish, Dried Meat, Potato, Fur, Ironware

Territory Buildings: City Lord’s Manor, civilian houses, Military Camp, Trading Market, warehouses, farmland, Blacksmith Shop, Aqueduct, Reservoir, Tavern, White Sugar Workshop, Brewery, Port, Mine, Brick Kiln, etc.”

After the town leveled up, Su Lun’s System unlocked some things. The most obvious change was that some buildings could be upgraded. For example, the Blacksmith Shop could be upgraded from basic to intermediate, and the attached attributes would be enhanced to varying degrees.

[Blacksmith Shop (Intermediate): The Blacksmith Shop can forge better ironware. Blacksmith learning speed +4, production speed +2, ironware quality +2.]

The effect of upgrading civilian houses was that comfort and warmth were improved. Upgrading the Tavern increased its appeal to wandering Heroes. In short, after the territory leveled up, almost all buildings could be upgraded once, and various attributes were increased.

Originally, Su Lun thought that after completing the Harvest Altar, there would be no more major projects for the winter. But now that the town had leveled up, it was natural to upgrade all the buildings. Everything needed to be neat and orderly.

After the outer city walls were built, many refugees and slaves began constructing houses in the outer city. The inner city would become Su Lun’s City Lord’s Manor. Some houses would be demolished, and some buildings would be expanded.

At the same time, the City Hall was moved out of the Lord’s Castle, and a new City Hall was built in the outer city. The Lord’s Manor would become a higher-level administrative unit.

With a large amount of human and material resources invested, the construction progress of Northguard Keep became faster and faster. The Northern Wilderness was now covered in white, and even the Red Sand River and White Water River had frozen over. The ice near the large waterwheel had to be broken daily. Fortunately, Su Lun had considered this when building the Aqueduct and added an insulation layer.

Time passed in this busy manner. The Harvest Altar had been under construction for two months and was finally nearing completion. The twenty-seven-meter-high altar could be clearly seen even from outside the city. Its three-tiered pyramid structure made it look grand and majestic.

On each level of the pyramid, there were many beautiful marble sculptures. A staircase led directly from the ground to the top of the altar.

At the top of the pyramid, a circular altar had been completed. Inside the circular altar, five-colored soil was piled up. Su Lun stood beside the altar, preparing for the final step of the Harvest Altar.

Although the current Harvest Altar was impressive, it was still just an ordinary building and not yet worthy of being called a Wonder Building. It was still missing one key thing: the Earth Crystal. Only by placing the Earth Crystal into this Harvest Altar could the altar’s power be truly activated.

Su Lun took the Earth Crystal out of his Storage Space. The fist-sized crystal looked very beautiful. As soon as it appeared, it stirred the Earth Elemental in the surrounding space.

Some yellowish spiritual light also appeared around the Earth Crystal, and even the gravity in the area changed slightly.

Taking a deep breath, Su Lun walked to the center of the altar and placed the Earth Crystal on the marble-carved pedestal.

Snap

With a soft sound, the Earth Crystal fit perfectly onto the altar. Su Lun stepped back a few paces and saw a yellow-green energy suddenly surge out from the Earth Crystal. This force pierced through the altar’s dome and shot straight into the sky, only subsiding after a while.

Then, this power entered the five-colored soil altar and instantly merged with the earth. At the same time, a peculiar force spread out from the altar. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped the entire Zhenbei City. The force did not stop there but continued to expand outward, eventually covering Zhenbei City and the surrounding territory.

“Ding, congratulations, Host. You have successfully built the Wonder Building—Harvest Altar. Your territory gains the Harvest Altar Domain bonus.”

“Harvest Altar: A majestic Wonder Building carefully constructed using the Earth Crystal as the core along with many other materials. With this building, your territory receives great benefits. Harvest +50, Popular Support +30, Stability +20, Prosperity +20, obtained Harvest Domain, favorable weather.”

Harvest Domain: The territory’s environment changes. All farmland, orchards, and pastures experience 20% faster crop growth. All pests and diseases are reduced by 100%. The effect of snow cover is reduced.

Favorable Weather: Throughout the year, the chance of locust plagues, floods, and droughts is reduced by 100%. The severity of natural disasters is reduced by 100%. Crop growth speeds up by 10%. Crop yield increases by 30%.

As the Harvest Altar was completed, the originally cold environment began to warm up. The snow and ice in the territory started to melt, and even the Red Sand River and White Water River began to thaw.

However, this change only occurred within Zhenbei City. Outside this area, everything remained as it was. The temperature in Zhenbei City did not continue to rise but stayed around 0°C.