Chapter 30: Caravan

Su Lun’s Lord’s Castle was being built as quickly as possible. On the design drawings, his Lord’s Castle looked very grand and majestic. But considering the actual situation, only a part of it could be built first. The rest of the areas were left for later, waiting until he had enough time and money to continue the construction.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to capture more slaves to work for him. The key problem was the food issue. Without enough food, it was impossible to support more people. The first batch of five hundred acres of farmland had already been planted with Potatoes. These Potatoes would mature at the earliest before winter. Now Su Lun was planning to further expand the Potato planting.

The first batch of reclaimed land was very fertile. Even without fertilizer, the yield here would not be low. Su Lun kept some of this land for himself. The rest he planned to distribute by rewarding military achievements, selling to outsiders, or giving to slaves who had made contributions.

As long as crops were planted on this land, the Territory would receive agricultural taxes. Selling the land would also bring in a sum of money. This way, his Territory would have a stable source of income. Of course, this was the best-case scenario. Right now, his Territory was completely barren, and no Freeman was willing to come.

So this method ended before it even started. Trying to increase the Territory’s population by attracting Freeman was less reliable than buying slaves.

Su Lun’s Territory was shaped like an upside-down bowl. The camp was at the highest point of the bowl. At the edges of the bowl, two rivers surrounded it, and the surrounding area was a plain. While patrolling his Territory during this time, Su Lun also measured the land that could be reclaimed.

He marked it on the Strategic Map and made some calculations. The land that could be reclaimed was over two hundred square kilometers. If all this land was reclaimed, at least three hundred thousand acres of farmland could be cultivated. With so much farmland, it would be more than enough to support thirty to fifty thousand people.

Of course, even if the Territory developed, they would still need to clear out the monsters in the Wilderness.

Two days later, Johnson returned with dozens of Barbarian women and children. With these dozens of Barbarian women and children joining the Territory, the manpower finally became less tight.

These Barbarian women and children were very curious about the Territory, but they soon threw themselves into the construction work. According to the reward standards set by Su Lun, the military achievements of these Barbarian Warriors could earn them land and allow them to shed their slave status and become Citizens of the Territory. Upon learning that they could escape slavery and become Freeman, these Barbarians erupted with great passion and threw themselves into building the Territory.

To Su Lun’s surprise, among the people who returned with Johnson, besides the Barbarians, there was also a Caravan. This Caravan had forty four-wheeled wagons and a total of over one hundred and fifty people.

“Respected Lord, I am Owen, the manager of the Violet Rose Chamber of Commerce. It is a pleasure to meet you here.” said a somewhat chubby man, his eyes occasionally flashing with a shrewd light.

“My Caravan needs to pass through your Territory. We will pay taxes according to the normal standard.”

“Owen, is your Caravan planning to go deep into the Wilderness?” Su Lun was very interested in Owen. A Caravan daring to enter the Wilderness was no weakling. Given the danger level of the Wilderness, a Caravan without sufficient strength had a high chance of dying here. This Caravan actually dared to come to the Wilderness to trade, indicating that their strength must be formidable.

At the same time, this also indicated that their trip must have substantial profits. Without sufficiently high profits, why would these profit-driven Caravans take such great risks to come here?

As Mr. Lu Xun said well, if there is 10% profit, capital will be used everywhere; with 20% profit, capital becomes active; with 50% profit, capital will take risks; for 100% profit, capital dares to trample all human laws; with 300% or more profit, capital dares to commit any crime, even risking the gallows.

Su Lun was nearly driven mad by poverty now. How could he let go of any possible opportunity to make money?

Owen was also very surprised, amazed that this Noble before him had established a settlement here. As a Caravan that often traveled in the Wilderness, they knew very well how difficult it was to set up a camp here. The Gnoll tribes in the Wilderness were not easy to deal with.

Over a thousand Gnolls, plus even more Goblins, Kobolds, and Trolls—such a lineup, even a thousand well-trained elite human Soldiers might not win steadily. More often than not, it would result in mutual losses. Moreover, this Territory had already built a five-meter-high Stone Wall. How much manpower and resources must have been spent to build such a Stone Wall?

It was important to know that the distance from here to the nearest Blackstone City was over two hundred kilometers. Maintaining a thousand human troops and building such a Stone Wall would bankrupt most Nobles.

This young human Noble before him actually dared to establish a city in this place. Even more surprising was that he discovered a large number of Goblin, Kobold, and Gnoll slaves in this Territory. This indicated that they had already gained a foothold here.

“Yes, Lord, our Caravan is preparing to go deep into the Wasteland to trade with some other races.”

“Gnolls?”

“No, Gnolls prefer direct robbery. The ones trading with us are the Allen Tribe to the north. They are a group of Centaurs.”

“Centaurs?” Su Lun said in surprise.

“Yes.”

Su Lun wanted to continue asking more questions next, but Owen showed no intention of speaking about the trade details. Although Owen didn’t say, Su Lun roughly understood what they were trading.

It was nothing more than bows, horses, and some Wasteland specialties like fur or magical materials. Centaurs were good at raising horses, and their tribe’s Longbows were also famous. The Caravan used food and other daily necessities for trade. The round trip had at least ten times the profit.

“Alright, I agree to let your Caravan rest here, but according to the rules, you need to pay a ten percent tax.” Su Lun quickly agreed.

“Of course, you can pay in Gold Nar or food.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Lord. We will prepare the tax soon.” Upon hearing Su Lun’s words, Owen nodded. A ten percent tax was within the normal range. Actually, Owen had considered not paying the tax, but after seeing the scale of the Territory, he gave up that thought. Don’t be surprised; few merchants trading in the Wilderness were good people. They often acted as bandits and even raided some Territories.

Although Su Lun’s Territory looked simple, the power it represented was not something ordinary people could achieve. Without strong military assurance, they could never have defeated the monster army. Not to mention capturing so many Wilderness natives as slaves.