Chapter 61: Wild Bull Territory Iron Mine
After clearing his mind of useless thoughts, Owen arrived at the entrance of the Magic Horn Forest highway.
This was the first place where he exchanged for Super Farmland, so it was naturally the most affected and the most representative, which is why he always checked it whenever he came.
Picking up a handful of soil, Owen frowned because he discovered that the soil’s viscosity had decreased again. It had changed from the fertile black soil that was oily to the touch to crumbly yellow soil that broke apart easily when squeezed. After standing up, he said to the Goblin General.
“Stop planting all the farmland within this distance. Next time, if you find that the surrounding soil has severely degraded, stop immediately and transport black soil from the surroundings to increase the fertility of the land. After spring begins, plant soybeans in the ordinary way to nourish the land. In addition, start constructing a wooden wall as soon as the weather warms up to block this place off. No one is allowed to enter, violators will be killed without mercy.”
The reason for stopping the cultivation of some Super Farmland was that Owen’s goal was not to destroy this forest. In fact, the Magic Horn Tree was a rare and precious resource, and he couldn’t kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Instead, he would try his best to maintain the surrounding environment and ensure that the Magic Horn Trees in the surrounding area would not die out on a large scale.
As for prohibiting outsiders from entering, it was just a precaution to prevent potential adventurers and dark forces from discovering the ruins deep in the Magic Horn Tree Forest.
Who knows what’s inside the ruins? Treasures would be fine, but what if there was some great demon lord sealed inside, and some reckless adventurer released it? They would cause trouble and then leave without taking responsibility, leaving Owen to clean up the mess. So, he had to take precautions to prevent adventurers from entering.
Through this inspection, Owen found that the Goblin Tribe was developing well and had good potential. He was very satisfied with this, so he rewarded the Goblin General and told it to continue its good work. If it performed well, he would promote it to Goblin Chieftain, which made the Goblin General immediately kneel down and pledge its loyalty.
Then, in addition to building a new underground dungeon chamber as a grain storage warehouse, Owen also asked the Goblin General to transport a batch of grain to the Magic Horn Forest Wooden Fortress, and then he would send people from his territory to escort it back.
Taking advantage of the cold weather and the lack of people, Owen planned to secretly increase his territory’s grain reserves. Firstly, he would increase the absorption of population after spring began next year. Secondly, it was also for war preparations.
Although Owen estimated that he still had at least one year, the problem was that this was just his guess, not a prophecy. He wouldn’t pin his hopes on his own assumptions, so the best way was to prepare for the worst in advance.
Under the power of the system, the heavy snow did not completely stop the development of the territory. Instead, it was rapidly growing stronger in places that couldn’t be seen.
Thanks to the large amount of grain provided by the Goblin Tribe, Owen allowed the soldiers in his territory to train freely. At the same time, bags of grain were baked into hard bread and sent to the homes of the peasants to replenish their bodies that had been depleted during their time as serfs, making them stronger.
In fact, Owen was ready to turn the peasants into reserve troops, ready to be sent to the battlefield when necessary.
But this was not enough. In addition to soldiers, he also needed to stockpile more weapons, equipment, and production tools, so he had to seize the iron mine in the Wild Bull Territory.
As soon as the ice and snow melted, Owen eagerly led his men along the North Boundary River towards the Wild Bull Territory.
The North Boundary River was said to be formed by the melting glaciers of the far north, spanning most of the Northland. Near the border, it suddenly made an arc, turning east and becoming a natural dividing line.
Most barbarians initially lived on the south side of the North Boundary River, but after being ambushed by the Imperial Border Army several times and suffering heavy casualties, they had to cross the North Boundary River and migrate further north.
Because the wide North Boundary River was a natural border line, the first Northland Pioneer Group stopped here.
Water is the source of life, and any territory cannot do without it. Irrigation of farmland alone is an unavoidable threshold.
Although the North Boundary River could provide sufficient water, it was too far from the Imperial border. Who knew when the displaced barbarians would return? At that time, they would be the first wave of sacrifices. So, although many people came, only a few dozen decided to stay and establish territories here. Ultimately, only five persisted or survived to become lords.
Of course, now only Viscount Hydra and Baron Swan remained.
The Wild Bull Territory was not very far from Owen’s territory, only half a day on horseback and a full day by carriage. So, before his patience ran out, he arrived at his destination.
For the convenience of irrigating farmland, everyone’s territory was built along the river, and the Wild Bull Territory was no exception. However, the terrain here was a bit special. In the predominantly flat Northland, the Wild Bull Territory had a protruding hill. This hill had a strange shape, high and bulging in the middle, with both ends sloping downwards. Because it curved forward like bull horns, it was called the Wild Bull Territory.
The Wild Bull Territory’s mine was located in the concave part between the bull horns. A large pit had already been dug here, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that not much iron ore had been removed.
Owen went forward to take a look. Below a shallow layer of soil was black iron ore. Tapping it produced a metallic sound, indicating its high purity. No wonder Baron Wild Bull had occupied this place for so many years but had mined very little, because the wear and tear on tools was too great.
And even if he mined more iron ore, what good would it be without the means to refine it? As for transporting it to the Empire to exchange for money, haha, it would be fine if there was a railway directly to the Empire, but relying on carriages for transportation would lead to huge losses.
However, this was not a problem for Owen. He had blacksmiths, fuel, and now iron ore.
Since he knew the value of the iron mine, he would occupy it.
Owen originally wanted to build defensive structures here, but there was no suitable place.
The Bull Horn Hill was not very high, and the top was not wide or flat enough to build large structures, unless the top was leveled. However, the hill’s soil layer was only about a foot thick, with gravel underneath. Building a foundation and constructing buildings would require too much manpower.
Owen decided to take a shortcut. He found a hidden spot behind the Bull Horn Hill and exchanged for an Underground Dungeon Passage. After going deep underground and finding the ore vein, he directly exchanged for an Underground Dungeon Chamber, creating an underground living space. Then, he sent a group of peasants to guard this place and mine the iron ore.
This way, it was not only convenient but also not easily discovered.
Although the peasants were hardworking and loyal, Owen was not heartless enough to let them work to death in a dark and sunless place. So, he not only built a small garden underground but also planted fruit trees and sunflowers so that the peasants would not become depressed from staying underground for long periods of time.
In addition, the peasants who mined underground would be rotated every month. At the same time, every time the carriage team came, they would mine a bit in the previous mine pit as a cover. This way, even if they left any traces, people would only think that they came to mine iron ore occasionally.
Of course, this was very troublesome, and he had to squeeze out some of his already tight Progress Value. Owen was so worried that his hair became greasy and he had pimples on his face.
Although this change was normal for his age, the problem was that he had a woman, okay? All his hormones had been smoothed out, so where did he have the energy to get pimples?
