Chapter 63: A Series of Bad News
Owen had assumed that things would progress smoothly from now on. However, he received a series of bad news after the beginning of spring.
First, Correns hurriedly returned from Mara Town without any serfs. He only brought back horses and livestock. Moreover, Mara Town would be unable to provide more livestock for the next three years because they had already been pre-ordered. The ones he brought back were only due to a pre-order from last year, and Viscount Mara didn’t dare to go back on his word because of the elite soldiers Correns brought with him. That’s why he reluctantly gave them up, but there would be none next year unless Owen paid more.
Faced with Viscount Mara’s apologetic but repulsive expression, Correns didn’t get angry. Instead, he pretended to be curious and chatted with him, acting as if he didn’t care about not being able to buy serfs and livestock. This left Viscount Mara somewhat puzzled.
However, in business, no one likes to make enemies, especially when the other party is not weak. Therefore, Viscount Mara didn’t hide the reason for doing so.
Of course, Correns wouldn’t believe everything Viscount Mara said. So he found a few merchants from the south and confirmed that Viscount Mara wasn’t lying.
According to the information gathered by Correns from Viscount Mara and passing merchants, most of the serfs were intercepted before they even left the Imperial border. The remaining ones were divided up by the Northland lords along the way as soon as they entered the Northland. Unlike before, there were no longer a large number of serfs left for the deeper parts of the Northland.
As for livestock, they were also in high demand now. Viscount Mara wasn’t really raising prices because there were plenty of people who were even more ruthless than him.
Hearing this, Owen slapped his forehead. How could he forget that the Second Northland Pioneer Group also needed a large number of people to cultivate land, and serfs were undoubtedly the cheapest labor force.
As for the Northland lords who were also making moves, they had obviously felt the threat brought by the Second Northland Pioneer Group. The more serfs they took, the fewer people the Pioneer Group would have. This was a struggle for survival, and there was no room for mercy.
This put Owen in a difficult situation. Without cheap serfs, if the population growth relied entirely on exchanging progress points from the system, it would obviously be a heavy burden on him and the least cost-effective method.
Moreover, the territory’s animal husbandry had just started, and it wouldn’t be self-sufficient in a short time. This was another troublesome matter.
To make matters worse, there were more bandits in the Northland now. Some were real bandits, some weren’t, but they were all doing the work of bandits. This forced merchants from the south to hire more guards. As a result, all goods had become more expensive to ensure sufficient profit.
“Withdraw some gold and silver from Maya. You will immediately go to the Imperial border to gather more information.” Owen said sternly to Correns, ignoring his headache.
Everything now was based on what Correns had heard from Viscount Mara and the merchants. No one knew how much of it was true. Therefore, he had to go deep into the Imperial border to obtain firsthand information in order to make an accurate judgment.
“As you command, master!” Correns knew his chance to prove himself had come. He immediately nodded, even though he had just returned and hadn’t even gone home.
Correns knew very well that simply buying and selling serfs and livestock, no matter how hard he worked, would only be considered hard work. Only a crisis could bring merit. Therefore, he was not only not afraid, but also very much looking forward to it.
After a day of rest, Correns put on the noble clothes bestowed upon him by the lord, mounted a beautiful white horse, and headed for the Imperial border under the escort of cavalry.
To ensure speed, apart from the cavalry, there were only three carriages carrying supplies. There were no infantry to slow them down, and they wouldn’t stop at any relay stations along the way.
However, there were four mysterious passengers on the carriages. They were short, their bodies completely shrouded in cloaks. They moved silently and never spoke to anyone.
Correns’ heart skipped a beat. Seeing these four mysterious people, the only thing he could think of was assassins.
It was clear that the Hydra family was far more mysterious than he had imagined. Assassins weren’t something you could just get by having people willing to die for you. This represented the foundation of a noble family. This made Correns even more motivated.
After Correns set off, Owen was discussing the matter with Maya. No matter how you looked at it, the bad news brought by Correns was only the beginning. The subsequent impact had not yet fully spread, but it was already clear that the situation was not good.
“The best parts of the Northland are all near the Imperial border. They won’t give up these benefits. Only the losers who can’t get involved will turn their attention to the distance, and these people won’t pose a threat to the territory. They’re just minor annoyances at most.”
“So, as master predicted, the territory has at least one or two years of development time. And master’s previous concerns were indeed necessary. Adventurers and the dark forces are indeed objects that need to be guarded against. They’re too difficult to defend against.”
Maya agreed with Owen’s thoughts, which gave him a lot of confidence. It seemed that he had learned a lot from the development of the territory over the years.
However, even Maya didn’t have any good solutions for what was to come. Their only advantage was that the territory was almost independent from the Empire. Therefore, unless a large army was sent to suppress them, this was their home ground.
Now it depended on whether they could withstand the harassment from the outside and develop the territory as quickly as possible.
If it weren’t for Owen’s mysteriousness, Maya wouldn’t have any hope for this. The best way was to choose a side to pledge allegiance to and gain rewards through the efforts of several generations. This was the choice of most small nobles.
Owen, unaware that he had become the hope of the territory, rubbed his brow and put aside all his previous plans, re-planning the use of his progress points.
Thanks to the super farmland in the Magic Horn Forest, the territory wasn’t short of food or fuel for iron smelting, but it was short of meat.
Of the livestock purchased, cattle would be domesticated into oxen, horses would be converted into warhorses, and only sheep could be eaten. However, in order to continue expanding breeding, even sheep couldn’t be slaughtered too much. They could only provide food for the upper class of the territory, such as himself and the maids, the Teutonic Knights, and Correns’ family.
The chickens, ducks, and geese exchanged from the system were breeding quickly, but it still took time to reach a scale that could be distributed to the farmers for individual raising.
Therefore, the only reliable source of meat at present was fishing.
Owen remembered that he had only been to the territory’s dock twice and hadn’t paid much attention to it. He didn’t know how efficient the fishing was.
Thinking of this, Owen went out, mounted his horse, and went to the river with Charle, his guard who was always by his side.
The location of the castle was excellent. The river was wide, so the water flow was gentle, suitable for irrigation. Even in places where the terrain was higher, waterwheels had been erected, allowing more and more land in the territory to be irrigated. This year would obviously be another year of abundant harvest.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to further expand the scale of production because there were no cheap serfs. Even Owen couldn’t afford to consume a large amount of progress points. Therefore, he was very annoyed by the arrival of the Second Northland Pioneer Group.
