Chapter 85: Harvesting Talent
“If all the resources consumed before were used in one place, any of the branch bases would have been fully formed long ago, instead of being half-assed everywhere like now.” Owen said with some emotion, but he knew there was no use crying over spilled milk. Besides, this realization was based on his current foundation. In the early days, he didn’t have the confidence to deal with emergencies. Any setbacks would force him to flee, so he chose to desperately establish branch bases, just to have a place to land and a chance to make a comeback when he had to run. It could be said that his original intention was quite humble.
How did the habit of rabbits digging holes and building everywhere in his past life come about? It was because the hard power was not enough, and the mushrooms were not enough.
Now that he has the strength to resist certain risks, he needs to concentrate resources to make breakthroughs and accelerate the development of certain aspects. This is an inevitable transformation of the development trend.
Moreover, the iron ore in the Wild Bull territory, the wood in the wooden fortress, the stone materials in the ruins, and the food in the Goblin Town are all indispensable to the development of the territory. Therefore, Owen’s previous practice of spreading his resources thin was not a waste, but a necessary step in opening up resource points for the development of the territory.
Thinking of this, Owen’s mood immediately improved, and his thoughts were no longer so extreme, because from this perspective, he didn’t seem to be that useless.
Although the development of the territory has been bumpy, fortunately, the progress value is continuously recovering. The only things limiting Owen are the progress value recovery speed and the upper limit. So as long as he doesn’t die, he has countless opportunities to make mistakes.
For entrepreneurs, there is no better condition than this. After all, as long as the funds are continuous, what does business failure matter? Failure is the mother of success, and having many stepmothers is also a kind of strength.
Of course, limited by the current progress value recovery speed and upper limit, coupled with the continuous expansion of the territory, over-reliance on the system has become somewhat inadequate.
Even if the progress value recovery speed is accelerated again, it is still far from enough for the increasingly large territory. In the future, population conversion alone will occupy a huge share of the progress value, and it will be a long-term one. Not to mention he also opened a bunch of branch bases, he can’t just ignore them.
Owen realized that he must make some changes and find a way to use the progress value more effectively, using the progress value as a trigger to activate the development of the territory, rather than the main force.
In addition, the growth of his own strength must be put on the agenda as soon as possible. He was almost ridden to exhaustion yesterday. Even if the magic potion tonic is effective, he can’t toss himself like this. Moreover, drinking too much will make him pee a lot and sleep poorly, which will easily make him dazed during the day.
Owen decisively ignored some of his own problems, coughed lightly, and then came to the hall.
The luncheon was not complicated, because Owen did not like complexity, and when facing these three people in front of him, he did not need to use complicated aristocratic etiquette to decorate himself. Besides, he was the biggest here, so of course he had the final say.
“Try the white fish and snow crab, they are specialties of the North Boundary River, you can’t eat them anywhere else.” Owen did not indulge in eating and drinking. Many times he just tasted a few bites, and most of the time he was shaking his red wine glass pretentiously.
“It’s absolutely delicious!” Correns said with a beaming face, completely forgetting that white fish and snow crab were regular ingredients in the territory. His wife cooked them every now and then. If it weren’t for the variety of spices, even the most delicious food would become boring.
However, Howard and his son sincerely praised the food, because they had never eaten it before.
If the aquatic products of the North Boundary River are to be transported to the border of the Empire, even if they travel day and night, it will take at least ten days or half a month. After all, there are no post stations along the way, and they can only change horses, not people.
After such a long time, even the most delicious aquatic products would have turned into stinky fish and rotten shrimp, so the two who ate it for the first time were very satisfied.
Owen shook his red wine glass, but in fact he was observing the attributes of the three people.
Name: Correns, Age: 34, Profession: Noble/Swordsman, Battle Qi Value 400/400.
Leadership 30, Combat Power 40, Intelligence 50, Politics 35, Charm 50.
Special Talent: Quick-Witted.
Skill: Basic Battle Qi.
Name: Howard, Age: 39, Profession: Knight/Swordsman, Battle Qi Value 550/550.
Leadership 50, Combat Power 55, Intelligence 35, Politics 30, Charm 35.
Special Talent: Valiant and Skillful in Battle, Self-Disciplined and Restrained.
Skill: Intermediate Battle Qi.
Name: Hogg, Age: 17, Profession: Warrior.
Leadership 20, Combat Power 25, Intelligence 15, Politics 5, Charm 15.
Special Talent: Valiant and Skillful in Battle.
Judging from the attributes of the three, although Correns’ attributes did not reach the passing line, he was a talent. Especially his intelligence and charm attributes were outstanding, making him very suitable for external affairs, such as reception, commerce, intelligence, etc. He could be competent in all these jobs. Even if the territory expands tenfold, there will still be a place for him.
The newly introduced talent Howard also did not have attributes that reached the passing line, but his special talent was good. “Valiant and Skillful in Battle” means that he is not only brave, but also good at commanding battles, otherwise he would only be described as brave.
In addition, “Self-Disciplined and Restrained” is good. Only those who can keep their original intentions can resist temptation, which means he is trustworthy.
Hogg is young and his potential is yet to be seen, but even if he is not as good as his father, after a few years of training, he should have no problem being a town sheriff.
An all-rounder for external affairs, a qualified military officer, and a reserve talent, Owen smiled with satisfaction.
“Baron Correns, you have done well during this period. Whether it is the serfs you brought back or the intelligence you collected, they have played an important role in the development of the territory. Very good. This is your reward. You can go to Maya to collect it later.” Owen took out the note he had prepared and handed it to Correns, who was full of gratitude.
Because the territory lacks a commercial foundation, there is no place to spend money, so Owen did not take out money as a reward, but contribution points, a reward that can only be used in the territory.
With this note, Correns can choose what he needs from the territory’s warehouse. There are clothes, decorations, furniture, spices, weapons, armor, war horses, and even soldiers and servants, but it does not include land.
Correns was not surprised by this, because he was very keen to discover that the lord was taking the path of autocracy.
In fact, both the emperor and the great nobles of the empire now want autocracy, instead of following the tradition of enfeoffing the land and power in their hands.
The initial emergence of the enfeoffment system was because everyone started from scratch. The so-called emperor and great nobles were more like big brothers. They seemed majestic, but in fact they all relied on the small groups under their command. If there were no these small groups to help, they were just bigger groups.
Therefore, in order to appease their subordinates, consolidate their territory, and resist foreign enemies, they enfeoffed the surrounding land, let their subordinates spend money and effort to govern the territory, and only need to pay taxes and serve in the military on time.
The advantage of doing this is that they can put all the manpower and resources at hand into the most valuable land in their hands, and at the same time obtain a barrier. After all, if you want to reach their territory, you must first occupy the land of the surrounding younger brothers.
There is no need to waste manpower and time to manage, and you can still collect taxes. When something happens, the younger brothers will come to help with their own food, so the enfeoffment system was very popular at that time.
However, those who only know how to seize power and not let go, because the land they can control is limited, and their subordinates cannot get the benefits of enfeoffment, they are naturally unwilling to work hard, resulting in the disappearance of the autocratic system for a time.
But times have changed. Now the emperor and the great nobles want to bring land and power back to their own hands, but because of tradition and fear of their subordinates rebelling collectively, they have adopted more secretive means.
But in the Northland, there is a basis for autocracy, because it is still a blank slate, so Correns is not surprised that the lord chose autocracy.
