Bringing the MC system to Middle-earth.

Chapter 109 Expanding Trade
The Shire, an area inhabited almost exclusively by Hobbits, can be said to be one of the few places in the entire Middle-earth where one can truly enjoy a peaceful life.

That is also the life that the Creator God truly hoped that His children could live when this world was created.

But in this era, very few people can enjoy this kind of life.

Even those royal families or nobles who stood at the top of power were often forced by powerful enemies or dark people to be unable to sleep all day long, and they had no time to live a luxurious life.

But now it seems that west of the Misty Mountains, many more people are living a peaceful and happy life.

The small caravan returned smoothly to the roadside fort with a cart of goods.

As soon as he came back, a large group of people immediately gathered around the cart, looking for the items they had entrusted, and it was a lively scene for a while.

"This seems good..."

Sitting on a chair by the roadside, Levi looked at the small caravan, thoughtfully.

The role of traveling merchants is often not just the exchange of materials, but also the expansion of influence and the display of the territory's unique culture.

It's always beneficial.

Anyway, there are so many supplies that I have no place to use them. I might as well take them out for a walk since I have nothing to do with them.

With this decision made, a formal caravan was established one day later, consisting of the original eight people plus four residents who had learned archery or had certain skills, a total of twelve people.

These are people who have been recommended by other residents, are interested in trading activities and are willing to take on this position.

Four of them served as merchants, responsible for the counting and sale of goods, and the other eight were responsible for guarding.

The merchants wore woolen or leather clothes that were typical of roadside forts, and carried some self-defense weapons. In addition to warm clothes, the guards also wore armor forged with elven craftsmanship and held long swords and bows.

The number of carts increased to three, all of which were large and pulled by some moderately fast horses in the stable.

There is no way, going too fast will easily cause the car to overturn.

The team mainly traveled westwards, with the planned route passing through the Bree area, the Shire, and Lindon, eventually reaching the gathering place of the dwarves in the Blue Mountains, and then returning.

There is basically no need to worry about safety issues on the road. On the one hand, there are few enemies on this road. As long as you follow the main road, you can basically make a round trip smoothly.

On the other hand, every horse in the caravan was wearing horse armor, which looked quite tough and durable. Coupled with the fully armed guards, it was foreseeable that no one would dare to attack this team unless it reached a certain size.

And when the last caravan was about to set off, Levi synthesized a flag on the spot and wrote his name on it in the common language to indicate that these were the people under his protection.

In this way, the caravan, which had been expanded in size, set off. Everyone on board wore warm clothes and robes that could protect them from the wind and snow.

They will bring goods to the people of Middle-earth that are quite rare at this season.

At the same time, announce the existence of Roadside Fort to the outside world.

“If you encounter homeless people or refugees on the road, you can bring them back.”

"But remember, Roadside Fort doesn't accept hooligans or lazy people. Those who are unwilling to work but want to enjoy various welfare benefits can go anywhere, but don't bring them here."

At the city gate, Levi gave his final instructions.

"I remember that, sir."

The businessman standing in the front said: "I swear on my name that I will do this seriously."

"Same here." Others in the caravan responded.

Nodding and watching the caravan leave, Levi looked at the vast expanse of white snow outside the city and assigned a new task to the residents in the city.

Harvesting ice.

Other work can be done at any time, but ice harvesting has to wait until winter.

Under Levi's instructions, the distribution of labor began to change. A small number of people maintained the harvesting of crops in the vegetable garden, while half of the others went to dig mines, and the other half squatted in the ice field to dig ice with the precise collection picks provided by Levi.

Prioritize ice mining, then mining.

First, keep the former's workstation full, and go to the mine or other places for the extra ones. The amount of ice began to increase, although it might not be as fast as Levi's digging, but it can be continued, and Levi himself can be free to go somewhere else.

For example, hell.

wow——

Crossing the twisted portal and comparing the directions on the map, Levi made some marks at the locations where construction would begin.

Then I went back to the warehouse, took out a pile of materials, and started working along the markings.

This is a dedicated Hell Direct Road from Roadside Fort to River Valley City.

For various considerations, Li repaired three roads. One was an ice road, which was temporarily vacant due to insufficient ice reserves. The second was a runway for convenient horseback riding. The third was a mine cart track.

However, when we say mine cart track, it is actually just a piece of railroad track laid on the road to facilitate the transportation of large quantities of materials, or if you don’t want to walk one day, you can just sit in the mine cart and let it run slowly.

The total distance is 140 kilometers - this is bound to be a very long project.

But once it is built, it will be a true highway with no obstacles or turns. You just need to keep running forward to reach your destination.

Even if the ice road has not been built yet, it only takes two hours to get from Roadside Castle to River Valley City by horseback. Converted into the distance of the main world, it is equivalent to crossing more than 1,100 kilometers in two hours.

After the ice track is built, the price can be halved.

It was a little troublesome to build, but it is really useful once it is built.

Thus began a very time-consuming project.

On this construction road with a predetermined direction, Levi pushed forward three types of roads at the same time.

However, because the road was too long and required too many materials, Levi had to first make a large number of transport mine carts, fill them with cobblestone and other refractory blocks, and then let the mine carts follow him, repairing the road while transporting materials as supplies.

In the end, he even took out the contents of the ender chest and used it as a material box.

Time passes gradually.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

When Levi built the road to one-tenth of the planned length and had just used up all the blue ice, old Wade came up.

It’s about the residents.

"Sir, many people have felt the promotion during this period, and they can all open the boxes."

"Good thing, keep it up."

Levi put the cubes into his backpack and said:
"This means they are eligible to live here, provided they can maintain their current status."

"Contributions can be increased or deducted. If you stop working and producing, your contributions will gradually disappear, unless that person is no longer fit for work."

Old Wade got serious.

"I will bear your words in mind, my lord, and the residents will know as well."

Levi nodded and continued:

"Becoming a formal resident representative also allows you to use a transport minecart, which will be very necessary for collecting iron ore veins in the future."

"The mine tunnel has not been dug through yet, so you can just do what you need to do."

After filling up a backpack with building materials again, Levi thought for a moment and said:
"I will be very busy in the next period of time, but I will stop working on the first day of every month. You can come to me for feedback at that time."

"I understand, my lord."

Old Wade bowed and went back to his business.

(End of this chapter)