Imperial Crown.

Chapter 170 Receiving Xuefeng Territory

After three months of preparation, Viscount John finally completed the sorting and relocation work and bid farewell to Xuefeng Territory completely.

This also means that Raven can officially begin taking over Xuefeng Territory.

Outside Eagle Castle, Raven was riding on the Claw Yellow Flying Lightning Horse, with Eric on his left and Volaf holding the Griffith family flag on his right. Behind him stood a row of personal soldiers in shining helmets and armor, and behind them followed the 200 best-performing recruits.

Only old Gordon was there, holding the notebook that he never let go of, wearing the enchanted monocle that Raven gave him, and writing furiously.

"It's time to get ready, old Gordon." Eric asked, "What are you writing so seriously?"

"Today is a big day." Old Gordon did not hide his excitement: "It's a big day that the Griffith family has not had in hundreds of years!"

Looking up, I saw the words written on old Gordon's notebook with the ink still wet:

On July 1194, 7 of the Guangming calendar, Baron Raven Ota Griffith officially incorporated the Snow Maple Territory into the territory of the Griffith family!

"Let's go!" Raven gave an order and the troops rushed towards Xuefeng.

The Nord Province has been stable for hundreds of years, and the people of Snow Maple Territory were also experiencing the exchange of territories for the first time. They were somewhat at a loss and could only use the usual celebration methods. The roadside trees were hung with colorful ribbons, which was quite appropriate.

The people stood on the roadside, all wanting to see what their new lord looked like and whether he was as young as the legend said.

When I actually saw him, I was a little surprised, because Raven was not only young, but too young. It was hard to compare him with the fierce image in the rumors.

When the Eagle Army passed by, they subconsciously compared the differences between the new and old armies of the two lords, and were surprised to find that in terms of equipment, Baron Raven's soldiers were superior.

At least even the new recruits were wearing a full set of heavy armor.

Most of these heavy armors were captured from the Battle of Bloody Heights. After being repaired and modified, some of them were equipped to new recruits. Now, among the more than 2,000 new recruits, only about a battalion, or about 500 people, can be equipped with heavy armor.

Riding his horse on the road in Xuefeng Territory, looking at the golden fields on both sides of the road, Raven's heart gradually began to heat up.

Although there was an idea before, there was always a limitation that stood in Raven's way - lack of food!
Food is the foundation for the development of a territory.

The Eagle Territory is too small and the scale of arable land is limited. Although the food produced is self-sufficient, it is unable to expand the population and develop other industries.

For example, the pillar industry of Goldshire Town - the tavern.

Previously, because of the war, trade routes were cut off and foreign liquor was difficult to import, so that the tavern industry in the entire Shanjin Town suffered a severe blow, and the town was in a state of decline, with a large number of taverns closing down!

In fact, Raven had planned to build his own brewery a long time ago, not only for the town of Shining Gold, but also in the hope that Angel's Tears and Angel's Kiss could have a relatively stable output.

It’s a pity that brewing requires grain, and Eagle Territory doesn’t have that much.

Even though Raven had stockpiled a batch of food before the war, this was not a long-term solution - other things could be imported, but if food was strangled by others, then the future of the entire territory and the entire family would be in jeopardy.

Food security is the top priority for a country or a territory.

Now, the acquisition of Xue Fengling has completely resolved Raven’s concerns.

If the eagle collar is like an irregular olive, then the snow maple collar is a long, slightly curved loaf of bread.

Unlike the Eagle Territory, which has a variety of terrains and industries and unique granite production, the Snow Maple Territory's output is relatively poor, mainly agricultural products.

But the Snow Maple Territory also has unique advantages. It is located between two mountain ranges with the Liujing River running through it. The land area is only about six or seven times that of the Eagle Territory, but the arable land area is more than twenty times that of the Eagle Territory. According to Old Gordon's preliminary estimate, as long as it is fully developed, it can support a population of more than 300,000!

This means that as long as Raven relaxes the policy and allows the serfs to have enough food, within twenty years, the population of Xuefeng Territory will be able to at least double!
More population, more productivity, more troops!

Xuefeng Territory is not only vast in area and arable land, but also has a wide variety of arable land types. In addition to the fertile black soil suitable for growing staple food, there is also sandy loam suitable for growing peanuts and watermelons, and even the slightly acidic red soil that flowers love the most.

This also means that Angel's Kiss can basically be self-sufficient in the flowers it uses in the future.

"Sir." Eric whispered beside him, "The Flowing Crystal River is ahead."

Raven looked up and saw a silver ribbon glittering in the sun.

It was the flood season, and large and small fishing boats were floating on the river, which was more than 50 meters wide.

This is the Liujing River, the mother river of Xuefeng Territory. It runs from northwest to southeast across Xuefeng Territory and is also one of the tributaries of the Mon'en River.

From today's perspective, the original riverside workshop is a little too small. The new workshop can be placed on the bank of Liujing River to be responsible for large-scale industrial production.

For example, metal smelting and weapon forging, and the original riverside workshop can be used specifically to manufacture Angel series products.

There is a stone bridge across the Liujing River, and not far across the stone bridge is Xuefeng Town.

As the core of the entire Xuefeng Territory, Xuefeng Town is quite large. Although it is not a commercial town, its permanent population has reached about 16,000 and its industries are relatively complete.

The streets were spacious and clean. The people no longer gathered on the roadside in a swarm. Instead, they elected a group of representatives, headed by Xuefeng's political officer Kuman, and lined up at the entrance of the town. A complete welcome ceremony was prepared.

There were not only spontaneously formed bands and fireworks displays, but local priests also organized church choirs to line up on both sides of the road to welcome the guests.

After all, the fact that Raven was favored by Archbishop Thomas was no secret within the Church of Light in the Nord Province.

The choir was made up of children aged six to fourteen. The boys wore grey vests and white trousers, while the girls wore plain white dresses.

They held bouquets of flowers in their hands and waved them eagerly on the street. There was even a beautiful little girl who presented a wreath to Raven.

When seeing this scene, Raven felt as if he had returned to his previous life.

It was just that back then he was the kid waving bouquets and cheering below, but now, he is the one being welcomed.

Bending down to take the wreath, Raven held the little girl in his arms. Snow Maple Town's political officer Kuman stepped forward to salute and presented a gift on behalf of Snow Maple Town.

A Griffith family flag that was said to have been embroidered stitch by stitch by the residents of Snow Maple Town. It has a red background with gold threads, and the craftsmanship is extraordinary.

Raven gladly accepted it and said some seemingly mild words. If you squeeze out the water, the essence can be summed up in one sentence:

Those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish.

The arrogance, power, and conceit of a nobleman were fully reflected. No one felt that this was inappropriate. Even without mentioning Raven's brilliant achievements, his own achievements alone were already amazing.

He is a second-level magician in his early twenties!
Magicians represent power and mystery, and their youth makes them even more impossible to ignore.

The welcome party ended quickly because everyone knew that it was just a prelude, a transition, to set the tone for Raven's subsequent rule.

Raven led his soldiers through Xuefeng Town and arrived at Xuefeng Castle.

Just like its name, the architectural style of Xuefeng Castle itself is also very distinctive.

The exterior walls were paved with white granite blocks carved with maple leaf patterns. They looked elegant, clean, and tidy, more like a church than a castle, and very much like the Parthenon in Raven's previous life.

The servants were waiting in the yard. When they saw Raven coming, they all knelt down and saluted, expressing their submission to their new master.

Snow Maple Castle is larger than Eagle Castle and employs more servants. Even though some of them were taken away by Viscount John, there are still more than a hundred people now.

Not interested in torturing the servants, under Raven's order, Old Gordon took Fiona to register these people and asked them to return to their respective positions, stating that as long as they served attentively, they would not have to worry about their jobs.

The soldiers began to take over Snow Maple Castle in full, and Simon and others began to re-survey the entire Snow Maple Territory under Raven's orders.

As the saying goes in the Nordic province, a new lord always has to do three big things when he takes office.

After a night's rest, Raven held a half-month buffet banquet in Xuefeng Castle. Free people from the entire Xuefeng Territory could come to dine, and Raven would meet with them personally to let them tell him their troubles and "needs" in person.

Among the five major human forces in the Middles continent today, human classes can be divided into three levels, from bottom to top: serfs, free people, and nobles/priests.

Of these three, the nobles and priests need no elaboration, and serfs make up the largest proportion of the population.

They have no personal freedom and have been the lord's private property since birth. Poverty and ignorance are their synonyms.

Some families, such as the Fox family, stamped the Fox family crest on their bodies like livestock to prevent serfs from escaping.

Then there are the free people. They make up a small proportion of the population and are concentrated in relatively developed towns. The proportion varies significantly in different regions. For example, the proportion of free people in the city of Mon'en is as high as at least 60%.

Free people are also the main force of the floating population on the mainland. Merchants, such as Denise and Philip, are of this identity.

The free people who were able to come and dared to come to Snow Maple Castle were undoubtedly merchants with considerable wealth. They brought their own gifts and behaved politely.

They each have their own purpose.

Some people want to buy peace of mind, some want to reach a cooperation with Raven, and some are simply spies of other nobles, coming to find out the details of the new baron and future mayor of Xuefeng County.

The carriage stopped outside Snow Maple Castle and the merchants walked into the castle under the scrutiny of Raven's personal soldiers. The soldiers' sturdy physique, excellent weapons, and cold temperament, coupled with the ferocious masks on the faces of the recruits, gave those who obeyed Raven a strong sense of security, but also brought tremendous psychological pressure to those who had ill intentions.

When they walked into the hall, they saw Baron Raven sitting on the throne.

Raven wore high boots made of black Warcraft leather, smart white cloth trousers, and a high-necked dress made of silk, with a pure black background and dark silver embroidery.

This is the masterpiece of Urien, the master tailor of Mon'en City. It not only embodies low-key luxury, but also highlights Leiven's heroic temperament.

This does not conform to the mainstream aesthetics of the Keynes Empire today, but it can better reflect Raven's style - a smart and capable person who rose to prominence through military exploits!

Combined with his chiseled face, he looks intimidating without even being angry. Even though there is a smile on his lips, one cannot help but stand in awe of him, and all doubts about his age disappear.

So, no matter what their original intentions were, the merchants would kneel down respectfully before Raven, address him as Baron Raven, leave their gifts and names, and after communicating with Raven, go to the side hall to eat.

Although the process was brief, no matter who he was facing, Raven was always able to get to the heart of the matter and the essence of the matter, demonstrating his familiarity with and control over business activities.

For example, if you meet a merchant who specializes in transporting bulk goods, he will be concerned about warehousing issues; if you meet a merchant selling daily groceries, you will ask about traffic conditions; if you meet a merchant selling jewelry, you will ask about public security conditions.

In addition to these basic exchanges, some businessmen will actually seek help from Raven.

It may be as small as a lack of working capital and the need for investment, or as big as one's own caravan being robbed by horse thieves or guys acting in the name of horse thieves.

Raven solved these requests one by one. The former only required gold coins, and what Raven had the most at the moment was gold coins - there were nearly 200,000 of them piled up in the warehouse.

As for the latter, it is also very simple. As long as Eric brings Raven's personal soldiers to the scene, no matter whether they are real horse thieves or not, they will become easy to talk to and reasonable.

In addition to the merchants, there were also some extraordinary people in the wild who came to visit, most of whom were first-level.

Some of them are retired military officers, and some are mercenaries.

The request is also very simple. He hopes to serve the Griffith family and obtain the title and status of a knight.

Knighthood is the threshold of nobility and a title that can be passed down from generation to generation. Once you become a knight, your whole life will be completely different.

Raven is now called a baron but is actually a viscount. It is not uncommon for a viscount to have more than ten or twenty knights under his command. With so many vacancies in the number of knights under his command, it naturally attracts the covetousness of many people.

It is impossible to give them the title, after all, it will become worthless if it is abused.

However, Raven still gave them two conditions.

Either join the Eagle Army and start as a centurion, or become an instructor and be responsible for the martial arts training of new recruits.

The salary will not be lower than the standard salary of a first-level extraordinary person.

Of course, all of them need to be assessed.

This condition was not too harsh, but it was difficult to keep people without a title, so for eight consecutive days, a total of thirty-one extraordinary people came, and only three agreed to stay.

Even among those who left, there was no fool who would clamor for Raven to be in trouble, hold a grudge against Raven, or show off his martial arts skills on the spot to demonstrate his strength in order to attract Raven's attention. After all, everyone was a respectable person, so it was better for them to part ways in peace.

On the ninth day of the banquet, the number of visitors began to decline, but as Raven's reputation for "impartiality" spread, the status of the visitors began to rise, such as knights and even barons from several surrounding noble territories.

On the eleventh day, an unexpected visitor arrived at Snow Maple Castle.

……

(End of this chapter)