Imperial Crown.

Chapter 182 Plans and Goals

Autumn always comes earlier in the north.

It is mid-August now. Although it is still hot during the day, the weather always becomes cool and pleasant in the morning and evening.

That morning, Raven was running in small steps between the ridges of the fields. The slightly cool air flowed through his throat into his lungs and was then exhaled, making Raven more excited and his mood became much more relaxed.

The wheat planted in the spring had already matured and had been harvested and stored in warehouses, but the hardworking people did not leave the land idle. Instead, they planted a variety of seasonal vegetables.

Spinach, radish, and Chinese cabbage are all crops that can be harvested before winter, but the most common is lettuce - actually, cabbage. Now the seedlings have broken through the soil, and dewdrops are hanging on the dark green leaves. I believe that in another month or two, we will be able to see plump cabbages all over the ground.

There were more than a dozen carriages gathered together on a vacant lot next to the farmland. They were the carriages of the Dark Side of the Moon Traveling Theater. They had just arrived last night and applied to Eagle Castle for the right to use the venue. It was estimated that by tomorrow, the stage would be completely set up.

After leaving the farmland, we arrived at the outskirts of today's Xiongying Town. The sky was just getting bright and the streets were empty.

Raven's footsteps rang out clearly as he walked on the smooth street, hitting the wall of the arena next to him and echoing back, sounding ethereal and clear.

The streets were smooth and solid, with willow trees planted along the roadside. If it weren't for the lack of street lights, Raven would almost feel like he had returned to his previous life.

Although Raven had only started jogging in the morning for a short time, he had already made it a habit.

Self-discipline is of course one aspect, but more importantly, Raven likes this feeling.

It's not just about running itself, but about watching buildings like pubs, restaurants, and arenas rise from scratch, and watching Eagle Town become prosperous little by little under your planning. A sense of accomplishment will arise naturally.

The facts before him made Raven more gratified than any flattery.

When we passed the arena and arrived at the other side of Eagle Town, smoke from the homes of the residents was already rising.

The women began to prepare breakfast for the whole family. They also fed the chickens, took out a few eggs, and then opened the gate to let the ducks go to the Jinsha River to find food.

Then Raven's ears began to be filled with the quacking of ducks. Fortunately, there were not many people raising geese, otherwise he would have been chased for a distance.

I don't know whose dog it was that ran out of the house, but it followed Raven all the way when it saw him. It was a big yellow dog commonly seen in the countryside. Raven couldn't name the species. Its fur was shiny yellow, and it stuck out its tongue and wagged its tail.

The yellow dog ran straight out of the castle, still somewhat reluctant to leave.

Raven stopped, squatted down, and rubbed its head.

This yellow dog has a very good temper. It doesn't even try to hide even when Raven rubs it until it's deformed.

"Why, you want to go home with me?" Raven asked with a smile.

At this moment, a slightly hurried shout came from the town: "-Bobby! Where are you?"

The yellow dog was stunned for a moment, then turned around and ran away, wagging its tail.

Not paying attention to this little episode, Raven returned to the castle, changed his clothes, and just returned to the study when Xiaobai came over and rubbed Raven's chest with his big head, then suddenly became alert.

The head moved from side to side around Raven, sniffed his hands, and then looked into his eyes, as if to say:

Do you have a pet outside?

Raven didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He patted Xiaobai's head gently and sat back next to the desk. Xiaobai came over and put his head on Raven's thigh.

Spreading out a blank piece of parchment, Raven picked up the quill pen, dipped it in ink, thought for a moment, and then began to write without pause.

The daily morning run is not only an exercise, but also a process for Raven to sort out his gains and losses, making his next goals clearer.

Soon, three goals appeared on the parchment:
First, accelerate the construction of the forging factory and strive to complete the mass production of weapons and equipment within the year.

Second, plant and cultivate Kumquats, and collect other raw materials for magic potions through Denise.

Third, urge the construction of the new castle and spare no manpower and money to complete it as soon as possible.

These three things are judged according to their importance.

The first is the forge workshop. Now that the war has just ended, the demand for weapons and equipment is the highest. Entering the market now is a good opportunity to make some quick money.

Moreover, weapons and equipment are a rigid need for the nobles. Their prices may fall in the future, but as long as war is not eliminated, there will never be a shortage of sales.

Then there is the magic potion. This potion can awaken the talent of a magician. The sooner the better. With each additional magician under his command, Raven can do more things.

Apart from anything else, it is impossible for Raven to keep an eye on the magic plant part all the time. Apart from the key parts that he has to do himself, such as transplanting, watering, and harvesting, it is better to hand them over as soon as possible.

The last step is the construction of the new castle. It is not just a castle, but also the core of the future development of Raven’s territory. Only when it is built can Raven’s next plan be carried out step by step.

This is undoubtedly a huge waste. The few gold coins left in hand cannot even make up for the small fraction. Even with the continuous transfusion from the Colosseum and Wallace Hotel, it is still far from enough.

"Then set a small goal for yourself first."

The tip of the pen fell on the paper, and Raven first wrote a 0, then hesitated for a moment, added another 0 in front, and finally wrote a 1 heavily.

"One million gold coins!"

As a human being, you must always have some dreams!

This guy doesn't even have the guts, and he's talking about overthrowing the Mage Guild and destroying the Deep Blue Platform?
What's more, to become a count, one can't fail to gather together a fortune of even one million!

However, as a lord, you cannot just focus on your own little piece of land, but must always pay attention to the surrounding and external situations.

After integrating Xuefeng Territory, Raven's territory expanded a lot. It was shaped like an irregular bean pod and was located in the northwest border of Xuefeng County.

With this as the center, to the northwest, across the Eagle Mountains, is the Bloody Highlands.

Adjacent to the southwest is the mountain territory of Baron Anderson. The baron is now about thirty years old and does not seem to have any ambitions. He did not even respond to the Slater family's previous call and stayed at home to concentrate on his life.

The south connects to the Holo Territory, which is ruled by Baron Shufu of the Vernon family. Raven has never met him and has only talked with him a few times through letters.

Shufu's situation is very similar to Raven's. The previous head of the Vernon family died on the battlefield and had no children, so Shufu was found as the heir.

This man was born in the city of Hovi, and he did not shy away from the label of the Fox family. He was even slightly proud of being a dog of the Fox family. In their correspondence, he had used this to get closer to Raven more than once.

In the southeastern Eck Territory, the former head of the family died in battle with Viscount Fisher, and his eldest son, Moss Tanbeck, inherited the title. It is said that he has a close relationship with the Slater family. After Hyde left Eagle Territory, he deliberately made a detour to visit him and stayed for a day.

Finally, there is Ironfurnace Ridge in the east, which is led by our old acquaintance Judra Walton, oh, now she should be called Judra Ota Walton.

I heard that Judra hasn't been having a good time recently.

Logically speaking, Ironforge Ridge has a strong forging industry foundation, and the armor and weapons it produces are well-known and famous in the Nordic province. Now is the time when armor and weapons are the most popular, so it is reasonable to make a lot of money.

Unfortunately, although Raven promised him that the ore produced by the Gray Mountain Mine would be supplied at a fair price, and Raven did so, the cost of manufacturing equipment in Tieluling was also rising, and production capacity was still declining.

The reason was simple - lack of fuel.

The Wharton family has been rooted here for hundreds of years and has always been engaged in forging. The trees in Ironforge Territory have long been cut down, and they have been relying on the high-quality firewood provided by the Thousand Needles Jungle.

After Raven took back the land, he immediately banned commercial logging.

It's not that he wanted to take Judra's neck on purpose, but in Raven's territory, all kinds of construction and production activities require the support of wood. He doesn't even have enough for his own use, so how could he squeeze it out and give it to Judra?
Therefore, Judra had to buy firewood from outside at a high price. Even so, it was still difficult to sustain, and he had to use coal to smelt the ore.

The result is that the finished product is unusable and requires a lot of time to process and refine.

I heard that two big orders have been messed up!
"How pitiful." Raven sighed, but a smile appeared on his lips.

No longer paying attention to Judra, Raven turned his attention back to his own territory and wrote two more words on the parchment:
Breaking.

Although he had taken advantage of the Slater and Fox families before, Raven knew that he was not qualified to challenge them based on his hard power alone.

If you really want to jump out of the chessboard and become a chess player rather than a chess piece, you not only need to strengthen the strength of your own territory, but also need to have a larger force.

Only with numbers can we have power.

Only by unifying Xuefeng County can we initially gain the qualifications to have equal dialogue with the Slater and Fox families.

This was not easy, because Viscount John was previously the county governor, but in the end he could only get three noble families to stand by his side.

The simplest way is to side with one of Slater and Fox and use their power to complete the integration.

But in this case, the integration behavior itself becomes meaningless.

Raven wants to develop his own power, not to work under someone else's pants and act like a dog!
So how can we win these people over?

Benefit!

In fact, after the Battle of the Hand of Death, the problems of many noble families in the Nord Province were exposed. In Snow Maple County alone, it was not only Judra's family that was troubled by internal and external troubles.

Either they lack money, food, weapons and armor, or like Ms. Doreen, their territory has output but lacks sales channels.

Raven can basically solve all of these problems.

In addition to the Eagle Territory and the Snow Maple Territory that can provide food on a large scale, don't forget that Denise is a grain merchant!

In addition, Denise is now the president of the Chamber of Commerce in the Lower City of Mon'en City. Through her, it is entirely possible to find suitable channels for the output of each company in Xuefeng County, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell it.

This is the biggest card Raven holds in his hand.

"No hurry, the time is not ripe yet." Raven stroked Xiaobai's head and said to himself, "We must have a legitimate reason to do this."

If the name is not right, the words will not flow. Raven is waiting for the day when the appointment of county governor is officially issued.

At that time, Raven would officially start to integrate Xuefeng County into an integrated whole!
Time passed little by little. After lunch, Raven began his routine magic practice. After all, he bought six kinds of magic at once, and he had to master them carefully.

At dusk, Raven left the secret room. While washing up, he noticed that Petty looked a little absent-minded: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no, Baron." Petty came back to his senses and said a little embarrassedly: "I just heard that the traveling theater troupe has opened, and I was wondering what it would be like!"

"The performance has already started?" Raven was stunned for a moment: "Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?"

"That was originally the case, but I heard that the stage had already been set up, so they started the performance a day earlier."

"So that's how it is..." Raven nodded slowly, picked up a towel and wiped the foam off his face: "Then I'll give you a day off, and have some fun."

Petty's eyes lit up: "My Lord Baron, what should I wear?"

"Wear your favorite." Raven replied casually, put on his clothes and turned to leave: "By the way, you don't have to save supper for me tonight."

A trace of loneliness flashed across Patty's face - she still wanted to go out and play with Baron Raven.

Raven was no novice, so of course he could hear the hint in Patty's words. But now, he was not thinking about Patty, but someone else.

We walked all the way to the Eagle Town Church. The evening service had just ended and the setting sun dyed the church orange, but some people still did not leave.

They were a group of children about seven or eight years old. They gathered around the basin, holding peanuts, acorns, and wild peaches in their hands, and moved towards the Capybara that was soaking in the large basin.

This Capybara named "Little Lazy" looks even more slippery under Lux's care. Half of its body is floating on the water. It is not picky about food. It will bite any food that is handed to its mouth and then begin to chew slowly.

Just watching it eat can calm people down.

"Where is Priest Lacus?" Raven asked.

This question immediately woke up the children. They threw the fruits in their hands into the basin, then stood up and began to salute in unison.

There was a clever little girl who ran to the back after saluting, shouting as she ran: "Sister Lux! The Baron is here to date you!"

Not long after, footsteps were heard and Lux ​​appeared in front of Raven.

"Raven, why are you here?"

Raven smiled and raised an eyebrow, "I came to ask you out on a date."

……

(End of this chapter)