Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 256: The New Agricultural Sanctuary and Phyllis's Anxiety

While industry and commerce in Hesse flourished, agriculture was also not left behind.

Throughout the autumn, the golden tassel banners of the Church of Rhea, the goddess of the dawn, have been flying on the spires of monasteries in every village, town, and farm in the Hessen Territory.

The nuns of the Church of Dawn, wearing green robes, walked through each wheat field holding the holy emblem of wheat ears, guiding the farmers to cultivate winter wheat and buckwheat more carefully.

The oak staffs of the druid elders were inserted into the fields, guiding the wind of Jilun to circulate between the ridges, representing the fertility ceremony of the goddess of dawn, which was held everywhere.

Especially in the countryside, there are always mysterious stone circles rising between the ridges of fields and the woods, in which live all kinds of fantastic spirits. These are spirits tamed by Rhea, and they will provide help to humans according to the ancient covenant.

Under the guidance of Su Li's prophetic ability, the Church of Dawn finally found a secluded Father of Grains in a wild wheat field more than 400 miles west of the territory.

After offering a large amount of flesh and blood, he performed a blood sacrifice ceremony below Bjorn's Shallows.

This time, humans were so well prepared that they doubled the number of red blood fields in the territory in one go, increasing it to more than 900 acres!

This is truly an amazing number, just a few dozen acres away from breaking the 1000 mark!
You should know that after the blood sacrifice, the yield per mu of wheat fields can reach more than 1000 jin, which is a real leap forward in yield per mu.

If the effect of the [Sunfall] magic is added, it will be no problem to double the yield per mu.

This means that these nearly 1000 acres of fertile land can easily bring more than 200 million kilograms of grain to the territory.

However, this achievement is insignificant compared to the overall size of the territory.

This time's farmland statistics also made Su Li truly understand why in this extraordinary world, the knights controlled everything, but still had to maintain the existence of a large number of serfs.

Because the huge scale of the bottom layer can really provide massive wealth!
After the rush to plant in the autumn, by the time the cold winter came, the scale of farmland in the territory of Bjorn Bay had successfully reached 1600 hectares, or 16 acres of farmland!

Moreover, a large number of dwarf engineers worked hard to build water conservancy projects, and even blew up the dam of the holy land of the territory, Lake Rafflin, killing thousands of lake fish. Finally, before winter, they managed to supply ditches to these 1600 hectares of land.

The yield of winter wheat and buckwheat is slightly lower, but it can also reach between 230 and 290 kilograms.

This means that the 16 acres of farmland irrigated by the water from Lake Rafflin will surely have a good harvest, bringing at least 4000 million kilograms of grain to the Hesse Territory!
With 2 tons of food on hand, it was initially sufficient to supply 1000 elite knights, 1500 infantry and 3000 slaves.

Disaster relief is something that only Eastern societies can do. In theory, Su Li only needs to ensure that the more than 5000 troops and his slaves have enough food.

Of course, the people do not need Su Li's rescue this time. The scale of farmland reclaimed by various villages and farms in the people is more than 100,000 acres.

Their only problem is that they have to pay high taxes and the yield per mu is relatively low. Even if ordinary farmland is blessed by the Church of the Goddess of Dawn, the yield per mu is only more than 100 kilograms.

It is not without reason that the entire territory regards Bjorn Bay as the granary of the entire Hessen Territory.

If Su Li only relies on farmers to pay taxes, the current size of his army will have to be greatly reduced, and it will be difficult to maintain 100 to 200 elite knights.

Therefore, the nuns of the Church of the Goddess of Dawn are also working hard to improve the productivity of these wheat fields.

Because Su Li adopted an encouraging attitude and did not interfere with the development of the villages below, the subjectivity of all farmers and nuns was fully exerted.

This truly demonstrates a truth, that is, you can always trust the wisdom of the people.

Soon, various facilities that could increase production were built in villages.

For example, in Jiejia Village, this armed slave village that was liberated for its contribution to the fight against the goblin Broken Toe Tribe, a unique [Leya Wheat Ring] was built.

This is a concentric circular wheat field built in imitation of the Rhea Stone Circle. It is a concentric circular field composed of five kinds of grains. In the center stands the golden statue of Rhea, and it is the usual image of Rhea, wearing a crown made of wheat ears on her head.

[Rhea Wheat Ring] makes this wheat field grow very lush, and it is sure to have a good harvest this year. Even near the feet of the statue, dozens of extraordinary wheat ears have been produced, emitting a faint green light, surrounding the statue. It looks not only full of vitality, but also quite a miracle of the goddess.

This would bring the village over 10 gold crowns (most of which would be subject to the 20th tax), significantly improving its living conditions. After all, given agricultural productivity, a single farming family wouldn't be able to save up 10 gold crowns in years. Even accounting for necessary expenses and the necessities of life, illness, and death, most families would only have a few dozen copper coins left over annually, though some would have nothing left at all.

These more than 10 gold crowns are already a huge fortune for a village and can change the fate of many people.

Inspired by this church building, other villages also developed considerable agricultural facilities according to local conditions.

On the farm in the green hills, the Rainbow Terraces were built. They set up a carefully constructed circular terrace opposite the Rainbow Falls. The design is so ingenious that all the wheat fields can be bathed in the sunlight shining through the rainbow throughout the day.

A newly developed territory near the forest has also been constructed, with a rime wheat whistle. The Frost Creek Basin within the Blood Pine Forest is a favorite haunt for druids. With abundant forests there, the druids use the antifreeze resin secreted by birch trees during the cold winter to create a natural ice crust. The nuns of the Church of Dawn craft foghorns from empty wheat stalks. When the temperature drops below freezing, thousands of these foghorns, planted in the fields, automatically sound due to the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the ice crust, melting the frost with their sound waves, transforming them into irrigation mist.

This makes this a specialty wheat field in the area, and it can even achieve an exceptional harvest in winter and mature faster.

While the entire Hessen Territory can only produce three crops a year, the more than 2000 acres of fertile land in this Wusong Wheat Post can achieve the feat of four crops a year.

Of course, in addition to these religious wonders and special buildings, the Church of Dawn has also not fallen behind in basic production.

The church and the craftsmen's guild worked together to create a batch of "Howling Hoes" with witchcraft properties using a large number of gnoll thigh bones and skulls. These hoes would make the sound of wild beasts howling when plowing the fields, scaring away field mice and hares in the fields and reducing the impact of pests on crops.

In addition to these staple foods, other farming results have also been flourishing after this autumn.

The first is the amethyst grapevine that Su Li attaches the most importance to. After reproduction, cutting and grafting, the territory has expanded to a 5-acre vineyard, and all of it is irrigated with fertilizer made from phosphorus fire mycelium and fermented silt from Lake Rafflin.

This speed was extremely astonishing. When Su Li heard the report, he felt a little unbelievable.

Since the Amethyst Vineyard was right next to his estate, he went over to take a look and was left with a vivid impression of the achievement.

The grapes on these five acres of land were not all grown by the Druid's [Vigorous Growth]. In fact, most of them were transplanted old grape vines. Their main trunks were removed, and then a section of the joint was cut and grafted with Amethyst Grape branches, changing the variety to Amethyst Grape.

Then a lot of cutting techniques were used. The cut amethyst grape branches were inserted into fields with fertile soil and soon grew roots.

That's why the area of ​​this specialty amethyst grape can be rapidly expanded to five acres. However, these cuttings and grafted vines will not be able to bear fruit next year. If we rely on the Druid's vitality to grow and catalyze each vine one by one, I'm afraid that they may not be fully catalyzed by the time of harvest next year, and it will seriously delay the progress of other aspects.

Fandral simply cast a solar descent spell here, completely covering the entire area. This immediately solved a large number of problems, allowing the amethyst grapes to grow perfectly, immune to pests and diseases, and various adverse conditions, raising the survival rate to over 95%.

You should know that there are many pests and diseases during the growth of grape seedlings, including grape two-star leafhopper, black bean disease, powdery mildew, anthracnose, grape downy mildew and more than a dozen other diseases.

The greatest benefit of the Sun's Descent technique is that it can provide an area with perfect growing conditions. Blessings such as pure areas and natural order can allow these newly cut and grafted branches to grow rapidly and healthily.

By next autumn, the vines will be lush and green.

However, it usually takes three years for grapevines to bear fruit. Even if they do, the grapes at this time are not ideal and cannot be used to make fine, high-quality wine.

So, even if these accelerated vines produce fruit next year, Annaliese asserts that the resulting brandy won't be very valuable, perhaps only worth a single Gold Crown. This will also significantly impact the price of premium brandy.

You know, these five acres of grapevines include not only grafted new vines, but also old vines transplanted from other parts of the Hesse Territory. Among the newly transplanted vines this month, one is a top-notch one, and according to Vandal's estimation, it may be over 550 years old!

A 550-year-old grapevine isn't just a fantasy. The oldest grapevine on Earth is 450 years old and still produces fruit, yielding 70 to 110 kilograms of grapes annually. These grapes are even good enough to make wine.

As everyone knows, winemaking is prevalent in the empire. Since the establishment of the empire, various varieties of grapes have been widely cultivated in various territories.

So today, a grape vine with a thousand-year history has become one of the most important assets of some nobles.

As far as Su Li knew, the oldest grape vine in the empire was in Middenland, in the hands of the Elector to the north of the capital. The vine was over 2700 years old. The wine made from this old vine was called White Wolf Holy Wine, and each bottle was sold for more than 200 gold crowns.

Rumor has it that only warriors blessed by the god Ulric are worthy of imbibing the mead steeped in the icy snows, extending their lives by at least a month. Therefore, the High Prince of Middenland and the Grand Master of the Knights of the White Wolf consistently hold the title of the Empire's longest-serving Elector. Of these two northern lords, one wields the Empire's oldest Elector's Scepter, the Rune Axe of Middenland, capable of splitting the door to the Imperial Palace vault with ease. The other wields the Ring of Ice, capable of freezing the water trade of the Talabek River.

However, due to their lack of intelligence and bad temper, they offended too many people. Therefore, even if they had at least three electoral votes in every election, they could not ascend to the throne.

Over the past five hundred years, the mead in the White Wolf Holy Grail has undergone thirteen different recipes, but the number of votes on the list of Middenland Electors has always been frozen at "three" - like the glaciers that never melt outside the walls of Middenheim, or like the three pieces of frozen hard cheese that can never be thawed at the banquet of the Northerners.

However, when a truly heroic leader emerges in troubled times, it also means that they can often be elected as the emperor of the empire with a very high number of votes.

The current Elector of Middenland, Graf Erich von Kazabager, is a quintessential hero in troubled times. He is not only a formidable warrior and a powerful White Wolf Knight, but also an iron-fisted tyrant. Under his rule, the Grand Princedom of Middenland has become both powerful and unyielding. He has strengthened trade routes in the north, vigorously developed the economy, and greatly alleviated the north's resource shortages.

In terms of religion, he continued to expand the magnificent Temple of Ulric, which made his relationship with the Pope very harmonious, successfully strengthened the status of the Inquisition, and controlled the internal affairs with a cruel style, greatly alleviating the chaos corrosion caused by the Chaos Wasteland that Middenland had faced for a long time.

In the military, he was even more assertive. Relying on the Church of Ulric, Middenland became renowned for its White Wolf Knights and elite infantry. Middenland's resilient and powerful infantrymen were arguably the most skilled in the Empire. These soldiers, particularly through training in the arena and the martial spirit, significantly enhanced their combat effectiveness in igloos and during hunts.

With the support of this powerful military force, he forcefully annexed a large number of barbarian tribes, mountain dwarves and even a forest elf kingdom within his princely territory.

He used an iron fist in the economy, politics, military and diplomacy to make the Grand Princedom of Mirandon strong and prosperous.

This made him a role model admired by countless brutal nobles in the empire.

Although those nobles were cruel, they were not stupid. They all saw the perfect image of a cruel monarch in Graf, the Grand Prince of Midland.

Under his rule, the territory achieved bloody prosperity with high-pressure order. He himself was the military commander and religious tyrant of the territory. His authority was growing stronger internally, and he conquered a series of harsh natural obstacles and cruel enemies externally.

If the civilians of Hessen Territory were to make a fair assessment, Hessen Territory Lord Su Li would be like a firefly candle compared to the brilliance of the bright moon. Even the Iron-Blooded Chancellor of the Black Forest, Oliver, a divinely chosen bureaucrat, was a fanboy of the Middenland Prince.

Oliver's policies were clearly inspired by the legendary White Wolf Knight, Prince Graf Erich von Kazabager of Middenland.

If Su Li really wants to ascend the throne of the empire and compete with the tyrant of the north in the future, he really cannot miss out on any vote he can get.

It is said that Graf already has 5 votes now, and the Nordland and Westerland in the north are very fond of this tyrant of Middenland.

Cruelty has never been a bad reputation within the empire. The empire often prefers to elect a strong-arm tyrant to integrate the complex factions within the empire and unite to fight against the invasion of evil monsters.

The northern lords of the empire generally believe that cruelty is a virtue. A weak monarch simply cannot survive in the cruel environment of the northern part of the empire, and kindness is completely unrealistic in the north.

Su Li doesn’t have a single vote now!

He himself was still a long way from unifying the border princedoms.

According to intelligence, there is no sign of Phyllis, who could provide him with a crucial vote.

She doesn't think about anything now. She is carefree and only thinks about how to live a happy life in the present and give birth to the baby in her belly.

The life of more than a month was simply too wonderful for her, so beautiful as a dream, which made her uneasy, fearing that such a wonderful life was just a dream or would be broken by a sudden storm.

She is about to give birth. The pregnancy cycle of humans in this world is not ten months, nor is it 40 cycles like on Earth, but 30 cycles!
Of course, one cycle in this world is 8 days, so it is only equivalent to eight months on Earth.

In order to ensure the health of herself and the fetus in her belly, she has been eating extraordinary spiritual grains since the sixth month.

With such a powerful supply, it can be basically guaranteed that the fetus in her belly will grow up to be an elite knight. Unlike those bloodlines of the Bauhinia family, some people are unable to awaken as apprentice knights.

Fortunately, Sister Isabella planted 100 square meters of purple spiritual fields around the consecrated wisteria tree with extraordinary ears of grain, which ensured Su Li's luxurious life.

Isabella planted a total of 276 Emerald Spikes in this farmland, with an expected return of between 2500 and 3500 gold crowns.

However, after this spiritual field stabilized, during this farming cycle, the priest of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun buried a piece of the holy finger bone of the Holy Knight Odo de Paraon the Ruthless under the land, slightly increasing the output of this wheat field.

As the title page of the first volume of the Imperial Agricultural Festival says: "The soil is as sacred as blood, and where the wheat waves roll is the glory of the knight."

After the remains of this Holy Knight were worshipped, prayed, and sacrificed by the Church of the Fiery Sun, the fertility of the land was increased by at least 2% to 3%.

One has to admire the Dawn Church's meticulous thinking.

When Su Li first got this information, he just wanted to bury the holy finger bone under Bjorn's Bay, or at most bury it in the wheat field for blood sacrifice.

But after receiving the holy remains, Fandral decisively proposed to bury it under the purple spiritual field. Who can say that the Green Ear is not a wheat field?

The effect is very significant. The increased output from this proposal alone is enough for Phyllis to consume until she gives birth.

This made Phyllis's face full of smiles, and she felt that she was being pampered to the sky by the lord.

Her heart was filled with sweetness and happiness, so much so that she dared not rest, for fear that she would wake up and find that all this was just a dream in a moldy granary.

When she woke up from the dream, she was still the peasant woman from a commoner's family, having to lie alone on a cold wooden bed in the harsh winter, struggling to get through the most difficult night before dawn.

Several times when Su Li accompanied her to sleep, she was nervous and willing to serve Su Li regardless of the danger.

Even when Su Li disagreed, she took the initiative to suggest finding another way and trying a different route.

It was obvious that this female courtier had a very bad premonition in her heart.

But Su Li carefully observed all the information and found that there was indeed no danger recently.

The territory is developing rapidly, everything is in order, and all kinds of auspicious creatures are emerging one after another.

For example, the emerald ears of green in the territory appeared in farmlands everywhere. Up to now, there are more than 360 registered extraordinary ears in the entire territory.

The territory also successfully obtained the Moonlight Silkworm. Around Lake Rafulin, the territory planted thousands of mulberry trees along the way. Next year, they will be able to feed these more than 50 fat and tender Silkworm babies with mulberry leaves, and produce a considerable amount of [Rainbow Silk] in the same season.

In this situation, Su Li was in a very good mood and specially arranged for an obstetrician and gynecologist from the Shaerya Church to accompany Phyllis in the Bauhinia Manor.

He stopped running around and handed over the affairs of the territory to Oliver and Orstein. He then stayed with Phyllis in the Consecrated Wisteria Garden and only practiced as a knight.

This practice is a real practice exercise, accompanying Phyllis to strengthen her body.

By the end of autumn, Su Li and Ingrid had made some progress in their practice.

After such a long time, Su Li relied on the accumulation of various materials, especially the monthly replenishment of fire velvet rabbit meat, and he finally consolidated his position as an initial elite knight and was promoted to a mid-level elite knight.

And Ingrid's witchcraft level has also made a breakthrough. The cold-resistant runes she made now have reached an excellent level. Even after the arrival of winter, Hildre only wears a shirt, black stockings, and a black skirt, and does not feel the cold at all.

The amulet of fate she made now, after incorporating the mysterious power of the four-leaf clover, can make people vaguely feel the ripples of fate. When the dawn comes, they can glimpse some important things of the day in their dreams and avoid some bad luck and bad things.

For example, if you are about to participate in a business negotiation but miss the most important information, this omen will appear in your dream.

After waking up from the dream, I will never make this mistake again.

Su Li and Phyllis both carried this amulet of fate, and no nightmares happened until autumn turned to winter. Life was just as Phyllis felt, perfect.

(End of this chapter)