Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 277: The flourishing of the ranch and the cultivation of extraordinary war horses

What should be the grand ceremony belonging to the Hessen Territory and the Church of the Fiery Sun?
That should undoubtedly be the Knights' Tournament.

There are three essential buildings in every village in the empire: the tavern, the brothel, and the hippodrome.

Su Li planned to hang this tinder saddle curtain in the Lion Ring Arena to inspire the knights in the territory.

Let them have fun outside of training by participating in competitive games. First, each village and manor would hold a knockout tournament in their own arena to select the winners from each region. Then, after the harvest, they would gather in Hessen Town for the grandest competition in the Lion Ring.

At this time, the best of each knight order will also participate in the battle to determine the final champion.

The tinder saddle curtain is the prize and incentive for the champion of the competition.

It's a good opportunity to help Su Li screen talents and see which knights are talented and worth training.

He really has some good stuff in his hands, such as the Lion's Mane Mushroom, which can directly help elite knights be promoted to champion knights!

Therefore, he can set up competitions of different weight levels, such as the official knight level, the elite knight level, and the champion knight level, each of which can be competed once, and different rewards can be set.

However, this matter still needs to be planned in detail by the Provincial Affairs Council, so Su Li did not discuss it with Edmund for the time being.

After giving his instructions, he turned his attention back to the breeding of the livestock this spring and asked, "Besides the tinder rabbits, how are the other herds growing? Is there enough pasture?"

Edmund immediately replied, "We have an abundant supply of forage. The Moonlight Alfalfa crop in our territory is constantly expanding. Thanks to the dedicated harvesting efforts of our herders and slaves, we have accumulated over 800 bundles. It is precisely because of this accumulation of extraordinary forage that our tinder rabbits can survive in the pasture and grow so plump."

Alfalfa is the king of forage grasses, very lush and juicy. Moonlight alfalfa is the most precious and extraordinary forage grass in the territory.

Even its harvest cannot be done with ordinary iron, but with a sickle made from the skull of a giant herder deer.

This ensured that no one in the Hesse Territory could steal these precious pastures.

This is how the extraordinary forage in the Hessen Territory was piled up into a warehouse. Although it was not much, it was relatively not a small amount.

Edmond once described its effects in detail: wildebeests that eat moonlight alfalfa can run continuously for 6 hours.

Any creature that eats this kind of grass for a long time has a chance of gaining qualifications and advancing through the tempering of spiritual power, becoming a more advanced extraordinary species.

Last year, the source of this alfalfa was mainly due to the trampling of silver-horned giant deer.

This year, under the instructions of the Chief Pastor, the territory has begun large-scale planting on the plains.

Edmond said: "The scale of alfalfa cultivation has expanded significantly. We collected three bags of alfalfa seeds last year, and this year we have built a two-acre pasture on our territory, where we grow Moonlight alfalfa."

Su Li recalled that his memory was pretty good. This kind of alfalfa seed didn't seem to require a special spiritual field. Its growth conditions were the tears of a pure girl.

That is, when other plants are plowing and watering, it will water the girl's tears.

Su Li couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked, "Then...are there enough pure girls in our territory?"

As a highly respected old druid, Edmund had no particular opinions on the matter. He represented the more conservative faction of the forest elves and said, "We in the Church of Dawn have always advocated for prohibiting the practice of eating the forbidden fruit before marriage. And because the territory has the right of first night, we are relatively conservative in this regard. The girls' tears we collected are all packaged in different crystal bottles so that they will not affect each other's effects. Last year, only two bottles failed to work. We executed their owners and their lovers. This year, the number of such failed tears is even smaller, and we have not encountered any ineffective tears yet."

"Also, there's no need to worry too much about the number of tears. Moonlight alfalfa is a ten-year-old herb. As long as it's successfully planted, we can harvest this forage grass continuously for 10 years. This means that the scale of our forage grass planting will continue to grow, and it will be on an upward trend for at least the next 10 years."

"That's why we're so confident and bold in planting. We estimate that this year we can increase the size of our moonlight alfalfa field to about 4 mu."

“With this scale, we can increase the number of war horses, rams, and even Pegasus in some of our territories.”

The amount of grass that the 4-acre extraordinary grassland can provide must be very considerable.

Perhaps the extraordinary livestock in the territory will also become an important specialty of the territory.

Of course, this specialty will not bring much profit in the short term.

Not every specialty needs to be considered for profit. Many things are national treasures. For example, many times, qualified war horses are not allowed to leave the country.

These extraordinary creatures will definitely first meet the needs of their own territory's army.

Su Li then asked, "How are the results of cultivating these forage grasses?"

"It's been quite effective." Edmund briefly listed: "Over the past few months, we've successfully bred an Imperial Bloodmane Warhorse, two battle rams, and a Bright Dairy Cow. This means our current path is viable. As long as the grazing area is expanded, the territory will have a steady supply of extraordinary herds in the future."

"Bloodmane Warhorse?" Su Li immediately became interested and asked, "Isn't this the precious iron-clad horse that only the imperial nobles ride?"

This kind of warhorse is a symbol of pure blood and nobility. In the empire, such an extraordinary warhorse is much more expensive than an elite knight. The lowest selling price is 300+ gold crowns, and sometimes the price can be as high as 400 or even 500 gold crowns!
500 gold crowns, which is the annual output of 500 farmers, are needed to buy such a horse.

Therefore, few noble cavalry regiments would be equipped with such expensive warhorses. Only nobles who commanded the army would ride such expensive warhorses.

Edmund nodded and said, "Indeed, the mane of this kind of warhorse is usually blood red, symbolizing the banner of invincibility on the battlefield. It is usually used as the mount of imperial generals or noble lords, so it is also called the Blood Flag Conqueror."

"It's the finest warhorse in the Old World. This is because a large area of ​​the Empire was once a prosperous colony of the ancient Elven Empire, and these warhorses are actually descendants of elven warhorses. When the elven colonists abandoned the Old World and sailed back to the Elven Kingdom, many horse-training families left behind a large number of elven warhorses during their evacuation. Elsewhere, the ancestors of the Wood Elves, who lived in the woods, also released herds of warhorses. They roamed freely in the ruins of elven cities and mate with local forest horses on the grasslands and plains. This mixed-blood descendant is the Empire's Bloodmane Warhorse."

"This new breed of horse was much larger than any other horse in the Old World. It was stronger and tougher, but its only problem was that it also required lush grass and trees and unfettered grazing areas to grow."

"Despite the enormous expense, when Imperial knights began to ride these warhorses, they discovered that the horses showed no signs of fatigue from heavy armor. Even when Old World horses would be exhausted to death, they could still gallop and leap repeatedly with ease. Furthermore, they remained calm in battle, unlike ordinary warhorses, who were not frightened. The Imperial knights' victories were due not only to their own courage and martial prowess, but also to the merits of their horses."

"According to the empire's internal regulations, only knights of the elite rank and above are allowed to ride these precious warhorses, and only a few lucky and trustworthy commoners can serve as grooms to serve these noble steeds. The people of the empire consider it an honor to share a stable with a noble warhorse. These grooms must find ways to ensure that the Bloodmane Warhorses are comfortable and happy to breed in the local forests. The entire country holds warhorses in such high regard that a decree prohibiting their export was enacted at the founding of the empire."

After listening to this, Su Li was really enlightened. It turned out that the ancestors of the empire's horses really had the bloodline of elven war horses. No wonder they had a breakthrough in their bloodline after eating the moonlight alfalfa produced by the footprints of the sacred beast Giant Deer, and became the Blood Flag Conquerors of the empire.

But they have very demanding living conditions, requiring lush grasslands, trees, and unrestrained pastures for grazing sheep. Can this territory satisfy them?
Su Li couldn't help but ask, "Given the two acres of moonlight alfalfa in the territory, how can we keep these precious war horses running freely?"

Edmund said calmly, "We've already considered this when we were breeding these warhorses. Although our moonlight clover pastures are relatively small, the Bloodmanes don't actually need to gallop on a pasture composed entirely of moonlight clover. We plan to send the relatively few Bloodmanes to the Sacred Forest. There's freedom and open space there, and there's also a considerable amount of moonlight clover, more than enough for the Bloodmanes to gallop."

"Besides, it's spring now, the estrus season for war horses. We plan to select 10 more strong, well-bred forest horses and send them into the Sacred Forest, allowing them to graze and run freely. This will increase the chances of these mares achieving a bloodline breakthrough and also facilitate the breeding and reproduction of the Bloodmane Horses."

"If they can successfully conceive a few litters this year, we will be able to welcome a new batch of foals in the autumn and winter."

"Good! Good! Very good!" Su Li clapped his hands and praised, saying, "You are very thoughtful. When we arrived in Heisen Territory last year, it was already a little late and we missed a lot. That's why there weren't many new foals born in the territory last year."

"This year, our Spring Festival of All Things was extremely grand, and we received significant divine grace. This indicates that our entire territory will flourish this year, and all aspects will be able to develop comprehensively."

"A year passes in the blink of an eye. By the end of the year, I hope our ranch will have produced 500 foals and bred at least 10 extraordinary horses. My minister, do you think this goal is achievable?"

Su Li considers himself to be an optimist and is more hopeful about the future.

Therefore, this goal is not set too low. If it can be achieved, it can save a lot of money on purchasing war horses.

Edmund rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a moment before saying, "We need to consider this vision from several perspectives. Ordinary war horses present a challenge. There are only 2100 qualified war horses at the Redbud Noble Ranch. Breeding 500 war horses is quite challenging, and it depends on the performance of the livestock owner. However, your livestock owner isn't particularly interested in possessing war horses, but is very interested in possessing battle rams."

"I think we can contact the other livestock owner. After all, its herd is relatively small. We can invite it to our Noble Ranch to communicate with the herd."

"If we could expand our vision to the entire territory, all the knights' and farmers' manors would have a considerable number of war horses in their stables. It wouldn't be difficult to select 1000 qualified war horses from 500 newly born foals. It would be possible." "As for the number of extraordinary mounts, I think you may have underestimated them."

Underestimated? This was certainly a good thing for Su Li. He was eager for the scale of the extraordinary mounts to expand rapidly.

So Su Li asked, "Do you think there will be more than 10 extraordinary mounts bred this year?"

"Yes." Edmund counted on his fingers for Su Li: "The engineers in the territory are focusing on two areas in animal husbandry this year. One is the construction of the Griffin Forest near the Green Leaf Hills, and the other is the construction of the Black Forest Peaks north of the Gray Lady Pass."

"We've already delivered 300 bales of Moonlight Alfalfa to the Pegasus Ranch. There's also a large supply of Bloodhoof Grass, which is second only to Moonlight Alfalfa in the territory and can form fertile pastures. The cool climate of the Bloody Highlands is ideal for grazing, which will gradually increase the number of Pegasus."

"Pegasus are less feral and more docile than griffins, so we don't need to worry too much about them. As long as we control the surroundings and prevent monsters from harming them, their herd will definitely increase."

"The Griffin Forest in Leafy Hills, on the other hand, is quite feral. This spring, they've been spreading wildly. We've even added a small amount of Love Elixir to the nearby water source. According to Sister Dawn, by the end of this spring rain, six of the griffons were already pregnant."

6 griffins are pregnant?
This is really an amazing number. The effect of love elixir is indeed powerful.

On average, a female griffin can lay 2 to 3 griffin eggs per litter. Some gifted ones can even give birth to 5 at a time.

This means that the Hesse Territory will be able to obtain at least 6 to 7 Griffin Knights this year.

The reason why the number of griffins is less than the number of eggs is because it is difficult to remove all the eggs. After giving birth to a cub, the mother griffin will be very protective of the cub. At this time, it is very dangerous for the breeder to get close to the cub.

As noble birds of prey, they will not hand their young over to humans to feed.

Therefore, only by relying on various opportunities and means can a knight obtain a griffin.

But no matter what, this griffin forest built by the Black Forest Territory has greatly increased the probability of obtaining griffin mounts in the territory.

If we add the expansion of the pasture and the acquisition of new extraordinary mounts, then this year we can indeed add more than 10 new mounts just by breeding in the territory itself.

Even though Su Li strictly prohibits the export of these mounts, he can still sell them to some knight families in the territory.

At the end of the year, Su Li gave out a year-end bonus of up to 8500 gold crowns, so the knights were very rich.

They can only stay in Heisen Territory for training on weekdays and will not run around, so the money cannot flow out. In the end, we have to find some way to get the wealth back to Su Li.

Su Li was very satisfied with Edmund's report and said with a smile, "Your work at the pasture is excellent. I was right about you. Last year, the sales value of various livestock was only over a thousand gold crowns. I believe that after your work gets on track this year, the profit will definitely exceed 5000 gold crowns!"

This proves that Su Li’s investment in Muyuan was very effective.

You must know that any career and output requires investment in the early stages.

Take Muyuan as an example. Before they produced so many war horses, they relied entirely on Su Li to provide a large amount of funds to support them.

At the Redbud Noble Ranch alone, there were two druids, three Sisters of the Dawn, over 2 Border Shepherds, and over 3 slaves cleaning the stables and harvesting the grass. These talented individuals supported the embryonic form of the entire equine management system, raising a vast number of warhorses.

Just paying their salaries costs over 50 gold crowns per month. Gathering fodder, providing grain, purchasing stallions, and other expenses also cost an average of 20 to 30 gold crowns per month.

Last year, they sold only a little over a thousand gold crowns, barely breaking even.

This year, they were finally able to make a profit.

Of course, the value of their ranch is not limited to generating profits. Providing sufficient meat to the extraordinary creatures and elite knights in the territory is also an important part of their work.

After Su Li praised them a little, he asked, "What about the fighting ram and the bright dairy cow you just mentioned?"

"Battle rams are another important extraordinary mount in our territory. The number of heavy plowing machines the halflings can build depends entirely on the number of these battle rams. After all, ordinary mountain rams can't pull such heavy equipment."

"We currently have a total of 46 battle rams in our territory, and we also have over 4000 goats and sheep on our pastures. Especially in the Crimson Highlands to the north, we have shepherds tending over 2300 cattle and sheep, providing us with ample dairy products. Every day, fresh milk and cheese are shipped directly from the Blackwater River to the Butcher's Wharf in Hessen Town, where they are transported from ships to the market by the Stevedores' Guild."

"And the Bright Cow is the extraordinary dairy cow we bred. According to our church's records, this cow was a reward and gift from Rhea to the Empire for choosing to honor and worship her when the Empire was founded."

"A devout priest, while searching for new pastures, discovered a mysterious, wounded cow on the grassland. Its fur shimmered with the light of the morning sun, and patterns of light entwined its horns. The kind priest brought it back to the village and cared for it with great care. Soon, he discovered that the cow produced an extraordinary amount of milk. Furthermore, those who drank its milk were able to see in the dark, effectively helping them fight off the invasion of beastmen in the darkness."

"And in later battles, people discovered that light-attribute knights who drank this milk had far superior perception abilities, making it easier for them to spot enemies or traps hidden in the dark."

Effective against Light Knights?
That pair of territories is a treasure. Coincidentally, although there are many knights of various bloodlines in the territory.

But the two strongest God-chosen knights both have light attributes!

Marshal Orstein and Chancellor Hilde will both benefit from this milk.

Since this was just one extraordinary cow, Su Li simply didn't plan to sell it often. He would keep the dairy products for these two chosen knights.

Su Li said, "My minister, your work has been remarkable. Your contributions will not be forgotten, and your loyalty will surely be rewarded. I will keep an eye on the ancient tree of life you're concerned about, and the territory will certainly support you in building a forest town. Let your druids, half-elves, and wood elves move in."

Of course, there is only one elf in the territory at present, and that is Lunadesan, the maid of the Tar Church.

This female elf is exactly the same as the elves Su Li had in mind: proud, elegant and joyful.

That’s right, the elves in this world are not pure at all, and their indulgence is even worse than that of humans.

Because of excessive indulgence and pleasure, some elves were even corrupted and degraded by the Cult of Pleasure, and rebelled, which became the famous dark elves.

Just to give you an example of how exaggerated the elves' indulgence is.

In other worlds, it is basically goblins who imprison elf girls.

In this world, it was no surprise that elves imprisoned goblins. The jailers dared to imprison anything, and many powerful goblin warriors and goblin chieftains were tied up, whipped, and used for fun by the elves.

Anyway, up to now, Su Li has played around so much, but he hasn't reached the stage of playing with goblins.

Fastrik has always been concerned about the whereabouts of the elves because he had promised to find a dark elf virgin as a gift to Su Li.

This is not an easy task. Given the unruly nature of the dark elves, finding a beautiful woman who remains chaste is as difficult as finding a virgin in a brothel.

If there was an elven town, it might be more convenient. The relationship between the dark elves and the wood elves was relatively relaxed, unlike the generations of mortal enemies between them and the high elves.

Edmund was immediately motivated after hearing Su Li's promise. He immediately made a solemn promise: "I will definitely lead people to take good care of these creatures for you, my lord. After all, dealing with animals is a natural advantage for us elves. Perhaps it won't be long before we can breed more and more powerful mounts, such as spirit deer, hippogriffs, giant eagles, hippogriffs, and so on."

Su Li was also full of anticipation for the druid's promise. There were indeed many extraordinary mounts that he had not had the chance to touch yet.

Su Li encouraged him and let him go back to work.

After the spring rain stopped, the sun shone brightly and the territory returned to its bright spring appearance. It was time for the territory to continue its vigorous development.

He was stretching his muscles when Ingrid came up behind him. Her cold tone carried an undisguised laziness: "Baby, are you done? Is there something I can talk to you about?"

(End of this chapter)