Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 348 Territory Marketing Tactics and the New Monster Mount - Eagle
The Hessian Armory perfectly embodies the architectural style of dwarves, with its exterior walls constructed of thick gray rock, grand and rugged, possessing a kind of heavy industrial aesthetic.

Inside are four towering furnaces: the Karak Furnace, the Kurgen Furnace, the Umbrogen Furnace, and the Skull of Grondier. These furnaces, named after four of the most famous High Kings in dwarven history, are responsible for smelting steel for the entire Iron Armory.

Every day, the dwarves of the armory would bring iron ore from all directions and pour it into these four enormous furnaces, using the smelted metal to forge various divine weapons and sturdy armor for the armory.

Su Li watched for a while, and the armory's forging master still managed to spare some time and hurriedly ran to Su Li.

Su Li smiled and looked at the master blacksmith, Peros Dragonhammer, and asked, "My minister, how is the forging progress of your chosen-class armor?"

Boros took a few quick breaths to calm himself before replying, "My lord, this armory is far too large. For us dwarves with our short legs, it would take far too long to run there."

"But rest assured, this time the forging of perfect-grade armor is different from the past. We don't need any inspiration or quality improvement; we just need to follow the steps to forge a suit of armor for the chosen knights! After all, we have prepared plenty of aether gold!"

Su Li was very satisfied with Bai Luo's answer; he liked this kind of stable production the most.

"How long will it take to forge this Chosen Armor?"

After thinking for a moment, Peros replied, "Based on past experience in crafting God-chosen weapons, it will probably take between half a month and a month."

"This pace is a bit slow. If it takes a month to forge, the entire ceremony will be over by then," Su Li solemnly instructed. "We need to use this Chosen Armor to further enhance our territory's reputation for weapon forging. Superior-grade armor alone won't leave a lasting impression on the knights. After all, superior-grade armor can be bought anywhere. But witnessing the creation of a Chosen Armor firsthand is enough to leave an indelible impression on them. Only when we can forge Chosen Armor can we truly impress everyone with our territory's weapons and armor, earning them a higher reputation."

Hearing Su Li's words, Bai Luos pondered for a moment and said, "If we work day and night without rest, we should be able to shorten this progress to within half a month. However, as a trade-off, our construction efficiency may decrease for the next period of time."

“No problem.” Su Li waved his hand generously and said, “Our most important trading period is during the Glorious Arena. As long as we focus on production and boost trading during this period, you dwarves can also take a break afterward.”

"Then we will definitely work day and night to finish all of this during this period."

Hearing Beros's assurance, Su Li nodded in satisfaction and said, "Then let's continue talking about the armory's regular output. What about the production of fine-grade, superb-grade, and perfect-grade armor? We need to take advantage of this Glorious Arena to sell a large number of armors and weapons to the knights, thereby generating more revenue."

When this was mentioned, Peros was less confident and said, "We don't have much high-quality armor left in our territory. All the production capacity we had accumulated was handed over to President Roger of the Gray Market Trading Company."

Su Li was indeed clear about this issue, after all, he had just finished taking inventory of the vault, and a large part of the wealth inside was provided by the gray market trading company.

Su Li certainly wouldn't regret letting this deal delay his current affairs, since the profits from this deal far exceeded those of all other transactions in the territory.

Berlos continued, "Currently, all of our production capacity is focused on the Superior-grade armor. According to our calculations, producing Superior-grade armor consumes the least amount of vibranium, and with increased probability, once we produce Perfect-grade vibranium rune armor, we can maximize the benefits to our territory."

Su Li nodded slightly. Clearly, this was an optimal solution that balanced productivity and value, enabling the production of more equipment and the creation of greater value with the same amount of vibranium.

What is the current production capacity like?

"Production is quite good. Apart from the champion-level dwarves who are currently producing God-chosen equipment, the other dwarven blacksmiths are all working hard to create superb and fine armor. At present, we can forge an average of 50 fine weapons, 20 sets of fine armor, 2 superb weapons and 1 set of superb armor per day."

Su Li was overjoyed; this production speed was far faster than expected last year. Last year, Black Forest Territory produced a total of 2750 sets of excellent-grade armor and 16800 pieces of excellent-grade weapons.

Based on the current efficiency of the Black Forest Territory, the number of weapons could suddenly increase to over 20000 pieces, and the number of armor sets could also increase to over 8000 sets!
Back in early spring this year, when Su went to Maleburg and negotiated with Commissioner Smith, the estimated production capacity of the territory was still 6000 sets of armor.

This number suddenly increased by more than 2000 sets, far exceeding expectations, which is obviously due to the effect of forging resonance.

But that wasn't all. Beros continued, "Actually, the production capacity of our Black Forest Armory can be further increased. However, the current problem is that we can't quickly transport the ore from our various mines. Many dwarves are responsible for transporting and smelting the iron ore, and these four furnaces consume a large amount of manpower for steel production. The number of dwarves actually used for forging armor and weapons isn't that high. So theoretically, our production capacity is severely limited by transportation, and this scale can still be increased."

Su Li nodded. There's definitely some truth to the saying, "If you want to get rich, build roads first."

The prosperity and infrastructure of many imperial territories are basically limited to the area around the cities. Once outside the cities, the entire territory quickly degenerates into an idyllic rural life. Muddy paths and inconvenient transportation greatly limit the development level of the entire territory.

Of course, it wasn't that the lords of the empire were unwilling to develop their territories; rather, the empire's darkness and corruption made infrastructure development a complete pipe dream. Just maintaining the lives of the nobles and supplying the knights was enough to nearly deplete the wealth of an entire territory.

Su Li pondered for a moment and said, "We should have enough livestock in our territory. As long as we can repair the roads and get more wagons running, we can still meet the current needs of the armory."

However, it's really impossible to continue increasing the number of dwarf engineers, blacksmiths, and miners, as the current industrial population in the territory is already quite high.

With a total population of less than 20,000, and about 3000 of all kinds of dwarves, after deducting the army, officials and merchants, the proportion of the population engaged in agricultural production in the territory is already very low.

This was entirely due to the fact that the territory had a large number of extraordinary priests, pastors, and other personnel, which greatly increased agricultural productivity, enabling agricultural output to feed such a large population.

However, Su Li calculated that the current farmland could only support 20000 people at most, since he still needed to sell the grain to obtain various resources.

How to resolve the constraints currently facing the territory is indeed a problem.

As he was pondering, a loud voice came from behind him: "Aha, proud Bauhinia Knight, I've found you!"

Su Li looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the envoy of the Dwarf Kingdom, Bairga Iron Oath.

Su Li immediately smiled and asked, "Lord Bairga, shouldn't you be participating in negotiations? What brings you here?"

Bairga waved his hand impatiently: "The sons of the mountains can't stand those drawn-out negotiations. I still prefer forging and drinking. My friend, I've tasted the fine wines of your territory. Bergman's Flame is generous and excellent, with the rich aroma of dwarven ale, and the troll brew is simply superb. After enjoying the wine, I'm more interested in the forging of your territory. I heard from your high-ranking squire that you happened to be at the armory, so I came immediately! And I heard you're forging a Chosen-class armor?"

Su Li didn't hide anything from him. There's a dwarven proverb: no amount of gold can buy back lost reputation, and no amount of skill can repair a ruined honor. If she deceived him and damaged their relationship, it would be irreversible.

“My friend, you are truly well-informed. Indeed, our territory has raised enough aether gold and is working diligently in this armory to forge rare-grade armor for the Chosen Ones. Are you interested as well?”

Interested? The dwarf's tiny, beady eyes widened, and his long brown beard trembled with excitement.

"Well... that's natural. Since you're so frank, I won't hide anything from you, big guy. Although our Dragon Rock Forge can produce a large number of perfect-grade armors for our Silver Ancestor Army to equip and become the kingdom's most powerful troops, we only have a limited number of God-Chosen-grade armors. If, and I mean if, you don't mind, I can also help with the forging of this armor and contribute to the creation of your God-Chosen-grade armor."

Although he spoke eloquently, the eagerness in his eyes betrayed him. His involvement would indeed help the Black Forest Territory forge the Chosen-class armor more quickly, after all, he was a powerful Chosen-class dwarf.

While this seemed to benefit the Blackwood Territory, the dwarves were far more interested. The allure of forging a set of Chosen Armor themselves was irresistible to any dwarf!
Especially since he was the only Chosen Dwarf among those who forged this armor, his name would undoubtedly be mentioned when others spoke of it in the future. While this might seem like a welcome addition to the territory, accelerating the development of the Chosen Armor, Su Lizhen was reluctant to agree. Forcing him into the role would surely cause resentment among the other craftsmen.

So Su Li carefully considered his words for a moment and said, "My friend, your participation in this process will certainly be of great benefit to me. You are a God-chosen forging master, and with your help, my God-chosen armor will definitely be completed during the Glorious Arena."

“But my master blacksmiths have already assigned tasks. At present, our territory does not lack blacksmiths, but raw materials.”

Bairga immediately waved his hand and said, “This problem is easy to solve. My dwarves and I can help your territory forge equipment. I think you must be hoping to produce more weapons and armor during the Arena, right? With enough craftsmen, you can free up more manpower to transport raw materials and improve the project.”

“Big friend, you need to hurry. There are only 7 days left until the Glorious Arena, and you must make more armor. Our delegation has as many as 500 dwarves, who can undoubtedly be of great help to you.”

Su Li's eyes suddenly lit up. If the members of their delegation were willing to join the Hessen Armory for a period of time, it would indeed be a good way to solve the current thorny problems in the territory.

This way, we don't need to increase the proportion of industrial population in the territory, and we can free up a lot of manpower to develop infrastructure.

Su Li decisively said, "Then it's decided, my friend. Beros, you and the Black Forest Armory must speed up production and strive to provide equipment for more knights."

Su Li then asked, "Are there any problems with the armor production?"

Boros immediately shook his head, confidently assuring everyone, "We are working at full capacity to produce the finest armor in the style of the Black Forest Guard. This armor already sells for more than 30 gold crowns in our territory, and the price is still rising."

"The reason we've received this much praise is because we were somewhat inspired by Senator Smith to add gold thread and vibranium to the armor."

Of course, both gold thread and vibranium are very rare; the vibranium alone may weigh less than 1 gram.

Never underestimate 1 gram of vibranium or gold!
If you've ever seen a gold leaf made from 1 gram of gold, you'll know that after being rolled into a thin layer, its surface area is quite considerable.

Some trademarks even feature pure gold, because just a little bit can extend to cover a large area, making it a typical marketing tactic to elevate the highest level of sophistication at the lowest cost.

The armory of Hessian Territory has also learned from classic marketing methods. Although vibranium is very precious, if the vibranium used to decorate each suit of armor is less than 1 gram, or even a dozen grams, it will not have much impact on the actual production of Hessian Territory.

After all, a perfect set of vibranium rune armor consumes tens of kilograms of vibranium! Just one kilogram is enough to forge hundreds of sets of fine-grade armor into gilded armor.

"In addition, our Hessen Armory also recycles armor from knights, charging only 20 gold crowns for the craftsmanship fee, and can upgrade their armor into excellent, perfect armor."

"In this way, we can deploy an average of more than 30 sets of armor per day. If we include the Gray Mountain Dwarf envoy team, we may even be able to achieve the feat of deploying 50 sets per day, plus hundreds of high-quality weapons."

Su Li quickly did the calculations and then beamed with joy: "Then during the entire Glorious Arena Festival, we'll sell nearly 500 sets of armor and over a thousand high-quality weapons?"

Based on current average prices, this translates to approximately 20000 gold crowns for armor and tens of thousands for weapons.

If we also consider the effects of the Territory Empire's Engineering Academy, it will definitely be able to produce a batch of higher-level weapons. The Black Forest Territory can earn 35000 or even 40000 gold crowns just by selling weapons and armor!

This will undoubtedly greatly enhance the reputation of the territory's weapons and armaments! When these knights participate in the expedition, their armor will gleam, and many of their standard equipment will certainly attract even more attention.

This doesn't even include the selling price of livestock and warhorses.

It can be said that this Glorious Sports Festival is already halfway to success. As long as we stabilize the situation and continue to push forward, we will definitely achieve great success!
Su Li patted Bai Luos on the shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Very good, my master blacksmith, I've recruited a god-chosen helper for you. Your Black Forest Armory can go all out on production now. I'm going to take a tour of the ranch next."

"To the ranch?" Bairga finally remembered his identity as a dwarf envoy and immediately said, "My big friend, please allow me to go with you. We also need to discuss a beef and venison deal with you."

Su Li looked at Bairga with great interest. He was naturally happy that someone was buying his grain, since he was going to build a granary for the border region.

So he asked with great interest, "My friend, that's a good opportunity for us to talk about this. Perhaps you could tell me about your dwarven food culture."

This was Su Li's first time having such in-depth contact with the high-ranking members of the dwarven kingdom, so he naturally needed to deepen his understanding of the dwarves. As his strength grew, perhaps one day, the entire Gray Mountain dwarfs would become his powerful and reliable allies.

He was still quite curious about how many dwarves Grey Mountain Province could support and how many soldiers it could provide.

Without any hesitation, Bairga cheerfully introduced, "Speaking of food, we dwarves also have a long history. Don't misunderstand us, the dwarf diet is actually very similar to that of humans. In ancient times, dwarves developed a kind of food crop that could be cultivated in underground halls and illuminated by guided light. These plants are usually grains, such as oats, barley, wheat, and hops."

“Some plant roots and tubers, as well as small fruit trees (pears, apples, and cherries), are also planted. Most of the grain is used to brew beer and make bread, while the surplus is stored in underground warehouses for the dwarves and livestock to survive the winter. In some deeper caves, dwarf farmers cultivate several kinds of fungi, which are generally used as seasonings, but also as a staple food during times of stress.”

"The open fields and farmlands of the dwarven fortresses lie on the territory under their jurisdiction between the border and the fortress, usually forming vast and magnificent terraces on the mountains. If the weather is favorable and the war subsides, the harvests from these above-ground farms are quite good, increasing the food supply of the fortress's underground agricultural hall. Some dwarven farms are scattered outside the border, in some hidden valleys, but they are not too far from the fortress. Most of the farms outside the border can only be reached through secret passages known to the dwarves. And indeed, very few people manage to stumble upon these dwarven farms by accident."

After listening, Su Li asked curiously, "I've long heard about your dwarven bread and ale. Do you dwarves have a long tradition of eating meat?"

"Of course, thousands of years ago, the dwarves bred and bred a type of mountain-dwelling, hairy, and coarse animal based on the bison from the lowlands of the forest. The dwarves began domesticating and raising goats very early on, as a source of our wool, dairy products, and meat. From late spring to early autumn, the dwarves would drive the goats to high-altitude pastures to graze, allowing them to grow by eating nutrient-rich alpine grasses. When winter came, the dwarves would lead most of the goats to caves with elevator shafts under the fortress, feed them fungi and leftover grains, and then slaughter some to keep for the winter."

"While dwarven farmers and herders are not as skilled as humans, dwarven hunters are exceptional. Even in years of thriving livestock, a significant portion of their meat comes from hunting in the mountains surrounding the fortress. Animal hides are essential for clothing and leather furniture, and the pelts of other animals are used as substitutes for sheep's wool. Dwarves typically hunt wild boar, wild goats, sheep, deer, and bears. They use traps to lure small prey such as rabbits and squirrels. Sometimes, dwarven hunters even hunt eagles and small wyverns."

Eagle Horse!

Upon hearing the name, Su Li's eyes lit up immediately. This was a monster mount of equal high quality. They were hybrid animals with the head and wing features of a bird of prey, the forelimbs of a mountain lion, the lower body of a horse, and a complete horse tail. Unlike the golden griffin, they were usually white.

Eagles inhabit the peaks of grey mountains, occasionally venturing across green lands in search of cattle and sheep, though they also hunt humans, green-skinned animals, or any creature unable to quickly hide. Wild eagles are extremely aggressive. When awakened, they enter a frenzy of wild fury, only able to quell their rage by tearing apart their enemies. This is why eagles can slaughter an entire herd, wiping out every beast they see. Their hunger for fresh flesh is so intense that surrounding creatures can sense their terrifying hunger. Survivors of eagle attacks often keep a close watch on the sky for years afterward.

They possess a ruthless territorial instinct, willing to fight to the death any creature that strays into their chosen territory, be it a lost farmer, a dwarf, or a wandering dragon—therefore, it's not surprising that they tend to keep their distance from one another. They compete with Pegasus for nesting space, but they wisely avoid the territories of giant eagles. When two eagle-horses encounter each other, they are likely to fight, usually in a violent and bloody battle until one or both animals are dead. It is certain that neither eagle-horse will willingly retreat or flee.

Eagles are the preferred targets for mages to test their taming spells. After all, what does it matter if the taming spell fails once it's already in the middle of the enemy ranks?
Eagles were also among the most beloved mounts of knights, as they desired a creature more ferocious than the gentle Pegasus, though only a few knights actually managed to use them as mounts. Only the most determined men could ride these beasts, for eagles were strong-willed and temperamental, and would throw their riders from the saddle if they loosened their reins even slightly.

Dwarves, with their extremely dense bodies, are naturally not good at riding. Although they occasionally ride goats, eagles are definitely not their choice.

If they could capture the vultures, perhaps they could strike a trade. Humans would provide them with beef, and they would provide humans with vultures.

This is a powerful monster that lives on the highest peak of the Gray Mountains. Only by cooperating with the king of the Dwarf Kingdom can one obtain this powerful and ferocious mount.
(End of this chapter)