Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 48: Building a Fish Pond
The castle where Su Li lived was located on a high slope on the north bank of the river confluence. One had to go around the castle from the right side before reaching a pier on the east bank where the river was less turbulent. A steep mountain path stretched down from the heights, connecting to this small pier.

When Su Li walked down from the castle, Hildurd and the Minister of Seals, Laun, had already gathered all the fishermen and were waiting for him on the shore.

There are quite a few fishermen in the territory, a total of 16. Su Li specially bought 10 fishermen and 10 hunters from the slave-catching camp in Maleburg. The other 6 are the surviving citizens of the territory. On the bloody and fire-ravaged night when the previous lord was defeated, the fishermen rowed their boats away and were the profession with the most survivors.

Although fishing and hunting are not a very stable mode of production, a territory still needs the harvest from fishing and hunting to sustain itself in the early stages. It is better than having no income at all from farming in the early stages.

Under everyone's gaze, Su Li walked onto the dock and said in a very domineering tone, "Today's fishing and hunting, all actions must be under my command. Anyone who casts the nets prematurely without my order, anyone who acts on their own, will be lashed with 20 lashes!"

Looking at the knights in shining armor surrounding Su Li, the fishermen did not dare to raise any objections. Even if they doubted Su Li's knowledge of fishing and hunting, they quickly replied, "We will obey the orders of our lord."

After emphasizing the discipline of the operation, Su Li turned to look at the Minister of Seals, Lawn, and asked, "Are these the only few ships in our territory?"

Calling them boats would be an understatement; they were clearly just a few logs tied together. Su Li worried they would be swept apart when they entered the turbulent current. The only two boats that looked like boats were small dinghies, barely big enough for two people. They weren't the kind of decent fishing boats Su Li had imagined, the long boats capable of hauling five or six professional fishermen to catch and cast their nets.

"Yes, my lord," Lawn said. "The territory's four rafts and two fishing boats are all here. The previous lord didn't pay much attention to fishing. I've heard that in some shallow, fish-rich areas, if you put stones in a basket and sink it, it will immediately be filled with cod. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those famous fishing grounds. Or perhaps our exploration isn't extensive enough, and we haven't yet discovered the fishing grounds at the foot of the Black Forest."

There is such a unique fishing ground?
What Lawn said made Su Li's heart beat fast. The Hessen foothills were extremely fertile and rich in resources, so there was a high probability that such a fishing ground existed. If such a resource-rich fishing ground could be found, it might become a land of fish and rice in a different sense. Su Li remembered that in his previous life, some Nordic countries were supported by the fishing industry.

But there was no rush. He waved his hand and said, "We'll slowly look for fishing grounds later. Who says there's no fishing without them? Have the fishermen start preparing their nets now and await my order to go fishing. I predict a large school of carp and black carp will soon migrate past here."

Lawn was very knowledgeable and he knew very well that this was indeed the season for fish migration. If he could predict the time when the fish would pass by, it would be easy to have a good harvest.

He asked with some doubt, "Lord, can you really determine the time when the fish school passed by? Does the Church of Dawn still have this ability?"

Yesterday, Su Li only discussed it in detail with the religious advisor and agricultural minister Fandral, and Lawn only thought it was the ability of the druid Fandral.

Su Li waved his hand confidently and said, "My Lord Seal Holder, just follow my orders and we will surely get a rich catch. What's more important for you now is to think about how to store so many fresh fish."

Laun could not resist the lord's authority. Not to mention that Su Li was full of confidence, even if he couldn't catch a single fish, Laun could only provide advice and counsel according to his current orders.

Laun could only continue following Su Li's topic: "If there really is a large amount of fresh fish, I suggest starting with two aspects. The first is to build several smokehouses to make smoked fish and smoked meat for us. I think if we rely on fishing and hunting in the early stages, fish, venison, and wolf meat will be indispensable. Without several smokehouses, these fresh meats will be difficult to preserve."

"Another aspect is to establish pastures and fish ponds as soon as possible to raise live fish and animals. Animal husbandry is always more stable than fishing and hunting. Especially the land at the foot of the Hessen Mountains is so fertile and vast that it can build vast pastures and large fish ponds. It is a paradise for the development of animal husbandry and fisheries." Su Li nodded with satisfaction. This is the benefit of having a political official to assist him.

Although he had thought about relying on fishing and hunting to support the development of the territory in the early stage, he had never thought about such trivial matters. With such a government official to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, the development of the territory could be more stable.

He immediately said, "Then let's start preparing for both now. Arrange manpower for both simultaneously. One group will go to cut down trees and build the camp, while another group will dig fish ponds and reservoirs. The excavation site will be two kilometers northeast of the river confluence."

As expected, in the development of any territory, if you want to get rich, you must first cut down trees.

The smokehouse process is not difficult. Those who have watched the Wild Survival series should be familiar with it. It is a small room built with wood and branches. It uses high-quality wood such as pine, fruit wood and hardwood. After burning, it will produce a light fruity aroma and add a unique flavor to meat products.

This task wasn't difficult. Laun immediately dispatched ten serfs to the woods surrounding the stronghold to begin felling trees. The Black Forest foothills were vast and sparsely populated, with dense forests. Even around the villages, there were abundant trees. While not as dense as the Blood Pine Forest, inter-village forests consisting of hundreds or even thousands of trees were still easily found. A serf with only an axe and saw could easily cut down a large number of trees.

But digging a fish pond is not that easy!

Laun hesitated for a moment, then said to Su Li, "My Lord, we no longer have enough serfs to dig fish ponds. Farming and animal husbandry have already taken up hundreds of our manpower."

Su Li thought for a moment and said, "It's not a big problem. We still have manpower, but they are just unwilling to go. Go and tell those armed servants to dig the fish pond, and give them 10% of all the ore they dig out."

Rauen was a little surprised and asked, "Will they go? These armed retainers are also very proud. How could they possibly do such hard labor? Wouldn't it be considered an insult to them and affect their morale?"

Su Li smiled calmly: "Don't worry, tell them what I said, they will definitely flock to me."

If they were asked to help serfs with hard labor and build water conservancy projects, they would definitely complain.

But when asked to pan for gold, these people were absolutely enthusiastic. Sixty percent of the adventurers and gold diggers in this world were made up of these armed servants and colonists.

They have followed Su Li for so long, and when they heard that there was ore, they would definitely rush over and dig down with swords, chisels and axes, which would save Su Li a lot of tools.

(End of this chapter)