I'm not a lord

Chapter 87 Military Strengthening Plan
Three days later, the first batch of rag paper was produced.

Although the surface of the paper is still slightly rough and the overall color is a bit yellowish.

But it is indeed paper that can be used.

Lynn immediately distributed the papers to various officials.

Treasurer Leah, Treasurer Agna, Trading Station Manager Little Albert, Territory Governor Old Albert
White Bear Territory's daily office work finally got rid of expensive parchment.

During this period, Lynn also taught several female workers how to make quill pens and carbon ink.

Although these two things are not expensive, it is always good to be able to make them yourself, and White Bear Territory has no shortage of raw materials.

Every household raises white geese, and the raw materials for carbon ink can be found everywhere.

At this point, the preliminary preparations for opening the school have been basically completed.

When Old Six Timo took the freshly dried rags of paper, he could feel a great power from these thin, pale yellow papers.

"Knowledge will no longer be expensive." There was excitement and a hint of inexplicable fear in his eyes.

Cheap knowledge will cultivate more intellectuals, and educated bureaucrats will no longer be scarce.

Quantitative change will lead to qualitative change, and the existing feudal system will be shaken as a result.

The kings and dukes granted fiefs to various nobles not because they were willing to divide land and power, but because they lacked sufficient bureaucrats to establish an effective administrative system.

Although Lin En did not say it explicitly, Lao Liu had vaguely guessed his real intention of establishing a school and making paper.

Compared to Lao Liu, whose mind was full of politics, Leah saw the terrifying profits behind the rag paper.

The material cost of an ordinary parchment manuscript of 300 pages would often cost five silver coins.

Rag paper can reduce the raw material cost of books to one-fifth or even less.

That night, Leah lazily nestled in Lin En's arms, her fingers gently stroking his chest:

"Sir, I have tried the paper you invented. Although it is slightly inferior to parchment, the production cost is much lower. If this paper appears on the market in Sanhe City, it will surely attract crazy buying and bring huge wealth to the territory."

What Leah meant was that she wanted her brother Leon to be responsible for selling rag paper.

Don't let the rich water flow to outsiders' fields.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. The production of rag paper is limited, and we have to prioritize meeting the needs of the territory. Let's wait until next year and expand the papermaking workshop first. Raw materials are also a problem."

Lin En naturally knew what was going on in Leah's mind.

But it didn't matter, he had originally wanted Leon to be in charge of the sales of rag paper.

Leon has valuable business channels and loyalty is not an issue.

But the conditions are not yet ripe.

Making paper from shredded linen is much easier than making paper from tree bark, involves fewer steps, and requires less time for fermentation.

But even so, he still spent several days of hard work and hands-on guidance before he could teach a dozen or so female workers to barely be able to make rag paper.

If they really started making paper from tree bark, the picture would be too beautiful for Lin En to even think about.

The production capacity of the papermaking workshop is very limited, and it must give priority to meeting the needs of the territory.

In order to sell rag paper on a large scale, the scale and production capacity of the workshop need to be expanded several times.

But where can White Bear Territory find so many laborers now?
More than 30,000 acres of arable land need to be taken care of, and the new population of Manor No. 6 is responsible for reclaiming the wasteland.

The dozen or so female workers in the papermaking workshop were all squeezed out by Lin En. Now he really has no one to use.

It was a rare sunny day in late July.

Lynn, along with the fourth brother Joseph and a dozen bandit brothers, arrived at the military camp on the north side of the territory.

The fifth, Andre, led fifty soldiers to assemble below the stage and shouted, "Everyone stand at attention and salute the Baron!"

"loyalty!"

Deafening slogans suddenly resounded throughout the military camp.

These fifty soldiers have undergone two full months of intensive training and have long since gotten rid of their initial immaturity.

They held spears, held their heads high, stood straight, and formed a neat and uniform formation, as if they were a closely coordinated whole.

Every two or three days, Lin En would come to the military camp to inspect in person. He witnessed the transformation of these soldiers with his own eyes, and led them out for training many times, engraving his image and teachings firmly in the minds of the soldiers.

The closed environment of the military camp is like a burning furnace, which can burn out the timidity and cowardice in the hearts of the soldiers and forge loyalty and bravery into their bodies.

Those who cannot overcome their weaknesses will be kicked out of the army and deprived of their privileges and treatment by Linn.

Fortunately, these fifty soldiers are the most elite part of the serfs in the White Bear Territory. They have all survived the devilish training jointly created by Lin En and Lao Wu, and gradually possessed the aura of a strong army.

But this is still far from enough.

After watching the soldiers' formation training, Lin En and the fourth and fifth brothers gathered in the barracks to discuss subsequent plans for strengthening and expanding the army.

Lin En first instructed Lao Wu, "I have already given Qi He the order to forge the halberd. Once the halberd is ready, you will lead these fifty soldiers to begin training in the halberd formation."

The new blacksmith workshop operated well under Qihe's management.

With the help of the hydraulic forging hammer, the overall work efficiency of the blacksmiths has increased exponentially, and several tons of iron ingots in stock have been quickly made into various agricultural tools and mining tools.

In addition to meeting people's livelihood needs, Lin En also ordered Qi He to build one hundred heavy halberds.

The overall shape of the halberd is similar to that of the spear, except that a heavy axe and a sickle are added to both ends of the spear head.

Spearheads pierced armor, heavy axes hacked at limbs, and billhooks pulled cavalrymen from their horses.

The halberd exists specifically to target armored cavalry.

Don’t you have eight knights and more than twenty mounted attendants in your Shoal Territory?
Lynn made the halberd to give the knights of Shoal Territory a big surprise.

Although the halberd is powerful, the requirements for the user are much higher than those of the spear.

A halberd is heavier than a spear and requires the user to possess great strength and stamina.

At the same time, the halberd also requires a larger swinging space, which can easily injure friendly forces in a dense phalanx, thus placing higher demands on the soldiers' coordination and tacit understanding.

These fifty soldiers are already able to skillfully form spear phalanxes, and their physical fitness and strength have also been significantly improved. Naturally, Lin En has to increase their strength.

In his vision, these fifty soldiers would become the elite of the army, wearing plate armor and holding halberds, becoming the cavalry's most terrifying nightmare.

"I understand, big brother. I promise to make these bastards good at using halberds." The fifth brother, Andre, gladly accepted the order.

Lin En then instructed the fourth brother, Joseph, "I plan to expand the army by another 100 before August. We will recruit from the 200 eliminated last time. You will be responsible for training these 100 men, and the brothers below will serve as team leaders."

"Brother, just leave it to me. These one hundred people will definitely be stronger than the subordinates of the fifth brother!" The fourth brother was already indignant that the fifth brother was able to lead the army first, and he was naturally overjoyed after receiving the order.

(End of this chapter)