I'm not a lord

Chapter 98: Explode the troops, explode the troops! (Please order first)

Lin En worked hard to improve agricultural technology and tools, promote more advanced crop rotation methods, and redivide the fields.

All of this is to free up more labor.

As for the purpose of liberating labor, it is of course to increase the number of troops!

Shortly after the autumn harvest, he expanded the fifty soldiers under Lao Wu's command to one hundred.

So far, he has recruited a total of 200 young and middle-aged laborers from the White Bear Territory. Putting aside the newly started Manor No. 6, they account for nearly one-fifth of the male labor force in the entire territory.

In contrast, Lin En allocated a full 24000 acres of arable land to the families of these soldiers, all of which were cultivated fields, accounting for one-third of the cultivated fields in the entire territory.

Starting next year, these fields will no longer be subject to tax, and the soldiers' families will no longer have to bear heavy corvee labor.

After all, they are all professional soldiers. They have to stay in the barracks for training 90% of the time, and they will have to work hard for their lords in the future, so they must be fully compensated.

This is a bit like the military system, which is quite suitable for the sparsely populated northern border.

In addition to rewarding land, most of the gold coins earned from selling illegal salt were invested by Lin En in weapons and armor for the soldiers.

The two hundred soldiers included fifty axemen and one hundred and fifty spearmen.

Among them, the most elite axe and halberd soldiers are all equipped with chain mail, helmets, long swords or short-handled battle axes, and are not afraid of close combat.

Except for the lack of mounts, their equipment level has surpassed that of the knights and squires in the neighboring territory.

In fact, the mounts of knight squires are generally inferior warhorses.

This type of horse can carry people for a long time while walking or jogging, but it has not received professional training and has poor physical fitness, so it cannot charge at high speed on the battlefield.

In Sanhe City, the price of a low-quality warhorse usually fluctuates around 8 gold coins, so it won't cost too much to equip it.

As for plate armor, the output is too low.

Eric and a few clever apprentices could only produce a set of shirt and helmet in a week, so for the time being they could only supply it to a few officers.

The cost of plate armor is very high. Just the top and helmet will consume about 50 kilograms of iron ingots.

Fifty kilograms of iron ingots cost one gold coin, not to mention the large amount of charcoal and manpower consumed during the production process.

This is warmongering in the true sense of the word.

Lynn squeezed out as much spare labor as possible and invested almost every penny he earned in the military.

He must make enough profit from this army, otherwise he will suffer a huge loss.

It is an open secret in the territory that the lord covets the Shoal Territory in the south.

Even the lowest serfs were speculating about when the master would send out troops.

After all, the White Bear Territory is next to the Shallow Beach Territory, and the barbarians in the north have already surrendered. It is impossible to skip the Shallow Beach Territory and attack the territory further south.

For Lin En, the time to attack the Shoal Territory has gradually matured.

Yagena became pregnant around the end of April and already had a noticeable belly.

As long as his smuggling of salt had not been exposed, he did not want to completely break off relations with the Duke of Swamp for the time being.

Lin En knew very well that Flora, the female regent of Shoal Territory, was no fool.

Even a fool cannot hold the position of regent.

Moreover, the Shoal Territory is not as closed as the White Bear Territory. There are at least three land passages to the outside in the south.

Even if he tripled the number of the more than 200 soldiers he had, it would be impossible for Lin En to take over the Shallow Beach Territory quietly.

The deployment of troops was a major problem. Once the Shoal Territory was captured, Lin En would have Jagna write a tearful letter to the Duchess, accusing her stepmother of conspiring with her adulterer to murder the former baron and usurp the Shoal Territory.

At the same time, he had to promise in the letter to continue to be loyal to the Duke of Swamp and pay the required taxes.

By then, the Duke will definitely send someone to verify the truth. With the pregnant Yagena coming forward, there is a high probability that she can get away with it and even serve to delay time.

Even if the Duke wanted to appoint a new Baron of Shoal, that would be next year or even the year after.

By then, will this Shallow Territory really still be the Shallow Territory?

As for the specific time of dispatching troops, Lin En originally planned to do so next spring.

But the development speed of White Bear Territory far exceeded his original conception.

And thanks to his hard work, Yagna's pregnancy time was greatly advanced, and the due date is February next year.

Lin En decided to completely take over the Shoal Territory before the first snow of this year, so that he could arrange for next year's spring plowing in the Shoal Territory and build the Shoal Territory into an equally solid logistics base within a year.

Of course, plans are plans.

What Lin En needs to do now is to prepare for war.

After establishing the short-term goal, he took the fourth and fifth brothers and two hundred soldiers into the forest west of the territory.

In this era, hunting is one of the most efficient ways to train soldiers.

Lin En required the soldiers to keep their formation intact even in the dense forest, and commanded them to change their formations through horns and drums.

A quick blast of the trumpet means to advance, while a slow blast of the drum means to maintain a defensive formation.

Squadrons and squads communicate with each other using bone whistles and passwords.

Under Lin En's careful training, the originally scattered army of 200 people gradually became regular, sometimes surrounding the enemy in a dispersed manner, sometimes pursuing in a dense formation, and sometimes retreating in an orderly manner.

After a week, Lin En harvested more than ten tons of animal meat, including bear, deer, wild boar, etc.

Not only did they complete the military training mission, but they also stored the bacon needed for military rations. At the same time, they eliminated the threat of wild beasts for the nearby serfs and ensured the safety of the land reclamation.

After throwing the two hundred soldiers who had completed training back to the barracks, Lynn soon arrived at the blacksmith's workshop north of the castle.

It was already autumn, and although a cool breeze occasionally blew through the territory, the blacksmith's workshop was still as hot as midsummer.

The waterwheel turned and the blacksmiths hammered away non-stop.

Eric was standing beside the anvil with great concentration, wearing only a cowhide apron on his upper body, sweat dripping from his face as he carefully hammered a half-finished plate armor jacket with a small hammer.

Lin En walked up to him and asked with a smile, "Eric, have you been in trouble recently?"

Eric put down the hammer in his hand and wiped the sweat off his face. "Master, the only thing I'm worried about is my family. I just hope the war hasn't spread to Sanhe City yet."

"Don't worry, they will be here soon." Through the panel, Lin En could already see that the third brother was moving towards the White Bear Territory and would arrive in four or five days.

If nothing unexpected happens, Eric's family will naturally be on board.

"Master, my two sons are both excellent blacksmiths. They will be able to master the skills of making plate armor after practicing for a while. I hope you can provide more apprentices and wood for the workshop."

Eric is very satisfied with his current working environment.

In the past two weeks, he has expanded the blacksmith workshop with the support of Lynn, and carpenter Tolima has also promised to provide five more water wheels.

The only problem is lack of manpower.

There is more in the evening, don’t worry!
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(End of this chapter)