After inspecting the territory, Zhou Qingfeng rode ‘Swift Shadow’ back to the manor.
After the establishment of 'Fu Qiang Ling', 'Harmony Village' was reduced to a mere supplier of raw materials. Xili moved all management personnel and institutions to 'Fu Qiang Ling'.
There were only more than 300 people living in the territorial manor, but now it has expanded to 3,000. Roads and houses are being built everywhere in the manor, and there is not a moment of peace.
Outside the manor, an open space the size of half a football field has been opened as a playground, and hundreds of refugees are undergoing queue training.
These are the 'Sanhe Masters' who just want to do odd jobs. If they don't get whipped, they won't know how beautiful the world is.
Todd led the orc guards in charge of training, and his fanged mouth yelled furiously from time to time. Whenever he roared, the trained refugees stood upright one by one and puffed out their chests.
Zhou Qingfeng rode past the playground and stared coldly at the crooked training queue.
With hands and feet, turning left and right, dizzy, the refugees seemed to be doing Brownian motion, with no rules at all. If someone was watching, they would move. If no one was watching, they would be lazy.
"Which batch of training teams is this?" Zhou Qingfeng asked Rubio who followed him.
"It seems to be the thirteenth batch. This group of refugees was eliminated from various places for retraining. The quality is indeed not high," Rubio replied.
"Those with poor quality should not be accepted into the 'rich and powerful leaders'." Zhou Qingfeng already has no shortage of manpower. "We must establish an 'exit mechanism' and don't let waste waste our food."
When establishing the 'Harmony Village' in the Black Forest, Zhou Qingfeng purged the leaders and backbone of the original human settlement. The residents of the 'Harmony Village' all knew that their master was a ruthless person.
But establishing a ‘rich and powerful collar’ is different.
Many refugees heard that Mr. Hugo was particularly kind and came here because of his reputation. They were indeed full after arriving, but they did not expect that this lord had unique methods of squeezing labor.
"For those who are hopelessly lazy and slippery, send them all to the Black Forest for adventure."
Zhou Qingfeng decided with a wave of his hand that the fate of many refugees would be a 'waste utilization' style of exile. In short, the refugees should not be allowed to run around, lest they become a hidden danger to public security.
Rubio knew his master's intentions very well. He rode a donkey into the playground and relayed Zhou Qingfeng's order to Todd.
The trained queue is immediately disbanded.
When the refugees learned that they no longer had to wander around, they cheered and shouted, praising Master Hugo for his kindness.
Rubio glanced indifferently at the laughing refugees and thought to himself: "Ignorant guys, they don't know that the more comfortable they are under Mr. Hugo, the closer they are to death."
After crossing the playground, Zhou Qingfeng entered the core area of the manor. On both sides of the road were cultivated farmland, and Irene was teaching the farmers how to drive livestock and use metal plows.
In the past, Fabro didn't pay much attention to agriculture. He only grew a few vegetables and flowers in his huge territory, and all the food was purchased from Cold Wind City. His farmers still used wooden plows to cultivate the land.
After Zhou Qingfeng arrived, he immediately expanded the agricultural population in the territory, established collective farms, promoted the work-point system, and rewarded labor activists.
The large metal plow produced by the forge requires two large animals to pull, and can plow five deep furrows at the same time, completely loosening and breaking up the soil.
But efficient tools also require efficient use.
After the establishment of 'Fu Qiang Ling', the training work has not stopped. Thousands of people need to master new knowledge, including Zhou Qingfeng himself.
In terms of training, the naturally charming tree spirits have the best effect. The refugees who have received queue training are taught by Irene, and the learning efficiency is the highest.
"How many big livestock have we purchased now?" Zhou Qingfeng asked Rubio.
"Currently there are more than 650, including cattle, horses, donkeys, mules and the like." Rubio is quite familiar with the manor's wealth.
"Cattle are actually rare in the North, but there are more horses. Especially draft horses are very cheap.
Our platinum coins are very well used in the market, and more and more people recognize them.
With a transportation team composed of heavy-duty horse-drawn carriages, we can go to other cities in the North to purchase goods, and the supply of goods is relatively sufficient."
It is different from the cattle farming in Zhou Qingfeng’s perception. There are frequent wars in the North, and there are more horses than cattle.
Although the cost of raising horses is several times that of raising cattle, and horses are more delicate than cattle, horses can also farm faster than cattle.
Horses can also be used for transportation and fighting, but cattle cannot. Therefore, horses are preferred to be raised throughout the Northland.
Aluminum alloys from the real world were used by Zhou Qingfeng to purchase large amounts of supplies, and these metal currencies were continuously promoted with the expansion of the 'Harmony Trading Company'.
Wizards first recognized the 'platinum coins' with weak magical properties and used them in daily transactions. This is equivalent to a strong credit recognition.
The injection of large amounts of currency actually promoted commercial trade. After all, more and more money could be made. Businessmen also naturally accepted the stamped 'exquisite platinum coins'.
The financial system envisioned by Zhou Qingfeng is rapidly penetrating throughout the North, and conquering cities and territories is easier than conquering with swords.
From the rich and powerful to the poor, all walks of life are actively and passively doing business with the "Harmony Trading Company".
With heavy-duty carriages running around, in just three months, the amount of goods shipped to Cold Wind City was several times more than before.
Cattle, sheep and horses, grain and cloth, daily groceries, slaves and mercenaries, all kinds of people and goods were swallowed up by the "rich leaders" like a bottomless pit.
It is difficult for outsiders to understand the sense of fulfillment of this rapid improvement in strength. Only managers like Rubio who have actually handled it know that the "rich and powerful leader" is different almost every month.
There are more than ten kilometers of roads of different grades in the territory. They spread around like a spider web, connecting the seven or eight newly built villages in the territory with the lord's manor.
"If horses are easier to buy, buy more. Over 600 livestock is still too few, especially as horses are widely used. I hope this number can be doubled several times more."
Zhou Qingfeng has an ardent pursuit of "replacing human power with animal power and water power". He likes to see higher production and operational efficiency in his territory.
Rubio opened his mouth and wanted to say, "Horses eat much more than people." But thinking that feed could also be purchased from outside, he closed his mouth again.
According to Zhou Qingfeng's meaning, a 'rich and powerful leader' would have to raise at least 2,000 horses. However, there are very few nobles in the North who can support a population of 2,000.
With so many horses, the 'Fuqiang Leader' is definitely the leading force.
The area of the manor is expanding, becoming more and more like a small town. The further you go in, the more people there are, the more houses there are, and even streets appear.
An overhead water pipe is led from the waterwheel on the river to all parts of the manor. The water pipe is connected to water storage towers to become tap water.
Residents who were queuing up for water always gathered under the water storage tower. When they saw Zhou Qingfeng coming on horseback, they all silently bowed their heads and knelt to show their respect.
Before large-scale construction of houses, the manor first established a complete water supply and drainage system. This novel set of facilities alone reduced the incidence of diarrheal diseases in the territory by half.
They are so particular about food, clothing, housing and transportation, and the people in the manor feel that they live like nobles.