Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

While commerce and industry were flourishing in Black Forest Territory, agriculture was not neglected.

Throughout the entire autumn, the golden ear banners of the Rhea, the Dawn Goddess's church, fluttered atop the monasteries in every town, village, and farm of Black Forest Territory.

Dressed in green nun's robes, the sisters of the Dawn Church walked through every wheat field, holding the wheat ear emblem and guiding the farmers in more refined cultivation of winter wheat and buckwheat.

The oak staffs of the druid elders were planted in the fields, guiding the currents of the Cycle Wind between the ridges, representing the Dawn Goddess's rituals of abundance, held in various locations.

Especially in the countryside, mysterious stone circles were always springing up on the land between the fields and forest belts, inhabited by various fantastical spirits, all tamed by Rhea and bound by ancient covenants to provide assistance to humans.

Guided by Su Li's prophetic abilities, the Dawn Church finally located a Father of Grain, who had been dwelling in seclusion in a wild wheat field more than 400 miles west of the territory.

After providing a large number of flesh and blood corpses, he performed a blood sacrifice ritual below Bjorn's Shoal.

This time, humanity's preparations were so thorough that he doubled the number of red blood fields in the territory to more than 900 acres in one go!

This was truly a remarkable number, just a few dozen acres away from breaking the 1,000-acre mark!

It should be known that wheat fields after blood sacrifice can yield more than 1,000 catties per acre, a true great leap forward in yield.

If the effect of the [Sun Descends] divine spell is added, doubling the yield again would be no problem.

This means that these nearly 1,000 acres of fertile land can easily bring more than 2 million catties of grain to the territory.

However, this achievement is insignificant compared to the overall scale of the territory.

This agricultural survey also made Su Li truly understand why in this extraordinary world, knights controlled everything, yet still maintained a large number of serfs.

Because a large-scale lower class can really provide massive wealth!

After the autumn rush planting, by the time the severe winter arrived, the farmland scale in Bjorn's Shoal in the territory had smoothly reached 1,600 qing, which is 160,000 acres!

Moreover, a large number of dwarf engineers went all out to build water conservancy projects, even blasting the dam of the territory's sacred site, Lake Reveillin, killing thousands of lake fish, and finally managed to supply irrigation canals to these 1600 qing of land before winter.

The yield of winter wheat and buckwheat was slightly lower, but it could still reach between 230 and 290 catties.

This means that these 160,000 acres of farmland irrigated by Lake Reveillin's water are bound to have a bumper harvest, bringing at least 40 million catties of grain to Black Forest Territory!

With 20,000 tons of grain in hand, it is initially enough to supply 1,000 elite knights, 1,500 infantry and cavalry, and 3,000 slaves.

Disaster relief is something that only Eastern societies do. In theory, Su Li only needs to ensure that these 5,000 troops and his slaves are fed.

Of course, the common people will not need Su Li to provide relief this time, as the scale of farmland cultivated by various villages and farms also amounts to tens of thousands of acres.

Their only problem is that they need to pay high taxes, and the yield per acre is relatively low. Even with the blessing of the Dawn Goddess Church, the yield per acre of ordinary farmland is only about 100 catties.

There is a reason why the entire territory regards Bjorn's Shoal as the granary of the entire Black Forest Territory.

If he only relied on the taxes paid by the farmers, Su Li's current army size would have to be drastically reduced, and maintaining 100-200 elite knights would be difficult.

Therefore, the sisters of the Dawn Goddess Church are also working hard to improve the productivity of these wheat fields.

Because Su Li adopted an encouraging attitude and did not interfere with the development of the villages below, the subjectivity of all farmers and nuns was greatly brought into play.

This truly demonstrates a truth, that you can always trust the wisdom of the masses.

Soon, various facilities that could increase production were built in village after village.

For example, in Jiejiacun (Armor Removal Village), the village of armed slaves who were liberated for their meritorious service in dealing with the Goblin Broken-Toes Tribe, a unique [Rhea Wheat Ring] was built.

This is a concentric circular wheat field built in imitation of the Rhea Stone Circle, composed of concentric circles of five kinds of grains, with a Rhea statue emitting golden light standing in the center, and it is Rhea's consistent image, wearing a crown woven from wheat ears on her head.

The [Rhea Wheat Ring] makes this wheat field grow very lushly, and a bumper harvest is bound to come this year. Even near the feet of the statue, dozens of extraordinary wheat ears have been produced, emitting a faint green light, surrounding the statue, looking not only vibrant but also quite like a divine miracle.

This will bring more than 10 gold crowns of income to this village (most of the income will be subject to a nineteen percent tax), which can significantly improve the living environment of this village. After all, with agricultural productivity, a farmer's family cannot save 10 gold crowns in 20 years. Even if necessary expenses and life, old age, sickness, and death are taken into account, most families only have a surplus of dozens of copper coins a year, and of course, there are many who have no coins left.

These 10 or so gold crowns are already a sky-high wealth for a village, which can change the fate of many people.

Inspired by this church building, other villages have also developed considerable agricultural facilities according to local conditions.

In the Green Leaf Hills farm, rainbow terraces have been built. They have placed a carefully constructed circular terrace opposite the Rainbow Waterfall. Moreover, it is designed very ingeniously, so that all wheat fields can bathe in the sunlight shot through the rainbow during the day.

There is also a newly developed territory near the forest, where a rime wheat sentry has been built. The frost stream basin in the Blood Pine Forest is the area where druids like to be active the most. There are a large number of forests there, and the druids use the antifreeze resin secreted by birch trees in winter to form a natural ice shell area. The nuns of the Dawn Church made fog horns out of hollow wheat stalks. When the temperature is below freezing, thousands of fog horns inserted in the fields will automatically sound under the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the ice shell, and the sound waves will melt the frost into irrigation mist.

This makes it a special wheat field in this area, and it can even achieve an extraordinary harvest in winter and mature faster.

In the case of three harvests a year throughout the Black Forest Territory, the more than 2,000 acres of fertile land in this rime wheat sentry can achieve the feat of four harvests a year.

Of course, in addition to these religious wonders and special buildings, the Dawn Church has not neglected basic production.

The church cooperated with the craftsman guilds to create a batch of [Howling Hoes] with witchcraft attributes, using a large number of gnoll thigh bones and skulls. These hoes will make the sound of wild beasts howling when plowing the fields, scaring away field mice and wild rabbits in the ground, and reducing the impact of pests on crops.

In addition to these staple foods, the planting results in other aspects have also been thriving after the development this autumn.

First of all, there are the amethyst grape vines that Su Li values most. After propagation, cuttings, and grafting, the territory has expanded into 5 acres of vineyards, all irrigated with fertilizer made from phosphorescent hyphae and Reveillin Lake silt.

This speed is very amazing. When Su Li heard the report, he felt a little incredible.

Because the amethyst vineyard is next to his manor, he made a special trip to take a look, and then he had a clear impression of this achievement.

These five acres of grapes are not entirely promoted by the druid's [Vitality Growth]. In fact, most of them are transplanted old grape vines, but their main stems were removed, and then a section of the interface was cut and grafted with amethyst grape branches to change the variety to amethyst grapes.

Then a lot of cutting technology was used. The cut amethyst grape branches were inserted into fertile fields and soon grew roots.

Therefore, the area of this special amethyst grape can be quickly expanded to five acres, but these cuttings and grafted grape vines will not be able to bear fruit next year. If you rely on the druid's vitality to grow and catalyze them one by one, I am afraid that they will not be able to be completely catalyzed when the harvest comes next year, and it will seriously delay other aspects of the process.

Vandal simply used a sun descending magic here once, completely covering this area. This solved a lot of problems and allowed these amethyst grapes to grow perfectly, immune to pests and various bad conditions, and increased the survival rate to more than 95%.

You must know that there are many pests and diseases in the process of grape seedlings growing, including grape two-star leafhoppers, black bean disease, powdery mildew, anthracnose, grape downy mildew and other dozens of kinds.

The biggest advantage of the Sun Descending Divine Art is that it can provide perfect growth conditions for an area, pure area, natural order and other blessings, which can make these newly inserted and grafted branches grow rapidly and healthily.

Next autumn, these grape vines will be lush.

However, grape vines generally take three years to bear fruit, and even if they do bear fruit, the grapes at this time are not very ideal and cannot be used to make exquisite and high-quality wine.

Therefore, even if these grape vines that have been accelerated to grow next year bear fruit, Annelise asserts that the brandy brewed will not be of much value, maybe only 1 gold crown. And it is very likely to affect the price of high-quality brandy.

You must know that in these five acres of grape vines, there are not only new seedlings that have been grafted, but also old vines that Black Forest Territory transplanted from other places. Among them, a new batch that was just transplanted this month is a top-quality one. According to Vandal's speculation, its age may be as long as 550 years!

550-year-old grape vines are really not a fantasy product. The oldest grape vine on Earth is already 450 years old, and it can still produce fruit, producing as many as 70-110 pounds of grapes every year, and even the quality of the grapes is enough to make wine.

As we all know, the wine brewing industry is prevalent in the empire. From the beginning of the empire, various types of grapes have been widely cultivated in various territories.

So developing to this day, a long-standing, thousand-year-old grape vine has become one of the most important assets of some nobles.

As Su Li knows, the oldest grape vine in the empire is in Middenland, in the hands of the Elector Count north of the capital. Its age is as high as 2,700 years. The wine brewed from this old vine is called White Wolf Holy Brew, and each bottle sells for more than 200 gold crowns.

It is rumored that only warriors blessed by the God Ulric are qualified to drink the honey wine soaked in the ice and snow of the ice field, which can extend the life of warriors for at least one month. Therefore, the Grand Prince of Middenland and the Grand Commander of the White Wolf Knights always occupy the most senior elector titles in the empire.

These two northern overlords, one in charge of the empire's oldest elector scepter, the Rune Battle Axe of Middenland, can easily split open the gate of the empire's imperial palace treasury. One is in charge of the Ice Ring, which can freeze the water transport trade of the Tarabek River.

However, because they don't like to use their brains and have violent tempers, they have offended too many people. Therefore, even if they have at least three elector votes in each election, they cannot ascend to the throne of the emperor.

In the past five hundred years, the honey wine in the White Wolf Holy Grail has changed thirteen recipes, but the number of votes on the Middenland Elector Count's roster has always been frozen at the number "three"—like the glaciers that never melt outside the walls of Middenheim, or the three frozen cheeses that can never be untied at the northern people's banquets.

However, when they truly have a hero in troubled times, it also means that they can often be elected emperor of the empire with extremely high votes.

The current Northern Middenland Elector Count Graf Erich von Carazbagger is a typical hero in troubled times. Not only is he powerful, a powerful White Wolf Knight, but he is also an iron-fisted tyrant. Under his rule, the Middenland Grand Prince Territory is strong and tough.

He strengthened the northern trade routes and vigorously developed the economy, greatly alleviating the shortage of resources in the north.

In terms of religion, he continued to expand the magnificent Ulric Temple, which made his relationship with the Pope very harmonious, and smoothly strengthened the status of the Inquisition, using a cruel style to strongly control the interior, greatly alleviating the chaotic corruption that Middenland has faced for a long time due to the Chaos Wasteland.

Militarily, he is even more tough. Relying on the Ulric Church, Middenland is known for its White Wolf Knights and elite infantry. Middenland's tough and strong infantry has almost become the most capable infantry in the empire. Especially through the strengthening of the arena and martial spirit, these soldiers have significantly improved their combat effectiveness in igloos and hunting.

With the support of this powerful military strength, he forcibly vassalized a large number of barbarian tribes, mountain dwarves, and even a forest elf kingdom within his principality.

In economics, politics, military affairs, and diplomacy, he used iron-fisted methods to make the Milan Deng Grand Prince Territory strong and prosperous.

This made him an admired model for countless brutal nobles in the empire.

Although those nobles are brutal, they are not stupid. They all saw the perfect image of a brutal monarch in this Middenland Grand Prince Graf.

The latest novel is first published on Liu Jiu Shu Ba!

Under his rule, the territory formed a bloody prosperity with high-pressure order. He himself is the military commander and religious tyrant of the territory. His internal authority is at its peak, and he has conquered a series of harsh natural obstacles and cruel enemies.

If the civilians of Black Forest Territory were to give a fair evaluation, compared with this powerful Middenland Grand Prince, the lord of Black Forest Territory, Su Li, is like a firefly, how can he compare with the brilliance of the bright moon? Even the iron-blooded prime minister of the Black Forest, the God-Chosen bureaucrat Oliver, is a little fan of this Middenland Grand Prince.

Oliver's various policies are obviously learning from this legendary White Wolf Knight, Middenland Prince Graf Erich von Carazbagger.

If Su Li truly intends to ascend to the Imperial throne in the future and compete with this tyrant of the North, then not a single potential vote can be overlooked.

It is said that Graf already has 5 votes, with the northern territories of Nordland and Westerland greatly favoring this tyrant of Middenland.

Brutality is hardly a condemnation within the Empire; often, the Empire prefers to elect a strong-handed tyrant to consolidate the intricate internal factions and unite against the invasion of evil monsters.

The northern territories of the Empire generally regard brutality as a virtue, as weak monarchs cannot survive in the harsh northern environment, and mercy is entirely impractical.

Su Li currently has no votes!

He is still far from unifying the Border Princes.

According to intelligence, Phyllis, who could provide a crucial vote, remains elusive.

She is currently carefree, wanting nothing more than to live a happy life and give birth to her baby.

The past month has been incredibly wonderful for her, beautiful as a dream, making her uneasy, fearing that such beautiful days are just a pipe dream or will be shattered by a sudden storm.

She is nearing her delivery date; the human gestation period in this world is not ten months or 40 weeks, but 30 weeks!

Of course, a week in this world is 8 days, so it is equivalent to eight months on Earth.

To ensure her health and the health of the fetus, she has been consuming extraordinary spiritual grains since the sixth month.

With such powerful nourishment, it can be guaranteed that the fetus in her womb will grow into an elite knight, unlike the bloodlines of the Purple Rose family, where some cannot even awaken as trainee knights.

Fortunately, around the Blessed Wisteria Tree, Sister Isabella has filled 100 square meters of purple spiritual fields with extraordinary grain ears, ensuring Su Li's extravagant lifestyle.

Isabella planted a total of 276 verdant ears of grain in this field, with an expected yield of 2500 to 3500 gold crowns.

However, after this spiritual field stabilized, during this planting cycle, the priest of the Lady of the Radiant Sun buried a finger bone relic of the Saintly Knight, the Ruthless One, Odo de Paravon, beneath the land, slightly increasing the wheat field's yield.

As stated on the opening page of 'The Imperial Agricultural Compendium, Volume 1': 'Soil is as sacred as blood, and the rolling wheat is tied to the glory of knights.'

After the Radiant Sun Church's prayers and sacrifices, the remains of this Saintly Knight have increased the land's fertility by at least 20-30%.

One has to admire the subtlety of the Dawn Church.

When Su Li initially received this information, he only thought of burying the finger bone relic under Bjorn's Bay, or at most in the blood sacrifice wheat field.

But after receiving the relic, Vandal decisively suggested burying it under the purple spiritual field. Who can say that verdant ears of grain are not a wheat field?

The effect was significant; the increased yield from this suggestion alone was enough for Phyllis to eat until childbirth.

This filled Phyllis's face with smiles, feeling utterly spoiled by the lord.

Her heart was full of sweetness, so happy that she dared not rest, fearing that she would wake up and find it all a beautiful dream in a moldy granary.

When she woke up, she would still be a peasant woman from a common family, having to endure the coldest nights before dawn alone on a cold wooden bed in the harsh winter.

Several times when Su Li accompanied her to sleep, she anxiously disregarded the danger and was willing to serve Su Li.

Even when Su Li disagreed, she proactively suggested trying a different approach, exploring alternative routes.

Clearly, this female courtier had a vague premonition of something very bad.

However, Su Li carefully observed all the intelligence, and there was indeed no danger recently.

The territory's development was thriving, everything was in order, and various auspicious creatures emerged endlessly.

For example, verdant ears of grain appeared in the territory's farmlands, and to date, over 360 extraordinary ears of grain have been registered throughout the territory.

Moonlight silkworms were also successfully acquired by the territory. Around Lake Reflin, the territory planted thousands of mulberry trees, which will be used to feed these 50 plump silkworm babies next year, producing a considerable amount of [Rainbow Silk] in the season.

In this situation, Su Li was in an excellent mood and specially arranged for an obstetrician from the Church of Shalya to stay with Phyllis at the Purple Rose Manor.

He himself stopped running around, entrusting the territory's affairs to Oliver and Orstein, and then stayed with Phyllis in the Blessed Wisteria Tree garden, only practicing as a knight.

This practice was a true training exercise, accompanying Phyllis to strengthen her body.

Until the end of autumn, Su Li and Ingrid made some progress in their training.

After such a long time, Su Li, with the accumulation of various materials, especially the monthly supplementation of Fire Rabbit meat, finally stabilized his early-stage elite knight rank and advanced to mid-stage elite knight.

Ingrid's witchcraft level also improved; the cold resistance runes she now creates are of excellent quality. Even after winter arrives, Hilde only wears a shirt, stockings, and a black skirt, without feeling any cold.

The fate amulets she now creates, after incorporating the mystical power of the four-leaf clover, allow people to vaguely sense the ripples of fate, glimpsing some important events of the day in their dreams at dawn, avoiding some misfortunes and terrible things.

For example, if someone is about to attend a business negotiation but has forgotten the most important information, this premonition will form in their dream.

After waking up, they will definitely not make such a mistake.

Su Li and Phyllis both wore these fate amulets, and until autumn turned to winter, no nightmares occurred. Life was as perfect as Phyllis felt.