204: Chapter 204 Taking Control of the Army

Chapter 204 Controlling the Army

The next day, early morning.

Outside the window, the biting cold wind swirled up and down in the air, and the humming vibration of the window sounded continuously.

Bright morning light spilled through the windows into various parts of the room. Lister, who had gotten up early, stood by the windowsill, quietly watching the bustling smoke rising from the distant Blackwood Town.

"Thump, thump, thump—" A rhythmic and moderately loud knock suddenly sounded, followed by Thomas's magnetic voice.

"Master Lister, the hot milk has been prepared for you."

"Hard work for you, Thomas, come in," Lister replied.

Stepping steadily into the room and carefully placing the hot milk on the table, Thomas then took his leave, not disturbing his peaceful morning.

Thomas's grasp of boundaries always made Lister feel very comfortable.

As his butler, Thomas's usual work was not easy, but he still habitually brought him hot milk personally every morning.

Lister had never changed someone else to do it out of consideration for his complicated work; he knew that this matter had to be done by Thomas.

This not only reflected the closeness between Thomas and him, but also indirectly showed Thomas's irreplaceable special status.

Walking to the table and picking up the hot milk, he then sat on the sofa to slowly savor it, while thoughts about yesterday's events began to fly in his mind.

When he returned last night, it was already late at night. The result of the operation was very successful, but the process was not so easy.

In order to safely escort the approximately two hundred captives of the Green Pig Tribe back safely, their group spent a lot of effort.

Fortunately, the scale of last night's beast tide was powerful enough to pin down the vast majority of the Shadow Leopard Tribe's high-end combat power, especially its lord, Boras.

Therefore, during the evacuation, they only encountered a not-too-large number of junior Totem Warriors and Soldier pursuit, but they were all easily killed by them.

Otherwise, under the condition of destroying someone else's temple, it would definitely not have been so easy for them to leave smoothly.

Now that this matter was successfully executed, he needed to send someone to pay attention to the movements of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, at least before the blizzard came again.

However, he was not very worried about the Shadow Leopard Tribe. Judging from the fierceness of last night's beast tide, the Shadow Leopard Tribe's garrison must have suffered significant casualties.

At the same time, under Raymond's high-altitude reconnaissance and transmission, after they completely evacuated the Shadow Leopard Tribe, the Shadow Leopard Tribe's garrison was still fighting the beast tide.

And during the evacuation, under his instigation, their group consciously concealed their faces and killed all the pursuers.

In a short period of time, it was extremely unlikely for the Shadow Leopard Tribe to settle post-war affairs and send people to find out their identities.

When the blizzard struck again in two days, the Shadow Leopard Tribe would still have to deal with the Giant Elephant Tribe, making them even more unable to spare themselves in this matter.

After careful analysis, he was not that worried about this matter anymore.

Drinking the hot milk in the cup in one gulp, he stood up, put on a thick, fine animal skin cloak, and strode out of the lord's residence.

After just two or three days of cleaning, the streets of Blackwood Town had taken on a completely new look, and all the deep snow had been uniformly transported to the filth and garbage management plant for disposal.

The filth and garbage management plant was a cleaning unit established by Odinton under his instruction by arranging to recruit new staff.

Its main working direction was responsible for the cleaning work of all public places in the territory, under the full jurisdiction of the magistrate.

Now the territory was in a stage of absorbing a large population from other regions. With mixed personnel, it was very easy to cause filth problems in public places.

As a resident who lived in a modern world metropolis in his past life, he dared not represent everyone, but he himself really did not like filth everywhere in public places.

Therefore, after various considerations, he established such a department, which could not only improve the territory's environment, but also provide more jobs.

He had already done this when he was in the Ironthorn Territory, and now he was just inheriting it and perfecting it by the way.

In addition to the filth and garbage management plant, he was also preparing to establish a brand-new health department to centrally manage all sanitation-related matters in the territory.

And then build a hospital in the territory, belonging to the health department for management.

Now that the population in the territory was growing, it was easy for some minor illnesses to occur, and even serious infectious diseases.

Even with the help of the green elf Lianna, it was impossible to use her exclusively for this matter, and her power was also limited.

To eradicate and treat diseases, it still needed to be accomplished by the people's own strength.

It was just that currently, the talents in the territory who understood hygiene management and disease treatment were pitifully few, or it could even be said there were practically none.

Therefore, he could only temporarily shelve the matter of establishing the health department and hospital.

Amidst churning thoughts, he arrived at the location of the military camp.

Unlike the usual military camp, many temporary tents had been erected in a previously empty area inside, and the Green Pig Tribe's people were temporarily settled inside.

His gaze swept far across those tents. Some people of the Green Pig Tribe stood outside the tents, looking around with eyes that were either wandering, flustered, or curious.

After bringing them back to the territory last night, he had handed a series of trivial matters over to Red to handle, and hadn't had time to communicate with them yet.

As for Red, after arranging these matters without his next instructions, except for the guards, no one else in the military camp took the initiative to speak to them.

Thinking carefully, he withdrew his steps that originally intended to go straight over, and continued walking toward the training ground.

Anyway, everyone had been brought back without a single one missing; seeing them a little earlier or later wouldn't hurt.

It just so happened to give them some more time to rest and buffer their emotions, and by the way, let them feel the strength of the Iron Thorn Territory Branch in the serious atmosphere of the military camp and wear away some improper little thoughts.

Passing by the open space where Red and the others trained and responding peacefully to everyone's greetings, he came to his own exclusive open space to practice.

It was still the training of spear techniques and spear skills, especially the former which took up more time, but he still couldn't touch the edge of the mastery realm.

Already accustomed to this, he had no sense of loss in his heart; instead, he practiced with even more drive.

About half an hour later, he exhaled a mouthful of white hot air: "Hoo~, let's practice here for today."

Tidying up slightly, he came to the training place of Red and the others.

As a broad-minded and wealthy lord, he gave corresponding cultivation resource rewards to everyone who participated in launching the beast tide operation yesterday.

Those who did not follow the operation also received small rewards for staying behind in the territory.

Now the military forces he dominated were in a period of rapid development, requiring a sufficient amount of cultivation resources to enhance their strength.

If he didn't consider that distributing cultivation resources to them for no reason might cause them to develop a taken-for-granted parasite mindset in the future,

he would have taken out a large amount of resources and distributed them all at once, why would he need to practice the troublesome approach of clear rewards and punishments every day?

All these practices were for the stability of the military system in the territory in the future, and there might not be problems now.

But as his forces developed larger and larger, the internal aspects would definitely derive some hidden problems in management or even factional struggles.

Even if he believed that as long as his own strength was strong enough and he had sufficient rule and suppression over his subordinates, there would be no problems.

Yet the future was volatile and unpredictable, so it was better to pay more attention to things related to whether his own seat could be firmly secured.

He allowed various competitions and negative problems to appear within the forces he dominated, but absolutely did not allow any problems in the military power.

Only by firmly grasping the army in his own hands could he maintain an absolute status that no one could shake.

After finishing a series of rewards, he dismissed everyone and brought Red to the small square on the south side of the military camp.

At this time on the square, the people of the Green Pig Tribe had all been summoned and were quietly waiting in place, and Odinton's figure was also not far away.

As Lister, Odinton, and Red walked onto the podium, all their gazes were instantly attracted over, knowing that the person who would decide their life and death next had arrived.

Sweeping his gaze over the bewildered faces diagonally below, Lister took a deep breath, and with a casual smile, said loudly: "Everyone of the Green Pig Tribe, very happy to see you again. I am Lister Howard, the Pioneering Lord of the Western Frontier Territory of the Pedan Kingdom."

The Pioneering Lord of the Pedan Kingdom?

A small commotion instantly erupted among the crowd below. From being brought to the temple of the sacrificial ceremony last night to later being rescued by Lister, they had been in a trance-like and numb state.

Now they were told they had come to the Pioneer Territory of the Pedan Kingdom, leaving them at a loss for a moment whether to be happy or scared.

Lister, capturing the changes in their expressions, smiled and continued: "I know many of you may not have reacted yet, and may still be worried about your upcoming life and death."

"As far as I know, your tribe has been completely destroyed and wiped out by the Giant Elephant Tribe, and most of the people have been captured and taken away by the Giant Elephant Tribe."

"And you, who were captured by the Shadow Leopard Tribe, can be said to be even more unfortunate among them."

Hearing these overly blunt and stinging words, the sad look on the faces of the Green Pig Tribe people below became even richer.

Lister's voice was still sounding: "However, starting today, all misfortunes on you will cease to exist."

"My Pioneer Territory is in a period of development and needs population replenishment, as long as you become my Serfs."

"In the future, not only will you receive the protection of me and the kingdom, but I will also arrange corresponding housing and jobs for all of you."

"You can earn wages through your own labor, and you can also live on with the new identity of citizens of the Pedan Kingdom."

"There is no oppression or discrimination in my territory. All my Serfs will be treated equally, and at the same time, I attach great importance to and crave talents."

"If anyone among you has outstanding abilities, you can just tell me, and I will assign them important roles."

"Now, those who are willing to stay and become the Serfs under my rule can stand on the open space on the right."

As his words fell, the commotion raised in the crowd below was even greater than just now.

Although they had a vague premonition before, they just thought Lister was going to drive them as Slaves, or at best, lowly people without household registration.

Yet who would have thought that Lister actually wanted to take them in as formal Serfs of the kingdom? What was the difference between this kind of good thing and wealth falling from the sky?

Moreover, between Lister's words and lines, there was no intention of forcing them at all.

Facing such an unprecedentedly lenient lord, they believed that as long as one wasn't a fool, it was impossible to refuse.

Recovering their senses, most people hurriedly stood in the open space on the right, and a small number of people hurriedly followed suit upon seeing this.

Seeing that everyone was present without missing a single one, Lister on the stage nodded imperceptibly, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes.

Although he was confident that no one would refuse such a good thing, active choice and passive choice were completely different matters; at least the former proved that these people's brains were normal.

He turned his head to look at Odinton and instructed: "Odinton, immediately register their Serf identities for them, and at the same time prepare enough meals to let them have a full meal."

"If my guess is correct, there should be some talents specializing in agricultural knowledge among them, find them all out as soon as possible."

"Yes, Lord Lister." After respectfully accepting the order, Odinton led people to quickly register household registrations for the newly absorbed Green Pig Tribe people.

Soon, all the talents specializing in agricultural knowledge among them were found and brought before Lister.

Looking at the dozen-odd agricultural talents who were no different from what was said, Lister once again affirmed Odinton's handling ability in his heart.

With a peaceful smile, he spoke: "The Green Pig Tribe is a tribe famous for agricultural irrigation. Since you can become agricultural talents in the tribe, you must all have your own unique strengths."

"Now tell me about your insights in agriculture."

Hearing Lister's heartfelt recognition of them, they suddenly felt very happy and excited in their hearts.

After glancing at each other, an older man took the lead to speak: "Reporting to the noble Lord, the Green Pig Tribe's agricultural system has developed over a long period of time, and has derived many fine branches."

"This humble one is mainly good at improving soil structure, making it suitable for grain seed growth in harsh environments——"

As more than a dozen talents specializing in agricultural knowledge recounted their respective specialized knowledge one by one, Lister's area abruptly turned into a small-scale agricultural knowledge exchange meeting.

Although he didn't understand specific agricultural knowledge, by judging their earnest and excited expressions, he could tell that no one was lying.

Moreover, in the era of information explosion in his past life, he had still read some related knowledge and had a basic judgment of good and bad on what they said.

The Green Pig Tribe's agricultural knowledge, whether in terms of planting methods or the cultivation of grain seeds, was indeed very different from the agricultural knowledge within the kingdom.

According to these talents, the main reason for the greatest impact was the difference in soil quality.

If grain was planted using the kingdom's planting methods, although it wouldn't lead to fatal problems like large-scale necrosis or failure to grow, it was very prone to problems such as low quality and low yield.

For a rapidly developing Pioneer Territory, these problems would definitely cause considerable hidden dangers and impacts.

Fortunately, with these agricultural talents of the Green Pig Tribe in the territory, he wouldn't need to worry too much about this in the future.

Soon, everyone poured out the essential knowledge in their bellies without reservation.

While feeling happy, he appointed these agricultural talents to new positions in the agricultural department, making them all grateful and swearing allegiance to the death.

Upon seeing this, the other former Green Pig Tribe people felt happy for them, while also feeling even more fortunate to have become Lister's Serfs.

After ending a series of things here, Lister took Red and others away from the military camp in a hurry.