90: Haupt's Narration

By mid-October, all the crops in Red River Territory had been harvested and stored in the granaries.

Watching the granaries fill up one by one, Renn felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction in his heart.

The granaries had just been renovated and upgraded; the surrounding stone ground was entirely petrified by Renn personally. Both storage capacity and security had been greatly improved, and they looked much more aesthetically pleasing than before.

“Lord, the grain harvested this time amounts to over 3,200 tons, which is quite a bit more than previously estimated. The reduction in yield wasn't too significant.”

Bar looked at the grain-filled warehouses with equal pride.

“You certainly haven't disappointed me, Bar.”

“From now on, you are the Agricultural Manager of Red River Territory, responsible for all agricultural production work throughout the territory.”

Bar knelt on the ground in excitement, pledging his loyalty to Renn.

“Bar thanks the Lord for the promotion; I will certainly not fail your trust in me.”

“Rise. I believe you have the ability to do this job well.”

“The territory's population has increased. I plan to plant at least 100,000 mu of farmland next year; the amount of farmland along both banks of the river within the territory is roughly that number.”

“You need to organize manpower to repair all the irrigation canals to ensure that there are no issues with the irrigation of the 100,000 mu of farmland next year.”

“A few days ago, I saw an extra waterwheel in the fields. That thing is excellent; it can assist with irrigation and also be turned into a hydraulic mill. I've already arranged for Fornal to organize people to step up production, and later you must have people put those waterwheels to use.”

Bar committed everything Renn said to heart while simultaneously calculating the difficulties of these tasks.

“Lord, with the current manpower in the fields, even adding the several thousand newly arrived people, we might still be unable to complete the irrigation canals covering 100,000 mu as you requested. We need more people.”

The canals covering 100,000 mu of farmland were a massive project, and winter was fast approaching. Construction would be even more difficult and less efficient once winter arrived.

Bar didn't rashly beat his chest and give Renn a guarantee; instead, he voiced the concerns he had considered.

“Don't worry, the territory will gain another batch of people in a few days. I'll allocate some more to you, bringing the number of people in the fields to around eight thousand. I can also give you more Northern Black Cattle and Pack Horses.”

“Furthermore, when I have time, I will personally come to help you. The parts of the main channels leading to the fields that need hardening don't require stone slabs; wait for me to harden them using spells.”

“With these, can you complete it?”

With these two conditions from Renn, Bar immediately patted his chest and guaranteed:

“With such support from you, Lord, Bar will certainly be able to complete the task you've given me. Please rest assured, Lord.”

Renn patted Bar on the shoulder and gave him a few words of encouragement.

Afterward, he headed to the livestock farm for an inspection.

The livestock farm was not within Red River Town, but located to the southwest outside of the town.

Renn walked through Red River Town. The crowds coming and going in the town all bowed respectfully to Renn upon seeing the iconic White Wolf.

Since the capture of nearly ten thousand people, Red River Town had gained a sense of vitality and become much more bustling.

The one horizontal and three vertical stone roads Renn had planned previously were all completed. The wide, flat stone roads made travel much more convenient for the residents of Red River Town.

In addition, most of the old houses in Red River Town had been demolished, replaced by three-story small buildings.

The current Red River Town and the Red River Town of three months ago were two completely different places; if someone else came, they might not even recognize that the current town was the former Red River Town.

If there was one thing that remained similar to before, it was the ring of stone-and-wood mixed city walls surrounding the town.

Looking at the low city walls, Renn was very dissatisfied. He had always wanted to tear down the old walls and build new ones.

The current walls had no practical use; they couldn't possibly defend against enemies that posed a real threat to the territory, and as for enemies that weren't a threat, they couldn't even get close to Red River Town.

So these walls were currently just for show, serving only to provide a bit of psychological comfort to the people in the town.

However, construction sites were currently everywhere within Red River Town. Johnny was leading people to work overtime building new dwellings to provide houses for the territory's increased population.

Renn planned to tear down the walls once this batch of dwellings was finished, expand Red River Town, and build a ring of taller and thicker walls around the perimeter after the expansion.

“This winter is going to be busy!”

Looking at the crowds constantly bowing to him, Renn waved his hand in acknowledgement and accelerated his departure toward the livestock farm outside the town.

In the distance, Hopt, who had been watching Renn, bowed respectfully once more in the direction Renn had left. He then turned to the workers beside him and said:

“Did you all see that? That is our respected Lord. He is the sky of our Red River Territory, the great saint who allows us to live good lives.”

“You fellows from Blackstone Territory are lucky. Now that you've come to our Red River Territory, your good days are about to arrive.”

Hopt was previously the captain of a small engineering team, and now he had been promoted one level to manage a medium-sized engineering team.

Among the workers under him were over a hundred newcomers who had just arrived in Red River Territory, all of whom were former residents of Keduo Town.

“Do you see these newly built houses?”

“Beautiful, aren't they?”

The workers around Hopt looked at a nearby house that had already been completed; a three-story new building stood tall there.

“They look good, foreman. These new houses are even better than the ones the Administrator lords lived in back in our town.”

These residents of Keduo Town were just ordinary people before. In Keduo Town, they either went to the mines to dig or did work related to servicing the mining area. Their lives were very hard; one could only say they were a bit better than Slaves, but not by much.

In their eyes, these new houses being built in Red River Territory were for Administrator lords back in Keduo Town. Ordinary townspeople like them were only fit to live in low shacks, or at best, a wooden hut.

“Do you know? These new houses are for you to live in. Before long, you'll be able to live in these beautiful new houses.”

Hearing what Hopt said, the newcomers from Blackstone Territory looked at each other. In fact, they had already heard rumors over the past few days that these new houses were being built for them to live in.

It was just that they simply didn't dare believe it, thinking the people of Red River Territory were just deceiving them to make them work hard.

“Foreman, aren't we Slaves? Would the Lord give such good houses to Slaves like us?”

“Yeah! Exactly!”

The newcomers had all been designated as Slaves by Renn, which made them even less likely to believe these new houses were for them.

“Slaves?”

“What are you eating? What are you drinking? Did you eat meat last night?”

“You did, didn't you? Tell me, is that the treatment of a Slave?”

“Eh?”

“Do Slaves have the right to eat meat?”

What Hopt said made the newcomers fall silent. Their treatment indeed had nothing to do with that of a Slave, and they couldn't understand why.

“Foreman, the Lord said we are all of Slave status. We don't know why our treatment is so good. Are we really not Slaves?”

Hopt shook his head.

“No, you are still of Slave status!”

“Let me tell you, the reason the Lord designated you as Slaves is to see your performance. You just got here and haven't contributed anything, yet you want to be the same as us? Do you think that's possible?”

“And I also heard that you resisted the Lord's will from the very beginning. With such actions, do you still expect to gain a good status?”

“Red River Territory doesn't support idle people. Only those who contribute to the territory and sincerely obey the Lord are eligible to enjoy the Lord's grace.”

“The Lord said you are Slaves, but he also said that as long as you make contributions, you can become formal residents and lose your Slave status.”

“This is to tell you to contribute well to the territory; it won't be long before you can shed your Slave status.”

“As for those new houses, even if you are temporarily still Slaves, as long as you listen to the Lord and work hard for the territory, you can live in them too.”

“I heard all of this personally from the Administrator himself. Could it be false?”

“I'll also tell you that besides you, there are many people here who weren't residents of Red River Territory a few months ago, including myself.”

“A few months ago, because of the invasion of the Fel Orcs, our previous territory was destroyed by them, and we were taken in by the Lord. Back then, some among us were also Slaves.”

“And now?”

“We are all residents of Red River Territory. Some were even chosen by the Lord to become members of the Guard Army, and I heard they even learned the secret arts of Professionals to become Transcendent Professionals.”

“These incredible things happened within just these short few months.”

“I only arrived three months earlier than you and already have this life. I believe that as long as you work hard for the Lord, it won't be long before you can live the kind of good life you never even dared to imagine before, just like me.”

Hopt used himself as an example and spoke of things around them. There were such instances in the engineering team, and more than one.

This made the newcomers from Blackstone Territory listen with surging blood, and their doubts about Red River Territory quickly vanished.

Originally, they had already been mostly conquered by the wheat porridge and fish meat; now, their hearts and minds were completely won over. They only thought about working hard to live a good life like Hopt's.

They began to work even more vigorously. Thinking that these houses they were building might be for them to live in, they all began to fantasize happily.

On the other side, not far away, Fornal and Johnny were extremely satisfied as they watched Hopt's actions.

Fornal said to Johnny:

“Who is this person? He's a talent worth cultivating. The Lord likes people like this who have ideas and take initiative.”

“His name is Hopt; he's a foreman in our engineering team. Rest assured, sir, I will focus on cultivating and promoting him.”