BXBX NOVEL Chapter 43
Watching the caravan in the distance gradually fade away, Richard’s face remained calm.
He didn’t care about when the next caravan would deliver a large batch of goods or the issue of not having enough money to pay for them.
If there wasn’t enough money, he could simply accuse the caravan members of disrespecting the lord and eliminate them entirely.
Facing someone like Martins, a fool, it was all too easy for Richard to find a reason to kill him.
Even based on today’s situation, Richard had at least two justifications to accuse them of disrespect and to wipe them out entirely.
This way, he could obtain a massive amount of supplies without paying a cent.
This was a common tactic among many lords.
And the version that the world would hear would be about a caravan disrespecting a remote lord and attempting commercial fraud by passing off inferior goods as mysterious treasures.
The story would be that the caravan tried to insult the remote lord’s knowledge.
Unfortunately, the lord, who had grown up in the Duke’s domain and was well-informed, saw through the merchant’s scheme at a glance.
The merchant, after being exposed, flew into a rage and tried to suppress the lord with force using his hired mercenary knights, even attempting to kidnap the lord for ransom.
However, the lord and his well-trained subordinates swiftly acted in self-defense, defeating the caravan.
Thus, the world was rid of yet another dishonest merchant!
All who heard of this event would applaud it!
At that time, not only would it not affect the reputation of Richard’s Long Eagle territory, but it might even attract more caravans.
It was truly a strategy that killed two birds with one stone.
Richard instinctively rubbed the hilt of his sword, contemplating the feasibility of this approach.
Currently, the food he had collected from the people of his territory was nearly depleted, and the wheat in his land had just sprouted.
It would be at least several months before it matured.
The food obtained from external sources could temporarily sustain them for a while.
Of course, relying solely on these 6,000 pounds of grain to feed more than 4,000 people was like a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, the militia hunting team had increased from 100 to 200 people per day during this period.
They not only fought low-level supernatural creatures in the forest to obtain supernatural materials but also needed to gather some edible supplies.
The militia mainly focused on combat and meat collection.
Other residents of the territory also had tasks to go fishing in the river.
While the children were in class, the women would gather berries, mushrooms, and wild vegetables in the safe zone at the edge of the forest as instructed by Richard.
After the children finished their classes, the women returned to the large dining hall to cook, and the children went to collect more supplies.
Among the berries, only the white ones were poisonous; the others were more plentiful in variety.
It was surprising that, despite living on the forest’s edge, these people could not identify which mushrooms were poisonous—likely because they were too afraid to venture deep into the forest, fearing encounters with monsters.
Now that the militia had gradually cleared out a portion of the safe zone, Richard had taught them to recognize the toxic mushrooms to avoid them in time.
Currently, there wasn’t much staple food in the territory, so they could use pine nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts as substitutes.
So, even if the caravan didn’t arrive, Long Eagle territory would have a way to survive.
It’s worth noting that in Richard’s homeland from the future, forest foods ranked as the third-largest agricultural product in the nation.
The extent of a forest could indicate the size of its food resources.
Forest grains, fungi, medicinal herbs, fruits, vegetables, and forest cultivation were all common food sources.
In this world, there were even more forest creatures and extraordinary beings that provided meat far beyond what could be found in his past life.
There was an abundance of food, as long as one had the strength to obtain it.
Despite this, Richard insisted that his people grow a uniform crop of wheat.
With limited manpower in the early stages, spending significant time and effort foraging in the forest was an enormous waste.
Only a stable life would allow for more time to educate them, teaching and transforming these people.
So that one day, there would be more useful talents available.
Now that there was a visiting caravan, trading with the outside world to exchange goods for food and supplies was an efficient way to save development time.
…
On the other side.
In the castle, Cinderella gazed at the linen in her hands, her eyes sparkling as she began thinking about how to use the fine linen to sew clothes.
Since her stepmother arrived at her house, she had been forced to learn various skills like weaving, sewing, and cooking.
Being born into a merchant-count family, Cinderella’s skills were naturally far superior to those of ordinary folk.
Her craftsmanship easily surpassed the quality of small local shops.
She planned to use these clothes to make a few well-fitted outfits for Richard. Resting her head on her hand, she began to imagine different designs for the clothes.
Her mind filled with images of various men’s styles she had seen before, hoping to inspire her creativity.
…
Richard went down the stairs and returned to the warehouse.
The secretary was still busy registering the various supplies they had just received. When he saw Richard, he immediately bowed and greeted him:
“Lord! How do you want to handle these supplies? I’ll have the workers start right away!”
“I came here to discuss this with you.”
Richard nodded in agreement.
“Make sure all the grain storage areas remain dry, and support them off the ground to keep the air circulating. The grain must not touch the ground to prevent dampness.”
“Yes, sir!”
Rhodes immediately flipped to a fresh page to record Richard’s instructions.
“Keep the spices and grain separate, also in a dry environment, and categorize them to prevent their aromas from mixing. Provide them to the kitchen staff with clear instructions on how to use them.”
“Understood!”
“….”
After giving out all his instructions, Richard left the warehouse.
There was no other way; if they continued storing supplies the way they used to, much of it would be wasted.
However, the good thing was that this secretary was quite reliable. Once given instructions, he didn’t need to be told again the next time, as he would handle things just as Richard had specified before.
Leaving the warehouse, Richard headed to the blacksmith’s shop.
The blacksmith’s shop had now been renamed the forge.
After all, a shop implied business, but the entire Long Eagle territory was already moving toward a production-team model and communal dining system, leaving no room for private ownership.
Everything people needed was distributed by Richard, with no internal trade involved.
So, the old name was no longer appropriate.
During this time, the smiths at the forge had been smelting magisteel and mountain copper.
This was the task Richard had given them, as he intended to forge a weapon for himself using these two extraordinary materials.