Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 359: Chapter 158: The New Ecology of Lake Reiflin and the Dawn Church’s Proposal (3)

Speaking of this, Vandar became enthusiastic. He was no longer out of breath, and he stood directly beside the sluice gate, watching the huge waves pour down, and said to Su Li, ”The waters of Lake Reiflin irrigate the fertile lands below Jorn Shallow Bay, ensuring that these vast farmlands will inevitably witness a bumper harvest.”

”Now the farmland we have reclaimed in Jorn Shallow Bay has reached 110,000 mu. In a bountiful harvest, we will gather more than 15,000 tons of grain.”

”If we add the fertile land from the Blood Sacrifice, this scale might even double. 30,000 tons of grain is enough to support our territory for six months. Basically, it means that after the Spring Brings Life to All Things ceremony next year, the territory’s grain will be extremely abundant, ready for export.”

”By then, just being known as the Border Granary will bring us a profit of over 3,000 Golden Crowns every harvest season.”

Hearing this, Su Li also felt joyous.

Ah, the Border Granary, a goal he had envisioned for so long, finally seemed within reach.

The fertile lands of Jorn Shallow Bay all belong to Su Li. Now, Su Li could be considered a great landlord with 1,100 hectares of arable land.

A thousand hectares of fertile land are the quintessential symbols of wealth in feudal times.

Even in the Eastern Celestial Dynasty, Su Li’s scale of fertile land would rival that of a large feudal landlord.

So Su Li smiled and said, ”The work of your Dawn Church is remarkably effective, even surpassing our meeting target by over ten thousand mu. I will donate a sum to the Dawn Church by the end of the year, amounting to no less than 300 Golden Crowns.”

”Additionally, if you have any requests, you can directly let me know.”

Vandar bowed slightly and respectfully said, ”Thank you, my Lord, for your kindness, but our Reya Church generally does not build grand temples. The monastery in the territory town is already sufficient.”

”As you know, although the Dawn Goddess is beloved by the Imperial People, town residents rarely pay attention to this Goddess unless they need her blessings—such as easing the burden of childbirth, filling granaries and markets, or ending a harsh winter.”

”Our priestesses also visit larger settlements to care for expectant mothers, but they are not keen on being surrounded by walls and stones for long periods.”

”Our true core area of belief is in the villages and farms of the Empire’s countryside, where her grace is a necessity for survival and prosperity.”

”Rural life is considered ’under Reya’s care’ for good reason. If a subject lives in the countryside, Reya accompanies him from birth, watching him grow, seek love, marry, and birth his own children. Even after his death, Reya is responsible for delivering his soul to Mole, and in some legends, there is hope that his body will be buried into the earth to support future life in the soil.”

”Hence, we hope to establish more of the Goddess’s monasteries and stone shrine altars in the Empire’s countryside and farms.”

”Yet we currently face two thorny issues: first, territory engineers and construction crews are overly focused on urban areas. They are almost unwilling to go to rural areas, leaving many villages and farms isolated in the vast mountain slopes of the Hesse Territory, without even a dirt path. In winter, our priestly missions are more inconvenient. Many village women are forced to give birth in harsh conditions because the priestess cannot arrive in time.”

”Second, we have a shortage of priests in our Dawn Church. We hope more half-elves and druids will join our territory.”

These issues Vandar mentioned are indeed very real problems. It is clear he has truly researched and personally investigated the details of the territory.

Previously, Hesse Territory already had over 30 nuns from the Dawn Church, nominally second but actually the largest religion in the territory.

However, compared to the number of dwarves, the number of half-elf nuns in the territory is indeed relatively small.

The scale of dwarves settled or residing in Hesse territory might reach six to seven hundred, and in contrast, the numbers of elves, half-elves, and druids are negligible, only a few dozen.

This shows that the territory obviously values dwarves, which also aligns with the Empire’s usual tradition.

However, here in the Border Prince’s Territory, the population is mixed, with even Green Skin mercenaries present. The territory is more open and diverse compared to inside the Empire and should indeed attract a group with elven bloodline.

Considering this issue, Su Li said, ”I will strengthen trade routes and introduce more elven slaves. The territory’s roads indeed need some improvement, which will also facilitate the delivery of specialties from various villages to Hesse Town.”

There are quite a few of these self-sufficient and isolated villages in the Hesse Territory. Mainly, when the immigrant group came, Su Li allocated a piece of land to them, and they started building and reclaiming farms on it themselves.

Many villages even lack a dirt road connecting to Hesse Town, and only when the tax collector from Hesse Town arrives do the farmers in the village learn that the noble lord ruling them is the Pioneer Knight from the Bauhinia family.

This is also the norm in the Empire. Nobles usually only develop the areas they can see, to facilitate their own enjoyment.

As for the hidden corners they cannot see, they are often unaware of why peasants rebel, let alone what facilities they need to develop.