Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 325 The Population Boom and the Tribunal of Flashspear City

The Spear of Heaven was loaded directly onto a ship by the Ramsay family and transported to Butcher's Wharf in Hessen, the town's most important river crossing and the center of water transport.

Nearby, a large number of free men, citizens, artisans, merchants, publishers, and guilds of thieves and stevedores depended on this dock for their livelihood.

When Su Li arrived, the place was already surrounded by layers of onlookers, including local citizens and artisans, as well as knights and adventurers from outside.

The city guards have urgently mobilized over 50 knights, along with more than 300 soldiers, to guard the area around the docks. A force of this caliber could easily annihilate a pioneer territory, and even engage in a fierce battle with a pack of beastmen.

But at this moment, this elite and resolute force was as fragile as paper before the surging crowd, surrounded by numerous knights of greater strength and more imposing physique. Four or five knights could easily break through the guard's defensive line with a single charge.

Fortunately, two champion riders were present, which prevented the crowd from colliding.

Their method of stopping them was simple and brutal: they directly ordered that anyone who came within one meter of the guards would be stabbed to death.

The flowing blood and champion-level combat power quickly quelled the crowd's frenzy. The cold blade and the oppressive darkness were more effective than any words.

Upon seeing Su Li arrive surrounded by a large number of high-ranking attendants, the champion knight leading the procession immediately shouted in a loud voice, "All troops stand at attention and pay homage to the lord!"

Hundreds of knights and soldiers immediately gripped their halberds, their iron greaves pressed tightly together, and all of them raised their right arms in unison, forming a uniform arc. Then they pounded their chests, and a powerful voice echoed throughout the dock: "Greetings, Lord! May the glory of the goddess forever protect you!"

Su Li smiled and waved, then led Chairman Roger and Ms. Meryl Ramsay into the dock.

At this moment, the workers of the stevedores guild had already removed the seal from the Spear of Heaven and erected it with iron chains, and the relic of the God-King once again shone brightly in the world.

With the erection of the Spear of Heaven, the awe-inspiring macroscopic form caused countless onlookers to gasp in surprise. Its absolute scale is extremely imposing, reaching a height of 60 meters, equivalent to a 20-story vertical pillar. The spearhead pierces the sky and clouds, forming a visual focal point that tears space apart from the low-rise buildings of the dock.

The base of the spear, approximately 3 meters in diameter, is carved with a circular relief depicting divine battles, with each ring telling a story of a god-king purifying chaos and evil. The spear's surface is covered with a flowing "divine coating" that exhibits a three-dimensional spectral transition when illuminated: the gold of dawn, the incandescent white of midday, and the crimson of dusk, symbolizing its shared origin with the sun god's authority.

At the tip of its spearhead, there was a blazing light like the sun. This light was so bright that it was as if the sun in the sky had descended to the mortal world. Then, pierced by the eternal spear, the brilliant beam of light shot straight into the sky!

It is no exaggeration to say that even from the perspective of the gods looking down upon the entire dark continent, this soaring divine light is extremely conspicuous in the black mist.

Its effect is extremely exaggerated, always managing to inadvertently attract the attention of the gods. When the gods look down upon the mortal world, no matter what, as soon as they open a map, they will be stung by this dazzling light and then turn their attention to it.

At this moment, a large number of priests from various churches had gathered devoutly around the Spear of Eternity, overjoyed and able to clearly feel divine grace descending upon them. At this instant, the number of times they could use divine grace increased by one.
This is an unparalleled enhancement of the territory's status as a pilgrimage site.

Especially the knights of the Church of the Goddess of the Sun from the west, the further east they travel, the more intense their divine grace will feel.

This is similar to why the ancient people of the Central Plains performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai. In reality, Mount Tai's height is far less than many other mountain ranges, but for the people of the Central Plains, no other famous mountain could evoke such a profound sense of awe. Because starting from the Central Plains, one would traverse vast and long plains, and then suddenly, a majestic mountain peak would rise abruptly from the east, piercing the clouds above the plains, coming into view. The immense awe, the contrast between being on the plains for a long time and suddenly encountering a magnificent mountain, would greatly enhance the ancients' perception of the mountain's height.

The same was true in the border princely territory. It was a barren land, not in terms of the land itself, but in terms of faith. Most of the territory and borders were considered badlands by the Empire's standards. Without the protection of the gods, there were very few places that shone with the light of faith and divine favor. The entire territory was a barbaric, desolate, and ancient gray. But when they arrived at the Black Forest Territory, suddenly golden light shone, and a magnificent city of flashing spears pierced the sky, with a rich divine grace enveloping the area.

The awe, the hope, and the overwhelming sense of being closer to the divine will profoundly impact the minds of all imperial subjects who travel here, thereby greatly increasing their chances of assimilating into the Black Forest Territory.

In fact, this effect already exists. Among the large number of knights who have come to the territory, a considerable proportion are knights of the Church of the Sun Goddess. Su Li is, after all, a chosen knight (in preparation) of the Church of the Sun Goddess, so his illustrious achievements are being publicized extensively in the temples, monasteries, and gatherings of the Church of the Sun Goddess.

It's practically impossible for any follower of the Goddess of the Sun in the South not to have heard of Su Li's deeds. As long as they went to participate in militia training and to the church to pray and worship every week, they would inevitably have heard of some of Su Li's exploits. Among them, there were even many who were Su Li's fanatical worshippers, repeatedly spreading Su Li's deeds to the people around them. It was thanks to this group that many knights from other churches had heard of Su Li.

Among these people were those who, with a pilgrimage mentality, rushed to the Black Forest Territory as soon as they heard about the Glorious Games.

Basically, these people won't leave once they arrive in Black Forest Territory. Hilde only mentioned the problem of the large number of knights arriving because she is currently the highest-ranking official in charge of security, and what she sees is naturally the trouble that comes with it.

However, if the provincial council were to report on this work, it would be a completely different story! The territory now receives applications from several or even a dozen free citizens every day, including knights who have been inspired by the Goddess of the Sun and decided to settle in the Black Forest Territory.

This resulted in a new manor or village springing up in the Hessian Territory every cycle, or even every day.

Especially the knights, these people were very rich, and the cost of purchasing land from Su Li alone amounted to hundreds of gold coins.

Don't underestimate the value of a few hundred gold coins; in fact, they are crucial. Once invested, they signify establishing a foothold in the Black Forest. This investment can then leverage at least 3000+ gold crowns for continued investment. They will purchase slaves, build manors, acquire household assets, purchase furniture, construct monasteries, and much more.

Basically, the expenses of settling down and establishing a business are enough to turn all their wealth into assets for the entire territory of Hessen, greatly increasing the prosperity of the territory and the scale of wealth in the territory's wealth pool.

It's important to understand that the town of Hessen has many artisans, indicating a strong industrial sector. Artisan crafts are still industry, and their ability to generate wealth is astonishing. As the saying goes, "No industry, no wealth; no commerce, no life." Previously, these artisans had to transport their manufactured goods across mountains and valleys to sell to other territories, but now all that is eliminated. The furniture workshops and carpentry workshops alone have sold over 200 gold crowns worth of bloodpine furniture. This is just a microcosm of the territory's many industries; other professions such as wool weavers, blacksmiths, potters, and tailors also enjoy substantial incomes.

Even the real estate trade in the territory has seen a great boom, and Su Li has earned at least 6000+ gold crowns from real estate income.

There's no way around it, the real estate market is just too lucrative. A three-story villa in the wealthy area of ​​the Wallflower District costs at least 300 gold crowns, and most common apartment types cost even more than 500 gold crowns.

This real estate transaction doesn't need to sell many units; just 10 or 8 units would be enough to provide his army with nearly a month's worth of military expenses.

So let's not say that some merchants and lords are incompetent. They hold the power of investment and development, but instead of building water conservancy projects, farming, improving transportation, or developing industry and commerce, they simply find the real estate industry too profitable and the money too easy to come by.

For some officials who only want to quickly achieve their political achievements, and businessmen who only want to make quick profits, investing in heavy assets and planning, developing and operating for more than ten years, the final profit rate is less than 6%, which is not even as high as bank interest. Moreover, if they are not careful, they may lose everything in a three- or four-year cycle of industrial development. Obviously, real estate is the most perfect industry.

It's a quick way to make money, has high profit margins, is easy to learn, and requires no technical skill—it seems like a perfect industry. The only problem is that this industry has a clear ceiling to its development; it can't expand indefinitely. Once a large amount of capital and personnel flood in, the hyped-up prosperity will inevitably burst like a bubble.

Therefore, Su Li didn't actually pay much attention to this aspect. Many halfling construction teams in the territory loved these kinds of projects, and they handled most of the territory's real estate construction. Su Li was only responsible for imposing heavy taxes on them, collecting all nineteen taxes up to the end, with only a tax refund for the eleventh month of a good harvest. Whenever the territory's finances were tight, the tax refund was completely cancelled.

Naturally, this made the halflings the target of everyone's hatred in the territory, as if everyone was targeting and loathing these halfling merchants who invested in real estate projects.

However, Su Li wasn't interested, but Guild Master Roger was extremely interested in the real estate project in his territory. After gazing up at the Spear of Heaven in awe for a long time, he murmured, "Brother Su Li, once your Spear of Heaven is built, the priests and priests will go crazy. Countless priests will come from all over the world to this city and settle here. It will become a holy city for the entire border princely territory, even the entire empire, and the entire Old Continent! It will become a holy site of faith, attracting countless devout believers to visit and worship. Do you know about the Holy City? Why is the Flame Sun Knights so wealthy, even the wealthiest knights in the entire empire? It's because they monopolized the route to escort believers to the Holy City of Light, the holy site of the Church of the Sun Goddess. It is said that there is a shrine to the Sun Goddess and sacred relics left behind in the City of Light."

"And it's quite obvious that within the Empire, the shrine and relics of the Goddess of the Sun have far less appeal and influence than those of the God-King. If you could broaden your horizons and develop this city into a more open cultural and religious city, not just as the sole holy site of the Church of the Goddess of the Sun, but as a shared holy site for the three churches—the Church of the Goddess of the Sun, the Church of Justice, and the Church of Sharya—and even further as a spiritual stronghold and a city of churches, entrusted to the management of the Church's bishopric, it would attract believers and knights from all churches in droves. Receiving 50 believers annually would be no problem. If your territory becomes even stronger in the future, and you can open a passage from Hessen to Maleburg, further connecting the entire Empire, then receiving 200 million believers annually would be effortless."

Should we establish a church arbitration tribunal?

This is indeed a good idea. You see, while this city will attract the attention of countless gods of order and believers, it is also destined to be a city corrupted by the evil gods of chaos and infiltrated by countless chaotic minions.

It would be difficult to control this city by relying solely on the followers of the Goddess of the Sun and the power of the secular lords.

A tribunal and arbitral court of that church would then be essential. No building in Flashspear City would be as effective as the hall of the arbitral court in clearing away the stains of chaos. Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, painting the pantheon of order. At a massive hammer-shaped table, bishops and priests from various churches would form the majestic tribunal. A statue of Ridmar would overlook them, a stern reminder from the God-King, silently admonishing all members of the arbitral court to be loyal and impartial.

At that time, all the seats of the arbitrators could be occupied proportionally by the various churches, who would then oversee the operation of this religious city. Halflings, dwarves, and elves could even be included, if permitted.

Lords, mages, wizards, and knight commanders from the Blacksin Territory can be appointed by the magistrate to lead the Arbitration Council. At that time, bishops of the church, grandmasters of the knightly orders, high-ranking artisans, and high-ranking arbitrators are all candidates. If the Blacksin Territory becomes powerful enough, some nobles living in Flashspear City and Blacksin City may also be selected for this position.

Undoubtedly, this will greatly enhance Su Li's ruling authority and allow his influence to penetrate into various religions. At that time, in order to gain his support, these religions will certainly further cede benefits to him.

It should be noted that all of this did not affect the city's tax revenue, and the secular lord of this city was undoubtedly still Su Li.

The president of the arbitrators' office can only be a church leader, with a greater focus on enhancing the church's influence.

Of course, this matter is not so easy. When a merchant comes to the lord and talks about his magnanimity and breadth of vision, you can tell that there must be a lot of conflicting interests behind this matter.

This is the spoils of war that the followers of the Church of the Sun Goddess paid a heavy price to retrieve. How could they simply and generously give it away, making this city a city that all churches could jointly govern?
Even an emperor can't act arbitrarily and do whatever he wants.

In particular, Su Li's territory was greatly influenced by the Church of the Goddess of the Sun. The church, knights, and knightly orders were all intricately connected with the entire sect and had a tremendous influence in all aspects.

If Su Li disregards the attitude of the Church of the Goddess of the Blazing Sun and forcibly pushes forward with this matter, there will be great resistance and it will cause a lot of controversy.

It is important to understand that a harmonious relationship between the lord and the patriarch and the order of knights is a crucial component (perhaps the most important) of a territory's strength and cohesion.

In any case, if this city is really built, it will definitely have to rely on the knights of the Sun Goddess to fight against wave after wave of the Chaos army.

He needed to carefully discuss the trade-offs between himself and the provincial council president, Oliver, before cautiously replying to Chairman Roger, "I will consider your proposal, but the most urgent task at present is to build this city as soon as possible so that it can better showcase its effects."

Mentioning this made Chairman Roger excited. His earlier suggestion was just a starting point, a prelude; what he really wanted to discuss was this very topic. He said, "My brother Su Li, you're right. We should work on two fronts to accelerate this process. I'm thinking, you're definitely planning to hand this project over to the dwarven engineers, aren't you?"

"That's without a doubt, after all, they are the most suitable candidates, aren't they?"

“No, no, no!” Guild Master Roger immediately shook his head and said, “You’re wrong. Dwarven architecture does have its unique strengths, especially in the construction of military fortresses, walls, and spires; they are second to none. I think you will also use them to advance this project. I’ve heard a distant legend that in ancient times, this Spear of Heaven could even unleash a pillar of light, drawing down the wrath of the God-King upon this place. When the Commander stands atop the Spear of Eternity, in the direction he chooses, his sword can guide a fiery, twin-tailed comet to crash to the ground, destroying the invading Chaos army and purifying evil and corruption. So your choice to have dwarven engineers build the more advanced Stormhold Fortress is absolutely correct.”

"But when it comes to economics and enjoyment, the dwarves are completely clueless. After all, what good ideas for enjoyment could their stubborn heads possibly come up with? You should leave that to our merchant guild. Have you heard of Charles Manor in Maleburg?"

Su Li shook his head. He hadn't spent much time in Maleburg and didn't have much opportunity to learn about its thriving economy and manor.

President Roger smiled confidently and replied calmly, “This luxurious restaurant is located in the city’s garden district. Guests can reserve a table under the pergola for outdoor dining or arrange a private room for solo dining and transactions. These behind-the-scenes deals often involve illicit goods moving in and out of the city, or discreet communications between those who must openly oppose them. Maleburg tolerates a certain amount of black market transactions, as any major city would. Don’t underestimate this estate; it can bring you a considerable amount of smuggled vibranium and some strange and unusual witchcraft items.”

"And this is precisely the kind of magnificent architecture our Chamber of Commerce can provide. We can build you a Charles Manor, and then a trading post. The Flashspear City Bank Tower, or more commonly known as the Fair Currency Exchange, will be a magnificent and awe-inspiring box-like structure. This exchange can be run by a corporate alliance of halflings from your territory and conservative merchants who don't want to risk their wealth, protecting clients' riches in a highly sealed vault guarded by a team of extremely paid mercenaries with a fairly advanced defense system."

"Then your merchants and sojourners will be able to exchange various elven, dwarven, Arabic, Kisliv, and even Saurian currencies and goods in your cities. They can also experiment with new forms of commerce. Traders can invest in the wealth of other people's businesses, such as farms, wells, and mines, and speculate that the success of these businesses will return a portion of the profits. Human merchants who combine elven abstract thinking with dwarven materialism have proven to be particularly gifted investors, much to the chagrin of all your competitors."

Su Li raised an eyebrow. Isn't this the kind of urban citizen economy that only arises in the capitals of duchies and electoral marquises within the empire?

Without a doubt, this is a building that only appears after the territory's wealth has developed to a certain level.

President Roger actually thinks so highly of Black Forest Territory?
"What are Chairman Roger's requirements? You've donated so much, you must need some return."

“It’s very simple. I saw many knights heading to your territory this time. After this city is built, it will attract countless priests and believers to come and settle down. Our guild plans to build three high-end communities and a wealthy area, as well as a commercial district, which we will operate.”

Seeing Su Li's surprised expression, President Roger laughed and said, "Hahaha, Brother Su Li, don't be surprised. To be honest, if you hadn't built this city, I wouldn't have invested in so many projects. Why didn't the Ramsay family build it themselves after obtaining the Spear of Heaven, but instead handed it over to you? The most important reason is that after the city was built, they couldn't withstand wave after wave of Chaos's erosion."

"Before this journey began, I thought you were the same. Although you are skilled in battle, the constant influx of Chaos followers would severely deplete your army, eventually leading to your inability to sustain your strength and the fall of the city. But after seeing so many knights gathering and confirming that you have a large supply of troops, I became certain that this city would stand for a long time."

Su Li smiled slightly, not expecting the Glorious Arena to have such an unexpected effect.

(End of this chapter)