Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 339 Martial Virtue Prospers, Immense Wealth
Upon hearing that Su Li was going to inspect the Treasury District, the Provincial Council President Oliver and the Treasury District Supervisor Fandall arrived there immediately.

This was their most important achievement and the best opportunity to gain the lord's trust. After all, in any world, most of the time, it's better to report well than to do well.

They didn't have to wait long before they saw a large group of knights, gleaming with gold, escorting Su Li into the vault area from the direction of the castle.

Oliver and Fandral immediately went to greet Su Li and bowed respectfully, saying, "May the goddess's glory forever shine upon you, my lord."

Su Li nodded and went straight to the point, asking, "How's the situation in the vault area?"

As the steward of the treasury district, Fandall was more familiar with the situation here, so he explained, "Our treasury district originated from the former Hessenberg. When the dwarves expanded the entire northern palace district, they also moved the treasury district to the southwest of the Bauhinia Palace. Therefore, like the Bauhinia Palace, it is a castle-style building with 3-meter-thick granite walls. The only entrance is a cast-iron gate that requires 8 strong warhorses to pull. We have stationed two squadrons of high-ranking personal attendants here to ensure its absolute security."

The two squadrons of high-ranking personal attendants, though seemingly few in number, were actually quite formidable. This wasn't a war; the thieves who could enter the vault area must have sneaked in, and their numbers wouldn't be large. A few petty thieves would be hopeless enough facing 24 fully armed attendants from two squads, let alone over 240. If discovered, they would face immediate annihilation.

Moreover, to enter the vault area, one must first pass through a checkpoint at the northern bridge of the Carnival Square. Those who can cross the magnificent Brienne River and the Blackwater River to reach the north of the city are extremely rare.

However, this world is full of strange and wonderful methods, with witchcraft tools and magical abilities emerging one after another. Therefore, they also face all kinds of challenges, and the knights and officers dare not be careless in the slightest.

After all, any treasure thrown in there would be more valuable than their severed heads.

Su Li was confident in the defenses here. The geography and terrain made it difficult to infiltrate this castle-like vault, which was perched high on the north bank of the river.

Su Li then asked, "How is the storage situation here?"

Fandall replied, “I am the Minister of Agriculture, so let me first talk about the grain stored here. The treasury is not the main granary of our territory and does not occupy the function of the imperial granary, but it still stores 20000 tons of grain. This is our reserve grain for the territory, more like the castle’s private granary. It can ensure that even if the territory is severely damaged and in the most unfavorable situation, the castle garrison still has enough food to sustain them for more than a year.”

Su Li nodded slightly, showing great approval. A skilled strategist first ensures invincibility, then waits for the enemy to become vulnerable.

With this food reserve, the territory is practically invincible. To besiege a fortress defended by 500 elite knights, including a large number of Chosen Knights and Champion Knights, how large must the enemy army be? To support such a large army stationed at the city for a year, the food consumption alone would likely bankrupt the enemy's finances.

"In addition, there is a large amount of our stored extraordinary grains here: 8 catties of Azure Ears, 10 catties of Emerald Ears, 3000 catties of Steel Wheat, and 6000 catties of Pearl Wheat."

Good heavens! Su Li's eyes lit up. You never know until you count it, and the sheer amount is astonishing. He knew the vault area did indeed hold a great deal of wealth, but he never imagined it would be this large before the count.

The quantity of the extraordinary wheat seeds alone is about to exceed 10000 jin!

He had a very deep impression of it. Last year, there were a total of 276 extraordinary ears of wheat planted in the purple spirit field. In addition, there were only about 300 ears of wheat produced by divine grace in various farms. He thought that the total output would be around 7000 ears. He didn't expect that it would already weigh 10 jin. Moreover, this was after Su Li and Xilude had eaten a batch. For example, Su Li and Xilude had already eaten 2 jin of the Azure Ear of Wheat.

Fandral had a very well-thought-out plan for these supplies: "We will keep one-third of the steel wheat and pearl wheat, and then take the rest to continue expansion in the summer. We will strive to provide the army with sufficient superhuman food and ensure a high level of supply."

3000 catties of steel wheat is definitely not enough. In a high-intensity war, 3000 elite infantry and cavalry can finish eating it in about two days, so production must be increased.

Su Li nodded, then asked Oliver, "How much of a fiscal surplus does our territory have now?"

“A detailed financial report will be submitted to you at the end of the year, including figures for various fiscal revenues and detailed expenditure items. For now, I will first report to you on the current size of the gold coins in the treasury. We currently have a total of 53300 gold crowns.”

"Oh?" Su Li raised an eyebrow, a broad smile spreading across his face. "That's quite a figure. We've only been back from Maleburg for a little over a month, and we've already amassed tens of thousands of gold coins?"

Oliver explained in detail: "The main source of income here is the sale of the Imitation Star Armor to the Gray Market Merchant Guild. We earned 24000 Gold Crowns from that transaction alone. Then, we earned more than 5000 Gold Crowns from the sale of 50 Lightscale Fish to the Ramsey family. Add to that the harvest season's output and the revenue from the Radiant Arena, and we have such a large fortune."

With 50000 gold crowns and tens of thousands of tons of grain, the reserves of the Hessian Territory were indeed considerable. Such wealth was probably beyond the reach of many territories within the Empire. Most barons would be astonished upon hearing this figure, finding it hard to believe that an ordinary pioneering territory of a border princely domain could possess such wealth.

Su Li nodded in satisfaction, feeling even more confident in passing the empire's first-ever assessment.

As for the remaining treasures, we will need to go into each of the warehouses to take a detailed inventory.

Fandral personally led the way, opening Su Li's largest vault in the treasury area. This vault was filled with dwarven style features. As the cast-iron doors opened, a domed hall over 30 meters high was revealed before everyone. The treasures inside emitted a dazzling golden light, illuminating everyone's faces!

The accompanying dwarves all took a deep breath, feeling that this magnificent treasure trove was not like the warehouse of a human lord, but rather the secret chamber of a dwarf chieftain.

Dwarfs are all about accumulating vast amounts of wealth, even if they don't use it.

There is a famous proverb among dwarves: "Without gold, one is like having no support or pillar in the face of sudden disaster, or no shield to defend oneself under the arrows of malicious words."

Fandral explained to Su Li, “This is your largest arsenal and treasure vault, containing up to 136 sets of perfect-grade vibranium rune armor, 350 sets of star iron armor, and other exquisite-grade armor. Some of these were purchased and crafted within the territory, while others were spoils of war and gains from searching ruins and wizard towers. However, currently only about one-third of this quantity remains. There are still 76 sets of perfect-grade armor and 120 sets of exquisite-grade warships left. The rest have been taken by our marshal to enhance the army's combat power and expand our territory in the west.”

Upon hearing this, everyone behind Su Li exclaimed in surprise. This meant that if the treasure trove were in its complete state, its wealth would be even greater, more magnificent, and more dazzling than it is now!

This scale is indeed extremely astonishing, a full 136 sets of perfect-grade vibranium rune armor. This is the kind of military equipment that only an earl-level rank would possess.

After all, without giant iron mines and dwarven blacksmiths, buying so many perfect-grade vibranium rune armors would cost more than 20 gold crowns, or even close to 30 gold crowns.

Su Li's ability to possess such a massive vibranium rune armor is entirely due to the fact that his territory contains as many as three giant iron mines!
This place is truly vast and rich in resources, far surpassing most other powers. It was no wonder that Su Li caused such a ruckus in Maleiburg. This is a top-tier development area that the imperial bureaucrats have been secretly developing to curry favor with the Electors.

As for those who question whether these officials caused the deaths of the electors' offspring, that is a gross underestimation of the electors.

This area is undoubtedly a top-tier resource zone, with extremely abundant resources and fertile land, but the price to pay is naturally extremely high risks.

High risk, high reward—this has been a timeless principle. If the risk were low and the reward extremely high, would a group of knights who couldn't inherit titles even have a chance to share it? The nobles would have snatched it all up long ago.

These officials were only concerned with cultivating good relations with the electors, and didn't need to care much about the lives of their sons. If they died here, it was because they were incompetent; how could they blame others for their deaths?
Su Li is undoubtedly exceptionally capable, having successfully established himself in this treacherous region. Now it's time to reap the rewards and enjoy the immense advantages of this vast and resource-rich land.

The three giant iron mines produce hundreds of kilograms of vibranium each month, but this output is far from the upper limit. On the contrary, they are in a state of slow development. Among them, only the giant iron mine at the iron mine outpost has a considerable output. The other two giant iron mines are in a state of low development or even undeveloped.

Once manpower is increased, the Black Forest Territory will easily produce 200 catties of vibranium per month. If the Gray Market Merchant Guild's black market outpost in Flashspear City is added, the Black Forest Territory may achieve the feat of harvesting 300 catties of vibranium per month.

To put this into perspective, the Black Forest Territory can forge five sets of vibranium rune armor every month. When Su Li left Zijing Fortress, he only carried 150 kilograms of vibranium.

The Vibranium Rune Armor also requires the addition of materials such as Stellar Iron, Hard Gold Sand, Earth Dragon Leather, Cold Iron Leaf, and Fine Gold Thread. Some of these are by-products of the territory's iron mines, while others are resources found within the territory itself. For example, the territory has a medium-sized Stellar Iron vein, exposed on the surface, which the dwarves estimate to be at least 300 million tons in reserves. At the current rate of mining, it would take hundreds of years to deplete it. Such abundant mineral resources naturally lead to an extreme overproduction of weapons and equipment.

Fandall continued, “The armory next door contains a large number of weapons and armaments, including as many as 360 perfect-grade weapons, 640 exquisite-grade weapons, and 4000 exquisite-grade arrows. Among them are 67 Lionheart lances alone.”

Good heavens! Su Li's face lit up with a smile. This territory is truly overflowing with martial virtue! He thought the armor was exaggerated enough, but the weapons and armaments are even more exaggerated!
There are as many as 360 perfect-grade weapons!
There are 640 pieces of exquisite-grade weapons. This means that the territory can equip at least 1000 elite knights with extraordinary weapons.

These are extraordinary weapons, all made of vibranium. They can be activated by bloodlines, unleashing intense flames and dealing powerful magical damage.

Take fire-attribute weapons as an example. Normally, these weapons are gold or silver, but once the bloodline energy activates their power, the vibranium will scorch and burst forth with a rune effect that resembles blazing gold.

Just saying that might not give the average person a clear picture. Vibranium is called that because its metallic properties are similar to gold, but it is stronger, with greater ductility and weight-bearing capacity.

There's a saying that true gold fears no fire. If you've ever witnessed gold being burned, you'll never forget that beautiful scene. The gold seems to ignite in the flames, turning a deep, reddish-gold color. Take, for example, the Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff) from Black Myth: Wukong. When the Great Sage, with his broken body, swings it, the staff appears to be on fire, bursting with a dazzling reddish-gold light. Then, if you swing an ordinary staff in a circle and bring it down, it suddenly grows several times, even ten times, larger.

This shows that the creators had indeed observed the scene of gold being refined in fire in detail, and incorporated reality into their art.

Vibranium possesses the first effect: once the bloodline ability is activated, it allows the weapon to burst forth with a dazzling crimson-gold light, while also inflicting powerful magical damage.

Even the most powerful monster would suffer horrific wounds from such a blazing weapon. It might even inflict various magical effects, such as burning, weakness, blindness, or poisoning.

Ether has a second effect, which can suddenly increase the size of this weapon that bursts with brilliant light by several times or even dozens of times. It can be used in both the God General state and the Knight state to produce specific effects.

For example, the rare weapon Alaric Beast Slayer in Hilde's hands is forged from ether, vibranium, and precious metals. Its surface has a golden luster, as if it has been coated with a golden coat by the sun. At the same time, mysterious and complex runes are engraved on both sides of the blade. When activated with bloodline power, the blade will become extremely hot, and the runes will emit a reddish-gold light.

Then, with a sweeping horizontal strike, combined with the [Madman Alaric Rune] that greatly enhances a weapon's armor-piercing ability, he truly becomes unstoppable. Whether you're a Chaos Warrior clad in heavy plate armor or a giant several meters tall, you'll be cleaved in two with a single blow.

Rare and exquisite equipment have similar effects, but their damage is slightly less than that of perfect weapons.

Just imagine a territory with thousands of knights wielding extraordinary weapons charging forward, the blazing golden light emanating from their swords shining brightly under the scorching sun—that would be enough to terrify many low-level troops and cannon fodder into losing their courage.

1000 elite knights could easily crush 20,000 goblins, inferior beastmen, kobolds, or even serf thugs.

Besides the knight's equipment, the horse armor is also of paramount importance for a knight!
Fandral continued, "We have now crafted 12 sets of Sunfire Horse Armor, including 4 sets for large flying beasts worn by griffins, 6 sets of half-griffin armor, and 2 sets for Pegasus Knights. Currently, the main horse armor for Territory Knights is still of the excellent grade, with 320 sets of full-body horse armor, 160 sets of half-body horse armor, and 270 sets of leather horse armor."

"In addition to these extraordinary weapons, we also have 1400 fine-grade weapons, 1100 sets of fine-grade plate armor, and 60000 well-crafted arrows and crossbow bolts. In addition, we have 800 sets of chainmail and 600 sets of leather armor."

Hearing Fandral's report, Hela couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment. Her territory was incredibly powerful. Compared to her homeland, the land of spices, the martial spirit here was unbelievable. In her homeland, a tiger-man lord with 100 sets of excellent plate armor was considered brave and powerful.

The land of the Spice Kingdom does indeed not produce metals, nor does it produce much armor; the rare iron ore is all forged into a serpentine sword.

Clearly, compared to this, the Black Forest's martial virtue is on a completely different level. No wonder the Empire has so many colonies overseas and frequently sends expeditionary forces to compete with elves, dark elves, Arabs, vampires, and even the lizardmen of the Lustia rainforest for colonies and resource points.

They truly possessed the capability. Once the Endless Sea was no longer an obstacle, the Empire's plate-armored knights, adventurers, and colonists could easily crush large numbers of native armies upon landing.

Of course, this world is not limited to humans. For example, there are the ancient tomb kings in the desert who can use necromancy and summon holy titans hundreds of meters tall, sphinx constructs tens of meters tall, and an overwhelming army of skeletons. The expansion of the empire also faces huge risks, and a slight mistake could lead to utter defeat.

For example, the Empire recently suffered a crushing defeat along the coast of Arabia. A large number of knightly fortresses, expeditionary force garrisons, and imperial cities were burned down, and the defeated soldiers retreated in disarray from the south, crossing the Central Sea and scattering to the border princely territories.

One consideration in choosing Mount Oka as the target of the Imperial Expedition was to leverage the appeal of the expedition to regroup these scattered soldiers.

Su Li benefited greatly from this process. He had previously come across an intelligence report called "The Homecoming of the Wandering Knights," which described a group of wandering knights who had retreated from the Arabi Coast Fortress. Su Li recruited and reorganized them when they passed through the Black Forest Territory to prevent them from gradually degenerating into border raiders or forest bandits.

而他们也是非常的感激苏离，前前后后为黑森领招募了4～5波帝国逃兵，每一支逃兵多的40～60人，少的也有17～33人。

This successfully added three villages and one manor to Su Li's territory. Among the deserters, a knight brought back a batch of treasures from the Arabi Tomb, including a perfect-grade amulet, an exquisite-grade ring, and a number of treasures with magical powers, a golden wine jug, a gemstone dagger, and so on.

This batch wasn't just a few pieces, but more than 20. According to Oliver's estimate, his wealth could amount to 3000 to 5000 gold crowns.

Su Li did not do anything foolish like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs by forcibly seizing his property. Instead, she sent officials to formally express her condolences and promise to ensure that his property was sacred and inviolable.

This is a golden opportunity to buy their bones; once they reach the Black Forest Territory, the wealth will eventually flow into Su Li's hands. He is magnanimous; these knights are merely guarding the country's wealth.

This knight was also very sensible. He spent a fortune in his territory to build a business. He bought more than 600 acres of land with gold coins, and then sold a lot of treasures to build a manor. He bought more than 40 serfs.

Su Li kept her promise, treating him as a role model, ensuring his safety, and strictly prohibiting anyone from harassing him.

Because of his example, many adventurers and deserters settled in the Black Forest Territory. It is conservatively estimated that his influence brought in more than 100 people.

These people all possessed shrouded in mystery, including dubious items and riches. This explains the Empire's love of adventure and warfare—they could indeed bring back treasures from distant lands. If even one of these items possessed miraculous effects and was proven to be extraordinary, it could instantly make an ordinary person incredibly wealthy. While changing one's social class was unlikely, a few, or even a dozen, gold coins represented wealth that would take an ordinary person over a decade of hard work to accumulate. However, earning this money didn't guarantee the ability to save it. Under the Empire's oppressive rule, ordinary people were constantly on the verge of bankruptcy, making it impossible for them to accumulate wealth.

Many of the extraordinary weapons in the vault were acquired by the territory from adventurers, but many more were produced by the territory itself.

In particular, the massive quantities of high-quality armor, weapons, and armaments vividly demonstrate what it means for high-quality weapons and armor to be a specialty of the territory.

The thousands of pieces of equipment on display here are a symbol of the wealth generated.

If someone were to take a macro-level business perspective, the defining characteristics of the Blackwood Territory on the map would undoubtedly be black weapons and armor, priced at only around 20 gold crowns, significantly lower than the surrounding 30, 40, or even 60 gold crowns. Caravans simply need to arrive in this territory to purchase high-quality armor and weapons to profit from buying low and selling high.

All of this was undoubtedly thanks to the vast dwarves of the territory. The thousands of dwarves sent by the Grayrock Clan, along with the Imperial Dwarves of the territory itself, gave the territory hundreds of master blacksmiths. They used the armory built by other dwarves and the iron ore transported there to continuously forge batches of weapons and armor.

Fandall continued, "Besides these weapons and armor, the largest items in the treasury are other equipment, including amulets and rings. The lowest grade of these are all of the exquisite level, including 360 exquisite pieces and 68 perfect pieces. Our territory produces relatively little of these items; the vast majority are collected. Currently, these items are not in the warehouse but were taken away by Marshal Erstein. The army is still in dire need of this kind of equipment."

(End of this chapter)