Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 374 The Expansion of the Halfling Autonomous Territory and the Scale of Agriculture

Since Fandral brought up agricultural production, Su Li naturally paid close attention to this aspect as well.

He immediately said, "Then let's talk about the effectiveness of your efforts to encourage agriculture and sericulture."

Fandall had been working on this statistic for some time, and upon hearing this, he gave a detailed report as if reciting a familiar story.

"My lord, agriculture in our territory is thriving, especially the staple crops that you value most. Wheat, for example, has yielded 300 to 400 catties per mu in the Maiden's Ring and Bjorn Bay."

"This harvest season, we harvested more than 5420 million jin of grain, 7720 million jin of vegetables such as carrots and cabbage, 400 million jin of textile crops such as cotton and ramie, and more than 180 million jin of cash crops such as sugar beets and rapeseed."

"In addition, a total of more than 23000 cattle, sheep and pigs were slaughtered throughout the spring. More than 1300 poultry were raised. More than 26 eggs of various kinds were harvested."

"The statistics for spices and fruits are not yet complete because they are harvested in the fall. However, we have had an extremely rich harvest of medicinal herbs, with a total of 32 catties this season."

Listening to Fandral's detailed explanation, Su Li couldn't stop smiling. This was what a territory should be like! Compared to the same period last year, this was a hundredfold improvement.

The total weight of various grains and vegetables exceeds 100 million jin!
Su Li smiled and said, "It seems that our territory's status as a border granary has truly taken shape. With so much grain, our territory alone certainly cannot consume it all, and there will inevitably be a large surplus to continue supplying the surrounding dwarf clans."

Fandall nodded heavily and said, "Moreover, these statistics mainly cover the output of our Bjorn Bay and various manors. The territory also has a large number of newly established villages, knights' manors, and strongholds in the Bloodpine Forest. We cannot possibly count them all with our manpower, but the absolute output is enormous. The reputation of our territory as the granary on the border is truly well-deserved."

Well deserved? That's a perfect description.

"And another very important point is that we have gained a lot of area and farmland in the western part of our territory, and the yield will definitely increase further in the next harvest season."

"One of the important tasks of our Dawn Church at present is to send pastors and nuns of the Dawn Church to villages and strongholds in the west to expand the influence of the Dawn Church, while also taking stock of local agricultural output."

Su Li was also very concerned about this issue, so he asked, "How many more villages have been added to our western region?"

"As of now, the Church of Dawn has been able to count the addition of 3 castles. These are knightly castles with walls exceeding 8 meters in height, not the kind of stone houses that are casually built in border settlements. We have added 8 of these stone houses, which correspond to 8 villages, 5 natural villages, 17 knight manors, and 25 farms, ranches, and strongholds."

Su Li did a simple calculation and found that there were at least 3 large-scale kingdom knight territories, 13 villages, 17 knight manors, and 25 outposts.

That's quite a lot. Even if we calculate based on an average of 20 households per village or manor, that's more than 500 households and a population of nearly 2500.

The land they cultivated was at least 30000 mu, which is certainly not comparable to Bjorn Shallow Bay. But Bjorn Shallow Bay was the result of Su Li's hard work. Every planting season, at least several hundred halflings, with halfling mechanical farm tools, worked with dozens of priests from the Church of Dawn to help with production.

That's how the Ring of Maidens came to be the holy site of the Church of Dawn!
Thinking of this, Su Li couldn't help but ask, "Are there any special beings in the new territory?"

“Yes, yes, my lord,” Fandral said with an appreciative smile. “We have discovered a famous halfling family, the Brandisnap family, in the fertile lands to the west of our territory.”

"The Brandisnap lineage traces back to the oldest agricultural families of the halflings. They have a deep affection for the rich, fertile land and the things that grow on it. These Brandisnap halflings are thoughtful before speaking, slow in speech, and known for their laziness. In fact, they are best suited to the slow-paced, pastoral life of a farm, where sunrise and seasons determine the rhythm of life, not time and hours; where everyone works together for the common good, without much concern for lofty abstract concepts such as personal space and private property. In many ways, the cheerful, lazy Brandisnap halflings, with their憨厚 faces and slender fingers, are the prototypes for the halfling image often satirized in the Maleburg newspapers."

"The Brandisnap halflings, dwelling deep in the countryside, villages, and farms, work like farmers, winemakers, or artisans, crafting exquisite things with their delicate, skillful fingers. Some Brandisnap halflings choose to serve as servants to wealthy merchants or nobles, tending beautiful courtyards and gardens, or serving in the kitchen. Their love of planting means they are excellent herbalists and apothecaries, though the herbs they cultivate have both recreational and medicinal uses. Those Brandisnap halflings living in more densely populated urban environments will accept any job, preferably one that requires little effort but offers high rewards. Thus, in Maleburg, many halfling thieves and pickpockets are members of the Brandisnap family."

"But there is no doubt that these Brandisnap halflings in our territory are agricultural halflings. They are very wealthy and very lazy, so they like to run farms and buy slaves. If a territory can provide them with such a perfect and comfortable living environment, their families will flock to it from all directions by carriage."

"With them around, you won't need to worry too much about the scale of our territory's farmland; it will be continuously developed in the west."

Did a large number of halflings arrive from all directions in horse-drawn carriages?

This is truly a mixed blessing. If it weren't for Flashspear City blocking the way from the west, the influx of these halflings into the depths of Blackforest would have been quite a troublesome affair.

To put it counterintuitively, while halflings are economically advanced, they have no laws, at least not written ones. This is because halflings don't take crime as seriously as humans.

"Human justice" is a term used by halflings: it means cruel and heartless things. Halflings consider executing people to be barbaric, and imprisoning people to be a waste of labor.

Therefore, halflings have their own set of rules, namely the punishments of the halfling elders, but the punishments are almost entirely based on fines. The most extreme punishment is no more than exile.

However, exile was also a rather severe punishment for halflings whose culture revolved around community.

This means that once a territory gains the allegiance of halflings, it usually gains the allegiance of a whole community of halflings, at least several dozen. Individual halflings pledging allegiance to one another are almost nonexistent. (Unless they are captives from other races, in which case they will quickly contact their families or communities through correspondence, attracting a large group of halflings.)
Fandall continued, “Similarly, because of their advanced agriculture and lazy nature, their community has a halfling agricultural machinery association. They can produce agricultural machinery, including heavy plows. As you know, my lord, heavy plows require heavy battle rams to pull. Our territory is limited in scale due to a lack of agricultural machinery. They, on the other hand, cannot expand their heavy plow production because they lack battle rams. Now that these have become resources for our territory, halfling farms are bound to see significant growth.”

This is indeed good news for the territory. Su Li asked, "Have you done a population census of the territory? How many humans, dwarves, and halflings are there respectively?"

The Empire is a union of multiple races and churches. Humans are undoubtedly the absolute majority of the Empire, but there are many other races within the Empire that are considered to have citizenship rights. In addition to the famous second citizens, dwarves, halflings, ogres, half-elves, and others are also considered to have the right to settle.

There was no other way; the empire's situation was inherently perilous. It was a land surrounded by dense forests and towering mountains, teeming with ferocious bandits, filthy beastmen, and greedy monsters. Against this unpredictable backdrop, prosperous cities stood alone, where skilled artisans and wealthy merchants traded their goods, and brave soldiers and noble politicians defended the empire's future. Yet, beneath this complex exterior, the empire was a land of ignorance and superstition, where fearful peasants clutched amulets to ward off evil magic and appease ancient spirits. In stark contrast to the affluent regions were the slums, teeming with thieves, vagrants, and heretics who eked out a living by plundering others. Within the empire, every aspect of human nature could be found; behind every revered hero walking the streets, a ruthless assassin lurked nearby.

Without openness and inclusiveness, the empire simply cannot sustain this dangerous situation.

Fandral, clearly well-versed in the Empire's traditions, immediately stated, "Our territory currently has 6539 registered humans, 3698 dwarves, 1870 halflings, and 690 ogres."

"But these are just our free citizens, numbering 12797! You must understand that the main source of population growth in our territory comes from purchasing slaves and acquiring prisoners of war. In fact, you alone own more than 4000 slaves! The other manors, knightly families, and farm owners throughout our territory likely own more than 6000 slaves!"

"So in fact, the population of our territory has already exceeded 20000."

20000 people!
This scale is in line with Su Li's expectations. After all, during the Radiant Arena alone, the territory can sometimes see more than 1000 new people applying to settle in a single day.

The three major cities of the Hessian Territory—Hessian City, Flashspear City, and White Castle—have now formed three population centers, namely the industrial, commercial, and agricultural centers centered on Hessian City.

The city of Flashspear was the center of religion, culture, and faith. White Keep was the center of animal husbandry and mining.

These three areas are densely populated with thousands of people. If you add the various outposts and pioneering camps in the Black Pine Forest, as well as the villages, outposts, and fortresses that Su Li donated to the Knights, you can also find them.

Reaching 22000 people would be an easy task.

Su Li merely raised an eyebrow and said, "These halflings have quietly numbered close to 2000. When did they all move in?" Fandall smiled and said, "After all, they are a community-based race. As long as there is one halfling in a territory, one community after another will quickly gather. The population of the Baran Autonomous Territory alone exceeds 1000."

"However, this is also a good thing for us, as halflings have their own unique unit system."

"For example, the Harvest Lord: This is the leader of the farm workers, most of whom are skilled in swordsmanship. They can lead the farm to defend against the Beastmen, while also supervising the workers and slaves to improve production efficiency."

"Food Cellar Guardians: These are elite chefs who guard the food carts. They also have an elite infantry unit called the Mad Chefs. Chefs are the most respected people in the halfling community, and these Mad Chefs have eaten too many spicy dumplings. They usually mingle with the regular chefs, but when a battle starts, they jump out and swing their heavy cooking utensils. Even an ogre would be covered in bruises if hit by these heavy utensils."

"In addition to the goat riders we are familiar with, they also have powerful eagle riders. These eagles appear whenever the halflings are in trouble. These elite troops are different from humans, and are generally composed of two eagles and a group of riders on their backs. Their long-range shooting power is quite considerable."

"In addition, they will provide beast troops, including flocks of poultry, sheepdogs, and tree people. In times of crisis, halflings will drive a flock of chickens, geese, turkeys, and ducks into the battlefield, and the enraged flock of poultry can fight as a whole."

Su Li couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "Are these combat units really effective? I know the combat strength of halflings is worrying, but this is far too low. Aren't they just handing the enemy free food?"

Fandral shrugged and said, “That depends on how you use this force. Sending them to fight horned beasts and trolls would be like throwing good money after bad. But they are very effective against goblins, horned beasts, and inferior horned beasts. Besides, the birds in our territory are mainly provided by these halflings.”

At this point, Su Li's smile subsided slightly; he remembered Fandral's report earlier. A total of over 23000 cattle, sheep, and pigs were slaughtered throughout the spring. More than 1300 poultry were raised. Over 26 eggs of various kinds were harvested.

Compared to the more than 23000 head of cattle, sheep, and pigs, the number of poultry is undoubtedly much smaller. This is partly because pastures were established in the territory from the beginning, and a large number of shepherds and nomadic tribes from the Crimson Plateau brought in a large number of cattle and sheep. However, it is also because poultry farming in the territory is indeed very rare.

Besides large ranches that could employ slaves, poultry farming mainly relied on individual households raising their own livestock, which required a sufficient number of free people.

Halflings can perfectly balance both of these aspects.

Among the halflings, there are many free people who are free to run their own ranches and farms.

Similarly, their natural affinity for poultry allows them to raise a large number of chickens, ducks, and geese on a single farm.

This is not like the small-scale farming economy of the East, where every household has a chicken coop with a few chickens in it.

It wasn't like the days when the US was experiencing an egg shortage, where people rented chickens at exorbitant prices, renting one chicken in a cage and bringing it into middle-class families to raise in their lawns and gardens—that kind of primitive level of housing.

Instead, they use nets or fences to enclose a large pasture, where dozens or even hundreds of chickens, ducks, and geese can be raised at once.

One major reason why the halflings' ranch hasn't taken off yet is that their fragile agricultural capabilities can't provide enough feed for so many chickens, ducks, and geese.

However, all of this will come sooner or later. Once the territory's agriculture and animal husbandry have developed to a certain stage, there will be ample supplies of wheat bran, clover, cowpea, and fishmeal.

These poultry forage for themselves in the fields and riverbanks during the day, and return to the pasture at night. The halflings can crush snails, small fish and shrimp, and then mix them with wheat bran, hay, vegetable scraps and other ingredients to feed them.

The scale of poultry farming will definitely increase.

To protect all of this, the halflings were fully armed.

Fandall continued, "The halflings also have two famous types of soldiers: sheepdogs and tree people. The owners of the sheepdogs usually ride on a war ram or sheepdog and use whistles to command them to fight or drive poultry and herds. These sheepdogs are very loyal to their owners and will often risk their lives to save them on the battlefield."

"The other halflings have a close relationship with nature, the forest, and the plump, juicy hares that live there. Some halflings have successfully befriended tree people, who will fight alongside them—their halfling friends can even ride on the tree people's shoulders. If you patrol around a halfling territory or ranch, you can usually see tree people sitting lazily and sluggishly by the roadside in the middle of the green fields or along the roadside. There's usually no need to be alarmed; these tree people are friends who guard the halfling farms."

It seems that the life of halflings is more in line with many people's yearning for an idyllic pastoral life in a fantasy world.

It's no wonder that many halflings face complaints and exclusion from humans. Clearly, their way of life is supported by human faith, force, and will.

Fandral continued, “In the Baran Dominion, they have formed a large-scale [Field Watchers Legion], a local armed force responsible for guarding the borders—especially the northwest bordering Blue Mirror Territory and Green Hills. While halflings are not skilled in combat and rely on the Imperial army to protect their homeland, their military strength should not be underestimated. Halflings are excellent scouts because of their exceptional archery skills and ability to traverse forests quickly and quietly. Many halflings are also master cooks, and a skilled commander will always make the most of their talents.”

The northwestern part bordering Blue Mirror Territory?

Su Li raised an eyebrow in surprise and said, "Isn't the Balan Autonomous Territory separated from the Blue Mirror Territory by the city of Flash Spear? How come they border the Blue Mirror Territory?"

Fandall shrugged and slowly replied, “Theoretically, that is true. But as you know, that’s only in theory. Halflings are very good at exploiting legal loopholes because they don’t take crime seriously. They’ve bought up a lot of land and farmland in the western part of their territory that were lost to their original owners in the war.”

"According to their agreement with you, the western border of their territory is a halfling autonomous territory, and all the land they purchase is under their autonomy. So they bought a large amount of land at once to expand the halfling autonomous territory. Currently, they are probably the race that controls the most land in the territory, besides you."

Good heavens, Su Li does indeed remember such a clause.

At that time, when the Baran Tangborn family joined the Hessen Territory, Su Li signed this treaty with Hatzkelin. Since that was the westernmost part of the territory at that time, and it was a desolate plain with nothing but a piece of land overgrown with weeds!
Therefore, Su Li made an agreement with the Balantangborn family that as long as they joined the territory, all the unclaimed lands on the west side could be sold to them, allowing them to govern themselves in the westernmost border area of ​​the territory.

To be honest, the conditions were extremely harsh at the time. Su Li had a total of 80 gold crowns left, and the entire territory was completely impoverished. That piece of wasteland, which had absolutely no value, was sold by Su Li to the halflings for the exorbitant price of 800 gold crowns.

It's practically equivalent to making a promise out of thin air while looking at a map. He casually pointed to a piece of wasteland on the map that didn't belong to him, and then sold it to the halflings for 800 gold crowns.

But unexpectedly, even with such a harsh condition, the halflings managed to find a loophole.

After all, who can say that the territory conquered by Marshal Orstein does not belong to the western frontier of the Hessian Territory?
It seems perfectly reasonable for the halflings to acquire property there. Besides, they didn't get it for free; every piece of land was bought by the halflings at a high price.

Fandall comforted him, "My lord, let's look at it this way. This is indeed beneficial for our development of the territory. Otherwise, if we rely entirely on the assets of the Bauhinia family, who knows how long it would take to develop the land that Marshal Orstein conquered."

"We haven't even finished developing Flashspear City and Bjorn Bay yet. The expansion by these halflings has indeed greatly increased the scale of our Blacksin territory's farmland."

Su Li was somewhat tempted by this and said, "Speaking of which, we might as well go and check on the summer crop near Bjorn Bay."

"How many acres of farmland have we expanded to now? Besides the farmland near Bjorn Bay, the total farmland area of ​​the entire territory should be accounted for soon, right?"

As things have developed to this point, agriculture in the entire territory can no longer rely solely on the area around Bjorn Bay. The scale of farmland belonging to free people, farmers, and knight families on such a vast land should also be increased!
(End of this chapter)