I'm not a lord

Chapter 167 Operation 'Spring Thunder'

Since moving from the South to the North, the past six months in White Bear Territory have been the happiest time for blacksmith Eric.

Here, he can not only live a stable life, have a steady customer base, and receive generous compensation, but also use the most advanced forging workshop available today.

Now, his two sons are about to get married and take over his business. The brides' relatives are all prominent figures in the area, which will surely take the family's development to a new level.

Before coming to White Bear Territory, Eric had assumed that the forging level in the South far surpassed that in the North.

Plate armor has gradually become popular in the South, while the mainstream armor in the North is still the outdated chainmail that has been used for hundreds of years.

But Lord Lynn of White Bear Territory opened his eyes.

Eric had never imagined that water power could be used for forging, nor had he ever imagined that there could be a real plate armor forged from a single piece.

Compared to the terrifying defensive power of plate armor, plate armor that is still in the process of piecing together plates pales in comparison.

After Lord Lynn taught Eric the technology to manufacture plate armor free of charge, he did not hesitate to reveal the technology for making plate armor suits.

Since the master is so generous, how could he continue to keep secrets?
Moreover, making the technology public would not harm his position in the territory at all.

Manufacturing plate armor is a real test of a blacksmith's skill.

Aside from the master, Eric is the only one in the entire territory who can fully master this craft.

A distinguished master can't spend all his time in the workshop forging iron.

Doesn't that mean Eric monopolizes the technology?

Moreover, forging plate armor is not a simple process.

The technology has been made public, but most blacksmiths simply cannot forge iron ingots into steel sheets of uniform thickness. Mastering techniques such as quenching, tempering, and carburizing is also extremely difficult.

Aside from Eric's two sons, there are probably only a handful of blacksmiths in the entire White River Territory qualified to forge plate armor.

Even the most intelligent apprentice needs to study for two or three years before they are qualified to graduate.

Therefore, Eric did not regret revealing the manufacturing technology of the plate armor.

He was also dedicated to teaching his apprentices and never lowered his standards.

In any case, he would receive a shiny bonus for each qualified apprentice he taught.

If he accumulates enough gold shields in the future, he can even support his descendants to embark on a better path, so that they will no longer be confined to the scorching and filthy blacksmith's workshop.

Moreover, Eric is not just an ordinary blacksmith who only knows how to forge iron.

He is very politically astute.

When news of the death of the former King in the North first broke, he realized that he could not stay in Crownlands for long, so he took his family and fled to Three Rivers City, perfectly avoiding the first wave of attacks from the Duke of the Swamp.

Now, he has heard that Lord Lynn has taken over the entire White River region and has even called himself the Earl of White River.

He knew, of course, that he had latched onto an ambitious man.

But he had no objection to it.

What kind of nobleman would he be if he didn't have some ambition?

The master's abilities match his ambitions.

At the same time, Eric is very confident about the old man's future.

Most of the noble knights in the North were still wearing old chainmail. How could they possibly compete with the lord's plate-armored cavalry?
The armor workshop in White Bear Territory can now produce more than ten sets of plate armor and plate suits every month.

In just two or three years, the army under the master's command will be able to conquer the entire northern border without being defeated. What is ruling the mere White River Territory?
Green River's resounding victory confirmed Eric's idea.

Before the lord's elite army, the feudal knights of the old era were utterly powerless.

Eric also witnessed firsthand the bountiful harvest in White Bear Territory last autumn.

The yield per acre in the White Bear Territory even far surpasses that of the more technologically advanced Southern Territory.

With a well-equipped army, abundant food supplies in his territory, a peaceful and prosperous population, and strategic resources like salt mines, Lord Lynn's advantages are immense!
Eric simply couldn't imagine how the old man could lose.

In his spare time, he often chatted with other people in the territory about politics and current affairs.

Most people had confidence in Lord Lynn, believing that he would surely lead the White River region to new heights.

However, Eric was not without his worries.

Although the Baihe Territory is large, its population is very small, and its climate is harsh while its products are not abundant.

Furthermore, given the relatively isolated terrain, if the enemy chooses to impose a trade blockade and strictly prohibits Baihe Territory from obtaining military supplies such as iron ingots and cloth, then the master will face trouble.

But the old man's visit brought Eric a new surprise.

Iron ore, specifically the easiest type of limonite to smelt, and it's even an open-pit limonite mine!
This is simply divine protection for the master and Baihe Ling!

Inside the blacksmith's workshop, the burly Eric could not hide his excitement: "Master, you should start mining this iron ore as soon as possible!"

With iron ore, Baihe Territory was no longer afraid of trade blockades from the outside world.

Cloth doesn't have a huge impact on Baihe Territory, since every household there raises a large number of goats, and the sheepskins produced, along with the animal hides obtained from hunting, are enough to meet their clothing needs.

Lynn smiled and said, "Don't rush. I will definitely mine the iron ore. I'm now considering whether to move this armor-making workshop to Chixi Territory."

Last winter, the blacksmith workshop in White Bear Territory completed its second expansion during a lull in the season, dividing it into civilian and military areas.

The former was managed by the blacksmith Zich, while the latter was Eric's territory, and its size and number of people were several times that of the civilian workshops.

Relocating such a large-scale workshop would be extremely difficult and would involve a considerable number of people.

But not moving isn't an option either, as the location of White Bear Territory is too far north.

If weapons and armor were to be forged using iron ingots from Chixi Territory, the round-trip transportation would waste a great deal of manpower and resources.

Despite his burly appearance, Eric has a delicate heart.

These are essential qualities for becoming a skilled blacksmith; brute force alone is not enough to accurately handle a red-hot iron ingot.

He could see the master's worries and immediately made a solemn pledge:
“Sir, once the iron mine is opened, this armor workshop will definitely have to be relocated. Don’t worry, I guarantee that no one in the workshop will dare to object. We are blacksmiths, we can move whenever we want.”

Compared to ordinary farmers, blacksmiths do have this advantage: they are not so closely tied to the land.

Of course, it would be a lie to say that Eric wasn't a little reluctant to part with her.

His new house in White Bear Territory was recently completed, using the finest stone and wood. He even hammered out the nails himself. His two daughters-in-law are also locals.

But for the sake of the master's great cause, this little matter is not worth mentioning at all.

“Okay, with you saying that, I can mine the iron ore with peace of mind.” This was exactly the promise Lynn wanted from Eric.

Eric is now far more important to him than the stewards of the various territories.

Without this generous foreman, where would Lynn get a stable supply of high-quality armor?
He doesn't lack chainmail now; the spoils from unifying the White River region, plus what he bought from the Three Rivers City, total over four hundred sets.

In addition to mining iron ore, Lynn is now planning to gather the best blacksmiths in the entire White River Territory and have them all receive Eric's instruction and training, and then continue to expand the production capacity of the armor workshop.

Lynn quickly reached an agreement with Eric on the relocation of the workshop.

A larger hydraulic workshop will be built in Chixi Territory as soon as possible, along with a batch of new houses to house blacksmiths and apprentices. Baixiong Territory will provide some assistance; for example, the foreman carpenter Torima will take the lead and go to Chixi Territory to build a large number of waterwheels.

These trivial matters were handled by the stewards of each territory; Lynn only needed to issue orders.

In the following days, he did not rush to leave, but stayed in White Bear Territory to remotely direct the spring plowing operations in various territories.

A week later, the vanguard of the Gaoya tribe arrived at the northern salt mine as scheduled.

This made old Soward extremely happy.

With the arrival of the high cliff tribe, who are also from the wilderness, the lowland tribes can gradually be freed from mining tasks and live a stable life of farming!
He first settled the thousand people from his brother tribes, and then, with a few representatives, rushed to Bai Xiong to report the good news.

Upon hearing that the High Cliff tribe had arrived, Lynn naturally hosted a banquet to welcome them.

There's a shortage of manpower for salt mining and iron ore extraction; it's like someone offering you a pillow just when you're about to go to sleep.

"Your Excellency Earl, from this day forward, our High Cliff tribe will forever be loyal to you!"

The representative of the High Cliff tribe was naturally Hafdan, the son of the chieftain who had once visited the salt mine.

This guy is five years older than Soward and is already married. Although they both have long blue hair, he looks much more mature.

Inside the castle hall, upon seeing Lynn, he immediately knelt on one knee to pay his respects, showing great courtesy.

While respectful, Hafdan was also quite surprised.

Last winter, according to old Soward, Lynn was still a baron, ruling over a population of just over ten thousand.

By this spring, Lynn had transformed into an earl, with a population of nearly 40,000 under his command.

Hafdan originally thought he could gain more benefits by leveraging the large size of the High Cliff tribe.

However, it seems unrealistic at present.

Compared to the barbarians struggling to survive in the wilderness, the southerners living in the warmer regions were far more prosperous, and their armed forces were far superior to those of the high-altitude tribes.

In the salt mines, Hafdan had witnessed the power of chainmail and steel longswords.

Along the way, Old Sowad had repeatedly told him not to have any unrealistic expectations, as long as the High Cliff tribe served them wholeheartedly, the master would never treat them unfairly.

Lynn, sitting high up, smiled kindly: "My territory welcomes everyone to join, even the barbarians, who will receive fair and just treatment. Of course, the premise is that they follow my arrangements and always remain loyal to me."

Hafdan slowly rose to his feet, raised his head, and said loudly, "My lord, to show the sincerity of the High Cliff tribe, please allow me to present you with a gift that my father has carefully prepared!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a young man from the wilderness presented him with a gift.

The gifts were actually just various animal hides and bone products, plus local specialties of the wilderness—two young wilderness girls.

Hafdan pulled the two shy girls, who were keeping their heads down, closer and began enthusiastically promoting his product:

“My lord, these two are my own sisters. If you don’t mind, please let them stay and take care of you. Although they are the clan chief’s daughters, they know how to serve people and will never disobey you.”

Lynn's gaze lingered on the two girls for a moment. She could tell that they were both fairly clean and had above-average looks.

Her biggest drawback is that she is a bit too young. She is about the same age as the Mira sisters who serve as Lia's maids, and looks to be only eleven or twelve years old.

Lynn was rather speechless.

No, I don't like little girls who haven't even grown up yet either. I'm really not a lolicon!

Why doesn't your Gaoya tribe send some older girls over?
It must be a bit difficult for such a young child to do housework, right?

Who on earth dares to smear me outside?

This has really caused me a lot of trouble!

“Then let them stay. I will arrange for someone to teach them Common Language so that they can adapt to their new life in the South as soon as possible.”

Although reluctant, Lynn felt bad about refusing the kindness of the Gaoya tribe, who were newly submitted to the tribe, and could only reluctantly accept the two barbarian girls.

Anyway, a position had become available for Agna, as the barbarian girl who used to be Agna's maid was about to marry little Soward.

Seeing the old man accept the two sisters with a smile, Hafdan was overjoyed.

Old Soward wasn't lying; the Earl really does like young girls!

I must give Old Sose a few beautiful women from the High Cliff tribe. We are all begging for food under the Earl's command and are also fellow barbarians. It is time to strengthen our relationship and stick together.

After a luncheon, leaving behind his two sisters and a mess of animal hides, Hafdan made a hasty visit to the White Bear Territory before returning to the salt mine.

For the foreseeable future, the Gaoya tribe will have to rely on this salt mine for their livelihood.

Old Soward will lead the lowland tribes to stay in the salt mines first, and only after teaching the high cliff tribes mining and refining techniques will they migrate south to White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory.

After settling matters concerning the wasteland people, Lynn was finally about to embark on his journey south.

Before leaving, he specifically called little Albert to the castle to give him more instructions, telling him to treat the wastelanders with utmost care and care.

We should neither discriminate against them nor treat them too favorably.

The famine victims could draw their food from the local warehouses, but every expenditure had to be clearly recorded and reported to Lynn regularly.

Little Albert naturally understood the nuances. He had spent some time training at the trading post in White Bear Territory and knew how to manage the wasteland people without making them too uncomfortable.

However, he also expressed his concerns to Lynn:
“My lord, the combined population of the Lowland and High Cliff tribes has already exceeded the original population of White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory. The chances of them causing trouble are not high, but we still need to be on guard.”

Lynn had a plan for this and comforted her:

"Don't worry, I won't let the entire Gaoya tribe stay in Baixiong Territory. Once they've gathered four thousand people, I'll move them to Chixi Territory. Only three thousand people will remain in Baixiong Territory to continue mining salt."

Furthermore, by late April, a large number of new recruits will arrive at White Bear Territory for training, still using the same military camp in the north.

Lynn was certainly not foolish enough to let more than 10,000 barbarians crowd into the White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory in the north.

He didn't intend to have the local serfs of Chixi lead the construction of that 30-kilometer road connecting the iron mine.

Road repair is not a high-tech job.

Give a starving deserter a shovel and a bowl of wheat porridge, and they'll be able to swing the shovel with incredible skill.

Once the road is completed, they can start mining right there on the spot without wasting any time!
Furthermore, Lynn will also conscript a large number of barbarian archers from the High Cliff tribe, throwing the most energetic young men into the army camp, which will also reduce the probability of them causing trouble.

Anyway, he has no shortage of land or food. It's just a tribe of more than 7,000 people, so feeding them is not a problem at all.

Accompanying Lynn south were Lia and a group of maids from the castle, including four young girls from the wilderness.

He sailed down to the shallows and picked up Jagna and her infant daughter.

As the oarsmen sailed south along the warm spring breeze and melting snow, Hugo, the second son, and Yang, the third son, in the River Marsh Territory, were plotting a war.

Looting the western outskirts of Three Rivers was a task assigned to them by Lynn.

His brothers have been training for many years, and it's time for them to make a name for themselves in the North.

Lynn even gave this operation a special code name: 'Spring Thunder'.

The newly established White River Territory will unleash a new storm in the North.

(End of this chapter)