I'm not a lord

Chapter 359 The Kingdom's Navy

"Your Majesty, this is our archives. Every stallion and mares in the stable has a written record, and their mating records are also clearly documented."

Baron Uli's professionalism is beyond question; even his grooms are literate and know how to keep records for warhorses.

As soon as Lynn stepped into the archives of Breeding Farm No. 2, he was immediately drawn to the vast amount of documents inside.

He casually pulled out a dusty parchment scroll, opened it, and saw that it indeed contained records of the mating of superior stallions, even the origins of their mating partners were clearly recorded, and the time of each mating and birth was clearly recorded.

It is worth mentioning that the calendar used in the North is basically the same as that in the South, both using the 'Genesis Year Law' established by the Trinity Church.

This calendar system begins with the end of the War of the Gods and divides the year into twelve months.

According to this calendar system, the continent of Dievas should be in March of the year 2324 of creation.

Over the past two thousand years, the human race has gradually occupied the entire continent of Dievas, starting from a few small islands at the southernmost tip of the southern border. Most of the other races that were once on par with the human race have completely disappeared.

Lynn counted the days and realized that three years had passed since he "came ashore" from being a bandit leader, and this year marked his fourth year ashore.

Looking at the file in Lynn's hand, Baron Uli's eyes flashed with a hint of nostalgia. He then said softly, "Your Majesty, this No. 2 breeding farm has a history of over a hundred years. The file you have in your hand should have been recorded by my grandfather."

Compared to the southern counties, Birch County has a slightly drier climate, which is why there are large areas of grassland. It is not surprising that parchment can be preserved for hundreds of years in this environment.

Furthermore, the swampy territory had not experienced any major wars in the past, so these documents were able to lie quietly in the archives.

Lynn put the parchment back in the wooden cabinet, turned to look at Uli, and said with an unwavering tone, "Uli, starting next year, the horse farm in Birchshire needs to expand its breeding scale."

Then Lynn raised four fingers on his right hand and said, "I'll give you four promises."

First, I will assign you more skilled grooms;

Secondly, I will import more high-quality stallions and mares from the grasslands.
Third, I will order local officials to draw laborers to cultivate the royal hunting grounds north of Birchshire and turn that forest into high-quality pasture.
Fourth and final promise: for the next five years, I will not demand too many warhorses from the stables; you are free to keep all the warhorses you deem suitable for breeding.

These promises hit Uli's heart like a ton of bricks. The royal stable master's eyes lit up and he quickly replied, "Your Majesty, with your support, the number of warhorses produced at the stables will surely increase!"

Lynn smiled, but his face suddenly turned serious: "Don't be so happy yet. I'm giving you my full support, so of course I have to get a good return in return. But my demands aren't high. If the number of warhorses produced can't increase by 30 percent in five years, I'll have to settle accounts with you."

Lynn did not offer much specific advice on the technical work of warhorse breeding.

He firmly believes that professional tasks should be left to professionals.

Just as artists must be cultured, warhorse breeders must also understand horses.

Although horse breeders these days may not fully understand the mysteries of genetics, through generations of accumulated experience, they have essentially learned how to pass on the superior genes of horses.

Baron Ully managed all ten large horse farms very well and was able to provide two to three hundred high-quality warhorses every year. Such a capable minister only needed to be allowed to perform freely within a suitable framework.

Although Lynn wouldn't offer specific advice, he wanted to see tangible results.

As far as he knows, mares can usually start breeding at three to four years old.

Given five years, and with strong support from all sides, increasing the number of pigs slaughtered by 30% should not be a problem.

As for why it was limited to five years, that was naturally for the sake of subsequent wars.

If all goes well, five years from now, Lynn will have already unified the North and begun preparations to invade the South, at which time he will inevitably need more high-quality warhorses and draft horses.

Planning ahead, Lynn needs to start thinking about the more distant future now.

While the warhorses produced in Grassland Territory are indeed excellent, the population there is too sparse, making the output very unstable, and Lynn has no control over Grassland Territory at the moment.

"Five years?" Baron Uli lowered his head and did some mental calculations for a moment, then raised his head and replied confidently, "If His Majesty can obtain high-quality stallions from the grasslands every year and allow the ranch to retain more stallions, then increasing the number of warhorses produced by thirty percent in five years is not a difficult task!"

Lynn had reviewed the warhorse receipts from Golden Deer Castle and found that the number of warhorses leaving these breeding farms in Birchshire had actually been declining year by year over the past few years.

This was mainly due to Duke Lothair of the Marsh's massive expansion of the court cavalry, which resulted in a severe shortage of warhorses, forcing him to excessively demand them from the horse farms.

Lynn gave Uri a reassuring smile: "Just focus on raising the horses, I'll take care of everything else."

A few days ago, Lynn sent a messenger to Duke Samuel of Meadows to invite him to drink in Birchshire.

Judging by the time, the messenger should be back by now.

After leaving the horse farm, Lynn continued his inspection in the northwest and arrived at the royal hunting grounds.

This hunting ground is vast and home to a large number of wild animals. It was the favorite autumn hunting location of successive marsh dukes.

But Lynn promised Baron Uri the entire vast forest with just one sentence.

"The Marshland Territory has no shortage of forests and hunting grounds. The climate of Birch County is suitable for pasture growth, so we should build more pastures and breed more warhorses. It's a waste to use them only for the royal family to hunt."

Lynn felt no regret at all about this excellent hunting ground, since he wasn't going to establish his capital in the swamp territory in the future anyway.

As for hunting grounds, there are plenty in Baihe County. The Baihe River Basin has six counties, and each county has an endless forest to the west.

The North is far from reaching its population carrying capacity, so there's no need to worry about environmental issues.

Even if problems arise in the future, they should be solved by the wisdom of future generations, not by Lynn's current worries.

What he needs to consider most now is how to make the best use of the resources at hand.

The River Stillness, the largest river in the Northern Kingdom, originates in the wastelands north of Birchshire. In its upper reaches, it flows from northwest to southeast and forms a natural boundary between the Grasslands and the Swamplands.

When Lynn traveled westward and reached the east bank of the River Still again, the diplomat Leif brought back a letter of apology and a hundred warhorses of various colors.

"Your Majesty, Duke Samuel of the Grasslands declined your invitation. He claimed that the Grasslands suffered a severe ice storm last winter and he needed to personally inspect various places to appease the nobles. He simply couldn't spare the time to attend your banquet. However, to express his apologies, he presented you with one hundred warhorses." Although Leif's mission to the Grasslands did not bring back Duke Samuel, he did not return empty-handed.

Lynn stood by the makeshift stable and felt that the Grassland Territory's warhorses were indeed more robust than those of the Swamp Territory.

Samuel wasn't lying; the warhorses he presented were all carefully selected, strong young horses that had undergone professional training and were ready to be used by heavy cavalry on the battlefield.

Lynn pondered for a moment and then gave the order: "Send this batch of warhorses to the horse farm first, let Uli select them, and then send the rest to White River Territory to be assigned to Hugh's cavalry legion."

Victor jotted down a few notes in his notebook and asked, "Your Majesty, how should we reply to the Duke of Grassland?"

“Samuel is afraid I’ll detain him. Fine, for the sake of these hundred warhorses, I’ll let him off this time.” Lynn waved his hand magnanimously.

He didn't actually expect the Duke of Meadows to keep his promise.

Samuel is now like a rat digging holes all over the prairie, retreating back into its burrow at the slightest sound.

Lynn had already achieved his goal by extorting a batch of warhorses from him.

The areas that needed to be inspected have now been inspected, and it is already late March. Even the floating ice on the upper reaches of the Jinghe River has begun to loosen and fall off in large chunks.

This means that the Jinghe River, which has been frozen for almost half a year, will soon be fully navigable again.

Lynn has finally found the season that is right for him to lead his troops.

"Let's go, it's time to head to White River Territory. I'll deal with Otto first, then I'll call Samuel over for a drink at Golden Deer Castle!"

In terms of the territory actually occupied, Lynn is now essentially an enhanced version of the Duke of the Swamp. Although he has the title of 'King in the North,' he cannot command the lords of the North.

This time, he wanted to solidify his title as King of the North, at which point Samuel would defect and surrender with courtesy!
The following day, Lynn's inspection team turned south and headed straight for White River Territory in the southeast.

Baihe Territory, Sanhe City.

Mayor Leon has barely had a break since last fall.

Whenever he finished his work as mayor, he would take a carriage to the shipyard located in the northwest of the city.

The shipyard completed a large-scale expansion last year, adding several dry docks that can accommodate nearly a hundred ships at the same time.

Under Lynn's coordination, almost all the medium and large ships in the territory were concentrated in this shipyard, where they were modified day and night.

At the same time, all the best shipbuilders in the territory gathered in Three Rivers and were placed under Leon's command.

"Your Excellency Mayor, you have arrived exceptionally early today."

Inside the shipyard, Martin, the shipwright in charge of the ship's modification, greeted Leon warmly.

Both of them were from Sanhe City and were old friends who had known each other for many years.

Martin started building ships in his great-great-grandfather's generation. His family's shipbuilding skills were renowned in Three Rivers City, and almost every medium and large merchant ship in the city was built by his family.

It was for this reason that Leon recommended Martin to Lynn and helped the latter land a huge deal.

As Leon strode toward the nearest dry dock, he said, “His Majesty just sent me an order that the Tranquil River will soon be fully navigable again. The decisive battle between His Majesty and Otto is about to begin, and these warships are the key to determining the course of the war. I must ensure that these warships meet His Majesty’s requirements.”

Martin followed closely behind Leon, replying nervously, "To be honest, I'm not really sure about the specific performance of these modified warships. As you know, I've only ever built ordinary merchant ships in the past, at most adding some heavy crossbows or something. This is the first time I've ever done something as cumbersome as loading cannons onto a ship."

Even the lightest cannons weigh several hundred kilograms, and just securing these things to the ship was a huge undertaking.

Moreover, simply adding cannons was not enough; necessities such as gunpowder and shells also needed to be stored on the ship, and each cannon required at least three operators.

This whole process will significantly increase the weight of the ship, which will inevitably affect its core parameters such as draft and maneuverability.

The Jinghe River flows very fast in its upper reaches, but slows down abruptly in its middle reaches. The riverbed is covered with very deep silt, making the water very shallow in the middle reaches, which is not large enough to support large ships.

This is why large ocean-going vessels from Amber Harbor cannot venture deep into the northern inland region.

In order to cope with the problem of the deep water of the Jinghe River, most of the ships built in the past in Sanhe City had a very shallow draft.

Martin feared that these ships equipped with cannons would run aground shortly after leaving the shipyard, and then His Majesty the King would naturally hold him, the chief shipwright, accountable.

During the conversation, Leon had already arrived at the dry dock. He looked at the craftsmen busy on the warships and calmly analyzed, "April and May should be fine. With the snowmelt from winter replenishing the water, the water volume of the Tranquil River is much greater than during the dry season, so it should be able to support these modified warships."

Martin said thoughtfully, "So, the battle on the water must be decided within two months?"

Leon scoffed at this: "Two months? Maybe two days will be enough. With so few ships on both sides, how many do you think can withstand the bombardment of cannons?"

Leon had witnessed numerous test firings of shipborne artillery, and he was well aware of the effectiveness of these new weapons against older ships.

Small-caliber wrought iron cannons like the Eagle Cannon, while unable to penetrate the deck directly, could still bring down hordes of sailors on deck.

Large-caliber bronze cannons had a chance of penetrating the deck and hull, causing massive damage to the ship.

Leon believed that as long as his navy could engage Otto's navy at close range, a few rounds of fire would be enough to rout Otto's navy.

Martin rested his chin on his right hand and nodded, saying, "Indeed, Amber Harbor will definitely face the same problem. Most of their ships are ocean-going vessels. Even if they have been modified, the keel and hull cannot be changed. It would be a stretch if they could even sail into the Three Rivers City waterway."

"By the way, where's Captain Hawke? I haven't seen him." Leon had searched two dry docks but hadn't found the key figure in this naval battle.

Martin replied, "The ice on the White River has completely melted. This kid just set sail north this morning to test his cannons."

(End of this chapter)