Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 328 Future Development Planning
"And the third thing I want to announce, which should also be written into the territory's code and should be written in the third position, is that this territory was blessed by the gods and gods, conferred by His Majesty the Great King, and led by His Majesty the Respected Duke. It was conquered by me, Li Wei, the first Baron of Flames, with sword and spear. Therefore, the ownership of this territory, its legal rights, will forever belong to me, Li Wei, and my descendants."

"They will become the masters of this land in accordance with the law of succession, in the presence of all the free people of the land, and under the protection of the loyal Knights of the River."

Li Wei spoke these words slowly and clearly, and it could be said that of the several things he announced today, this was the most important.

Moreover, these events are all interconnected.

First, you agreed to build the Temple of the Gods, accepted the blessings of the gods, and acknowledged their divine pronouncements, which guarantee the most basic humanistic care. This phrase is very familiar to them; they have been constantly reminded of it since they first acquired their class card.

Even if you didn't believe it at first, you can't help but believe it now.

Secondly, the establishment of laws and regulations.

It can be said that the gods are on the left, the law is on the right, and the right to inherit territory is in the middle.

This time, Li Wei didn't even ask for everyone's opinion; you don't need to have any opinions.

This must be written into Article 3 of the law.

Do I need to remind you what the first two are?
The first rule, of course, is to ensure basic humanistic care, and the second rule is to be forever loyal to the King and the Duke.

If you want to overthrow me in the future, you will first have to conflict with these two legal principles.

At this moment, Li Wei continued to speak.

"Six months later, when the territory's legal code is completed, the various departments of the territory will be readjusted. I plan to establish five departments: the Department of Internal Affairs, the Department of Engineering, the Department of Combat, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Magic."

"Among them, the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for people's livelihood, legal proceedings, personnel selection, training, education, food safety, food reserves and agricultural production, merit determination, disciplinary supervision, future development planning of the territory, temple management, etc. It is temporarily the head of the five ministries, with one chief interior officer and several deputy interior officers."

"The Engineering Department is responsible for designing, planning, constructing, and repairing projects of all sizes, as well as searching for and mining various resources from the wilderness and managing industrial material warehouses. It has one chief engineer and several others."

"The Combat Department is responsible for the daily patrol and guard of the territory, provides protection for the personnel of the Engineering Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs who go out to explore and mine resources, and has the responsibility of actively exploring, reconnaissance and initiating combat. At the same time, it is also responsible for guarding the territory and fortresses."

"The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for the operation of the territory's markets, trade exchanges, commodity supply, the territory's economic development budget, and so on."

"The Ministry of Magic is responsible for managing magic mines, enchanted blacksmith workshops, and magic potion-making workshops that may be built in the future."

"The above five departments are temporary and will be added or modified in the future as needed. The chiefs of the five departments will form the territory cabinet. When the lord is absent or unable to participate in the management of territory affairs, the territory cabinet will manage them on his behalf."

What Li Wei said was a reflection of his thoughts over this period of time. The development of a territory can never be solely focused on external factors. It is crucial to streamline all aspects of internal operations, including management, planning, and supervision, so that they can operate systematically and effectively. This is the most important thing.

Just because I live in a fantasy world doesn't mean I don't need to worry about these things, or that the productivity of a fantasy world is enough to solve everything.
impossible.

The territory currently has a population of less than a thousand, so by laying out all these rules and regulations in advance, it will be easier to manage when the population grows in the future.

In any case, Nelson, Lenos, Grant, and the others truly understood what Li Wei meant by his words.

People who were initially a little worried are now looking at them with even more fervor and respect.

These four things basically resolved the issue of profit sharing between Li Wei and them.

This is equivalent to the four-point agreement made by Li Wei and the elites among the free people.

"Now, let's talk about the future development of the territory. I have a few ideas, and we can discuss them together."

At this moment, Li Wei spoke again, "I have seen Nelson's future development strategy for his territory. One of the points is to build a wall around the town in the next few months. In fact, this was also my initial idea. But unfortunately, the outside world is changing, and we need to change accordingly."

"So my idea is to temporarily abandon the construction of the city wall around the town, and instead build a fortress in the town in the valley to the north. If possible, we can take advantage of the mountainous terrain and add a section of city wall to form control over the northern mountainous area."

"Look, this is a map I drew in my spare time."

Li Wei then took out a large drawing board with sides of one meter long. It depicted an aerial view of the mountainous area to the north of the territory, including contour lines and details of ravines and trees.

There was no way around it; his hands were now so precise and steady that they had reached a certain peak, and he had detailed 3D images in his mind, so it was truly a piece of cake for him.

“I don’t want to build a Great Wall in the north to defend against dangers from the outside world. My idea is to control, to radiate outwards through fortresses.”

"To the north of the valley town are rolling mountains, abundant with trees and resources, and nearby there is a large expanse of farmland that can be cultivated. If we build a fortress here, could we set up a farm nearby? In this regard, I think the Riverside Fortress is quite good. Lenos, in three days, you will take a few engineers and I will set off for the Riverside Fortress to learn from their construction experience."

"Of course, I know your concerns, which is that if you spread your operations too thin, what if the enemy concentrates their forces to defeat one area, but your territory can't provide support in time? This is indeed a problem, and it's very critical."

"But at present, we also have some advantages." "First, we don't have any particularly powerful enemies yet."

"Secondly, there is the operation of the magic mine. It can protect an area with a radius of five kilometers and can absorb chaotic magic particles to the maximum extent. In other words, even in the month when the radiation storm breaks out, as long as the magic mine is there, we can work and live freely in the core area without having to hide underground as before and be on guard against the blood plague every moment."

"The battle line has extended outwards to a radius of five kilometers. Do you understand this concept?"

“In this situation, we don’t really need to rely on the existing city wall system to fight. We have to fight outside the five-kilometer radius. Even if the situation becomes very critical, we will only fight outside the two or three-kilometer radius at most.”

"As for our third advantage, it is of course because we have a powerful spellcaster in our territory. She is in charge of the territory, and I am in charge of the river fortress. We should make the most of this peaceful period to develop and accumulate resources."

"In addition, I plan to select five more combat squads from among the free people, thus increasing the total number of combat squads to eleven, with a total strength of 110 people."

"My next plan is to take three newly formed combat squads with me, along with thirty couples and their children. This population will form the base of the river fortress, because I plan to cultivate and plant five hundred acres of farmland there this year. The importance of the river fortress will be unquestionable for the next year or two."

"Because the Riverbank Fortress guards the upper reaches of the river to the south, and is also the confluence of three highways, if we consider the river to the south as our southern barrier, then the Riverbank Fortress is a very important fulcrum in our territory's structure, even though it is a bit far away."

"Even in the future, we will have enough time and energy to manage Sika City."

"Of course, saying all this is meaningless. At this stage, we still only have two goals: to survive and to live with some dignity. I hope you will all work together with me!"

The meeting ended there, and everyone was to conduct more detailed and thorough verification based on the goals set by Li Wei.

The construction of the northern fortress, in particular, cannot be solved simply by talking.

This is a massive project; it may have involved building a northern fortress, so there shouldn't be any other construction work this year.

However, even Nelson, Lenore, and Grant didn't think it was a terrible idea.

This is because the small town in the valley to the north is only eleven or twelve kilometers away from the territory as the crow flies, which is very close. With an electric bus, it's just a few steps on the gas and you're there.

Moreover, Li Wei was not wrong. Although the mountains to the north are not high, they slope and extend to the northwest, forming a considerable area. A highway runs through the mountains, passing through a small town in the valley. If a fortress were built here, it would lock the area in place, making the geographical features very advantageous.

Not to mention there are coal and iron mines here. Even if the reserves are small, they can still supply the consumption of a baron's territory of several thousand people.

In addition, the nearby farmland and mountain streams make it very suitable for building a farm.

In addition, we can accumulate more building materials this year to prepare for the construction of a fortress in the east next year.

Li Wei doesn't get involved in these later details; he's only responsible for the overall strategy, otherwise even 48 hours a day wouldn't be enough.

"Xuanxuan, what's the status of enchanting weapons and equipment? How many enchanted steel ingots are left?"

As Li Wei led Zhao Xuanxuan downstairs, he casually asked, "Now that he has a large and successful business, I wonder how much inventory he has."

"I was just about to tell you that we've almost run out of enchanted steel ingots. The majority of the money went into building enchanted war chariots, and we've successfully built two. We didn't use as many enchanted weapons, though, because the Free Clan soldiers aren't very strong, and two-star enchanted weapons are enough. Only soldiers like Benjamin, Mark, Santiago, and Grant need three-star enchanted weapons."

"As for enchanted equipment, the main one is enchanted scale armor, which requires crafting enchanted armor plates. It's time-consuming, labor-intensive, and resource-intensive. It might take me another three months to craft a three-star enchanted scale armor. I'm even thinking of going straight for heavy plate armor now. What do you think?"

“Me? I don’t know anything. Asking me is pointless. Why don’t you ask your second aunt?” Li Wei shook her head.

"My second aunt said that each of these things has its own advantages. The advantage of enchanted scale armor is that the magic is applied evenly, so the enchanting effect will be better. As for heavy plate armor, firstly, it requires more enchanted iron ingots, and secondly, it requires engraving a complete magic circle, which is not something we can handle right now."

"So, my idea is, could you please approve another 5 units of magic? There are still many free soldiers who lack enchanted weapons. My second aunt said before that the safety line for magic storage in the magic mine is 100 units. It absolutely cannot fall below that. You can use it freely above 100 units, but you have to stop once you reach 100!"

Zhao Xuanxuan asked cautiously.

"Ha! Then I'm sorry, Xuanxuan, the safety line of the magic mine cannot be breached. Unless new magic is injected, it absolutely cannot be crossed. Rules are rules, and you cannot lead the way in breaking them," Li Wei said solemnly.

"I understand! I made a mistake. But I've checked those mercenaries. They're carrying only beginner village weapons, the kind you can use to fool kids. Should we replenish their supplies?"

Zhao Xuanxuan grinned and asked.

"Additions? No need, just let nature take its course!"

Li Wei said something meaningful.

(End of this chapter)