From a hired knight to a master of Game of Thrones

Chapter 83 Developing Territory

Seven households within Don Quixote's fiefdom, for various reasons, did not reside in Greyhill Village but were scattered in different places.

Don Quixote didn't want his already small population to dwindle due to some unexpected event. Besides, he had sorted out his thoughts in the past few days and was preparing to develop his territory and cultivate his people.

After giving Phoenix a few more instructions, Don Quixote looked at the construction progress of the more than twenty single-story houses in front of him: "We need to speed up the construction of these temporary houses, and then we need to pave the roads and build a commercial street."

These single-story houses under construction are intended to temporarily house the seven households outside of Grayhill Village.

Since those seven households are required to move out suddenly, they can't be left to solve their own housing problems.

It was also used to temporarily house the members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group.

Adele and her companions, who had arrived in the territory ahead of time, had arranged for the construction of four temporary houses, but it was still far from enough.

Don Quixote occupied one temporary house for living, two temporary houses for storing the supplies they brought, and one temporary house for holding meetings.

The nine members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group, along with Cole and Alden, were still living in tents.

Although the nine Bloodhand mercenaries, along with Cole and Alden, wouldn't complain.

After all, even Don Quixote's living conditions weren't much better than theirs, and they knew this was only a temporary arrangement.

But if possible, even if it's just a temporary stay, Don Quixote should at least provide them with a temporary place to live.

The North is not like the South, where the days and nights are warm and hot.

Living in a tent in cold, windy, rainy, and snowy weather is not a pleasant experience.

One purpose was to temporarily accommodate merchants and caravans arriving from Baigang.

Many merchants from White Harbor, out of respect for Don Quixote, were willing to travel to this remote area where Grey Hill Village was located to do business. They couldn't be left without even a place to stay.

They risked coming here, only to earn little gold or silver, and didn't even receive a proper welcome.

Those merchants might come here once or twice in the early stages, but they certainly won't come often or even want to come.

Of course, Don Quixote had already come up with some initial solutions to these unfavorable factors.

If Don Quixote wants to rapidly develop the strength of his territory, he can't continue with the original development model of this territory.

If things continue to develop at that slow pace, by the time the War of the Five Kings breaks out, his territory may not even have gathered a hundred subjects.

The only way to rapidly develop a territory's strength and explosively increase its population is to develop the economy and commerce.

If Don Quixote's territory prospers, life in Don Quixote's territory will be even better.

Those hired knights, those free riders, those merchants, those wanderers from the Seven Kingdoms, even those mountain clans in the North, those swamp people, and those from across the Narrow Sea could all become Don Quixote's potential subjects and potential subordinates.

To achieve this, Don Quixote's territory must attract a sufficient number of merchants.

Therefore, even if it means offering concessions or incurring losses, he must ensure that merchants are willing to trade in his territory.

If the merchants were worried about the risks of the journey, Don Quixote planned to have the Bloodhands mercenary group escort their caravans to this place at a low price or even for free.

If the merchants are worried about not being able to sell their goods, Don Quixote can also consider trading directly with them.

He wouldn't buy all the merchants' goods, but he would at least ensure that the merchants would earn enough to make them want to come back to his territory again.

In addition, we should give those businessmen enough face and respect.

This is easy to handle. Don Quixote is already a propertied knight, a nobleman, and the champion of the White Harbor Tournament. As long as he shows respect to those merchants, it will be easy for them to feel respected.

Especially for small business owners, and particularly in an environment like the North that doesn't value businessmen, this approach can easily win them favor.

Of course, these concessions would only be considered in the early stages of Don Quixote's expansion of his territory.

If everything in his territory is on track, his territory will have a certain economic foundation.

Don Quixote only needs to maintain a good business environment and a fair business environment.

At that point, we won't need to do any more of these off-field efforts.

The last reason for hastily constructing these numerous temporary houses was that Don Quixote wanted to significantly increase the income of the land's inhabitants.

Merchants brought a large quantity and variety of goods, and the citizens, as consumers, needed enough silver and copper coins to purchase them.

We can't really let him trade directly with those merchants and buy up most of the goods.

This is only a last resort, not something that should be considered from the outset.

However, it's impossible to significantly increase the income of the territory's residents by directly distributing silver, deer, and copper coins.

What Don Quixote wanted was a territory that could develop healthily on its own, not a false prosperity that he had to create himself by spending his own money.

Since the residents of the territory had no silver, deer, or copper, Don Quixote would simply create some jobs and then increase the pay and benefits.

This way, residents of the territory will have the opportunity to earn silver deer and copper points, and they will also be able to genuinely participate in the construction of the territory, rather than being forced or acting voluntarily.

This will allow Tanguy River to quickly gain the loyalty and enthusiasm of the territory's inhabitants.

Before Don Quixote arrived, those residents were just as busy every day, barely managing to survive.

After Don Quixote arrived, the residents didn't have to do much, but their lives improved.

With such a stark contrast, the residents easily and thoroughly accepted their new lord.

"We can also mobilize more people to do the work. People of all ages are welcome to participate. Those who are not strong can do some light work, and those who are strong and capable can do some heavy work."

"We are more united when we work together to build our home."

"The compensation and benefits could be improved a bit more."

Don Quixote, lost in thought, rode back to the center of Greyhill Village.

After returning to his lodgings, Don Quixote quickly found Adele.

She was sitting at a wooden table, busy recording and verifying the many supplies they had brought from Baigang.

Once Adele had some basic literacy skills, Don Quixote gradually assigned her simple management tasks.

Meanwhile, Cole and Alden were in front of the two supply storage houses, practicing knightly sword techniques such as slashing, parrying, blocking, and deflecting while keeping an eye on the supplies.

Upon seeing Don Quixote arrive, Adele wanted to get up and greet him.

Don Quixote asked directly, "Adele, how much supplies do we have left, especially food? If it's enough, I'd like to call on another twenty villagers to work."

The prerequisite for working comfortably is having a full stomach.

Although Don Quixote and his party brought a lot of food with them, they consumed a lot of it at the story banquet they held some time ago.

And every day, these knights consume a lot of food to maintain their high-intensity training and labor.

So if he wants to assign more villagers to work, he must at least ensure that everyone who works has enough to eat.

Upon hearing this, Adele subconsciously glanced at the parchment on the table. After looking at it for a while and thinking for a moment, she hurriedly said, "My lord, with the food reserves we currently have, we should be able to support everyone's consumption for another half a month."

"If the adults plan to call on another twenty villagers to work and distribute the same amount of food to each person as before, our food may not last long."

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