Transmigrated with a Demon-Refining Pot: Hehehe, Refine in an instant

The interrogation lasted all night.

The next morning, Dick appeared at the entrance of the lord's villa with dark circles under his eyes.

"Sir, we've pried it open."

Dick's voice was hoarse, but it carried an eagerness to claim credit.

"That kid really is from Linshui Territory, specializing in this kind of dirty work. Boris has a steward named Colin under him who is in charge of 'peripheral affairs'."

They started gathering information about us in Oaktown two weeks ago, and later sent people to keep an eye on the road at Rocky Beach.

Ron sat behind his desk, his fingers tapping lightly on the surface.

Dick quickly continued, "The kid confessed that there were three groups of people who came. One group was watching the salt mine, one group was watching the brick kiln, and the other group was watching the troop movements on the manor side."

The map marked with an X was for gathering intelligence before setting fire to the place.

"set fire."

Ron repeated it, his tone icy.

"Yes, yes." Dick felt a chill run down his spine.

"They said that if we burn down the brick kilns and salt fields, our construction will come to a standstill, and then..."

"What about the other two groups?"

"They had a regular meeting point, an abandoned hunter's hut three miles east of the rocky beach. They would leave a mark there every two days to report their findings."

Ron nodded: "Go to the account and get fifty silver coins. Take a rest."

Dick was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and then left.

After he left, Ron tapped on the table, and Laun came in from outside the door.

"Did you hear everything?"

"I heard you," Lauen said in a deep voice.

"Pick a few clever ones to keep a close watch on the area around that shack. When they leave their mark next time, follow the trail and catch the person who made the contact."

"Understood." Lauen accepted the order and left.

For the next two days, everything in the territory operated as usual.

Sowing has been completed at all five farms.

The serfs on the farm now mainly do weeding, watering, and taking care of the newly sprouted crops.

The walls of all five villages have been replaced with bricks and stones, and the moats are filled with sharpened wooden spikes, which makes people feel at ease.

Right now, the three busiest places in the territory are:

The brick kiln was firing bricks day and night, and Ron planned to rebuild the interior of the lord's manor and build several sturdy warehouses.

The fires at the salt fields never stopped. Dozens of large pots took turns boiling brine, and shovelfuls of snow-white refined salt were being shoveled into burlap sacks.

Perrin would go to the saltworks twice a day and then record the figures in his ledger:

Yesterday we produced 120 jin of salt, and today we produced another 130 jin.

There's also work at the docks.

A few days ago, Ron designated a piece of land by the Clearwater River and had the serfs dig silt, drive in wooden stakes, and build a simple dock. This would allow them to transport salt and grain by water, saving them 30% on transportation costs.

On the morning of the third day, a caravan consisting of more than twenty large wagons appeared in the territory.

The leader was a middle-aged businessman in his forties, lean and wiry, with small but shrewd eyes.

He called himself Marco, from the Grizzly Merchant Guild, a major trading company in Oak City, specializing in trading routes in the pioneering areas.

This merchant guild is owned by the Marquis of Cologne, and pioneering lords like Ron would form interest-based alliances with recommending high-ranking nobles.

The serfs and supplies acquired through expansion will be purchased first from the Marquis, and the resources harvested from the territory will also be sold.

Of course, this is assuming the prices are similar.

"Baron Ron, I've long admired your name."

Marco's bow was impeccable, but his eyes subtly swept over the newly built brick walls and moats of the manor, as well as the guards training in the distance.

"Mr. Marco, you're too kind." Ron stood at the entrance of the manor.

"Your Chamber of Commerce is certainly well-informed."

Marco chuckled: "My lord, you may not know this, but in the pioneering lands, caravans rely on speed of information gathering."

"Although the adults wanted to keep the discovery of the salt mine in River Bend a secret, almost everyone in Oakwood who needed to know about it already did."

Ron remained unmoved. The news about the salt mine, as expected, couldn't be kept secret any longer.

"So your company is here for the salt?"

"You're very straightforward, sir." Marco didn't mince words.

"The Grizzly Bear Merchant Guild is willing to offer to buy the refined salt from River Reef Territory. In addition, the Grizzly Bear Merchant Guild can supply the adults with grain, farm tools, and cloth at preferential prices, as long as Oak City has them."

Ron nodded and instructed Palin to receive them.

The deal was discussed for quite a while.

Marco offered a fair price, as refined salt was a hot commodity in Oak City.

Serfs and commoners ate coarse salt, dried on the mudflats by the sea, which cost only twenty copper coins per pound.

However, the salt produced in the river bend is rock salt, which is boiled down to be snow-white and delicate. It is a fine salt that only nobles and wealthy merchants can afford, so the price is naturally different.

The final agreement was: two silver coins for one pound of fine salt.

Ron's warehouse contains 1,500 catties of refined salt, which is the output of the past 10 days. Perrin's idea is to sell it all, which will bring in thirty gold dragons.

Ron naturally agreed, thinking that the salt mine could be expanded to a daily output of 300 jin.

In the future, the annual income from this salt mine alone will reach 2000 gold dragons.

Ron was truly lucky this time, discovering a salt mine on his territory. Otherwise, the territory's development wouldn't have been so rapid.

Such as papermaking, winemaking, glassmaking, etc., are the money-making methods most favored by the transmigrators.

Ron was no use either; he really couldn't do it!

Moreover, because of the existence of magicians in this world, these things were already invented by them in their spare time experiments, so the products of this world are really not low-end.

Ron has truly experienced the difficulties of not having a golden dragon in the past two weeks.

Without investing a large number of gold dragons, it will be difficult to develop the territory.

No wonder the major kingdoms chose to cultivate nobles as a means of expansion. Letting them conduct expansion directly would definitely be a losing proposition.

Expanding territory requires huge upfront investment and carries high risks.

Unlike now, which involves granting titles to pioneer knights and transferring the risk.

You can still make a lot of money.

The greatest danger is that it could create new powerful nobles in the newly developed areas, eventually leading to new kingdoms and duchies. This is how the various kingdoms and duchies on the southern side of the Tianluo Mountains came into being.

The caravan brought quite a lot of goods this time, and Ron wasn't stingy anymore, since he had money now.

They replenished their supplies of various necessities. They also bought a considerable amount of metal and magic potions, spending several hundred gold dragons in the process.

Marco smiled and put the money away, then casually asked, "Speaking of which, does Your Excellency know of Linshui Territory?"

Ron remained expressionless: "I've heard of them, the neighbors to the west."

"That Baron Boris has been making waves these past two years," Marco said in a low voice.

"Last year they defeated Green Lake and made them submit, and this year I heard they're recruiting again."

Rumors are circulating in the merchant guild that he plans to build a port within his territory, so that goods from there will no longer have to pass through Green Lake Territory's ports.

Ron listened without showing any expression.

Repairing the port? I think he's trying to seize my port in Green Lake Territory.

"Mr. Marco is well-informed."

"To make a living, you have to listen and observe more."

Marco smiled and added, "Oh, and there's one more thing. Baron Boris recently sent someone to Oakwood to inquire about the Reach. Keep an eye on things, sir."

Ron nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Marco."

After seeing the caravan off, Ron instructed Perrin to expand production at the saltworks.

"Sir, with the salt mine as a stable business, we can continue to spend the gold in our hands."

"We'll go back to Oaktown and buy another batch of serfs; we can cultivate another 5000 acres before winter!"