On the seventh day of being in the world of Feudal Lords for Chu Tian, Xia Village finally fulfilled the population requirement, which was 240 villagers for being upgraded from a Level 1 village to a Level 2 village.
"Upgraded to a Level 2 village."
Chu Tian selected the upgrade option without any hesitation.
Xia Village trembled vigorously as the area of the village extended outward.
Hua Mulan stayed by Chu Tian's side, serving as his guard.
"Ding! Xia Village has been upgraded to Level 2. You have received special constructions: a [Level 1 Hospital] and a [Level 1 Celadon Factory]."
"Ding! The special talent system has been unlocked. When special talented figures enter and get stationed in constructions apart from normal residences, the quality of construction will be enhanced."
Chu Tian looked up information regarding Xia Village.
[Territory]: Xia Village (Level 2 village)
[Feudal Lord]: Chu Tian (Level 1 public officer)
[Jurisdiction]: Langya Nation, Xu Prefecture, Eastern Han
[Specialties]: Crude celadon (Level E specialty)
[Population]: 241/1000
[Popular Sentiment]: 81
[Public Security]: 79
[Level of Prosperity]: 71/200
[Administrative Efficiency]: 10/100
[Agricultural Efficiency]: 10/100
[Economical Efficiency]: 10/100
[Cultural Efficiency]: 11/100
[Military Score]: 562 (A royal special hero, a bronze hero, 102 local soldiers)
[City Defense Works]: Wooden fence
[New Constructions]: Level 1 hospital, Level 1 celadon factory
...
"I have received a new hospital and a celadon factory. They must be the random rewards for upgrading your village. What on earth is the special talent system though?"
Chu Tian found out that there was much more content in a Level 2 village. Due to the addition of the special construction, [celadon factory], the first specialty of Xia Village had come into existence.
Specialty meant special products, of which there were many varieties that could be categorized into categories such as special crops, special weapons, etc.
These special products would bring in extra revenue for the territory and increase tax revenues.
As for special talents… Chu Tian realized that there were 11 special talented figures among the 241 villagers of the Xia Village, among them a doctor.
[Name]: Li Lan
[Age]: 27
[Rank]: 35
[Command]: 5 [Strength]: 7 [Intellect]: 37 [Politics]: 10 [Charisma]: 75
[Occupation]: Low-grade doctor (during his residence in the hospital, hospital's effect +3%)
[Skills]: Minor revitalization, low-grade herb-gathering...
[Experience]: The daughter of Elder Li of Xia Village, possesses a certain degree of talent in herbs, currently striving to be a mid-grade doctor.
All of a sudden, Chu Tian understood what was so unique about special talents.
The influence of special talents on constructions was equal to that of commanders on military troops.
"I never thought Elder Li would have a daughter who's a special talent..."
Chu Tian's current thought process was to come up with ways to fully exploit the remaining labor value of Elder Li's family, utilizing them for the development of Xia Village.
Apart from a low-grade doctor, there were three low-grade carpenters, two low-grade blacksmiths, two low-grade miners, a low-grade chef, a low-grade kilnman, and a low-grade bricklayer.
Special talents were similar to players who walked the paths of real-life occupations. They were divided into low, middle, high, special and saint grades, which resulted in different degrees of reinforcement.
There were quite a number of players who chose real-life occupations because their life skills could help earn fixed incomes, which would then be converted into earth currency in reality.
However, with all the players trapped in the world of Feudal Lords at the moment, earth currency could no longer affect this world. All the players had to survive in this world with their own abilities, and they were restricted to the use of the currency produced in this world.
Players who opted for real-life occupations were the same as these NPC special talents, who provided service to officers and feudal lords.
Chu Tian assembled the special talents of Xia Village and assigned them various duties in managing different premises. The low-grade doctor was dispatched to the hospital, the low-grade kilnman to the celadon factory, and the miners to the mines.
Elder Li's daughter, Li Lan, was a woman who appeared weak and delicate but was the only low-grade doctor in the entire village. Apart from being a doctor, two villagers had made her their master and were learning from her, becoming medical apprentices.
Medical apprentices would not enhance the hospital's attributes by getting stationed in it but having turned from [refugees] into [medical apprentices], they had completed their choice of occupation. In the future, they could be promoted to low-grade doctors.
[Name]: Level 1 hospital
[Owner]: Chu Tian
[Doctors]: 1/2
[Apprentices]: 2/5
[Operating Efficiency]: 45%
[Reinforcement]: 3%
[Effects]: Provides a certain amount of income every month, directly related to the village's population. Recovery speed of injured soldiers +5%, death rate of injured soldiers -1%, rate of unnatural deaths among the territory's population -0.5%.
The function of the hospital was multifold. Not only would it bring in income, it would also decrease death rate. It was a very important construction, which could help secure a big portion of the population and troops.
The prosperity level of Xia Village had become 71. To upgrade Xia Village to a Level 3 village, one of the requirements was to achieve 200 in prosperity level.
The level of prosperity was derived from various aspects of the village. Solely relying upon natural growth would lead to a very slow upgrade, not doing much to boost the development of the village,
Therefore, Chu Tian planned to head to the big city nearby, the headquarters of the Langya Nation of the Xu Prefecture, Langya City.
Zhuge Liang was born into a prestigious family in the Langya Nation. Chu Tian wasn't sure if he was in the Langya Nation at the moment.
"Purchase architectural drawings, especially drawings for an infantry camp, private schools, Level 2 mines and so on… The village is still short on many constructions. Let's see how the other players are doing, maybe I could ally with some of them."
Chu Tian had received more than 60 units of silver for destroying a small group of Yellow Turban soldiers. Combined with the 50 units of silver that Xia Village had received as its initial capital, there were 110 units of silver altogether. That could probably buy them a few drawings.
Feudal Lords did not consist of its own auctioning system. Otherwise, players would be able to replenish their resources anytime they wanted without stepping out of their territories, which would disrupt the balance of the game because transportation teams would no longer be needed.
Therefore, in order to purchase important resources, players had to be present in the actual auction houses of the city in order to carry out auctions, establish their own auction houses within their territory, or allow NPC caravans or players' caravans to participate.
Xia Village had no special constructions like auction houses. But even if there were auction houses present, with the current prosperity level of the tiny village, no NPC caravans or players' caravans would be willing to reside in it.
"Hua Mulan, bring two local soldiers and follow me to Langya City. As for the rest of the local soldiers, they should protect the village, with Zhao Qi as their commander.
"Elder Li, continue recruiting refugees. Those who practice martial arts should be allocated to the local soldiers. Pay extra attention to making sure you recruit heroes.
"I will certainly return to the village before the harvest in June."
Chu Tian calculated his schedule meticulously and made appropriate arrangements for the village before he left.
In the world of Feudal Lords, the type of crop, time of growth, and amount of water required varied from place to place.
The area where Xia Village was located was equivalent to Linyi, Shandong, which was near the Yi River. According to the game settings, the staple crop of the village was winter wheat. Sown between the end of September and early October, it matured in early June, meaning the villagers would need to remove weeds, fertilize the land, keep insects away, etc. before then…
It had been 1st of May when the game began, and the date now was the 7th of May, which was very close to the time of harvest for the first batch of crops. If their manpower was insufficient during that time, production would decrease.
In the ancient times, wars would not usually happen during harvest season. Regardless, Chu Tian would make it back before the crops were harvested in June no matter what, just to make sure they could be reaped.