Even though water bandits had appeared in the vicinity of Xia Village, obliterating them wasn't of utmost importance at the moment.
The Level 2 shipyard and the Level 2 wharf were finished, and large amounts of resources, such as timber, were gradually being shipped in. Hence, Chu Tian utilized the Level 4 fish market drawing dropped by the Yellow Turban general, Zhang Kai, to add a symbolic economical construction to Xia Village.
Level 4 fish markets were constructions available in towns and cities only. If Xia Village had a Level 4 fish market, they could make freshwater fish a specialty of theirs and attract residents from nearby villages, towns, and cities, all of whom would sell and buy freshwater fish in Xia Village. This could encourage the flow of other merchandise into the village.
The harvesting period of wheat in the nearby Yi River was at the end of June, while the sowing period was in the beginning of October. There was a period of time in between which would enable the mobilization of the majority of labor forces.
Chu Tian wanted to build as many constructions as possible before the busy farming season began in order to enhance the prosperity level of Xia Village, all in preparation for its upgrade to a Level 1 town.
Villages were divided into three levels, and the same went to towns, and beyond that would be small-sized cities.
The requirements for upgrading a Level 3 village into a town were even more exacting than before. These were three most important requirements among everything else:
First of all, reach a population of greater than 2000 people.
Secondly, reach a prosperity level of more than 500.
Third, gather 100 units of gold as expansion fees.
Population was the basis of the territory, while the prosperity level measured the integrated capacity of the territory. As for the fee of 100 units of gold, it was for enlarging the area of territory directly under one's jurisdiction.
The population of Xia Village was approaching 2000 fast, so fulfilling the first requirement wasn't difficult.
The second requirement required building various constructions to enhance the prosperity level in terms of agriculture, commerce, culture, and the military. The prosperity level of Xia Village had reached 407 so far.
"I suppose the prosperity level won't be far from 500 once the Level 4 fish market is built. The third requirement is a little troublesome though..."
The feudal lord's office had to distribute wages to the officers, infantrymen, and cavalrymen of Xia Village every month. The monthly salary of an elite infantryman was 1.5 units of silver, while that of a light cavalryman was 2 units of silver.
Xia Village had 30 light infantrymen and 70 elite infantrymen, which meant that the total amount of wages that needed to be expended for the military alone was 165 units of silver every month.
This did not include the wages paid to the few commanders he had, namely Hua Mulan, Wu Shang, and Zhao Qi.
The monthly salary of the officers of Xia Village would require 100 units of silver as well.
To be very frank, the income of Xia Village was falling short of its expenditure. The reason Xia Village could still operate normally was due to the war profits that Chu Tian had received from the Yellow Turban soldiers and the 200 units of gold received from the previous event.
In order to build constructions like the Level 4 fish market, the Level 2 shipyard, and the Level 2 wharf, as well as the new picket ship, the reserve of Xia Village had reached its bottom limit.
He had to think of a way to collect 100 units of gold.
Chu Tian finally seemed to understand why Xiaozhu Village gave up on military camps and focused fully on economic development. The local soldiers of Xiaozhu Village did not need to be paid, which could save them at least 100 units of silver every month.
Having thought of that, Chu Tian already knew where he would get the 100 units of gold…
In order to develop the freshwater fish industry, Chu Tian had the feudal lord's office post notices encouraging some of the villagers to get involved in fish-catching and fish-breeding.
The occupations of villagers were not constant, varying according to the constructions in the village, various policies, and geographical locations. For instance, farmers could become fishermen and carpenters.
After posting the notice, a dozen of villagers displayed the inclination to switch their jobs to fishermen very soon. There was even a family which spent all of their savings just to purchase a small-sized fishing boat from the shipyard.
Initially, the Level 4 fish market occupied an area of 10,000 square meters. It could be expanded to a large market of an area of 20,000 square meters, which could accommodate several hundred stalls.
As far as Xia Village, which only had a few dozen fisherfolk, was concerned, the area of a Level 4 fish market was huge. After all, Level 4 fish markets weren't constructions that a village should own. It took about ten days to build.
While waiting for the Level 4 fish market to be completed, the first military ship of Xia Village, the picket ship, was finished.
Feudal Lords was different from the actual world, in which the speed of building and training was much faster. If things progressed according to the speed in reality, it would take several decades of cumulative efforts, like the reign of Wen and Jing, in order to achieve the glory during the era of the Hanwu Emperor.
Chu Tian instructed eight sailors to train using the picket ship right away.
"We are still short of the navy camp drawing."
Chu Tian found out that they had enough sailors already, but not a suitable navy.
A navy was different from an infantry. Infantrymen could also utilize picket ships and engage in battles on water, but various aspects of their attribute would decline marginally, and infantrymen with motion sickness would even lose their combat power directly. It was just like how the tough Northern soldiers of Cao Cao were defeated by the Dongwu navy at the Red Cliff.
Other areas needed money as well, especially for upgrading the Level 3 village to a Level 1 town, which would take 100 units of gold. Chu Tian gave up on the thought of purchasing the navy camp drawing for now.
"Ding! Congratulations to the feudal lord of You Prefecture, Eastern Han, 'Soldier at the Border in Late Ming', for upgrading his territory to the first ever Level 1 town in the world, Liaodong Town! Rewards include a diamond recruitment order!"
The sudden ringing of the system notification baffled Chu Tian. Someone had upgraded their village to a Level 1 town so soon?!
"Soldier at the Border in Late Ming, isn't this the second-ranking player of our Eastern Han?" Chu Tian wondered while opening the ranking. The prosperity level of 'Soldier at the Border in Late Ming' occupied first place with 502 points, which surpassed 'Jiujiu Old Qin', who was previously in first place.
This player was very likely a feudal lord with a special hero as well.
All the players in the Eastern Han were stupefied. The player who had been taking the lead in the Eastern Han in terms of prosperity level for so long was 'Jiujiu Old Qin.' Nonetheless, a feudal lord from Xu Prefecture called 'I Just Want to Farm' seized first place during the event, and now another feudal lord from You Prefecture named 'Soldier at the Border in Late Ming' popped up from nowhere with the first town in the world.
The players from other civilizations were deeply shaken when they learnt that the first town in the world appeared in the Eastern Han.
The player with the loudest shout-out to own the first town in the world should be 'God Bless You' from the Vatican region.
In the end, the honor of owning the first town in the world was seized by a feudal lord from the Eastern Han.
The honor of the greatest hero in the world was also claimed by the Eastern Han.
"The Eastern Han really is powerful. Once the metropolitan era begins, their inner conflicts will be very intense."
"The Dongying, Goryeo, Annan, and Indian regions surrounding the Eastern Han are going to have a tough time."
The players in the Vatican region made plaintive surmises.
In the area of the Xiangping District's jurisdiction, the Liaodong Prefecture of You State, Eastern Han, a feudal lord was attacking a small nomadic tribe with 200 cavalrymen and 100 players.
The light cavalry brandished their sabers as they charged into the tribe, a dozen nomads who attempted to fend them off collapsing under their sabers. Blood dyed the fullers of the sabers a bright shade of red. The remaining nomads became captives.
The feudal lord rode his warhorse as he glanced around him at the lowly captives with nonchalance, and said to a guild chairman, "Allocate all the labor forces to my town, I am going all in for a Level 2 town. You people can divide the rest of the rewards amongst yourselves. As long as your guild helps me fight for the world's first city rewards, I will give the Yanqi Guild what it desires in the future."
The chairman of the Yanqi Guild carried a golden-level longbow on his back, "You fight for the first feudal lord, and I fight for the first guild. Wish us a happy liaison."
The feudal lord nodded, and told the commander beside him, "Zu Dashou, lead the army back to Liaodong Town."