Good luck was useless, aptitude was what really mattered. The gold quarry could only be owned by the capable.
At least that was Chu Tian's belief.
The chief of Shangbi Village was the first one to discover the gold quarry, but he failed to maintain control over it. It was later occupied by the horse thieves, but it now belonged to Chu Tian.
After making sure that Shangbi Village had gold ores, Chu Tian led his army into the village.
"My lord, thank you so much for saving us!"
The villagers welcomed him with loads of food. Although Chu Tian had only come for the gold quarry, he had indeed rescued the villagers.
"When I heard that Shangbi Village was being seized by the horse thieves, my heart ached for you. So much so that I couldn't eat or sleep well. That is why I came all the way here, relentlessly, to rescue you. As long as you are well, ladies and gentlemen, everything is alright. That is the most important thing to me."
Chu Tian shamelessly consoled the villagers, which moved them even more.
The horse thieves did not destroy the stone tablet of Shangbi Village, probably wanting to exploit the villagers via the mines.
Chu Tian decided to colonize Shangbi Village, turning this Level 2 village into one of Xia Town's client villages.
Colonizing a Level 2 village only took a few hours. Chu Tian could already see the details of Shangbi Village.
[Territory]: Shangbi Village (Level 2 village)
[Feudal lord]: Chu Tian (Level 4 Bugeng)
[Jurisdiction]: Xia Town
[Specialties]: Inferior gold ores (Level B), hawthorns (Level D specialty)
[Population]: 517/1000
[Popular sentiment]: 90
[Public security]: 55
[Facilities]: Level 3 mineland, Level 2 blacksmith stores, camp for local soldiers, private cottage schools…
It was a very ordinary Level 2 village. Due to Chu Tian's rescue of the village from the hands of the horse thieves, the popular sentiment had risen to 90. Under normal circumstances, riots and upheavals would not occur if the popular sentiment was above 80. As it was above 90, some positive effects would take place, such as donation of money and food and compliance with policies.
Chu Tian browsed the talents of Shangbi Village, finding Elder Zhang, a silver-level talent in internal affairs with a political attribute of 47.
Chu Tian immediately appointed him temporary village chief and had him supervise the villagers as they mined. In the future, he would just have to send the drawings, and the constructions would be done by the village chief. Every month, Shangbi Village would have to transport the gold they mined and the taxes they collected to Xia Town.
"Wu Shang, I'll leave 2 cavalrymen and 50 elite infantrymen with you to safeguard Shangbi Village, alongside Elder Zhang. Without my instructions, do not engage in conflicts with neighboring villages. Raise public security even in normal times, and if enemies do come to attack, keep the village gates firmly shut and send the cavalry to Xia Town to report the emergency."
"Yes, sir!"
Chu Tian arranged for the silver-level wandering warrior, Wu Shang, to be the garrison commander of Shangbi Village. Talents were in shortage anyway.
Perhaps in the presence of heroes with attributes above 80, such as Li Kui in civil affairs and Hua Mulan in the military, the golden-level and silver-level commanders below them no longer appeared attractive.
In fact, most village chiefs were still using commanders and civil officers of silver and even bronze levels. Golden-level commanders were few and far between.
Chu Tian allocated a batch of villagers of Shangbi village who were about to become miners. The main income of Shangbi Village came from the minelands, whereas its food production was just enough to meet its own demand. Their manpower was diverted elsewhere, after all. In order to exploit gold, compromises had to be made with agriculture.
Chu Tian utilized the quotas of Xia Town's client villages very discreetly. Xiaozhu Village was a trading-type village, whereas Shangbi Village was a mining-type village, and together, both were used to amass wealth and aid for Xia Town.
...
"Ding! Player, your territory, 'Shangbi Village,' has been colonized by another feudal lord and you will lose your lordship status. Please choose your area of development once again."
"Commander."
In Langya City, the chief of Shangbi Village, who had fled when faced with danger, received a notification from the system. He couldn't help but grind his teeth in rage when reading it.
He came to a yard purchased by one of the players' guilds in the city, where free players came and went. A plaque was hung in the main yard, which proclaimed it to be "Lingyan Pavilion".
There were at least a hundred players' guilds in Langya City.
"I'm looking for the chairman. I have an important piece of information in hand."
"The chairman's village has just been upgraded to a Level 1 town today, he's in his own territory. What information do you have?"
"I know the location of gold ores."
"Gold ores!"
The eyes of the free players who were in charge of managing the guild were brimming with zeal.
Now that everyone was trapped in the world of Feudal Lords, earth currency had been rendered to a useless piece of paper. Gold, silver, and copper were so much more important.
"Of what grade?"
"Grade 3."
"Come on, get the horses ready! I'll take you to the chairman's Lingyan Town. The chairman will certainly be interested in Grade 3 gold ores!"
...
Thirty kilometers to the Southwest of Langya City was Lingyan Town, a Level 1 town. It's feudal lord, "Li Er from the Great Tang," could be ranked among the top hundred players in Xu Prefecture, and it was one of the few towns in Langya Nation.
"Chairman, the chief of Shangbi Village reported that he found a Level 3 gold quarry less than 40 kilometers from where you are."
"Bring him to me."
"We are on the way to your town right now."
"Got it."
Upon receiving the report from his guild member, Li Er from the Great Tang's eyes also burned with a desire to own the gold quarry. "I have a Level 2 pasture and a Level 2 cavalry camp. It's not that I'm incapable of training a cavalry, but rather I can't afford warhorses. Fifty warhorses would cost at least 100 units of gold, and the horse-rearing fees would be a huge expenditure every month. If I could take over a Level 3 gold quarry, I'll have enough capital to recruit several hundred cavalrymen, becoming the most powerful town of Langya Nation!"
Under the command of Li Er from the Great Tang, fifty local soldiers entered the cavalry camp of Lingyan Town to be trained. All fifty cavalrymen would be trained into a light cavalry.
...
At this point, Chu Tian was unaware that the Level 3 gold quarry had roused the coveting gazes of other feudal lords. He had returned to Xia Town after colonizing Shangbi Village and continued to expand his army- he utilized the captured warhorses to train 12 light cavalrymen and 59 elite infantrymen.
Based on the current allocation, Xia Town had 40 light cavalrymen, 50 Xu archers, and 120 elite infantrymen. Commanders consisted of Hua Mulan, Liu Sandao, and Zhao Qi. Shangbi Village had 2 light cavalrymen and 50 elite elite infantrymen, with Wu Shang as the garrison commander. Xiaozhu Village was located very near Xia Town, so no garrison was stationed there, with only a small number of local soldiers to maintain security.
Xia Town still had two more quotas for client villages.
Client villages were very important, as they would submit money on a monthly basis and food on an annual basis to Xia Town. This meant that Xia Town would have even more of an income to feed his soldiers with.
The production of the gold quarry was yet to be known. Chu Tian arranged 150 labor forces to exploit the gold quarry of Shangbi Village, and after a month of mining, the production that would result from investing 150 labor forces would be roughly known.
The population of Xia Town continuously increased, too. The Level 4 fish market slowly bludgeoned with the extensive publicity done by the trading contingent consigned by the market officer, Xia Tianliang. Every day, several hundred residents would trade in the fish market.
The agricultural officer, Li Kui, led the citizens to cultivate new farmland outside the town, in preparation for the sowing in October.
At the end of August, the Xu archers finally finished their training!
A team of Xu archers stood in five rows on the drill ground, all of them clad in leather armors, with bows in their right hands and a belt-quiver on their backs. A quiver could contain 20 to 30 arrows, which consumed around a tael of silver.
Training a team of elite archers was very costly.
"There's a Level 3 village nearby the water village. If I could colonize that Level 3 village, I'll be able to control the water village and set up a navy camp there in the future."
Chu Tian had not forgotten that Xia Town had a powerful navy consisting of eight sailors. A man had to have dreams. Who knew if he could begin his conquest along the marine path?