Agricultural income may not be able to support 500 elite cavalry, but agricultural output is essential for elite cavalry!
Whether it's providing supplies for the knights or feeding the warhorses, it requires a large amount of grain.
It can be said that the grain eaten by a warhorse is more than that consumed by an average or even middle-class farming family. Therefore, many slaves in castles and pastures sneak into the stables at night to steal grain from the warhorses.
In the words of the horse-raising officials, nomadic lifestyles cannot produce truly top-tier warhorses.
One reason for the continuous expansion of the griffon scale in the Black Forest Territory is the feeding of large amounts of grain, which keeps the territory's warhorses strong and healthy even in winter. Then, strong and skilled knights riding these strong warhorses to tame wild, starving griffons in the wild greatly increases the success rate.
So, after reporting on the three important cash crops mentioned earlier, Vandal reported on the most important and fundamental aspect of the territory: farming.
"The lord attaches great importance to farming. Under the lord's guidance and support, our farming industry is thriving. This year alone, we have built more than 140 units of mechanical equipment, including heavy plowing machines and harvesters. In addition, we purchased more than 13,800 pieces of agricultural tools from various caravans and built more than 18,000 pieces of agricultural tools, initially ensuring that every commoner and slave in the territory has a spade, two hoes, and three sickles when cultivating the land, and three households can share one plowshare."
Hearing this, Su Li nodded. The key to developing industry is to first equip the workers with the necessary tools.
To develop agriculture, you must first equip the farmers with enough farming tools.
The territory has always done a good job in this regard, mainly because the Black Forest foothills are not lacking in wood and iron ore. The people can make tools from wood, and the dwarves have created enough ironware and agricultural tools for them.
In this regard, Su Li's slaves are particularly well-equipped. Each of them has sufficient agricultural tools and a large number of agricultural implements and plows.
Therefore, the scale of farmland in Bjorn Bay is constantly increasing, far exceeding other farms and villages.
In this regard, the territory has a huge disparity. In the farms of large landlords, nobles, and knight families, some have already used advanced imperial technology. The empire has a history of nearly 5,000 years, and has advanced engineering academies and scholars' universities. It can also exchange technology with dwarves and elves. Although it is not as technologically advanced as Earth, it always has some rough technology, and even some technologies, blessed by magic and psionic power, may not be much worse than technological creations.
Therefore, in those large farms that are willing to invest, you can always see some amazing technologies and engineering machinery.
When Su Li was flying in the sky on Deathclaw, he even saw a halfling farm with a magic puppet dragging a plow forward.
The advancement of this magic puppet is a bit beyond imagination. It is said that they dug it out from the ground, a creation of the Ancient Ones, which should be a component of the Sacred Titans.
In the Arabian kingdoms south of the desert, among the magic puppets guarding the gold towers, there is a magical creation as high as dozens of meters called the Sacred Titan.
This made Su Li marvel. The ancient origin history of this world can be said to be very strange. It is very likely that a highly technologically advanced person was stranded on this planet. Because the origins of many races and some strange equipment were invented by him, proving that technology may have been extremely advanced in the oldest era.
But now the technology of humans and dwarves has declined. Therefore, humans and dwarves like technological archaeology, hoping to find some sacred things from ancient ruins.
Of course, progress in this area is almost non-existent. The empire's technology has remained in this rather special state.
This is something that countless elector counts and emperors of the empire have been unable to promote, and Su Li is also very sure that he will not have any opportunity to change it.
After all, the two worlds have different laws of nature, and Su Li's limited technological knowledge will not play any role in this world.
In the current situation, the great nobles and capitalists of the empire do have a bit of the progressiveness of the bourgeoisie. Their farms and pastures are scaled production, using a large number of machines, and there are also steam engine dwarves (not yet used in agricultural production).
So the output of large farms is very excellent, which is a representative of advanced productive forces.
However, in order to maintain the dark and corrupt rule of the empire, the ordinary people of the empire are unable to upgrade their production due to tax exploitation.
The commoners and small farmers who represent the real proletariat use primitive agricultural tools to carry out a small-scale, almost self-sufficient economy.
Especially in some remote rural areas, even plows cannot be popularized.
But fortunately, the Provincial Council is relatively open-minded, knowing that the development of the territory requires investment, so it asked the dwarves to produce a batch of agricultural tools specifically for leasing to the poor.
Even in this dark and desperate world, ordinary people are given a little kindness. If ordinary people damage the leased agricultural tools, the farmers report it to the administrative officer with a document, and the Provincial Council will recycle the original agricultural tools without demanding compensation.
This is obviously to improve the agricultural production efficiency of the entire territory.
Under the promotion of various machinery and laws, the farming achievements of the Black Forest Territory are also very considerable. Vandal reported: "As of now, we have opened up 1,700 hectares of farmland in Bjorn Bay, and you also have more than 200 hectares of private land due to various reasons such as confiscation and fines. This winter, the total output of all the farmland is about 20,000 tons of grain. All of this is your private property and can be transported to the Crimson Palace and Black Forest Town."
Su Li frowned slightly and said, "Why so little? Only 20,000 tons? My estimated scale is about 30,000 tons."
Vandal immediately replied: "Actually, it's already a lot. The average yield per acre is nearly 230 catties of wheat. Not every piece of land can be as productive as the Blood Sacrifice Farmland. And more importantly, the ravages of the Green Dragon have forced us to replant some of our crops."
"In addition, a considerable portion of the farmland is planted with cash crops, such as soybeans, beets, rapeseed, flax, hemp, cotton, etc."
Hearing this explanation, Su Li was immediately relieved. He thought his previous estimate was a bit too optimistic. The territory's output might even be more than the humans could eat, and there would be some surplus to feed the livestock.
But based on his observation, most of the territory's commoners are too poor to raise livestock such as chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep.
Mainly because he calculated all the farmland in Bjorn Bay as wheat fields, but a considerable part of the farmland is planted with cash crops.
After all, clothing, food, housing, and transportation, clothing comes before food. The planting scale of flax, cotton, etc. is very large.
And the territory cannot be without edible oil or sugar, and the scale of beets and rapeseed must also be increased.
With these types reduced, maybe one-third of the farmland scale will be removed.
More importantly, the territory has a large number of knights and griffons, who urgently need a large amount of meat.
Then the territory must take out a sufficient scale of farmland to plant soybeans, after all, this is an important feed for raising livestock. You can't let pigs eat grass or wheat, right?
After briefly understanding the situation, Su Li said with a smile: "The farming in Bjorn Bay is very effective, which is the result of your Dawn Church's efforts. I will donate 200 gold crowns from my private treasury to your church to reward your achievements this year."
200 gold crowns is already a considerable fortune.
After all, all 20,000 tons of grain sold would only be 4,000 gold crowns.
But Su Li's serfs cannot really be like the joke that the vampire mocked the empire, where the serfs are comparable to skeletons.
These serfs, commoners, and soldiers have to consume a large amount of grain, and even considering feeding the warhorses, 20,000 tons of grain may not be enough.
Even if Su Li sells grain to the towns for the sake of the border granary's reputation, he will only earn about 1,000 gold crowns at most.
So, calculated, the annual output of grain may be worth 12,000+ gold crowns, but the profit earned from exports is estimated to be about 3,000 gold crowns.
The speed and scale of agriculture earning wealth will never be as good as industry and the transcendent world.
Su Li being able to donate 200 gold crowns to the Dawn Church is already very considerable.
Don't look at Su Li spending money lavishly, but his wealth is basically used for investment and military development.
He hasn't even bought anything for himself that exceeds 200 gold crowns, only Aelirenn, who has recently fascinated him, was given 3,000 gold crowns.
Hearing Su Li's promise, Vandal was indeed greatly encouraged, and immediately continued to report excitedly: "Lord, the agricultural output you can harvest is far more than this. These 1,900+ hectares of land are your private land. But the territory has also sold and leased a total of more than 2,000 hectares of land. We don't collect rent for these lands, but we do collect a 19% tax!".
"According to their output and the tax plan adjusted by the Provincial Council, we can also get more than 6,000 tons of grain."
Hearing this, Su Li couldn't help but smile.
With the development of the territory, tax revenue is finally beginning to take shape.
Unlike when it was first reclaimed, the Black Forest Territory almost entirely relied on the harvest of Bjorn Bay for support, and the tax revenue was almost zero.
The 19% tax in the Black Forest Territory cannot really collect 90%, under the adjustment of the Provincial Council, it probably collects 60%, and the tax in the Blood Pine Forest Development Zone is even lower, collecting 50%.
But whether it collects 60% or 50%, they only collected 6,000 tons of grain from 2,000 hectares of land. It can be seen that the water conservancy facilities in the territory, except for Bjorn Bay, are very underdeveloped, so the yield per acre is very different from Bjorn Bay.
So Su Li asked: "What is the progress of the water conservancy facilities supporting the farmland?"
Vandal bowed slightly and said: "Let the dwarves report to you on this matter, Lord. They are responsible for various projects in the territory."
"Okay, Master Engineer, please introduce the engineering situation of the territory in detail."
As Su Li's voice fell, the dwarven master engineer Kurgan immediately stood up. He braided his beard into pigtails, and his small eyes were rounded like a pair of green beans.
As a dwarven master engineer, he is the most orthodox type of person in dwarven society, with a grumpy temper, stubborn personality, keeping promises, and valuing honor.
To become a dwarven engineer, one must be a highly educated member of the prestigious Engineers' Guild, whose achievements in science, gadgets, and technology are unparalleled.
This is not an easy achievement to attain. In dwarven society, if a dwarf shows a particular aptitude for mechanics, he may be granted an apprenticeship to the Engineers' Guild, whose role is to provide dwarves with the latest technological advances. Most engineers spend a great deal of time repairing damaged creations and cursing the shoddy work of the first engineer to build it.
They are also responsible for creating blueprints or schematics for potential new technologies. If the Guild deems a concept worthy enough, the Guild will provide the responsible dwarven engineer with all the tools, materials, and other assistance he requires. Most inventions never succeed, but others, such as the legendary gyrocopter, do.
Since all dwarves value exquisite craftsmanship, their war machines are the finest and most well-cared for in the world, and their crews treat them as they would a respected member of the family. However, even this level of care falls far short of the wishes of those notoriously grumpy master engineers.
After a battle, the master engineer will personally oversee the repairs, but during the battle, they are unusually rude in instructing the crew on how best to aim and fire the war machines. Their skill stems from a familiarity with how each device works. At a glance, the master engineer can tell when a ballista's torque is too high or when conditions allow for adding extra black powder to an organ gun.
They are consummate artisans, capable of judging the complexities of launching the deadliest shells, or advising on how best to carve stones into the most precise ammunition for a grudge thrower.
Master engineers can also direct the rapid construction of effective trenches—such as stacked stone walls or dug-out gun pits—to protect war machines and combatants from enemy ranged fire.
Master engineers are brave warriors, although they may be more interested in drafting plans for fortifications or designing new mines, they are more than capable of fighting on the front lines. To protect their precious war machines, they fight with the determination and courage characteristic of their race.
Obviously, Kurgan was very satisfied with his work in the Black Forest Territory. He could almost avoid participating in boring battles and focus on building projects and design and research.
The huge projects of Black Forest Castle and Crimson Palace, as well as various sophisticated equipment, came from his hands.
At the same time, the construction of water conservancy projects in the territory is also fully responsible by him.
After hearing Su Li's inquiry, he decisively said: "Oh, Lord, you can always trust the ability of the dwarves! With the concerted efforts of our Grungni bloodline, all your property has been protected to the greatest extent."
"Our progress is no weaker than the speed at which you human big guys are reclaiming farmland. Below Bjorn Bay, all 1,700 hectares of land have been irrigated. Even on some relatively high foothills, we have also set up aqueducts and waterwheels to ensure that every acre of fertile land can be nourished by the waters of Lake Reaverlyn, ushering in a bumper harvest during the harvest season."
Su Li nodded, approvingly saying, "I certainly believe in your dwarves' abilities. The prosperity of Bjorn Estuary is inextricably linked to the water conservancy built by you dwarves. Even the entire Bjorn Estuary project exists because of the territory's sacred site, Lake Refvelin."
It was the dwarves who directed a large number of armed attendants, slaves, and ogre construction teams to work all-out, day and night, to build Lake Refvelin, building a dam above Bjorn Estuary, providing the necessary foundation for the development below.
It can be said that the dwarves participated in the development and advancement of the entire engineering project from beginning to end.
Su Li witnessed their contributions firsthand, so they also have the status of second-class citizens in the territory.
However, compared to the scale of humans, their numbers are still a bit small.
Kulgan then said frankly, "But outside of these key projects, our dwarves' speed is really not keeping up with you big humans. They are expanding too fast. We have to participate in the war, build fortifications, and also build castles, monasteries, roads, bridges, and other basic construction projects, so we really can't guarantee the water conservancy construction of every farm and manor."
"Up to now, we have built water conservancy and irrigation projects for 17 farms, and we have also built a total of 3 reservoirs, 12 ponds, and 24 water storage tanks."
"We have also built 64 water wheels and more than 130 diversion canals and drainage ditches, totaling more than 240 Imperial miles."
"In some areas where floods may occur, we have built 7 flood control projects, as well as dikes, flood discharge gates, and so on."
"In addition, in order to conform to the atmosphere of the Empire, we have also built basic knight fountains, holy light water storage pools, canals, mills, etc. in the city. There are too many of these small projects, so I won't go into detail one by one."
Fountain squares are indeed more in line with the needs of the Imperial knights. For the knights, they may not care whether there are irrigation canals in the farms, but fountain squares must be set up.
It can be seen that these mountain dwarves are gradually adapting to the identity of Imperial dwarves.
The projects reported by Kulgan, large and small, add up to nearly a hundred, which can be said that this year's water conservancy construction results are very outstanding.
But this still can't keep up with the expansion speed of the territory. Kulgan continued, "These projects are basically distributed near the central plain around Hessen Town, and we dwarves are really powerless to go further to the Scarlet Heights and Scarlet Pine Forest development area."
"In general, our current water conservancy facilities can completely cover your private fields, and cover 40% to 50% of the territory's farmland."
This is not the dwarves' flattery, prioritizing pleasing Su Li, but rather that 80% to 90% of all these water conservancy facilities are funded and built by Su Li, and only 10% to 20% are funded by landlords, farmers, or villagers to find dwarves to build.
Then the dwarves will naturally build water conservancy projects for whoever pays first! After all, these water conservancy projects are very expensive and consume a lot of funds and materials.
