Each of these projects built by the dwarves is quite expensive.
Taking the Bauhinia Palace and Black Forest Town as examples, each of these projects and fortresses cost tens of thousands of gold coins.
Building such luxurious and complete castles and towns is extremely expensive just in terms of materials and labor costs.
Then, the construction of various hospitals, monasteries, and roads all requires Su Li to invest money.
The territory's investment in these areas can all be shown in a list, requiring a series of reports and accounts from agencies under the State Council.
Therefore, Su Li didn't ask much about the dwarves' expenses, but instead asked, "The Spring of All Things ceremony is coming soon. What are your plans for next year? What key projects will be built?"
The dwarf immediately listed in detail: "First, we will build a Black Forest Territory Peaks, so that the territory's pegasus and griffins can live in the green hills and gray mountain valley peaks."
Hearing this, Su Li nodded seriously. It was indeed necessary to build it. These high-level beasts in the Black Forest Territory could no longer stay with the mounts in ordinary pastures.
As far as the current situation is concerned, there are already more than 30 griffin knights in the territory, and the number of griffins and semi-griffins combined is almost a group.
Similarly, the Pegasus Knights are no longer the original two, and there are now 5 pegasus in the territory.
It is not suitable to tie these high-level mounts in stables, but problems are likely to occur if they are placed in pastures. If the griffins hunt the pegasus, their masters can fight to the death.
Building the Black Forest Territory Peaks next year can separate these high-level mounts. Griffins can continue to build griffin forests in the green hills. There are a large number of trees in this hill, which are suitable for griffins to survive. Then, the grazing herders can also provide them with sufficient food so that they can complete their reproduction in the spring.
You know, not all the semi-griffins in the Black Forest Territory are newly hatched griffin cubs. Nearly 10 of them were tamed by knights from the griffin forest. After the spring flowers bloom next year, they will also be in heat and need to reproduce. An environment close to the griffin forest will definitely meet their needs better than in a pasture.
Similarly, the pegasus can stay on the peaks. The gray mountain valley peak area is high and has valleys with a large amount of high-quality pasture, which is suitable for their survival and habitat.
If these two places are built properly, the scale of the territory's air cavalry and monster cavalry can be expanded.
Su Li's ambition is not high. Because of their large size, the number of flying cavalry and monster cavalry is generally much smaller than that of ordinary cavalry. 24 people can form a regiment, so he can first form 2 semi-griffin regiments and 1 pegasus knight regiment.
In addition, he also has an extremely powerful griffin knight regiment, composed of four griffin knights, in addition to Orstein, Hild, and Gilles, there is also a new griffin knight, Edwin Stewart.
Edwin Stewart is the genius from the Mordheim Royal Griffin Military Academy who was attracted by the double-tailed comet fragment on the Bauhinia family's flag.
As a knight, Edwin's background is not ordinary. His family has served the empire for generations, and there is an ancient prophecy circulating within their family: "When a comet streaks across the sky, the empire will usher in a savior."
On the day Edwin was born, a bright comet happened to streak across the night sky and fell in the mountains near Mordheim. This phenomenon was interpreted by the knights of the Stewart family as the fulfillment of the prophecy, indicating that Edwin would become a legendary knight who would save the collapsing empire.
So the entire family placed high hopes on him and trained him with the strictest standards. And Edwin showed unparalleled extraordinary talent from an early age. He can not only quickly master complex tactical theories, but also make the most correct and rational decisions in battle.
When Edwin was 14 years old, he was admitted to the Mordheim Royal Griffin Military Academy with a near-perfect score. Here, his talent was fully demonstrated.
In the academy's theoretical courses, Edwin almost never scored below full marks in any exam. His research on military theory, tactical analysis, and historical cases reached a point of near obsession.
In practical training, Edwin's performance was equally amazing. He can not only accurately control his horse to complete difficult movements, but also formulate amazing tactics on the ever-changing battlefield.
In the academy's library, Edwin accidentally discovered a long-lost tactical book, "Wings of the Empire". The book recorded many long-forgotten tactics and strategies. By studying this book, Edwin created a unique "layered attack" tactic, which proved to be extremely effective in many subsequent battles.
In his 15th year, he legendarily gained the favor of a tiger-striped griffin. No one knows how this 15-year-old elite knight tamed a powerful tiger-striped griffin.
But this knight bloomed like a genius and was awarded the title of "Royal Griffin Knight" at the age of 16, and began to travel around. His goal was to put his theories into action through practice and explore a wider world.
His first major task was the border defense war on the northern border of the empire.
A large group of Norsca raiders entered the Chaos Wastes. At that time, they were invincible and smashed 3 human legions in a row, including a powerful legion composed of elite knights from the barony. Thousands of well-equipped knights became fragments under the axes of these strong and sturdy barbarians.
These reckless men hunted nightmares, making countless humans fearful. Their soldiers were invincible and were about to cross the border of the empire and rush into the fertile plains of mankind to wreak havoc.
At this time, the human front-line army had been exhausted, and only less than 500 remnants remained in the last fortress city, and the scale of the knights was less than a regiment.
Repeated defeats made everyone's morale low and full of fear and despair for the future.
But at this time, Edwin stepped forward. He carefully studied the monster's attack route, spent several axes of time studying the enemy's tactics and weaknesses, and determined that the enemy was proud and careless because of repeated victories. They were full of contempt for humans, and they did not bother to rescue each other when they encountered human attacks, especially their strongest commander, who believed that their strong Norsca warriors could smash everything that tried to come up to meet them with their battle axes.
Several victories in a row have confirmed all of this.
So Edwin decisively led the last remaining human army to launch an attack on the strongest chief of the Norsca. And everything was as he expected. Other Norsca troops, seeing that this human army dared to go straight in and challenge their strongest commander, thought that their crazy behavior was just asking for their own destruction!
No one thought that the remnants led by Edwin could win against the strongest and bravest warriors in their tribe.
Until Edwin smashed the chest of the Norsca chief with a war hammer, chopped off his head, and flew over all the monster lines with a spear.
So the monsters' morale collapsed. They lost their commander and chief, and had no intention of fighting again, and could not cooperate with each other. In order to avoid being defeated by the human reinforcements, they took the initiative to withdraw to the ice field to elect and compete for the new chief position.
The victory of this battle made Edwin famous in one battle.
And his peak fame battle was the [Monte-Castro's Bloody Dusk Battle].
This battle took place in the Imperial Calendar 3300.
Monte-Castro, as the southernmost city of the Border Principality, has been besieged many times, but has never fallen. The most famous siege lasted for more than a year.
But in the Imperial Calendar 3300, more than 500 garrison troops suddenly found themselves surrounded by more than 100,000 green skins, led by an evil green skin warlord who was determined to take this place as an outpost for invading the empire at all costs. The brave Castro garrison fought hard non-stop for weeks, losing several colleagues every day, repelling countless green skin assaults. The orc tribe continued to receive reinforcements from many tribes eager to join the powerful orc army.
Castro's land supply line was cut off early and was always supplied by sea until this route was maliciously cut off by an unknown enemy's (sewer) warship, who wanted to see the castle disappear forever. To this day, no one knows exactly who attacked the supply ship. The Empire often accuses the pirate Alabi or pirates, but the most ominous rumors say that this is part of a Skaven evil plan.
In hunger and despair, the defenders persisted for more than a year until the mercenary commander, the old and firm Gruz, was fatally wounded while repelling another attack by the orcs. He was hurriedly carried from the city wall to the headquarters. The general who replaced him at this time was the awe-inspiring and energetic Edwin.
Edwin personally inspired the soldiers, saying that he would defend the city head to the death, vowing to defend the glory of the empire. He begged everyone who was willing to stay and fight against evil for glory to stand up. Others can run away with their tails between their legs if they want.
The soldiers were excited, and many people shouted with tears: "I will die before the orcs destroy Castro!" "No orcs can see the image of spring!" and so on. In the end, the entire team decided to stick to it. The siege continued for another three months, and the castle still did not fall.
In the end, the human troops who came to rescue destroyed and dispersed the orc tribe. They finally found that only 25 human soldiers were still alive in the castle, including Edwin. Around the city wall, there were countless green skin corpses, so that the moat had been filled, and the corpse river was strong enough to withstand the weight of the orc siege tower!
Since the Bloody Dusk Battle, Edwin has been seeking forces that can launch expeditions against monsters. He wants to launch a war to sweep away the evil green skins.
The rising reputation and prestige of the Black Forest Territory, as well as the teachings of the Goddess of the Sun, successfully attracted him.
So he joined the Black Forest Territory, starting as a grassroots officer, hoping to join the expedition called by the Black Forest Territory to launch revenge and purge against the evil monsters.
He believes in his own judgment, this day may come soon.
He doesn't care whether he has this confidence because of his foresight or because he has received the revelation of the Goddess of the Sun. He only knows that the Black Forest Territory is indeed well-known now.
After chatting with Edwin, the peak champion knight, several times, Su Li has confirmed that the Black Forest Territory is a model of devout faith in the Church of the Goddess of the Sun.
In the hearts of the church believers, this land is a high ground of faith, a sacred pure land that many pilgrimage groups dream of.
This is really not a rumor. When a believer of the Goddess of the Sun strolls on the streets of the Black Forest Territory, he can clearly feel the vitality flowing from the entire city. Tall and white stone buildings stand on both sides of the street, and a large number of statues of the Goddess of the Sun shine with golden light in the sun.
Here, even the most ordinary farmer will straighten his back involuntarily when talking about the Goddess of the Sun, and his eyes will flicker with pious light. His words and deeds reveal his incomparable respect for his faith. Every time the sun rises, the entire Black Forest Territory will sound uniform prayers, expressing the piety and faith of all classes in the territory to the Goddess of the Sun.
As the main believers of the Church of the Goddess of the Sun, the knights have shown this piety to the fullest. Under the leadership of the God-chosen Knights, the Knights of the Black Forest Territory are not only brave and good at fighting, but also bring the power of faith to the extreme. They firmly believe that the Goddess of the Sun will grant them victory, so they are always fearless on the battlefield, as if they are truly immortal.
But what amazes the believers most is the temple area of the Black Forest Territory, that is, the monastery in the northeast of the castle.
That is a monastery built entirely of white marble, with spires piercing the sky, as if to pierce the sky and reach the kingdom of God. Every brick in the temple area is engraved with scriptures praising the Goddess of the Sun, shining brightly in the morning light. Countless believers kneel and pray here, their figures intertwined with the outline of the temple, forming a sacred picture that is pleasing to the eye.
Kurgan also talked about this aspect and said: "Another important construction project for us next year is the religious statues in the temple area to ensure the smooth completion of the 100-meter statue planned by Pope Rongen."
"In addition, we also plan to initially complete a magnificent stone bridge in Black Forest City, with Bauhinia flower patterns and myths of the empire and dwarves carved on the bridge."
"Finally, there is the Bauhinia Noble Academy promoted by the President of the State Council."
Su Li nodded slightly. These are indeed key projects worthy of attention next year. If all of this is successfully completed, the imperial officials who enter the city to conduct territorial assessment and evaluation will have a sense of sudden brightness in front of them. Whether it is the grandeur of the buildings or the degree of prosperity, it is completely different from other territories.
Then Su Li asked: "Does our territory have enough funds to guarantee all of this?"
The irrigation facilities planned by the dwarves and so many important projects are all huge expenses.
Relying on farming can only barely meet the territory's needs for food and clothing, and it is even stretched to maintain the territory's army.
If you want to accumulate a sum of money to invest in the construction of various projects, you don't know how long it will take to start construction.
Fortunately, the development of the territory is very balanced.
As the saying goes, without agriculture, there is no stability, without industry, there is no wealth, and without commerce, there is no vitality.
The territory's industry is the industry that brings the most wealth to the territory, and in this regard, the dwarf forging master Boros Dragonhammer is the main person in charge.
Facing this question, he answered on behalf of Kurgan, "Lord, to provide funds for the various projects in the territory and ensure the maintenance costs of the territory's army, we obviously rely mainly on our territory's strong manufacturing industry."
"And among all manufacturing industries, the dwarves' weapon manufacturing and armor manufacturing are undoubtedly the strongest, capable of bringing a large amount of wealth to the territory."
"In the great weapon and armor production of our territory, a full 800 dwarves are engaged in various aspects."
"800 dwarves," Su Li also showed surprise, this number was more than he imagined.
After all, dwarves are not all engaged in heavy equipment production; many of them also produce jewelry, brew beer, process gemstones, and so on.
The dwarven community is a very independent community; they can operate in isolation within themselves, so various trades consume a lot of dwarves.
More importantly, a considerable number of dwarves need to build strength and accumulate prestige from mining, and cannot start production right away.
Just like the stereotype the world has of them: the grumpy, stubborn, red-nosed, drunken miners.
In a dwarven community or race, most people stay in the mining areas to dig up ore and search for treasures.
To have 800 dwarves producing for the territory is already very impressive, perhaps even comparable to a small mountain dwarf fortress.
Berros Dragonhammer explained, "About half of these 800 are Imperial Dwarves from our own territory. Most of the Imperial Dwarves we recruit to settle here are not the youngest or lowest of a tribe. They have some strength and their own savings to be able to move here. So, after entering the territory, they can produce equipment."
"The other half are the elite mountain shield formations of the Redbeard Clan. They are all elite soldiers of Redbeard Fortress, the backbone of the clan and outstanding craftsmen. Together with our Imperial Dwarves, they make up the 800-strong production industry of the territory."
"And other dwarves, as well as the territory's miners and the monsters in the Blood Pine Forest, can mine a large amount of ore, providing them with sufficient raw materials so that they can concentrate on industrial production."
Division of labor and cooperation is currently an advantage of the territory. With the help of the monsters in the Blood Pine Forest, the scale of ore mining in the territory is very considerable.
The amount of ore mined each month is as high as hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds!
It is precisely because of this scale of raw material supply that the territory can produce a continuous stream of dwarven heavy equipment.
Su Li asked curiously, "How many sets of equipment did our territory forge in total this year?"
