Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

The dwarf said it would take three days to gather the army and complete the mobilization preparations, which is no exaggeration.

With the prosperity and expansion of the Black Forest Territory, the army within the territory has been scattered and stationed everywhere. Besides an elite force in Black Fort, the remaining troops are stationed in a ring around various key defensive points, outposts, and farmsteads.

For example, a large number of dwarven troops are deployed around the Gold Creek Mines, in outposts, mine pits, and near various water conservancy facilities. Almost one-tenth of the dwarven forces are stationed at the Iron Mine Watchtower alone.

There's no other way. In this dark age rife with demons, if humans huddle in cities and castles, the farms and villages outside the city will inevitably be destroyed by various raiders.

As troops gathered everywhere in Black Fort, large numbers of fully armed soldiers left their barracks and marched in formation towards Black Fort.

The territory's inhabitants immediately felt the atmosphere of war. Equipment in weapon shops became more popular, and the monasteries of the Radiant Goddess were filled with a constant stream of believers.

This goddess, besides becoming popular in the south, is also widely worshipped among women with sons and husbands.

They would come to the monastery before the battle to pray to the goddess, asking the goddesses to guide the officers to make wise choices and bring their loved ones back alive.

Just as they promoted, 'Redma takes you to war, but Violet brings you back'.

The goddess's monastery is located northeast of the territory's castle. Standing on the castle walls, Su Li could see the endless stream of territory believers on the road to the monastery.

Even for this scene alone, Su Li had to ensure that this battle was carefully prepared and won with overwhelming advantage. As the commander of this battle, he had to bring most of the soldiers back safely.

Chief Steward Cort came to the city wall and stood beside Su Li, saying, "Men see war as glory, but women are praying for men to return safely."

Su Li nodded, "Yes. It's a pity the dwarves don't understand this scene. I've ordered the knights to take the dwarves next to the Goddess's Monastery to watch this scene."

"Is it effective?"

Su Li shook his head regretfully, "The dwarves are extremely stubborn and extremely obstinate, and they will not easily change their minds."

Chief Steward Cort shrugged and said, "Yes, they prefer the mindless macho men of the Redma Church who roar and rush into battle."

"Forgive me for speaking frankly, Lord, according to my communication with them, your image among these dwarves is not very good, and they don't like you very much. Not many dwarves are willing to come all the way to help you in battle, regardless of the dangers."

Su Li smiled indifferently. Of course, he knew all this.

Although, in his opinion, he was trying to help the dwarves reduce casualties.

But from the dwarves' point of view, he is a lord who prevaricates about sending troops. Every time the dwarves came to him and asked him to send troops, he would try to refuse.

They do not approve of Violet's tactics and ideas, so in their view, the lord of Black Forest Territory is timid and refuses to fight a fair and square battle. The key is that he is not as generous and straightforward as the lords of the Redma Church. His actions and battles are always slow and verbose. It can be said that they have been waiting anxiously for a long time before finally waiting for the day of battle to come.

In fact, Su Li also dislikes these dwarves.

They are stubborn, inflexible, petty, and short-tempered. Every day they are in the territory, they are causing disputes and conflicts.

Compared to humans, these dwarves are short-tempered even when they are in a good mood, just like a group of rude miners who are difficult to communicate with.

This leads to it being difficult for both sides to treat each other as close friends.

Just as Chief Steward Cort said, the proportion of dwarves willing to come to help in the future may not be very high.

But this does not mean that the two sides hate each other. Both sides understand the importance of each other. Cooperation benefits both, while separation harms both.

So both sides are trying to adapt to all of this.

Su Li calmly said, "We have a clear conscience, and that's enough. Chief Steward Cort, is there something you strongly requested to meet about?"

This meeting was strongly requested by Chief Steward Cort to Hilde, so Hilde temporarily added a meeting with him to the agenda.

Otherwise, Su Li should be inspecting the armory and arsenal at this time.

Although their relationship with the dwarves is not harmonious, the dwarves are working hard to produce weapons and equipment without complaint.

Especially after the Moon Crown Tree bloomed with flowers last night, the dwarves are doing their best to quench and produce weapons that are more harmful to demons.

For this reason, the dwarves built another blacksmith shop yesterday. All of their more than 600 troops are serving for forging, from transporting ore to smelting steel to forging and quenching, and the hammers they swing are sparking.

Chief Steward Cort was also pressed for time, so he didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point, "We are here this time to say goodbye to you, Lord. Our logging in the Blood Pine Forest has ended, and the caravan has also purchased a large amount of supplies in your territory. The caravan's convoy has as many as hundreds of vehicles. It's time to return to West Territory. We will not return to your territory until around the summer of next year."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and said, "There is no banquet in the world that does not end. I wish you a prosperous business and a smooth journey. At the same time, the territory will always welcome your arrival!"

Of course, Su Li welcomed their arrival. Just as Chief Steward Cort said, the arrival of their chamber of commerce really brought a lot of wealth to the territory and purchased a lot of the territory's special products.

In addition to logging a large amount of blood pine wood in the Blood Pine Forest, they also purchased more than 40,000 pounds of rose dew. The apples on the hundreds of fruit trees around the territory's holy site Starfall Pool were almost swept away by them.

These hundred fruit trees alone brought 20 gold crowns in income to Black Forest Territory!

One hundred fruit trees is only a little more than one acre, but no family's orchard has a planting area of only one acre.

According to Su Li's plan, hundreds or thousands of acres around this holy site will be planted with fruit trees. When the time comes, five copper coins for one fruit can also bring Su Li a huge income of 2,000 or even 20,000 gold crowns!

When an industry reaches a scale of 20,000 gold crowns in revenue, it will be completely formed. It will bring surging momentum to the territory's wealth.

Until now, he had never seen such a huge amount of wealth as 20,000 gold crowns at one time.

However, this matter cannot be rushed. First of all, taking care of the orchard is very tiring. Three farmers can be so tired that they can't stand up straight when taking care of ten acres of orchard.

More importantly, the seedling cultivation of this fruit tree cannot be formed in one year like grain.

If Su Li wants the orchard to also harvest 20,000 gold crowns, he will probably have to wait four or five years.

The real thing that the West Chamber of Commerce purchased in Black Forest Territory that has a large value is industrial products.

Although the world has changed, the principle that no industry can make you rich and no commerce can make you live is still universal.

Industry, even the most basic handicraft industry, can bring the most direct and huge wealth to a territory.

The West Chamber of Commerce successfully purchased 200 sets of dwarven armor in Black Forest Territory!

This scale is enough to arm a small knightly order.

Even ordinary baronies may not be able to gather so many heavy plate armors.

That is 200 sets of fine-quality dwarven heavy armor. Any lord who gets it can directly pull up 200 elite knights in shining armor.

They can directly determine the outcome of a battle in a battle involving 1,000 or even 5,000 people.

A large beastman howling beast herd is only two or three thousand in size. Two hundred elite heavy armored knights galloping over can directly break up a large number of beasts.

In the civil war of the human empire, the troops that two baronies can dispatch are only about one or two thousand people.

If one side borrows money to buy 200 sets of dwarven armor before the decisive battle, then there is no need to fight this battle. The other side is almost bound to lose! A dragon riding on your face, how can you lose?

And the West Chamber of Commerce bought 200 sets of such important strategic materials for only 5,400 gold crowns. The average price is only 27 gold crowns per set.

This was the result of Laun negotiating with them many times. Before, they were only willing to offer 23 gold crowns. It was the halfling's formation of a caravan that put pressure on them, and they were willing to increase the price.

Su Li also wanted to quickly recover funds and use gold crowns to buy star iron armor from the dwarves. Otherwise, he would have to raise the price of this armor to at least 30 gold crowns or more.

The arms business is really profitable. The cost of Su Li producing such a set of armor, including the dwarves' working hours, may not reach 2 gold crowns.

This means that he has at least 1000% profit.

Of course, the West Chamber of Commerce is not at a loss to be such a middleman. It is said that military supplies are extremely scarce in Mareburg.

The southeast and southwest directions of the empire are simultaneously encountering monster invasions. The beacon fires are everywhere, and the war is extremely anxious. Humans have not collapsed for thousands of miles. Although losses are heavy everywhere, the courage and perseverance of humans have made the lords in various places very tenacious, indomitable, and they are preparing for war one after another, trying to launch a counterattack to clean up the situation.

At this time, the price of military supplies has skyrocketed. It is said that the price of dwarven armor has reached a new historical high in Mareburg, as high as 69 gold crowns and 87 silver coins per set! It is almost breaking through the 70 mark.

If the battles in the two directions have not yet had a decisive victory or defeat, then the price of armor will continue to rise, and breaking through the 70 mark is inevitable.

This means that although the West Chamber of Commerce has a relatively low profit margin, the absolute profit value earned is far above Su Li's. These 200 sets of armor may earn them 6,000 to 8,000 gold crowns in revenue!

In addition to the dwarves' industrial products, the territory also has other witchcraft products, divine potions, monastery products, and industrial products from various workshops.

It can be said that the arrival of this caravan has greatly revitalized the territory's economy, brought more population, more investment, more workshops, and also made the territory's industrial products have sales, and the service industry has made a lot of money. Those charming prostitutes, like succubi, have stripped most of the caravan's workers and guards clean.

These men who lick blood from the knife's edge only have a set of armor and a broken knife left, waiting for the journey to Mareburg to get another bonus and ease their own predicament.

The key is that after this caravan has done all this, they will leave a huge commercial tax for the territory before they leave, which greatly alleviates the emptiness of Su Li's treasury.

How can Su Li not like them and not welcome them?

Seeing that Su Li intended to see them off, Chief Steward Cort quickly said, "Lord, I have one last important investment to discuss with you this time."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and asked indifferently, "What is it?"

Chief Steward Cort was shocked when he saw Su Li's indifferent expression. This did not fit the state of a lord when he heard about an investment.

Why did the other party seem to have expected it long ago and had no surprise at all?

He even suspected that someone in his caravan had leaked the information!

But without certainty, he could only continue to say calmly, "I plan to build a guard post for the territory on the west side of the Blood Pine Forest, about 10 Imperial miles away from the Blood Pine Forest. This can be used as our caravan's future logging camp and mining camp, storing the living supplies needed by our workers, and accumulating the collected resources."

He emphasized, "Moreover, considering the territory's support for us, we can also build several arrow towers and watchtowers next to this guard post to help the territory take on the task of guarding. If you plan to station troops here, we can build a camp for 30 soldiers for you on a low mountain north of our guard post. We can help each other."

As an excellent businessman, he fully understands how to deal with nobles and lords.

Before talking about serious business, giving the territory a small investment and free donation will greatly gain the favor of the lords.

In the following negotiations, the lord, out of face, will give up great benefits and will not bargain excessively.

This investment in Black Forest Territory, the barracks built to help the territory, may be worth less than 20 gold crowns.

However, the benefits obtained from the negotiations are as high as 200 gold crowns or even 2000 gold crowns!

He has tried this method many times in various territories.

This is also why he first said a lot of bad things about the dwarves. Unlike the unpopularity of the dwarves, he, a successful businessman, is too slick and has great favor with many lords.

Su Li did not care about his small favors and said calmly, "Haha, then thank you for your sponsorship, West High Chamber of Commerce. But let me say in advance, if there are any negotiations involving the interests of the territory, don't expect me to give in."

Chief Steward Cort's eyes suddenly went dark. Isn't this a typical case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice?

20 gold crowns, that's the annual salary of two formal knights.

He now seriously suspects that the owner of Black Forest Territory must know some news!

But before he could think about it, Su Li had already taken the initiative to speak, "Chief Steward Cort, the investment you are talking about should not be this, right? Is an investment of more than ten gold crowns worth using your connections to ask Hilde for favors?"

Master Quartermain quickly composed himself and said, "Oh, Lord, you have keen eyes. This is just a small appetizer for our investment. We have discovered several rich mineral deposits in the Skag Highlands, southwest of Bloodpine Forest. According to the information from the dwarf mining master we hired, the proven mineral resources include marble, iron, copper, and more. Therefore, we intend to buy the mining rights for the Skag Highlands from you."

Su Li looked at him with a faint smile, and said meaningfully, "Isn't this dwarf master you hired deceiving you? The mineral resources in the Skag Highlands are very rich. You need to survey carefully, don't miss any important metals, such as silver mines or something."

Master Quartermain's face flushed instantly. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a silk scarf and quickly lowered his head and said, "Lord, you... you are right to remind me. We will definitely survey more carefully when we go back, organize several more groups of dwarves, and survey from different directions to ensure that no important resources are missed."

Su Li smiled and said, "Okay then. Since you are optimistic about this place, I am naturally happy to see it happen. We are old friends with deep friendship, so I will directly quote a price. If you can accept this price, we will sign the agreement directly. If not, then this matter will be dropped, so as not to bargain and hurt our feelings."

This was a notification, not a negotiation.

So, without waiting for Master Quartermain to answer, Su Li said directly, "3178 gold crowns."

Master Quartermain's eyes completely darkened. How could the lord of Blackwood Forest know his highest authority trump card?!

This can no longer be explained by someone leaking secrets.

Master Quartermain said with a wry smile, "Lord, now I believe that you are truly omniscient about all the information in Blackwood Territory. There are no secrets in front of you."

Su Li smiled and extended his hand: "Happy cooperation, Master Quartermain."

Master Quartermain put his hands out and firmly grasped Su Li's. He gathered his shocked thoughts, then took a deep breath and said, "Lord, before I leave, I sincerely reveal my heart. Both I and the Wester Commercial Association believe that you will eventually achieve great things."

"Neither red dragons nor demons are enough to threaten your foundation."

"Perhaps the situation will not be smooth sailing, but I believe that you will eventually be able to overcome difficulties and achieve great success. Our Wester Commercial Association is willing to work with you to overcome obstacles and achieve glory."

"We will return next year, and I will definitely persuade the senior management of the Commercial Association to bring larger-scale investments and caravans."

Su Li said with a smile: "I appreciate your kind words, my friend. Our Blackwood Territory will always value the friendship with your Wester High Commercial Association. You know, what my territory lacks most is population and talent. I heard that the people of Wester Territory are happy to take risks, so please help me bring back a batch of talent. If you have a way to help me obtain some talented people, that would be of great help to me."

Master Quartermain said with a smile: "No problem. I really have connections in this area! I have a little friendship with the Middenheim Royal Griffin Military Academy. When passing through Middenheim City, I will definitely go to the Royal Griffin Military Academy to promote you."

"If you can recruit one or two talents from the Griffin Academy, it will be of great help to your career!"

"But you also have to hurry up and improve your title, even if it is just a baronet, it will attract many knights who want fiefdoms and noble honors to come to your territory."

Increase the title?

This is not an easy task.

Su Li felt it was necessary to contact the nobles of Marienburg.

After all, they also have a big say in the assessment of pioneering knights.

But this matter is not urgent. The Wester Commercial Association will not return until next year. His most important thing now is to solve the demon crisis!