Emperor Yang of Sui the Second

Chapter 50: Emperor Yang of Sui the Second

Sigg Town undoubtedly possessed this kind of stability.

It was isolated from the world. While remote, it was also far from the vortex of war, and it had convenient inland waterways for transport.

Merchant ships could reach this basin nestled among the high mountains and ridges by passing through the Silver Dragon Canyon via the Bro River. From there, they could flow downstream, passing through the territories of many Nobles along the way, converging with other tributaries, skirting the northern lands, and finally entering the North Ice Sea.

Based on Morey's assessment of Romain, the young lord would certainly not be small in his exploitation of this Salt Mine.

Although this was a long-term trade, 200,000 jin of salt couldn't be sold instantly. It would likely continue into next year. For this, he would need to gather more manpower, constantly traveling back and forth along this tributary of the Bro River, bringing more goods here and transporting the salt out.

However, merchants only feared not making money; they were not afraid of hardship and toil.

Not to mention the newly appearing Maltose.

Minor Nobles might occasionally try it for novelty, but if it were favored by a major Noble, they would definitely purchase it in large quantities, and there would be no worries about sales in the future.

After leaving the Draft Horses and Draft Cattle in Sigg Town, Morey paid 20 gold coins and turned to leave Sigg Town with twenty barrels of Maltose.

There was no other way. The salt had just begun to be mined and hadn't yielded any output yet. He could only sell Maltose, so as not to return empty-handed.

When he came back next time, he would bring more Draft Cattle and Draft Horses, enough to transport 50 Draft Cattle and 100 Draft Horses, to make up for the deficit of 200,000 jin of cheap edible salt – Romain hadn't calculated the specifics, just the overall balance.

And the benefits of this overall balance were obvious.

Once he delivered that 200,000 jin of salt to the entire land, the low cost would allow him to make a fortune.

This huge preferential price was equivalent to directly paying him 200 gold coins.

Roughly estimating, the profit alone could reach more than 500 gold coins.

This income was considered quite good even among Nobles, as most Nobles' annual income was only in the three digits, and he was merely one of the children of a great merchant.

After Morey's caravan left, Romain looked at the group of Draft Cattle and Draft Horses, and his mood was also wonderful.

This was a huge fortune and was crucial for the development of Sigg Town.

Due to the transportation, these livestock looked a bit listless.

He needed to settle these large animals comfortably.

The Agricultural Officer Mol ran over, panting, his chest fat jiggling. He came before Romain, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said:

"Lord Romain, the items you ordered are ready..."

As Mol spoke, he glanced at the numerous Draft Cattle and Draft Horses behind Romain.

Sigg Town currently only had over 80 Draft Cattle in total. It wasn't that he couldn't afford more Draft Cattle.

It was mainly due to his status.

Mol remembered his father, who had died of illness many years ago. At that time, he had been confused by his father's various decisions. Now that he was in this position, Mol understood his father's difficulties.

Should Sigg Town be developed?

Whether it was building bridges or paving roads, it required gathering a large labor force.

Without obtaining permission, the Bass Family could not act beyond their authority. Their position was always that of stewards, not decision-makers.

Even if Sigg Town were developed and yielded significant profits, would the Armor-Splitting Family praise their actions?

Think about the pioneer lords from over a hundred years ago.

They reclaimed vast tracts of wasteland, turning them into fertile fields. As a result, after the Conqueror Emperor's fleet was lost in the Nether Sea, the pioneer lords, lacking sufficient strength, died from various sudden accidents, and the Nobles seized all their achievements from over a decade.

Joint development? Mutual benefit?

What is your status and strength?

If you hand over all your property, you will be safe?

Foolish! Even if I beat you to death, it's still mine!

If Sigg Town became too prosperous and the news reached the Grand Duke Armor-Splitting...

In the end, Mol chose to lie down and give up in his hesitation, burying his head in sleep.

Romain was not interested in the past of Sigg Town at all.

Everyone in this era seemed like an idiot to him, not worth caring about at all.

Although this land possessed abundant resources, astonishing potential, and various immense advantages.

Romain felt that with his abilities, he could develop anywhere.

Even if he were thrown into a barren desert or grassland, as long as he could survive and take action, he could lead a group of people like barbarians to carve out a rich and favorable territory.

Rapid development, sustain war with war, whoever comes will die!

Romain always believed that initial resources would only limit his development time, not his ultimate achievements.

Of course, the more initial resources there are, the better.

He led Mol away from the dock.

These large livestock had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that they could greatly improve work efficiency, allowing for deeper plowing of more land during the summer and autumn.

The drawback is that it requires more manpower to care for the newly added draft cattle and draft horses.

Previously, there were over forty farmers working in the livestock pens.

Their daily work involved taking care of numerous large livestock, with each person responsible for two cattle on average. There was a supervisory position called a cattle herder, whose duties mainly included herding, cleaning manure, harvesting fodder, and caring for calves.

The labor of these people could not be spared; even during the deep plowing and sowing season, Romain did not call them out.

In fact, he now had to temporarily pull 30 people from the road construction labor force to care for these animals—but not too many, or it would delay the work there.

As Morey continuously brought in more livestock in the future, the number of workers caring for them would only increase.

This was why, even though Sigg Town had just over a thousand laborers, he could only mobilize seven hundred in total.

Neither the livestock nor the mill, nor the various artisans, could be called out.

Otherwise, Sigg Town would come to a significant standstill.

Romain felt a strong dissatisfaction with the old livestock pens: they were dirty, messy, damp, cold, precarious, with thatched roofs rotting in the mud and teeming with vermin. They were an eyesore in every aspect.

When Romain's [Construction] skill leveled up to 2, he had the idea of building new livestock pens.

However, because he couldn't spare the time, it had been delayed.

Now that the livestock brought by Morey had arrived in Sigg Town, Romain knew this matter could no longer be postponed.

He wanted to build a new, more scientific, and more hygienic large livestock pen.

Future breeding work would also be managed and planned uniformly.

During this period, he had been having Mol prepare large quantities of building timber and stone.

The timber came from the vast amount of wood cut along the road construction route, and the stone came from the salt mine.

Once again, Romain felt the shortage of manpower.

Of course, Romain knew where the problem lay.

There were too many things to do.

And it was with a sense of urgency, an immediate need, that he was forcefully driving and pulling everyone in Sigg Town to accelerate their progress.

If Romain were to suddenly die, in the future legends of Sigg Town, he would certainly be remembered with the evaluation of "Emperor Yang of Sui the Second."