At the evening banquet, Ranger Horace brought good news.
"My lord, the cave trading market has successfully earned the trust of the Cave Freemen during this period, and transaction volumes have increased enormously." As the market administrator, Horace proudly claimed credit. "The transaction volume now accounts for half of the entire Guangguang River Valley cave network."
"Half, is it? Not bad, but we still need to keep promoting it. Try to draw all trade between the caves to our market."
"Rest assured, my lord. I'll devote all my energy to handling this properly," Horace said. "Also, more than a hundred freemen have recently been attracted by the territory's benefits and treatment. After being verified as having no criminal records, they joined our manor!"
"Is that so? Excellent." Russell smiled. What the territory lacked most was people. "But it isn't enough. Keep recruiting more people."
"Yes, my lord."
Charles took a sip of wine, savoring it with delight before saying with a smile, "My lord, I wonder whether Red Keep has loosened its restrictions on the Serf Trade this year. If it has, we should still purchase a batch of serfs from Volcanic Oasis."
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll write to my elder brother Roland. Roland is currently working at the Grand Duke's side, so he should know clearly."
In fact, Russell was not the only one short on population. Baron Roman was short on people as well.
Guangguang River Valley covered such a vast area. Nearly three to four million mu of land needed cultivation, yet there were only sixty thousand people at most.
There simply were not enough hands to farm it all. Most of it lay vacant as wilderness and forest.
Wuyou Snake Manor did not have much woodland, but it had vast stretches of wasteland, especially