Homecoming

After bidding farewell to Chairman Vitri, Victor spent another half day wandering through the markets of Blackwater City. He found that bulk goods such as grain, iron, lumber, and cloth had all risen in price because of the war, so he made no further purchases of supplies. After buying some fresh meat and fruit, he returned to the camp outside the city.

After arranging for the meat they had brought back to be cooked, Victor planned to personally deliver it, along with the fruit, to the wounded soldiers.

Before leaving the camp, he specifically instructed Santos to arrange a separate tent area for the wounded soldiers so they could rest properly.

He entered a tent and saw the soldiers injured in battle lying on their beds. Most had only minor wounds. After all, even with excellent wound medicines such as Bitter Bamboo, severely wounded soldiers were difficult to save. Combined with this world's primitive medical techniques, only lightly wounded soldiers could be rescued.

He said softly, "Brothers, this is freshly prepared food and some fresh fruit. I hope you can eat more and recover your health soon."

A young soldier accepted the food, tears glimmering in his eyes. "My lord, you are far too kind. We will recover properly and strive to return to the battlefield soon to serve the baron."

An older soldier beside him also said emotionally, "Yes, my lord. Thank you for your concern. We will work hard to recover and will not disappoint your expectations."

Victor smiled and patted their shoulders. "I believe you can do it. You are all brave warriors. As long as you persevere, you will overcome your injuries. I look forward to fighting alongside you again."

The soldiers all nodded in agreement, their faces filled with gratitude and respect.

Seeing the reverent looks in their eyes, Victor sighed inwardly. This is merely a cheap imitation of Wu Qi Lancing a Wound, yet it can have such an effect. The wisdom of the ancients from my previous life truly cannot be underestimated.

He also saw several soldiers who had lost limbs, their grateful eyes carrying confusion as well.

Victor continued, "Brothers, even if you can no longer fight in the future, you are still fine men. I have already discussed this with the baron. After we return to the territory, a pension decree will be issued. The families of soldiers killed in battle will receive compensation of one Silver Maple. For those with children, each child will receive ten jin of wheat every month until the age of fourteen. For those without children, their parents will receive twenty jin of wheat every month for ten years."

Victor paused after speaking and looked around. Every soldier, including those standing outside the tent, had joy shining in their eyes.

He continued, "I'm not finished. Disabled soldiers will be assigned as forest rangers or estate guards throughout the territory. Though it will not compare to the one Silver Coin per month you earn as soldiers, the salary will still be three Copper Coins per month. Those truly unable to work will receive fifty jin of wheat every month for their livelihood. Furthermore, the families of serfs killed in battle will be exempted from handing over one year's harvest."

At this, all the soldiers cheered.

Victor watched them with a smile and thought, Ten jin of wheat can only be sold after being milled into flour, and even then it is worth only three Copper Pieces. In truth, the territory cannot process all its wheat anyway. Rather than throw away grain that will spoil sooner or later, it is better to turn it into security and morale for the army. Besides, people in this world are physically strong. Minor injuries can generally recover seven or eight tenths of the way, and once these soldiers return to the army, they will be genuine backbone troops. Few severely wounded soldiers will survive anyway. Across the entire territory, there are only a dozen or so disabled soldiers unable to fight again. They are easy to accommodate and pose no burden. It costs little and brings great benefits, so why not?

After encouraging several soldiers, Victor left and returned to his tent, where Santos and Jack had been waiting for a long time.

"My lord, are we setting out tomorrow morning? You haven't even finished looking around Blackwater City. Why not stay another day and rest?" Santos asked.

"There's no need. We have done what needed to be done. We need to return to the territory as soon as possible. There is still much work to do. The battle on the battlefield is over, but the battle at the table has not yet begun," Victor said.

"And Jack, you reacted quickly today. You managed to gain a small advantage," Victor said with a smile.

"It was what I should have done." Jack scratched his head.

"The fact that you understood what I meant is already impressive. If it had been Santos, he probably would have asked, 'Young master, what happened to your eyes?' Hahaha." Victor teased.

Santos already knew what had happened that day. He did not mind and laughed along with them.

Victor then arranged the next day's deployment and departure plans with Santos and Jack. Once everything had been confirmed, he sent them back to rest.

Victor took out a bag from beside him. It was filled with the Iron Beans he had asked Jack to pick from the pile of straw sacks.

He took out a small iron sphere and examined it carefully, then drew the dagger he carried close to his body and chopped down on it.

Victor then examined the dagger and the iron sphere. The dagger was completely undamaged, which was normal. This dagger had been made by the Southern Desert Moluo People. They possessed unique smelting techniques, and the alloy weapons they made could cut iron like mud, making them popular across the continent.

However, there was a clear blade mark on the Iron Bean. Victor studied it.

"This is clearly stainless steel. This thing can grow out of the ground? What kind of plant is this? It is practically a miniature furnace that can smelt steel, and it even has the ability to mine minerals. How incredible. What exactly do these miraculous plants represent, and where did they come from?" Victor thought excitedly.

"Unfortunately, this world only has a little over a thousand years of recorded history, and most of it is poetry. There is no mature historical system at all. There are also very few books available on the market. Unless I can gather all the writings under heaven like the First Emperor after unification," Victor thought with frustration.

He turned to look at his palm again. The vague lighthouse image remained unchanged, and he could not help feeling disappointed.

"Golden Finger, when will you finally activate? My foundation is too weak. If I want to become the Qin Shi Huang of another world, how can I manage without cheats?"

After brooding for a while, Victor picked up another Iron Bean tuber and examined it.

"It really looks like one. It truly feels like a potato."

"Could eating too much and getting diarrhea be because the sprouted parts were not removed properly, causing solanine poisoning? I'll arrange some experiments when we return to the territory. If the edible issue and yield issue can be solved, this can absolutely become the foundation of a noble house."

There was a reason why nobles in this world liked using plants as their surnames. All manner of miraculous plants existed here, many of them extremely valuable. Every noble family possessed cultivation and propagation techniques for one or several miraculous plants, and they would use the most valuable of those plants as their surname. To prevent duplicate names, every country had a Noble Council responsible for reviewing and updating heraldry. Every newly elevated noble had to submit an application, and it could only pass after confirming that no duplication existed. However, there were also workarounds. For example, the other two branches of the Golden Sunflower Family were named Silver Sunflower and Oil Sunflower. Though the plants were the same, their names differed, so they could pass review.

Therefore, many people in this world searched the wilderness for various miraculous plants, while many others studied the effects and habits of those plants to determine methods of cultivation. The best among them were known as plant hunters and botanists. Nobles also recognized and supported such pursuits, and every country had specialized associations to support and manage these people.

If someone made a new discovery or developed better cultivation techniques, they could earn a considerable sum merely by selling it, even if they could not become nobles. If they presented exceptionally outstanding results to a royal family or a great noble with the right to grant titles, they might even have a chance to become nobles.

Victor had also trained a group of people using knowledge from his previous life, but they could only be considered technicians, not scholars. Most merely selected and cultivated plants by establishing different conditions.

After a busy spell, Victor soon went to rest as well.

Early the next morning, the ships set sail.

They then traveled downstream, heading east. After two days and one night of sailing, they crossed three hundred kilometers and finally arrived in Bole County.

Victor stood at the bow, looking at the dock not far ahead. It was Linshui Town, the inland river port of Golden Sunflower Territory.

He turned and shouted to everyone, "Brothers, we're home!"

Everyone cheered, both to express their joy at returning home and because they were glad to have survived the battlefield.

Victor turned to Santos and said, "Take the men back to the barracks first and settle the wounded soldiers. The others can be given leave to go home, but they must return to camp in three days. I'm going to the castle to look over the accumulated administrative affairs. Let Jack sleep in my barracks first."

Santos immediately agreed. "Rest assured, young master. I will handle everything properly."

Jack bowed to Victor in gratitude. "Thank you, my lord!"

Victor waved a hand. "Jack, you are my subordinate. Your loyalty to me should naturally be rewarded. For now, you will serve as deputy captain of the cavalry squad and receive a monthly salary of four Silver Coins. It may not compare to what you received as a knight, but rest assured that I will arrange all your other proper benefits, including housing, a warhorse, and new armor, as soon as possible."

"My lord, you are too generous. My previous annual stipend was only two Gold Coins, so there is basically no difference now," Jack said gratefully.

Normally, knights were warriors who had rendered outstanding service and possessed a certain degree of leadership ability, making them officers in every territory. Depending on the lord, some were granted temporary fiefs, with the knights providing their own equipment and warhorses; the fiefs would be reclaimed upon their deaths. Others were given knightly stipends, with the lord bearing the cost of their equipment and warhorses and providing pensions after death. The normal standard ranged from two to ten Gold Coins per year, depending on a knight's skill and years of service.

Victor preferred granting stipends. He believed knights should focus on combat, while estate production and management were better left to more specialized territorial civil officials.

Although Jack had once been a knight and his combat skills and command ability had been proven through war, he had not yet rendered any merit within Golden Sunflower Territory. Victor could not directly grant him the title of Knight Jack.

Fortunately, the compensation for the light cavalry squad was already high enough. Every ordinary cavalryman received a monthly salary of two silver coins. Food and lodging were provided in the barracks, and meat was plentiful. The deputy squad captain's monthly salary was doubled, already approaching the standard of the lowest-ranked knight. As the cavalry squad's actual manager, the squad captain received six silver coins per month, equivalent to three gold coins a year, no different in compensation from a lower-ranked knight.

After all, this world had no battle aura or magic. Knights merely possessed exceptional talent and professional training, similar to the difference between special forces officers and ordinary people in his previous life. At most, they could fight more than ten people barehanded. They could not defeat a hundred alone, so they were better regarded as a military rank and honorary title.

Once the ships docked, Victor left first with several guards, while Santos and Jack were responsible for maintaining order and arranging the remaining work.

Riding east from Linshui Town for around ten kilometers, Victor saw a vast estate and castle in the distance. This was the heart of Golden Sunflower Territory: Stone Castle.

The name was unremarkable, and its appearance was not imposing either. After all, Bole County lay deep inland, far from the border. The Golden Sunflower Barons of past generations had placed greater importance on the army in their hands and had not cared much for the castle. As a result, it held little more than symbolic significance, and even the lord normally lived in the estate.

After Victor took over part of the territory's authority, he turned the castle into an administrative center. Civil officials usually worked inside, while the estate became a more purely residential area.

Before he reached Stone Castle, someone spotted Victor. Soon, a group of people came out from the castle to welcome him.

After arriving at Stone Castle, Victor dismounted and said to the man at the front, "Steward Boon, you have worked hard during this time. You managed the territory while we were away, and everything remained so orderly even after our long journey back."

The silver-haired middle-aged man quickly waved his hands. "Young master, you are too courteous. This is my duty. Please come inside and rest. You have grown thin during this time. Welcome home."

"Yes, I'm back." Victor nodded and walked into the castle.