Inspecting the Territory (Conclusion)
Victor didn't linger too long at Zarack. According to the plan, he was to rest for one night at the original settlement of the Fourth Outpost and then head to Blue Lake the next day.
When Victor arrived at the fourth outpost, he found that the changes were even greater; the settlements here were significantly larger than those at the previous three outposts.
The existing military post was used as the inner city, and construction was carried out in a radial pattern. New buildings were scattered around the inner city, with the straight-line distance between the inner and outer city walls exceeding one kilometer. There was also a lot of open space, which was clearly reserved for future city construction.
A rammed earth wall was built on the outermost perimeter of the outer city. At this time, the outer panels of the rammed earth wall had not yet been removed, indicating that it had just been built.
Victor did not linger in the outer city but went straight into the inner city, where the garrison had already prepared accommodations and food for Victor and his entourage.
In order to set off as early as possible the next day, Victor only briefly inquired about the current situation from the garrison commander before going to rest.
"Phew! Not much has changed here!"
Victor revisited the same spot, the grassland where he had captured gazelles last year. However, the gazelle herd he had seen last year had long since disappeared, probably because human activity in the area had increased dramatically, and the gazelles no longer dared to approach.
Victor was very grateful for the large yellow sheep he captured last year. Without it, he probably wouldn't have been able to deal with the Silver Maple Secret Guard's Grand Master with Victor original strength, and the outcome of the Civil War might have been reversed.
Victor left the grassland and continued towards Blue Lake. Along the way, Victor encountered two convoys: one was transporting supplies to the Blue Lake Bay Outpost, and the other was returning from the Blue Lake Bay Outpost.
Victor paid little attention to the convoy transporting supplies, but the returning convoy caught Victor eye.
At this time, the only way to transport supplies from the territory to Blue Lake was by land. Even with the construction of dirt roads, the losses were still significant. In order to balance the costs, the Government Affairs Office and the Commerce Department decided to find a way to excavate some local specialties near Blue Lake.
So the convoy on the return trip was crammed with specialties obtained by the Blue Lake Bay Outpost around Blue Lake, including dried fish made from the unique fish species in Blue Lake, furs obtained from some animals caught around Blue Lake, and copper mines that Victor had previously discovered, especially copper mines, which filled at least 60% of the convoy's space.
Victor learned from the convoy members that with the arrival of the first batch of immigrants, large-scale mining had begun near the Blue Lake Bay Outpost.
After all, after being promoted to Marquis, Victor had obtained the exclusive right to mint coins granted by the King of the Raine Kingdom. Victor could produce the kingdom's official standard copper coins, which greatly increased the demand for copper mines.
Currently, obtaining high-quality copper ore from Blue Lake Bay can offset half of the immigration costs, greatly reducing the economic burden on immigrants.
When Victor arrived at Blue Lake Bay Outpost, he found that the changes there were even greater than he had imagined.
Because the soil conditions here are even better than those on both sides of the Lime River, and the Blazing Fire Tribe even had the habit of planting rye and alfalfa, the existing fields only need slight modifications to grow other grain crops.
So although it is farther from the heartland, the immigrant population is quite large. Since March, the territory government has relocated four batches of people, totaling nearly 1,000 people.
These new immigrants and the original garrison at Blue Lake Bay Outpost have, with the help of a large number of mules and horses and new farming tools, reclaimed 50 hectares of land in the past two months, and the food produced will be completely self-sufficient in the future.
Victor spent a day at the Blue Lake Bay Outpost, and, satisfied with the progress of the development, set off back to Wood Fort Town, concluding his inspection.