Then came the question of how to spend the money!
Su Qin quickly made up his mind. First, he would set aside 500 gold coins for wages. That was the core priority!
The most important task this month was to finish recruiting soldiers for the territory. He planned to recruit three hundred militia, though that would also bring soldiers' wages to 180 gold coins.
Fortunately, the dozen or so Free Cities on the eastern shore of the Narrow Sea needed to trade for weapons. Once the large smithy started operating, it could make up for some of the financial shortfall.
But weapons made with advanced craftsmanship would definitely not be exported!
After eating, Su Qin left Gull Manor with four personal guards.
Mainly, the first matchmaking event was underway. Half the people were single, so he still needed to go see how it was working out!
The town center was bustling. Large numbers of refugees were introducing themselves to one another, and the men seemed a little more proactive.
Su Qin stepped down from the old coachman's carriage. After handing him a silver coin, he slowly approached Gull Square from a distance with his guards.
Ten administrative officials were busy at the very center of the square. Yira had, of course, stabbed one to death, but a replacement had soon been found.
Refugees looking for partners filled the surrounding square.
A young man was introducing himself!
"Beautiful miss, look at me. I have well-developed muscles. I can protect you."
He showed off his muscles!
"Shoo, shoo! Miss, look at me. I used to be a minor noble, but my homeland was attacked by the Ironborn from the Iron Islands. I'm absolutely worthy of you..."
The minor noble put on airs and bowed!
The young woman looked them over and hesitated for a long time before finally choosing the strong one.
"Sir, I prefer this sturdy gentleman. I believe he can protect our home." The young woman went off with the strong man to register.
Su Qin smiled beside them, while the minor noble hung his head and sighed.
"Damn Ironborn. If it weren't for you, I would definitely have won that beautiful young lady's heart."
Someone beside him nudged him from behind. He looked up, only to see the lord of Gull Territory smiling at him.
"M-my lord! Please forgive my crude words..."
Su Qin smiled. "Perhaps you should try talking to some other young ladies. There are plenty of good girls..."
Patting his shoulder, Su Qin continued looking around with his four loyal guards.
He gave slight responses to those who greeted him and made a few spot checks of their loyalty. All were above 70. Not bad at all!
His efforts were beginning to pay off. Su Qin kept strolling.
He saw a burly man who had lost his wife find a new wife with his child in tow!
When he saw a mother who had lost her husband and had no one to turn to, with a child to care for, find someone to rely on again, Su Qin nodded in satisfaction.
As long as it was voluntary, that was fine. If they could no longer get along later, they could simply separate!
But then property disputes would arise!
Still, he would deal with those when they happened. For now, he needed steady development. Only with sufficient development could problems be solved!
Every problem was a problem of development!
Of course, some unlucky people and those with physical disabilities could not find new families, but Su Qin had yet to find another solution for them.
Still, simple tasks like cutting leather were no problem!
Thus, some of the steps involved in making leather armor were specifically taught to these disabled people!
They were also paid an appropriate amount of money so they could survive!
Being able to survive was already much better than before!
But in the future, Su Qin would find a good place for them, such as the future divine court-in other words, a religious site.
In fact, many of these people with disabilities had quite strong willpower!
As long as they lived, they could find meaning in life. If they had not found it, they could take their time searching.
They could not just live like walking corpses!
They needed guidance...
In Gull Square,
Su Qin noticed that the ten administrative officials seemed a little overwhelmed and thought it over briefly from a distance.
It seemed he needed to find Telang some new subordinate officials!
Afterward, Su Qin took his loyal spear-bearing guards to inspect the harbor. He also saw some people committing crimes, mainly petty thieves.
Su Qin caught those he could. The main conflict did not lie here at present. Everything had primary and secondary conflicts, and these internal affairs had to come later.
First, everyone needed enough to eat!
That afternoon, he returned to the manor with the soldiers. Seeing the orphans helping the maids wash the soldiers' dirty daily training clothes in the pool outside the barracks, Su Qin was quite satisfied.
After all, the people had more to look forward to than before!
That evening, Su Qin decided on the location of the large smithy. It would also be inside the manor.
There was a great deal of empty land inside the manor. Altogether, the manor covered over a thousand-odd mu, with 2,000 meters of walls. It was essentially a small fortified town!
Many wooden houses and large buildings also stood throughout it, providing housing and daily necessities. At its very center stood Seagull Castle!
It could house quite a few people! If an attack came, the people could shelter inside. With enough food, they could hold out for a long time. That was the purpose of a manor!
A certain castle in the North had once withstood three years of enemy attacks and siege, and had even won in the end!
The large smithy belonged in the industrial zone and needed to exchange resources with the outside world. Naturally, it would go in the area immediately to the right after entering the manor from the south, making it convenient to exchange supplies with the residents of Gulltown to the south.
The large smithy covered 3,600 square meters. It was indeed large, but it occupied only a quarter of one percent of the manor. Gull Manor was enormous!
Su Qin sat in his chair and continued thinking. "Gradually place the new buildings inside the manor, separating the loyal followers of the Dragon God Faith from the outside world. Then I need to settle the positions of the main streets inside the manor. They should be farther from the castle. No other buildings within one li of the castle; leave that as reserved land!"
He was drawing some sketches for renovating the manor!
"We also need to build some pit latrines first!"
"Three ring roads. The first ring will be reserved for housing soldiers' families." Su Qin drew on the sketch.
"The second ring will be the residential area for logistics personnel." Su Qin drew some more.
As someone in civil engineering, he was quite happy to see the area he had designed slowly being transformed!
There was enjoyment in it!
Suddenly, Yira's voice came from outside the door. "My lord, it's twenty-four hourglasses. You should go to bed!"
Hearing her, Su Qin slowly put down his pen.
"I know, Yira. You should go rest soon too." He spoke in Chinese.
Yira was actually learning Chinese!
Who had taught her?
Who knew!
All the craftsmen knew it! She could learn just by asking one!
Of course, caught up in his enthusiasm, he was not going to sleep!
He looked over the sketch again. "We need to reserve routes for the underground drainage system. Gull Territory has frequent monsoons, and the rainy season is coming."
"If it rains and the manor floods, that would be a joke!"
Suddenly, Su Qin shook his head!
"Right, the rainy season runs from mid-April to mid-May!"
Su Qin looked up at the sky outside the window and thought, There's a lot of rain, and Gulltown has plenty of narrow alleys. If the refugees have nowhere to live, combined with the filth on the ground, they'll easily get sick. If I hadn't assigned households and arranged for the children to be taken in ahead of time, a whole bunch of people would probably die!
He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief! Fortunately, within the next few days, the vast majority would have houses to shelter them from the rain!
There were plenty of empty houses inside the manor!
Su Qin began considering how to prepare for the arrival of the rainy season.
"My lord, it's one hourglass. Time for bed!" Yira's voice came from outside the door.
"All right, Yira. Hurry along to bed..."
Of course he was not going to sleep!
"Tomorrow, I need to have the maids count how many empty wooden houses are left. Oh, right!"
"Wasn't I thinking about reserving space for the drainage system? How did I end up on preparations for the rainy season..."
Su Qin began drawing fine lines on the parchment plan again, mainly marking the drainage system's position and where it would drain. It was quite troublesome!
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead!
"I can just leave specialized work to specialists. Why am I thinking so damn..."
Suddenly, the door was roughly flung open!
Su Qin's train of thought was interrupted!
The door opened! Yira walked over, took away the parchment plan and quill, glanced at Su Qin, then immediately looked away.
She actually dared force her lord to sleep! What outrageous nerve!
But there was nothing Su Qin could do. Yira had already figured out his temperament!
She had also developed ideas of her own! Unbelievable. His subordinate was rebelling against her superior!
The door closed!
Leaving only Su Qin staring at her back, dumbfounded!
As Yira walked back, she did not forget to add, "My lord, it's two hourglasses! Sleep!"
Su Qin: "?...!"
With any other noble, a maid like this would long since have been dragged out and beheaded!
But servants took after their masters, so he could only let it go and head to bed!