Planning and Strategy
[Considering practical risks, Meng City in the book has been uniformly changed to Qimeng City. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.]
Lin Xu checked the upgraded level 2 farm. The growth efficiency of cattle, sheep, and pasture had increased to 200%, and with the added bonuses from the Life Totem and the Emerald Immortal Mushroom, it reached 320%.
He casually recruited the cattle and sheep. "Based on the bonus calculation, the cattle on this ranch can reproduce 3 times a year, and the sheep about 6 times a year. That works out to about 200 to 300 calves and tens of thousands of lambs every month."
This number startled everyone.
"A 320% growth rate! Cows only need about half a year to give birth, and sheep are even faster, only two months." Elder Jiang looked at the ranch with emotion. "A mature sheep can sell for two or three thousand yuan. In the Spirit Realm, the price of mutton is twice as high. And this is just selling meat; we can earn a hundred million yuan every month."
"So many~" Mother Lin covered her mouth, only now did she have a general impression of the profession of lord.
For ordinary people, this is a figure that is beyond their reach.
Lin Xu looked at the large ranch and pondered. This income was not even a fraction of what he earned from his spirit-patterned floor tiles. But Spiritual Qi was just an energy source; it only had value if it was utilized.
The meat and milk produced by the cattle and sheep in front of us have real value, and the influence they generate is immeasurable.
"I don't plan to make money by selling cattle and sheep at first; I want to increase my herd size first," he explained. "It's not like this is the only village where we can graze; I have five other villages, and with such a large pasture on my territory, we can make full use of it."
"More than 20,000 villagers in the territory need to be mobilized. With the help of Daoist priests to reclaim the wasteland, each village only needs to leave 3,000 people to farm, while the other 11,000 people can be freed up to engage in other industries."
Furthermore, with Spiritual Qi and Daoist techniques, the risks of large-scale livestock farming are already very low. If we can acquire livestock-related spiritual rune buildings in the future, efficiency can be further improved.
Lin Xu looked at these farms and planned to set up one in each village later, which would solve most of the problem of fertilizer for the farmland.
Including the ranch territory in front of us, all five villages under the jurisdiction of Xuanwei Monastery have been upgraded to level 4. Unless the main territory of Xuanwei Monastery is upgraded to level 5, the level of these subordinate territories will be locked at the level 4 cap.
Judging from the situation of these affiliated villages, the diameter of a level 4 village is approximately 11 to 13 li, which translates to 30,000 to 45,000 mu of farmland that can be developed from one village.
Of course, the actual number is much greater than this, because the diameter of the entire territory exceeds 30 li, but there are only 5 villages, with more land than people.
"And these captured orcs, settle them on the spot and use them as slaves." His gaze fell on the busy orcs in the territory.
Since he couldn't recruit alien races, he didn't intend to waste a protector's position.
With a thought, 96 human villagers in the recruitment section of the territory were recruited—just after the orc territory was transformed by the Source Fire, the orc slaves who were originally unrecruitable became human villagers.
Watching the villagers being assigned to work, and the village gradually getting back on track, Elder Jiang turned to look at him. "A-Xu, now that you can open Spirit Realm Passage, foreign trade should also be on the agenda. Have you thought about where to start?"
The environment of the Spirit Realm is too dangerous. The various territories are almost completely isolated from each other, turning them into isolated islands, making commerce and trade impossible.
However, by leveraging existing transportation networks, resource exchange and mutual benefit between different territories can be easily achieved.
"Judging from the current situation, territory trade should be divided into two main categories: one is trade with nations, other territories, cultivation forces, and even adventurers from the Spirit Realm; the other is trade with ordinary people." Lin Xu pondered, watching the territory rushing past beneath his feet. At this moment, he was leading everyone back to the Daoist temple. "What I lack most right now can also be divided into two categories: one is various resources in the Spirit Realm that are beneficial to the development of the territory; the other is influence and money in the real world."
Elder Jiang stood quietly to the side, listening with a look of satisfaction and emotion on his face.
Lin Xu's thinking was very clear. Without anyone giving him specific instructions, he naturally learned to think from the perspective of a lord, which would save the territory's development from many detours.
Perhaps this is the difference between geniuses and ordinary people?
"Trade with the country will have to wait until Wanqing joins the Lords' Council in Capital and figures out what the country needs. There are also other territories, cultivation forces..." Lin Xu glanced at Jiang Wanqing, who was listening quietly.
"I will keep an eye on it." Jiang Wanqing nodded seriously.
"The Night Watchers are a great asset in my control of Qimeng City, and we must increase our support!" Lin Xu pondered. "The meat, eggs, and milk produced in the Spirit Realm are of high value; I can use a portion of them to win people's hearts."
If you want the horses to run, you have to give them plenty of hay. Night Watchers is a dangerous job; nobody wants to do it without pay.
Elder Jiang nodded. "Besides protecting the city at night, the Night Watchers also serve to deter adventurers; they should not be underestimated."
In a previous life, during a period of turmoil in ancient times, the able-bodied men among the displaced people would be recruited into the army. Whether they had fighting ability or not didn't matter; as long as they had food to eat, they wouldn't rebel.
This method also works for adventurers in the Spirit Realm. By joining the Night Watchers, they can get on the same page as everyone else, and if someone dies, their family will still receive welfare.
Some adventurers who grew tired of adventure and longed for a peaceful life were happy to have a stable job with the government, which was much more comfortable than the Spirit Realm where they constantly faced the danger of death.
"As for ordinary adventurers, they will have to wait until the Spirit Realm World Trade Market in Qimeng City reopens. The territory will gradually release commonly used items such as weapons, armor, pills, and talismans." Lin Xu pondered. "According to the Night Watchers's internal data, the permanent population of the entire Qimeng City is about 300,000, of which there are about 500 non-registered Night Watchers."
This group doesn't have a large market, but they are mostly experienced adventurers who often bring back valuable items from the Spirit Realm —they must keep them!
The territory is now self-sufficient in terms of basic resources, and ordinary items have little value. However, certain items with special functions are not very valuable to adventurers, but are very important for the development of the territory.
Take the Emerald Immortal Mushroom, for example. Adventurers have no use for it, but it's a godsend for developing pastoral territories.
"Then there's the market for ordinary people, which is very important!" Lin Xu said solemnly. He now fully understood the meaning of "lord" and knew what he should do.
The Source Fire is important, but real money is equally important to a lord.
The Source Fire originates from the Bond between the lord and the anchored city. The more the lord intervenes in the city's development, the more prosperous the city becomes, and the more Source Fire is obtained.
The simplest way to intervene in urban development is to invest in production, improve urban infrastructure, and influence all aspects of urban residents' lives.
To do these things, you need a lot of money.