Seventieth Section Future Development

  My soldiers have taken good control of this place, the facilities are intact, and there is no sign of damage from fighting. There isn't much blood on the ground either, it seems that the resistance wasn't fierce! Without rushing to interrogate the tax official, I led my subordinates to take a tour around here first. Although it's already winter, the scenery of the manor is still beautiful, and many sculptures are impressive even to an outsider like me. It took me more than half an hour to roughly circle around. Then we came to the main building of the manor - a beautiful villa. This villa has three floors and must have no less than hundreds of rooms. The entrance of the villa is a square, and in the center of the square, there is a fountain. Judging from the marks on the stone sculptures, it's estimated that they are quite old.

  As soon as I entered the door, it was a large hall, at least hundreds of square meters. The decorations on the walls and ceiling can be said to be magnificent, luxurious to an extreme degree, not much different from a royal palace. On the ground is a thick layer of carpet, with intricate patterns and vast area, worth tens of thousands of gold coins! Now it's being trampled by a group of rough men, making it dirty beyond recognition, I even saw hoof prints! Damn it! What a bunch of prodigal sons!

  Alas! Never mind! I thought to myself, "It's not right to blame them now. After all, I forgot to instruct them, and the soldiers have been working hard all day only to be scolded, which will breed resentment and won't be good for leading troops in the future!" Although things are already like this at the bottom, hopefully they can remain intact at the top.

  "General Li! Well done!" The poor monk praises first

  "Heh heh! Thanks for the praise, Young Master! I've caught that little brat alive. Are you going to interrogate him now?"

  "No need! Shut it first!"

  "Yes!"

  "Have your people searched this place?"

  "I've taken a quick look, after chasing all the people away, I didn't check again! Do you want me to check again?"

  "Give up!" Old Ma, after all, came from a big family and had some vision. When he saw me observing the carpet, he understood that Li Gang had messed things up. It's just that I didn't want to say it, but they were all people he had trained. Old Ma said he didn't care!

  "What can I do?" Li Gang asked with a sense of injustice.

  Old Horse said: "Young master is here to stay, look at what you've done! Not to mention other things, just this carpet alone is worth tens of thousands of gold coins! How did you even get the horse in?"

  "Oh~ I was chasing after a few fast runners and got carried away, so I rode in on horseback! Young master, it wasn't intentional!"

  "Haha! Never mind, it's just a carpet, right? Just be more careful next time. Can't someone just wash it thoroughly and it'll be the same?"

  "Thank you, young master!" Li Gang let out a sigh of relief.

  "Bring Mr. Wang, who came with me, to count the items here. Everyone is tired today, so arrange for him to stay here. Tomorrow we will visit that manor and have General Zhao send someone to take good care of it. Tonight, call him over and have some fun, and also hold a meeting. Now let's prepare lunch, and talk after eating." I finished instructing and went to see Xianya myself. Poor child is still not awake yet!

  After lunch, I ordered people to set up tents in a suitable place and recruit local civilians to build houses outside the town. Under the attack of silver coins, all the residents who can move are mobilized, and I also let the Berserkers go, they can get higher wages, after all, they have great strength and work hard. The whole afternoon was spent in the busy construction.

  After dinner in the evening, I gathered a few leaders to hold a meeting. Those who attended included Carlo and his son, Generals Li and Zhao, Old Horse, and Mr. Wang, my future accountant. Xianya was not feeling well and did not come.

  First, the accountant, Mr. Wang, reported the statistical results. Mr. Wang is a man in his 40s with an ordinary appearance, a kind face, and a pair of bright, sharp eyes. He has been my mother's trusted aide for many years and has received great kindness from our family, so loyalty is not a problem. However, I always feel that he was sent by my mom to monitor my financial situation!

  "Master!" Mr. Wang said slowly: "This time's search and seizure yielded two estates, both valued at over 10 million!"

  "Wow! It's so expensive?" everyone exclaimed in surprise

  "There are some furniture, paintings, antiques and the like inside. In the warehouse, there are over 2,000 pieces of fur, more than 300 weapons, 24 sets of armor, 204 horses, over 1,000 heads of other livestock, 50,000 catties of grain, and some miscellaneous items. There is also 20,000 gold coins in cash. Other valuable items are worth around 300,000 gold coins. However, the most valuable things like land deeds and magical items have not been found. They might be hidden away. Also, 76 female slaves were seized!"

  "Damn it!" General Li cursed: "So many, aren't you afraid of exhausting yourself to death?"

  "Haha!" After everyone laughed for a while, I asked: "Are there any foreigners among the female slaves?"

  "There are over 20 Winged Ones, and the rest are humans who were snatched from this town!"

  "Everyone who robbed has been released, I, a member of the Winged Clan, will see you again tomorrow and then release you!"

  "Yes!"

  "Now I'll tell you the plan, and you see how it is?"

  "Alright!" Everyone became serious.

  "Now the Berserkers are short of food, we are short of houses, after all, there are still over 10,000 people to be arranged. So I plan to use labor instead of rations, using food to hire Berserkers to help us build houses! What do you think, Uncle?"

  "Alright! Anyway, we can't go hunting now, and just staying idle is also a waste of time. I might as well help you, and earn some food for the family!"

  "Don't worry, I guarantee you'll all have enough to eat this winter and still have some left over!"

  "That's great!"

  "Master! Then what will we rely on for development in the future?" Mr. Wang is more concerned about money matters.

  "Heh heh!" The poor Daoist smiled confidently and said: "First, I'll establish a powerful army, which is very convenient. With the help of 3000 Qinglong Iron Riders and Fierce Warriors, it won't take much time or money. With them by my side, I'll then contact various tribes and guarantee their absolute safety within my territory. By summer, I estimate that...

  "Gain their trust, come to my new city and open a store or trade. I will monopolize the trading rights of all alien races here in the future. Think about it, dwarves' weapons, armor, elves' magical items, plus winged people's exquisite ornaments. How much money can be made?"

  "Master, you're really clever!" Mr. Wang said: "These are all the most sought-after goods on the mainland, if it's really done, I think the annual profit here will be at least tens of millions of gold coins, or even more! But, Master, how did you make them trust you? Those who tried before have all failed?"

  "Firstly, I have the support of the elves and dwarves, with whom my relationship is not shallow, as everyone knows. Secondly, it's my Equal Rights Edict, which I will carve into stone and erect in the city center. Lastly, it's the powerful military force at my command, not just for show, I will resolutely strike down anyone who violates this edict, today's scene in the tavern was just a demonstration of my determination, future strikes will only be more severe! Moreover, I plan to recruit a batch of foreign troops to help me, and Karol will become the new lord of New City! With him as an example, plus the winged people slaves I sent back, I think the Winged Tribe will trust me! Even if they don't come, with my face, the elves and dwarves will definitely come to support me! Haha, am I right?"

  "Not bad! The previous guys didn't have your background, they didn't even dare to offend the Stone Origin family's slave-catching team, how could they possibly attract foreigners to open a store here?! Mr. Wang exclaimed excitedly: "This place is simply tailor-made for you, Young Master! His Majesty the King will definitely be delighted when he finds out that you've developed this place so well, and who knows, maybe he'll even summon you back to the capital again!"

  "What's he so excited about?" Poor Dao asked in puzzlement

  "You earn more, he collects more taxes, how can you not be happy?" Mr. Wang asked strangely.

  "Haha!" The poor Taoist burst out laughing: "He won't just be unhappy, he'll go mad! Haha"

  "What's going on?" Mr. Wang was confused.

  "Because when I came, the king promised me that I could make a request at will, haha! My request is tax exemption! Haha!"

  "How many more days?" Mr. Wang asked cautiously

  "Hehe! Forever~!" The poor Tao proudly replied

  "Oh no! That's a 20% tax!" Mr. Wang exclaimed: "I guarantee, he will definitely regret it later!"