Chapter 72: 72 Preparations Before Campaigning Against the Savage Tribe

Chapter 72: Preparations Before the Campaign Against the Wild Tribes

Under Wilson's unified arrangements, 102 slaves were divided into five major groups: the construction squad, the ironwood squad, the logging squad, the dung collection squad, and the newly established blacksmith squad.

Without disrupting the work schedules of the other serfs and free tenants, this batch of slaves was purchased very timely.

As mentioned before, the status of slaves was even lower than that of the serfs in the territory; they were regarded as talking tools.

Although serfs also had a low status and were bound to the land, unable to leave easily or change their identity, they still enjoyed certain independent family, marital, and economic rights on a legal level.

Ronin, as the master of these slaves, had the power to decide their identity.

Following his earlier instructions to Gallen, he made a promise to these slaves: if they worked diligently for Forest Castle for ten years, Ronin would remove their slave status and elevate them to the serf class.

Ronin also allowed these slaves to marry and have children. Although the children born would still be slaves, once they themselves escaped slavery, their children would likewise no longer be slaves.

Identity had to be earned through one’s own efforts. Ronin, despite having the soul of a modern man, could not be a pure philanthropist in this world.

Providing these people with a channel to change their status was already quite generous; ordinary lords would never care about the life or death of slaves.

Although he only gave these two promises, they were enough to awaken in some slaves a desire to escape their fate.

Of course, expecting slaves to be completely self-disciplined was unrealistic. Ronin would not relinquish his right to discipline them, and he would also allow Wilson and others to exercise such rights.

Minor offenses would result in minor punishments; major offenses would lead to severe punishments. If they committed crimes deserving death, Ronin would not hesitate to execute them, despite having purchased them himself.

Ultimately, everything depended on their hard work.

Apart from the slaves, Ronin issued similar incentive measures for the serfs.

Based on the current conditions, if serfs cultivated the land for the territory for ten years, Ronin would reward them with ten acres of land.

Although the ownership of these ten acres still belonged to Ronin, he allowed only 30% of the output from this land to be submitted to Forest Castle, while the rest could be freely distributed.

It must be noted that current serfs had to submit 50% of their output to the castle. After deducting seeds, what remained for their own consumption was around 25%, and they could barely survive by making black bread with wild vegetables and other items.

In any world, human emotions are similar; everyone desires a life of sufficient food and clothing.

Ronin set long-term goals for the serfs, coupled with the newly announced incentive plan comparing yields among the four villages, and the impending introduction of the curved plow and ridge farming method. It was believed that most farmers would become much more motivated.

After returning from William, Ronin took a look at the training status of McKen and others.

The guards brought from Mount Black Castle were already completely separated from production; Ronin did not plan to have them work in the fields.

During this period, although both he and McKen were not in Forest Town, before leaving, Ronin and McKen had instructed David to guard the castle well while also allowing the guards to continue with appropriate drills.

The open area west of the castle had now become a training ground for the guards.

McKen divided the twenty-seven ordinary guards into three groups, each with nine people. Every day, one group would be assigned to guard the castle and patrol the territory, while the remaining two groups continued with daily training.

Apart from formation training, ordinary guards now also needed to practice military-style boxing. McKen also arranged for close combat sparring, swordplay practice, and archery training that was about to start in the coming days.

For the professional knights—David, Tom, Jewett, and Sim—the training focused mainly on combat skills, which was much more intense than that for ordinary people.

Knights had to continuously push their physical limits to strengthen the fighting spirit within them; relaxation would only stagnate their cultivation.

The only exception was the commander, Redar, who disappeared early this morning. According to McKen, Redar left Forest Town early in the morning and entered the northern woodland of Mount Black alone.

Indeed, intelligence gathering on the wild tribes should begin now. Compared to Sen Territory, the wild tribes should be easier to handle.

Launching a public war against other nobles would inevitably lead to accusations and interventions; even Mount Black Castle might mediate or punish Ronin to maintain the unity of Mount Black Territory.

To openly attack Sen Territory, Ronin either needed to be strong enough that no one dared to speak out, or he had to push Resen to an isolated position where no one would plead for help. Neither approach was feasible now.

The wild tribes were different; they were enemies driven into the woods by the allied nobles of Mount Black Territory.

Originally, if the forest roads had not been difficult to traverse, supplies too troublesome to transport, and the nobles uninterested in exerting great effort to annihilate the remaining enemy forces, the wild tribes would not have been left unchecked.

Now, Ronin taking action against the wild tribes would not only not incur any noble accusations but would even contribute to Mount Black Territory to some extent, promoting the prestige of the Mount Black family.

Over the years, it seemed Mount Black Castle had not done anything remarkable.

Since old man Roulance retreated behind the scenes and entrusted matters to Viggins, this family had begun to fade into silence.

Ronin watched the knights and guards sparring from afar. Forest Town now had two high-level peak knights, one intermediate-level mage, four primary knights, plus himself as a dual-profession intermediate-level lord—eight superhumans altogether.

With a few more superhumans, a knight squad could be formed.

When selecting guards at Mount Black Castle, Ronin looked at Sir Garman and wondered when he could have a knight squad of his own. He hadn’t thought that just a month later, this idea had become almost attainable.

"Lord, you've arrived!"

Seeing Ronin approach, McKen and others immediately stopped.

"I just came to see; continue training."

Ronin beckoned to McKen, "William the carpenter made a batch of ironwood armor and weapons using the ironwood tree. Arrange two people later to bring them over for the guards to equip. Those shields are quite good; you should also be able to use them."

McKen knew about the ironwood tree; they accompanied the lord to inspect it when it was discovered.

At that time, McKen was only an intermediate knight and couldn’t cut through the ironwood tree with one sword. The armor forged from this material undoubtedly had considerable defensive capability.

"I didn’t expect William to process the ironwood so quickly," McKen smiled. "I’ll arrange someone to bring them over later and equip the guards first."

"The ironwood armor, plus the five full suits of armor obtained from Pedro and Prinst, will be assigned to you."

Ronin glanced at the two new knights sparring, "Give Jewett and Sim more guidance during this period, and David and Tom as well. Raise their combat capabilities one by one. Once Redar gathers intelligence on the wild tribes, we must prepare for battle."

McKen’s expression turned serious, "Yes, Lord, I understand!"

As they conversed, a guard rushed toward Ronin, "Lord~"

McKen looked over, "It’s the guard guarding the castle today."

Ronin was puzzled; the guard rushing so urgently likely meant something urgent. Last time, it was Feridon visiting. Could someone have come again today?

The guard gasped as he reached Ronin, "Lord, several knights said they wish to visit you."

Indeed, someone had arrived; Forest Town was becoming lively too, but he couldn’t think who would bother coming.

"Is it Sir Feridon from Sen Territory?"

"No, it’s knights from Horse Pasture City."

The guard replied breathlessly, "The leader said his name is 'Rognar Ironhoof'."

(End of Chapter)