During the third week of Recovery Moon, Cecil ushered in a light rain.
Norris, the director of agriculture, stood in front of the farmland that had just been leveled, watching the farmers busy in the field. They were carrying metal boxes similar in shape to the combat backpacks of those combat soldiers, and the metal boxes were connected by iron pipes and pressure rods. Come out, as the user presses those pressure rods, the nozzle at the front end of the iron pipe can spray out a large amount of liquid evenly.
That is the "sprinkler" newly manufactured by the third workshop of the Machinery Manufacturing Institute this spring. It is said that it is a new thing invented by Ms. Rebecca. It does not use the slightest magic device inside. Can learn to use. Using this sprinkler, a farmer can complete the workload of several people in one day, and its function is very simple, that is, to quickly and efficiently sprinkle the alchemy potion on the farmland.
The mist sprayed from the sprinkler has a slight blue-green glow in the sun. These magical mist will work quickly after touching the land, soaking the soil and decomposing the plant debris in the soil, and at the same time The harmful magic power accumulated in the soil is released. During the growth process, plants will continue to enrich specific types of magic power or elements in their root systems. This enrichment of magic power or elements will lead to a decline in the yield of various crops year by year and rapid wildization. This is common sense that all farmers have, and there are usually only two ways to deal with it, either fallow rotation, using two or three years of fallow in exchange for rebalancing the land's magic and fertility, or using druid potions or The fertility spell to adjust the land.
The former is a waste of time and land, while the latter is expensive and hard to come by.
But in Cecil Territory, everything is not a problem.
The operation of the alchemy factory has brought an incredible supply of alchemy potions to this land. Under normal circumstances, agricultural growth promoters and earth rejuvenation potions, which are always in short supply, are directly distributed to every farmer by the government affairs department here. It is also for this reason that spring farmers can use frighteningly efficient devices like "sprinklers" to spray precious alchemy potions, so that every inch of land can be fully maintained.
Seeing the medicine mist infiltrate the land little by little, causing the whole farmland to glow with a faint magical radiance, Norris himself even felt a feeling of finally tasting the rain after a long thirst. He knew that after the land was adequately maintained, How much food can be grown, and this food is the lifeblood of people. All this should be thanks to the efforts of the lord and the smart people in various research institutes on the territory.
So what unexpected things will those smart people come up with that can change the entire territory in the future
In the territory, I met Hetty who had just completed the latest census.
"We have welcomed the 30,000th settler in the territory," the beautiful lady reported the good news excitedly upon seeing Gao Wen, "On the cargo ship that arrived at the Whitewater River wharf this morning, there was a A batch of farmers from the western region have completed their registration, and they have already reported to the buffer camp."
When he was in the government affairs hall, Hetty would usually wear a plain black dress and put her hair up high. Looking at her like this, the words "professional elite" couldn't help popping up in Gawain's mind. Hearing the other party's report, he couldn't help showing a smile: "It seems that the Xicheng District, which has just completed expansion in winter, will soon become lively."
"Yes, it's all thanks to the news we actively disseminated to the outside world last year, as well as the results of the caravan activities," Hetty said happily, but then she frowned slightly, "But recently There are some problems... As the population of the main urban area increases, especially the crowds from various regions, fights occur from time to time. Although the newly established security team is actively dealing with it, the order has not been affected, but this It's a bad trend...”
When the territory was first established, the law and order in the camp was maintained by soldiers. However, after the initial development of the territory and the original camps became urban settlements, Gao Wen set up a "security team" separate from the army. Specially responsible for maintaining order in the territory and dealing with security issues within the territory, the knight apprentice named "Krim" accepted by Byron was the first sheriff of the security team.
So far, this security team, which is independent of the military system and directly responsible to the government affairs department, has done pretty well, but it is clear that the root cause of the recent problems in the territory is not as simple as "there are too many people, so there are fights".
Hearing what Hetty reported, Gao Wen didn't show any surprise on his face. In fact, he had already heard that the reporter was Amber for the recent increase in fighting incidents in the territory.
"I know about this situation," he nodded to Hetty, "Amber mentioned it to me three days ago."
"Amber..." Hetty looked surprised, "Is she still doing business?"
"... Occasionally, I do some serious business." Gawain's mouth twitched, and he smiled helplessly in his heart: that half-elf wandered around the territory whenever he had free time every day, going to various departments to eat or running around in the streets and alleys to play tricks. As a passer-by, Gawain said that her behavior was fishing (this kind of statement once aroused Tyre's dissatisfaction), but in fact, the half-elf lady really knows how to do some serious things, and she will share what she sees and hears on the territory. They all reported to Gao Wen. Although in most cases, she just thought it would be interesting to come back to BB after running wild outside like this, but Gao Wen did learn about many changes in the city in time during this process.
Hearing her ancestor's explanation, Hetty also smiled helplessly: "That guy... well, it still has some effect. But ancestor, the issue of law and order still needs to be dealt with. Although fighting is a trivial matter, this trend continues Development is very problematic.”
Gao Wen had thought about this matter a few days ago, and now he heard that he asked Heidi a question: "Have you ever thought about how the leaders spend their free time every day?"
"Killing... free time?" Hetty was stunned for a moment, obviously she hadn't thought about this question, and after thinking about her situation carefully, she answered uncertainly, "I don't know how they do it, I can only say that I usually read magic books or study astrology in my spare time... "
"Ordinary people don't have this condition," Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, and then looked at the clock hanging on the wall (due to the existence of mechanism engineers and mechanism technology, mechanical clocks have long existed in this world), "like this Well, it's time to rest, you come home with me, and I'll show you something."
Hetty didn't know why, but she obediently followed Gawain back home, and what Gawain showed her made her even more confused.
She thought it would be some new magic device, or a new management method that could improve the public security situation. These two things are what her ancestors were best at, but she didn't expect Gao Wen to hold a square After the wooden box came, there were only dozens of chess pieces carved with wood.
"This is..." Hetty watched curiously as Gawain took out a piece of parchment with checkered lines from the wooden box and spread it on the table, and then took out the black and red parchment from the box. Putting the pawn on the parchment, he finally couldn't help asking, "What is this?"
"Chess," Gao Wen pointed to the chair across the table, and asked Heidi to sit down there, "I'll teach you how to play."
"Play? Is this something for playing?"
Hetty sat opposite Gawain with full of curiosity. She couldn't feel any magic fluctuations from the chess piece, and even its material was just ordinary wood. She really couldn't see the difference between this thing and her There was no connection with the deterioration of law and order reported earlier, but with great trust in Gao Wen, she still began to listen to Gao Wen's explanation of the rules of this "game" seriously.
The rules of chess are not complicated, and even ordinary people with little education can easily learn it, not to mention Hetty, who has a strong comprehension ability. This lady quickly figured out the meaning of each of these simple chess pieces. The chess pieces have been "translated" locally, and the chess pieces are called "king", "emperor's guard knight" and so on, so as to facilitate Hetty's understanding.
After figuring out the rules, Hetty tried to play a game with Gawain.
"Is this... a step forward?" She held the chess piece marked "Infantry", and raised her head to ask Gao Wen while carefully pushing it forward.
"That's right," Gawain nodded with a smile, "Then it's my turn..."
In less than ten minutes, the first chess game in Hetty's life ended in abandonment.
However, she felt an unbelievable joy from this first game of chess that was bumpy and failed miserably. These chess pieces can contain so many changes, and something with such simple rules... can it be so interesting? !
"Can I do it again?" Hetty looked straight into Gawain's eyes with excitement and anticipation on her face, "I think I don't need your reminder this time!"
"Of course." It was rare for Gawain to see Heidi showing such a relaxed and happy look, so he naturally readily agreed, "This time you come to place the chess pieces, and I will teach you."
Ten minutes later, Hetty looked at the "King" who was surrounded by chariots and wizards and had fallen into a deadly situation, and clenched his fists unwillingly: "Ancestor, I want...to do it again..."
It wasn't until the sun gradually went down that the sky became dim, and Betty walked into the living room and lit the magic spar lamp. The lady addicted to chess suddenly realized that she glanced at the time, and then at the chessboard in front of her. Ji Ling sat up straight all of a sudden: "Ah! When I forgot... (click)."
There was a loud click on Hetty's shoulder and neck, and the second half of her sentence turned into a cry of pain: "It hurts..."
"I need to move around after sitting for a long time." Gao Wen raised his eyelids and glanced at the other party. "What, is chess fun?"
"Okay..." Hetty said subconsciously, but then she finally remembered what the real topic was before, "But does this have anything to do with the conflict between the residents in the territory and the deterioration of public security?"
"Of course." Gao Wen crossed his arms, "Why do you think they fight and cause trouble?"
Hetty rubbed her shoulders and neck while trying to think: "Because...they are irritable?"
"There are people with grumpy personalities, but it's impossible for so many people to be grumpy, and it's even more impossible for everyone to be mild-mannered in the past autumn and winter and wait until spring to become grumpy." Gawain shook his head, "The real reason is that Our citizens finally have extra energy. They have enough food and clothing, and they don’t need to exhaust all their energy for their livelihood. But after they are full and warm, they don’t have much entertainment, so fighting is inevitable. Of course, This is not the whole reason, but it is also an important reason.”
"No means of entertainment?" Hetty seemed to be thinking about the issue of "civilians' entertainment" for the first time, "But before... and in other territories, why didn't there be such a problem of concentrated fighting?"
Gawain glanced at Heidi: "That's because they never had enough."
Hetty was stunned, half understanding what Gao Wen said, and then she looked at the chess in front of her again: "Then do you think that this kind of game can solve the security problem in the territory?"
Gao Wen's answer this time was even more straightforward: "No."