"The harvest this time is good." Lorist said with satisfaction.
Where Lorist is now is the hill that produces gold mines in the Black Forest, in the gold secret room of the mountain barbarian tribe named Warisingo. Under the leadership of El and Reddy, the Guard Battalion had raided and occupied the camp of this mountain barbarian tribe in the early morning, and the Warisingo tribe became one of the many mountain barbarian tribes that were exterminated. Even though this mountain barbarian tribe has two powerful priests, the crime of embracing Bi is the biggest reason for the demise of the Warisingo tribe. Those two powerful priests have become the ghosts under the sword of Lorist.
The cave in front of us is filled with all kinds of rough objects made of gold, some are big, some are small, and they are all strange shapes. Under the light of the torches, they flash a brilliant and charming golden light. According to a rough estimate, the value of the gold items in this gold cave is around two million gold dollars.
"Why did the Shanman use gold to make these strange things?" Lorist picked up a crude golden axe, which was very heavy, and waved it casually a few times: "Isn't this thing practical?"
"Your Highness, according to the old mountain slave who made these gold objects, these gold objects have to be carefully polished, and finally they were traded by other mountain tribes as offerings to the mountain god Kupavisen .” Schwader next to him quickly explained the question raised by his minions, Rist.
From the point of view of the mountain barbarians, gold is the most useless thing. It can neither be eaten nor used to forge weapons. Moreover, trade among mountain barbarian tribes is usually based on barter. So it is said that in the ancient times, gold was similar to stone in the eyes of the mountain man. However, when they found out that gold could be exchanged for good and practical items from the merchants of the flatlanders, the price of gold immediately rose all the way, and soon replaced sophisticated weapons as the most valuable offering to the mountain gods.
Since discovering that there are gold mines in the hills here, the Warisingo tribe has become a very wealthy member of the mountain tribes. They make gold offerings and sell them to other mountain tribes in exchange for a large number of slaves who dig gold mines. After buying food and livestock, they live a very good life, which can be seen from the small huts where the tribesmen live and the gold ornaments on their bodies. Even the tribe paid a lot of money to enshrine the two high priests to prevent other mountain tribes from being greedy and coveting the gold mines in their tribe's territory.
It's just that everything they own now has become the spoils of the Norton family. Perhaps it is the long-term enjoyment and affluent and comfortable life that have wiped out the aggressive and aggressive temperament of the mountain barbarians of the Warisingo tribe. After one by one fell under Lorist's sword, the patriarch's greed for life and fear of death finally gained the upper hand, and obediently ordered the warriors in the clan to put down their weapons and surrender to the guards, surrendering this gold-rich foundation.
"We didn't lose money and made a lot of money in this war against the mountain barbarian tribe. I believe Director Speer must be very happy. By the way, when will Master Sid arrive?" Lorist asked.
Master Sid came here to explore the content and stock of the gold mine in this hill. Only after he confirms whether the gold mine has development value can the family decide whether to continue to invest in the gold mine and build defensive facilities such as castles and fortresses here. It is the poor mine or the gold mine that has been exploited by the Warisingo tribe. The family's plan is to grab it and leave. After a few years, when this place is occupied by a mountain barbarian tribe again for gold mining, the family's armed forces will They will come over once in a while to get some gold flowers, and the name is to collect gold mining taxes.
"Your Highness, how can it be so fast? We just occupied this place in the morning, and it took less than half a day for the messenger to set off. It takes at least four or five days to go back and forth. And the road in the Black Forest is not easy to travel. Brother El has already I am organizing those mountain barbarian captives to cut wood in the Black Forest and prepare to open a road." Schwader complained that last night in order to achieve the purpose of the raid, he had stumbled several times while walking in the dark in the Black Forest.
"Oh, sorry, I was too happy, so I forgot." Lorist shrugged, threw the golden ax in his hand back into the pile of gold objects, turned around and walked out: "Okay, let's go out , seal the door here, and then unseal it for Director Speer to count when he arrives. Just tell me how much Kingford is worth at that time."
If it is captured on a normal battlefield, there will be personnel who count the spoils to estimate the value. But the spoils of more than one million Goldfords are still gold and gold mines, so Director Speer has to do it himself. As the chief steward of the Norton family's finances, he was overjoyed to learn that the gold mine had been acquired by the family and that many gold products had been seized. Overjoyed, Director Speer went on the road all night despite hard work and difficult roads. Arrived at Hilly Camp.
"Your Highness, all the gold items seized have been appraised, and the total value is 2.32 million goldfords." After reporting to Lorist, Director Speer regretted that it was too late for the family to attack here armed, if it was the year before last The seizure would have to be doubled at least several times. According to the confessions of those captive mountain slaves who made gold objects, last year was the festival of the mountain god Kupawisen. The Warisingo tribe made countless gold offerings and traded with other mountain tribes. How tall is the golden statue of the mountain god dedicated to the holy land of Small Megan Mountain, and nearly a thousand cows were used to transport the statue...
"It's such a waste, to use gold to make such a big statue, and to haul it with the cattle returned from the trade, and at the same time let the thousands of mountain warriors who assisted in the escort eat and drink all the way, and the remaining cattle after arriving at the holy place They were also slaughtered for blood sacrifices, and nearly a thousand cows exchanged for countless gold offerings were consumed in this way, which is a waste of gold offerings worth millions of gold!" Director Speer said outrageously.
Lorist didn't take Director Speer's words seriously. It would be bad if he attacked the Warisingo tribe to snatch the gold mines the year before last. He offered the gold offerings traded between the Warisingo tribe and other mountain barbarian tribes to the mountain god. To snatch it is equivalent to stabbing a huge hornet's nest, which is almost an enemy of the million mountain savages in the Demon Dragon Mountain Range. All the mountain barbarian tribes will regard the Norton family as enemies. The family's armed forces can easily deal with an army of more than 100,000 mountain barbarians, but no one can stand the influx of millions of mountain barbarians into the family territory. Even if tens of millions worth of gold is seized, the loss outweighs the gain.
"By the way, Director Speer, remember to send 10% of the seized money, which is 232,000 gold dollars, to Mayor Dubouf. That's the dividend I promised him." Lorist remembered a moment. Something, tell Supervisor Speer.
Director Speer hesitated: "Your Highness, is this too much? In fact, we can just send the mayor of Duboff 10,000 to 20,000 gold dollars, which is enough to make him grateful, and he doesn't know how much we have seized..."
Lorist smiled and shook his head: "Do as I say, no one can be trusted, you can hide it from others but you can't hide it from the gods. Although the 10% dividend is huge in amount and high in value, compared to the Norton family In terms of reputation, it is insignificant. Integrity is the foundation, and we must do what we say, otherwise we will covet the mayor of Dubouf’s dividend today because of jealousy, and tomorrow we may be greedy for the pension of the soldiers who fought bravely for the family. Kim...that's shaking the family, do you understand, Director Speer?"
"Your Highness, I was wrong." Director Speer bowed his head in shame.
"Director Speer, I don't blame you. You are the big steward of the family's finances, and you take care of all the expenses of the family's finances. You are a clean and honest person, and I believe in your character and integrity. Besides, you are also thinking about the family. It's not that you want to covet this dividend. After all, the Norton family is now a big business, and the war has increased the family's expenses in the past two years. I can see your efforts to balance the family's finances and find ways to balance expenses. I also appreciate your attitude of thinking about the family. But you can’t just look at some things from a financial point of view, otherwise it’s easy to cover your eyes with a leaf and you can’t see the farther and more beautiful scenery, do you understand what I mean?” Lorist said earnestly, and it was also a blow to Director Speer, who was becoming more and more miser-inclined.
"I understand what you mean, Your Highness. I guarantee that the dividend will be handed over to the mayor of Dubouf without losing a penny."
"Very well, I will leave this matter to you. Also, by the way, please tell Mayor Dubouf that after this war, the mountain barbarian tribe's vitality has been severely damaged, and there will be a long period of peace in the future. So The family decided to formally bring Liangshan Town under the jurisdiction of the territory. As the mayor of Liangshan Town, his performance in the past ten years can be said to be very outstanding. Ask him whether he will continue to be the mayor of Liangshan Town or Enter the ranks of administrative officials of the Norton family. The family's sphere of influence has expanded, and management officials like him are very much needed to work for the family. I don't think people like him should be buried in the position of the mayor of Liangshan Town. Take my words Tell him that the family will not treat those who are talented and loyal to serve the family badly... "
"Yes, Your Highness, I will tell the mayor of Dubouf exactly your evaluation and expectations of him. I believe he will make a wise choice." Director Speer replied sincerely.
Two days later, Master Sid of Pommel Horse Lawton finally arrived at the hilly camp with his disciples.
Without taking a rest, Master Sid directed his disciples to conduct a careful survey and measurement of the entire hilly area and the mine where the gold mine is located, and Master Sid went down to the mine pit to check the gold veins without hesitation. of the distribution. After working hard for three days, Lorist got the survey report of the gold mine.
"Congratulations, Your Highness, this is a rich gold mine. It has been found out that the mined gold ore only accounts for one-tenth of this gold vein. And based on what I have learned from those mining slaves, I speculate that the people who originally occupied this place Because of the primitive and backward mining and alchemy technology of the Shanman tribe, the value of gold mined every year is less than half a million gold points.
If our Norton family can increase investment and adopt the latest mining equipment and alchemy technology, I estimate that gold worth 1.5 million to 2 million gold can be mined and refined a year, and it is expected to continue mining for nearly a hundred years. This is great news for our family. "Master Sid was very happy. Ever since he was canonized as a viscount by Lorist and granted the viscount territory in Dremke Province, he has been proud of being a member of the Norton family.
Now that the Norton family can own such a rich gold mine, Master Sid is also very happy. If the family is rich, then Lorist will still support him in all kinds of whimsical experiments and inventions. Every year, like Professor Bob of the Gunpowder Laboratory, he has 100,000 Goldford experimental funds a year. These are the only two special-purpose grants in the family, and they are kept secret from the outside world. While enjoying this special treatment, Master Sid is often worried that one day the family will cut these two expenditures due to financial difficulties. Inventions take your title to the next level...
"Thank you, Master Sid, you have brought us good news." Lorist smiled happily. It is really good news that he can mine nearly a hundred years of rich gold mines and increase his income by one or two million gold dollars every year. It couldn't be better. Supervisor Speer, who was standing next to him, was so happy from ear to ear.
I really didn't expect that there would be such a huge gold vein under the nameless hills in the Black Forest. Thinking about the painstaking efforts of the Feisabrun family to occupy the large and small Jinchuan areas rich in gold mines, the annual gold mine income It's only more than one million Jinford. And now the Norton family also owns a gold rich mine that is no less than that produced in the entire area of Jinchuan, how can it not make people happy
"I've decided that this hill will be called Golden Ridge in the future, what do you think of it?" Lorist proudly named this nameless hill.
Nobody has an opinion. Director Speer echoed a few words jokingly: "Your Highness's name is really worthy of the name. This place is indeed a mountain of gold. But Your Highness, I think the most urgent task at the moment is to arrange the construction of the castle fortress and defense facilities first. Let the family permanently occupy this gold mine, so as not to fall into the hands of the barbarians again."
Director Speer's reminder was timely, and Lorist woke up and immediately held a military meeting, the theme of which was to build a castle fortress in Jinling and protect the gold mine.
"Abandon the small hills in front, and build a castle fortress and supporting defense facilities that can protect the entire gold mine on this largest mountain, named the Golden Ridge Fortress. At the same time, from here to the Fortress of Woniugang, and then A long wall will be built along the left mountain of the Rock Castle, so that the entire family territory can be separated from the Demon Dragon Mountain Range, and we will no longer have to worry about being attacked by the Mountain Man tribe again in the future.
At the same time, we also need to build a road in the Black Forest, leading to the small lake where we gathered and wiped out the mountain barbarian army. We will build a town at the small lake to provide logistical support for the Golden Ridge Fortress. Because it is located in the Black Forest, during the construction, we still need to cut down all the trees within 500 meters of the shooting range, whether it is the fortress or the two sides of the long wall. Only in this way can we ensure that the mountain barbarians will not rely on trees To cover the attack on our family's armed guard soldiers.
This will be a big project, but all other affairs of the family that have nothing to do with the war must make concessions for it. Whether it is funds, materials or labor, the construction of the Golden Ridge Fortress and the Long Wall are the most important and most urgent. El, Reddy, the two of you will lead the Guards Battalion and the 7th and 18th Battalions of the Guards to station here. The task is to expel the nearby mountain barbarians, guard and guard, and maintain the construction of the fortress and the long-robbed Workforce Safety. In case of an emergency, the two of you can handle it at your own discretion, understand? "Lorist started pointing.
"As you order, Your Highness." El and Reddy both stood up.
"But, Your Highness, if the guard battalion is still here, isn't there no one around you?" Reddy asked.
"Hehe, it's fine. I'll just bring a large team by my side. Five hundred people are enough," Lorist said.
"It's a big matter for Sid, and Director Speer, the two of you will stay here for a while, Master Sid, please be responsible for rectifying and updating the mining equipment and refining technology of the gold mine. Director Speer is Provide logistical support and funding for the construction of forts and long walls. At the same time, strict supervision of gold mining is also required. I hope that during the construction period, the gold mines can still produce something, instead of stopping mining and so on Construction complete."
"Yes, Your Highness, I will complete the update of gold mining equipment and the improvement of refining technology as quickly as possible." Master Sid replied loudly.
"Understood, Your Highness, I will do a good job in the supervision of gold mining." Director Speer stood up and said.
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