"Master, do you want to go check the farmlands?" Annie asked. She saw that the Master had finished handling the running water situation.
"Let's go. I wonder how the planting is coming along." Lucas raised an eyebrow. He realized it had been about a month since he'd last seen the farmlands. He hadn't been back since that first time they cleared the land.
"It will definitely surprise you, Master," Annie chuckled, her fox tail swishing back and forth. She was the one who had arranged everything for the farmlands.
"Oh? Then I'm quite looking forward to it." Lucas was amused. This fox-eared girl was clearly fishing for praise.
The group got on the carriage and headed for the pontoon bridge. The waterfall was located upstream on the Whispering River. It took them ten-some minutes to reach the bridge.
Lucas got off the carriage and saw a squad of soldiers stationed in front of the pontoon bridge. This was to prevent anyone from damaging it, as the bridge was just made of wooden planks.
"City Lord!" The soldiers gave a military salute.
Lucas nodded slightly and walked onto the bridge with Dahlia, Mina, and Annie. When they reached the middle, he looked toward the shipyard. There were three dry docks now, with three ships being built inside. One was almost finished, and the other two were about halfway done.
In another half month, Lucas would have three more fifty-meter-long ships. This would also be the last batch of sail-powered fifty-meter ships. Future production would incorporate steam engines.
Tap, tap, tap...
After crossing the swaying pontoon bridge, the group arrived on the other side. Lucas looked at the expanse of vibrant green fields before him, and the corners of his mouth turned up uncontrollably.
"Master, this entire area in front of us is planted with sweet potatoes," Annie said softly, her brown eyes shining with joy.
"Good. Very good." Lucas nodded, satisfied. Sweet potatoes have a high yield and are a good crop for solving hunger. Plus, the sweet potato vines and leaves can be used to feed pigs and other animals.
"Master, over there are peanuts, and that's rice..." Annie explained knowledgeably from the front. She had been coming to the fields often recently and had even planted some herself.
She had calculated based on the data the Master gave her. If all these crops yielded a bumper harvest, it would be enough to feed the tens of thousands of people in Sedona City. They would no longer have to worry about not having enough to eat.
"Where are the cotton fields?" Lucas asked. Cotton was a key part of his future plans.
As Sedona City grew, it would inevitably affect the surrounding cities. Sedona City couldn't just hoard all the good things for itself. After all, the place was only so big. Even if just for building alliances, some industries would have to be shared or partnered with other cities. That was the only way to scale up and earn more.
Cotton was one of the bargaining chips Lucas had chosen for cooperating with other cities. As long as he controlled the spinning machines and the looms, the others would only be producing raw materials and earning the hard-labor money.
"Over there. Not much cotton was planted," Annie said, pointing to a nearby field about the size of three soccer fields.
"Save the seeds." Lucas nodded. There was no rush to mass-produce cotton right now. At this stage, food was the most important thing.
"Okay," Annie nodded seriously.
"Let's go. Time to head back," Lucas said lightly after inspecting the area. "The dinosaur museum opens tomorrow. You all can go check it out."
"Huh? Master, aren't you going?" Annie paused, her fox ears twitching.
"I'm not. I have to prepare some things. The day after tomorrow, I'm getting ready to go to Riverden City to negotiate with the beastkin tribe leader." Lucas waved his hand and started walking back.
"Dinosaur? What's that?" Dahlia was confused. "Is he talking about dragons?"
"Heehee... You'll find out tomorrow," Annie giggled and hurried after Lucas.
"Let's go. Just come out with us tomorrow and you'll see." Mina patted Dahlia's shoulder. She knew what a huge sensation it was going to cause.
"So secretive!" Dahlia pouted and jogged to catch up.
Tap, tap, tap...
The carriage moved along. Lucas rested with his eyes closed, thinking about the meeting with the beastkin leader. He wanted more beastkin to form an army, but this 'persuasion' would require some finesse.
After all, the beastkin's attitude toward humans was one of distrust. Even though he had already given their tribe many benefits, these minor favors were not enough for any real progress. At most, they could just build some goodwill.
"Dammit! How is this possible?"
A commotion from outside the carriage made the thoughtful Lucas open his eyes. He lifted the curtain to look out and saw a familiar figure at the harbor.
The Sakura City Lord was spraying spit as he roared at his subordinate. He had never imagined that the wheat from his own city had been bought by Sedona City. Most importantly, he had only found out after two-thirds of it was already gone.
"My Lord, it was the other surrounding city lords who negotiated the price... and they sold it at ten percent above market value. This..." The steward reporting the news was a bit dumbfounded.
Wasn't this a good thing? The wheat they could never sell before was now sold for 10% more. Why did the City Lord look like he'd just lost several thousand gold coins?
"Dammit! Those greedy bastards! They dared to conspire to cheat me!" The Sakura City Lord was even more enraged when he heard this. Based on his understanding of Sedona City these past few days, even if he had raised the price by fifty percent, Sedona City would have still bought it.
He had been monitoring Sedona City's grain prices, but he discovered the price of wheat hadn't risen at all. The commoners could buy as much as they wanted. This had aroused his suspicion.
And just as he thought, after investigating, he found that Sedona City had already secured wheat. He didn't believe it at first, but when he came to the harbor, he saw ship after ship of wheat being unloaded... and finally realized it was his Sakura City's wheat.
"Father..." Bryan looked at the heavily panting Sakura City Lord. He could more or less guess what had happened. His father just wanted to take advantage of the situation, but now he had only managed to enrage himself.
"Dammit, dammit... Urk..." The Sakura City Lord roared, a fit of rage overwhelming him. Just like that, he fainted from anger.
"Father? Father, don't scare me!" Bryan cried out anxiously.
"..."
"A buffoon." Lucas shook his head and lowered the curtain, a sneer on his lips. "A man with no vision will never amount to anything."
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