Chapter 149 Census and Technical Work

This meeting lasted until noon, and the knights dispersed.

Simon mainly talked about several major things. First, the free people were settled and the site was selected to establish a village.

Secondly, a census was conducted to find out the number of free people brought this time, and some people who were skilled in technology were found, with the focus on blacksmiths.

As for stonemasons and carpenters, they were not picky. After all, they were all skills, and they were going to be arranged to live near the castle in the future.

Thirdly, labor was recruited from the free people to build the Fort of Courage.

Now the foundation of this fort has been laid. If another 5,000 people can help build it, it will definitely be completed in the spring of next year.

Simon will give these laborers some food as compensation, which is equivalent to work-for-relief.

Finally, there is another more important point. The two thousand militiamen recruited before were all converted to standing troops and paid.

The cost of maintaining such an army is relatively low. On the premise of providing food, each person can be counted as ten copper stars a day.

It is much more affordable than recruiting mercenaries. They look fierce and professional, but basically they can only fight favorable battles.

The standing army formed by selecting able-bodied men from the territory not only has low expenses, but also guarantees loyalty, after all, the families live on the territory.

Combat effectiveness depends on the level of training, and it will not be too bad if it is well prepared.

In addition, things like finding more young serfs to serve as apprentices for blacksmiths were also arranged by Mad, the political steward.

He has dozens of assistants under him, so he is not too busy.

A few days later in a flash.

During this period, in addition to his daily routine exercise, Simon went to accompany his wife and lovers.

Although he fought for several nights in a row, his physique was still good and he could still withstand it.

Simon showed the seized ring to Winice, and she fiddled with it for a while, but she couldn't see what it was.

She only said that it should be a magic ring, the specific purpose is unknown, and it may be used to assist in casting spells.

Simon didn't dare to wear it rashly after hearing this, so he had to throw it into the storage column for collection.

On this day, just after he finished breakfast in the Lord's Hall, Mad came to see him.

"Baron, the number of freemen has been counted, a total of 27,914 people.

Among them, 14,000 men... women and children...

There are 79 carpenters, 241 stonemasons, 46 potters... no blacksmiths."

Mad reported very carefully, presented a parchment scroll, and stood with his hands folded.

Simon looked carefully for a while and thought to himself: "It seems that Prince Feddi has already screened and all the important craftsmen such as blacksmiths have been picked."

"Well done. It's winter now. After you choose the address for the village, you don't need to move them first.

Tell the free people to set up a temporary camp outside the Secret Forest, so that it is convenient to get firewood for heating and easy to distribute food.

By the way, let all the men do construction and build castles, and let the women collect firewood and gather.

Now there are so many manpower, maybe we should change the plan. Isn't a castle covering only 50 acres too small?"

Simon put the parchment roll on the long table and smiled.

"Sir, there are more than ten times more people now than before, even enough to build a city." Mad smiled immediately.

"Well, you go first, bring the potter to Spark Castle for me, and arrange the other laborers to Yaman."

Simon thought for a while and said.

Since there is no blacksmith, among the other free people who know some skills, the most useful one should be the potter.

An idea came to his mind. Pottery and brick making should be similar.

It is nothing more than replacing the earthenware in the kiln with earthen bricks. With these forty potters, it should not be a problem to build a few brick kilns.

The quality of the bricks fired may not meet the standards at the beginning, and it takes many attempts to succeed completely.

But even if they are defective, they are better than using ordinary rammed earth to build houses.

And using stone to build ordinary houses is a bit extravagant and not cost-effective. Most people may not be able to afford it.

The production capacity of the quarry cannot be supplied for a while.

After Mad left, Simon planned in his mind and shouted: "Mailan, get ready, and go to Yaman for inspection today."

"Yes! My lord!"

Not long after, Mailan made arrangements. A hundred guards were assembled, and the top-quality war horses were fed and led to the inner court of Spark Castle.

Simon put on plate armor with the help of the maid and led the team to the south.

A few hours later, they arrived at the construction site of Yongyi Castle.

He could see the rammed earth wall about six meters high from a distance.

The surface of the wall was coated with a layer of cement, and because it was mixed with a lot of lime, it was grayish white and beautiful.

"It looks a bit like it, but the plan was too small at the beginning, and the earth wall was designed to be short."

Simon reined in his horse, stopped to watch for a while, and then walked over with the guards.

This circle of earth wall was designed with four gates. At this time, three sides were closed, and only the north gate was open. A team of carriages were carrying stones to transport them.

"Greetings, master!" The serfs and servants in charge of escorting saw them and knelt down immediately.

"Get up!" Simon waved his hand, responded, and led people into the city.

Inside was a scene of bustling activity. The foundation of Yongyi Castle had been compacted, and Yaman was leading people to build the outer wall, but it was just the beginning.

Simon watched for a while, and Yaman noticed their arrival, so he quickly put down his work and came to see them.

"Lord Baron! The outer wall is already being built. It will be completed by the time of the wheat harvest next year." He reported.

“Now that the plan has changed, we can stop for a while.

I brought back more than 20,000 free people from Changxiang Tie, of which more than 10,000 laborers can be transferred to your side.

Fort Yongyi used to occupy an area of ​​50 acres, but now it has been changed to an area of ​​100 acres, and it can be completed in one winter. Is that okay? "

Simon went over and patted him on the shoulder, smiling.

"Ten thousand people?" Yaman looked surprised when he heard this.

He pondered for a while and said: "With so many people, it's no problem, but the stone materials can't keep up."

"Don't worry, I will expand the size of the quarry, and in addition, I will buy some from the Stone Collar.

You don’t have to worry about materials or food, just focus on the construction. Simon laughed.

"Yes! Lord Baron! In this case, I will redesign Fort Courage.

In this way, the castle can not only be used for military purposes, but also can be built with more livable facilities. "

Yaman immediately said respectfully.

"You are a professional in this area, so I won't make any comments. Just go ahead and do it." Simon nodded with satisfaction and said.

"Yes! Sir! I will not let you down." Yaman assured with a firm look on his face.

At this time, Simon saw a lot of kobolds carrying stones in the distance, and asked casually: "Are these kobolds honest?"

“Sir, it is relatively docile and obedient, and it works well.

But Odd hasn’t sent kobolds for a while, I wonder if something happened..." Yaman replied.

"Yeah, well, I know.

You lead the people and work hard, and the more than 10,000 people will be sent to you in the next few days.

I'm going to go and see Odd. "

Simon heard this, thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yes! Sir, walk slowly!"

Yaman saluted respectfully and watched them go away.