Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 809: Chapter 90: Martial Virtue Flourishes, Immense Wealth

Upon hearing that Su Li was to inspect the Vault Area, Governor Oliver and the Chief Steward of the Vault Area, Vandar, immediately arrived at the scene.

This was their most important political achievement, the best opportunity to gain the Lord’s trust. After all, in most worlds, doing well often does not compare to reporting well.

They didn’t wait long before seeing a great number of Knights, glittering with golden light from the direction of the castle, escorting Su Li into the Vault Area.

Oliver and Vandar immediately stepped forward to greet and respectfully saluted Su Li: "May the Goddess’s radiance forever illuminate you, my Lord."

Su Li nodded and went straight to the point, asking, "How is the situation in the Vault Area?"

As the Chief Steward of the Vault Area, Vandar was more familiar with the situation here, so he introduced it: "Our Vault Area has its origins in the former Heisen Castle. When the Dwarves expanded the entire northern city palace area, they also moved the Vault Area to the southwest direction of Bauhinia Palace. Therefore, like Bauhinia Palace, this is a castle-style structure, using a 3-meter-thick granite wall, with the only entrance being an iron gate requiring eight strong war horses to pull open. We have stationed two squadrons of High-level Directly Affiliated Attendants here to ensure it’s foolproof."

The two squadrons of High-level Directly Affiliated Attendants may not seem like many people, but in fact, it’s quite substantial. This isn’t a war. Any thief who manages to enter the Vault Area must have snuck in, and the scale wouldn’t be large. A few petty thieves facing 24 fully Armed Attendants in two small teams would be in despair, let alone facing more than 240. Once found, their fate would be to be hacked to pieces.

Moreover, to enter the Vault Area, one must first pass a checkpoint inspection at the northern bridge of Festival Square. Only a handful could cross the magnificent Brionne River and Black Water River to reach the northern city.

However, there are countless bizarre methods in this world; witchcraft items and supernatural abilities are endless. Therefore, this place also faces various challenges, and the Knights and officers dare not be negligent.

After all, any treasure inside is worth more than their heads.

Su Li was still assured about the defenses here. The geography and terrain alone made this castle-type vault suspended on the north bank of the river difficult to infiltrate.

Then Su Li asked, "How about the storage conditions here?"

Vandar replied, "I’m the Minister of Agriculture, so let me first talk about the grain storage here. The Vault Area is not the main grain storehouse of our Territory, and it doesn’t take on too much of the granary’s role. However, it still stores 20,000 tons of grain. This is our Territory’s reserve grain, more akin to the castle’s private stock. Even if the Territory suffers a heavy blow and is in the most disadvantageous situation, the castle guards will still have enough grain to last over a year."

Su Li nodded slightly, very approving of this. A wise strategist first ensures invincibility and then waits for the enemy to be vulnerable.

With this grain reserve, the Territory can be said to first stand in an invincible position. To besiege a fortress defended by 500 Elite Knights, which includes a large number of Divine Chosen Knights and Champion Knights—what a massive enemy force would be necessary? Supporting such a large army under siege for a year would likely break the enemy’s finances, just in food consumption.

"Additionally, there is a large amount of supernatural food stored here: 8 pounds of Deep Blue Ears, 10 pounds of Emerald Green Ears, 3,000 pounds of Steel Wheat, and 6,000 pounds of pearl wheat."

Goodness, Su Li’s eyes lit up; it really is astonishing to see these counts. He knew there was much wealth in the Vault Area, but he never thought it would be of this scale before taking stock.

The quantity of Extraordinary Wheat Seeds alone is about to break through 10,000 pounds!

He remembers very vividly that last year, 276 stalks of Extraordinary Ears were planted in the Purple Spirit Field. Together with the wheat ears produced under Divine Grace in various farms, there were about 300 stalks in total. He thought the total production was around 7,000 grains, yet there are already 10 pounds, and this is even after Su Li and Hilude consumed a batch. For example, Su Li and Hilude had already eaten 2 pounds of Deep Blue Ears.

For these resources, Vandar already has very comprehensive arrangements: "We will keep a third of the Steel Wheat Seeds and pearl wheat, and then take the rest out to continue expanding in summer. We strive to provide the army with abundant supernatural food to ensure high-level supplies."

3,000 pounds of Steel Wheat is certainly not enough. In high-intensity war, 3,000 Elite Infantry and Cavalry could finish eating it in about two days, so production must be increased.

Su Li nodded, then asked Oliver, "What is the current fiscal surplus of our Territory?"

"A detailed fiscal report will need to be submitted to you at the year-end, including numbers for various sources of fiscal revenue and details of expenditures. Currently, I can report on the gold coin scale in the Vault Area. At present, we have a total of 53,300 Gold Crowns."

"Oh?" Su Li raised an eyebrow, a smile spreading: "This number is really quite impressive. We’ve been back from Marle Castle for just over a month, and we already have tens of thousands of gold coins coming in?"

Oliver elaborated, "The major part of this income comes from selling Fake Star Iron Armor to Gray Market Trading Company. From this transaction alone, we made 24,000 Gold Crowns. Then selling 50 Light-Scaled Fish to the Ramsey family earned us over 5,000 Gold Crowns. Plus, the harvest season’s output and Radiant Competition Festival’s revenue resulted in such a large fortune."

50,000 Gold Crowns, tens of thousands of tons of grain, the reserves in Hesse Territory are indeed considerable. Such a fortune, even many Territories within the Empire might not match up. Most Barons would be left jaw-dropped upon hearing this number, unable to believe this is the fiscal capacity of an ordinary Pioneer Territory in a Border Prince’s Territory.