Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence-Chapter 493 - 3: The Pressure of Food and New Wheat Seed (Part 4)
Because it is poor in literature and rich in martial arts, merely providing these knights with adequate food to make their blood boil is enough to crush a family that is not affluent.
True hardship befalls a typical farmer’s home when a knight about to awaken their bloodline appears—it’s a real catastrophe, enough to drive the entire family to collapse, teetering on the brink of starvation.
From Apprentice Knight to formal Knight, to Elite Knight, each stage presents a significant hurdle.
Why must knights all have their own estates? Because their demand for food is truly immense.
To sustain 1,000 fully equipped, excellently armored, well-trained Elite Knights, just the food consumption equates to that of 10,000 to 20,000 infantry.
Calculating this way, the territory’s food supplies are indeed stretched thin, and the farmland must continue to be expanded. At least this year, the farmland in Jorn Shallow Bay needs to be expanded to over 1,500 acres.
So Su Li sighed and said, "Regarding food production, it’s truly a daunting task! My Minister, with what you’ve said, I feel a famine in food is inevitable."
In the wake of winning the battle against the Green Dragon, Su Li was so happy that he did not foresee the hardships, given the surge of Elite Knights emerging and the military prowess of the Territory making a quantum leap.
But sustaining such an army is far more difficult than he thought.
Such an elite Heavy Cavalry not only requires a massive amount of food, but crucially, they also have very high demands for food quality. Present them the food used to deceive commoners and serfs? They’re really likely to throw it to the ground, then rally and march out of camp to protest outside the Provincial Affairs Council. They might even, in their fury, smash the tables there.
Like Vandar said, they must be provided with ample, high-grade food such as guaranteed cheese, bread, pork sausages, malt beer, vegetable soup, pies, and some roast meat.
The more Su Li thought about it, the more he felt a headache, saying, "My Minister, why does it seem like it’s impossible for me to sustain so many troops?"
Vandar solemnly said, "This is normal, Lord. I’ve long said you should discuss with Marshal Orstein about reducing the army. We are just a small Pioneer Territory, and supporting thousands of elite troops this year truly exceeds our Territory’s carrying capacity."
"Reducing the army is something Marshal Orstein will not agree to. Moreover, considering threats in security, our land is not peaceful. It is unwise to reduce the army at this time. Do you have any other solutions, my Minister?"
Upon hearing this, Vandar sighed, and said, "Then we can only increase pressure with our Dawn Church. Lord, try to ease your mind; the wealth of our Territory is not just confined to Jorn Shallow Bay, there are also many farms and villages that can alleviate the Territory’s food pressure."
"Moreover, in supplying these elite knights, we cannot rely solely on Fan Valley. After this Green Dragon epidemic, some of our grain near the Green Dragon mutated into [Steel Wheat], and the stalks of these grains have sharp blade edges, requiring Chain Armor for harvesting."
"However, this wheat is more solid and contains more Spiritual Energy, requiring an advanced Magic Mill to grind into flour. If it can be made into bread, it can greatly ease the knights’ hunger, and even slightly increase their power in a short time, up to 20%."
"The pity is, we currently don’t have such a High Tier Magic Mill."
Tsk~
Su Li couldn’t help but marvel at the fantastic plants of this world; they constantly broaden his horizons.
He had never imagined that harvesting wheat would require dressing the serfs in Chain Armor.
Nonetheless, he soon laughed, and said, "Building a High Tier Magic Mill is already not a problem. I will help you solve it. You just focus on cultivating these Steel Wheat Seeds, and strive to expand the sowing area next year."
