strokinit Chapter 218 The Perfect Serf
Chapter 218 The Perfect Serf
Richard's heart stirred slightly, and he smiled faintly at the leading orc.
"Green skin, state your name."
The orc looked somewhat bewildered, but still bowed humbly and replied, "Honorable human lord, my name is Wa Shitou, and I am the tribe's hunting captain."
Richard gave a soft "hmm" without turning around, but simply beckoned behind him with his finger, and Im, who was standing to his side, immediately stepped forward.
After a brief, quiet conversation, Im led ten oxcarts loaded with grain slowly into the room.
Richard reached into the bag and scooped up a large handful of plump wheat grains, then slowly walked to the stone.
"then."
Wa Shitou didn't understand, but still obediently stretched out his rough, large hand.
Richard loosened his grip slightly, and golden wheat grains fell in a flurry, piling up in a small heap in his dirty palm.
Wa Shitou froze completely!
He stared at the wheat in his palm, his eyes widening instantly, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably!
food!
It's real food!
Although crops can be grown in the Cape region, the best spots have been taken over by large tribes, leaving little land for smaller tribes where almost nothing grows.
That's why they need to constantly go out to forage for food, and this wheat is a hundred or a thousand times more precious than the berries and skinny rabbits they can find in the black pine forest!
The other orcs present were equally dumbfounded, their green faces trembling with excitement and disbelief.
...
Richard looked at their expressions and smiled slightly:
"Wa Stone, I'd like to hire your Wag tribe to work for me. The payment will be wheat. What do you think?"
After recovering from his shock, Wa Shitou heard the lord's words and, without thinking, knelt down with the wheat in his hands, his face filled with ecstasy!
"I am willing! As long as Your Excellency provides me with enough to eat, I am willing to pledge my allegiance to you and be your follower forever!"
The other orcs followed suit, kneeling down in unison and kowtowing repeatedly to Richard, murmuring words of gratitude.
On the barren land of Cape Town, simply surviving is the greatest luxury.
Large tribes can not only invade human territory with their strength, but also rely on powerful nobles for survival, while small tribes don't even have the right to rely on them.
Now that a human lord is willing to provide them with food, they would be willing to do anything, even risk their lives!
Unexpectedly... Richard waved his hand and directly refused them.
"I don't need your loyalty. Our relationship is simply one of employment. I provide you with food, and you work for me, understand?"
Accept the orcs' allegiance?
Don't make trouble.
That means Qi Feng would have to take on the responsibility of raising the Snow Rabbit tribe, providing for their entire tribe's life, death, health, and safety, just like the Snow Rabbit tribe did. He didn't have the time or inclination to be a babysitter for the orcs.
More importantly, the Empire has just recognized the orcs as subjects, and legally they are free citizens of the stars.
When the Cape Region is divided up in the future, if the land where the Varg tribe is located is granted to a certain pioneering noble, then whose subjects will these orcs who are loyal to him be?
Isn't this just setting himself up for trouble? He had already saved the Snow Rabbit Clan from a fire, and he really didn't want something like this to happen again.
However, the reason he changed his mind was because he heard the rumbling of his hungry intestines, which instantly sparked an idea that he had been pondering before.
--Open up trade routes!
Previously, he had been researching how to build a trade route from Chifeng to the Cape region once the grand enfeoffment of the Cape region officially began, connecting the northernmost part of the North with the northernmost part of the Cape region.
However, this trade route had to traverse continuous mountains, and the engineering work of surveying the roadbed and opening up the road was enormous.
Although rock crabs can help with road construction, there are only a little over a hundred of them, as there are several large projects waiting for them in their territory.
It would take half a month to build a road from Chiffon to Frost, let alone from Chiffon to the Cape Region. There's simply no way to spare the resources to dig such a long trade route.
Furthermore, when the Rock Crab goes out on missions, the contracted Soul Master must accompany it, and a special transport team must be set up to ensure logistics, which is extremely complicated.
But right now, there's a ready-made "construction team" that knows the terrain and has extremely low requirements.
All they wanted was to fill their stomachs, which was insignificant to chiffon cake.
Ah!
Isn't this exactly the kind of serf that lords like best? Serfs who can be dismissed at any time after use, without any burden!
Besides, as long as we continuously supply food to the Wag tribe, we will have their lifeline firmly in our grasp.
This deal is a win-win situation: it keeps them working honestly while completely preventing them from ever setting foot in the Black Pine Forest again.
...
Wa Shi Tou's face was filled with disappointment when he saw that the lord had refused to pledge allegiance. In the tribe's mindset, offering loyalty was the highest form of dependence, but now...
He looked down at the wheat in his palm, then at the piles of sacks on the oxcart, and his disappointment was instantly washed away by a huge sense of satisfaction!
Whether they are loyal or not is not important; getting food to feed the Wags is the most important thing!
Whether they are loyal or not is not important; getting food to feed the Wags is the most important thing!
He quickly stood up, straightening his back, and asked eagerly:
"Your esteemed lord, whatever work the Vargs need you to do, they will do without hesitation, as long as it's within their capabilities!"
Richard, with his hands behind his back, looked past the kneeling green-skinned animals and towards the rugged, continuous mountains at the eastern edge of the Chiffon Wasteland.
"I want you to build a road, a trade route that runs eastward from the Chiffon Wasteland, through those mountains, all the way to your Cape Territory—a route that can accommodate large carts!"
Wa Shitou paused for a moment, then turned around and huddled together with several orcs behind him, exchanging a low but intense conversation.
They would sometimes gesture towards the mountains, sometimes point to the wheat on the oxcart, their faces a mixture of excitement, worry, and great anticipation.
Finally, Wa Shitou nodded, turned back, and punched his chest hard in front of Richard.
"Waggan! My lord! The Wag tribe has taken on this job! They'll definitely build a wide and straight road!"
...
Richard smiled slightly, and the next step was to finalize the details. He provided a project quote:
Every wag in the tribe, regardless of age or gender, receives one kilogram of wheat per day, the same amount as the serfs of Chiffon.
However, orcs have large appetites; an adult orc needs to eat at least three kilograms of pure grain every day to be full.
Richard knew this, of course, but he reported it that way on purpose, since there were still elderly people and children in their tribe, and not everyone could participate in the road repair work.
Just take the grain back according to the number of people, and let them distribute it among themselves, with the elderly and children receiving half and the able-bodied men receiving more.
Even if they don't get enough to eat, they can completely get rid of the predicament of alternating between hunger and fullness, and no longer have to risk their lives to venture into human territory in search of food.
Of course, this was just a normal tactic to lower the price; Richard only offered the pie after Wa Shitou finally agreed.
"I'll send someone to check on the progress every now and then. If you're satisfied, I'll give you an extra batch of grain every month. The amount will depend on your performance, but it will start at least at 500 kilograms, and there'll be beef too!"
Extra food?
It's still beef!
Upon hearing this, the orcs erupted in cheers!
Every extra kilogram of grain means they can eat more and save some life-saving food for the children in the tribe!
Wa Shi Tou trembled with excitement and knelt down again: "Honorable Lord! The Wag tribe will fight with all its might and will never let you down!"
...
...
Watching the orc's departing figure, Richard beckoned behind him with his finger.
"Im, make arrangements to have someone monitor them from high altitude, and after confirming their return to the Cape region, note the tribe's location before coming back."
"Yes, ma'am."