Chapter 77: Territory Development

The main world’s continents are vast. As far as Donald knew, there was also the rough estimate obtained from the Book of Truth at the moment of his transition through the dimensional barrier—this place was at least three times larger than the total land area of Earth, not to mention the even greater ocean areas.
Legends say there are other continents beyond the seas in the main world, but the outer seas are filled with terrifying spatial storms that can even disorient gods. Thus, even the Church of the Gods doesn’t have a definite answer; it’s mostly just legend. Historically, ships that set out to search for new continents never returned.
Most of this enormous territory consists of uninhabited jungles, mountains, deserts, and wastelands. The North County is merely a tiny corner of it, and even the northern lands occupied by the Celt Kingdom account for only about one-tenth of the total area of the northern and southern continents—still considered quite large among the continent’s nations.
Donald’s territory is roughly the size of a prefecture-level city in his past life. If fully developed, it could easily support tens of millions of people. But with his environmental awareness, he didn’t want to completely destroy the ecosystem, lest it turn into a wasteland like the Northwest Wasteland in years to come.
Therefore, protecting forest vegetation and preventing soil erosion was necessary—this significantly reduced the available living space. Yet, even just the original lordly territory was enough for Donald to develop for over a decade.
The town hall was quite large, capable of housing at least five thousand people. There was also enough space outside the town to build three large villages. These plans covered only a small part of the central and southern regions of the Dalaran territory. So far, he had only utilized less than one-third of the original lordly land, with vast areas still waiting to be developed.
Compared to some Southeast Asian and African countries with population explosions in his past life, the living conditions in Europe and America were undoubtedly superior! So, having fewer people and more land could indeed be a good thing.
With nearly a thousand new settlers bringing a large workforce, the various construction projects planned by Dalaran began immediately.
The entire territory was bustling with activity. Everyone who saw this scene was convinced that Dalaran’s prosperity and the rise of the Merlin family were only a matter of time—and that moment was not far off.

According to Donald’s plan, the butler counted over a hundred mountainers with various skills, such as craftsmen and strong hunters. “The people you wanted, young master, have been identified. Among the new settlers, hunters are the most numerous, but there are only 128 strong and experienced hunters. Most of them are skilled in hunting and setting traps, with a few older hunters who know how to use herbs to treat injuries. The rest include 35 leatherworkers, 11 blacksmiths and blacksmith apprentices, 8 carpenters, 3 stonemasons, 5 fishermen, and two who can do basic arithmetic and can be employed to handle miscellaneous tasks in the lord’s household.” “Very good. Go tell them that only those with abilities can enjoy good treatment. If verified, these over a hundred people can bring their families to live in the town and choose their own homes in the planned civilian area. After settling in, they must contribute to the development of the territory and train a group of apprentices capable of working within half a year as their contribution to the territory and to me!” “As for the rest, they should be scattered into the two villages designated outside the town, grouped by family. Care must be taken to disrupt any existing connections between the villages so they don’t form cliques; they must be made to obey rules and integrate into the territory as quickly as possible.” In Donald’s vision, those selected would become the middle class of the territory and the foundation for its prosperity. Thus, they could live in the town and enjoy the comfortable living conditions there. Meanwhile, the majority of the other mountainers, who were only good at hunting wild animals and farming crops, would be settled in the designated villages outside the town, along with large areas of arable land. Donald believed that a society necessarily requires classes, as classes provide the motivation for progress. Lower-class people envy the middle class, the middle class envies the upper class that has become wealthy first, and the upper class envies the noble lords who rule over them. This cycle continues, and even if one class becomes corrupt, it will soon be replaced by newcomers, forming a new class cycle, ensuring the territory remains stable and vibrant for a long time. Attempting to implement a system of true equality would only foster laziness and a lack of ambition among people. Such a society would inevitably collapse.

Due to the harsh living conditions of the mountain people, most of them had nothing, let alone the money to build houses. So after choosing a site in the village grounds, Lord Donald would have houses built for them all. Of course, Donald covered the costs, but each family had to provide an adult to help with the construction.

Soon, all the villagers had chosen their sites, and the construction team hired by Donald from the Guild of Giant Rock City began work. The new settlers lived in tents set up temporarily in the town square, going out to work every day. Seeing their former companions already living in the town, they were filled with envy and looked forward to having their own houses built.

Since the area was close to the forest, there was no shortage of materials, and the houses were simply constructed of wood and stone, so construction progressed quickly. With a dozen workers working on each house and the settlers also helping out voluntarily—after all, it was their own homes being built—within just half a month, rows of new houses stood in the territory.

The construction of the two villages outside the town took less time and produced crude wooden houses that couldn’t compare to the beautiful and sturdy homes in the town. But for these mountain people, it was still much better than their previous simple shelters. After wandering for months, they finally had their own homes.

Next came interior repairs and furniture making. Soon, the settlers could move into their new homes. On the night when the town and the two new villages were completed, Lord Donald held a celebration banquet in the square in front of his manor.

“Order the manors and farms to produce more meat, flour, and vegetables and distribute them to all households in the territory. There’s no need to skimp on food. With the new villages built, the territory’s infrastructure is basically complete. Autumn harvest is approaching, and soon we’ll be self-sufficient. Just ensure there are enough food reserves in the warehouses for winter.”

“Yes, my lord!”

William took orders below. He still felt very sorry for Lord Donald and didn’t want him to work so hard, so he let William handle personnel appointments in the territory. His wife, Isabella, was in charge of the kitchen and the female servants in the manor.

As the chief steward, Cord now only dealt with his young lord’s daily needs and occasionally supervised the affairs of the territory without getting involved in everything, allowing him to have a much quieter life.

Five pigs and ten sheep were slaughtered for consumption, and various ingredients from Darknight Manor Farm were simply prepared before being distributed to households for them to cook themselves. Of course, the lord’s meals were handled by the manor’s chef.

Dozens of torches illuminated the entire square, where all the lords’ subjects gathered. They piled the freshly prepared, steaming meals along with drinks such as mead and sweet fruit juices on several long wooden tables placed side by side.

Before the celebration began, Lord Donald delivered a simple yet solemn inspiring speech. He described the future of the realm and outlined its basic laws, warning those with ulterior motives. This speech filled the people with hope while preventing them from acting recklessly driven by desire.

Seeing his goals achieved, Donald was the first to raise his glass and declare, “My people, the banquet has begun! Pick up your drinks and food and enjoy the delicious meals!”

Amidst cheers celebrating the new era and praising the great lord, the subjects began to feast on the abundant food before them. After making an appearance, Lord Donald returned to his residence. Once the lord left, the subjects became even more unrestrained, and the scene was filled with laughter and joy.

Since the renovation of the lord’s manor was not yet complete, Donald continued to live in his villa. As it was a modern residence he had designed himself, he was accustomed to its comfortable environment and decided that the manor would be used solely for office purposes, while his villa would remain his private home. Therefore, he didn’t put much effort into renovating the manor, only installing a basic bathroom and water circulation system.

The knightly class could build small fortresses on their own lands. In addition to the militia tasked with defending the realm, they could also have up to thirty soldiers under their command.

Of course, there were loopholes in this rule. It specified the number of regular soldiers but did not include types like knightly servants or auxiliary troops. Thus, it was easy for nobles to place their own men in their territories. In fact, aside from nobles who lacked the funds to support soldiers, many had more private troops than allowed. As long as they didn’t go too far, the royal family would turn a blind eye—this had been an unwritten convention for thousands of years.

As a hereditary baron, Donald could assemble a private army of no more than a hundred men. However, he had no immediate plans to form a formal army, as his forces had to be the finest among the finest, and loyalty was more important than combat skills. Thus, Donald simply upgraded the estate guards he had previously hired into a territorial militia. Seeing the future prospects of Dalaran’s territory, those militia members also moved their families to the town. Later, Donald recruited twenty more young men from the new settlers, expanding the guard force to thirty members. Then he said to his new administrator, William, “Send for Barn and Tik personally!” After William gave the order, a burly man and a young lad arrived before Donald shortly thereafter.