Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord - Chapter 125: Gold Harvesting Machines
Chapter 125: Gold Harvesting Machines
Nicole went to pack his clothes, and Liu Feng turned to look at Niu Ben. “Uncle Niu Ben, I’ll count on you to manage West Sun City after I leave.”
“Young Master, it’s better to let me go!” Niu Ben couldn’t really say anything when the three girls were trying to persuade Liu Feng, and now was his turn to do so. Liu Feng making him guard the home was a sign of trust, but in his mind, knights were supposed to be on the battlefield and on the frontlines for their masters.
“West Sun City is my base and absolutely nothing can happen to it. Uncle Niu Be, you’re one of my most trusted people, and I will feel at ease if I gave the job to you,” Liu Feng said. Niu Ben was an experienced knight and had served in the king’s personal knights group before. He may have a broken foot, but all Liu Feng wanted was Niu Ben’s talent for being a commander, which was perfect for guarding a place.
“…” Niu Ben thought about it and realized he was the only one suitable for the job. His sons were too young- they could lead soldiers, but managing things would be too much of a stretch for them. Anri could only manage internal affairs. He was the only one with the experience able to manage a city’s security.
“Then Young Master, how many soldiers are you taking with you?” Niu Ben asked.
“I’ll take about half of the army. We’re going to ambush them, so it’s enough.” Liu Feng thought about the horse thieves’ plan and couldn’t help but laugh. “They probably never thought that we would get the letter.”
It had been four days since Lyan had given him the letter, and it would take three days to travel from Blazing Horse City to West Sun City. A round trip would take six days.
Omar is probably thinking that Lyan was on his way back to Blazing Horse City. A round trip from West Sun City to North Wind City would only take four days. The horse thieves would attack two days later, which would be the sixth day.¹ It would be too late for Omar when he realized that something was wrong.
Liu Feng had calculated everything- he wanted to be the sparrow in the back and kill two birds with one stone. Fame was the biggest attraction for wanderers. All he had to do was show the strength of West Sun City’s military force.
“Young Master, half of the army is too little.” Niu Ben was anxious as half of the army was only about 50 people and the horse thieves had about 500 people.
“The War Wolf Squad will come of me, so you don’t have to worry about my safety.” Liu Feng smiled. “Besides, I’m going to take all the military crossbows along. I’m leaving half of the army in West Sun City for security- they’re just enough to suppress troublemakers. Kill anyone that dares to make trouble. Besides, the wheat will be ready to be harvested when I leave to go to North Wind City. You have to organize people to harvest the wheat, and you need some people to stay alert.”
“Yes!” Niu Ben was convinced by what Liu Feng had said and thought that Liu Feng had thought of everything. He also thought about Liu Feng’s strength, which was strong enough that ordinary people couldn’t even harm him, not to mention that Mina was also going to be there.
“Go! Load the ships with military supplies. I will leave in the afternoon at 3 o’clock sharp,” Liu Feng said, waving his hand.
“Yes!” Niu Ben saluted and walked out. He still had to handle things, including selecting the soldiers that would participate in the war. He also had to go and tell his son to make sure of Liu Feng’s safety.
“Young Master, the Drunken Night Restaurant is meant to open this afternoon. Should we delay it until you return from North Wind City?” Anri asked. Her current state was like how she had been worried about Mina when Mina went out to look for food, the only difference was that she was worried about Liu Feng rather than Mina now.
“Yeah, postpone it.” Liu Feng nodded. “The most important things in the Shopping Mall are salt and wheat. They can only be sold in large quantities to people with IDs; people without IDs can only buy a small amount.”
“Understood, I won’t let those merchants buy in large quantities.” Anri nodded. She knew how important wheat and salt were- they were the root of West Sun City’s stability.
“I will scare them a bit before I leave, so they won’t try to cause trouble for a few days.” A light flashed through Liu Feng’s eyes. He knew just how dangerous merchants were- some could even sell their own countries for money, so he couldn’t be too careful.
“Young Master, if they try to reach their hands to stuff they shouldn’t touch, I will kill them,” Anri said viciously.
“It’s just taking precautions before it rains.² Don’t worry about it too much. Suppress whatever request they have, and wait for me to come back before doing anything. I will be back in at most five days.”
“Understood!” Anri nodded.
There were only two people that could manage the internal affairs in West Sun City: Liu Feng and Anri. Buff technically counted, but he could only do so partially, so he kind of counted as half a person.
The thing that Liu Feng was most worried about was the wheat harvest. Wheat harvest would happen two days later, and at that time he would have just arrived at North Wind City to prepare to eliminate the horse thieves.
They could only rely on wheat to live through the winter. Liu Feng wanted to get a few ships worth of wheat from North Wind City, so he could brew wine. Besides, perfumes, aka gold harvesting machines, also required alcohol.
Liu Feng also needed to make the greenhouse, as many nobles would probably go crazy when they saw that there were green vegetables in the winter. Unfortunately, the amount of plastic film that he brought from Earth was limited, so he couldn’t plant a lot of vegetables unless he could find something to replace plastic film.
Liu Feng already had an idea of what he could as substitutes for plastic films, and they could be made in this world. Unfortunately, he could only wait until the next year to make them as it was already too late in the current year.
“Don’t stop the production of metal furnaces or the mining of coals. Make them continue to dig for minerals and make iron. The amount of iron and steel we need next year will be multiplied by a few times.”
“Yes!” Anri nodded. She was baffled and felt that Liu Feng was like Mina from before, who would always nag at her and tell her to pay attention to everything before leaving. However, it was very reassuring for her.
“Young Master, you should get ready to go,” Mina said. “You need a weapon and strong armor.”
“Indeed, then let’s go to the inner vault.” Liu Feng stood up and walked away. The things that he had prepared previously would come in handy now.
Anri pulled Mina and mouthed, “Protect Young Master! Return safely!”
Mina understood immediately. Anri would always tell her something like that in the past when she left. She mouthed, “Don’t worry, leave it to me!” Anyone could die, but not Liu Feng, because he was their hope.
“You two, hurry up and catch up,” Liu Feng said from a bit of distance away.
“Yes!”
Translator’s Notes:
¹ So the author is saying that it takes 3 days for Lyan to get from Blazing Horse City to West Sun City. The horse thieves will attack 6 days after Lyan has delivered the letter. And apparently, Omar expects Lyan to return to Blazing Horse City on the 6th day, which makes no sense because he should only take 3 days to travel between the two cities. Either the author made some typos or he calculated it wrong when planning. Anyways, just turn off your brain and pretend this part made sense. Or if you actually do understand what the heck is happening please explain it to me.
² 未雨绸缪. Basically means to take precautions before bad things even happen.
Had to work on a project that was due today that I completely forgot about.