During the third week of the Month of Recovery, Cecil Territory received a small rainfall.
Agricultural Director Norris stood in front of the farmland that had just been leveled, watching the farmers busy in the fields - they were carrying metal boxes similar to the combat backpacks of those combat soldiers. Metal boxes There are also iron pipes and pressure rods connected to it. As the user presses those pressure rods, the nozzle at the front end of the iron pipe can spray a large amount of liquid evenly.
That is the "sprinkler" newly manufactured by the third workshop of the Machinery Manufacturing Institute this spring. It is said to be a new thing invented by Miss Rebecca. There is no magic device used inside it, even if it is Even stupid people can learn to use it with a little training. Using this kind of sprayer, a farmer can complete the work of several people in the past in one day, and its function is very simple, which is to quickly, efficiently and evenly sprinkle alchemical chemicals on the farmland.
The medicinal mist sprayed from the sprinkler glows with a slight blue-green glow in the sun. These medicinal mist containing magical power will work quickly after contacting the soil, infiltrating the soil and decomposing the soil. plant remains in the soil, and at the same time release the harmful magic accumulated in the soil - during the growth process, plants will continue to enrich specific types of magic or elements in their roots. This enrichment of magic or elements will lead to various crops. The yield is declining year by year and rapidly becoming wild. This is common knowledge among farmers, and there are usually only two ways to deal with it. Either fallow rotation, and use two or three years of fallow to rebalance the magic and fertility of the land. , or use druid potion or fertility spell to adjust the land.
The former is a waste of time and land, while the latter is expensive and hard to come by.
But in Cecil Territory, everything is not a problem.
The commissioning of the alchemy factory has brought an incredibly abundant supply of alchemical potions to this land. Agricultural growth promoters and earth rejuvenation potions that are always in short supply under normal circumstances are directly distributed in quantitative quantities by the Government Affairs Department here. It is in the hands of every farmer. It is also because of this that farmers in spring plowing can use "sprinklers", a device with such terrifying efficiency, to spray precious alchemical chemicals so that every inch of land can be adequately maintained.
Watching the medicinal mist infiltrating the land little by little, making the entire farmland float with a faint magical light, Norris himself even felt like he had finally tasted the rain after being thirsty for a long time. Knowing how much more food the land can grow after adequate maintenance, and this food is the lifeblood of people - all this should be thanks to the efforts of the lords and the smart people in various research institutes in the territory.
So what kind of unexpected things will those smart people come up with in the future that can change the entire territory?
In the Government Affairs Hall located in the center of the territory, Gawain met Hetty, who had just completed the latest census.
“We have welcomed the 30,000 settlers in the territory,” the beautiful lady excitedly reported the good news upon seeing Gawain. “We arrived at Whitewater this morning. Cargo ship on river dock, a group of farmers from the western region have completed registration and have reported to the buffer camp. "
When in the Government Office, Hetty usually wears a simple black skirt and puts her hair up high. Looking at her like this, Gawain can't help but think of " "Workplace elite" came with four words, and when he heard the other party's report, he couldn't help but smile: "It seems that Xicheng District, which has just completed its expansion in winter, will soon become lively." "
"Yes, this is all thanks to the news we actively spread to the outside world last year and the results of the caravan activities," Hetty said happily, but then she wrinkled slightly He frowned, "However, some problems have begun to appear recently... As the population of the main city increases, especially the number of people from various regions, fights occur from time to time, although the newly established security team is actively The order has not been affected, but this is not a good trend..."
When the territory was first established, the security in the camp was maintained by soldiers. However, as the territory initially developed, originally After the camp turned into a town settlement, Gawain established a "security team" separate from the army to be responsible for maintaining order in the territory and dealing with security issues within the territory. The man whom Byron took in was named "Cree" The knight apprentice of "Mum" is the first peace officer of the security team.
So far, this security team, which is independent of the military system and directly responsible to the Government Affairs Department, has done a pretty good job, but it is obvious that The root cause of the recent problems in the territory is not just as simple as "there are more people, so there are fights"
After hearing the content of Hetty's report, Gawain didn't show any surprise on his face. In fact, in the territory. He had heard about the recent increase in fights - the reporter was Amber.
"I know about this situation," he nodded to Hetty, "Amber mentioned it to me three days ago. . "
"Amber..." Hetty looked surprised, "Is she still doing serious business? "
"...Occasionally I do something serious. "The corner of Gawain's mouth trembled, and he smiled helplessly in his heart: The half-elf wandered around the territory every day as long as he had free time, going to various departments to earn money or running into the streets and alleys to tease passers-by. Gawain called her such behavior It's just fishing (this statement once caused Tyr's dissatisfaction), but in fact the half-elf lady can really do some serious things - she will report everything she sees and hears in the territory to Gawain, although Most of the time, she just thought it would be fun to come back and meet people after running around like this, but Gawain did learn about many changes in the city in time during this process.
Hearing about his ancestors. After explaining, Hetty smiled helplessly: "That guy...well, it still has some effect. But Ancestor, the issue of public security still needs to be dealt with. Although fights and fights are just trivial matters, it is very problematic for this trend to continue to develop. "
Gawain had thought about this matter a few days ago. After hearing this, he asked Hetty a question: "Do you have any questions?I have never thought about how the citizens spend their free time every day. ”
“Wandering...leisure time? "Hetty was stunned for a moment. Apparently she had never thought about this question. After thinking about her situation carefully, she answered uncertainly, "I don't know how they did it. I can only speak for myself. In my free time, I usually read magic books or study the stars..."
"Ordinary people don't have this condition," Gawain smiled and shook his head, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall ( Due to the existence of mechanical engineers and mechanical technology, mechanical clocks have long existed in this world), "Well, it's time to take a break. Come home with me and I'll show you something. ”
Hetty didn’t know why, but she followed Gawain home obediently, and what Gawain showed her made her even more confused.
She thought What kind of new magic device could it be, or a new management method that can improve public security? These two things are what the ancestors are best at, but they didn't expect Gawain to come over with a square wooden box. After that, there were only dozens of chess pieces carved from wood inside.
"This is..." Hetty looked at Gawain with curiosity as he took out a square picture from the wooden box. The lines of parchment were spread out on the table, and then he took out the black and red chess pieces from the box and placed them on the parchment. Finally he couldn't help but ask, "What is this?" "
"Chess," Gawain pointed to the chair opposite the table and motioned for Hetty to sit there, "I'll teach you how to play. ”
“Play? Is this something for playing with? "
Hetty sat opposite Gawain with full curiosity. She could not feel any magic fluctuations from the chess piece, and even its material was just ordinary wood. She She really couldn't see any connection between this thing and the deterioration of public security she reported before, but with great trust in Gawain, she still started to listen to Gawain's explanation of the rules of this "game" seriously.
The rules of chess are not complicated. Even ordinary people with no education can easily learn them. Not to mention Hetty, who is very perceptive. This lady quickly understood that these simple chess pieces have their own functions. What's the meaning? Gawain made a localized "translation" of the chess pieces, calling them "king", "emperor", "guard", "knight", etc. to make it easier for Hetty to understand.
After understanding the rules, Hetty tried to play a game with Gawain.
"Is this... a step forward? " She held the chess piece marked "Infantry" and carefully pushed it forward while raising her head and asking Gawain.
"Yes," Gawain smiled and nodded, "Then it's time I'm done..."
In less than ten minutes, Hetty's first chess game in her life ended in losing her armor.
However, she never got there. In the first game of chess, which was full of collisions and ultimately failed miserably, I felt an incredible pleasure - these chess pieces can contain so many changes, and the rulesSo something so simple... can it be so interesting? !
"Can we do it again...?" Hetty looked directly into Gawain's eyes with excitement and expectation on her face, "I think I don't need your prompting this time!"
"Of course," Gawain rarely saw Hetty looking so relaxed and happy, so he naturally agreed readily, "This time you will place the chess pieces, and I will teach you."< /p>
More than ten minutes later, Hetty looked at the "King" who was surrounded by chariots and wizards and had fallen into death. She clenched her fists unwillingly: "Ancestor, I want to...do it again..."
p>It wasn’t until the sun gradually set and the sky became dim that Betty walked into the living room and lit up the magic crystal lamp. Only then did this lady who was addicted to chess suddenly react. She glanced at the time, then looked at the Looking at the chessboard in front of him, Ji Ling sat up straight: "Ah! When I forgot... (click)."
Hetty's shoulder and neck made a loud click, but she didn't finish her sentence. The second half of the sentence directly turned into a cry of pain: "It hurts, it hurts..."
"You need to move after sitting for a long time," Gawain raised his eyelids and glanced at the other party, "What, chess?" Is it fun?"
"Okay..." Heti said subconsciously, but then she finally remembered what the real topic was before, "But what does this have to do with the worsening of conflicts between residents in the territory? "Of course," Gawain crossed his arms, "Why do you think they were fighting and causing trouble?"
Hetty rubbed his shoulders. He was thinking hard on the side of his neck: "Because... they have a grumpy personality?"
"There are people with grumpy personalities, but it is impossible for so many people to be grumpy, let alone in the past autumn and winter. Everyone is mild-mannered, but they wait until spring to become violent." Gawain shook his head, "The real reason is that our subjects finally have extra energy, they have enough food and clothing, and they no longer need to use up everything they have to make a living. If you have enough energy, but you don’t have much entertainment, then fights are inevitable. Of course, this is not the whole reason, but it is also an important reason.”
“No entertainment?” This is the first time I have thought about the issue of "civilian entertainment", "But before... and in other territories, how come there was no such problem of concentrated fights and fights?"
Gowen looked at it Hetty glanced at him and said, "That's because they've never had enough to eat."
Hetty was stunned for a moment, understanding Gawain's words vaguely, and then she looked at the chess piece in front of her. : "Then do you think that this kind of game can solve the security problems in the territory?"
Gawain's answer this time was more straightforward: "No."