Inside the castle, on the throne, sat a giant dragon, a black bow tie around its neck, elegant and gentlemanly.
He held a huge glass jar in his paws, filled with crystal-clear red wine that emitted a faint grape aroma.
Su Qing, who felt like a nobleman after taking a small sip, watched as Old Sam eagerly unfolded the map.
The territory is clearly divided above.
"My lord, this is your territory!"
Old Sam gave a general overview of the situation in this land.
His territory extends for a radius of five kilometers, centered around the castle.
To the north of the castle lies a forest, which has little value for development other than producing timber for building houses.
There is a small town in each of the three directions: due east, southeast, and northeast.
The town of Andy, located directly to the east, is the most prosperous, with many shops where merchants come and go to trade.
The two small towns to the southeast and northeast are inhabited by a large number of farmers who are responsible for cultivating and planting large tracts of farmland in the south and north, and provide the lord with a large amount of tax revenue every year.
In short, it is a territory primarily engaged in agriculture, but also involved in some commercial activities.
After introducing the territory, Old Sam stood aside somewhat nervously.
The area below was already packed with people. Mary and Irene, two girls, huddled together in a corner.
The once radiant Grand Knight Alan now stood silently to the side, facing Rangnick, who was glaring angrily at him.
Besides them, there were hundreds of guards and dozens of servants, all standing trembling together, waiting for the new lord's pronouncement above.
Looking at the markings on the map, Su Qing was somewhat dissatisfied with the empire he had conquered.
He originally thought it would be a large territory, but he didn't expect it to be only the level of a township in his previous life.
"My lord!"
Old Sam swallowed hard and dared to ask, "Should we announce that the territory has changed hands?"
Su Qing paused for a moment, then scratched his head.
He hadn't considered this issue, but after a moment's thought, he said, "We can spread the word that Princess Mary of the Duchy of Carter has become the new master of this territory."
The girl named Mary was still a bit dazed when Elaine nudged her from the side, and that's when she realized what was happening.
Two blushes quickly spread across her cheeks as she secretly glanced up at the giant dragon above.
A strange mix of emotions seemed to be swirling within me.
The new lord is clearly this dragon, so why is he claiming to be the one?
Does the dragon have some ulterior motive towards me?
With so many sisters and cousins, why did this dragon choose to capture me?
Fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls are at an age where they like to daydream, yet their minds are still quite naive.
In reality, Su Qing was just worried that if it were announced that a giant dragon had taken over the territory, the few farmers in the territory would be scared away, and it would be detrimental to the development of the territory.
"OK!"
Old Sam was already oblivious to everything else and decided to cling tightly to the dragon lord in front of him, doing whatever the lord said.
"Does the name of that territory need to be changed?"
He ignored Rannick's fierce gaze, which seemed to be ready to devour anyone in its path.
Su Qing was very satisfied with this loyal old steward and decided to ask for his opinion.
Do you have any thoughts?
Old Sam immediately voiced his idea: "Your Lordship is a great dragon, so how about calling it Dragon's Domain?"
Su Qing had no objection to the name and nodded in agreement.
After finishing these simple tasks, Su Qing decided to begin handling affairs within the territory.
The first thing to face is his own group of unruly subordinates.
He reviewed and reorganized everyone's roles.
Old Sam served as the head butler of the castle, while young Lannick served as the second butler.
Alan, you are in charge of training the castle guards and will serve as the head guard, while the two girls, Mary and Irene, will be appointed by Su Qing as his personal maids.
Old Sam was delighted with the appointment, while Alan nodded listlessly, looking dejected.
After much internal struggle, young Rannick exchanged glances with his former captain of the guard beside him, and finally gritted his teeth and decided to lie low for now, waiting for the opportunity to take revenge and reclaim the castle and territory.
The two girls, Marino and the timid princess, agreed without daring to refuse the dragon's request.
Irene, however, showed great resistance.
Su Qing felt helpless at the girl's mischievousness and simply comforted her gently, saying that if she didn't work hard, she would go and twist her grandfather's head off.
Anyway, her grandfather is now in Su Qing's territory.
Next is the taxation within the territory.
Old Sam recounted somewhat nervously that when Earl Rangnick was in power, the tax rate on land was 30%, but after young Rangnick inherited the title, it was increased to 50%.
As a result, many farmers have fled the land, and about one-fifth of the land is now uncultivated.
He was worried that the dragon lord, who was acting very greedily, would continue to raise land taxes, and was racking his brains trying to figure out how to persuade the lord.
Unexpectedly, after hearing what he said, Su Qing immediately proposed to reduce the land tax to 10%.
The system's wealth statistics do not simply represent the amount of gold coins, but are comprehensive.
Increasing land taxes would drive away farmers, which would be a loss for him.
On the contrary, reducing land taxes and attracting more farmers to his territory would be a more substantial boost to his wealth.
However, the farmland in his own territory was still too little.
Having just occupied this territory, Su Qing couldn't resist the urge to continue expanding.
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