This is the job of Luther Pompey as acting lord.

Before leaving, Luther instructed Knight Michel to train the militia well, and after a month, he would be transferred to another village to train militia.

The return journey was not far. If the former Pompeii territory was considered a large village, then the expanded Pompeii territory was roughly the size of a town.

How big can a town be? And the roads along the way have been repaired, so Luther quickly returned to the vicinity of Pompeii Castle. When he arrived at Pompeii Castle, all he saw was green wheat, occasionally mixed with other crops.

Wheat is growing very well. Although we cannot estimate the harvest yet, I think it will not be too bad. Manure is very effective in fertilizing the fields.

In the green ocean, there are houses standing, surrounded by a circle of fences. The sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard inside the fences. It is a beautiful pastoral scenery.

Looking at this beautiful scene, Luther occasionally felt that being a country lord was not bad.

Ha ha.

I feel relaxed all over.

But Luther quickly shook his head and threw away this unrealistic idea. Although being a country lord is also interesting, my goal is still to become a great noble.

If you miss the countryside, you can come and live there.

The great nobles can enjoy the pleasures of the country nobles, but the country nobles cannot enjoy the pleasures of the great nobles. This is the difference.

Luther was not just talking.

After a while, we gradually approached the Pompeii Castle. In this green farmland, you can see thin wooden sticks standing from time to time, with red ribbons tied to the top of the sticks.

This is a mark. After the autumn harvest, the farmland here will become part of the city of Pangbei, and the serfs will be arranged to live near the original Pompeii Territory and the twenty strongholds, increasing the number of settlements in Pompeii Territory.

Perfect.

At this moment, more than 30 two-story villas were built on the idle land near Pompeii Castle. These were the houses given by Pompeii to the knights.

Of course, it's just the shell and the land; the furniture and decoration inside the villa have to be paid for by the knights themselves.

The building complex centered on Pompeii Castle is still small and miniature, but it already has the appearance of a town.

After returning here, Luther did not choose to enter the castle, but went to the blacksmith shop with his entourage. At present, the blacksmith shop is still near the castle, near more than 30 villas.

There is also a grocery store, which looks very out of place.

The plan was to move the blacksmith shop to the edge of the town, but the official move was not carried out until autumn.

When he arrived at the blacksmith shop, Luther saw Old Bob, his eldest son, his second son, and a group of teenagers.

The blacksmith shop is still the original blacksmith shop, but it has expanded a bit. It currently has about ten blacksmith furnaces. Old Bob and three other blacksmiths, along with a group of teenagers, are busy forging iron.

The fire was burning brightly and the temperature inside the blacksmith shop was very high. Just standing nearby could make one sweat profusely.

"Master Luther." When everyone in the blacksmith shop saw Luther and his group, Old Bob put down the hammer in his hand and greeted them cordially.

His two sons smiled at Luther and continued to forge iron. The other teenagers looked at Luther with fear in their eyes.

As sons of serfs, they knew from childhood that the lord was the sky, and the overseer who managed the serfs was the hand of the sky.

If you are lazy, you will be beaten.

They only feared the lord but had no respect for him.

And they knew that Luther was the next generation of Pompeii knights.

Luther also knew this, so he did not show any affinity towards these young people from serf families, because it would be difficult to reverse the situation in a short period of time.

Let them adapt to the life of free citizens first.

Old Bob chuckled.

Old Bob's plan is to cut down the forest after the autumn harvest and build his own family farm. The location has already been selected.

Old Bob's great dream as a farmer is still in progress. But for now, he can still help out with the ironwork at home and teach a group of new apprentices.

"How are these apprentices? Are they okay?" Luther asked, looking at the teenagers who were looking at him with fear from time to time.

Becoming apprentices in the blacksmith shop, these young people who were born as serfs not only experienced a change in their status, but their clothes also became much better and their nutrition was improved. They looked much stronger than they were a month ago.

"Very good, all very obedient." Old Bob grinned happily.

As a master, there is nothing more satisfying than an apprentice who is obedient. Blacksmithing is a boring job.

Only an honest and obedient child can become a qualified blacksmith.

"That's good."

Luther smiled with satisfaction. Blacksmiths, carpenters, and stonemasons are necessary professions in a territory. As the size of the town increases, the more people in this profession, the better.

Especially the blacksmiths, who are also responsible for the guards' equipment, weapons, etc. Although there are not many guards in the territory at present, Luther plans to expand the army by 500 people after all 10,000 people arrive, plus the original 100 guards, that is, 600 guards.

Plus the militia.

The number of military and paramilitary units within Pompeii's territory will increase to one or two thousand people.

In the early stages, of course, they can purchase weapons, armor, etc. from Baron Patton, but in the future, Luther hopes that these young people can become independent blacksmiths so that the territory can be self-sufficient in weapons and armor.

Luther chatted with Old Bob for a while and then left. As for the other carpenters and stonemasons, Luther did not go to see them.

Because Luther was not familiar with those carpenters and stonemasons, he might not be able to say a few words to them after he went there, and it might even be awkward.

Forget it.

However, Luther will ask the officials of the city hall to keep an eye on those masters. On the one hand, he will make sure that the masters pass on their skills to the young serfs, and on the other hand, he will supervise the masters not to treat the young serfs harshly.

The identity of a serf is indeed not a good identity.

Not everyone is as kind as old Bob and may be discriminated against.

He inspected the newly developed No. 1 stronghold in the territory and learned about the study and life of the liberated serf youth.

This is Luther’s important job as the lord today. His work will be relatively leisurely from now on, and it will be a daily routine like this.

Just waiting for one thing to happen.

That is the autumn harvest.

Autumn harvest means taxation.

After the autumn harvest, Pompeii will officially build a city.

After the autumn harvest, the original settlers and serfs in the Pompeii territory will work together with the twenty strongholds to develop new farmland.

Luther is looking forward to the effect of manure in fertilizing the fields.

All in all, autumn harvest is a big event.

(End of this chapter)