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There were over a hundred frogmen and more than a dozen alien mermaids on the shore.
Qin Yiyi was summoned to the lakeside by the person who came to inform her. After figuring out what was underwater, the question became what to do with these people.
“You should know very well that the original territory was already enormous. Even now, after clearing so much land, we still haven’t seen the boundary of the territory. Before long, this area will also be incorporated into the territory for the reclamation mission. You have lived in my territory for so long without paying the head tax. Either you pay the head tax in one go, or you will become my slaves!”
The mermaid brought up several baskets of her treasured pearls.
Qin Yiyi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; these were all top-quality pearls.
"How do you have so many pearls!"
The mermaid said cautiously, "These were all harvested from the bottom of the lake by generations of us. We only kept the best ones. Do you think this is enough to cover the head tax?"
Qin Yiyi angrily said, "You take my things from my territory and hand them over to me as a head tax. Do you think that's possible?"
The lord confiscated the mermaid's pearl.
"These things belong to my territory, and the fish you eat also belong to my territory. You eat my food, drink my water, and live in my houses. If you can't come up with anything else to pay the head tax, food expenses, and lodging fees, then you must become my slaves!"
In just half an hour since Qin Yiyi arrived, Qin territory had gained over a hundred, nearly two hundred, frogmen and alien mermaid slaves.
"Now, I ask you, where do all these holes at the bottom of this lake connect to?"
They didn't know the new lord's temperament, but considering that the Kraken was the new lord's guard, they couldn't afford to offend him, so they naturally answered every question.
“This area used to be all lakes. We’ve passed it down from generation to generation. It’s said that this place was once the entrance to the sea, but it was later covered by yellow sand, and the lakes have become smaller and smaller. We’ve explored this cave before. It extends into the sea, but the cave isn’t big. It can only accommodate one frogman at a time, and there are many powerful creatures in the sea. So we’ve chosen to live here!”
This huge lake was like their lair, so over the years, generation after generation, they emptied all the corpses from the lake and kept it in perfect order.
"Do you know what's on the other side of the sea?" Now that they had swum across, Qin Yiyi was very curious about what was in the sea.
"The sea is full of powerful creatures, such as giant octopus monsters and deep-sea megalodon sharks, but we dare not venture deep into it. Only mermaids would dare to do such things. Atlantis's large ships are in every sea area, and we have seen the mermaid race in the ocean several times we have swum there."
Speaking of mermaids, the otherworldly mermaid beside her lowered her head deeply.
If it weren't for their strange appearance, they would have wanted to join the merfolk long ago. However, such aliens would never be accepted by the merfolk, so they could only watch the merfolk's large ship sail away from afar.
Qin Yiyi nodded. Sky City dominated land and air transport, while Atlantis dominated sea transport.
She touched her chin.
"Now that you are my slaves, let the professionals handle the professional matters. From now on, you will be divided into fishing teams and fish farming teams. We will not only catch fish, but also learn how to farm fish!"
Fish will eventually run out, but aquaculture is a life-sustaining industry.
However, winter is clearly not a good time for fish farming, so after this winter fishing season is over, there are no more plans to fish. Qin Yiyi's idea is to include the lake in her territory, reclaim it, and then build a boat.
The lake leads to another sea below, so let's look for an opportunity to connect the lake to the sea above as well. If we can open up a new entrance to the sea from above, then we can build ships and go out to sea. In this way, we will have trains and ships that can travel throughout the entire territory.
As the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first; if the roads are in bad condition, how can anyone come here?"
If she wants to expand and strengthen the territory, relying solely on selling amplifying food is only a temporary means of livelihood. Besides, the territory's population is growing rapidly; can she support them all? What will happen when she's gone? What will happen to her retirement? Won't she never see the days when she can finally relax and enjoy her old age?
Therefore, to enable the people in the territory to continue operating on a self-management basis, she first provides funding, venues, and technical development training. After this group of people is trained, she simultaneously transforms the territory into a food city, specializing in selling affordable, low-pollution food. In addition, she trains a small number of elites to make zero-pollution food.
Once the territory is established with this reputation, people will come from far and wide, which will also drive other industries. They can accommodate people coming from the air, land, and sea, so hotels, taverns, mercenaries, and even other industries will experience significant growth.
This is her plan for the coming year.
She now has a considerable amount of start-up capital. During the six winter months, she will mainly train talents in various trades, especially cooking. In addition, she will increase the development of her territory, optimize the territory slave system, and optimize the work mode and welfare benefits of alien species, such as half-elves, frogmen, and alien mermaids, to retain elite talents. While vigorously supporting the development of one of these areas, she will also ensure the stable development of the others.
In the development of a territory, industries that become wealthy first drive industries that become less wealthy later. This is clearly reflected in the fact that once the culinary industry develops, other industries will also have supply and demand.
Once those in the culinary industry become wealthy, it will drive the growth of local demand and the economy, creating a virtuous cycle.
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