On the vast grassland, there is open space all around, and at a glance, it seems that there is no end in sight.
Being in it, one can't help but feel a sense of vastness, and even one's mood seems to have changed a lot.
"Is this the place?"
Riding on horseback on the grassland, Chen Heng inspected the land.
He looked around, at the land before him, and pondered in his mind.
At this moment, it has been more than three months since the end of the trial competition.
In more than three months, Orliman, as he had said before, made him the Earl of Soda, and gave the Soda area to Chen Heng as his territory.
The so-called Soda region is a vast area bordering the Kutu Kingdom and the desert;
This time, Orliman waved his hand and directly sealed the entire Soda area to Chen Heng, the Count of Soda.
Judging from the area of ​​the territory alone, the territory of Earl Chen Heng is larger than the territories of other lords in Kutu.
But in reality, it just looks good.
In reality, the Soda region borders the desert, and most of it is where alien races are active, making it very difficult to establish a strong rule there.
Moreover, in this vast area, there are not many subjects who can actually be ruled by Chen Heng and used to collect taxes. The number is pitifully small.
According to Chen Heng's estimation, in the entire Soda region, the number of people who could be directly ruled by Chen Heng was probably only tens of thousands.
The number of tens of thousands may sound like a lot, but when it is spread over such a vast area, it becomes very unsightly.
After arriving in this territory, Chen Heng did nothing during this time. He just patrolled the area with the local guide and Kurudo and others.
A great man once said that without investigation, there is no right to speak.
Chen Heng felt that this sentence was very right.
The importance of intelligence is self-evident in many aspects.
Therefore, after arriving at his own territory, Chen Heng immediately began his investigation, wanting to know the most basic situation on this land.
After observing for a period of time, Chen Heng already had some idea of ​​what he should do next.
"Although the climate in the north is harsh, the land would produce enough if there were no war."
Riding on the side and looking at Chen Heng, Kurudo said, "Although the production here is not as good as in the south, because the area is large, each lord owns a lot of land, so people will not starve to death."
"What's really annoying is the orc thieves who come every now and then, as well as some other inexplicable creatures."
At this point, his face looked somewhat helpless: "In order to resist these orc thieves, a large number of men were forcibly drafted to fight these people, so that they often missed the farming time, and sometimes even when they waited for the harvest, it would be destroyed by these orcs."
He introduced the situation in the north to Chen Heng and also introduced the main enemies he would face in the next period of time.
From his narration, Chen Heng gradually understood the basic situation here, and also had a clear understanding of what he needed to do in the next period of time.
"I think I understand."
Chen Heng nodded and continued to look at Kurudho: "I will trouble you for the next period of time."
This time , Chen Heng did not come here alone. Kurudo and others came here with him and became one of his followers.
All the foundations that Chen Heng had laid in Kutu City in the past were brought here by him this time and invested in the construction.
Next, Chen Heng began the process of building his own territory.
To be honest, it is very difficult to build something from scratch.
But fortunately, Chen Heng is not completely penniless.
Compared with others, he has many advantages.
His wife is Vinar, a royal princess, which means that he has very close ties to the royal family and can gain a considerable degree of support from Orliman and even the entire Kutu Kingdom.
The lords and nobles around him , for the sake of the royal family, would also look up to him and give him more convenience.
Secondly, because of the previous cooperation, he had a very good relationship with the northern lords, and to a certain extent, he was even their biggest financial backer.
After the North-South trade began, although many people saw the huge profits contained therein and began to try to get involved, they started too late and have not yet found a low-cost, risk-free trade route like Chen Heng.
In addition to the advantages established in the early stage, Chen Heng still has a large share in the current North-South trade.
The result of this trade route was that the northern lords generally showed goodwill towards Chen Heng and would not refuse many of his requests.
The huge profits earned from trade also made Chen Heng financially comfortable and prevented him from falling into a difficult situation.
Plus, he is a powerful knight himself.
This is the most important point.
In this era, the role that a knight can play is hard for ordinary people to imagine.
With Chen Heng's current strength, he only needs to bring a hundred guards to roam around this area. Those scattered foreign thieves are nothing to him.
However, despite all these advantages, Chen Heng still had a very difficult life.
The conditions in the northern area were so harsh that it was difficult for him to take action.
However, he was not discouraged.
Long before coming here, he already had some understanding of the situation here and had made some mental preparations.
The situations he faces now are not enough to overwhelm him.
In this way, Count Soda named Kailin took root in Soda.
As soon as he arrived here, he started his actions.
He led Kurudoo and others on a tour of the four directions, wiped out some bandits and small tribes that had been wreaking havoc in the surrounding areas for a long time, and reduced all of them to slaves.
Afterwards, he used his authority as a lord and powerful military force to forcibly relocate several small tribes scattered around and gather them together.
In this way, he gathered as much population as possible in the entire Soda area, and began to cultivate land and build cities in several key places.
When the population gathered, Chen Heng had fewer places to guard, and the military pressure he faced was suddenly reduced.
When the city began to develop, some small tribes and even savages that were originally scattered around the city were attracted and continued to migrate into the city.
In this way, Chen Heng's territory slowly developed and gradually got started.