Inside the Lord's Mansion on the second floor of Valley Wood Fort, Lottie was cleaning Art's wounds as he lay on the bed. When she saw his chest and back covered with both fresh and old scars, Lottie couldn't hold back her soft sobs.

Hearing the crying behind him, Art turned around, got up, and quickly comforted her, "My dear, why are you crying? These are just scrapes from when I was climbing over mountains and ridges, scratched by rocks and branches."

Lottie cried more and more sorrowfully. Art quickly went to her and embraced her, "See? I'm perfectly fine, nothing happened to me."

"I saw it all. So many of your Soldiers died this time. When Felix rushed back that day and told Uncle Cooper that you had been attacked by bandits and suffered heavy casualties, I was scared to death," Lottie said, sobbing.

"My dear, there's no war without death. If you're afraid of death, then just be a farmer. Aren't you most admiring of Warriors? Warriors are people who gamble with death."

Lottie stopped crying and looked at Art, her face tear-streaked like pear blossoms in the rain. "But now I don't want you to be a Warrior. I don't want you to take risks anymore."

Art was instantly speechless. How could a woman's heart change so quickly? One moment she wants you to be a fearless hero, the next she wants you to be a peace-loving farmer who just wants to survive.

"My Lord, the officers and stewards have all arrived. Are you ready to begin the discussion?" Ron's voice sounded from outside the door.

"I'll be right there."

Art looked up at the door, then leaned down and kissed Lottie on the forehead, saying, "My dear, don't worry. Your Warrior won't be taken by death so easily." Then he put on his armor and followed Ron, who was still a bit unsteady on his feet, downstairs.

Upon reaching the Lord's Hall on the first floor, the army officers and Civil Affairs stewards were all present.

Art went directly to the main seat and sat down. He looked around at the silent, dejected crowd and said, "Are you planning to bow your heads in defeat? Lift your heads!"

Only then did everyone raise their heads.

"There's no denying we suffered heavy losses in Jushi Town, and many brothers died on the battlefield. But we ultimately won the battle; we are the ones who survived."

"This is the kind of world we live in now; the weaker will be bullied. The bandits dared to attack our garrison camp this time because they thought we weren't strong, but now we have shown them with dozens of miles of heads how strong our shields are and how sharp our spears are."

"However, it's undeniable that our strength is still insufficient. This time, our defenders fought desperately to block the bandit's attack, and the reinforcements coincidentally found a shortcut to rescue us. But can we be so lucky next time? If we face such a dangerous situation again, can you all still sit here calmly?"

Art looked at the crowd, and everyone remained silent.

"I called you all here today to discuss how to quickly strengthen the Valley Knight Territory's power in the next step."

"Cooper, you are the head of Civil Affairs. You go first and tell us how to strengthen the territory's Civil Affairs power."

Cooper looked at everyone and said, "I won't elaborate on other things. Currently, the main measures for Civil Affairs are to continuously recruit vagrants to expand the territory's households, and then to cultivate more land and plant more grain. Grain is the foundation of everything now."

"The winter wheat planted last year has already begun to be harvested. According to the previous agreement, the first batch of land-allocated households in Valley Land will pay the 'One-Fifth Tax' to Wood Fort in early July. Coupled with the grain and supplies collected by the army from the county previously, and the existing reserves in Wood Fort, as well as farming tools and livestock, we can still recruit fifty vagrant households into the Valley to clear and cultivate land. Therefore, I suggest we start recruiting vagrants into the Valley again."

"However, Valley Bottom Village is already too crowded to accommodate new residents. If we continue to recruit vagrants, we must build a second village along the river. We have already chosen the location: a riverside highland three miles south of Valley Land. The terrain is slightly higher, it's convenient for water access, and there are large areas of flat wasteland around it available for cultivation."

After Cooper finished discussing the continued recruitment of vagrants and the cultivation of wasteland, he paused, then continued, "I just said that land and grain are the foundation of everything. After land and grain are secured, it's a matter of money."

"There are currently tens of thousands of fenny in Wood Fort. This money seems like a lot, but it's not enough when put to use. Not to mention the huge monthly salaries, just the daily consumption of grain by the army Soldiers, the new residents, craftsmen, and captured laborers that Wood Fort needs to support is an astonishing expense."

"So, the second point I want to make is to make money, to make more money."

"Currently, we don't have many ways to make money. Besides the Border Outpost, which can collect five or six hundred fenny in entry taxes each month, sometimes more, sometimes less, the only other significant income comes from the merchant caravans. But since the caravans were hit by competitors and suspended the southern goods trade, they can only earn less than four thousand fenny a month. This income is far from enough to support the army's and Civil Affairs' huge expenditures. So, next, I think we still need to find a way to open up the southern goods trade route…"

Sartre, the merchant caravan steward beside Cooper, nodded repeatedly, "Yes, My Lord, if we cannot quickly establish ourselves in the southern goods trade while the war is still ongoing, once the war settles down and those dormant southern goods magnates rise up, we will no longer have a chance to get involved!"

Art nodded heavily and instructed the Civil Affairs stewards, "From now on, the Valley Knight Territory will once again begin recruiting vagrant young men. I will entrust this matter to the Border Outpost and the Jushi Town garrison. Once the bandits on the north-south trade route are cleared, more vagrants will come and go, and I will have them recruited. The Valley must be prepared to receive these vagrants, whether it's for food supply or housing construction. Additionally, as the Valley's population grows and more war captives are managed, you must ensure good public order. I don't want the territory to fall into chaos, so the Valley Guard must focus on maintaining order in the Valley."

"All Civil Affairs stewards are to cooperate fully and do their part."

"Furthermore, the construction of North Pass Fortress must be accelerated. If Jushi Town had had stronger fortress walls protecting it this time, we wouldn't have lost so many warriors. Effective immediately, except for farming, which cannot be delayed, all other matters in the territory will be secondary to the construction of North Pass. All previous war captives and recently captured bandit prisoners are to be sent to North Pass for construction. All Civil Affairs resources will be prioritized for the construction of North Pass Fortress. After the winter wheat harvest, Scott will lead the Guard and farmer-Soldiers to survey the edge of the northern dense forest. Besides the carriage road we built, all other forest paths and animal trails that could potentially lead into the Valley must be blocked or set with traps and spikes. We must ensure there is only one way in and out of the Valley."

Lawrence, the construction steward, and Scott, the quartermaster and captain of the Guard, stood up and accepted the order.

Art gestured for the two to sit down and continued, "As for the merchant caravan, the bandit suppression is nearing its end. I will have the army continue to clear out the remaining bandits. Now that the north-south trade route is essentially free of bandit harassment, I plan to begin the southern goods trade."

Art had finally decided to take action.

"I will discuss the merchant caravan matters with you, Sartre, and a few others privately later."

Art turned to Angus and said, "Sergeant, Odo is stationed in Jushi Town with his troops. You tell everyone about the army's matters."

Angus nodded and said to everyone, "The army has three important matters recently. First is to continue recruiting and training Soldiers to replenish battle losses and expand the army, including increasing the permanent Soldiers at the Jushi Town garrison and Border Outpost. Odo is responsible for this. Second is to continue clearing out the remaining bandits in the county to ensure there are no large groups of bandits rampaging in the county. I am responsible for this. Third is to expand the Valley Guard. The attack on Jushi Town this time caused us heavy losses. My Lord is concerned that the Valley might face such a situation in the future. To ensure the Valley's defensive strength while the army is out fighting, My Lord has decided to expand the Valley Guard. The permanent farmer-Soldiers who accompany the Guard on campaigns will be expanded to twenty. Of course, these Guard farmer-Soldiers are only relatively permanent; besides assigning five farmer-Soldiers each week to rotate and assist the construction steward in overseeing the war captives, they will also have slightly more frequent assembly and training. But the Guard farmer-Soldiers will primarily focus on farming. During their rotation, training, and assigned tasks, their food and lodging will be provided by Wood Fort, and each person will receive one fenny per day as salary."

"Besides the twenty permanent Guard farmer-Soldiers, all selected young men in the Valley Knight Territory between the ages of sixteen and forty will be registered and enrolled in the Valley Guard. They will farm and work during busy times, and assemble and train during leisure times. They will be civilians in peacetime and Soldiers in wartime. I will discuss the specific matters of expanding the Valley Guard with the Civil Affairs stewards once Odo returns." Angus was concise. Art had already made the decision to expand the Valley Guard; he was merely announcing Art's decision.

Art also discussed with everyone the care and placement of wounded Soldiers, rewards for surviving Soldiers, and matters such as wasteland reclamation and grain harvesting in the territory.

A morning passed amidst everyone's discussions.

"Alright, that's all for today. Everyone, go and do your respective duties. Cooper, stay. The rest of you are dismissed."

Seeing everyone stand up and leave, with only Cooper remaining in the hall, Art led Cooper to an adjacent office and closed the large door.

"Cooper, have you prepared the things I asked you to collect?" Art asked Cooper in a low voice.

Cooper looked at the mysterious Art and replied with an embarrassed expression, "My Lord, the charcoal powder you wanted is easy to get, and even sulfur can continue to be purchased by the merchant caravan from those Alchemists. But no one has ever heard of that 'saltpeter' you mentioned; it's impossible to obtain."

Art didn't know if people in this era had ever encountered such a devastating weapon, but even after racking his brains, he could only recall these three raw materials: charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. As for how to mix them or how to determine the proportions of each ingredient, he couldn't remember.

"You've really never heard of this 'saltpeter' thing?" Art asked.

"My Lord, I was once just a Master Craftsman. I've truly never heard of these Alchemist's things. And Sartre has also asked several Alchemists, and they haven't heard of such a thing either. My Lord, what exactly are you planning to do with these things?" Cooper truly didn't understand why Art, who was burdened with administrative duties, had recently become interested in these Alchemist's trinkets and was acting so mysterious.

"Cooper, I can't tell you what I'm going to do right now, but you must believe that everything I do is for the future of this territory."

Cooper nodded heavily, no longer asking questions.

"Put the charcoal and sulfur separately into clay pots and send them to my secret room. Since saltpeter can't be bought outside, we'll just have to try to make it ourselves," Art said.

"Make it yourself?"

"Yes, I don't know if it will work, but let's try it first. Go get a few buckets of loose sandy soil, mix it with animal urine and diluted manure, and place it in a cool place to sit for a while, then..."

Cooper frowned and nodded, reluctantly agreeing.