Lord of the Gaming World

Chapter 44: Have More Children and Raise More Pigs

Chu Tian bought Yunlai Village, not with money from Xia Town but with Yunlai Village’s own money. The chief of Yunlai Village could take 50 taels of gold from the warehouse in Yunlai Village and work a job in Xia Town. His trade-off was to give up Yunlai Village, which would become Xia Town’s third vassal village.

Yunlai Village had a population of 1,458 people, and its development direction was agriculture, with Level 3 farmland, rice shops, water wells, and Level 1 reservoirs.

Chu Tian had already considered that he needed a vassal village specializing in grain production. Therefore, he specially selected Yunlai Village from the Level 3 villages near Xia Town.

There were about 2,600 people in Xia Town, 2,100 in Xiaozhu Village, 550 in Shangbi Village, and 1,450 in Yunlai Village, with a total population of 6,700.

Population was the most important resource in “Feudal Lords.” The larger the population, the more tax revenue and troops produced. After a war, you could also quickly regain strength.

Chu Tian did not trust the chief of Yunlai Village. Instead, he used an NPC internal affairs talent from Yunlai village to manage the village, and the chief of Yunlai Village went to Xia Town for work.

You could see the loyalty of NPC internal affairs talents, but not the loyalty of players. It was too unpredictable to appoint players as village chiefs. Unless they were comrades who had shared life and death experiences, or subordinates who had served for many years, it would be impossible for Chu Tian to appoint them to manage a group of people.

Conquering Yunlai Village did not cost him a single soldier or officer. Chu Tian strolled around the farmland of Yunlai Village, which could easily be cultivated by 2000 people.

Yunlai Village’s military included 50 Level 1 light infantrymen. Chu Tian did not increase the strength of Yunlai Village, leaving the labor for farm work.

Farming in Yunlai Village, mining in Shangbi Village, and making money in Xiaozhu Village…

As for fighting wars, that was up to Xia Town. Xia Town had several barracks, and as long as labor from various villages was moved to Xia Town and the barracks were used for training, an army could be quickly created.

Chu Tian’s group returned to Xia Town. There were more than a dozen wounded soldiers in Xia Town’s Level 2 medical clinic, as well as townspeople who had come to see the doctor. Several doctors were already busy seeing the patients.

There were already 5 low-level physicians and 10 apprentices in the Level 2 medical clinic. Even so, the staff were rushing around because of the sudden increase in injuries.

It was possible that wounded soldiers would die from their wound infections, or become disabled, but most soldiers with minor injuries were able to return to the army.

“Compared to my village, this town is much more prosperous, and it has a large population too. It deserves to be the first territory in Langya Nation. I was right not to resist.”

When the chief of Yunlai Village followed Chu Tian to Xia Town, he couldn’t help but marvel at the town’s prosperity. Xia Town was not something Yunlai Village could hope to contend with. The population of Xia Town was almost twice that of Yunlai Village, not to mention its superb control of the local soldiers and the military strength of its vassal villages.

The first thing Chu Tian did when he returned was replenish the lost troops and dispatch a group of laborers from the vassal villages to become Xu Prefecture archers.

It took time to recruit soldiers, and they also needed training in the drill ground in the future, which he needed to plan for in advance. This was the so-called cultivation of the military.

There were 50 troops stationed in Yunlai Village, 50 troops stationed in Shangbi Village, and 40 troops stationed in the water village. Chu Tian followed the “separation of military and civilian” policy and employed professional soldiers, while local soldiers worked in public security.

Xia Town now only had 40 cavalrymen, 40 Xu Prefecture archers, and 80 elite infantrymen, which was a total of 160 professional soldiers.

Chu Tian transferred 50 laborers from Yunlai Village and Xiaozhu Village and began training 40 Xu Prefecture archers and 60 elite infantrymen.

This way, there would be 260 professional soldiers in Xia Town, plus 140 professional soldiers in the territory, for a total of 400 professional soldiers.

A population of 6700 supporting 400 professional soldiers, including 40 war horses, was quite exaggerated.

The bottomline was this: they didn’t have enough people.

Chu Tian found Li Kui and asked him to write a notice, since Chu Tian’s calligraphy wasn’t very neat.

“As long as there are more than two children in a family under our jurisdiction, their taxes will be reduced. For newborns each year, the lord’s government will provide security subsidies when appropriate. In addition, farmers are encouraged to raise more livestock and improve their standard of living. The lord’s mansion will provide pig-raising experts, chicken-raising experts, and fish-raising experts to give further guidance. Write the title of the notice like this: If you want to be rich, build roads first, have more children, and raise more pigs.”

Li Kui was stunned when he heard the content of the notice that Chu Tian had asked him to write.

These policies were very simple and crude, without any unnecessary nonsense in them.

The more children you had, the less taxes you paid.

The lord’s mansion would actually intervene in population reproduction and livestock breeding.

“No need to edit anything, just publish it.”

Chu Tian thought for a while. The positive impact of population growth in the future could offset the negative impact of tax cuts occurring right now. Chu Tian chose to bet on the future.

In the early stage, battles could be supported by war, but later on, one competed with the comprehensive strength of population and territory.

Moreover, as the population increased, the expenditure of each household would increase as well.

The population tax would be reduced, but due to the increase in both population and consumption, the consumption tax would increase. With one increase and one decrease, perhaps the total tax revenue for the lord’s mansion would not decrease.

A notice was posted at Xia Town’s public announcements area.

“Is there anyone who is literate? What does the government notice say?”

“Let me see… If you want to be rich, you must first build roads, have more children and raise more pigs. As long as there are three or more children in a household, taxes will be reduced…”

“It’s too good to be true?!”

Many households eligible for the sudden tax cuts were overjoyed.

Families with only one or two children were a little jealous; tax cuts were things they had only dreamt of.

The increase in population meant that, for every household, there would be more labor force in the family and an increased family income. At the same time, it would help with the government’s military service requirements. For example, if there were three males in a household, and one was drafted by the government, there would still be two males who could work, and the family could still have descendants. Now there were tax cuts and security subsidies for having more children.

“Also, if the family raises livestock, the government will provide talent guidance. For farmers who raise more pigs, the government will provide them with skill books on pig-raising.”

The townspeople who had gathered to look were in an uproar once again.

Obviously, Chu Tian was using the plundered wealth to revitalize industry and promote economic development.

News of the population policy and livestock policy were quickly communicated to Xiaozhu Village, Shangbi Village, and Yunlai Village via a light cavalryman.

Xia Town and its three vassal villages began promoting new policies.

“Chu Tian is a smart person.”

The chief of Xiaozhu Village, Xia Tianliang, was informed that as a vassal, she could only implement policies according to the orders of the lord’s mansion. Of course, if she was dissatisfied, she could make recommendations to Chu Tian.

Chu Tian encouraged having more children, which meant the birthrate in Xia Town would be astounding in the future. Xia Town’s private school policy of “Pay one tuition, get second half-off” also encouraged having more children.

“The prosperity of the world is all for profit; the hustle and bustle of the world is all for profit. Since ancient times, affection cannot be kept. Only routines can win people’s hearts.”

Chu Tian discovered that after implementing the childbirth tax reduction policy, Xia Town’s public sentiment rose once again.