Evil dragon has a warm heart-Chapter 124 - 123 The Formidable Brick

Chapter 124: Chapter 123: The Formidable Brick

Chapter 124 -123: The Formidable Brick

The serfs of Wuyao Snake Manor developed a mad love for tree-planting.

Seeing that Magic Medicine Tun was almost full of various saplings, Russell was pleased and this sparked other ideas.

“Charles.”

“Sir, please give your command.”

“There’s a lot of wasteland in the manor that hasn’t been sufficiently reclaimed over the years due to a lack of manpower. I plan to plant trees there, all kinds of trees,” Russell said. Wuyao Snake Manor was primarily meadows, with only the Birch Forest as a wooded area.

With nearly four thousand inhabitants, there weren’t enough people to cultivate the vast landscape of almost twenty thousand hectares, leaving most of it as wasteland.

The wasteland was overgrown with weeds. In the past, it served as an ideal habitat for the Blackwaist Serpent, but as Baron Roman led many of the serpents away, and with many serfs keeping livestock, they began grazing sheep, horses, donkeys, etc., on the wasteland.

Over time, the Blackwaist Serpent had almost vanished.

“The nutrition weeds provide is far inferior to excellent forage grasses like alfalfa, so there’s no need to reserve the wasteland for grazing,” Charles agreed with Russell’s idea. “Sir, I’ll call together the hamlet chiefs and arrange for the tree planting.”

“Use the same method as Magic Medicine Tun, but reduce the reward from one copper coin per tree to one copper coin for every ten trees… Treat this as an ongoing task, so the serfs can plant trees in their free time.”

Charles, flattering, said, “Sir, you are truly generous. Being a serf on your estate is the greatest fortune for these four thousand people of Wuyao Snake Manor!”

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Russell also laughed, “My generosity is for everyone, Charles. If you want to earn some extra money, you’re welcome to plant trees in your own time.”

“Haha, if I have some free time, I might just go to the wasteland to plant some trees.”

“Not just you, I plan to plant a few trees myself. But I’ll stick to planting them around the manor’s outlying estate,” said Russell, ready to lead by example and transform the environment around the outlying estate with his own hands.

Especially since he had already planned to refurbish the outlying estate.

The house needed a good overhaul, and naturally, so did the surrounding environment.

So after finishing his morning knight’s practice and taking a bath with a change of clothes, Russell went wandering around the outlying estate of the manor accompanied by Butler Morris, his personal servant Ram, and Hans, the former steward of the estate and current Court Chief.

The location of the outlying estate was at the very north of Wuyao Snake Manor.

After crossing the bridge over the Glowing River on Charcoal Dust Road, one would reach the slope where the outlying estate was situated, its grounds mostly covered with Bermuda grass.

Bermuda grass was also known as velvet grass—soft and decorative, it was an excellent a selection for lawns.

It was also a high-quality forage grass with a pure scent, greatly favored by warhorses. Baron Roman, when constructing the outlying estate, planted a large area of Bermuda grass nearby to facilitate grazing for himself and his warhorses.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown, who once stayed at the outlying estate, had their hands full, mostly taking care of this stretch of Bermuda grass.

“I’m quite satisfied with this lawn, there’s no need for further renovation,” said Russell, “But the parts that have been grazed by the warhorses, Hans, you’ll need to bring some people to repair them.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Hans nodded eagerly.

All of a sudden, Russell asked, “Currently, the warhorses are under Fox’s care, right?”

Butler Morris responded, “Yes, my lord, but I am currently seeking a suitable groom to share this responsibility and allow Fox to return to his duties as a servant.”

All the warhorses on the estate belonged to Russell, granted by the Baron during the estate assignment.

Whether it was the mounts of the four Knight Attendants or those ridden by Eric and Charles, they were all kept in the stables behind the outlying estate.

“Have you found someone suitable?”

“Not yet. I’ve tried a few farmhands, but while they can feed the horses, they can’t provide the meticulous care needed for warhorses,” said Butler Morris with a sense of helplessness. The outlying estate was desperately short of specialized talent.

At this moment, Hans spoke up, “Sir, Hans does have a suitable candidate.”

“Speak,” said the Earl.

“His name is Blind Old Walker. He used to work in the stables at the castle, but for some reason, he went blind and was dismissed. Now, he lives alone in Alfalfa Hamlet… Sir, don’t be fooled by his blindness; he is much more capable than most people.”

Hans continued, “When families in the manor have donkeys, cows, or sheep struggling to give birth, he just has to press on their bellies to induce labor. Sick lambs and piglets, when taken to Blind Old Walker, get well very quickly!”

“This indeed sounds like a skilled technician,” Russell nodded.

But Butler Morris still had reservations, “Your highness Hans, with his eyesight gone, can Blind Old Walker really feed and groom horses properly?”

“Well… I believe he can, but whether he truly can or not, you, Sir, should investigate further,” Hans cautiously replied without making a definitive statement.

Russell wasn’t bothered and said directly, “Later, someone should call Blind Old Walker over. Morris, you inspect him and if he’s fit for the job, let him be the horse caretaker.”

Having discussed the candidate for the horse caretaker,

the group continued their stroll around the outbuildings of the manor, with Russell outlining the blueprints for the remodel, while the others responded now and then or offered other suggestions.

As it neared midday, just as Russell was about to return for the midday meal, he saw a carriage crossing the small bridge and arriving in front of the outbuildings of the manor.

Russell recognized the coachman at a glance — it was Crooked Hat William’s son, William.

“Sir, William sends his greetings,” said the young man.

“What brings you here? Do you have some good news?” inquired Russell with pleasure, inviting William inside.

William smiled, “Sir, please take a look at the slag earth bricks in the carriage first. My father and I have fired three batches of them. This batch has met your requirements, so my father asked me to bring them over for your inspection.”

“Excellent!” exclaimed Russell, very pleased.

The slag earth bricks were his second invention after the old man’s glasses, so he took great interest and inspected them immediately.

There weren’t many slag earth bricks in the carriage, around a hundred or so. They were greyish-red blocks similar to normal bricks. For ease of production, Russell did not have hollow bricks made; they were simple, solid brick bats.

Picking up a brick, Russell weighed it in his hand. It was heavy, certainly heavier than the red bricks he remembered on Earth.

Clap, clap.

He took two bricks and clapped them together. They didn’t break but made a clear, bell-like sound, similar to the clinking of metal.

“Indeed, there’s a hint of metallic texture!” Russell marveled.

From the beginning, he couldn’t understand why the locals classified clay as a metal, but soon he came to know the might of clay — dark gold ceramic armor, Green Ceramic Swords, all much stronger than ordinary metal weapons.

It must be said, this is the charm of the Supernatural World.

Even now, the slag earth bricks, although just baked from clay dregs, still had a metallic quality to them.

Then.

He kept increasing his strength, activating his Battle Qi, before the bricks could finally be smashed against each other. This hardness already surpassed that of most rocks, at least harder than the rocks mined from Sharp Knife Mountain or Curved Blade Mountain.

Moreover, it inherently contained a trace of Magic Power, so using it for construction would have unexpected benefits.

“Sir, besides not being very aesthetically pleasing, it is almost like slightly inferior ceramic,” William couldn’t stop praising, “Your suggestion to make slag earth bricks will have a huge market. Even a commoner like me wants to build a house with it!”

“Indeed, not bad,” Russell was quite satisfied with the quality of the slag earth bricks, “The next step is to build a brick kiln factory!”