Following the prompt, as long as you walk three miles due north of the small courtyard, you can find that little stream.
Zong Shen rode the Old Traveling Horse, advancing at a steady pace, and in just 6 or 7 minutes, he had already seen the stream.
Although it was said to be a small stream, the entire stream width was about one zhang, with a somewhat rapid flow, but the water level was not deep.
Zong Shen dismounted and approached the stream.
The water was very clear, and because it was flowing water, it wasn't muddy, allowing a clear view of the pebbles at the stream bed.
He looked up along the stream towards the upstream direction.
He discovered that the stream originated from the distant northern mountains and woods.
Flowing in a winding manner from north to southwest.
Thinking of the system's hint about a lake in the southwest, it seemed this stream should be one of the inflow sources of that lake.
Zong Shen was not at all surprised that there was a water source nearby.
After all, if water were lacking here, it would be impossible for such a large expanse of lush grassland to form.
Moreover, Zong Shen had discovered during excavation that the soil here was extremely fertile black soil.
Relatively moist and quite sticky.
In Earth's terms.
That is soil formed under temperate humid climate grassland meadow vegetation conditions with a well-humus structure.
The organic matter in this soil is about 3% to 10%, excessively fertile.
As long as no land desertification or grassland desolation occurs here, water scarcity is unlikely.
This is a commonsense judgment.
However, those Lords who ended up in the Gobi or desert areas must be finding it quite frustrating.
Just wondering if there will be some form of compensatory balance.
The various survival settings for the Lord are quite fair.
Zong Shen stood by the stream, not in a hurry to draw water, but instead began to ponder the relationship between the environment and survival.
Then he gestured, taking out the three wooden buckets made earlier, placing them beside him.
Squatting down, he extended his hand to scoop up a handful of water, gently sipping a bit.
The water was sweet and had no peculiar taste.
Obviously, this was stream water flowing from the mountain springs, forming the stream upon joining the meadows.
After continuous washing and pebble purification, so the water quality was quite excellent.
He concentrated his gaze on the water surface.
(The water source flows from a high mountain spring eye, rich in various minerals, of good quality, but it is still recommended that you boil it before drinking.)
After checking the strategy prompt to confirm it, Zong Shen began to fill the water.
Filling the three wooden buckets one after another, storing them in his Personal Storage Grid.
He let the Old Traveling Horse go drinking by itself downstream.
The three filled buckets were similar items, so they could be stacked and didn't occupy too much storage space.
This made 30L of water.
Currently, there are eleven farmers, two warriors, one Black Panther, one Giant Wolf, along with Zong Shen himself and the Old Traveling Horse in the territory.
This 30L of water should be enough for one to two days.
However, Zong Shen's territory is not far from the stream, so when there are enough wood resources at hand, more wooden buckets can be made for Korby to fetch water.
He was worried about farmers going far.
The farmers' combat capability is too low, lacking self-defense ability, making it easy to incur losses when encountering danger.
While contemplating, Zong Shen mounted the Old Traveling Horse.
He rode back towards the small courtyard.
Using the free time, he needs to quickly understand some commonsense issues before him.
The "Lord Survival" system does not answer these issues, requiring the Lord to explore them independently, but Zong Shen is different.
He has a Guide Module.
Currently, Zong Shen has no clear target on how to acquire farmers.
His Initial Farmers came from the starting gift.
Then he rescued eight farmers by sweeping the Bandit Camp.
These farmers seemingly cannot be recruited out of thin air like warriors.
"May I ask, how to recruit more farmers?"
As the saying goes, look up the strategy when in doubt.
Zong Shen immediately voiced his doubt.
(There are several ways to recruit farmers.
The first way, and the main one, is to find Indigenous villages/towns/Giant Cities, gain their trust by increasing your Reputation Value, and completing regional Affinity/Reputation tasks. You can enlist in that region every so often, with the number depending on Affinity/Reputation and the size of the region.
The second way, Mercenaries and aspiring individuals often appear in town taverns. Here, as long as you can pay sufficient compensation or promise to fulfill their aspirations, you can quickly acquire talent, and you might even encounter potential hero-type talents.
The third way, plunder Indigenous villages, forcibly seizing populations, but you may face counterattacks and extermination from all levels of Native Forces.
The fourth way, saving a certain number of Indigenous people by attacking mountain bandits/roving bandits/Alien Race tribes/nests.
The fifth way, purchasing from Slave Merchants.
The sixth way, after territory expansion and influence increase, will naturally attract population migration.
The seventh way, if you can accept the Alien Race, you can go to the Alien Race nations and summon through alliances/gain Affinity/plunder.
PS: The above ways are not all population acquisition methods; the entire Continent holds numerous opportunities and strong individuals awaiting you.)
So that's it!
Zong Shen suddenly understood.
Farmers and other population cannot appear out of thin air and must be summoned from Native Forces on the Continent.
This is the main population acquisition approach.
With a basic population, he can then thrive and propagate.
This would take decades of long-term effort.
"Then what about soldiers? Can they only be summoned through Recruitment Scrolls?"
Zong Shen presented his second inquiry.
(The soldiers summoned directly from Recruitment Scrolls are all recruit tools left from ancient times. There are many Recruitment Scrolls, but they are scattered and hard to find, formerly a primary conscription method on the Continent. The soldiers within are almost extinct now, powerful heroes or soldiers voluntarily slumbering in the Other Dimension, awaiting the Lord's recruitment to reappear in this world.
Apart from Recruitment Scrolls, those Indigenous farmers as basic population units can also be trained into soldiers, but specific Buildings are needed, such as those Tier 1 Barracks-type Buildings in Construction.
These are the most common and basic Human Race conscription units, spending some materials to train farmers into soldiers.
Of course, there are many Special conscription buildings needing the Lord's constant exploration and unearthing!
In summary, you have a long road ahead, keep striving, greenhorn Little Lord.)
After reading the prompts, Zong Shen developed a deeper level of thought on population and development.
To develop, contact with Native Forces is unavoidable.
However, there's no hurry for this matter.
Today is the first day of landfall and development.
The territory is not yet formed.
Zong Shen will only consider contacting the Native Forces when the territory has a basic scale and self-defense capability.
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