When Feng Chou entered the manor, it was the time of spring plowing. In the endless fields, more than ten large three-share plows pulled by four Shire horses were galloping across the fields.
These three-share plows looked a bit like a carriage from afar. There were two huge wheels on both sides of the plows, and three large plows were installed on the axle between the wheels. These three large plows were inserted into the soil at the same time, plowing the soil. On top of the plows, there was a driver's seat. The farmer sat in the driver's seat and pulled the reins, controlling the four Shire horses to move forward or turn.
According to Qiankun Pagoda's calculations, the efficiency of these large three-share plows was ten times that of the traditional two-oxen type of tillage in rural China back on Earth.
Of course, half of this efficiency was due to the strong Shire horses, but the new plows also played a part.
With these new agricultural techniques, new fertilizers, and new irrigation techniques, fewer people could cultivate more land. Fallow of land was no longer necessary, and the utilization rate of land had greatly increased. The output of land had also greatly increased.
These changes also promoted the development of the city, allowing a large amount of surplus rural labor to flow into the city. At the same time, it also provided more food for the city.
Looking at the three-share plows in the fields, Feng Chou couldn't help but sigh. This world was really too big. In a big city like Casablanca, there were already signs of industrialization, but in the remote Antalya, it was still in the late stages of the feudal era.
The innovation of technology also increased the income of the land. Take Wood Manor for example. If it was operated in the traditional way, the manor could only bring in about 13,000 crowns, but after a series of technological reforms, the territory's annual income could exceed 20,000 crowns.
Of course, new technology naturally meant new investment. For example, the dozen or so large plows and the Shire horses that pulled them cost 5,000 crowns each, and a dozen of them cost 60,000 to 70,000 crowns.
Only Feng Chou, who had a lot of money, could casually invest such a large sum of money. Ordinary knights wouldn't be willing to spend such a large sum of money on plows.
Even the commercial company in charge of the territory had to buy a batch of plows and supply them to a large area for rotation.
In addition to the plows, the use of the new alchemical fertilizers could not only prevent the land from fallowing, but also greatly increase the output of the land. However, half of the increased output would flow to the alchemical factories that made the fertilizers.
…
When Feng Chou arrived at the manor, he immediately announced his plan to build a magic laboratory.
His plan caused a strong reaction from Butler Chapman.
Feng Chou could understand Chapman's strong reaction. Anyone whose family had been destroyed by a magic experiment would have an indelible trauma.
However, this also gave Feng Chou a headache because he was going to choose the School of Necromancy in the future. He would definitely study necromancy in the future.
In order to keep Chapman, an excellent steward, Feng Chou had to promise that the laboratory would only be a low-level one, with a low risk factor, and that he would never do any experiments related to necromancy.
Feng Chou was very satisfied with Chapman's performance. Although this victim of magic was firmly against Feng Chou's idea of building a magic laboratory in his territory, when the lord had made up his mind, he was willing to cooperate fully.
Chapman personally went to Soth's Eye Arcane Street and found a reputable magic construction company. From there, he hired a magic engineering team that specialized in building a magic laboratory.
This construction team was led by an intermediate mage, several junior mages, several architects, more than ten stonemasons, and even more masons.
Feng Chou chose the location of the magic laboratory to be opposite the river bend.
To Feng Chou's surprise, Chapman raised an objection to the location of his magic laboratory. He believed that building a magic laboratory outside the manor was inconvenient and unsafe. His suggestion was to dig a basement under the manor's central garden as a magic laboratory, and then connect it to the master's study or living room through a tunnel.
Feng Chou was very satisfied with this suggestion. This once again showed that although Chapman was against the construction of a magic laboratory, he was still able to seriously plan something that he had opposed before.
However, Feng Chou rejected Chapman's suggestion. He said that he was likely to live in the laboratory for a long time in the future. Putting the laboratory in a basement was not good for his physical and mental health.
As for the other's safety concerns, it was completely unnecessary. What he wanted to build was a fortress-like magic laboratory. Its defensive capabilities were definitely much stronger than a villa.
The opposite side of the river bend was also the territory of the Wood Manor. Because of the high terrain, it was difficult to irrigate, so it was not developed into farmland. It was still a barren woodland.
Feng Chou chose the location of the new laboratory on the opposite side of the river, on a slope a mile away. It was the highest point on the opposite side of the river, more than twenty meters higher than the foundation of the manor, overlooking the entire Wood Manor.
According to Feng Chou's plan, the magic engineering team would first build a small dock on the opposite side of the river, and then build a stone road all the way to the magic fortress.
The so-called fortress-like magic laboratory was, in fact, a low-end version of a mage tower.
The magic fortress was designed as a four-story stone tower. The first floor of the stone tower was the living room, the second floor was the living room and dining room, the third floor was the master's bedroom, lounge, and entertainment room, and the fourth floor was the real magic laboratory.
There was also a laboratory under the magic fortress. It was a binding room, a place for mages to study summoning spells.
The cost of the entire magic fortress was about one million crowns.
Long before Feng Chou came to the Wood Manor, he had changed his identity and changed the magic coins in his hands into cash, and exchanged them for bank notes from the Waukeen Bank.
To ensure the safety of the magic fortress, Feng Chou also spent an additional two hundred thousand crowns to buy two flesh golems.
The flesh golems were said to be the oldest golems. They were the basic version of all golems, and their combat power was also the weakest among the golems.
These golems were made from the corpses of powerful creatures, so they did not have the indestructible bodies of the steel golems. However, these golems had the agility and agility that normal steel golems did not have.
When these agile golems were equipped with heavy armor, coupled with the iconic ability of all golems, magic immunity, they were extremely difficult to deal with.
The flesh golems had the combat power of a high-order Warrior, which was a little extravagant for a low-order mage's fortress.
The two flesh golems, coupled with the magic traps of the mage's fortress itself, were enough to stop a small number of high-order Professionals.