In the half a year since he left Antalya, Feng Chou had not even touched the door of the upper class, even though he had the title of Baron. In the eyes of the local nobles of Casalanca, he was a foreign noble with an empty title. No real noble would be willing to deal with such a loser.
Feng Chou felt that if he could enter the upper class, he might be able to get more information on mages. Perhaps in the basement of a great noble's castle, there would be precious magic information left behind by his ancestors.
Why would a wealthy merchant family like Benedict run to some godforsaken place and lose money to develop some troublesome territory?
Because according to the rules of this world, you could only have your own army if you had a territory. Only with a territory could you cultivate your own real foundation.
It was the same for Feng Chou. Only with a territory could he cultivate his own forces and not have to do everything himself. With a real territory, he could gain the recognition of the local nobles, especially the old-style nobles who valued land. He could enter the upper social circle and obtain information and resources that he could not access before. It would not be like now, where he could not buy what he wanted even if he had money.
With Feng Chou's current financial resources, developing a new territory of seventy thousand mu was almost the limit. Increasing it was not necessary and would affect his follow-up plans.
After getting the contract signed by the members of the Benedict family's development committee, Feng Chou did not go to the territory immediately. He took Owen, Natasha, and Salma's second-string team back to Casalanca.
Developing a territory was a very complicated and comprehensive project. It could be said that there were a lot of things to do.
Fortunately, there were now professional companies that could do these things on behalf of the lord.
These professional development companies had a wealth of experience, a mature engineering team, and comprehensive technology. Letting them do it was far more cost-effective than letting the lord do it himself. Even if the development company's profits were included, it was definitely more cost-effective than doing it himself.
Back in Casalanca, Feng Chou sent someone to Wood Manor to invite Chapman over.
Chapman almost fainted when he heard Feng Chou say that he had obtained the rights to develop 70,000 mu of land in the Benedict Pioneer Territory.
He said in disbelief, "Heavens, my Baron, even if you don't build a castle or irrigation system, you'll still need at least two million crowns to develop a Baron's fief!"
Feng Chou rubbed his chin and said, "This is a problem. I only have a little more than a million gold coins in cash, and I can't afford not to build castles and irrigation facilities in my territory. I also need a port."
"If I mortgage Wood Hill, the development rights of the new territory, a knighthood in Adonis, a commercial property, and a villa to the bank, how much loan can I get?"
Chapman said, "If you have a million in cash, then it is enough to find a development company to start construction. Perhaps you don't even need a million. As long as you pay 500,000 in advance, it will be enough to start a development company.
But the problem is, what about the future? "
"You know, it is very slow for a territory to generate profits. It may be difficult for a new territory to generate decent profits in the first ten years. You won't be able to rely on this new territory to pay back the loan."
Feng Chou rubbed his chin and said, "How long will it take to develop such a territory?"
Chapman said, "About two years. The specific situation depends on the territory's geographical conditions."
Feng Chou said, "Two years?
Faster than I thought. If it's two years, then the follow-up payment shouldn't be a problem. I'm confident that I can get three million crowns in two years. "
At this point, Feng Chou made his decision. "Now, I need an excellent development company."
Seeing that the lord had made his decision, Chapman did not try to persuade him anymore. He bowed and said, "As you wish."
Under Chapman's suggestion, Feng Chou found a construction company called Kroger.
This was a construction company that specialized in the development of territories. Of course, they also accepted ordinary construction projects. If you wanted to build a villa, a building, or a factory, it was not wrong to look for them.
As one of the top ten construction companies in Casablanca, Kroger was located in a four-story building in the northeast district of Casablanca.
In this world, no construction company could do without the participation of magic. Kroger was backed by a medium-sized magic organization.
Wearing a sky-blue silk suit, Feng Chou walked into the beautiful office building of Kroger. Immediately, a young clerk came up to him.
When Feng Chou told him that he had a large order to develop a territory of seventy thousand acres, the apprentice immediately led him to the fourth floor of the office building.
Feng Chou was received by a middle-aged architect in a spacious office.
Qiankun Pagoda told Feng Chou that the architect in front of him was also a mage, an intermediate one.
After a simple greeting with the architect, Feng Chou took out his development contract, the topographic map of the territory, and finally his own draft plan.
The architect named Abner glanced at the contract and took Feng Chou's draft plan and the topographic map of the territory to look carefully.
In Feng Chou's draft plan, the territory's castle was located halfway up the southern slope of the mountain.
The north and east sides of the mountain were steeper, while the south side was gentler. In particular, there was a large terrace halfway up the southern slope. The castle in the draft plan was located on this terrace.
The western slope was in between the two. The foot of this slope was two kilometers away from the river bank. In the plan, the territory's commercial town was located at the foot of the mountain's western slope.
On the other side of the river, there was a sizable port planned.
At the foot of the mountain's southern slope, there was a canal and a reservoir.
The source of the canal was in the southeast of the territory.
In this direction, the rest of the mountain formed a ridge along the river bank. About seven or eight kilometers away from the mountain, the height of the ridge was below twenty meters.
At this location, the draft plan indicated the installation location of the screw pump.
Architect Abner was no stranger to the screw pump. This kind of pump had been invented as early as the age of the Arcane Empire. As long as the diameter was large enough, the power of the screw pump could be quite powerful.
Building a stone ditch along the river, setting up a water turbine on the ditch, and then using the water turbine to drive the spiral water pump, Feng Chou's sketch of this key part was rather rough, he thought that there was no spiral water pump in this world.
But Architect Abner understood after a little closer look.
After looking at the design, he praised: "It's a really good design … …"
Architect Abner raised his head and asked: "Who drew this?"
Feng Chou said: "I drew it."
Architect Abner complimented: "You are really a great lord."
Feng Chou shrugged and said: "In the remote Antalya, there is no professional company like yours. The lords there can only do it themselves."
Feng Chou was also telling the truth. In addition to the screw pump, most of the knowledge in this design came from Leo's memory. In Antalya, the development and maintenance of the territory was an essential part of the knight's education.
Of course, there were also some good ideas in this sketch that came from Feng Chou's open mind.