The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 398 Road Construction
"If you want to get rich, build roads first!" Roland seemed to remember something and suddenly said this famous saying from his past life to Nyx.

"Huh? Road construction?" Nyx was taken aback.

Roland chuckled and stroked Nyx's hair: "Yes, we need to build roads! Only when the roads are built can we better control the kingdom's lands!"

Roland looked at Nyx seriously and said, "A road paved with stone bricks is enough to increase the speed of the raging knights by a third! The speed of the carriages by half! The speed of the infantry can also be increased slightly! This is the military convenience that a well-maintained road can bring, which is a very important facility for the Kingdom of Lagrange, a nation founded on knights!"
It's important to understand that even with horseshoes, galloping across the wasteland can still damage the horseshoes, while riding at full speed on cobblestone roads almost eliminates non-combat injuries...

"Where are you planning to build roads?" Nyx had a headache. He figured Old Master Radil was about to have another meltdown. He'd only recently helped Roland renovate the third floor of the castle, giving it a semblance of a major city… but for a king's castle, it still looked rather cheap! Just a few days ago, Radil was still building other temples…

“Our city is too big…so big it’s empty…” Roland felt despair at the thought of the vast expanse of Stream City…

A kilometer long and a kilometer wide, with five-meter-high walls, it was second only to Vale in size in the North. (However, to be honest, even the barons in the countryside would look down on it.)
But thinking about the territory only makes things more hopeless! Now, even if the people of the Lagrang Kingdom were to throw in, they wouldn't make a splash.

"Build roads! Build roads! Build roads!" Roland pumped his fist, the infrastructure-building maniac was getting to work!

“…” Nyx looked at Roland with touching eyes, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Ahem! What I mean is to repair the road from Swiftstream City to Tupte Territory first. It's only about twenty miles, not that long!" Roland calculated for a moment.

“Actually, building a road to Lulong Fortress would be the best option! But the distance… I bet old man Radil would have to use spikes to skewer me!” Roland laughed as he thought about it.

After all, it's at least a hundred, almost two hundred miles, from Lulong Fortress to Jiliu City! If Radil really lets it build like that, he might actually follow Yunfeng's example and hunt down the king...

“Yes, it’s good that you know what’s going on…” Nyx nodded. She was really afraid that Roland would drive all the people below to rebellion.

……

"Um... Your Highness, you really don't treat mages like uncrowned nobles... We believe in nature! We believe in truth! We believe in knowledge! I am a servant of truth! Not a construction worker!" Radil glared, seeing that Roland, this thick-browed, big-eyed kid, was quite adept at exploiting spellcasters! And he had a history of it! Most importantly, his behavior was extremely egregious! And the number of people he exploited was enormous!

"Don't get excited... Grandpa! I didn't ask you to do it alone!" Roland sensed that Radil had misunderstood, and quickly explained, afraid that Radil might unleash a war spell on his face...

"Tell me about it," Radil said, all ears.

“Winter is approaching, and our people have nothing to do. The kingdom also lacks industries that can be produced in winter. I was thinking that instead of letting the able-bodied men in the city be idle... why not have them do some bricklaying?” Roland tentatively discussed with Radil.

"Hmm~" Radil stroked his white beard and lowered his head to think.

“Roads always need to be built! Whether it’s for caravans, armies, or even the citizens of the kingdom, we need a wide road!” Roland said firmly to Radil. “You want to build a stone road? Not a dirt road?” Radil frowned.

"Of course, since we've gone to so much trouble, shouldn't we get it right the first time? A dirt road simply can't meet the kingdom's needs!" Roland said decisively. While dirt roads are faster to build, they're doomed in the rain; a downpour is enough to make even the most composed person cry…

"Tell me your plan, Your Highness!" Radil said earnestly, clearly beginning to seriously consider the matter.

"I plan to build a ten-meter-wide stone road..." Roland had just begun to speak.

"Wait! Ten meters! Your ambition is quite something! The imperial roads were this wide back then!" Radil was dumbfounded. He knew the king was ambitious, but he never expected his ambition to be this great! A ten-meter-wide road was enough for four carriages to travel side by side! It also meant that even a 10,000-strong knightly order could quickly assemble and move through this road!

“Your ambition impresses me! I will build this road according to your instructions, but I need a large number of able-bodied men!” Radil gave Roland a deep look. The construction of this road meant that even the infantry in Swiftstream City could quickly support Delwin Town! The kingdom would truly extend its influence to the centaur fiefdoms!

Within an hour, armies from all sides had arrived. The question was whether Baron Badr dared to make a move or not. This tribe would truly submit to Roland.

"What are your plans for Lulong Fortress?" Radil suddenly asked.

“It’s too far, and we can’t reach it. The roads there will need to be repaired when we have the chance in the future!” Roland shook his head, indicating that he was willing but unable to do so… No! It was that he was willing but Radil was unable to do so. After all, he was an old man and couldn’t just do things like that.

“That girl Lance brought back back back then—Nina Bonn! She has dual elemental talents in fire and earth! She’s a magic apprentice now! She’ll soon become a trainee mage!” Radil waved to Roland and swaggered away.

"Interesting! It looks like my bricklaying team will soon have a new member!" Roland thought to himself.

……

"What?" Yun Feng rolled his eyes. He was now afraid of Roland. This time it was 5,000 sets! What if next time it was 50,000 sets?
"It's too early to send those thousand sets of equipment! If you're here to urge us—no way!" Yun Feng waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away flies.

"That's not it. I'm planning to repair a cobblestone road from Swiftstream to Delvin! I need able-bodied men! Find a way to get me 2000 men before winter!" Roland ordered.

"Pfft!" Yun Feng nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. So Roland hadn't changed his ways! He'd gone off to wreak havoc on Radil!
"The old man didn't try to fight you?" Yun Feng looked at Roland curiously, and after a closer look, he found that Roland was not missing any limbs.

"Do you think everyone is like you, thinking about regicide all the time? Radil won't refuse something that benefits the kingdom's development! Besides, roads are a necessity!" Roland rolled his eyes at Yun Feng. Was he unhappy that he was still alive?

"Yeah, right! Okay, if you have nothing else to do, hurry up and leave! I'll call you if you need anything! Seeing you is a pain!" Yun Feng clutched her chest in annoyance; her temples throbbed whenever she saw Yun Feng.

(End of this chapter)