Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 428 Large-scale construction projects
Based on the structural diagrams and the information provided by Zhang Yuan, he gradually figured out the architectural concept.

Whether there are differences in the specific details is not important. What Zhang Yuan wants to do is not to replicate, but to make a knock-off. As long as the function and appearance are preserved while ensuring quality and safety, the job will be done.

The mage was incredibly well-prepared for this moment, sparing no effort in using all sorts of memory spells and scrolls. Of course, there was also the small figure taking the lead and the villagers participating together.

Leveling the land is the simplest task. It doesn't require much manpower to tamp the soil. Just a few rounds of trotting with those giant feet that are bigger than a road roller will complete the task.

A series of spells from the Earth and Wood School, such as soil shaping, turning mud into stone, stone sculpting, and summoning earth elementals, were unleashed by the mage.

Under the influence of arcane power, the earth's surface was torn apart with regular patterns as if cut, and then these patterns, as if stretched open by the air, formed trenches and tunnels on the surface according to the foundation plan drawn by Vader.

After being processed by logging machines, the logs, along with the boulders transformed by magic, were easily scooped up by the mountain giants like children's building blocks and driven into the trenches to serve as load-bearing main beams and basic frameworks.

The dozens of migrant workers who came to help with the work were responsible for placing the stone slabs, filling the foundation with soil, and other trivial tasks.

The refugees were extremely enthusiastic and worked very hard. After all, having experienced displacement and being homeless, they longed for a home of their own.
Look at this scene, this spectacle! They never imagined that their lord, whom they had never even met, was not only a powerful mage, but would also personally undertake such a massive construction project for them, who were nothing more than commoners. This was a scene they had never dared to dream of before.

After the refugees were led by Münster to the high cliff to meet the lord above them, they knew that they would henceforth be “owned crops.”

Nominally, Neverwinter forbids the slave trade and keeping slaves, and nominally they are merely the lord's "lifetime employees," but in reality...

Almost any vagrant with a modicum of knowledge could understand what this heavy "employment contract" truly meant, but caught between survival and death, they had no other choice.

But to their surprise, upon arriving at the high cliff, they were greeted neither by the lords' merciful whips nor by the glorious mission of taking over the work of the lords' livestock, but by the lord's decree issued in public.

The content is very simple: farming. Farming for the lord is perfectly normal. Isn't that what they bought them for?
But the detailed regulations that followed stunned them, as if they were in a dream.

Each household is allocated its own plot of land according to the number of people and laborers. Farming tools are distributed and dispatched by the lord. Most importantly, after deducting 40% of the harvest as rent to be handed over to the lord, the rest belongs entirely to the household!
The harvest is split 40/60, and 60% is still mine!

Even when they were commoners, they wouldn't have dared to dream of such a good thing. Now that they've been reduced to de facto serfs, how could they receive such treatment?
This is almost the same as the rights of other residents of Gaoya. Although they do not own their own land in name, they have simply replaced paying taxes with paying rent. As for the right to mortgage or sell their land...

If paying only 40% of agricultural taxes can lead to selling off one's land, then one should stop trying to make a living from the soil.

The refugees, who had almost given up all hope for the future, seemed to have something ignited in their hearts. Excitement, longing, and anticipation filled their chests, making them eager to grab their tools and rush to the fields to work.

Surprises kept coming one after another. Just as the refugees were rolling up their sleeves and getting busy with spring plowing and land reclamation, they were informed that new houses were about to be built.

It's their own new house!

When they saw the finished product illustration provided by the mage lord, they almost thought it was a military fortress built by the lord himself. This misunderstanding is understandable; just look at the structure and shape of the earthen building.

The overall shape resembles a ring fortress, with the inner and outer rings having a diameter of about 30 to 40 meters. There are three floors in total. The outer walls are completely closed off, with no windows or ventilation openings on the ground floor. Even on the upper and middle floors, there are only some gaps and ventilation holes, which look more like crenellations than windows.

Almost all lighting and ventilation functions are provided by the windows and balconies concentrated in the inner ring of the building.

The ground floor was not used for residential purposes, but rather as a livestock shed and equipment room. The inner perimeter, surrounded by the ring-shaped watchtowers, was not left empty; public facilities such as wells and millstones were located there.

The top two floors are the residents' housing. The inner ring, with a circumference of about 90 meters, is divided into eight equal parts, which can accommodate a total of 16 families, or about 80 or 90 residents.

Two such earthen buildings could easily accommodate the entire group of refugees.

In fact, if built according to the common style and scale of Tulou in the previous life, one building would be enough. However, considering that I was also being forced into this task for the first time, I chose to be more conservative.

Of course, Master Ved scoffed at this caution and strongly urged him to give free rein in the subsequent construction matters, preferably to have the opportunity to build a Tulou of the same size as the Eryilou mentioned by the mage.

The Eryi Building, with a diameter of over 70 meters and a height of 16 meters, features an inner and outer double-ring structure and nearly 200 rooms. It can accommodate more than 700 residents, which is enough to house all the remaining people of Gaoya.

What's even more remarkable is its defensive capabilities. It uses massive stones as its foundation and timber as its beams, and mixes different proportions of rammed earth and mortar with stones to compact the foundation and walls, achieving an effect similar to concrete. The thickness of its outer walls at the bottom is a full two and a half meters...

This thing is useless against ordinary earthquakes and artillery fire, so using it here is a bit of a waste.

Of course, this sturdiness doesn't come from nowhere; the mixing ratio of the concrete mortar and the numerous and complex rammed earth wall construction procedures are all indispensable.

The former was naturally taken care of by Wade. Although the master was quite eager to build a fortress-like tower out of stone, he shook his head and gave up after only calculating the cost.

Even he felt it was too wasteful to use the budget for building castles to build civilian houses.

After surveying the surrounding terrain, Vader finally selected several locations for mining soil and stone. Large quantities of building materials were continuously transported to the construction site by the participating refugees pushing wheelbarrows, although the largest portion was handled by the mountain giants.

The enormous basket that Jadi had woven beforehand using nature magic came in very handy; the amount of soil or stones it carried was almost equivalent to what more than fifty refugees would need to make three trips.

Thank you to Lost Viking for the monthly pass!

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(End of this chapter)