Struggle in the Steam Age

The overall atmosphere of the negotiation is very good, because the development of the Blue Mountain Meadow is obviously beneficial to everyone, and all the previous actions of Lawrence himself have shown that he is indeed a very fair person in dealing with people, and he basically handles problems. It is all about facts and will not favor certain people or certain groups.

Therefore, in this negotiation, everyone is based on the idea of ​​trying to achieve perfect cooperation as the basis of the negotiation, and discusses the facts as much as possible. Naturally, there are not many intrigues that are common in negotiations in other places. Therefore, the entire negotiation process appeared to be very smooth, and a framework had been established in just two or three hours.

The Ratmen do need that grassy field for their large jerboa, especially elite jerboas that can be trained as rat cavalry mounts. Obviously, the kind of Ratman cavalry that can cross mountains and streams like walking on flat ground cannot be trained in the cave at all, so it is very important to have a grassland for grazing.

At the same time, for the rat people, with such a meadow, in addition to cultivating enough big jerboas, they can also raise cattle and sheep, and cut down a certain number of trees. It is much cheaper to provide the rat people with leather, dairy products, and wood, which are difficult to produce in these caves, than to import them from outside the island.

The Ratmen can obviously draw more troops than the human legion. After all, they only need to use the terrain to guard the mountain range, and they don't need to guard the dozens of settlements on the entire island and the surrounding sea area like humans. Therefore, as the surrounding Ratmen immigrated to the island, they were able to spare a lot of manpower to invest in the management of this meadow.

"We were able to draw 650 ratmen into the pioneering work. These people have received basic combat training and are equipped with corresponding equipment." Fatina finally said. "In addition, our existing 35 jumping mouse cavalry will all be devoted to this work, providing everyone with a sufficiently reliable scouting force."

"Very good." Lawrence nodded in satisfaction. Although the number of professional combatants sent by the Ratmen was a bit small, considering that the Ratman's big jumping rat cavalry is a cavalry species that is as famous as the top human champion knights, so From an overall point of view, their contribution is not much different from others.

According to the results of the final negotiation, the three parties will establish a comprehensive animal husbandry and forestry company for the Blue Mountain Meadow. Because Lawrence, as the lord of the island, invested the most in this pioneering activity at the same time. So he holds 50% of the shares in this company, and the remaining 50% is divided equally between the rat people and the tauren.

"I hope our cooperation this time can achieve a perfect result." Lawrence said at the banquet after the negotiation, holding a wine glass full of mead in his hand. Because it was a bit troublesome to confirm the details in the negotiation, it was naturally night after the negotiation was over. Seeing this, Fatina simply prepared a sumptuous dinner in the cave hall.

"It will definitely." All the people present raised their glasses at the same time and said, and then each drank the wine in the glasses, and then everyone began to eat. In order to entertain Lawrence and the others, the ratman chefs under Fatina tried their best. Although the dishes they cook are different from those commonly eaten by humans and tauren, it can be said that they are all quite delicious. Distinctive and delicious.

For example, crispy roasted jerboa legs, red wine braised jerboa meat with mushrooms, and a small dessert made of starch extracted from a certain type of fungus mixed with fruit. Perhaps the only thing that makes people feel regretful is that these things are too strong in Ratman characteristics, so many dishes seem a little hard when eaten.

Of course, the only ones who think the dishes are a bit tough are the human side. Fortunately, because the humans present are all young people with fairly good teeth, everyone can still appreciate these delicacies. Not to mention the tauren with better teeth on the other side, they even praised them loudly while eating.

"It's a pity that the output of these things is just enough for us to eat due to the territorial problem, and basically can't be transported outside." After hearing the praise of the tauren, all the rat people present showed a rather proud expression. Then Fatina said with a little regret. "However, if we can successfully develop the Blue Mountain meadow, I think we should be able to expand production."

"Yes, it should be able to expand reproduction." Lawrence looked at the stone wall of the cave and said, although the group of ratmen had enough strength to dig holes in the hard rock and build a self-sufficient bunker inside the mountain. But obviously, in terms of cost, most of the agricultural production costs in such places are much higher than outside.

In the next two or three days, Lawrence took Safir and a three-party joint team to the Blue Mountain Meadow for close reconnaissance. A little different from the imagination, this so-called meadow is not the kind of grassland with only small undulations, but an entire independent geological unit composed of a series of complex terrains such as forests, grasslands, rivers, mountains, and canyons.

According to the results of the investigation, one of the main reasons why the goblins here have become a trouble like brown sugar is that the complex terrain here is so convenient for these things to hide. Although those emperor goblins on the plain can be said to be vulnerable, even Lawrence and his investigation team successfully killed two large tribes of more than 500 people. But after the scattered goblins fled into the forest, it would be difficult for extraordinary people like Lawrence to find them.

"Unless I stay here, you will never be able to clean up the goblin colonies in the surrounding forest." In the end, Nora took action to completely eliminate the escaped goblins, but when she flew out of the forest, she His face also became a little ugly. "The terrain inside is too complicated, and the goblins are obviously more adaptable to the woods than us."

"It is indeed possible for you to temporarily join the suppression team, but theoretically it is impossible to stay here permanently." Lawrence shook his head. "Because the construction of this area depends on ordinary people after all. If this cannot be done, I don't think it makes much sense to persist here. And I believe everyone should be able to come up with a solution."

Sure enough, after completing the two-day inspection work, everyone quickly discussed a plan in the discussion. That is to mix all the people regardless of race, and then divide them into grazing groups of 30-50 people. Such a group can guarantee success against a goblin horde three times its size in every situation.

Under such circumstances, they can successfully block those small groups of harassing goblins. The brigade of goblins will be blocked outside the plain by those regular military fortresses. Theoretically speaking, such a two-layer defense network should be able to allow the three-party joint company to successfully gain a foothold on this meadow.

As for the other area, Lawrence does not intend to expand in a few years, the reason is very simple, because the remaining grasslands are basically those small plains distributed in mountainous basins, even if they occupy the It can't be fully utilized, so it's better to just leave it like that, and at most send some people to clean it from time to time to prevent the breeding of goblins.

After the investigation of the blue mountain meadow is over, the first step of this plan will be over. And then it will take some time to raise various materials, supplies and arms. So Lawrence and Safir did not wait there during this time, but continued their journey.

Finally, after ten days, Lawrence and the others felt that they had had enough fun, so they rode back to the port of New Sauer. As a result, as soon as he returned to the city, he saw a red flag representing alert suddenly raised on the lighthouse.