Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

When Dorok heard this, his eyes immediately lit up: "That’s absolutely correct. My friend, you must consider this carefully. For our foolish relatives in the mountains to immigrate and develop the Frost Fang Mountain Range is no easy task. Green Skins, Beastmen, and Giants, these monsters, surround them like the sea within the mountains. It’s not like us at the foot of the Gray Mountain. If they want to send troops, they must first break through countless monster obstructions. But then, the logistics and grain transportation routes cannot be guaranteed at all. When you attack the Frost Fang Mountain, you will not only need to send troops to assist but also provide logistical supplies."

Su Li couldn’t help but smile and directly asked, "So you mean, when you attack the Frost Fang Mountain, you won’t need me to provide logistical support?"

Gesen and Dorok’s small eyes were as round as green beans, all the coarse voices stuck in their throats. Both of them stared wide-eyed, straightened up, and didn’t dare to make a sound for a long time.

They were like a crow landing on a pig’s head, the big brother mocking the second brother for being dark.

In the current situation of the Redbeard Clan and the Grey Rock Clan, they are basically being supported by Su Li. Of course, this also benefits the Hesse Territory in playing the role of a Border Grain Storehouse. For thousands of years, humans and dwarves have always followed this model: the humans at the foot of the mountain provide food, beer, beef, venison, and the like, while the dwarves provide weapons, armor, and exquisite handicrafts.

After establishing a good relationship with the Hesse Territory, the dwarves decisively invested more of their population into their preferred mining and iron forging endeavors. Among them, the Grey Rock Tribe was particularly active as they had just managed to reclaim a few mine tunnels polluted by Rat People and were zealously mining to extract all the ores lost and missed before.

Those terraced fields and mountain farms they plant are barely enough to brew a little dwarf barley beer for the tribe’s use.

If it weren’t for Su Li providing them with a large amount of grain (which is also beneficial for the Hesse Territory), they would find it difficult to conquer the Frost Fang Mountain Range, let alone maintain the consumption of the black bread made from crushed stones for each member of the clan.

This is the main reason why they’ve been pestering Su Li these days. They not only hope Su Li can send troops to support their recapture of the Frost Fang Mountain, but more importantly, they hope he can provide strong logistical support. Otherwise, given the dwarves’ efficiency, transporting grain from Gray Mountain, crossing the foothills, the Bloody Highlands, Green Hills, Central Plain, then across the Flash Spear City Plain, passing Rapids Castle, and heading north into the Frost Fang Mountain, would waste an inconceivable amount of grain and manpower. Especially in the Flash Spear City section, where countless hidden monster war gangs, chaos cultists, and chaos knight warbands lurk. Small forces cannot cross that by any means, and any carelessness would result in the destruction of the entire grain transport team.

In those few or even ten days, the dwarves on the front line could only fight with empty stomachs.

So after a long time of back-and-forth, Dorok muttered, "My friend, you can’t really turn a blind eye to a friend’s cause, shrug it off, can you?"

"As I say, the alliance of our Redbeard Clan and Grey Rock Clan still has advantages compared to other tribes. At least we are familiar with your territory, and trade is more frequent. When the time comes, we’ll deliver equipment directly to you at Lady Grey Pass, and you can deliver the grain to us at Rapids Castle. It’s definitely more convenient than with other tribes."

Seeing this stubborn old friend soften, Su Li finally smiled: "Naturally, from the standpoint of our friendship, I’d certainly support you coming to the Frost Fang Mountain Range. We can become neighbors over a wider area."

"But understand, I’m not only your friend but also the Lord of the Territory. I must consider the interests of other knights and families. This immigration fee of 20 Golden Crowns is indispensable. And we must ensure our territory’s ownership here."

"In the future, 15% of all mined resources and gemstones from the Frost Fang Mountain Range will be shared by Hesse Territory. The dwarves’ forged items sold locally must also pay the standard commercial tax."

"The rebuilt Dwarf Fortress must be integrated into the overall defense system of Hesse Territory. In the face of large-scale foreign invasion, such as the chaos army or a Green Skin Waaagh!, the dwarf army must follow the unified coordination and command of the Marshal of Hesse Territory (of course, the dwarves have a high degree of tactical autonomy)."

"Moreover, the symbolic ownership is also indisputable. The Frost Fang Mountain Range still belongs to Hesse Territory on the map. Dwarves have high autonomous rights, but in name, they must acknowledge the suzerainty of Hesse Territory. Neither of you should be upset; it is more a formal requirement to appease possible doubts within the Empire and establish legal belonging."

Gesen Greyrock’s face turned as gray as his name, and he stared at Su Li intently: "Lord Su Li, this price... is too exorbitant. Dwarves value promises and friendship, but they also value fair trade. This feels more like... taking advantage of a crisis. Clearing the threats of the Frost Fang Mountain Range in itself saves you unquantifiable military expenses!"

The negotiations reached a stalemate. Su Li leaned back comfortably in his chair, knowing just how deep the dwarves’ craving for the Frost Fang Mountain Range ran. The exorbitant "immigration fee" and "future profit share" demand indeed tested their patience, aiming to make them realize the cost of "returning" and to significantly replenish Hesse Territory’s coffers. At the same time, this also probed into the dwarves’ bottom line and determination.