Chapter 584: Colonization

Chapter 584 – Colonization
The small meeting in the lord’s office was about to be adjourned when the guards came to report that Captain Stanford of the Northern Exploration Team was here.

“Has he returned?” Paul’s face showed surprise, three overseas exploration teams, the one to the west had no news, the one to the east had only received a few letters, only the northern exploration team had come back twice.

“Quickly let him come in”, Paul instructed the guards, also asked the crowd: “Will you not join me in receiving this outstanding adventurer?”

Old Ford, Hansel, Cecil, and the others nodded, “It is our honor, Lord Graiman!”

A moment later, Stanford pushed his way in, and as soon as he came in, he saw the many officials sitting here, and he immediately became formal as he said, “I’m sorry to be rude, my lords, are you discussing something important? I will come in later.”

Paul stopped him in a hurry, “Oh, no. The most important thing we have here is to welcome our adventurous heroes, have a seat, Captain Stanford.” He pointed to an empty chair near himself.

Stanford’s face reddened, then he smiled brightly, “It is an honor to meet you my lords.” Walking over to the chair, he sat down.

He softened his voice and said, “Lord Gryman, I heard on my way to Lakewood that you had a …… very dangerous encounter, I hope you were not harmed.”

“Thank you for your concern, Stanford.” Paul said with a relaxed face, no anger could be seen on his face, “It’s just a bunch of little varmints, I’m in good health now, no injuries at all. By the way, what happened to that first crew that stayed with the natives?”

“Thank you for your concern as well, they are fine, and they all followed the ship back this time.”

Some of the officers present were unknown to Stanford, and Paul made introductions for Stanford one by one. The crowd was unanimous in asking Captain Stanford to tell what he had seen during the adventure.

Stamford recollected while recounting his journey for them, everyone was mainly concerned about what happened on land, magnificent primitive forests, endless white ice fields, unheard of exotic flora and fauna, all of which mesmerized Paul and the crowd. Last time Stanford and the others mainly explored the sea and coast, this time they stag tribe set off and pushed forward to the depths of the ice field, and gained a lot of local information.

This time they were also informed of what the natives of various places called the land under their feet, from the western end of the Rocky Mountains all the way to the north, in turn, they had to pass through the Tranquil Liao Plains, the Lucky Forests, and the Blackwater Basin, and to the east of these three areas was the Great Prairie, and to the north of these three areas was the endless Great Ice Plains.

After his narration came to an end, the crowd still lingered on the colorful adventures of the exploration team.

Hansel lamented, “This world is much more vast than we imagined, I wonder what other stories the other two exploration teams will encounter that are worth celebrating.”

Paul said, “Stanford, I have given careful consideration to the proposal you made on your last return to set up a trading post there, and I think it is very good. “He looked around the room and asked the crowd, “What do you think?”

“We all think the trading post is a good idea.” Old Ford, the Chief Administrator of the Council of State, spoke on behalf of the crowd.

The Council of State emphasized the development of commerce, and since that was the case, the precious timber, medicinal herbs, and animal hides from the northern part of the Rocky Mountains were commodities that could yield huge profits at first glance, there was no reason to ignore them.

Paul smiled and said to Old Ford, “That being the case, let’s have the Council of State unify the deployment and send a few teams of merchants – official, or enrolled from the private sector – to follow Stanford’s fleet to the north next time. ”

The head of the Council of State nodded and took the order. “Lord Graiman. There is something you need to report first.” Stanford said, “Several of the local tribes, wish to learn the techniques of food cultivation from us.”

“I’ve been to see their fields, and the agriculture there is still quite primitive, almost stuck at the stage of slash-and-burn farming. They were quite interested in the grains we brought over-wheat, rice, and so on-so they made such a request.”

This was a surprise, Paul listened and fell into a deep thought, was the local farming so backward.

After a few seconds, he looked up and asked, “What do you think?”

Hansel’s eyes rolled and said, “There is nothing wrong with teaching them naturally, but they can’t be taught for free, they should ask for some payment, such as …… land.”

Stanford was very agreeable to Hansel’s statement, “This is a great deal, the land there, especially the Black Water Basin, don’t look like it’s in the far north, but it has the most fertile land I’ve ever seen in my life – unlike us, the soil there is all black, as if it was blessed by the Heavenly Father. Unlike ours, the soil there is black, as if it has been blessed by the Heavenly Father, and the plants that grow on it are exceptionally large and very full of fruit; when I personally examined it, I felt that I could squeeze oil out of the soil by casually clutching it from the ground.”

Is it so magical? The people in the room were surprised and looked at each other.

Paul’s mind warmed to the fact that Stanford had mentioned to him the last time he’d returned that those native tribes didn’t value land as strongly as the human nations south of the Rocky Mountains, and they didn’t value it more than they did the more urgently needed things. A few hundred pounds of iron ingots, a few large bags of salt, a few chests of cloth, and a few pieces of fine china would allow them to recognize you as the owner of a large tract of land.

It’s a good thing that God has given you what you don’t want! The words popped into Paul’s head.

This …… this should be considered overseas colonization! Ahhh, is he finally going to go down this road?
Leaving aside those precious natural resources, if what Stanford said was true, then by establishing large-scale, mechanized mega farms in the fertile land there, the food supply in the Northwest Gulf would be even more adequate.

Wait a minute, a flash of light in Paul’s head.

It takes people to colonize overseas! And it takes a lot of people. Imagine that when the Europeans colonized in Earth’s history, there were a lot of people who were criminals and the like… If one borrowed this practice, wouldn’t it be a solution to one of the current problems?

He stood up with a flourish and looked at the crowd with solemn eyes, “I’ve decided! Just through the sea route, expand the territory of the Gladman family to the vast lands beyond the Rocky Mountains! Spill the glory of human civilization and Aldo into the barbarians.”

“Lord Gryman is wise!”

“Your ancestors would be proud of you!”

“It’s been a long time since the kingdom had a lord with a pioneering heart like yours.”

Old Ford led a group of officials to offer praise to Paul.

All of the people sitting here, with the exception of Laddie Sertia, were men, and what man could resist the temptation of pioneering feats?
(End of chapter)