Chapter 5 System Overview

  The hill under Li Zhong's feet is one of the highest peaks in the surrounding area. Standing on the peak, looking out at a glance, what enters the eyes is a piece of withered yellow. The dead grass, like a carpet, covers the entire horizon.

  Apart from the south side, that is, the road into the pasture, there is a forest, but in other places, there are no tall trees.

  Tier upon tier of hills of varying heights intersect with each other, and between these hills, a not-so-regular but fairly spacious meadow is formed.

  Li Ting looked carefully and asked Zhao Wu: "This pasture should have a water source, right?"

  "There is a water source." Zhao Wu stood beside Li Zhong, pointing north to the grassland and replied: "Under that mountain head, there is a small stream. Fu Shi had previously ordered his servants to dig a not-so-small pond there for people and livestock to use."

  Li Zheng nodded in satisfaction and said, "Although the terrain here is still somewhat hidden, there are no dangerous places to defend. If someone comes to attack, I'm afraid it won't be very safe."

  "It is indeed." Zhao Wu replied: "This is one of the reasons why Fu's family gave up this pasture."

  "What suggestions do you have to eliminate or improve this?" Li Zhēng asked.

  Zhao Wu shook his head: "Apart from being more vigilant to prevent being ambushed, I have no other way."

  Li Zhong nodded, then shook his head: "Here the hills are intersecting, the terrain is complex, and the mountain tops are not high or steep. If someone comes to attack, they can completely kill from any place. What you said is right, the only way is to scatter ears and eyes everywhere."

  Saying that, Li Zhēng looked towards the various mountain peaks and said: "We can also choose a few of the most hidden, yet with good visibility, mountain passes to build some watchtowers."

  "But to think that we can get all this done quickly, we are still short-handed..." Li Zhēng sighed and said: "It's actually a lack of money."

  Li Zhong is preparing for the rainy day.

  Although he has nothing but a pasture now, this is his stronghold. In the near future, it will become the cradle of various warhorses.

  Not to mention those precious warhorses, even ordinary war horses, as long as there are a certain number of them, they represent a huge fortune and will definitely be coveted by others.

  So at first, make some preparations, lest when the time comes, you'll be caught off guard.

  He asked Zhao Wu a few more questions and then waved his hand to let him leave. He himself walked along the ridge of the hill, preparing to circle around the grassland.

  Facing the chilling wind that pierced his heart and spleen, Li Zhēng walked slowly through the knee-deep withered grass, thinking about the construction of the pasture while feeling the changes in his body.

  Last night, at the moment when the system was activated, Li Zhēng involuntarily fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up in the morning, he had already sensed the enormous changes in his body.

  The most obvious thing was that the wound on his arm, which had been aching vaguely before, had completely recovered. He lifted up his sleeve to take a look and found that except for some bloodstains, there wasn't even a scar left.

  Moreover, the body is lighter and more agile, with a feeling of weightlessness all over, as if it's about to take off from the ground.

  With a clenched fist and a burst of strength, it cut through the air with a whoosh.

  "It's even stronger now!"

  Consciousness sank into the sea of ??thoughts, in the column of quality, it has become a first-order, no longer the zero-order before opening the system yesterday. It seems that this is the reason for the physical changes.

  After a careful experience, the overall physical quality should have doubled. The most obvious is strength, and the brain is also clearer, thinking about things, all more logical than before. As for speed, endurance and flexibility, they have also increased significantly, and specific inspection is needed to know.

  As for these changes, Li Zhong was delighted but not surprised. He now looks like he's only seventeen or eighteen years old, but his actual age has already passed thirty.

  Having experienced the vicissitudes of life, changes in physical strength are nothing to be surprised about. However, the system has a function that enhances overall physical fitness, which still makes Li Zhēn somewhat unexpected and delighted. After all, in this era, physical strength greatly enhances human survival ability.

  The War Horse system has officially started, and in addition to enhancing Li Jing's physical fitness, several functions have been activated. The four most basic function options are only left with the grayed-out mount skill, and another mysterious option is also lit up, which is the task system.

  Li Zhong focused his attention on the task system, and after understanding its basic functions, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

  The task system is divided into two parts. One of them is the basic task, which involves the construction of the base camp. The rewards for completing this type of task are all monetary.

  This was a huge relief for Li Zhong. From the amount of money needed to activate the system, to the memories of that mobile game, he knew that synthesizing warhorses, researching their feed and armor would require an enormous amount of money. In this era, gold was extremely rare, and most transactions only used copper coins. Although Li Zhong had obtained 500 gold this time, it was worth noting who the other party was - the Fu family, a renowned wealthy clan from Liangzhou! Moreover, if not for Li Zhong's firm request, the Fu family would have been willing to use five-copper coins for the transaction.

  The greater impact is the money invested in the system, which will be permanently lost. If such things are done repeatedly, it will have a huge impact on Li Zhong's future development, and even the salaries of his subordinates may not be paid at that time. Furthermore, it will also affect the circulation of goods throughout the country, leading to a lack of available money, and returning to the era of bartering, which is a great sin and a setback for civilization.

  The emergence of basic tasks has at least partially solved this problem. As long as enough tasks are completed, even if they cannot fully meet the system's consumption, there should be about 70-80% left over.

  In addition to the basic tasks, there is a class of special tasks. The scope of this type of task is very wide and varied, with no specific description. The task rewards are also diverse, but most of them are related to various functional options of the system.

  Li Zhong savored the task system carefully and memorized all the key points before shifting his attention to several other activated functions.

  Li Zheng's gaze swept across these functional options, just as he was about to experience it, but suddenly he couldn't help but pause. A bitter smile then appeared at the corner of his mouth.

  But it turns out that these functions all require a physical medium.

  That is to say, it is necessary to build a special building in reality to fully unfold all functions and play their light and heat.

  Li Jing took a deep breath after carefully re-examining everything.

  Fortunately, there were no special requirements for the carrier building, except for some rigid demands on the internal layout of the building. As long as it was a solid and independent building, it would do. Li Zhēng stood there thinking for a moment, then gave up his plan to browse around the grassland and turned to head down the hill.

  Zhang Shan is not a skilled craftsman and is not good at repairing houses. So he can only help with chopping wood and delivering some materials on the side.

  Li Zheng came over with a bitter face and said: "Master, I can't handle this task. You'd better arrange a suitable job for me."

  Li Zhēng smiled upon hearing this. Zhang Shan was used to being a wandering knight, and indeed wasn't quite suited for the task of repairing houses. He laughed and said: "It just so happens that I have something for you to take care of."

  Zhang Shan's eyes lit up, and without even asking any questions, he hastily nodded in agreement.

  Since I have joined the lord's side, I naturally want to show off my value and yearn for recognition. How can I display it if there is nothing to do?

  "When we first got the pasture, everything was in disarray and needed to be revived. What's most needed now is manpower." Li Zhēng said: "The thirty people with Zhao Wǔ are far from enough; at least fifty more are needed to quickly set up the framework here. At the same time, the safety of the pasture must also be considered. You're a wandering knight with extensive connections - can you find some like-minded friends to come and help out? Just use the pretext of hiring them."

  "Master's intention is to hire some craftsmen or buy household slaves? As for friends... I do know a few in Liangzhou, I can ask around, but I cannot guarantee anything." Zhang Shan said cautiously.

  Li Zheng nodded: "It's best to buy a house slave, you handle the rest."

  Zhang Shan nodded, pondered for a moment, took two gold bars, and was about to leave. Li Zheng suddenly thought of something else and hastily said: "I'll also go to Lingzhou... I just bought fifty slaves, this little food won't be enough to consume."

  Zhang Shan said, "The master has something on his mind, and his subordinates should bear the labor." He was preparing to take this matter upon himself as well.

  Li Zhēng smiled and shook his head, saying: "The Fu family's stronghold must be visited in person to show sincerity. After you've taken care of things, just bring people outside the stronghold to help with transporting grain."

  Li Zhong and Fu's status was unequal to begin with, and when he had something to ask for, he didn't go himself but instead sent his subordinate, which was an insult to Fu.

  Such a brainless thing, Li Zhong would naturally not do.

  Zhang Shan also quickly understood and scratched his head in embarrassment.

  He instructed Zhao Wu and then they hurriedly drove a horse-drawn carriage, loaded with gold coins, out of the forest, heading south towards Lingzhou.

  Arriving at the outskirts of Lingzhou City, Zhang Shan entered the city to attend to business, while Li Zheng took over Zhang Shan's task and drove the horse carriage towards Wubao.

  Driving a horse carriage is something Li Zhēn isn't very good at. Fortunately, the roads around Língzhōu are flat and even, otherwise who knows how many times the carriage would have overturned.

  Fortunately, Li Zhēn's body flexibility and coordination had improved a lot after advancing to the next stage, and he soon found a way to control the horse carriage.

  In less than half a moment, they arrived outside the fort.

  Please guard the Fu family's soldiers in the fort and report to them, after a while, several people came out of the fort, led by a familiar figure, Zhou Fei.

  "It turned out to be Zhou's housekeeper, and someone had paid their respects."

  Li Zhēng cupped his hands and bowed, saying: "Isn't Manager Zhou taking care of the reception?"

  "Li Xiaoge is polite." Zhou Fei smiled and returned the courtesy, saying: "Thanks to Li Xiaoge's blessing, Zhou Mou is no longer a humble servant in the Wubao, but can now eat and live inside."

  Li Zhēng heard this and burst out laughing, saying: "Congratulations! Congratulations!"

  It seems that because of the 'Dragon Horse' matter, Zhou Fei got Fu Shi's appreciation and was promoted with a raise.

  "Where, where." Zhou Fei smiled and said: "I don't know what important matter Brother Li has come for this time?"

  As he spoke, he had his attendants lead the horse carriage behind him and led Li Zhēn in front, walking into the fort at a leisurely pace. Along the way, he said: "The dragon horse's matter has made our clan elders extremely grateful. If you have any business, just give me an order, and I, Zhou, will immediately carry it out."

  "This can't be true," Li Zhēng smiled and said, "Indeed, I have something to ask of you."

  As they spoke, they arrived inside the fort. Li Zhēn had Fu's family slaves stop the horse carriage by the side of the road and took out a large trunk from it. He said: "Because the pasture needs manpower, I let Zhang Shan go to Lingzhou to buy some household slaves. But with more people, consumption is also greater. So I thought of buying some grain from Fu's family."

  "Oh." Zhou Fei nodded and said, "This is it. I don't know how much grain Brother Li needs, if it's not a large quantity, I can make the decision myself."

  Li Zheng hinted at the box in his arms and said: "300 kilograms of grain!"

  "Three hundred taels?!" Zhou Fei was shocked and said, "That's three million stones! This amount is too large, I'm not authorized to make a decision." He paused for a moment and then said, "Please ask Young Master Zhou to follow me to the side hall to rest, and wait for me to report to the clan elder before we discuss further."

  "Good."

  Li Dang followed Zhou Fei to the side hall, and with a thud, he put down his trunk on the ground, then found a low stool to kneel on.

  Zhou Fei's gaze swept over the trunk, he still recognized it, it was the trunk that held gold biscuits during yesterday's transaction. This large trunk, along with three hundred kilograms of gold, weighed over three hundred pounds, yet Li Zhong carried it all this way without seeming to be out of breath, it seemed that this young Li was not an ordinary person.

  He took another look at Li Zhong, Zhou Fei smiled and nodded his head, then left.

  Before long, another servant brought tea, and the courtesy was very thoughtful.

  The more Li Zhong came into contact with these aristocratic families, the more he was amazed. In the history of the original world, it's not without reason that these aristocratic families could dominate the world for nearly a thousand years. Just by looking at the details of how they treated people and things, one can roughly understand why.