Chapter 015 Inspiration

Seeing Li Zhan’s expression shift from deep sorrow to sudden joy, the missionary felt an uneasy premonition. His previously relaxed demeanor vanished, and as he picked at a fish bone with a toothpick, it snapped with a careless "crack!"

Li Zhan sneered at the bewildered missionary, thinking to himself, “You think you can eat me into ruin? You’ll have to pay dearly for that!”

Despite this internal rivalry, Li Zhan maintained an outward generosity toward the missionary. He instructed Zheng Jun to build a small separate thatched hut for him, and arranged for the missionary’s three daily meals to be prepared separately, rather than having him dine communally with the villagers. The missionary was deeply grateful for this, and heaped lavish praise upon Li Zhan, invoking every god and lord in the heavens to bless him.

At this time, Ruoyan, having finished planting wild vegetables, came to Li Zhan’s side and told him that she’d been online for too long and needed to log off and rest. Li Zhan nodded, reflecting that, at least before logging off, she still remembered to notify him—he must still hold some place in her heart.

Walking from the shipyard to the lumberyard and then back to the center of the settlement, Li Zhan made sure everything was in order before giving Zheng Jun a few final instructions and logging off himself.

After logging off, Li Zhan’s first action was to visit the official website and search for information about cotton.

At this time, other players (within the China region—Li Zhan’s current strength made it unnecessary to pay attention to those outside it) had also begun to discover various cash crops and other grains. These discoveries were posted under the “New Findings” section of the forum, with new threads popping up rapidly, creating a lively bustle. The most frequently mentioned crops were sugarcane, watermelon, tea, and various dyes, but their cultivation scale was still very small—the largest having fewer than a hundred plants, most only a dozen or a few dozen.

After searching for a while and finding no posts about cotton, Li Zhan felt a surge of pride, but also wondered: Could it be that the players who found cotton, like himself, had refrained from posting about it?

Since the forum yielded nothing, he decided to use the all-powerful search function again. Entering “cotton” into the search bar and clicking confirm, the web page instantly refreshed with detailed information about “cotton in Rise of Empire.” At the top of the page, a visit counter clearly displayed the number “1.”

Li Zhan was elated. While he couldn’t be sure how many players had actually discovered cotton, it was certain that he was the first to access this cotton information page, meaning he was the first to start contemplating its uses.

After browsing the page for nearly half an hour, Li Zhan had gained a comprehensive understanding of cotton within the game. One particular formula caught his attention:

10 units of cotton = 1 unit of cloth = 2.5 units of clothing (ordinary)

This formula was a revelation for Li Zhan. Previously, he had only thought of harvesting cotton and selling it directly based on quality—a typical resource-based profit model. But after seeing this formula, a series of dialectical questions arose in his mind—

What would players do with cotton? Before gunpowder was researched (since cannons and primitive firearms used cotton as wicks), cotton’s main purpose was for making clothing. But why make clothes? Because the system-provided clothing was not only drab (all earthy yellow), but also offered no defense value whatsoever. What if he spun the cotton into cloth or even made it into clothing before selling? The profit would be dozens of times more than selling raw cotton. The question was, how could he entice players to willingly pay high prices for his cloth and clothing?

Li Zhan stood up from his desk and paced back and forth in the room, thinking hard but coming up empty. As he glanced up, he caught sight of a tracksuit hanging on the rack—the latest Li Ning model he’d bought just last week. The vibrant blue and green color scheme was striking, and suddenly, his thoughts flowed clearly.

Yes! Color—bright, varied colors.

Style—different styles for different professions!

Players who bought cotton wouldn’t want to buy dyes as well. Dyeing cloth was a complex and time-consuming step, but if he invested some effort into this process, players would be willing to pay even higher prices for the convenience.

Li Zhan recalled how his militiamen, after changing professions, still patrolled in loose villager garb, looking awkward and out of place. If there were a more refined, more fitting uniform for the militia, it would create a whole new visual effect. Villagers too—imagine the entire settlement abandoning their drab yellow garments for brightly colored, uniform attire. What an inspiring sight that would be! If those competitive players saw it, they’d be green with envy.

Moreover, the official website clearly stated that ordinary cotton clothing provided 2 points of defense. For those 2 points alone, players would inevitably upgrade their outfits in the future.

At this thought, Li Zhan could almost see orders fluttering toward him like snowflakes, gold piling up like mountains and burying him beneath. If it weren’t the dead of night, he would have roared out in sheer exhilaration just to vent his overwhelming excitement.

Two days later...

During this time, everything in the Yanhuang Tribe proceeded in an orderly fashion, and the population had reached seventy. Apart from Li Zhan, Ruoyan, Zheng Jun, and the missionary, there were five militiamen; the remaining sixty-one were all villagers. Of these, thirty were farmers (including two orchardists and four cotton farmers), thirteen were woodcutters, six were fishermen, four were stone workers, four were builders, two were craftsmen, and two were spinners (who spun cotton into thread).

What concerned Li Zhan most was the steadily increasing yield of the cotton fields. From just a few dozen or hundred plants, the crop had expanded to nearly ten thousand, covering four acres, all carefully tended by Zhou Min and three cotton farmers, each with intermediate farming and weaving skills.

Berry bushes had also reached two acres, managed by two orchardists.

Even the wild vegetables planted by Ruoyan were expanding, growing from just over a dozen to nearly a hundred plants. These vegetables were incredibly resilient, regrowing as soon as they were harvested. Adding a few sprigs of them into the fish stew imparted a unique flavor, for which the villagers were quite grateful, viewing Ruoyan with even more warmth.

The two “elite villagers” who had defected to the Yanhuang Tribe with Ruoyan were gradually integrating into their new environment. Although their skills—animal training and potential—had not yet found suitable positions, Li Zhan had them work together to tend a plot of farmland for the time being.

Along the shipyard’s shore, about two thousand slices of raw fish, each half a meter long, were laid out to dry. The six fishermen had stopped fishing and now spent each day refining these fish slices, meticulously removing scales and bones to improve their quality. According to Li Zhan’s plan, these fish slices would not be merged with the food resources, since the farmland’s output was already sufficient. He intended to sell the fish slices in inland markets after the tribe advanced to the Feudal Age and the market was built, exchanging them for gold to fund research.

Once in the Feudal Age, all research would start consuming gold, so Li Zhan felt it necessary to prepare in advance.

At this time, the Yanhuang Tribe’s resources were as follows:

Wood: 1,270
Food: 1,310
Stone: 324
Gold: 50
Minerals (total): 0

Since cotton didn’t fall under any of these categories, it was listed separately—Cotton: 94

After reviewing the resources, especially the cotton, and before he could close the resource window, Zheng Jun and two craftsmen emerged from the newly built carpenter’s workshop, carrying a wooden plow between them. As they walked, Zheng Jun called out excitedly to Li Zhan:

“Chief, the wooden plow has been successfully developed!”