Others no longer showed any dissatisfaction, because they all felt that Maximus made sense.
"Leader, when will this Twenty Peerage System be implemented?" Fesaros was somewhat impatient.
"I’m afraid it will take some time," Maximus explained, "On one hand, because some reward conditions of the Twenty Peerage System still need discussion and confirmation with Chief Officers of various departments; on the other hand, we are still squeezed into this temporary stronghold, not yet moved to Validosi, so the land distribution cannot be implemented yet. Let’s not let everyone have false hopes to avoid affecting their mood... Therefore, we can first discuss how to build our new home on the newly purchased land, Validosi?"
As soon as he said this, the military tent became lively again.
"Stop muttering below, stand up and say, how should we do it?" Maximus urged.
Gaius, the former Engineering Camp captain and now the new Construction Deputy Officer, was the first to stand up. Scratching his head, he said softly, "Leader, today when I was overseeing the construction of the camp, I heard that Validosi is not far from here, so once the camp was initially built, I took a few people to sneak a look at Validosi—"
"I know it wasn’t just you who sneaked a peek, quite a few people here went to see it. Considering your longing for a new home, I won’t criticize you here," Maximus said half-jokingly, half-seriously. "Tell us, what are your thoughts on Validosi?"
"As the Aldeans said, Validosi is a swamp, and quite a sizeable one, composed of several large pools of water, but the water in these pools doesn’t seem very deep..."
Gaius carefully articulated his words and said, "I think it can be ... hmm, you may not know that although Rome is located by the Tiber River, it’s actually built on seven small hills by the river because the place often floods, forming swamps in the lowlands between these hills. That’s why the Romans mastered the techniques for draining swamps and leveling wetlands very early. During those years as slaves in Rome, we were driven many times to do such hard work... I think I can try it and turn Validosi back into land suitable for our residence and farming."
"Quick, tell us how to do it?" Maximus asked eagerly.
"Firstly, drainage," Gaius pondered and said, "These pools are densely spread on the banks of the two rivers and cover a large area, but there are still some dry lands around them. We can dispatch many people to dig large and deep pits on the dry lands, then divert the pools’ water into the pits, and then channel the water in the pits into the Kupa River and Kolana River, or simply keep the pits as artificial lakes."
Once the swamp water is drained, let it sun-dry for a while. When the ground surface dries and wrinkles, spread the earth excavated from the pits over the swamp and compact it. It’s best to plow the land again after some time to better remove moisture, which will be better for building houses and farming..."
"Your method is quite good!" Maximus praised, his gaze, however, turned to Flanitnus and others.
"When we were slaves, we used to transform the lowlands of the Tiber in this way, although it wasn’t so complex, because Validosi is our new home; putting in more effort will make it more comfortable," Flanitnus said truthfully.
"But it seems that to accomplish this task, a lot of manpower will be needed," Maximus mused, stroking his chin.
Gaius nodded, saying, "Leader, it’s best to gather all the men in our team to do this. It’s best to choose summer, as this season is hot with less water, and the land dries easily. Also, we need your help, Spukala, to calculate how large and deep the pits need to be and the best locations to dig them?"
"Although I’ve never done this before, I will do my best to help you with the calculations!" Spukala responded earnestly, as building Validosi is everyone’s task.
"If enough manpower is available and the weather is suitable, I think it may only take three months to restore Validosi to its original state. After that, we will need to build embankments to prevent river overflow," Gaius assured Maximus.
"So, it can’t be done this year. We will at least have to wait until next year. By then, the Twenty Peerage System may already be in effect. If you can transform Validosi into a suitable home for us, that is a very significant achievement. I believe a peerage is definitely deserved," Maximus loudly encouraged.
Gaius, suddenly excited, said, "I will do my utmost to complete the transformation of Validosi!"
Others, upon hearing this, also felt envious.
Even Volenus, a prudent person, stood up, slightly eager, "Leader, the transformation of Validosi will have to wait until next year. We can first transform the hills east of Validosi, to be our initial settlement."
"You and I both went to see those hills today. They are covered with grass and some trees and rocks. It might also require a lot of effort to turn them into the land we want, right?" Maximus expressed some doubts.
"Leader, we can perform slash-and-burn on that piece of hills," Volenus said confidently. "We don’t need to burn everything at once, which could easily set the entire forest on fire. We can first determine the location where the tribe will settle and then clear the surrounding grass and trees to prevent the fire from spreading, then conduct the slash-and-burn.
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