Chapter 13
Within the territory of the Black Water Valley, there was a lush forest valley.
The Black Water River quietly passed through it, witnessing the changes in the territory over time.
This year, the crops in the territory were growing very well. With the irrigation of the melted snow from the mountains, under normal circumstances, there would not be a drought. The sunlight in summer was also very sufficient. The only flaw was that they could only grow one crop.
Everything in the territory was running in an orderly manner. Unfortunately, Levi was a liberal arts student in his previous life and knew nothing about science and engineering. He also did not know many scientific inventions that could improve productivity.
Otherwise, he could be like the other transmigrators, climbing the technological tree in his territory and creating a scientific revolution. He might even be able to lead this extremely backward world into the steam age.
He was not good at management, nor was he good at farming.
He only knew how to immerse himself in obtaining experience. All the matters in the territory were handed over to Sir Fred and other professionals to manage.
To Levi, having the proficiency panel, he only had one goal from the beginning to the end, and that was to pursue immortality in this otherworld. The identity and status of a lord were just tools in the pursuit of strength.
Wealth, power, love, and all the troubles in the world were just floating clouds.
Year 1004 of the Holy Brilliance Calendar, Month of the Furnace (August).
During the Month of the Furnace, it was mainly hot in the south. The Black Water Valley in the north of the kingdom had a higher altitude and the temperature was just right.
Sir Fred led the militia to build irrigation canals for the territory and led them to the Black Water River for irrigation, so the crops grew well this year.
In addition, Lord Levi also called on the serfs in the territory to rely on the Black Water River to fish when they were idle, which could also increase the income of the territory.
Levi was afraid of being pestered by the evil spirit, so he naturally did not dare to go to the Black Water River. Unfortunately, his dream in his previous life was not needing to work, and having a pack of cigarettes, a stool, and a fishing rod to fish for a day.
As his strength increased, the amount of meat he consumed increased. He could eat more than ten pounds of meat a day, but the production of beef and mutton in Black Water Valley was limited, so Levi thought of eating fish.
Most of the fish in the Black Water River were cold-water bass and salmon. Their meat was delicious and nutritious, and there were plenty of fish bones in freshwater. However, for Levi, the fish bones were just something that he could swallow directly, so it did not matter.
Levi also taught the chefs in the territory some of the cooking methods from his previous life so that they could cook fish for him and the soldiers.
Steamed, braised, and grilled fish had different cooking methods. The taste was definitely not as good as in his previous life. After all, the Emerald Kingdom was similar to medieval Europe before the great discovery of navigation. There were not many spices. Occasionally, some were shipped from other countries, but they were controlled by the nobles and the royal family. Even Levi could not afford to eat them.
However, it was still better than the dark dishes they had made before. The water quality of the Black Water River was excellent, and the fishy smell of fish meat was not strong.
This could be considered as solving some of the meat problems of the soldiers in his territory.
Sir Fred also started eating river fish with Levi. In fact, ever since he became a knight, Sir Fred rarely ate river fish. In the eyes of the nobles and knights in this world, river fish was only eaten by the lower class.
However, seeing how Levi was thrifty and ate river fish in order to save money, Fred was shocked.
“Young Master Levi is destined to achieve great things.”
…
In the midst of peace, the days passed and the Month of Wheatfield arrived.
The wheat in the territory was golden yellow, and the joy of a bumper harvest was overflowing on Lord Levi’s face.
“Farming is a beautiful thing.”
It was a fixed rest day every week. Levi drank wine and watched the serfs harvesting wheat at the foot of the mountain.
This year’s weather was good, and Levi felt that the wheat production would definitely be much higher than last year.
However, when the Month of Harvest (October) arrived, Leviwas dumbfounded.
Compared to last year, the production had increased by less than 1%.
He called for Sir Fred and the butler of the territory.
Looking at the data from previous years, he discovered an interesting phenomenon.
No matter what year it was, the wheat production of the territory basically didn’t change.
After some research, Levi realized that there was a problem with the territory’s policies.
According to the convention of this world, the serfs in the territory were the private property of the lord, and the land was also the private property granted to the lord by the king.
The serfs’ income, whether it was wheat or other agricultural products, other than keeping a small portion for themselves, the rest had to be handed over to the small lord. After the small lord converted the food into money, he would hand over a portion to the big lord directly under him. Finally, he would hand it over to the largest lord, the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom. They called it “assistance money”.
As time passed, many serfs began to slack off. Whether it was sowing or fertilizing, they were all very perfunctory. In any case, they had to give it to the lord in the end. No matter how much they harvested, it had nothing to do with them. Then why would they work so hard? As long as the yield was not too low, the lord would not blame the serfs. After all, everyone’s output was not high.
Levi felt that it was necessary to change the policies in the territory.
He called Sir Fred over and told him his thoughts. Sir Fred was a little surprised.
“Since ancient times, I don’t think anyone has done this. You’re the lord. If you think those serfs are lazy, you just need to set a hard target for them every year. If they don’t meet it, they will be severely punished. There’s no need to be so kind to them. You’re still too kind.”
Levi shook his head. “The best way to motivate these people is not to punish them, but to make them… eat their fill.”
“Then let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to the way we were. There’s no loss anyway,” Sir Fred said thoughtfully.
Just like that, after the Month of Harvest, a new policy was implemented in the territory.
The butler went from house to house, telling the serfs a piece of great news.
“The lord has announced that from next year onwards, each family will only have to hand over 60% of the wheat harvested in the year to the lord. Other than that, the rest of the wheat will belong to the serfs themselves.”
The serfs in the wooden houses all revealed expressions of disbelief.
“Is this true? Heavenly Father, our lord is not lying to us, right?”
“Are you questioning the lord’s authority?”
“No… no.”
In the end, in order to dispel the concerns of these serfs, Levi had to give a speech in person to announce the implementation of the decree.
Hearing that it was true, the serfs were overjoyed. For the first time, they felt that life was so promising and that their future was bright.
Levi did not know if this move would work, but he felt that it was time to make some changes.
Autumn in the Black Water Valley was always too short. In the blink of an eye, it was the Month of Northern Wind.
On the training ground below the castle, Levi’s body and arms trembled, and it created afterimages. He slashed out a beautiful cross with Frostmourne in his hand!
The sturdy black dragon wood pillar in front of him, which was covered with all kinds of slashes, finally split into four!
The sound was crisp, and the incision was smooth.
[Golden Cross Slash Proficiency +1]
The system notification sounded.
Levi let out a breath, and with a pleasantly surprised expression, he could not help but jump up!
He was so happy that he looked like a teenager.
“I broke through!”
Levi —
[Black Snake Breathing Technique: Level 2 (4502/5000)]
[Golden Cross Slash: Level 3 (1/10000). Special Effect: Advanced Vibration