Chapter 66 Heavy Rain

A few days passed, and it was late August with sunny weather.

The temperature was around 25 degrees Celsius, which dried out most of the moisture from the various bean pods in the fields.

At the manor, Jacopo went for a walk in the fields early this morning.

These two days are the time for harvesting beans as usual.

The miller arranged for groups of tenant farmers to harvest all the lentils, lupines, soybeans, peas, beans, and everything in between.

It's just a dozen acres of beans, and a dozen tenant farmers can harvest them in a day or two.

After being collected, they were taken to the mill's drying yard to dry for two days.

After being thoroughly dehydrated, the beans are threshed and threshed in the mill, and the miller uses a bellows to separate the clean beans.

For each type of bean, put it into a flat barrel using a wooden barrel specially used for weighing grains, then put it into bags and finally weigh them on the scale.

Olivia personally went to the miller's house to watch as the total weight of the beans was counted.

The mill weighs crops in a traditional way, using an unequal-arm lever scale with bags filled with grain hanging on one side and weights moving on the other.

The density of the same type of beans in the bucket is similar, and the weight of each bag has an error of about one pound.

Just weigh a bag of each type of bean and estimate based on the number of bags to calculate the total amount of that type of bean.

Although it is a crude method, it saves a lot of time.

Ten acres of soybeans yield a total of 2,500 pounds, and other beans yield a total of 1,500 pounds, for a total of 4,000 pounds.

At the mill, the miller and the housekeeper were both pleased with the excellent yield of soybeans.

Fanon was checking the numbers nearby. One tenth of all the grain produced on the estate had to be paid as tithe.

If he was needed to do statistics, people from Lavossen Church would come on time and take the items according to the numbers he provided.

He calculated a real number, but secretly wrote down a false number on paper, only recording two thousand pounds.

After finishing the recording, he nodded to Olivia.

Of the 2,000 pounds of beans on paper, Fanon can legally get 200 pounds.

But the Lavossen Church still sent people to collect half of it.

He only had a hundred pounds left for himself, and this little bit of grain had to be deducted from his monthly salary.

However, Fanon had already agreed with Olivia that as long as they falsified the numbers, they would wait for people from Lavosne Church to take away the grain.

Just give him some subsidies privately.

The cause of this incident started five days ago.

At that time, Olivia was thinking about how to save some money from the tithe.

The autumn harvest is approaching, and landlords everywhere are thinking about this difficult problem while enjoying the joy of the harvest.

Olivia still has concerns, as the harvest on her estate is now eye-catching.

If the actual amount of grain was reported and spread through the church, it would probably make people around jealous and cause trouble.

After much thought, she realized that she had to take action against Fanon, drag him into the crime, and ask him to help conceal the truth.

Let Fanon do this, and it won’t matter even if the steward of the manor notices that the number is different from the actual situation.

They would only first think that Fanon was being considerate of the estate and loosening his grip.

From their perspective, this matter has no disadvantages and only benefits, so it is best to pretend to be confused.

In fact, most farmers would secretly bribe priests to help them report less. Everyone did this.

So, Olivia began to focus on tracking Fanon's whereabouts every day, looking for his tail so that she could talk to him about this matter.

It just so happened that Fanon relaxed his vigilance while living in the church. He bought some skulls through the black market and planned to do research.

Olivia observes him making a deal with the cemetery keeper in town, so she raids the church the next day.

Under the pretext of delivering cloth, they went to Fanon's residence when Fanon had sent away the servants and believers and there was no one else in the church.

Fanon, who was hiding in the room doing research, was caught off guard. He didn't even have time to hide and was caught by Olivia, who had opened her clairvoyance.

She immediately showed great surprise, was at a loss, and didn't know what to do.

The exclamation attracted the servants outside the church.

She deliberately covered for Fanon and sent the servant away again.

Although Fanon had never been discovered before, he didn't understand why he was unexpectedly discovered this time.

However, he felt very complicated when he saw that Olivia was still willing to help him hide.

He quickly explained that he was trying to heal the patient and did not intend to insult the dead.

Olivia actually understood what he said, because it was all about saving people.

She also said that she came to deliver the fabric, actually she had an unreasonable request.

In the past, Fanon thought Olivia was fanatically devout.

When I heard her say that she wanted to withhold the tithe, I suddenly felt very confused and felt that I had never really known her.

But Olivia was eloquent, saying that everyone had their own reasons, just like the priest himself, who would break the commandments for the sake of medicine.

She also did this for the sake of the people in the territory and to avoid being envied by outsiders.

After hearing these reasons, Fanon reluctantly agreed to help falsify all the grain registrations.

He would also be lenient when registering, including the tithe that self-cultivating farmers need to pay separately.

Fanon really needed a subsidy to make a living. His research was very expensive, and he had no way of making a living without money.

Moreover, Fanon believed that his own behavior was more morally depraved than stealing the divine tax.

He had always been afraid that Olivia, the fanatic believer, would find out, but now he found that the fanatic believer didn't seem so fanatical.

His heart, which had been hanging in the air, was completely relieved, and he expressed admiration for Olivia's consistent acting skills.

As for Donald, he was responsible for bribing and winning him over to ensure that every estate's harvest was reported as poor.

After completing this crucial step, Olivia began to sit back and wait for the bean harvest.

These harvested beans will be temporarily stored in the mill's warehouse.

Then comes the harvest of mature cash crops, such as hemp and dyes.

Early the next morning.

Estimating that the barracks were almost ready, Olivia followed Caesar to the river bank to inspect the construction of the barracks.

The barracks is oval in shape because it houses a horse farm of about three acres. Surrounding the farm are one-story barracks and wooden fences.

Olivia followed Caesar into the barracks gate to see the interior.

On the side facing the river bank are the soldiers' dormitories, dining hall, kitchen, weapons warehouse, and various utility rooms, with more than a dozen of them built.

On the other side opposite is the stable, and the rest is just wooden fences.

There was nothing much to see here, and everything was rather boring. When Olivia visited, George was leading all the soldiers to shovel wood chips.

After all the sawdust was shoveled away, her system prompt popped up.

Congratulations on completing "Building Barracks"

+50 Experience Points

+＊3 Surgery

Olivia devoted all her surgical skills to the servants in the manor, unlocking the talents of three servants she frequently came into contact with.

This time, I gained some skills.

Among the middle-aged women that Graya hired to guard the manor, there was one named Alosa, whose skill was "Ear Report God".

The skill explanation is that this NPC often gets gossip unexpectedly, and players can find out one piece of gossip from him every week.

The authenticity of this news is not certain, but it has definitely been circulated among the public recently.

Olivia felt that this role was a bit of a relief, so it was a bonus.

Afterwards, she unlocked a new main quest.

Heavy showers

Task Description:

It is expected that the county will receive an average daily rainfall of 70 mm from September 20 to September 23.

Please make flood prevention preparations and complete the harvesting and drying of grain in your territory before the rain arrives.

Harvest progress: 2/10

Mission Reward: +40 Experience Points

Unlock features: "Divine Blessing" and "Condemnation"

This mission was somewhat similar to the previous one during the severe cold weather, but this time she was forewarned of the danger in advance: there would be a three-day rainstorm in late September.

Typically, in late September, most estates are in the process of drying and threshing the grain after harvest.

Generally, the official rainy season does not arrive until the end of September or the beginning of October. It started raining on September 20th, which is indeed a few days earlier than in previous years.

Moreover, even during the rainy season, the rainfall in previous years was just a light rain.

An average rainfall of 70 mm for three consecutive days is already a very heavy rain.

Sudden heavy rains can have a significant impact on crops.

It will affect the drying and harvesting of grains, and will also cause water accumulation in depressions, resulting in waterlogging, causing the grains to rot or simply be washed away by the water.

This system can actually give advance warnings, I finally feel like a human being.

It is less than a month away from the end of September, and the beans and grains have been harvested. The only other grains left on the estate are hundreds of acres of various types of wheat.

Vegetables are not counted as grains and are therefore not included in the harvesting scope of the mission.

If all the tenant farmers and self-cultivating farmers were mobilized to harvest the wheat, it would probably be all harvested within a week.

It will take another week to dry under the sun, and in the third week it will all be threshed and stored in the warehouse.

It didn't even take that long.

Olivia thought about it and felt relieved.

She left the barracks and returned home before she began to study the explanation of this new function.

Divine Blessing and Condemnation

There are two virtual currencies.

Divine Blessing:

Manor churches produce one per week, town churches produce two per week, and district churches produce five per week.

condemn:

Any prison generates one condemnation per week.

Olivia looked at the explanations of the two currencies and was confused. She continued to click on the annotations to check the usage of the currency.

The content is displayed as:

Unlock the "Build a Prison" mission and unlock the "Events" game feature before you can view it.

“…”

Well, never mind, let’s harvest the crops first.

She thought about it at home, thinking about how to persuade Jagbu to agree to lead the grain harvest early.

After a long conversation, he asked Vansh to go out and call Jagabu.

Olivia watched Vansh leave, then sat down in the living room, planning to make a cup of honey water and drink it while waiting.

But before the honey water could even boil, in the blink of an eye, Vansh brought Jagbu back.

This scared Olivia, and she thought there was a bug in the game.

However, this was a misunderstanding.

It turned out that as soon as Fanxi went out, he saw Jagabu walking towards the manor gate. He came to Olivia to report something.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Olivia remained calm. After all, nothing was more disastrous than a rainstorm.

Jagbu looked a little conflicted. After thinking for a long time, he said:

"Ma'am, some time ago I went to Reno Manor to help design the drainage ditch, remember?"

Olivia nodded: "I remember, what's wrong?"

A few days later, the drainage ditch at Renault Manor was repaired, and this morning someone was sent to pick up Jagbu to check whether it was deep enough.

He has been busy with the autumn harvest on the estate these days and has not paid much attention to the ditches.

It was only when he went to take a look this morning that Jagabu noticed the changes in the underground soil.

The warm weather that lasted for ten days made the land drier than usual.

When he got home, he found the miller and went with him to check the soil under his drainage ditch.

The miller scratched his head and said that the soil shouldn't be this dry this time of year.

According to the miller, this summer was indeed warmer than usual, and the plants matured about a week earlier than in previous years.

The miller thought it was just normal temperature fluctuations and he couldn't see anything unusual.

However, Jagabu did not jump to conclusions so easily.

He spent the whole afternoon observing, either the clouds, or the rivers, lakes, streams, wellheads, and then took a walk in the woods.

"Ma'am, I suspect this year's rainy season will be more severe than in previous years, and there's a chance a heavy downpour will come early."

Olivia took a sip of honey water to cover up her mood and asked again:

"Why do you think so?"

Jagbu thought for a moment and said, "Because of the temperature, although this year's temperature is only a little warmer than usual, over time, the moisture is baked into clouds by the sun, and when it accumulates to a certain level, it will rain heavily.

You may not see any signs of this now, but over time, it will become clear.”

He could also detect weather changes through changes in rivers and forest plants, but these changes were all based on his own experience.

Jagbu thought it was difficult to explain, so he only mentioned the temperature as the most significant factor.

Droughts are followed by heavy rains, as anyone who grows crops knows.

However, most people, such as the miller, are not so observant and their perceptions are not so sharp.

Vansh beside him was confused.

Olivia listened, nodded, and said:

"You make sense. In that case, let's start harvesting wheat early."

"The wheat is almost ripe. It's better to harvest it early than to let it get flooded by the rain."

She immediately asks Vansh to go out and find the housekeeper.

After a while, the housekeeper came here in a hurry.

Olivia thought about it, and instead of reasoning with the housekeeper, she gave the order directly.

"Go and tell the two millers to hurry up the yeomen and tenant farmers to harvest their wheat or other grains earlier this year.

I want to see their grain handed in before the end of September.

When the time comes, I will personally inspect it and make sure I don’t see anyone’s fields still holding crops that have been confiscated.”

As the confused butler came in, he heard the lady's barrage of orders.

He didn't even know what had happened and thought that it was the honest-looking Jagbu next to him who had offended the lady.

He agreed immediately, then pulled Jagpu out and asked again, only to find out that it was because of the climate.

The steward thought for a moment, called the two millers from the estate, and followed Jacopo to the fields to check the maturity of the wheat.

The wheat is indeed more mature than in previous years at this time, so it is time to start harvesting. However, it needs to be dried in the sun for two more days after harvesting.

So, several people began to call on tenant farmers and self-employed farmers to start harvesting the grain they were responsible for.

When the confused self-employed farmers came to ask the reason.

The butler did not say that it was because of the weather, but he remembered the attitude of his wife when giving orders.

Then he suddenly understood, and told every confused farmer that this was the lady's order.

The lady has requested that the grain must be delivered before the end of September.

Even though they say it's due to weather reasons, I'm afraid there will still be some stubborn farmers who will delay it for as long as possible.

But if it is an order, no one dares to disobey it easily. Even if they have doubts in their hearts, they will not fail to take action.

At the same time, Olivia also sent people to Renault Manor to inform Theresa that this year's rainy season might be very severe, and urged her to harvest wheat to reduce losses.

After hearing this, Theresa thought about it for a long time and finally did as she was told. She ordered the miller and the housekeeper to start collecting the grain.

Two days later, it was the end of August and the beginning of September, the Saturnalia, and the weather was stuffy.

Olivia and Theresa came to Lavossen Church and gathered with the ladies of each family as usual.

From prayer to banquet, Olivia chatted with several ladies she was close to, and mentioned intentionally or unintentionally that this year was drier than in previous years.

Among them, Mrs. Baudelaire, who planted a large field of wheat, frowned after hearing this, wondering if the rain this year would be heavier than in previous years.

Neither Olivia nor Theresa said anything more.

After all, no one can predict whether it will rain that day, and no one can guarantee it and take responsibility.

If you can give a hint, people who care about this matter will naturally pay attention to it.

If you say too much, outsiders will listen to you and then blame you if it doesn't rain or the harvest is late.

Olivia and Theresa both understood this.

After the banquet, they returned to the manor and continued to supervise the work of harvesting grain.

The climate was getting hotter and hotter day by day. From the end of August to mid-September, in just over ten days, all the wheat in Olivia's territory was harvested and dried.

The workshops stopped working for four or five days, and every household was drying and threshing grain.

Jagabu directly manages nearly 100 acres of wheat, oats and rye.

After harvesting, it is dried, threshed, winnowed, and finally weighed at the miller's place.

A total of about 17,000 pounds of wheat grains were collected, which is truly unprecedented.

Jacob, the miller and the steward were delighted, but when they saw the priest writing down 11,000 pounds on a piece of paper with a serious face, the corners of their mouths couldn't help twitching.

In short, Olivia has completed most of the task progress.

Two days later, the yeoman farmers began to bring their grain to the miller for threshing and winnowing.

Most of the self-employed farmers in Helions Manor received tax deductions this year and only had to pay a small amount of tithe.

The miller of the former Toxon Manor came to Olivia with the grain handed over by the self-employed farmers and tenant farmers.

The total amount of food there was only over 10,000 pounds, and a total of 4,000 pounds of grain were handed over, and they brought it here on time.

With two days left before the deadline, part of the grain was stored in the warehouse, part was handed over to the church, and part was kept in the mill to be sold in the winter.

Olivia's copy mission is also shown as completed.

Congratulations on completing Harvest Season

+35 XP

+＊1 blank character card

She dragged the blank character card into the card pool and drew a line.

The card rose up, and this time the card was neither gold nor silver, so it was not five-star or four-star.

She clicked curiously, and the card turned over immediately.

Corinna Butch

"Favorability: 00"

Health: 80

Personality: Perseverance

Talent: Adventure (three stars)

Is this an adventure? Olivia touched her chin and opened the map.

Her field of vision suddenly expanded, and the entire Lavosen map appeared before her eyes, except for the very edge of the map.

A caravan organized by the Chamber of Commerce and returning from a hike slowly set foot on the official road to the Lavosen border.

…