Chapter 38 Managing Upward
Holding her ankle-length robe, she walked out of the manor gate along the wall, followed the path, and stepped onto the small stone bridge over the stream.
At this moment, Caesar and his men also brought these refugees to the vicinity of the farmland.
The tenant farmers living nearby looked at the group of people behind them with curiosity.
Olivia waited for a while at the door of the miller's house by the stone bridge, and the miller also ran out after hearing the news.
He came closer to Olivia, pointed at the group and said, "Madam...what are they doing?"
Olivia replied, "These are probably the Lenians."
After waiting for a while, they arrived and Olivia went up to ask what was going on.
Caesar did not take off his helmet or dismount. He told Olivia a few words about what had happened, handed the men over to her, and planned to go back to patrol.
It is estimated that more refugees will cross the line, which would cause unrest.
"Go quickly and leave these people to me. I will interrogate them first." As she said this, she asked the new soldiers and the miller to tie up these people and lock them up in the mill.
The process still needs to be followed again.
The miller's house was used to store grain during the busy farming season, so the space was quite large, which was just right for tying all these people together.
Olivia stood aside and watched, observing the twelve people, a large family of men, women, young and old.
The felt coats they wore were torn to pieces. One person even lost a shoe while running. They all looked disheveled and must have been hungry for at least several days. No one knew what they had dug out to eat in the snow. They were all skin and bones.
In this room, they felt warmer than outside. They huddled together in silence, not daring to look up at her, as if they already knew they would not have a good ending.
Olivia looked at the three-star farmer named Jacob. He had been helped to lie down and seemed to be seriously injured.
She turned and said to the miller, "Go and ask the priest to come and give them some hot water."
The miller nodded and left. His wife then took an iron kettle and a wooden bowl and went to feed water to each of the dying refugees.
The eldest aunt, the leader of the Vimosen family, saw the miller bringing them water and quickly poked the people around her.
It's already this late, so there's no need to be so pretentious. The whole family shared a wooden bowl and drank half a pot of hot water. It's better than chewing snow.
Olivia noticed that the whole family seemed to listen to the words of the middle-aged woman named La□□ya, so she walked forward and stood next to the woman.
"Where are you from Lenya?"
The woman was very cautious in questioning Olivia. She muttered a few words in the Lenian dialect to her family members around her, reminding them not to talk nonsense.
However, this scene angered the miller's wife, who shouted, "My lady is asking you a question!"
Lavinia remained calm. She looked at the beautiful young lady in front of her cautiously, not daring to let her guard down at all. She observed Olivia's expression and saw no obvious hostility, but mostly curiosity.
"We are self-employed farmers outside Dongfeng City."
Lavinia spoke a vaguely familiar Altaic language.
When there was no war and trade was normal, she learned the local language for business purposes, and most of the vocabulary used in daily communication between the two countries is similar.
Olivia thought about it and didn't remember whether Dongfeng City was a place with a plot. It should be a relatively large town on the eastern front of Lennia.
There is sea on the eastern line of Lenya, as well as many islands and peninsulas, where pirates and Vero people live all year round.
The Vero uprising army fought against various nobles of Lennia and other forces.
She also asked what their family's surnames and names were.
Lavinia pointed out everyone in their group to Olivia one by one. She was the second oldest, the eldest had been killed, and the remaining two men were the third and fourth, as well as their wives and children. As for Jacob, he was her eldest brother's son and now had no father or mother.
The family used to grow sugar beets.
Olivia nodded, roughly understanding the situation. She was honest and didn't lie, and her role matched the card.
"If you are willing to convert to the Alta State Religion, I can allow you to be tenant farmers on my estate. If not, I can only send you back to the other side."
Olivia said.
If they have a stubborn attitude and would rather die than convert to religion, then she wouldn't dare hire such a person, let alone a three-star one, even if it's a five-star one.
Lavinia knew this would happen. She looked at her eldest nephew who was almost dead, and then at her younger siblings who were starving to the point of being skin and bones.
At least, the lord's wife was young and not so cruel. As long as they had a place to live, they would survive. She thought that God would understand her. Dying at the hands of foreigners would also be going to hell.
So Lavinia nodded and said they were willing to be tenant farmers.
Olivia hummed, feeling a little relieved, glad that their family didn't seem to be that religious.
So, she softened her tone and said, "Actually, by being a tenant farmer on my estate, you can still save money to redeem yourself, and sooner or later you can become a free man."
After hearing this, Lavinia was silent with her head down, not knowing what she was thinking. Outside the door, Fanon walked in and came over.
"Ma'am, who are these people?"
Olivia repeated the whole story to him.
"They have agreed to convert to the Alta Church."
Hearing this, Fanon nodded and said, "The Creator God will bless you from today on."
He tilted his head, looked at the refugee lying on the ground, dying, and asked him what happened.
Lavinia said that he was looking for food in the forest yesterday and encountered a wolf. He was chased and fell, spraining his leg.
Lavinia explained that it was only a minor injury for Olivia, who was worried that the tenant farmer would not be injured.
Olivia stood quietly by, watching Fanon's every move.
He walked over to Jagabu and had his trousers pulled up. He could see that it was just a dislocated bone, not a big deal.
Fanon squatted down, reached out and twisted the dislocated bone back, and everyone only heard a "click".
Jagabu suddenly woke up from the pain, raised his head and cried out. When the pain in the wound passed, he moved his leg slightly and found that it didn't hurt anymore!
"The bone has been reconnected. Don't do any heavy work for the next few days. If you have a stick, it's best to tie your leg up for two days."
After Fanon had done his good deed and told them the time of the collective prayer day, he went to wash his hands in disgust.
As a priest, he usually has to deliver babies and take care of the dying. He has some basic medical skills and knows a little about herbal medicine.
Therefore, no one was surprised that he could heal Jagabu's injury, but Jagabu himself was a little shocked. How could his leg, which had been painful for two days, recover?
He thought he would be a cripple from now on.
Olivia told the miller to give the family the area they had cut down last time to cultivate and to give them a small area by the lake to build a shelter.
"Now, let them rest here for a while, and take them over when the butler comes back."
The miller also kept watching his wife's expression, and she seemed willing to give these people a way out.
The miller nodded in agreement and respectfully escorted both her and the priest out.
Turning back, the miller untied the men and boiled a pot of water for them.
"Our lady is the kindest person. If you work honestly here, no one will make things difficult for you. If you don't behave honestly, you will only bring trouble upon yourself."
The miller said with a sidelong glance.
In fact, he didn't care about the lives of the Lenya people, but the reason he had been able to manage the farm affairs in the manor for so many years was that he had good judgment.
No matter what his master wants to do, he will never go against it and will follow the attitude of his superiors.
Since the lady seemed very eager to accept these outsiders to help reclaim the wasteland, he would of course make this clear.
In a blink of an eye, the miller put on a felt hat and walked out in the snow. He found a palm-sized place by the lake in the farm, between two self-cultivating farmers with soldiers in service, to build a house for the family.
At the same time, he went around visiting tenants and self-employed farmers, telling them that this family would be tenants of the manor from now on. His wife was very concerned and asked them to keep an eye on them and not let them starve to death.
At noon, when the butler returned from delivering gifts to the Baron's mansion, he first went to see the lady with a message from Catherine and Doris.
The butler told her in detail that the two Baroness's maids were very happy with the food Olivia sent them.
They also gave him a reward for running errands, and asked him to tell the lady not to worry, that they would take care of the things that needed to be taken care of, and would notify her if anything happened.
After explaining the important matters to his wife, the butler walked out of the main house and followed the miller to resettle the refugees.
First, the names, ages, marital status and childbearing status of these twelve people were all recorded on the wax file.
After registration is completed, people will be taken to the accommodation found for them.
The steward and the miller found a pile of unused wooden boards from the last construction in the manor and took them to build a simple house.
They were also given old hoes, old shovels and other basic farm tools as the supplies that the tenant farmers should have.
Seeing this, Lavinia finally felt relieved and asked everyone in the family to take out everything they had hidden.
For example, he took out silver rings, copper coins and so on, and asked the neighbors to exchange them for some pottery jars, wooden basins, a bag of aged rye, and borrowed a saw from a neighbor.
A few hungry and dizzy people managed to shovel a piece of snow, build a simple shelter, and set up a clay pot to cook rye porridge with snow.
Jagabu lay in this small shelter and drank two bowls of hot porridge before he slowly calmed down. He felt that the life-threatening escape in the past few days was as unreal as a dream.
His country was destroyed, his family was ruined, his parents were gone, and if the few remaining relatives had not abandoned him, he would have died long ago.
The river bank running from east to west was littered with dead bodies or abandoned old and young.
He thought that he was very lucky and had truly survived a disaster.
He looked at his aunt Lavinia and asked if the lord here had divided the land among them.
La □ □ Ya was distributing porridge. She nodded and said:
"I just went to check it out. It used to be a forest, but the trees have been cut down. Now there's just a sloping field. It's not easy to cultivate, but it's large."
Jagabu thought about it and comforted himself that as long as he had the land, the worst that could happen was that he would just be the same as before.
...
It was almost lunchtime when Olivia received a message from the butler from the Baroness's two maids, and she sat by the fireplace with peace of mind.
She opened the map and looked at the arrangements made by the miller and the steward as they ran around the village.
It seemed that the miller really took her words to heart.
She warmed herself by the fire and combed the cat's fur. After a while, she checked Jagabu's health.
Jagabu's legs and feet were healed, and after drinking so much hot water, his health value has slowly increased by 10 points.
She finally felt relieved and pressed the ring.
Around noon, Lucy came to ask her what she was going to have for lunch today.
Olivia thought of the deer legs her aunt had sent her and immediately started to crave them.
As she massaged the cat, she said:
"Just grill a few slices of smoked venison shank, add some onions, cut a plate of dry cheese, fry milk scrambled eggs with butter, and eat a bite of bread as a staple food. Pour me half a glass of wine that goes well with the venison.
Don't forget to cut a plate of pickle slices."
Lucy noted these down.
Seeing that she was about to go back to the kitchen, Olivia immediately asked her, "Where's the priest? Isn't he eating lunch?"
After going to the mill to receive the pagans, Fanon immediately went back into the house.
Lucy shook her head: "I don't know what the priest has been busy with these past two days. He didn't even let anyone call for food.
He just came back and told me that when he was done, I could go to the kitchen and get a piece of bread to eat, and there was no need to wait for him.
Speaking of this, Lucy looked suspicious and continued to complain to her wife:
"The priest caught a few squirrels in the village a few days ago and kept them in cages in his room.
When I went to his room this morning to get some dirty laundry, I saw some strange little bottles, broken glass, and a half-dead squirrel lying on his desk.
Lucy became more and more disgusted as she spoke, and frowned:
"I want to take this dead squirrel away, but he won't let me. Madam, what do you think the priest, who is usually so clean, would do with this dead squirrel?"
Hearing this, Olivia also raised her eyebrows.
She wondered if this was what early researchers were like. A squirrel, wasn't that a mouse? A glass slide, could it be a hand-rubbed magnifying glass?
Olivia cleared her throat, looked at Lucy seriously, and added:
"Well, I suppose the priest wants to say a prayer for the poor squirrel?"
"Also, from now on, have the priest deliver his own clothes, and leave some food for him in the kitchen so he can eat whenever he wants."
Lucy listened to the lady's lame excuses, nodded in ignorance, and smiled again:
"The priest has already told me this morning that I don't need to worry about his room, clothes, meals, etc. He plans to do it himself."
This would allow Lucy to work less and she wouldn't want to worry about it so much.
"Oh, by the way, the priest also said that if the lady has a guest, she can knock on the door and call him."
Olivia curled her lips. Perhaps it was because the food was better when guests came than usual?
She waved Lucy away and continued combing the kitten's fur with a fine comb.
In less than half an hour, the cook prepared the lunch Olivia wanted.
Two simple dishes, onions fried in butter until soft, covered on slightly grilled meat slices, and sprinkled with chopped celery leaves.
Fried eggs, cucumber slices, and cheese were all placed on another plate.
Olivia's habit is to cut the white bread in half with a knife, then stuff the ingredients in, make it into a burger, and eat it with her hands. For a second, she dreams of eating Subway in her previous life.
Today's bread is well fermented with old dough and has enough moisture. It seems that the cook has discovered that she likes to eat bread with a crispy crust and soft inside.
However, this venison is really genuine. After being marinated with spicy juniper berries, the taste is not dark at all, and the texture is a little tenderer than braised beef. It is paired with sour cucumber slices, tender milk eggs, which has the fragrance that only country eggs can have, and rich cheese. It is quite satisfying to take a bite.
After she had eaten and drunk her fill, she strolled around the manor to digest her food.
When I was working before, how could I have such leisure time?
Her former boss liked to wear a pair of clacking high heels every day and walk around the office.
From time to time, he also likes to give her pointers on the accounts she has done well.
Olivia didn't want to be such an annoying leader, so she didn't go to the servants' workplace to cause trouble. Instead, she walked around the backyard and the livestock farmhouse a few times.
In the afternoon, Lucy and the cook were making shoes, twisting thread, sewing clothes and embroidering in the kitchen to prepare for spring.
The cook even brought out a small loom and was weaving a strip of cloth only a cubit wide from linen and wool by the fire pit, apparently to make collars and cuffs out of this stiff cloth.
Olivia watched and felt an inexplicable sense of healing.
This pastoral life did not have any of the conveniences she had in the city in her previous life.
In the city, the changes of the four seasons do not have much impact on life. It is just the difference of adding two more pieces of clothing and turning on the heating or air conditioning.
But in this hellhole, everyone's life rhythm depends on the season.
In winter, when the mountains are covered with snow, it is the time to stay at home and do handicrafts to prepare clothes and shoes for the next year. Whether they are commoners, serfs, or nobles, they all do almost the same thing.
Olivia thought that she didn't have to make it, and could just go to the city to buy ready-made ones, but she still had to find a way to pass the long leisure time.
So she took out all the fabrics from the boxes and storage room and spread them out one by one on the carpet in the bedroom.
She counted on her fingers and made plans for herself.
The fabric that is neither too soft nor too hard is used to make four-piece sets. After a month, when the wool comes out, it can be used to make thinner quilts for spring cover.
The soft and smooth fabric is used to make long skirts. She also wants to make culottes to wear when riding horses, so she will need two pairs of these.
There is also underwear, such as panties and petticoats, including Caesar, he also needs some shirts.
After taking inventory for a while, she added two cloaks that could be used in spring and autumn.
However, the fabrics in her hands were all undyed and were all off-white in their original color.
Dyes are expensive, and most people would rather dye silk thread and embroider on it than spend a lot of money on dyeing cloth.
As for the nobles, they all wore imported fabrics, such as woolen tweed and velvet, with bright dyes.
In fact, to the local civilians, this is a completely white nation.
After she arranged the order according to their importance for a while, she took the fabric for making sheets and pillows first.
Olivia planned to wait until tomorrow and dye the cloth light brown with onion peels.
Well, she only knew this one natural dye, and more was beyond her knowledge.
While cutting the cloth, Olivia suddenly realized that the system map seemed to have expanded.
On the system map, the entire area of Kalon Town appeared within her sight.
Hmm? Did Letilen go to Kalon Town? Doesn't this map light up villages one by one?
Could it be that Letilen can light up the area of a barony at a time?
It seems like that.
She put down the work in her hands and observed the situation in Kalon Town bit by bit.
That place seemed to have nine fiefdoms and a city called Caron, which was not as prosperous as Lavosen.
The city of Caron was also located on the riverbank. She zoomed in to the Baron's Palace there and counted the standing troops inside.
He doesn't have as many troops as Baron Berggru's palace, no wonder he wants to pull Baron Berggru to stand with him.
She turned off the system and continued making pillowcases and quilts as if nothing had happened.
Letilen and my aunt must have gone to various places to find craftsmen.
…
Two days later, on a snowy morning, Olivia took great pains to make the first quilt. She sewed it in the morning and asked Caesar to sew with her in the evening.
After working day and night on the research, he sewed the thread and then stuffed it into onion peel soup to boil and dye it, and then added coarse salt to fix the color.
At the same time, the cook also held a wooden basin and marinated the meat of small game with salt and chopped herbs.
After Lucy finished shoveling the horse manure, she returned to the kitchen and saw what was happening. She couldn't help but join in to help.
But she had just finished shoveling manure and hadn't washed her hands yet. The cook didn't want her to help, and Olivia was even more disgusted. So Lucy could only shrug her shoulders and wanted to go back to shoveling chicken manure.
"Wait a minute, Lucy."
Olivia suddenly called Lucy over, remembering something.
Lucy rolled up her sleeves and walked over, but was stopped.
"I'm not asking for your help, I just want to ask you if you know how the Weisenmo family is doing these past two days?"
She worked day and night to make new bedding for the spring, and apart from checking on Jagabu's recovery every day, she let the family fend for themselves.
Now everyone in the manor knows that she hopes to have refugees come to reclaim the wasteland and will not do anything to them.
But if she is too nice and caring to these outsiders, the locals will also be unhappy.
So, she deliberately ignored him for two days, which was also a kind of protection.
Hearing this, Lucy went to get a basin of hot water to wash her hands, and then slowly said:
"Ma'am, you don't know, this family is actually very hardworking."
Lucy explained it in detail, one stroke at a time.
First, the family of more than a dozen people spent two days building the shelter made of several wooden boards into a wooden house bit by bit.
Now, during the day, everyone in their family went to the hillside to saw the remaining wood stumps from the trees to keep warm and busy themselves making furniture and looms.
Knowing that the tenant farmers could go to the river to fish, their family also went to the river, broke through the thick ice to catch fish, smoked the dried fish and exchanged them for salt, without crossing the border once.
Knowing that tenant farmers could hunt small birds, rabbits, and other animals in their own fields, his family also set many traps on the hillside.
Everyone in the village knows that their family gets up earlier than the chickens and goes to bed later than the owls.
And Jagabu, who was recuperating at home, was not idle at all. He was either making stools and chairs with wood, or helping to make hunting traps.
Ethan came in with a bucket of well water from outside the door. He heard the conversation in the room and nodded.
"Just yesterday, they sold me some small game in exchange for a lot of hemp to weave cloth."
Olivia nodded in satisfaction.
If everyone in the manor was as hardworking as them, busy making a living, then she wouldn't have to worry about anything.
"That's good."
As Olivia was speaking, she saw Adam come in with firewood and asked him how the new soldiers were adapting.
Adam heard this and thought for a moment: "George said that they can still hold on.
We get up early in the morning and go back home in the evening every day. No one falls behind and nothing goes wrong when we follow the adults outside.
But they all envied those old soldiers and wanted to be able to replace their spears with bows and arrows like them."
Ethan also said, "George also said that the adults are going to take them to hunt wild boars today, and they don't know if they can do it well."
The big wild boar with black face and fangs was extremely ferocious and large in size. It traveled in groups and had injured countless tenant farmers.
If they dare to hunt wild boars, they will have enough courage.
Olivia figured that the inspection period was coming, so it would be better to prepare things in advance.
She set the dyed cloth aside to soak and asked Adam to call the housekeeper over.
Today, the housekeeper is taking inventory of the grain in the warehouse as usual. It is almost late December, and after this year, it is time to start preparing for the next year.
After a while, the housekeeper came after taking inventory.
Olivia told him to take money from her and go to town to buy five more suits of chain mail, five bows, and hundreds of arrows. She also told him to have their families come to the manor to get the materials for making boots and felt clothes, just like last time.
After the butler agreed, Olivia said:
"However, we won't send out the bows and arrows and chain mail in a hurry this time.
I will give them bows after they have had time to catch a pig with a spear on their own."
No matter who you are, learning these combat skills starts with using a spear.
Spear, bow and arrow, sword, then riding, fighting and commanding.
If all of them were given at the beginning, the basic ones at the beginning would not even be solid enough, and there would be no point in having such good equipment at the end.
After giving these instructions, she asked the housekeeper about the progress of the grain inventory in the warehouse.
"There are three barrels of wheat and several more of oats. As for rye, there are three or four barrels behind the kitchen. It will be enough to last until the grain comes out at the end of next summer, and there will be some left over."
This bucket is not an ordinary small bucket, but a large bucket that is big enough for several people to stand in.
They start planting spring wheat in March or April and harvest it in August or September every year.
Four-fifths of the grain collected from tenant farmers and directly owned fields had to be sold for gold coins, and the rest was kept for their own consumption, which was enough to feed the people in the house all year round.
These servants who did not have to farm could only eat a few buckets of grain in a year. Even if they ate dry bread for every meal and provided simple portable lunches to the soldiers, they still could not finish it.
Olivia thought that the food in the manor would be enough to provide at least two meals for six more maids.
"Well, in a week, go look around the manor and see if there are any capable and intelligent women or girls, or boys twelve or thirteen years old, in each family. I'd like to recruit some to work at the estate."
“I’ve already chosen Ethan’s sister, Alice, to help Lucy raise chickens.
The cook needs two helpers. You can look around, ask around, and choose two who are good at cooking.
Then there is the herding of cattle and sheep, the washing and cleaning, each of which requires one person to do, as well as the management of the orchard.
If nothing else, these people need to be smart and have a certain amount of experience in whatever they do; they can't be completely clueless."
Olivia pondered for a moment, then added an additional clause:
"It would be best to find someone who strictly adheres to the teachings, who can follow us, bathe and change clothes at least once a week, and pray devoutly to God.
Regardless of whether they are self-employed farmers or tenant farmers, anyone who is willing to come will be exempted from the head tax and provided with two meals."
Piety is not the most important thing. What is important is that people who love to pray in this environment are more concerned about hygiene. In order not to defile God, they must take a bath and wash their hands before praying.
After receiving the instructions, the butler began to plan his work schedule and the approximate recruitment standards in his mind.
Being able to cook, being smart, and being pious, these are really high requirements. How could there be so many people in the manor who meet all the requirements?
"Okay, I'll pick some people in the next two days and let them start working as soon as possible." The housekeeper had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it.
He then left the kitchen and prepared to do a lot of things, such as purchasing weapons, notifying the soldiers' families to come and pick up their things, and finding servants for the manor.
In the kitchen, everyone watched as the lady boldly issued so many tasks to the butler.
Everyone immediately narrowed their gazes, wondering if they could do it themselves.
Ethan and Adam filled the kitchen with water and loaded the firewood at the stove, looking at each other and muttering.
"Tell me, how did Madam do it? How could she keep so many things in her head at the same time? And arrange them so neatly?" Adam frowned.
"The butler is amazing. How can he handle so many tasks at the same time?" Ethan clicked his tongue.
They murmured for a while, then felt a chill on their backs, and then Olivia grabbed them and took them to wash the loose color off the fabric.
That afternoon, the housekeeper went to the village first, notified the families of the new recruits, brought them to the house, got the felt and leather, and distributed them.
After doing this, he began to look through the files one by one for candidates suitable for promotion to be servants in the manor.
He lit the lamp and searched for a long time beside the table. Apart from those who were too old or had young children at home and could not leave, there were also those who were too young and ignorant, and those who had just got married and started a family.
A total of eight people were selected and they will be given to my wife to choose in early January.
In the evening, Olivia was leisurely warming herself by the fire in the restaurant, waiting for dinner.
She guessed that Caesar and the others were about to come back, so she opened the map and saw that they were indeed outside the manor.
I heard that Caesar took those soldiers to hunt wild boars today. I don’t know if they were scared.
She sat for a while, and then Caesar and George came in from the gate one after another, taking off their helmets.
George spoke quickly, and before Olivia could ask him, he said carelessly: "Madam! You will never guess what we hunted with the new recruits today!"
Olivia also cooperated and asked in surprise: "What prey?"
"It was a bear! When we were chasing wild boars, we encountered a big black bear that was half asleep and half awake and defecating. The young recruits were so scared that they ran around everywhere, haha."
George continued, "But this is a piece of cake for me and the adults. With my cooperation, the bear was easily subdued!"
Caesar hung all the armor neatly on the rack, turned around and asked George to stop flattering himself.
He chuckled and said, “Don’t be fooled by this kid.
When he saw the bear, he rode his horse faster than anyone else, and we couldn't even call him back."
"Those new recruits, on the other hand, weren't at all timid."
After the truth was revealed, George grumbled a little: "How can it be so exaggerated? It was obviously my horse that was frightened by the bear! I'm very brave!"
Caesar said in a deep voice:
"You're not so stubborn in front of Lucy."
Olivia watched the bickering between the master and servant and laughed so hard that her stomach hurt.
This George is always tough in front of outsiders, but becomes so weak that he can't take care of himself in front of Lucy.
George was so embarrassed that he ran to tie up the horse in shame.
Olivia felt that George was more suitable to manage soldiers than to go into battle. His personality made him get along well with both veterans and rookies.
If George hadn't been there to coordinate, the soldiers probably wouldn't have been able to withstand such high-intensity and boring training.
After a while, Olivia plucked up the courage to go to the backyard to see the big black bear.
The cook can't do this. She has to go to town tomorrow to find a professional butcher to ensure that the skin, fur, bones and meat are all intact.
Every part of a bear's body is a treasure, and everything on it can be sold for money. Bear bones are the most popular filling for reliquaries among the nobles.
As for the leather palm and meat gall, it goes without saying that they can be easily sold for more than a dozen gold coins.
So, now everyone worked together to dig a big snow pit in the backyard with shovels, and buried the male bear, who was heavier than a wild boar, tightly in it.
Once this kind of large animal is buried, there will basically be no small animals such as snow sculptures and lynxes coming to steal it.
Hearing the noise outside, Fanon also came out to watch the fun.
He hesitated for a long time before asking Olivia for bear bile, saying that he could buy it with money.
Olivia knew that he might want to use the bear bile as medicine, so she agreed to give it to him.
So, the next morning, the poor housekeeper braved the severe cold and drove to the town with Adam and Ethan.
First, we need to buy weapons and equipment. We can still buy these two items from the same two shops as last time.
On the way back, he also found the most skilled butcher whose labor costs were the highest and brought him back to the manor.
At noon, the steward and his entourage arrived at the manor fully loaded with equipment, along with the butcher.
The butler first reported on the purchase of weapons and equipment. Since this was his second visit, the two blacksmith shops and weapons manufacturers were familiar with who he was working for, and they offered much better discounts than last time, spending only seven or eight gold coins.
One gold coin for a set of chain mail was already a bargain in Olivia's opinion. This thing only required iron and careful forging by a blacksmith. If one wanted to sell it at a sky-high price, the northern craftsmanship was not up to the mark.
However, for butchers, the price is determined by the skill. The housekeeper went directly to the town to find the most famous butcher, Lao Yangqi.
However, when Olivia first learned that Old Yangqi's appearance fee was five silver coins, she thought it was ridiculously expensive.
An ordinary laborer could earn between five sori and one koli for a day's work.
However, once she opened the character card and saw who this person was, she completely understood.
This old Yangge turned out to be a two-star talent in "Medicine".
The butler said, don't underestimate his price, but he once dismantled a bear for the Baron and helped make a specimen.
Apart from the fatal wound, there is no visible damage at all. Such complete fur will be one or two gold coins more expensive than ordinary fur.
After listening to the butler's explanation, Olivia followed him downstairs to watch old Young dissect the black bear.
This old man looked skinny. Not only was he wearing a fur coat, he also had an apprentice with him and his own mule cart.
At this moment, the apprentice was spreading out more than a dozen scalpels of various styles.
The servants had already dug the bear out of the pit and placed it on a simple wooden table.
It was snowing outside. The old man, wearing gloves, greeted Olivia and began to slowly peel off the skin along the wound.
Since this was not a specimen, there was no need to be so meticulous. After draining the blood, he peeled the skin from the beginning and carefully cut out various parts, such as a whole walnut kernel that looked like tofu pudding.
Olivia suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach. She was afraid that she would vomit, so she didn't dare to look and hid in the house.
She turned her head and found Fanon standing by with his arms folded, watching with great interest and eating bread he had brought out from the kitchen.
Uh, is this the superpower of medical talent?
She was also convinced.
The servants collected the various parts of the body in various containers.
The whole process lasted at least two or three hours, during which time it attracted knights from nearby fiefdoms and Olivia's father to watch the fun.
After it was completely divided, Olivia took the initiative and sold some of the bones and meat on the spot to the knights who were eager to watch the fun.
As for old Renault, his father and daughter openly bought a piece of bone from her to take home as a talisman.
They believed that bears represented ferocity and strength and could be used to suppress evil spirits and witchcraft.
The bear bile was sponsored by Fanon.
Olivia asked the housekeeper to freeze the rest and sell it slowly.
As for the two pairs of palms, she asked the butler to deliver them to the Baron's mansion early tomorrow morning for the Baron to enjoy.
What workers must never forget when making a living is to manage upwards.
...
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