Chapter 98
On the riverside farms not far from the city, there were ten estates with five or six hundred tenant farmers, half of whom were reclaiming wasteland and the other half were reclaiming land for spring plowing.
Each estate was equipped with ten mules or donkeys and countless iron plows.
This is undoubtedly the greatest help for this year's spring plowing.
They started working at the same time. Some tenant farmers first used animals such as mules and donkeys to pull plows to loosen the land in the 2,600 acres of land that had been reclaimed last year.
Some tenant farmers carried hoes and went to the river bank where they planned to reclaim land, digging ditches and ridges.
Clear away weeds, rocks, and plants, and burn the manure again.
In order to make room for flax cultivation, their workload was heavy in April. Each estate had to open up an additional 100 acres of land each month, for a total of 1,000 acres.
After the animals had plowed the land for crops, they would go to cultivate the wasteland that had been turned over by the tenant farmers.
Cultivate the land carefully and then plant flax and ramie.
Not only does it have to meet the needs of making clothes and balancing the price of cloth, but it also has to meet the needs of the workshop's papermaking.
For ordinary people, flax and ramie are almost the most important necessities for survival. They cannot afford wool and can only wear layers of linen shirts.
This is also the reason why white linen paper is priced so low.
If the price of hemp paper is high, everyone will use the hemp in the fields to make paper, the textile supply will be insufficient, the price of linen will soar, and then the public will not even be able to afford clothes.
If the hemp farmers can't even afford to wear linen, they will rebel.
Items like white linen paper are a double-edged sword when they are manufactured and need to be carefully controlled.
Jagabu knew this very well, so he regarded this land reclamation as more important than spring plowing.
He is already familiar with most of the staple foods to be planted for spring plowing, such as potatoes and soybeans.
There was only one new thing he brought back from overseas this time, and he needed to test it by starting with seedling cultivation.
There were thirty thousand pounds of corn, both kernel and cob, which, besides that reserved for the fort, filled six hundred bags and were stuffed into the warehouse on the estate.
Jagabu heard Letilen talk about the living environment of this crop and its approximate yield per mu.
He knew that this was a high-yield crop, and the yield per acre might be reduced in the north, but it would not be less than 150 pounds.
A rich variety of staple foods is very beneficial, as it can serve as a risk-sharing option when a single staple food faces large-scale disease.
This year, there were originally 2,600 acres of arable land, and it was planned to plant 1,000 acres of wheat, 1,000 acres of potatoes, and 600 acres of soybeans.
The above should be sown in April.
By early May, the 1,000 acres of land reclaimed in April could be divided into 300 acres for planting corn, 300 acres for planting flax, and 400 acres for planting potatoes.
There is no need for spring plowing in May, and it is expected that another 1,000 acres of land can be reclaimed.
These 1,000 acres of land will be used to grow cold-resistant crops in June, such as peas, radishes, turnips, onions, and beets.
In this way, crops planted in June do not need to be harvested in the autumn, and can be harvested during the snow season.
Jagbu calculated that if he worked hard to reclaim wasteland this year, he would have a total of 4,600 acres of land.
These 4,600 acres only account for one-tenth of the entire river valley wasteland.
If the entire valley were to be reclaimed, it would probably require five to six thousand tenant farmers.
As Jagbu calculated how many kernels of corn he needed to plant per acre, he pondered his career.
If only one day he could plant all the good land in this valley.
He continued to calculate the number of corns to be planted. He heard that the stems of this plant could grow as tall as a person and the leaves were also wide. The corn cobs were wrapped in the leaves and grew on the stems. He just didn't know what the germination rate was.
It is more reliable to raise seedlings first and then transplant them.
After the spring plowing is completed, the unused potatoes, corn, and soybean seeds will be sent back to the warehouse of the Grain Bureau.
The Grain Administration is under a lot of pressure this year. With the population surge, food prices are bound to fluctuate, and they also have to manage the distribution of food in the manor.
However, if this year's 1,000 acres of potatoes can produce as much as last year's, yielding 500 to 600 pounds, then all the pressure and problems will be gone.
He calculated the quantity and spent two days sowing a thousand pounds of corn to grow seedlings, and then sent the remaining 29,000 pounds of corn back to the Grain Bureau.
It was springtime when Jagbu went into town to deliver the remaining corn to the Grain Department.
The completed moat was rippling with green waves. As he walked into the city, he could hear the water flowing in the open channels on the roadside.
He delivered the corn to the grain department warehouse, weighed it, went to the fortress to get Director Declan's signature, and then went to the largest restaurant in the city.
This restaurant is located in the market area, covers an area of about one acre, is three stories high, and is an imposing stone brick building. The owner is the same person who opened a restaurant near the workshop area in the manor.
Eating in this restaurant has become a trend among city dwellers recently.
Jacopo came here today to attend the farewell dinner given privately by the officers and staff to George.
It was already April, and the day after tomorrow George would take two soldiers with him to the Knights of Anko City to report and become a knight's squire.
Jagabu thought that when George went out, perhaps only people from the City Defense Department would come to see him off. Unexpectedly, when he entered the restaurant and was taken into the hall, all the staff from the nine departments who could come were there, and even the department that could not come had sent a representative.
Looking at the scale of the banquet, Jacob was a little worried whether the Baron and Lady would mind such a grand gathering.
Before he could ask, someone raised his glass and said that today's dinner was hosted by the Baroness.
Only then did Jagabu eat and drink with peace of mind.
Inside the fortress, the servants were busy preparing for the business banquet.
Olivia confirmed the menu items and the banquet schedule with Vansh for the last time.
Judging from the number of people who replied, the scale of this banquet was definitely not small, and it had to accommodate a full 120 people.
The content of the banquet is also somewhat different from the traditional banquets popular in the north.
Although the purpose is to promote business cooperation, organize merchants, and join other merchant ships to go to sea together.
However, this banquet also serves the purpose of socializing.
So, there would be beast fighting performances in the Colosseum in the morning, and after lunch at noon, musicians would be invited to hold a dance party in the hall with long glass windows in the afternoon.
There was no dance culture in this era, and dancing was not considered very decent.
But in the north, there is a custom of playing flutes and violins and dancing around a campfire, which is also adapted to local conditions.
There were no great nobles present, only businessmen and sheriffs. They did not think that dancing meant losing their status, and it could also help them get closer to each other.
The time to talk is before and after the dinner.
The menu is also as generous as possible. Not to mention bear paws and deer tendons, goose meat and venison are still indispensable. The main course has a total of ten dishes.
If you can’t cook anything fancy with the ingredients, your cooking method must be innovative and fresh to leave a lasting impression.
Fan Xi, holding the menu beside him, said, "...braised goose, roasted venison spine, crispy pigeon, steamed lamb, salmon ball soup."
Each dish was a moderate portion, and the two meals totaled twenty geese, two deer, sixty squabs, two sheep, and thirty salmon.
“There are also five vegetarian dishes: chanterelle soup, stuffed tofu with meat, corn with cheese, bean sprouts with vermicelli noodles, ham and mashed potatoes, as well as two staple foods, six desserts, four kinds of fruits, two kinds of wine and two kinds of drinks.
It uses the finest jialamu and kumquat wines.”
The dishes on these meals are what Olivia often eats in the fortress. If she were to hold a banquet, it would cost dozens or even hundreds of gold coins in total.
However, compared with the business, this expense is nothing.
There is actually another purpose for summoning big businessmen and sheriffs from all over the country to be guests.
Olivia wants to start a cross-town Northern Merchants Association.
In the past, there was a merchant guild in Lavosen, but it was too small and was controlled by the baron's relatives.
The Merchants Association can leverage its port advantages to exert influence throughout the northern region.
Industries with associations as their names, such as textiles, gems, and furs, are also easier to regulate.
Olivia wants to use the association to develop business law.
At present, the code of the Kingdom of Alta still has too many gaps in commercial law and civil law, mainly criminal law.
With an association, commercial laws could be formulated and even town banks could be established.
She was particularly concerned about this banquet and listened to Fanxi's report on everything. She did not get up and leave until the servant came to inform her that Baron Renault and his family had arrived.
Her parents, and two younger sisters, a total of four people, traveled in two horse-drawn carriages, followed by seven or eight carts of luggage, and were followed by dozens of soldiers and cavalry.
It seems like he is planning to live here forever and must see what the next generation of heirs looks like.
After the group arrived at the fortress, servants came out one after another and packed up the luggage and brought it into the fortress. The rooms prepared for them had already been prepared.
Olivia first slowly took them to visit several halls, and only started eating after Caesar came back.
After not seeing each other for a year or so, Sansa and Lanie had grown a lot taller and had become outstanding girls.
Lanie was seventeen now, and Sansa would be fifteen.
The two of them didn't have to go to the monastery anymore. Their family hired several teachers to teach them the etiquette followed by the royal family, as well as musical instruments, embroidery, horse riding, and various languages.
This time when they came to Eindhoven, they were accompanied by four teachers.
As a baroness, her identity is different and her future choices are completely different.
In the Kingdom of Alta, if a baron has three daughters, in most cases the eldest daughter will inherit the title.
If the baroness does not marry, her sisters' children will inherit the title in the future.
Generally speaking, when a baroness wants to get married, she will probably only choose her family cousins, and the baroness's husband can also have the title of regional lord.
In a case like Olivia's, if the old man is gone and both sides have territories, the two regions will be merged in the future. At that time, her written title will be both Baroness of Dunfermline and Lord of the Einwearden region.
If she gives birth to two children, the territory can be divided again after consulting the king. If there is only one heir, then this heir will become the sole lord.
These are all fictional settings in the game background.
This game does not discriminate between men and women, it just destroys all the younger brothers and sisters of the eldest sons and daughters equally.
As her sister and the daughter of a baron, Sansa and Lyanni will either marry dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, or remain single and build their own monastery to live out their lives. Any other choice will bring shame to the family.
So, Theresa planned to take Sansa and Lainey to the city of Anchor to participate in social activities and get in touch with the upper class on Lord Everk's birthday.
Count Everk is celebrating his birthday this year, so he will definitely celebrate it with great fanfare.
His birthday party is in early November, and usually only people with the title of baron are invited.
A large number of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons from the neighboring counties will be present, and even the royal family will send royal members to offer congratulations.
Theresa has planned her time very well.
"We're coming this time and will stay until November, just in time to attend the old Earl's birthday party."
…
-----------------------
The author has something to say: The homepage "Nineteenth Century Department Store Princess" has been published, the manuscript is saved, and the update time is every afternoon
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
