Chapter 12 Farming is often a beautiful thing (please follow up)

 In the territory of Blackwater Valley, there is a lush forest valley.

The Blackwater River passes quietly through it, witnessing the changes in the territory over the years.

The crops in the territory are growing well this year. They are irrigated by melted mountain snow water. Under normal circumstances, they will not suffer from drought. There is also sufficient sunlight in summer. The only drawback is that they can only plant one crop.

Everything in the territory is running in an orderly manner. It is a pity that Li Wei was a liberal arts student in his previous life. He knew nothing about science and engineering and did not understand many scientific inventions that can improve productivity.

  Otherwise, like other time travellers, you can climb a technology tree in your territory and start a scientific revolution or something, and maybe you can lead this extremely backward world into the steam age.

 He is not good at management or farming.

He will only focus on experience, and leave all matters of the territory to Fred Knight and other professional talents.

 For Levi, with the proficiency panel, his pursuit from beginning to end has been only one, and that is to pursue immortality in this different world. The identity and status of the lord are just tools on the road to pursuing strength.

And wealth, power, love, and all the troubles in this world are just clouds.

 Honghui calendar year 1004, the month of the furnace (August).

In the Furnace Moon, it is mainly hot in the southern region. The Blackwater Valley in the north of the kingdom has a higher altitude and the temperature is just right.

Fred Knight led the militia to build irrigation canals for the territory and diverted the Blackwater River for irrigation, so the crops grew well this year.

In addition, Lord Li Wei also called on the serfs in the territory to fish in the Blackwater River during their leisure time, which can also be regarded as adding some income to the territory.

Li Wei naturally did not dare to go to the Blackwater River because he was worried about being entangled by the evil spirit. Unfortunately, his dream in his previous life was to be able to fish for a day without going to work, with a pack of cigarettes, a bench, and a fishing rod.

As his strength increased, he consumed more and more meat. He could eat more than ten kilograms of meat a day. However, the output of beef and mutton in Blackwater Valley was limited, so Li Wei thought of eating fish.

The fish in the Blackwater River are mostly cold-water bass and salmon. Their meat is delicious and nutritious. There are many freshwater fish bones, but for Levi, the fish bones are swallowed directly and don't matter.

Li Wei also taught the chefs in the territory some of the ways the Chinese people treated river fish in their previous lives, and asked them to cook fish for themselves and their soldiers.

Steamed, braised, grilled fish, the methods are different, and the taste is definitely not as good as in the previous life. After all, the Emerald Kingdom is similar to medieval Europe before the discovery of navigation. There are no spices. Occasionally, some are shipped from other countries for trade, and they are also used by the great explorers. Even Li Wei couldn't afford the control of the nobles and royal family.

 But it is still more delicious than the dark cooking methods they used before. The water quality of the Heishui River is excellent, and the fish meat has little earthy smell.

 This can be regarded as solving some of the meat problems for myself and the soldiers in the territory.

Knight Fred also followed Levi and started eating river fish. In fact, since he became a knight, Knight Fred rarely ate river fish. In the eyes of the nobles and knights of this world, river fish is eaten by lower-class people.

 But Fred was shocked to see Li Wei thrifting and eating river fish in order to save the territory's expenses.

“Master Li Wei is destined to achieve great things.”

 …

 In a peaceful atmosphere, time passes day by day, and the Wheat Field Moon arrives.

 The wheat in the territory is golden, and the joy of the harvest is overflowing on the face of Lord Li Wei.

“Farming is a beautiful thing.”

This day is a regular rest day every week. Levi drank wine and watched the serfs harvesting wheat at the foot of the mountain.

With the weather going smoothly this year, Levi feels that the wheat output will definitely be much higher than last year.

 But when the harvest month (October) arrived, Li Wei was stupid.

 Compared with last year, the output increased by less than 1%.

 He called for Knight Fred and the steward of the territory. I looked at the data from previous years and found an interesting phenomenon.

 No matter what the weather is in that year, the wheat output in the territory basically remains unchanged.

 After some research, Li Wei discovered that there was something wrong with the territory’s policy.

According to the conventions of this world, the serfs in the territory are the private property of the lord, and the fields are also private property given to the lord by the king.

 The income generated by the serfs, whether it is wheat or other agricultural products. Except for the small portion that is fixed for itself, the rest has to be handed over to the small lords. After the small lords convert the grain into money, they hand over the portion to the big lord directly under them, and finally hand it over to the largest lord, Jade. In the royal family of the kingdom, they call it "assistance money".

Over time, many serfs began to be lazy. Whether it was sowing or fertilizing, they were very perfunctory. Anyway, it would be given to the lord in the end. No matter how much I harvested, it didn't matter to me, so why did I work so hard? As long as the output delivered is not too low, the lords will not be harsh on the serfs, since everyone's output is not high anyway.

 Li Wei felt that it was necessary to change the policies in the territory.

He called Fred Knight over and told him his thoughts. Fred Knight was a little surprised.

"It seems that this has not been done since ancient times. You are the lord. If you think those serfs are lazy, you only need to set a hard target for them every year. If they fail to meet it, they will be severely punished. There is no need to be so kind to them. You are still too kind. .”

Levi shook his head: "The best way to mobilize the enthusiasm of these people is not to punish them, but to let them... eat."

Fred Knight thought thoughtfully: "Then try it. If it doesn't work, just go back to the original state. Anyway, there is no loss."

 In this way, after the Harvest Moon passed, a new policy began to be implemented in the territory.

 The steward went from house to house telling the serfs the great news.

“The lord announced that starting from next year, each household only needs to hand over 60% of the wheat harvested that year to the lord. In addition, the rest of the wheat will belong to the serfs themselves.”

The serfs in the wooden houses all showed expressions of disbelief.

"Is this true? My dear father in heaven, Lord, didn't you lie to us?"

“Are you questioning the authority of the lord?”

 “No…no.”

 Finally, in order to dispel the concerns of these serfs, Li Wei had to give a speech in person and 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 their future was bright.

Levi didn't know if this trick would work, but he felt that it was time to make some changes.

 Autumn in Blackwater Valley is always too short, and in a blink of an eye, it’s the North Wind Moon again.

On the training ground below the castle, Levi's body and arms shook and formed an afterimage. Frostmourne in his hand made a beautiful cross cut!

 The hard black dragon wood pile in front of him, covered with various slash marks, was finally divided into four!

 The sound is crisp and the cut is smooth.

  [Golden Cross Slash Proficiency +1]

The system prompts.

Levi exhaled, then looked surprised and couldn't help but jump up!

 Happy like a teenager should be.

 “Breakthrough!”

 Levi————

  Black Snake Breathing Technique: Level 2 (4502/5000)

 Golden Cross Slash: Level 3 (1/10000), special effect: advanced vibration

 (End of this chapter)