Under the scorching sun, Sirius Daly, wearing a straw hat, walked along the riverbank, checking the growth of the wheat ears.
After nearly four months of planting, the wheat was now basically mature.
As far as the eye could see, the boundless wheat field was like a golden ocean. The ears of wheat were thick and plump, and not only did the number of caryopsis double, even the size of the wheat was bigger than any spring wheat he had seen before. Without waiting for the harvest to be weighed, Sirius knew that this year would be a bumper harvest.
There was no doubt that this must be the work of the witches.
He had accompanied his father in farming for ten years, so he naturally knew what an ordinary wheat should look like. A wheat plant was divided into one to three ears, and each ear could produce twenty to thirty fruits. Whether the soil was fertile or not would indeed affect the size of the wheat, but directly doubling the number of caryopsis? Other than witches, he couldn't think of any other explanation.
There were many other changes like this, such as the towering water tower in the town. He had observed those gigantic structures up close, and it was impossible to move a large iron bucket to an iron frame that was taller than a residential building with human strength alone, not to mention that they were built almost overnight. Nowadays, the townspeople living in the community rarely needed to carry a bucket to fetch water, as long as they turned on the faucet, the cool well water would pour out from the pipe.
The same was true for the "island" in the middle of the Redwater River. Since His Highness held the award ceremony, when Miss Nana was placed on the ceremonial platform, the use of witches became increasingly undisguised. Making a piece of land appear out of thin air on the empty river, this was obviously something only witches could do.
He had asked the City hall director Barov about this matter, but the answer he got was that he didn't need to care, as His Highness Roland had his own ideas.
Well … in any case, the Royal Family always liked to go against the Church, even if the latter sent an army to crusade against His Highness, they had to first defeat the First Army before they were qualified to speak, otherwise, the Western Region could only belong to Roland Wimbledon.
Wasn't Duke Ryan the best example?
"Sir, you came," two serfs who were weeding in the field saw Sirius Daly, and immediately came to greet him, "You see, this wheat field is ready to be harvested, so, so, we want to ask you …"
"We want to ask if what Sir Lord said before is still valid?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The serf rubbed his hands nervously. "Can we really be promoted to free people?"
As the person in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, in addition to recording the best planting methods and calculating the harvest, Sirius also had another important responsibility: to communicate with the serfs, and to promptly preach the policies of His Highness and City hall to them. Although he didn't like these country bumpkins who had to deal with mud all day, the Knight's self-discipline allowed him to carry out his mission.
"Do you see those slogans?" Sirius pointed at the banner beside the farmland.
"Sir, I … don't understand …" The serf smiled awkwardly.
"Labor creates wealth, and labor changes fate," he said. "That is to say, as long as you work hard, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to a freeman. This is the promise made by His Royal Highness, and it will be fulfilled."
"Is, is that so? That's great! "
"In addition, after becoming a free citizen, you can move into the town's central area, have your own brick house, and obtain the right to receive primary education. In the future, you don't need to ask me what these slogans mean." Sirius repeated the corresponding propaganda content.
"Yes, my lord." The serf nodded excitedly, "The weather is hot, do you want to go sit in my shed and drink a cup of cold water?"
"No, you can go back to your work." He waved his hand, looked at the two people bowing their heads to thank him for a long time, and then returned to the field to continue with his previous work.This was the question Sirius had heard the most in the past month. No matter how much he preached, they would always take the trouble to ask again, as if they were afraid that the Sir Lord would cancel the policy in the blink of an eye.
Not far away, someone surrounded him, "Hello, Sir Sirius, after the wheat is harvested and dried, do we really only need to hand over 70%?"
Sirius sighed in his heart, the number of times this question appeared was second only to the promotion of a freeman. "The first year is indeed like this, but in the future it will only become less and less. If you become a freeman, you only need to hand over 20%, this is what we have repeatedly emphasized."
"It would be great if we could really be promoted," one of the tall men touched the back of his head and said, "Then the remaining 30% of the wheat, can we …"
"It can only be sold to His Royal Highness, eaten by ourselves, or kept as seeds." Sirius clapped his hands, simply having them call over the surrounding serfs, "Listen carefully, Border Town prohibits the private sale of food, whether it is sold to the local townspeople or to foreign merchants, it is a violation of Border Town's laws. If you do so, not only will your gains be confiscated, but you may also be imprisoned. "
"What if the Lord only offers a very low price?" The tall man muttered.
"Of course there won't be such a situation, His Royal Highness will purchase food at a stable market price, whether it is a bad harvest or a good harvest, there won't be any significant changes. So you don't have to worry about not being able to afford to eat after selling the wheat, nor do you have to worry about harvesting too much, resulting in not being able to sell it or selling it at a low price. " Sirius emphasized, "In the whole of Border Town, there is only one place where you can sell food, that is the Convenience Market, and the manager of the market is our City Hall."
"In the end, the price is …?"
"Rest assured, His Royal Highness will personally announce the purchase to you."
Looking at the serfs dispersing in twos and threes, Sirius licked his dry lips and continued to inspect the crops. He didn't know how many of these people would keep his words in mind, but Sir Barov had clearly conveyed His Royal Highness' unyielding will, when the time comes, those who smuggle food will be severely punished.
At this moment, a young serf broke away from the crowd, turned around and came back. "My Lord," he said while gasping for breath, "I still want to ask you a question."
"Hmm?"
"Do you know where Miss Mey and Lady Irene went?" He hesitated, "Recently there have been no theatrical performances in the square, I want to … ask you about their current situation, are they … sick?"
This was a fresh and interesting question, Sirius couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth, if he hadn't happened to see them in the City Hall, he really wouldn't have been able to answer, "They went to Longsong Stronghold."
"Ah," the other side showed a disappointed look, "Don't tell me they don't intend to stay in Border Town?"
"They only went to the Stronghold Theater to perform," he shrugged his shoulders, "and now the weather is so hot, you can't bear to see them standing under the sun, sweating profusely, right?When autumn comes, they will continue to return to the square to perform new plays. "
"So, so that's how it is … Thank you, my Lord!"
Looking at the young man's contented back, Sirius couldn't help but think of his own experiences in the past few months, from being a Knight to a captive, and then from a captive to a City Hall official.He didn't want to return to the Wolf Family's territory, where there was nothing but a dilapidated house and a stretch of wheat fields. Becoming a Knight was just a way to get rid of his father's life of farming.