The Immortal Wizard is watching

Chapter 126 Special Taste
Ronan sent one of his knights to the Emerald City to communicate, and he is still on the way.

He and Lao Mo worked out the next tax issue.

Given the current situation, the treatment of farmers in the territory must be greatly improved.

The previous lord of Black Rock City, Viscount Pecks, set up taxes, and his serfs needed to give him [-]% of the grain harvest.

In addition, the daily food of serfs, including bread, beer, and meat and cheese that can be tasted rarely, needs to be paid to the lord to eat.

On a regular basis, they have to perform labor services for the lord, including moving bricks, building houses and cleaning up garbage, etc.

After paying these taxes, serfs can own their own houses, property, marry wives and have children, so as to draw a line from slaves.

As for free farmers, they need to pay [-]% of the land tax to the lord, as well as a certain amount of meat.

If the quantity is insufficient, it needs to be replaced by labor services.

In addition to the land tax, farmers also need to pay [-]% of the grain to the church as a tithe.

In general, although farmers in this era have escaped the status of slaves, their lives are still bad.

Under the oppression of the lord, even the food obtained from farming is a luxury, and life is poor.

In the next spring plowing plan, in order to increase the enthusiasm of farmers and let them recover from the brutal blow of the Black Death, Ronan needs to reduce the land tax.

The tax will be stable at [-]%, and it includes the church's tithe.

Anyway, at that time, the grain of these farmers can only be sold to him, and high taxes will not make much sense for his territory.

That would only hinder the speed of cultivation of the farmland. What he needs now is real food, not a little bit of cheap.

After being hit by the Black Death, there is now a shortage of labor in all parts of the empire. The original serfdom system will not be able to maintain the empire's food demand. The improvement of farmers' treatment is the general trend.

When the other nobles saw his situation, they would at best sigh that they are stupid and have a lot of money, so they don't care much.

Except for the tax issue, which needs to be stipulated by Ronan himself.

Others include the division of planting areas for wheat, oats, barley and rye in spring plowing, the intercropping arrangement of beans such as peas, kidney beans and broad beans and wheat, the depth and frequency of soil plowing, and so on.

These practical problems related to food cultivation are basically done by Lao Motou for him.

As an old man who had in-depth knowledge of the cultivation of farmland in the western Great Plains, Lao Motou was involved in the cultivation techniques of various crops.

With rich experience, he knew far more about these details than Ronan.

In addition to the training of soldiers and craftsman research in the North Outer District, it can be said that more than half of the credit for the construction planning and prosperity of the town of Cold Wind Nation lies with this old man.

Beside him, Old Motou was planning the planting methods of various crops.

After confirming that he couldn't help, Ronan gave him a thumbs up, and turned to check other affairs in Black Rock City.

The influence of the independence of the Dantuma Alliance is in all aspects. The major commercial cities on the Blackstone Commercial Road have seen increases in commercial taxes for various goods, and even the selling prices have also risen together.

The prices of goods in the empire are rising. Although the Black Death is beginning to subside, the lives of ordinary people may still be difficult.

After a while, a small head poked out from the stairs in the main hall.

Cassana peeked down.

Seeing that Ronan and Old Mo were resting, they were not busy.

Stepping on the stairs, I came to the first floor.

"Ronan, Grandpa Arthur, you have worked so hard. I made some chocolate chip cookies, which are still warm after baking. Come and try them."

Cassana impatiently passed the plate in front of them.

There are more than a dozen cute chocolate cookies on it, exuding a tempting aroma.

When Ronan told the chefs in the castle how to make chocolate, the silky and delicious sweets quickly gained the unanimous love of the three girls.

Especially Cassana, when Ronan made desserts for them in the kitchen, she often accompanied her to study.

Now he can replace him and skillfully make all kinds of delicious desserts.

Ronan picked up a cookie, put it in his mouth and crunched it.

"It's delicious." Ronan smiled and picked up another piece, and put it in Cassana's mouth, making her face blush.

He was not particularly interested in sweets, and he seldom ate them himself, but he still expressed his joy at the girl's affection.

Old Mo next to him showed a smile on his wrinkled face. After tasting two pieces, he didn't try again.

After all, he is not young anymore, and he still prefers to eat light food.

Seeing this, Ronan asked the maid to bring a gift box, put the cookies in it and handed it to him.

Not long ago, Ronan learned that Motou had adopted two orphans from the town, a boy and a girl, two eight-year-old children.

"It's a little gift from me and Kasanna to our two kids."

"Thank you, sir and miss." Old Mo took it with a smile, checked the time, and left.

After Old Motou left, Cassana came to Ronan's side, and said with a worried expression: "Ronan, go to the kitchen and have a look, sister Alice is not in a good mood."

"What happened to her?" Ronan asked puzzled.

"Sister Alice also made a lot of cookies, but after they were baked, she sat alone and didn't talk."

Cassana recalled that scene, and she wanted to comfort him, but Alice kept shaking her head.

Cassana had no choice but to come to Ronan.

"I'm going now, it's lunch time soon, you go to the restaurant first."

After Ronan found out about the situation, he went up the stairs to the dessert kitchen specially set up on the second floor, and he saw Alice staying there.

She was now listlessly laying her head on the table, her cheeks puffed up, then deflated with a puff, and then puffed up again, repeating the above actions.

Ronan approached her but failed to arouse her reaction.

Looking at the plate of cookies next to her, the color is slightly burnt black, but the appearance is not too bad.

Ronan picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, but after a while, the chewing stopped.

Well, he shouldn't judge cookies by their appearance, the taste is worse than he imagined, burnt, bitter, sweet and so on mixed together a complex weird taste.

Ronan was starting to regret putting the thing in his mouth.

It's a pity that I can't regret it. Alice's ears are already pricked up. If he dares to spit it out, he will definitely not be able to sleep well tonight.

Ronan, who didn't want someone to lift the bed sheet at night, could only swallow it with a bitter face.

After hearing the sound of swallowing, Alice's mood improved obviously, and the calf wrapped around Baisi began to dangle under the table.

Ronan took a few glances, smacked his lips, and picked up a cookie again, thinking that he couldn't be the only one suffering from this.

(End of this chapter)