When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 893 Inner and Outer Circles

The simple country dirt road crosses the golden bean and wheat fields.

The shiny beams of the carriage reflected the chirping of summer insects.

The horses' hooves trampled the gravel, and the wheels and carriages jumped up and down due to the gravel.

These rural dirt roads, unlike the Holy Union Mortar Road, are paved with gravel.

After the Roads Act of 1447, the hundreds were obliged to maintain these roads every year.

Of course, this voluntary maintenance is actually just picking up some gravel and sand from the riverside and throwing it on the road.

Most of the time, only farm carts with wicker carriages pass through these country dirt roads.

But today, there was a creaking sound of gravel, and a fully covered carriage was seen, pulled by two large horses, with four or five mounted gendarmes guarding in front and behind.

The iron-clad oak carriage has white sand-covered glass windows, and a black and red flag is hoisted on the flagpole, but the flag itself cannot be seen.

The captain standing at the intersection forced a smile and took off his hat to salute from a distance.

This is a high-end black carriage that Isolde's carriage workshop provides exclusively for the priests of the Holy See.

For ordinary farmers and even centurions, these are important figures whom they will never meet in their lifetime.

It’s just that the big man they imagined was actually a “little man.”

Sitting in the carriage was Halkin. After his experience in Hot Spring Castle in Mountain County, this young dwarf not only looked more mature and weathered, but even had a few white hairs on his forehead.

At this time, although Halkin reported that he came to purchase supplies, he was actually absent from his post.

However, the situation in Lower River County and its surrounding areas did not allow him to be optimistic.

Overnight, food prices increased by 45%, and meat prices increased by 4% every day, not to mention wood and cloth.

Halkin couldn't even imagine where these nobles had the money to hoard goods.

He originally believed that with Catherine's methods and the Council of Advocates, prices would definitely be brought down.

As a result, Catherine brought a river of people to support the front line, and the Magdi Chamber of Commerce pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed, and the trend of rising prices became more and more unstoppable.

After much deliberation, he handed over the preparation of Hot Spring Fort to his familiar men and went to Rapid City alone to find Theodora.

Looking out the window, Halkin could see the farmland under the old strip-field system at first glance, stretching out like a chessboard.

Soybeans and wheat alternately form yellow and green stripes, like an exquisite striped cloak of Windmill Estate.

Wherever you look, you can see a large number of old people, women and children working in the fields.

Don't underestimate the damage that war does to production.

No matter how efficient the Holy Alliance system is, it can only increase 50% to 70%, but there is no way to increase it to 200%.

Horn is not a god who can conjure up labor and productivity out of thin air.

In this world that was roughly equivalent to the late Middle Ages, he tried his best to bring the Thousand Valley to around the 17th century.

The conscription rate in later generations depends on the level of productivity in later generations.

Although Horn had recruited a large number of Black Snake Bay people and Norn people, it still caused a large labor shortage.

Especially since the Holy Alliance is currently expanding its military once again, it needs weapons, armor, iron ore, military uniforms, and mountain copper.

Young and strong civilians recruited from Pingyuan County, especially from Hotam County, were put into military production.

Those who have skills and are lucky can become blacksmiths, tailors, helpers, construction workers, etc.

Those who have no skills but bad luck are either sent to the front line to build fortifications and transport military supplies, or sent to the mountains to mine.

So what Halkin could see at this moment were children carrying heavy baskets all over the place, peasant women who could not straighten their backs, and staggering old men.

Of course, there were also a large number of horse-drawn seed drills and hand-cranked threshers.

These two simple machines were common in at least the suburbs of most of the cities in Longsand and Lower River counties.

Almost every hundred-household district had one or two of these simple machines, using these simple labor-saving machines to replace the manpower reduced by the war.

During the war, it was the various industries in urban areas that experienced great development, especially the agricultural machinery workshops.

The armed Nong Rangbang, which was once so powerful during the Bloodless Night, saw its assets increase by more than four or five times in one year.

Of course, only a small amount exists in cash, and most of it is "deposited" in banks and cannot be withdrawn.

The war actually forced farmers to carry out agricultural revolution and transformation.

In addition, an unexpected gain from this war was the widespread implementation of agricultural mutual aid groups in the 100-household district.

Halkin opened the report in his hand and read the priests' half-year yearbook report line by line. Because a large number of manpower were withdrawn, the wealthy hundred households could buy cattle, horses and seed drills to replace manpower, while the poor hundred households had to rely on help.

Those able-bodied laborers who stayed in the countryside due to disability or good luck became popular, and there were even cases of rural women selling their bodies in exchange for help from able-bodied laborers.

This was quickly stopped by Madeleine, who began to promote agricultural mutual aid groups and the Galar Inclusive Bank.

This is a historical problem left over from when Horn established the Hundred Household District.

Inexperienced in their first administration, the monks attempted to divide the land in an absolutely egalitarian manner.

In addition, farmers are always happy to have new land allocated to them, and are reluctant to have their own land allocated to others.

The result was that although the land was divided, it was scattered here and there.

In the end, it was only through the free buying and selling of land that the land was managed to be slightly concentrated.

Some farmers whose fields were too scattered simply sold most of the land and went directly to the city to work.

When there is strong labor in the family, it is not difficult to deal with scattered fields.

Without strong laborers, running around to cultivate the fields would be fatal.

There was no choice. Despite their initial resistance, in the face of hunger, they still chose to concentrate the previously scattered land, raise funds to buy livestock and agricultural tools and machinery, and farm together.

In this way, cattle and horses can reach the end of the plowing field in one breath without having to turn around and move repeatedly, and the improved efficiency is immeasurable.

Halkin paused as he turned the page. That was the final summary made by the head priest:

"…So far, this measure has reduced the impact of the strong labor force going out, and the believers have supported the food industry of the Holy Alliance with great enthusiasm…

However, this also brings about a huge problem, namely unfair distribution and laziness.

When you plant your own fields, you work hard and diligently, but when you plant other people's fields, you just do it carelessly, or you just slack off the whole time...

So far, we don’t have a good solution, and we have applied to the Imperial Conference of Cardinals to conduct experiments in various places to find a solution…”

Turning to the last page, there is an estimate of this year's grain production.

Unexpectedly, but also reasonable, grain production did not decline, but was barely the same as last year.

Does this mean that even without these strong laborers, agriculture in the Thousand River Valley can be self-sufficient?
After closing the report book, Halkin didn't think about these questions. These were related to agriculture and were not within his authority and expertise.

What he is best at is business and transportation.

Through the wheat fields, Halkin could see the dock at the end of the fields.

Laborers from Norn and Black Snake Bay continued to build tall warehouses, pushing rubble and bricks on carts.

The six docks built in the early stage have basically been completed, but now we are building large warehouses for storing and transporting materials.

The latest four-year plan aims to use these riverside transfer warehouses to form a supply and marketing system that extends deep into priestly towns.

If Halkin had not been the project manager of Hot Springs Castle, he would have been quite interested in this project.

However, the primary goal now is to find out what is going on in Rapid City.

But before he could think clearly, the carriage suddenly jolted, and Halkin pressed the edge of the window: "What's wrong?"

The military police captain knocked on the glass and said, "Take a shortcut through the dock area and you can reach Rapid City before dark."

"Okay, remember to buy me the latest Advisory Council Bulletin and Pravda when we get there." Halkin resisted the urge to vomit and supported his body to prevent himself from sliding off the stool.

Soon, the carriage drove into the dock.

Bales of military canvas were piled up at Pier No. 6, their bales yellowed by the river breeze.

Two wooden pulley cranes stood stiffly beside the barge, and an administrator in a peaked hat was arguing with the Chamber of Commerce steward.

"The fleet of the River Transport Office was transferred to transport iron ingots three days ago. There are not enough ships to transport food and fodder."

"I don't care. The Dispatching Department must clear out twelve warehouses today! Otherwise, all my Black Snake Bay fruits will rot!"

"Stop arguing and get a boat ready. Lord Halkin wants to take a boat."

"What kind of weapon is Halkin? Wait until we have discussed it before it's your turn..."

Listening to the noise outside the window, Halkin became even more annoyed.

Who is buying fruits at this hour? !
He knocked on the windowsill unconsciously at an increasingly rapid pace until the military police handed him a bulletin that still smelled of ink.

I thought there would be some good news, but when I saw the communiqué for the first time, Halkin's eyes widened: "Law Xiongbao, is joining the war?!"

(End of this chapter)