Throne of the North.

Chapter 520: Food Ripening in the Swamp
"Can this kind of thing be mass-produced?"

What Ryan was most curious about was whether this fuel could replace firewood.

"It's difficult. Those thick-feathered birds are not easy to catch in the first place. It's only because of the recent northern cover that they have to lower their flying altitude to fight against the snow on their feathers that they are caught."

"The quantity is very rare. Without a sufficient scale, this thing will become a non-renewable resource."

"And the sawdust. The sawdust from Nidhogg trees is more suitable for this kind of honeycomb coal. Perhaps it is because they have been exposed to the magical radiation of dragons for many years, so they need to be transplanted and maintained on a large scale."

"If you want to use these coals to replace firewood, it will take time to settle. It is difficult to do so in a short period of time unless a large number of thick-feathered birds can be found."

A little bit is enough.

At present, the frozen land territory can still support the daily consumption of the people.

First of all, firewood has been cut from the mountains and forests in the past few years. Secondly, Nidhogg is also making preparations in an orderly manner. Finally, there are massive land resources in the frozen land territory itself.

The existence of fuel pressure is indeed critical, but it is not to the point where people will freeze to death if there is no fuel tomorrow.

"By allocating a piece of land to plant trees, we can also raise birds in the woods, and by the way, we can solve the employment and survival problems of a large number of people, killing two birds with one stone."

The development plan of the Frozen Territory has never been static. For example, the production of this kind of coal will change the various current projects in the Frozen Territory.

Even the most important swamps are included.

……

Food has always been a project that Ryan must develop. He cannot rely on the land in the south to provide him with food, which is his lifeline.

Without new fuel energy like coal, the frozen land will not collapse tomorrow, but if the food is cut off tomorrow, the frozen land will collapse tonight.

Ryan began developing the swamp last winter.

In the spring, the seeds had been planted, and after unremitting efforts, the wide and flat frozen swamp had begun to show signs of grain.

For those who have been watching this, this is a miracle, there is no other answer.

Throughout the warm summer, these people worked almost day and night to take care of the wheat ears in the cultivated fields developed from the swamp, watching them grow and turn golden.

Such a long process is bound to be full of surprises, and the production of grain here can be said to be fraught with difficulties.

First of all, when the seeds were sown in the spring, a large number of them died, and the seeds that survived were also sluggish. If Ryan had not required these seeds to mature so that the nobles of the North Wind Province could see the hope that they could rely on him to fight against Meyers, and therefore used some extraordinary means, there would not be many wheat seedlings that could grow.

Secondly, in the summer, the vitality of the seeds was guaranteed under the warm sunshine, and there was no moment when Ryan praised the light more devoutly than at that time.

Just because of the warmth of the sun, it also brought another trouble.

That is the swamp itself.

When Ryan was developing this place, he used a lot of hard soil and rocks to consolidate the foundation, but in summer, the land here was still moist and flowing, and began to show the characteristics of a swampy landform.

The deep soil is mobile, and the widespread thawing of the marshes has brought about a lot of water stains.

Ryan was not growing rice. Wheat ears do not require such abundant water resources. If too much water is not enough, the wheat seedlings will begin to die.

The only temporary means were to rely on magicians. During this process, Etria had to withdraw gold coins from Lady Avril in exchange for the help of those earth magicians. At that time, Ryan was fighting in Nidhogg in the Calais Province with Earl Clayton.

Magic is not a long-term solution. The only way to stabilize the land is to plant trees, using the trees to hold the deep soil and absorb the extra water in the swamp.

Planting trees has also become a new job for the former North Wind refugees who are eagerly awaiting food.

They worked hard and planted the saplings they brought from the other world little by little. So now, when winter is about to come again, the swamp is no longer flat and endless.

Ryan's arrival made the serfs who were reluctant to leave here very excited.

"Master Ryan is here. He must have come to see if we have planted the trees well."

"What do you mean by planting trees? Why would the noble lord care about you planting trees? He must be observing whether we have tied vines to the trunks of those trees properly. This is what Master Ryan told us to do."

"What vines? You don't even know what those peeled vines are used for when they are tied to trees."

"If you want me to say..."

Ryan's appearance made the swamp noisy. He did not celebrate with the people, as that would scare many people. Instead, he dispersed the serfs and began to observe the sparse golden color on the land.

In the distance, many people are planting saplings on the newly reclaimed wasteland. Although they are called saplings, they are actually mostly transplanted trees from Nidhogg with a height of two or three meters.

Because of the emergence of honeycomb coal, a large number of trees were transported here. Ryan was a little surprised when he saw those big trees gradually standing up and maintaining their dignity in the cold wind.

"Mr. Rose is talking about these ginkgo trees?"

There are also ginkgo trees in the Frozen Territory. Ryan likes this kind of tree very much because it will not wither in winter. Instead, its golden leaves will show a different kind of vitality. In the endless snowy northern border, such a color is simply a symbol of hope.

I didn't expect that the sawdust Rose mentioned came from these trees.

Come to think of it, there is nothing wrong with it. Those alchemists first tried what was available in the Permafrost Territory, and then began to experiment with Nidhoggr's unique materials. Finally, they made a comparison and came to a conclusion.

The most intuitive one, of course, is the same species that exists in both places but has different differences because of the different worlds.

Before, the most precious woods in the Permafrost Territory were pine and birch, but now ginkgo is probably also on the list.

"It's...appropriate."

Ryan thought of his golden ambition. Perhaps in the future, this swamp will see a golden rotation.

In autumn, the golden ears of wheat on the earth represent a good harvest. In winter, the leaves of ginkgo trees reach their most glorious time, preventing the swamp from becoming bleak due to the wheat harvest.

"These wheats should be ripe now, right?"

Ryan asked. He didn't quite understand, but looking at the large expanse of golden color in front of him, he felt the satisfaction of farming.

The serf next to him carefully plucked off some of the wheat ears, then pinched the dark wheat grains with his dry palms, and whispered something to the civil servant next to him.

After a moment, the words fell into Ryan's ears.

"Some of them are already ripe, and the rest will need a few more days of sun before they are fully ripe."

Ryan waited patiently in Lingdu City. As time passed, the wheat matured completely. Thousands of people began to plow the fields again like wolves, and then treated each ear of wheat gently as if they were caressing a woman.

After a few days, as all the golden color turned into burnt ashes on the land and scattered across the vast sky, Ryan got the answer he wanted.

"Sixty thousand pounds."

Yes, this is the amount of grain that was finally produced from the swamp that he had reclaimed after spending a lot of time, energy and money.

Compared with the large amount of arable land reclaimed at the beginning of the year, this final number was obviously unsatisfactory. However, after a brief moment of reluctance, Ryan still smiled, which made the people around him no longer feel uneasy.

"Very good. If I were to buy 60,000 kilograms of food from the Blade Rose Chamber of Commerce, it would have wasted hundreds of gold coins on me."

The amount of gold coins lost in a year far exceeds this number, but now is not the time to worry about gains and losses.

"I remember that there were quite a few people who followed me to the three towns around Lingdu City after the war."

Next to him stood the Chief Archon Etria, the younger sister of the artisan brother and sister who was now on the verge of becoming a full-fledged government official.

"The total population of the three towns is currently 1,100 households." "Then give each household 100 kilograms of food as a reward for Ryan's work this year."

They are not paid, so it is easy to accept it if you say it is a reward.

Someone nearby calculated it, then looked at Ryan and didn't dare to speak.

"Sixty thousand catties is not enough, but they don't know that, right? Tell them that every grain I give them grows in the swamp. If next year's grain is less than this year's, I will take back my gift to them."

Ryan said with authority.

Although the serfs did not know the total number and how much grain the swamp produced, as they made their living from the land, they were familiar with the land they managed and how much grain each acre of arable land produced this year.

They don't need to focus on the total number of the year, that is a level they cannot reach, they only need to focus on the three acres of land in front of them.

"Also, take out 20,000 kilograms of wheat. I want to give it to the nobles of Beifeng."

In the past, Ryan was a stingy miser every winter, and he had to find ways to get food from other nobles to support his own frozen land territory.

At the end of the wars he participated in, the benefits of food were always greater than other resources.

But this year, the offense and defense have changed. Master Ryan wants to distribute food to the nobles of the entire North Wind Province.

Let the nobles of this land see the power of Master Ryan.

Moreover, the food from the swamp is Ryan's last resort to suppress the strange thoughts of the nobles in the North Wind Province and to make the final decision. If he doesn't tell them how delicious the food from the swamp is at this time, is he going to watch them show off how successful his marriage with Meyers was this year during the Grace Festival?

Food is always the most vital thing. Marriage, political alliance, and southern land are all not as good as the food and clothing brought by food.

Even in terms of faith, when the Dawn Church first started preaching, it distributed a lot of bread and eggs.

Man's instinct for survival is the source of all courage.

……

"Dear Lord Marquis Beifeng, may the light of the new winter last forever. Your arrival will bring glory to the province. Ryan also brought you good news. It is not impossible to grow food in the land of the North."

“The frozen land has its own vitality. Praising the light gives us an opportunity to resonate with this land.”

"Once upon a time, this swamp was a prosperous paradise for crocodiles. They had countless food and were at the top of the food chain. The arrival of the North caused these beasts, which had no worries about food, to become extinct."

"They swore that there was no food in this land, but today, thanks to the courage of men, the swamps grew food for the north wind."

"Perhaps it's not just the swamps. In the frozen north, the land beneath the snow also hides seeds that yearn for growth. We will eventually discover their existence."

“We will succeed.”

"Also, give my regards to your mother. Ryan misses his first meeting with her. It was a symbol of friendship. Before your life, Marquis, I have seen your vitality flourish."

On Thundercloud Mountain, this letter written to the Marquis of North Wind could not have been read by the one-year-old Marquis of North Wind. The Marquis' mother, Shaya Meyers, was so angry when she read the letter.

As expected, the Northern Baron who tried to control the North Wind Province once again made trouble for Meyers.

However, looking at the bags of food that came with the letter, Shaya couldn't help but be shocked.

"That swamp can actually grow food?"

She was somewhat shocked by the result. Ryan actually made crops grow in the swamp.

If swamps can grow food, what about other places? There are a lot of lands in the North Wind Province that are better than swamps.

Ryan told all the nobles that he had done it.

The nobles were naturally willing to believe him.

Shaya had already sensed the huge trouble Ryan was causing, and now the appearance of food made her a little overwhelmed. She didn't know what to do.

Even if she didn't understand, Shaya, as a woman who had been in the supernatural world for many years, would understand the importance of food.

In those extinct worlds beneath the northern border, not to mention ordinary people, even noble magicians would bow down for food.

What should she do when faced with this letter?
Shaya had a dazed look in her eyes. The Marquis of Beifeng in her arms reached out to the letter, as if he instinctively felt that it was his. As the letter was played with and torn into pieces, the flattened golden ginkgo leaves fell down and were caught in Shaya's palm.

This is a small mark of the Frozen Territory. Such letters were not only sent to the Marquis of North Wind, but every noble in the entire North Wind Province received a letter from Ryan.

Crushing the crisp ginkgo leaves into powder and looking at the description in the letter, Earl Winter showed some anger. He was still unwilling to see the power of the North Wind slip away from his hands.

"Does this proud Ryan have so many quills to waste? Look at his handwriting, which is uglier than that of an orc!"

"He didn't write it with a pen."

Next to her, Countess Winter picked up a gift from Ryan, a thin stick of carbon wrapped in precious wood and turned into a pencil.

"Inside, there are dragon bones, dragon blood, and even some precious things that I don't know about."

This pen is very valuable, but it also proves Ryan's wealth.

Hearing what Countess Winter said, Count Winter also lost his temper and said in a somewhat dejected tone:
"His Majesty the Emperor should give him a higher title."

The moment Ryan killed the werewolf king, all the nobles thought that Ryan's title would be promoted, but it was not. This made the nobles puzzled and surprised, and even caused some dissatisfaction with the emperor.

Ryan's contribution was not even rewarded with a promotion in title, so what about them?

Count Winter also cares about this, but of course he doesn't care about himself. After all, it is impossible for him to become a grand duke.

What he cares about is that Ryan's title has not been promoted, which has resulted in the right to speak in the North Wind Province being in the hands of a baron. How embarrassed is he, a great earl?

Perhaps even Ryan himself did not expect that the nobles of the North Wind Province cared more about the great contributions of the Silver Moon Court in fighting against the orcs than he, the person involved, did.

Ryan was just used to it. After all, he had experienced something like this when he first came into this world.

It's just an old tradition of the empire. Nobles like Earl Winter are still unable to comprehend the political essence of the imperial capital.

Ryan's food was sent to every noble in North Wind. The wheat came from the swamp. Whether it was a psychological effect or not, the nobles always felt that it was more fragrant than other foods when they ate it.

It's not a feeling, it's a fact.

Only the Frozen Territory and the Xiangshan Plain know the answer.

As the viscount noble who supported Ryan the most under the pressure of Meyers, Ryan gave great help to Viscount Landa, including the production of spices on the Xiangshan Plain.

The wheat given to the nobles was not the latest wheat from the swamps, but wheat grains that had been roasted together with spices from the Xiangshan Plain.

Ryan allowed the alchemists to control the temperature precisely, and made them understand deeply what it meant that there is no useless alchemy, only useless alchemists.

"When the God's Grace Festival comes, the Northern Border Chamber of Commerce will send the spices from the Fragrant Plain to the Imperial City and the West Coast. There will be merchants and nobles from all over the world. If only one percent of them discover the uniqueness of your spices, your family will rise again."

"The Xiangshan Plain will give you countless wealth and a brighter future than Viscount Miles."

Ryan said this to Viscount Landa, who had already made his choice. Naturally, there was no room for regret and he did his best to supervise the production in Xiangshan Plain.

(End of this chapter)