Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 300 Reform through labor

"This is Lord Reiner, the chief steward of the territory's city hall. He is a spellcaster serving the lord..." A secretary reached out to support Ambichi, who was stepping back in fear, and whispered in his ear.

Ambichi finally came back to his senses, swallowed hard and nodded. It turned out to be a spellcaster. Well... it's not surprising what the spellcaster looks like, after all, they look crazy.

"Ambichi Kenny, a knight of the Kenny family in the Grizzly Mill Town?" Reiner asked casually without looking up, still flipping through the identity information of the captured nobles in his hand.

Since spellcasters were equal to nobles, Ambiqi naturally didn't need to kneel down and perform formalities like he would when meeting a lord. He touched his chest and replied, "Yes, Mr. Steward, I am."

It turned out that this wasteland lord had so many spellcasters loyal to him. In addition to the man in front of him who had transformed his body into a machine, on the battlefield outside Jackdaw Town that day, Ambichi had seen in panic that there seemed to be two terrifying beings flying in the sky. No wonder they could lead a group of civilian soldiers without even armor and easily defeat the Feigen family who had been entrenched in the border territory of Saint Valen for decades.

Reiner nodded and continued to inquire, "Reading and writing should not be a problem, right? I heard that it is a necessary requirement to become a knight."

"Of course, Mr. Steward, I have learned to read and write. Although I am not from a prominent family, I have received a traditional chivalrous education." After answering this, Ambichi couldn't help but mutter in his heart that he was indeed good in cultural etiquette, but his riding, archery and swordsmanship were rather poor.

This is mainly because in recent decades, Saint Valen, an inland principality located in the north-central part of the continent, has not experienced many external wars and foreign invasions. The number of nobles and knights who have been canonized for their war merits has decreased. As a result, the younger generation like Ambichi does not have much battlefield experience. They are more valued by the lords of their fiefdoms through their rich knowledge and standard etiquette.

Reiner nodded again and pulled out a page with Ambichi's name from a stack of identification documents. He said with a hint of sarcasm, "Your father, Baron Kenny, believes that as a knight under Earl Fagan, you should die alongside the defeated lord. This is the only way to demonstrate the honor and determination of a knight's loyalty to his lord... Haha, in short, he's unwilling to pay the ransom for your freedom."

"What?! My father... my father... but I..."

Ambiqi could hardly believe his ears, his mind was in a mess. He could not believe that his father would choose to give up his own son's life just to show his loyalty to Earl Fagan who had died in the battle.

Pedantic! Cold-blooded! Stupid!
The young knight felt his heart sink. He knew very well the consequences of being forced to become a diehard follower of the earl. What awaited him was nothing more than the noose on the gallows, or working in heavy shackles in a dark mine until death.

Fortunately, the spellcaster manager's next words gave him a glimmer of hope for new life.

"You now have two choices. Either you are sent to the mines to perform fifteen years of hard labor as a miner in accordance with the laws of the territory to cleanse your sins, or you are stripped of your knightly title and become a farmhand in the pioneer territory."

The secretary handed Ambichi a work contract. "Territory workers are not forced laborers or slaves, but free citizens. You receive a salary for your work and four days off per month. However, due to your previous actions, we will deduct a portion of your monthly salary to cover your ransom. In other words, you can redeem yourself through work."

Ambichi held his breath and squinted his eyes to carefully read the "work contract" in his hand, and found that the treatment conditions were unexpectedly generous and relaxed. Apart from not being able to leave the wasteland territory at will, he actually had a single room of his own. Although the rent would need to be deducted from his salary, it was still better than squatting in a cell with shackles and crammed together with three or four other people.

Besides that, his position as a farmhand paid him 80 gold yuan a month, seemingly the face value of the privately minted currency of the lord of this desolate territory. After deducting rent and ransom payments, there was still a considerable surplus for him to use freely. Ambichi did a quick mental calculation and realized that as long as he worked diligently here, it would only take two or three years to pay the ransom for his freedom, and he wouldn't have to rely on his selfish father to save him.

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Compared to hanging or hard labor, this was a better option.

"Mr. Steward, I choose to work for the lord, earning a salary in exchange for my freedom... But I don't quite understand. The job of a farmhand doesn't seem suitable for me. I have absolutely no experience tending to the fields."

Reiner laughed a few times and pointed at the information in his hand. "Didn't you enjoy herding your family's cattle and sheep the most back in Mill Town? Otherwise, why would they nickname you the Shepherd Knight? You should have some experience with livestock. Do you have any other skills besides this?"

"Of course! In addition to herding sheep, I can also fish for trout!" Ambich regretted it as soon as he said it. As a knight, he was not good at riding, shooting and swordsmanship, and fishing was not a skill at all. If he spread it out, he would probably get a new insulting title of "Fishing Knight".

Reiner, however, didn't seem to mind. He asked with considerable interest, "Oh? You can fish, too? Tsk, tsk, tsk, then a job in the Fisheries Department's fishing team would actually suit you well... Well, make your choice. Both the aquaculture and fisheries teams are very short on staff right now."

An Biqi suddenly had the urge to work two jobs, and he couldn't help but chatter on about his extensive experience with his side hobby. "As for herding cattle and sheep, if shepherds simply rely on them to graze freely outdoors, their growth is completely dependent on the weather. In bad years when the pastures are barren, the herds will even slow down their reproduction to maintain their population size to ensure food availability... Even though they're just dumb animals, their survival experience in this regard is not much worse than ours."

Seeing that the steward was listening intently, he paused and continued, "Therefore, I think it would be most appropriate to set aside a few fixed pastures and place them in a rotational grazing system. They must be fed some grain in the autumn and winter to help them store fat and withstand the cold weather. Also... I've noticed that these animals will lick the natural salt crystals condensed on the rocks, which means it's essential for their survival. If we can proactively provide some coarse salt to the herd, they'll even have a much better appetite..."

He then went on to talk about how he had tamed several hunting dogs and how he used whistles as commands to let the dogs help him herd sheep, saving him a lot of running around. He also talked about how he commanded his serfs to assist in the delivery of pregnant animals when they had difficulty giving birth.

Reiner was stunned by the long speech, and in the end he couldn't help but burst into applause.

"Very good, very good! It seems that what Lord Harvey said is correct. You nobles are not all useless and only know how to wield swords and oppress the common people... It seems that having you work as an ordinary worker in the Farming Department is a bit of a waste of your talent."

He scratched his smooth metal head, tore off a piece of paper and began to write quickly. After writing a few strokes, he stamped it with his signature and handed it to the secretary, who then handed it to Ambichi.

The shepherd knight took it and looked at it carefully. It was written on it:

Ministry of Agriculture Breeding Group, Trainee Deputy Group Leader Recommendation: Ambichi Kenny.

(End of this chapter)