I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 112 Preliminary Staffing Planning (55)

White smoke is coming out of the gurgling pottery, and you can eat the liquid food cooked with wheat bran to your heart's content without worrying about dying of bloating.

More than 20 disaster victims were divided into six groups, each sitting in a circle, swallowing the hot porridge whole, regardless of how hot it was.

The sound of wolves eating voraciously instantly filled the entire meadow.

Ryan held the knight's sword and walked quickly to Luc's side.

"Master, the inventory has been completed."

"There are a total of 21 victims: 10 young adults, 7 children, and 4 elderly people."

"But unfortunately, after asking around, I didn't find the carpenters, beekeepers, and other people you were looking for. Most of them are farmers, and a few lumberjacks."

Luke was adjusting the bowstring in front of his warhorse. He nodded helplessly when he heard Ryan's words.

This result was expected. After all, people with real skills don't have to flee from famine for so long and can eat anywhere.

Seeing Ryan hesitating, Luke frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"It's not a big deal, sir. I'm just worried about whether these twenty or so people can walk the mountain road. I just looked around and found that there are several elderly people who seem to be dying."

As these victims were able to escape from southern Burgundy to the north alive, they could be said to be in pretty good health and had good luck.

But even the strongest body can sometimes fail, let alone an octogenarian.

There are many people who are about to reach their limit by trying hard.

"I don't care about that. If I die on the mountain road, I can only say it's God's will."

Luc responded in an icy tone.

What he had seen and heard over the past year had gradually made him think like a manor owner.

Ryan was not soft-hearted, he was simply worried about Luke's property.

Seeing that his master didn't care, he stopped talking. He was more pure than Luc.

The group ate until their bellies were full, and the false feeling of fullness rekindled their energy. They stayed overnight in an open space far away from the forest and the knights. Early the next morning, led by George, they returned to the mountains along the Telf Bridge.

The mountain road that has been walked once is much easier to walk than before. Even if the victims stop and go, they can get back to the manor within four days. Luc estimates that after walking it dozens of times with a mountain-climbing mount, they can reach Telf Bridge within a day.

The difficult mountain road eventually caused the death of an unlucky old man, who was buried in a pit dug by Luc in the dense forest. The old man's relatives did not grieve too much, as they had become numb to the death of their loved one.

On the contrary, being able to have a few full meals before dying is already a happy way to die.

But when they crossed the Agate River on rafts and ate oatmeal porridge mixed with fish at night, the victims suddenly felt that their death seemed a little premature.
……

As night fell, Luc, who always soaked his feet in hot water before every trek, leaned lazily in his seat, and heard old Eike's report in his ears.

"Sir, I led my men to harvest the wheat during the week you were away. The wheat grains are now in the warehouse. You can check them anytime."

Old Eck smiled broadly. "About three hundred pounds of wheat. To be honest, I never imagined that this was the pound of wheat you took from Ward Village."

“Mary made another woolen sweater from the shearing of the goats. And with the rams that were not killed, your flock now consists of seven goats, including three rams.”

Last year's lambs have grown into adult sheep in more than a year, and now there are two new lambs, one male and one female. If this continues, the number of sheep will continue to expand.

“As for the number of shacks.”

Old Eike stroked his graying beard. "I'm truly sorry, sir. We only had five temporary shelters like the one we were staying in, and each could only accommodate two people. Twenty people would have been a bit crowded." "No need to apologize. You did a great job."

Luc felt the hot water gradually dissipating his fatigue. He was able to build five shacks in his spare time, which was the maximum number he could build in a week.

Luc thought for a moment and said, "How about this: each family can live in one room. We've endured camping in the wild, and now we can live in straw beds. We can squeeze in a little. As for the extra people, let the largest family live in Jill's room. Jill and Amy are together all day anyway, so we can just expand their room a little bit later."

"As you command, my lord."

After explaining the situation in a few words, Luc got down to business: "Now that we have more people, we can no longer work in a scattered manner like the villagers of Ward Village before. I thought about it and decided to subdivide it."

Old Eike immediately sat up straight. As a shrewd old man, he immediately realized that this was a power play! Where there is management, there is hierarchy. Although he had no ambition, deep down, he still hoped that the people of Ward Village could live a better life.

"Mary, let her focus on herding the sheep from now on, and let her take care of the other livestock as well."

Luc raised a finger and instructed the senior shepherd first.

"Amy, she's a bit frail. She's leading two farm women from Ward Village to collect wild fruits. We have vegetable fields, but the harvest hasn't come yet, so we don't require her to collect too much. Just enough to eat that day."

"Gill, he's still in charge of logging and making charcoal. He'll be in charge of Hans, who's a lumberjack himself. He'll be in charge of the daily logs and the charcoal for the second half of the year."

"Besides that, Hans is also responsible for using feces to ward off the demons."

Luke's plan was to produce several full-time soldiers, but the population expansion was ten more than expected, and wasteland needed to be reclaimed. So at present, perhaps only he and Ryan could truly become full-time soldiers.

"Little Miller. He's actually a bit of a pottery talent. There are three new refugees around his age. They'll follow him and learn how to make pottery. Then they'll take turns guarding the watchtower. Those who are free can help with odd jobs. They can go wherever there's a shortage of manpower."

"The other four who are a bit older will be taken care of together with the young and strong refugees. Then, led by Robert, they will go to open up the fields together with George and the two remaining strong farm women in Ward Village!"

Land reclamation is still the biggest thing at Luc Manor at the moment.

The more manpower the better.

As for watering the vegetable fields and orchards, the eighteen farmers can just occasionally spare a few people to handle it. Clearing the land is very hard work, and the shifts can be considered a disguised rest.

Old Eike nodded solemnly and then asked, "There are three more old men. What do you plan to do with them?"

He didn't ask about the arrangements for himself and Ryan. As a housekeeper, after the population increased dramatically, he would be responsible for coordinating the accounting books, checking the labor situation, etc. In addition, Luke passed the leather craft to him, so he would be the leather craftsman in the manor, and he would be busy.

As for Ryan, he is the master's confidant.

"Let them fish!"

Luke stretched out his foot, and Ryan came over to take away the foot washing water and poured it away.

Looking at Ryan's back, it seemed a bit unfair to ask him to do this kind of work that only servants should do. He could only wait for Du Si to come and find a new servant.

"Don't you think Robert can weave fishing nets? These refugees need a few days to be able to do heavy work. During this time, let Robert help them weave more fishing nets and raincoats. We don't want to support idle people. Just like Amy, the three elderly refugees must catch enough fish and meat for everyone to eat every day!"

Old Eike took note,
In fact, Luc's division is just a rough statistic. If faced with major projects, such as building wooden forts, repairing roads or hunting, more people will be gathered to carry out the work in a unified manner. After all, serfs themselves have the obligation to build private territories and public facilities for the lords.

As the number of staff increased, Luc simply established the simplest system and asked Ryan to supervise and punish.

They chatted until late at night, and only when Luc, feeling sleepy, let old Eike leave.

"Oh, one more thing. Tomorrow morning, have all the victims take off their clothes and steam them in hot water. Everyone go downstream and wash themselves clean for me!"

"I don't want them bringing disease into the manor!"

(End of this chapter)