I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 122 Literacy and Formal Reclamation (55)

The church is surrounded by green grass and ancient locust trees, making this sacred place look particularly solemn and dignified.

Hugo closed his eyes and stood at the front, reciting the gospel aloud. The crowd behind him followed in unison. Compared to Luc's, his voice was a little hoarse, but more pious.

"God is with us, Amen!"

As the last prayer was finished, everyone left gradually with awe in their hearts. The religious beliefs of the eleventh century still had a hint of tyrannical primitive image. In addition to loving the world, the Lord would also punish believers because of original sin. So strictly speaking according to the doctrine, believers were born with sin.

"Only through abstinence, prayer, and stopping war can we find true salvation."

Hugo closed the Gospel of St. John and seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be talking to Luc who had not left.

Since arriving at the Castle of the Knights, Hugo has remained committed to his simple life.

Looking at the greasy monk's robe, Luc agreed: "You are right, but it's a pity that not everyone can do it."

There are too few people like Hugo. The real monks are cunning and experienced guys like Pierre.

Listening to Luc's sigh, Hugo's face showed anger, and his tone was a little sad:
"Those monks who follow the ways of Simon and Nicholas are not children of God at all. They are people seduced by the devil. It is because of their existence that the gospel of God cannot truly spread to the world, which is why wars continue and why pagans have invaded Al-Andalus!"

Luc blinked and said nothing.

According to Hugo, his original destination was the Cluny region of Burgundy, where the so-called real monks seemed to be.

I walked out of the church with Hugo and then rushed to the water mill. It is not necessary to pray all day on Mass days, and it is not even necessary to do it during busy farming seasons.

The simple wooden shed of the water mill was being dismantled under Ryan's direction in preparation for the construction of a larger house.

Due to the small size of the mill, most of the grains are stored in the granary and are not ground into flour. They are ground freshly when needed for consumption.

The renovated mill basically enlarged the water wheel to the size of a drum cart, and the millstone also needed to be polished separately. The wooden shed was originally only big enough for two people to enter, but after the renovation it should be able to accommodate at least five people, and plans were made to build a second floor.

Yes, with the increase in grain production, there should be a miller after next year.

Watching everyone working in an orderly manner, Hugo stroked the cross on his chest and said, "Knight Luc, I must say that you are a unique lord."

"I've never seen a nobleman who would provide a mill to serfs for free. Although you're pioneering, it's undeniable that you're more commendable than most when it comes to money."

Because of Hugo's presence, or because of the existence of the church, although the Finney seized from Robert was taken by Luc, the two silver cups were placed in the church as decorations, which made Hugo have a good impression of Luc.

Of course Hugo didn't know that Luc noticed that the two silver cups were too crudely made and eating with them might cause metal poisoning.

"Brother Hugo, I want to learn some Latin from you. Could you please teach me?"

Luc looked at the people digging the base and transporting wood, and suddenly spoke.

"Oh? Do you want to read the Gospel of St. John yourself?" Hugo suddenly turned his head with a look of surprise.

"Of course, I hope to feel God's teachings better."

Luc had long wanted to learn to read, and he didn't care how.

Hugo nodded deeply. He had no objection to such a pious plea, and his evaluation of Luc increased even more in his heart.

The water mill renovation wasn't complex; it essentially involved enlarging the entire structure by one or two times its original size. With Ryan in charge, Luc devoted the next few days to his literacy training. Having previously learned the alphabet, Luc was a fast learner, effortlessly memorizing all twenty-six letters in the blink of an eye. He also quickly mastered the spelling of his own surname and about fifteen words, leaving Hugo practically stunned.

"You should be a monk, not a lord." Hugo said seriously.

Half a month later, after learning about a hundred words, early one morning, under the leadership of Luc, nearly twenty serfs brought donkeys, mules and curved plows and officially started turning the soil!
Put the reins on the mule, one person holds it in front to keep the direction, and the other holds the plow from behind.

The sun was shining down from above as Paul clumsily pushed farm tools he had never seen before. Plowing the soil was strenuous work, as the land that had never been plowed was even harder. The remaining serfs each took a hoe and manually cultivated the land nearby, trying to turn the soil to one side as much as possible to expose it to the sun.

No one complained. Since Luke had fulfilled his promise of providing food and accommodation, he would definitely sublet the land when the land was reclaimed next year. Working hard now was actually working for future life.

Mules are indeed one of the most hardworking animals. Every time the shadow of the sundial passes through a black grid, the donkey needs to rest for more than ten minutes, but the mule can plow the field for a whole morning.

During the farming season, not only do people need to eat well, but donkeys and mules also need to be fed concentrated feed, otherwise they will not be able to digest it.

The straw and grass were replaced with oats, which only war horses could enjoy. Luc also took action himself, taking little Charlie back and forth to the mountains every day to hunt more animals to supplement their meat diet.

Every other day, they would provide hard dry food such as black bread, and check if the new water mill was working properly.

The new water mill, which took half a month to build, basically matched the image of the quaint mill that Luc had in mind.

The huge water wheel was submerged at the bottom of the stream. There was a large bracket on each axis of the water wheel. The wooden house next to it was built with rows of wooden boards. The only drawback was that half a month was too short after all, and the roof was not built. I used it twice, and except that I was a little unfamiliar with it, there was no big problem.

Apart from the initial excitement of reclamation, the process became long and boring later on. One donkey, one mule and more than ten people could only plow about one and a half acres a day.

Turning the soil requires breaking up the clods inside, and once that is done the land needs to be leveled again. Every evening, people who have been tired all day have basically no mood to cook, so Luke makes a big pot of rice during this time and then distributes it to everyone.

Mary and a few elderly people and children who were more relaxed were responsible for preparing dinner every night, scraping off the scales and hollowing out the internal organs of the fish, and pouring them into pottery along with wild fruits and vegetables.

The hunted animals are grilled raw directly on the grill. Every evening, large clouds of smoke and bursts of fragrance can be seen in the open space of the manor.

One day, Paul dragged his tired body and led the black donkey back to the manor. He returned the donkey to Mary, who was responsible for taking care of the livestock, and turned around to look for his family.

Paul was the refugee with the largest family living in Jill's house. Seeing that his wife had brought back food for the family of five, he smiled at his wife who had also been clearing the land for a day, then sat down on the ground, holding the ceramic bowl and shoveling the meat porridge into his mouth regardless of the scalding heat.

"Dad, eat this!"

The seven-year-old daughter suddenly handed Paul a piece of cheese the size of a finger. Paul, who was eating, was about to say a few compliments, but after seeing the food clearly, he was shocked: "Where did you get that from?!"

"Miller gave it to me. It was given to her by her sister. I often go to the lookout to help him stand guard these days."

"Good boy, eat it yourself."

When Paul learned that it was not stolen, he breathed a sigh of relief, kissed his daughter on the cheek and coaxed her aside. Looking at his daughter's happy face, Paul smiled. Compared with the skinny body of two months ago, his daughter finally had some flesh on her body.

He took out most of the fish meat from the bowl and handed it to his twelve-year-old son who went to open up wasteland with him. He chatted with his father about the catch of fishing and felt the evening breeze. Tomorrow would be another busy day, so he needed to rest quickly.

Lying on the straw mat, Paul remembered that Robert always said that the master was a man blessed by God. Every lord would say this to himself, but this was the first time he had seen a serf flatter him like this.

Before falling asleep, he couldn't help but think of the neighbor who died while fleeing the famine. Then, the snoring of his family rang in his ears. In his hazy consciousness, Paul murmured, "Maybe I am also a person blessed by God."

(End of this chapter)