I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 144 Irrigation System (Part )

Luc did not think he was harsh; in fact, he was indeed the most generous lord today.

Aside from crucial resources like salt and charcoal, the manor model at least allowed farmers to use timber and other items for their own use. After all, legally speaking, everything in the valley belonged to the lord. For example, according to a disaster victim from Lombardy, a certain lord in his hometown even considered rainwater his property. Anyone who used containers to collect rainwater on rainy days had to pay a rainwater tax, and violators would have their homes confiscated.
The next morning, Luc got up early and took out some rattan ropes from the grocery room on the second floor of the castle. Then he washed up and went downstairs to have breakfast. Losing his warhorse made him feel a little depressed.

"Dear, the Frost Moon is coming soon. How are your winter supplies going?"

The Frost Moon is the common name for the period from mid-November to mid-December in Burgundy and throughout Francia and the Holy Roman Empire, because of the frost and earthquakes during this period.

Luc picked up a boiled egg and popped it into his mouth. Today's breakfast consisted of goat's milk and eggs, plus a slice of toast. He hadn't thrown away the thin stone slab, but instead had given it to the cook to fry something. She had initially been a bit disdainful, thinking it was just a commoner's kitchen utensil, but after using it twice, she immediately fell in love with it.

"Yes, we have enough supplies. There's plenty of food in the granary. As for the charcoal factory, I had Ryan build another one this morning, so we don't have to worry about firewood. As for clothing, as you know, we don't have that much wool, so we'll have to use catkins to keep the serfs warm. By the way, Du Si, I have a suggestion. Are you interested?"

"Oh? What proposal?"

Du Si put down her fork and waited quietly for an answer. Ever since she took out some money and gave it to Luc, it was obvious that the relationship between them had become closer.

"There's a leak at the textile factory. I'm going to ask Amy to fix it. If you're interested, you can go over and supervise it. By the way, I'll leave the management of the textile factory to you from now on."

"Oh! Honey, is this true?!" Du Si widened her eyes in surprise. Most of the wives of the lower-level nobles would manage some affairs. When she was in Tiha Village, she was responsible for the management of the caravan. But after coming to the Knight's Castle, she had been doing nothing. Because of the situation between the two, she was smart and never mentioned it. Now she was very happy to hear Luke take the initiative to mention it.

"Of course it's true." Luke drank the hot goat's milk in one gulp, smacking his lips. The goat's milk still had a bit of a smell, which would have been better if it had some sugar.

"But you have to supervise it well. If the serfs' clothes are not sewn enough before winter, I will punish you." Luke said half-jokingly and half-seriously, but Du Si could not hear the second half of his words. Instead, she immediately stood up with great interest and, regardless of her so-called ladylike temperament, began to calculate how much catkins were needed.

Looking at Duce's appearance, Luc reluctantly finished his buttered toast and pickled parsnips. While all the serfs were still drinking vegetable soup, Luc's family had already started thinking about how to eat and drink more nutritionally balanced. The life of a farmer is so simple and unpretentious.

Ignoring Dudusi who was already preparing to change clothes and go out, Luke took the rope and went to the serf area to find Old Eike to start today's task - building the main channel.

"Old Eike, you really need to consider choosing a new address. As the steward of the manor, you can't live here forever."

Luc had said these words countless times, and Old Eike always refused with a smile. However, today he nodded and said, "Wait until next year. Next year, I will choose a place in your wooden wall~"

Strictly speaking, Old Eike was Luc's castle steward, not the village chief, so it was fine for him to live within the walls.

"No problem at all."

Luc nodded in agreement, and without wasting any more time, he began to select people to dig the channel.

Ryan was building a second charcoal factory, so three people were missing. The charcoal factory was still built on the mountainside, not far from the first one. Building a charcoal factory wasn't difficult, and with Hans by their side, they were confident it would be completed in two days.

Luke first had the remaining dozen or so men straighten the set of rattan ropes and pull them northward along the wooden gate. This was the direction for digging the ditch, and with the rattan ropes, they didn't have to worry about digging sideways or slanting.

The vine rope was pulled for two hundred yards before it stopped. In the two sections of the vine rope that served as the main channel, there was a branch channel every thirty yards. If you look down from above, it looks like a fish bone without a head.

Old Eike had never seen such a scene in decades of farming, but since he followed Luke, he had seen so many things he had never seen before that he was no longer surprised.

"Get some rocks and press them down, then come get the tools!"

Luc took out a few iron shovels and hoes from the warehouse, and the rest were wooden tools. There was no other way. When there was a lot of surplus iron in Cooper Castle, Luc had no money. When he had money, Baron Berry transformed it into weapons when he went to war. Luc went there so many times, but he only made the supporting iron tools for large farm tools. Fortunately, this was a field, and there were no hard stones or grass roots.

"First, dig a shallow pit along the vine rope. Don't dig too deep. Plow it like you would the land."

"Okay sir!"

Digging a shallow pit was not complicated. After a while, everyone continued digging along the route and a clear vein appeared. The focus was on the deep structure of the ditch.

Luc struck while the iron was hot and asked everyone to go back to the starting point and dig out a small pit one foot deep and two feet wide in one go. Then he picked up the clay himself. Since he wanted to dig the irrigation system, there has been no shortage of clay. There was no other way. This was the cheapest and most practical waterproof material Luc had so far.

Asking everyone to keep a close eye on it, Luc first used clay to grind the deep trench into a trapezoidal shape that was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. He stopped only after compacting it to a thickness of one inch, and then sprinkled a small amount of water and waited for it to freeze-dry.

"Old Eck, all shallow pits since then have been dug this deep and rubbed with clay like I did."

After asking old Eike to take note, Luke brought another basket of stones. He spread the larger ones on the clay and filled the gaps with smaller stones. He did not stop until the clay was densely packed. In order to make it stronger, he ground another layer of clay and then took the stones and gently pounded it tight.

The most important thing about irrigation channels is waterproofing, otherwise the water along the way will be absorbed by the soil and will not be able to flow into the fields.

The entire main stream plus four tributaries accommodate the entire old field area, and all fifteen acres of land are covered. The next step is to follow Luc's method and build the entire route to complete the work.

Without further ado, just do it.

For the next two days, everything was done in an orderly manner: digging, grinding mud, and piling stones. The ditch team was divided into two groups, one digging and the other grinding mud. Everything was done in a complete and orderly manner. Ryan also took the opportunity to build a second charcoal factory, leaving Hansgrohe and the other to cut wood and make charcoal. Ryan returned alone and worked with Luc to study the plan for the wall construction.
"Sir, I heard in Provence that if you want to open battlements in the wall, you need to report it to the king."

"Is there such a thing?"

Luc looked down at the rough draft on the sand and frowned instantly.

(End of this chapter)