I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 167: Dividing the Land
"Butler Eck, I have something to say! Why did Ball get a piece of fertile land, while I only got a piece of barren land near the forest with grass roots still remaining?"

The land distribution operation was extremely lively. Ryan brought a small wooden block for Luke to rest on, and he stood aside with Miller holding spears and cards to maintain order.

Old Eike, the only man who could write besides Luc, sat in front of the noisy farmers and used a reed pen to divide the land according to the household registration book.

Luke's policy had been issued long ago, and everyone knew that the land they were about to obtain would completely belong to them in three years, so these people could not help but be excited.

You have to know that many people have never owned even a piece of land the size of a fingernail for three generations.

So they barely formed a long, crooked queue in response to Ryan's calls, but there were still people peeking in from the back, looking impatient.

"why?"

Old Eike looked up at the man who was speaking, then lowered his head and said expressionlessly:
"Bauer had fought against bandits with you before, and he also contributed the most to the construction of the ditches and wooden walls. Of course, he will get a good piece of land."

"As for you," Old Eck said, a trace of anger forced out of his wrinkled face, "do you think I don't know how cunning and deceitful you are? You eat more than anyone else, but you are so slow at work! God, if it weren't for the master's mercy, I really don't want to give you an inch of land!"

"Hurry up and take your land deeds and leave. The people behind are waiting!"

The man picked up a piece of wood with a unique shape in annoyance, and left dejectedly amid the scolding of Old Ek. The conversation between the two fell into the ears of the farmers behind them. Some of them showed joy on their faces, while others had ugly expressions.

Even if the same piece of land still has differences in quality, and there are diligent and lazy serfs, Luke certainly cannot distribute the land by random drawing lots. He will definitely give priority to those who work the most diligently.

Of course, the amount of land allocated to each person varies.

For example, Jill and Amy were given three and a half acres of land. Eugene returned to the Knightsburg, so Jill no longer needed to guard the land. After Eugene came back, I don't know what happened with Amy. Anyway, Amy's belly is a little bulging now.
The four remaining women in Ward Village, unwilling to remarry, decided to live together and were also given four and a half acres. Hans and George each received an acre—yes, they both had a share. Hans, though a bit clueless, could farm, and George's share was left to the others, who would be paid when the harvest was good.

The family that got the most was Robert's family - they got a full five acres!
Robert stretched his neck out very long, which was rare. The dirt that had not been washed for many days made him look like a black swan. He picked up the land deed and walked past people unsteadily.

Feeling the gazes of the other farmers looking at him, Robert felt an unprecedented sense of joy.

Most people's happiness is achieved through comparison, and Robert is certainly no exception. Looking at other farmers, Robert was extremely glad that he had joined Luke's team earlier, and he felt deeply proud of his unique vision.

——If you go to other lords, you may not have the status you have now!

Robert certainly had no special status, but he didn't think so.

Two years ago, he was just a poor victim who was forced into despair by famine and war, but now he owns the most land in the entire estate!
Moreover, his wife was in charge of herding, a job that could earn her a lot of rewards.

His daughter was also taken in as a maid and usually had lunch in the castle.

"The master doesn't need that anyway." Robert often thought so cunningly.

Robert couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth when he caught a glimpse of Miller holding a spear.

It’s true that he didn’t want his son to go to the battlefield, but he couldn’t help but feel proud when he saw Miller being reused.

Of course, he didn't know that since experiencing the snowstorm with Luke, George and Miller's loyalty to Luke had skyrocketed, almost comparable to Ryan's.

Glancing at the others, Robert couldn't help laughing. Hey, even if you go to the battlefield, you are just ordinary conscripts. But Miller is different.

In a few years, who knows, he might even get his own fiefdom like Mr. Ryan.
Compared to Robert's family, Ryan only had three acres, but the smart Robert understood how big the difference was.

First of all, he has three acres of land to himself, and secondly, he doesn’t have to farm the land himself. Almost all the food he gets goes into his own pocket. Can it be the same as if he had to dig for food by himself?

Robert was thinking about something beautiful. The others stared at him briefly before returning to their own land, leaving him alone with a silly grin.
After a while, Old Eike came to Luc with the household registration and bowed, saying, "Master, everything has been divided. The remaining ten people have received a total of ten acres of land."

"There are still six acres left to spare."

"Have you broken up with Jean?"

"Thank you for your concern. Like Ryan, we each have three acres."

"good."

Luc nodded. Jean was also a quasi-knight, but old Eike was naturally not. He was just a butler.

Looking at the extra land, Luc waved his hand and said, "Make it my private land!"

"As you wish!"

...The forty acres of newly reclaimed land were divided up in a busy morning.

Looking at the still chattering crowd, Luke walked back to the Deer Hall so as not to disturb their excitement which had not yet been digested.

"Have you finished dividing it?"

Back in the Deer Hall, Du Si came towards him, helped Luc take off his coat, and then handed him a cup of hot tea. There was not much cider in the estate, but there was plenty of thorn tea.

Seeing Luc nodding while drinking, Du Si's face lit up with joy:
"Huh~ It's finally become a real manor."

"My dear, I hope you don't mind, but you used to do everything by yourself. You acted too much like a barbarian tribal chief, and not like a real knight at all." Du Si also picked up a cup of warm tea and sipped it. She was very satisfied with the current situation.

"Now they have farmland. From now on, we will only collect taxes. We will not be responsible for their food and clothing, except for the servants."

"When the land is harvested, the food will be stored in our warehouses. I can't wait to see our property expand further!"

The entire estate now has nearly eighty acres of arable land, and Luc alone owns forty-five acres.

This is certainly not because he is greedy. Don't forget that Luc is not alone. As Du Si said, he has a bunch of servants waiting to be fed.

If you think about it carefully, Luc had to support a horse slave, a castle servant for rough work, a cook, a personal maid for his wife, a full-time beekeeper, a carpenter and his mother, and two families of eight salt miners, plus him and his wife, a total of seventeen mouths to feed.

But even so, the large amount of private land was enough to make Luc rich.

After all, one-fifth of an acre could once support him and Ryan, so it was no wonder that Duce was so happy with forty-five acres.

After witnessing the yield of last year's autumn harvest and knowing the existence of the salt mountain and the caravan, Du Si was already eager to calculate the wealth that her family was about to gain.

Looking at Duce, who looked no different from the farmers when they divided the land in the morning, Luc smiled and drank the hot drink.

If Du Si knew there was an iron mine in the valley.
Luc shook his head and decided not to reveal any more information for the time being.

"It's still too early to collect taxes. We have to wait until autumn at least. They have land now but no seeds. We'll still need to provide them with food and drink for a few months after the spring harvest. Seeds are easy to come by. We can collect taxes along with the harvest. The main thing is farm tools and livestock. We need a few more curved plows and wooden plow carts, as well as a few more donkeys and mules."

Luc still had some money, enough to buy it.

"My dear, are you really going to let them use the mill and the bread oven for free?" Douce suddenly asked.

Luc does not intend to provide farm tools and livestock for free. After all, they also need maintenance and feed. Like seeds, a certain price will be charged. The money is not much and can be considered as maintenance fee.

But there was really no need to charge for the mill and the bread oven.

"Grinding flour and baking bread doesn't make much money, but at least we don't need that much money, so let them use it for free."

"But the bread oven is zoned inside the Knight's Castle. From now on, it will be our private bread oven. We'll build a public one outside later."

When Luc was a subject, he couldn't stand having to pay for even baking bread. Now that he was a lord, although he had also moved towards the position of a feudal lord, he still hoped to be relatively tolerant within the scope of his ability.

This is not because Luc is hypocritical, but it is not a good thing to let his subjects be too poor.

It can't be said that he made them rich, but it was always his responsibility to ensure that they had enough to eat.

This was one of his duties as a lord.

Besides, if they don’t have enough food to eat, how can they compare the differences between the Knight’s Castle and other places?
How can we support this land if we don’t compare and find out the differences?
"Okay." Du Si raised her elegant eyebrows. Her husband has always been very generous.

The whole room fell silent again.

Luke closed his eyes, thinking about the plan for the next period of time in his mind, and suddenly heard Du Si say:
"Honey, when are we going to have a baby?"

"child?"

Luc opened his eyes and looked at Du Si, who was not hiding her emotions at all. He endured it and said, "Wait a little longer."

"Still waiting?" Du Si frowned.

"Yes, after I truly own this land legally."

(End of this chapter)