I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 55: Plow and Stable
The new house was built, but there were still many problems left.

The first issue that arises is the expansion of the fenced courtyard.

The new house could not exist independently of the "walls" that Luc had carefully set up.

So the fence needs to be extended eastward.

Then there's the white cat's training. Like little Charlie, he needs to mind his own business.

These two tasks can be done slowly, and the most important thing now is to build new agricultural tools.

Spring plowing is approaching, and Luc is going to plant a lot of things this time: barley, oats, turnips.
These can be used as food for people and war horses.

As for rapeseed, these things stolen from the monastery need to be planted in the same batch as rye and wheat.

The most important thing about rapeseed is not that it can be eaten, but that it can be used to extract oil.

Although the oil yield of rapeseed is not high among similar oil-producing plants, it is still better than expensive and greasy animal oil.

This is also the reason why Luc fell in love with rapeseed at first sight.

Of course there was another point, which was to test Pierre's attitude towards himself.

Luke is actually very cautious about the emergence of white paper. A small amount of white paper will not have a big impact, but once the scale is expanded, this high-profit industry will definitely be targeted by certain people.

Pierre refrained from taking him down immediately, not only because he was in the process of seeking ordination with other monks and didn't want to cause any complications, but also because he had no clear idea of ​​how much blank paper he could produce.

The two agreed that one month later, Luc would first send five more, and then they could further discuss the exchange of interests between the two.

Time was short and the task was heavy, so Luc used his own farming tool - the curved plow!

Luke first instructed Ryan to build the most important part of the curved plow, the plowshare.

The curved plow beam is what most distinguishes the curved plow from the straight plow that came before it.

This winding plow beam took Ryan a lot of time, and Luke was not idle either, as he also made the plow handle.

Then the two of them made a rotating handle and a pointed plow bed respectively. After they succeeded, Ryan went to make the last part of the plow surface, while Luke took out the plow shovel that he had previously commissioned the blacksmith to make and fixed it firmly on the plow bed.

The last step is to connect all the above parts together, and the curved plow is completed.

Ryan looked at this uniquely shaped farm tool. He had never used it himself, so he was not sure how powerful it was.

Luke patted it with satisfaction, signaled Ryan to lead the warhorse out, and tied the curved plow to the back of the warhorse with a rope. The warhorse transformed into a steed, and then pointed and said:

"Lian, why don't you give it a try?"

"Okay sir!"

Ryan nodded, took the handle and walked towards the field.

It is not difficult to use a curved plow, and its working principle is actually very simple.

The plow shaft is on top, with a notch in the front for tying a horse, and a section of wood that bends upward and backward nailed to the back. A movable handle is pressed at the top, and this handle will control the direction of the plow.

A quarter of the way up the plow shaft is the plow shovel. Essentially, it's a switch, inserted vertically into the plow shaft to control the depth of the plow blade, ensuring more precise tillage. Making it a switch is simple: chisel the gap where the plow shovel is inserted wider, then create a wooden block. Insert the plow shovel as deep as needed, and then block the gap with the block.

The plowshare is vertically mounted on the plow blade, and above the plow blade is the oval and slanted plow surface.

Ryan drove the slow horse forward slowly. Man and horse worked together. The triangular pure iron plow shovel at the bottom broke the soil, turned over the clods, and at the same time cut off some weed roots that had just emerged. The clods were turned up, rolled on the plow surface, and were pushed away by the plow surface and turned upside down on the ground.

Looking at this magical scene, Ryan, who had only used a hoe at most, opened his mouth in surprise. He never expected that so many strange pieces of wood could be put together to become such a powerful tool!

"Master, how did you come up with this curved plow?!"

Ryan excitedly pushed the curved plow with all his strength, but the slow horse in front could not move very fast due to its injury. Luke smiled but said nothing. In fact, there were already plows in other large estates, but they were different from the curved plow and not as convenient as the curved plow. It was just that Ryan had never seen one before.

The successful appearance of the curved plow transformed the previously field-shaped farmland into strips. Compared with Luke's laborious use of wooden tools to turn the soil a few months ago, the progress of the two men and one horse was extremely fast.

It only took one week to turn over an entire acre of land!
"Phew~ I think we'll be busy next."

Luc wiped his sweat and looked at the new land with a mixture of pain and joy in his heart.

It's just a pity for the Percheron horse.

This eighteen-year-old horse was working in the fields for the first time. Due to its gentle nature, it quickly adapted to the environment. However, its appetite increased in the past few days and it was obviously tired.

Raising a horse is definitely a meticulous matter for Luc.

For such an animal that can travel and work, Luc specially bought a large amount of feed for it in Cooper Castle to replace most of the oats that were about to be planted. In addition, Luc also specially cut a batch of sheep grass from the place where the goats used to live to feed the warhorse.

Sheepgrass is a type of grass that these herbivores like to eat very much. At the same time, Luc also discovered that the area can actually be regarded as a pastoral area with sparse trees and abundant green grass, which is very suitable for grazing cattle, horses and goats.

At the same time, the construction of stables was also put on the agenda.

Luc and Ryan chose a site in front of their new house, which would soon be included within the fence.

Building a stable is not difficult. It is almost a combination of a warehouse and a sheep shed.

Materials such as wood, stone and soil are also needed.

Luc and Ryan quickly built the stone wall, filled the wall with mud, erected several wooden stakes at the four corners of the wall, and then used their experience in building a new house to build beams and a wooden shed. The wooden shed was slightly tilted to one side to drain rainwater. The wooden shed was covered with thatch and then covered with a layer of bark.

The walls were almost tightly closed on all four sides, with only a fence gate left in one corner. Luke specifically asked Ryan to build the fence gate higher, so that like the surrounding walls, the war horses could be locked in the stable and unable to climb out.

In the stable, feeding troughs and water troughs were carved out of dead wood. Unlike for goats, they were located higher so that the war horses could eat by just lowering their heads slightly.

Finally, a layer of sand and a small amount of thatch were laid in the stable, so that a building that could at least accommodate two or three horses appeared in the southeast of the new house.

After successfully cultivating the land and building the stable, another rainstorm hit, dark clouds covered the sky, and it was as dark as night.

Luke stood solemnly in the wooden house (from now on, the wooden house refers to the new house), looking out at the spider-web-like rain curtain outside and said:

"Ryan, I have a bad feeling."

(End of this chapter)