I'm not a lord

Chapter 12 Summoning the Blacksmith
Qi He is the owner of the blacksmith shop in White Bear Town and also the most skilled blacksmith in the territory.

As early as his great-grandfather's generation, his family moved to White Bear Territory and settled there, making a living by blacksmithing for generations.

In an era when class mobility was almost stagnant, the son of a lord was a lord, the son of a steward was a steward, the son of a blacksmith was a blacksmith, and the son of a serf was naturally still a serf.

Although I don’t know what others think, at least Qi He is quite satisfied with his current life.

He holds a high status in the White Bear Territory, and the serfs would respectfully address him as 'Mr. Qihe' when they saw him.

His family was also happy. His wife was a beautiful carpenter's daughter, his son married a steward's daughter, and his daughter married Albert Jr., the son of Albert's steward.

In the White Bear Territory, the influence of the Qihe family is perhaps second only to that of the lord and several knights who own fiefs.

Blacksmith Qi He doesn't care about anyone except the lord and his relative Lao Ai.

He even looked down on Lao Ai.

The position of the territory governor cannot be inherited. If you make the lord unhappy one day, he will be removed from your position.

Blacksmiths are different.

Relying on the blacksmithing skills inherited from their family, they are the treasures of the lords wherever they go.

The lord dare not offend them easily.

Unlike the poor serfs who were tied to the land, blacksmiths made a living with their skills and could leave whenever they wanted.

The new lord arrived yesterday, but Qi He didn't go to greet him at all.

Who the lord was didn't mean much to him, but he couldn't put down the work at hand. Every year before spring plowing, it was the busiest time for blacksmiths.

But he did not go to see the lord, but the lord came to see him.

Just as he was demonstrating to two apprentices how to make a dung fork, the new lord had arrived in White Bear Town and asked to see the blacksmith.

As for the reason for summoning them, little Albert, who came to deliver the message, was not clear. He only said that it was urgent and asked Qi He not to refuse.

"damn it."

Qi He cursed under his breath, but he could only drop the hammer and follow his son-in-law to see the lord.

At this time, Lynn and the inspection team were resting in the only tavern in town.

There are mainly two types of drinks in the tavern, beer with a light flavor and mead with a relatively strong flavor.

At this time, beer played a role similar to bottled purified water, with just a slight alcohol flavor. It was cheap, had an astonishing output, and even serfs could afford it.

Mead is a relatively expensive drink, and only a few people in the territory have the money to enjoy it.

According to the customary law of the North, all forests within the territory were the property of the lord.

Naturally, all the output of the forest belongs to the lord, including wild animals, honey, mushrooms, and firewood.

Serfs on the estate even had to pay a firewood tax in order to collect a fixed share of firewood from the forest every autumn.

In the White Bear Territory, there are ten serfs who specialize in beekeeping. They pay a special honey tax in exchange for the right to use a small piece of forest.

As for the tax rate, Lin En had seen it on the seized list: fifty percent.

It would be strange if this mead wasn't expensive.

"Master, I just thought of another question. If we follow your fertilization method, this one acre of land may require thousands of kilograms of fertilizer. The livestock manure in the entire territory, combined with human manure, would not be enough. Moreover, with only a month left until spring plowing, the manure that can be collected is very limited. I don't think it will even be enough to completely cover your public fields."

Lao Ai poured wine for Lin En, and his mouth didn't stop talking. He was thinking all the way about how to maximize the use of compost and the problems that might be encountered in promoting compost in the territory.

After much thought, the biggest problem turned out to be a lack of manure. The most powerful manure-producing machine in the territory was the draft horse, which could produce about 20 kilograms of manure a day.

With twenty sheep, assuming 100 kilograms of feces per day, even if all the feces were collected for a whole year, it would not be enough to cover the consumption of 60 mu of land for each serf household.

And it is impossible to collect them all.

In summer and autumn, the livestock were free-range on the pastures, and the serfs could not pick up all the food even if they waited until dark.

"Just collect as much as you can. Compost is not the only fertilizer. I will try to find another one."

The other fertilizer that Lin En mentioned is peat, also known as peat.

According to the information provided by the game "Lord", peat is the product of the development process of swamps and is an undeveloped form of coal.

After drying, it can be burned as coal, or used directly to fertilize crops, and the effect is no worse than composting.

There are many swamps in the north. The White Bear Territory is located in the upper reaches of the White River, and the northern part of the territory is full of swamps.

Lin En was originally going to explore the fog on the map. Once the situation in the territory stabilized, he planned to explore northward first and look for traces of peat.

"master"

Albert was overjoyed and was about to ask more questions, but the blacksmith Qi He arrived outside the tavern. He could only put aside his questions temporarily and bring his good relative into the tavern.

Lynn looked at the middle-aged man who walked into the pub.

He was tall and stocky, with a head of messy, thick black curly hair and a bushy beard, perfectly fitting the image of a medieval blacksmith.

"Are you Qi He, the blacksmith?"

"Yes, sir, I am Qi He."

Qi He bent down and saluted clumsily but respectfully.

White Bear Town is located in the center of the territory and is naturally an integral part of the White Bear Territory. The lord has unquestionable ownership of the town, including the land where the blacksmith shop is located.

Qi He could certainly move away whenever he wanted, but the family business of four generations and the accumulated connections were all in White Bear Territory, and if he left, all of them would be lost.

He didn't want to leave, and he couldn't leave, so he could only accept the lord's summons, even though it was the busiest month of the year.

Lynn pushed an oak goblet filled with mead across the table and motioned for Qihe to sit down and talk.

"Thank you, sir."

Qi He did not dare to be ungrateful, but he only dared to sit on half of his buttocks and drink only half a sip of the wine.

At this time, Lin En asked again, "There are four blacksmith shops in White Bear Territory. I heard that you own all of them?"

Qi He replied truthfully, "I guess so. The blacksmiths in those three shops are all my relatives."

In the past, White Bear Town only needed a blacksmith shop, but since Albert became the governor of the territory, the living standards of the serfs in White Bear Territory have steadily improved, and the demand for ironware has naturally increased.

Qi He sensed the market trend, recruited apprentices within the family and opened branches, making a fortune.

Lin En wasn't interested in how much money he made. Instead, he asked, "I saw the plows the serfs used. They were of pretty good quality. Did you make them?"

"Yes, but that thing mainly relies on carpenters, and we only need to knock out a piece of iron sheet." Qi He was not greedy for credit. After all, the carpenter in White Bear Town was his brother-in-law, so they were considered a family member.

"Here are the blueprints for a heavy plow. Can you take a look at them and see if they can be built?"

(End of this chapter)