I'm not a lord

Chapter 157 Everything is ready, only the spring breeze is missing

Forewarned is forearmed, without prejudging the waste.

Lin En has detailed and long-term plans for the Baihe Territory, which has just been unified.

The first thing is to ensure a relatively safe production environment in the territory.

To this end, Lin En has ordered several managers to lead the serfs to build watchtowers and blockhouses, and also ordered local blacksmiths to forge three cross-river chains as quickly as possible.

It is expected that these fortifications will be completed in another two weeks.

At that time, Lin En will also officially impose a trade embargo on Sanhe City.

The subsequent planning of the new territory can refer to the development process of the White Bear Territory: improve agricultural production efficiency, repair roads, recruit new soldiers, expand the number of free people, and further develop handicrafts.
But problems also arise.

Although the newly occupied territory has a larger population, the agricultural production conditions and the living standards of the serfs are not as good as those in the White Bear Territory.

Under Old Albert's benevolent rule for many years, every serf household in White Bear Territory could afford to keep draft horses and had some extra money to buy heavy plows and other iron farm tools.

It is precisely because of this that Lin En was able to promote advanced technology in White Bear Territory last year with such smoothness.

On the other hand, in these southern territories, under the sustainable and exhausting rule of the local lords, the serfs could at least make ends meet, if not every family had enough food and clothing.

Take the Henum Territory as an example. When Lin En looked through the bills of previous years, he could see shocking levies and taxes, with whole pages of "cannibalism" written on them.

The previous Barons of River Marsh had reached a point of madness in coming up with all sorts of excuses.

Just because a serf's draft horse gave birth to a foal, the serf had to pay a "newborn tax" of one silver coin.

Otherwise the newborn pony would become the property of the lord.

The 'newborn tax' also applies to medium-sized livestock such as goats, and a newborn lamb requires a tax of half a silver coin.

However, if the lamb is killed before it grows up, the tax will not be refunded, which is a true "newborn" behavior.

Needless to say, serfs had to pay a "marriage tax" when they got married.

In the Hehuan Territory, even inheritance of serfs' property required payment of taxes.

For example, an old farmer has a married eldest son, and he wants to pass all his property and land to his eldest son.

What sounds natural doesn't work in the River Marsh Territory.

The old farmer must first pay a northern gold shield before the lord will allow his eldest son to inherit the family business.

But how could a serf family that had been exploited so many times possibly afford a golden shield?
The lord said it didn't matter if he couldn't come up with the money.

Don’t you still have livestock and children?
A boy or girl who is twelve years old or above is also worth one gold shield.

So Lynn could see a variety of tax payment methods in the account books.

In order to allow the eldest son to inherit the family property, old farmers were forced to hand over their main livestock to the lord or sacrifice their young children.

In the North, both people and livestock are valuable.

Little boys could serve as servants in castles and manors, while little girls could be sold to Three Rivers City.

Last winter, Lynn purchased more than 200 draft horses, some of which were probably the "inheritance tax" paid by the serfs in Hehuan County.

However, even though the previous barons were so exploitative, the serfs in the River and Swamp Territory were still able to endure the exploitation and survive tenaciously.

This is mainly due to the superior natural conditions of the Baihe River Basin.

To put it bluntly, the land is vast and the population is sparse.

The average household allotment of land for the serfs in He Numa Territory was even larger than that in Bai Xiong Territory, reaching a staggering seventy acres.

Although they couldn't cultivate the land meticulously, they only needed to till the soil, burn the weeds, and sow some seeds each year to harvest. With a net yield of less than 20 kilograms per mu, plus the fur, meat, and milk from grazing livestock, they could easily feed their families.

According to Lin En's estimation, the serfs in Hehuan County were required to pay 70 to 80 percent of their total income to the lord every year, which also included currency converted from unpaid labor and corvee labor.

The reason why the previous barons exhausted all the resources was, on the one hand, of course, to satisfy their own luxurious life, and on the other hand, they deliberately made the serfs struggle around the poverty line.

Although serfs also have the word "slave" in their title, they have the right to accumulate private property and also have a certain degree of personal freedom.

In order to tie them firmly to the land and prevent them from having any evil thoughts, the lords' main means was to exploit them with heavy taxes.

In this way, the serfs could not accumulate much private property and could only work for the lords for generations.

In the current Hezhao Territory, most serfs cannot afford the silver coins to buy heavy plows, but there is no shortage of draft horses. Every five serf households can provide at least four draft horses.

Draft horses are not too expensive; the difficulty in keeping them alive lies mainly in the vast pastures.

The six baronies in the White River Basin, including the River Swamp Barony, have the most of public pastures.

Now that Lin En is in control of Hezhao Territory, after looking at the account books, he immediately canceled most of the exorbitant taxes and levies.

Unlike previous barons, he was not afraid of the serfs becoming rich.

In order to liberate productivity, he will transform all serfs into free people in the future.

Of course, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.

Lin En’s first priority is to solve the problem that the serfs cannot afford heavy plows.

This is not difficult.

Lin En first brought over 400 pre-made heavy plows from White Bear, and ordered Old Albert and the stewards to demonstrate the excellent performance of the heavy plows in front of the serfs.

Does it work?
Do you want it?

If you want it, come and sign this contract!

Lynn prepared tailor-made 'free trial' contracts for the serfs in Hezhao Territory and several other territories.

Serfs who signed this contract would receive a heavy plow that they could use free of charge for one year.

They only need to pay an additional 300 kilograms of rye in the autumn to obtain this heavy plow permanently.

In order to dispel the serfs' concerns, Lin En also specially found a group of "propagandists" from the White Bear Territory.

These propagandists were all former serfs of the White Bear Territory and are now freemen of the territory. They have enjoyed the benefits of various advanced technologies in the past year.

They went deep into the villages of Hezhao Territory and worked hard to promote the lord's new technologies and new agricultural tools to the local serfs.

"My family's land was plowed and composted, and last year's harvest doubled!"

"Hey, we're all from Baiheling, how could I lie to you? Fellow villagers don't lie to each other!"

"Really? The Lord is more reliable than God. He never goes back on his word. More than half of the serfs in our territory have become freemen!"

"My daughter just married a soldier. Not only does she not have to pay taxes, she also received a wedding gift from the master!"

Compared with the high-ranking masters and stewards, the propagandists, who also came from humble backgrounds, were obviously more likely to convince the local serfs.

By late March, thanks to the efforts of propagandists and territorial managers, new technologies and agricultural tools were rapidly promoted in the newly occupied territories.

The serfs generally received the most advanced heavy plows and mastered advanced techniques such as composting, seed selection, and row sowing.

Everything is ready, only the spring breeze is missing.

(End of this chapter)