I'm not a lord

Chapter 55 Two Gifts
Lynn only slept in the castle for one night before rushing back to the road construction site.

This road connecting the salt mines is the lifeline of the entire territory and must be completed as quickly as possible.

Now that the Duke of Swamp is about to leave the territory, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arrived, and Lynn doesn't want to waste even a second.

Time quickly came to early May.

The earth has completely awakened, like a colorful painting slowly unfolding.

Young grass peeks out on both sides of the road; the trees in the forest shed their winter yellow; the White River roars as it rushes.

In the neatly arranged fields, adult female serfs and their children worked hard. They bent down and used small hoes or their bare hands to remove weeds among the green wheat seedlings.

The bustling scene at the road construction site remains unabated.

Although the weather was getting hotter and the rainfall was getting heavier, the serfs were still very motivated for the generous rewards hanging in the balance.

Lynn rode a horse back and forth between the construction site and the forest, either supervising and directing the road construction project, or going into the forest to hunt various animals.

The three groups responsible for quarrying work successfully completed the planning tasks. The first ten kilometers of the road have been paved with large stones and gravel, and the gravel has been bonded with fine yellow mud.

Now it only takes half an hour to ride from White Bear Territory Castle to the quarry.

After exiting the quarry and turning right, the ten-kilometer hard dirt road project is nearing completion.

The 20-kilometer road from White Bear Territory to the Great Swamp has been completed, but the last 10 kilometers of dirt road have not yet been paved with stones.

On the soft grass at the edge of the swamp, Lynn was teaching Old Albert and others how to collect and use peat.

"Peat is widely distributed under the grass at the edge of the swamp. You only need to dig down a dozen centimeters to find the peat layer.

This thing is also very simple to use. First, it can replace compost. The peat can be transported back to the village and mixed with the compost to ferment. Second, it can be used for heating. The peat can be dug out and dried to replace firewood. Of course, we in White Bear Territory are not short of firewood.

Using peat directly as compost is actually a very luxurious behavior.

In later generations, this thing can be used as a high-quality natural fertilizer in gardening and flower production, and its price is much higher than ordinary manure compost.

But for White Bear Territory, the biggest function of peat is to replace compost.

In the future, Lin En will introduce a large population to the White Bear Territory. The reclamation of arable land will inevitably occupy the public pastures in the territory. The average number of livestock owned by each household will drop sharply, and there will definitely be a shortage of compost in the territory.

A household raising twenty goats and one or two pigs?
It’s too extravagant and a waste of arable land!
Moreover, with the mining of salt mines and the constant supply of free salt, serfs no longer needed to raise a large number of goats to buy salt.

"I understand, sir. However, peat is very easy to collect and does not require any refining. How should it be distributed?"

Old Albert was thinking about the distribution of peat.

Compost could be made from the serfs' own livestock or human feces.

But the peat is buried underground and is undoubtedly the lord's private property.

Should there be a certain tax like firewood?

Should there be a limit on the amount each household can collect each year?
"There will be no restrictions on peat collection for the next three years. Serfs are free to dig as much as they want. There's no need to impose any taxes. Just consider it a reward for participating in the road construction."

Lin En only wants to reduce the types of taxes now, so how could he possibly add additional tax regulations?

Isn't this a pure waste of manpower and resources?
Of course, reducing the types of taxes does not mean tax cuts.

His idea was to integrate most of the taxes into the land tax.

It was like the "One Whip Law" and "Equalizing the Land Tax" that happened in history. Of course, the current White Bear Territory was not suitable for drastic tax reforms, as the tax officials alone could not figure it out.

Everything has to be done slowly.

"Your generosity shines brighter than the sun. For the serfs of White Bear Territory to have a lord like you is truly the most tender blessing from the goddess of fate."

After following Lynn for more than two months, Old Albert's flattery skills became more and more proficient. Everything he did was sincere and there was no acting involved.

Several estate managers around him realized what was happening later and began to show their courtesy.

Lin En waved his hand to indicate that they had finished their task, and then he pointed to the west side of the Great Swamp:
"Don't be too excited. There's still over thirty kilometers of road to build to the west, and another five or six kilometers to the river east. We also need to build a dock. July is the rainy season, and the storms during the rainy season are not as gentle and merciful as the drizzle of April and May. I demand that the above projects be completely completed before the rainy season arrives. Can you do that?"

"Please rest assured, sir, we will complete the task before the rainy season!"

Old Albert is now full of confidence.

The main reason is that the difficulty of road construction has been greatly reduced.

The previous 20 kilometers of road were either lined with tall trees or swamps and streams, making road construction extremely difficult.

Now the road has left the dense forest and goes west along the swamp. The road is smooth all the way and the difficulty of road construction has decreased exponentially.

The stewards left to supervise the serfs' work, and only Old Albert stayed with Lynn.

When they reached the shade of the tree, he said with a hint of worry, "Master, the food in the warehouse is almost gone, and the number of animals in the forest has also decreased significantly recently."

"Don't worry, the food will be here soon."

Lynn had already received the news that the black market businessman Leon was heading north.

The very next afternoon, two sloops of war docked at the White Bear Territory's pier.

One of the ships had a shallow draft, while the other had a deep draft.

Lin En saw the blue flag on the ship from afar, a perfect smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he quickly walked towards it.

As soon as Leon stepped onto the shore, he opened his arms, a warm smile on his face, and shouted exaggeratedly: "Oh, my good friend, long time no see!"

Lin En walked over to him and gave him a warm hug, patting him on the back: "You're finally here. I've been looking forward to seeing you every day."

If you don't know the inside story, you would definitely think that they are close friends who haven't seen each other for many years.

After some greetings, Leon introduced the gifts he brought to Lynn.

He first pointed to the ship with the deeper draft with his right hand, which was covered with gold rings. "This is the 100 tons of rye and dried peas you asked for. These things are not easy to buy in Sanhe City. I had to contact a few old acquaintances to get them."

Lin En looked at the shallower one and said, "Then it must be on this boat."

"Hahahaha!" Leon gave an ambiguous smile that said 'you know what I mean', and then shouted, "Liya, come down and meet the Baron!"

"I know, brother."

A soft response came from the cabin, like a spring breeze blowing past your ears, gentle yet seeming to contain a bit of agility and playfulness.

Thanks Guangchao for the reward and support!

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(End of this chapter)