I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 100 The Joy of Harvest

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The final medicinal meal that Rhodes prepared was called "Knight's Nourishing Stew".

The main ingredients added to the meat were sage, rosemary, juniper berries, and parsnips, which were intended for the knight squad.

After the system was authenticated, Rhodes immediately passed it on to the woman in charge of the knight squad.

They train every morning, covering basic swordsmanship, basic horsemanship, and various cultural knowledge, plus breathing exercises, for at least twelve hours.

The knight's nourishing stew is just right for them to strengthen their bodies, restore their strength, and prevent excessive fatigue from damaging their health.

As for the other soldiers, Rhodes doesn't have enough resources to nourish them right now.

After acquiring the "Exotic Gourmet" entry, Rhodes's knowledge of herbs improved by leaps and bounds.

He has now completely surpassed Luna and no longer needs her to explain the properties of each herb.

Luna's current responsibility is to select herbs for Rhodes.

Even for herbs that Luna herself didn't recognize, Rhodes would draw them out and clearly label them for her.

When it comes to creating potions, Rhodes should start with the simple ones.

Rare herbs are not readily available, so Rhodes could only use some herbs commonly found in the Northern Wastes to prepare his medicine.

The key is to unlock the "Potion Beginner" entry so you can continue researching more powerful potions later.

Rhodes was the first to create a medicine based on Luna's hemostatic powder, which could both stop bleeding and prevent infection. Rhodes named it the Redemption Medicine.

Honey, garlic, thyme, sage, cloves, witch hazel, and cornflower, combined with alcohol.

What Rhodes lacks here is alcohol, which he needs to obtain through distillation.

Fortunately, distillation is not a particularly advanced technique, and Rhodes already had it in his head.

It consumes a lot of alcohol.

Place the wooden barrel containing the wine into an iron pot, and then place another iron pot filled with cold water on top of the barrel to act as a condensation device.

When heated, the alcohol evaporates and then, upon cooling, adheres to the outer wall of the cold water pot. When it accumulates, it will eventually fall off.

The wooden barrel has a wine trough inserted diagonally in the middle, and the hollow cow leg bone is used to guide the alcohol out and into other containers.

This device is not difficult to make; the carpenters finished it in a day.

Rod deliberately set up a shack on the estate to start his alcohol business.

"My lord! We've struck it rich!"

Just as Rhodes was busy, Lawrence rushed in, panting, his face flushed, and he was so excited that he was waving his arms and legs.

Rod looked at Lawrence with a puzzled expression.

Did this guy know in advance that he was extracting alcohol?

But Rhodes doesn't remember mentioning the effects of alcohol to Lawrence, does he?
Do you know how much grain we harvested from those thousand acres of land?

Lawrence got too excited and couldn't help but play riddles with Rhodes.

He suddenly regretted his words, swallowed hard, and stammered, "I'm sorry, my lord..."

Rhodes raised his hand to interrupt, asking in return, "Two hundred tons?"

"Two hundred and forty-seven tons, nine hundred and seventeen jin and six liang!"

Lawrence excitedly reported loudly, his voice slightly hoarse at the end, "The yield per acre is more than 494 catties!"

He grabbed Rod's arm, as excited as a child.

Rhodes coughed lightly, and Lawrence realized what was happening. He quickly let go of her hand, bowed, and apologized.

Rhodes didn't take it to heart and calmly said, "Calm down, it's not much."

It's not much at all. Even without the bonus from Rhodes's Crop Lord title, the yield is only 247 jin per mu.

That's far from the limit of 300 pounds.

“This is far too much, sir!”

Lawrence exclaimed, "These 1000 acres alone could feed half the town!"

Rod smiled and nodded.

Indeed, given Lawrence's frugal habits, he could definitely support them.

It's important to know that in the Northern Wastes, there's little work and activity during the winter, and civilians typically eat only two meals a day, or even just one.

Of course, Rhodes also had many things planned for the winter, and judging from the current grain harvest in the territory, he could certainly afford to feed them three meals a day.

The harvest of wheat on the 5,000 mu of land is nearing completion, but only the first 1,000 mu have been harvested and dried and threshed so far. The remaining 4,000 mu have not yet been counted.

More importantly, this thousand acres is now just ordinary farmland.

The amount of premium wheat from Luo De's thousand acres of wheat fields hasn't been tallied yet, but it's definitely more than 247 tons.

"Sir, we should be able to sell at least three hundred tons of grain this time!"

Rhodes shook his head, rejecting Lawrence's idea.

Rhodes didn't intend to make money from the food; he wanted to store it all up.

"Go and have a look."

Rhodes didn't talk to Lawrence in detail. He put down the herbs he was holding and followed Lawrence out of the manor.

The busy people saw Rhodes from afar and all bowed respectfully.

They couldn't hide their smiles, and their eyes were full of reverence as they looked at Rhodes.

No one expected that the lord would reap such a great harvest in his first year.

The farmers did not know the exact numbers.

But looking at the bags full of grain and the truckloads of wheat stalks being transported away, they knew in their hearts that this year's harvest was beyond their expectations.

All of this was brought about by the changes brought about by this lord.

Brown rye was poured into sacks, continuously filling the town's granary.

Rod walked to the threshing floor and casually grabbed a handful of wheat grains.

The grains were plump and hard, making his palms ache, but they filled him with joy.

“Leave a thousand catties and send them to the mill to be ground into flour and made into bread.”

"Let everyone taste the flavor of the new wheat."

"Yes, my lord!"

Lawrence responded happily, then turned and shouted at the top of his lungs to everyone,
"The lord is going to treat us to bread with the new wheat! Do you hear me?"

"Thank you, my lord!"

"Long live the lord!"

"The lord has eight sons!"

……

puff!
The cheers from the crowd almost made Rod choke on his saliva.

The people genuinely offered their blessings, as having many children in this era signified a prosperous family and a strong and healthy lord. "This is only the yield from a thousand acres of farmland; we cannot relax yet."

Rhodes took a breath and ordered Lawrence, "Make sure every grain of rice is in the barn."

Although the wheat harvest is almost complete, it still needs to be dried and threshed.

Rhodes specifically sought out the White Frost Prophet to divine the recent weather.

Rhodes doesn't need specific temperatures or wind speeds; it just needs to know if it will rain.

The White Frost Prophet has assured Rhodes that the next two weeks will be sunny.

Take advantage of the good weather and dry all this wheat.

Autumn in the northern wilderness is dry, unlike the southern provinces which are always wet.

Most of the rain here is saved for winter, turning into heavy snow.

This can be considered one of the advantages of the Northern Wilderness.

"I have given countless instructions on moisture and corrosion prevention for the grain warehouse."

"Also, any flames are strictly prohibited in the areas where grain is stored. I will conduct spot checks on this frequently."

Luo De's tone was calm, but full of intimidation: "If something goes wrong, more than just two or three people will die."

"My lord, please rest assured!"

Lawrence assured him confidently, "I will certainly not be careless about this matter."

Rhodes nodded, then went to inspect the other wheat fields before returning to the manor as night fell.

As soon as he sat down, Durant strode over, holding a letter in his hand.

"Your Excellency, a reply from Earl Falcon."

Rod took it, unfolded it, and frowned slightly.

"That's interesting... This guy kept urging me, then suddenly stopped."

"I thought he was going to start swearing this time."

Rod's words filled Durant with doubt. He took the letter, glanced at it, and nodded.
"It's a bit strange."

The Earl of Falcon's previous letter was full of anger, but now he has suddenly softened his tone, telling Chris to take his time and do things his own way.

The key point is that Chris had told him that Earl Falcon was not a good-tempered person.

Rhodes leaned back in his chair, thinking, and said, "It seems he's sensed something and wants to use this letter to keep us calm."

If a child isn't crying or making a fuss, they're probably hiding something bad.

He then turned to Durant: "Any movement from the patrol?"

"Not yet."

Durant shook his head. "Not for the past two days."

Durant meant that there had been no unusual activity in the southeast during the two days since the guard disguised as Chris's attendant returned with the message.

Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief.

"Keep a close eye on it and don't let your guard down."

"Also, we need to keep the news under wraps in our territory."

"Don't release those captured soldiers; let them work in the town."

"Don't let the news of Chris's arrest leak out."

Durant cupped his hands in apology: "Understood, I'll arrange it right away."

Rod leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

"Let's wait a little longer, until the autumn harvest is completely finished."

“Then, Earl Falcon, we’ll settle the score properly.”

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The night was bright with a clear moon and few stars.

A cool autumn breeze blew by.

The patrolling soldiers were still wearing thin short-sleeved shirts and chainmail.

Doc rubbed his arms, grinned at Joseph beside him, and whispered, "We won't go hungry this winter."

Joseph glanced at him and chuckled, "The lord never let you go hungry!"

"Although we are slaves, our lives are much more comfortable than before."

"You get a salary after joining the army, although it's not as high as that of free citizens, it's enough."

Joseph paused, a hint of longing in his voice.
"If we save up some money, maybe we can marry a wild woman and have a child someday."

"The lord also said that if our children could become soldiers, artisans, or even knights, they could be completely freed from slavery."

Doc nodded.

The lord is indeed very good to his soldiers, and not just in terms of food.

I still vividly remember the incident a couple of days ago when I stood up for Or.

Doc still gets excited whenever he thinks about it.

"It's true that the lord has never let us go hungry,"

Doc changed the subject, his smile turning somewhat bitter, "But don't forget how we survived the winter without the lord."

"We were so hungry in the village that we ate pine bark, and I even wanted to take the pine needles home to make soup!"

Joseph frowned and said with disgust, "Shut up, don't even mention it, the smell makes me want to vomit."

"Back then, we could only fill our stomachs with nuts and dried fruit. Unlike now, we can eat our fill of black bread and have half a pound of meat every day!"

"If you're willing to spend your work points, you can exchange them for a soft white bread to nibble on."

Doc licked his lips, his eyes gleaming.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that."

"I'm so glad I wasn't trampled to death by warhorses or hit by Lord Gunle's axe when I robbed the Jinsha caravan."

"Hahaha!"

The two men smiled at each other, patted each other on the shoulder, and continued their patrol along the wheat field.

There was no room for carelessness when it came to grain. There were eight groups of sixteen people like the two of them patrolling the threshing ground.

Doc and Joseph understood the weight of their responsibility, and even in the dead of night, neither dared to relax or doze off.

To stay awake, the two of them would occasionally wipe their faces with cold water.

It's not just about work points, but also about a better life for myself in the future.

"and many more!"

Just as the two finished wiping their faces and continued their patrol, they heard a rustling sound behind them.

(End of this chapter)