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

Chapter 25 Farming
The townspeople of Frostleaf Town chose the largest rye seeds.

However, seeds that are too large are not necessarily suitable for cultivation.

Rye varieties that are much larger than ordinary rye are likely to be abnormally developed, and their genetic traits are unstable and difficult to pass on to offspring.

Luo De first selected the guaranteed 1,000 acres of premium land.

Good wheat seeds should be uniform in size, with plump and round grains, and a uniform color. They should not be shriveled or damaged, nor should they be moldy or infested with insects.

The most common traditional seed screening method is the salt water sieve.

This involves adding an appropriate amount of salt to clean water, placing the seeds in the salt water, and then letting the unsuitable seeds float to the surface, while the suitable seeds sink to the bottom.

But the northern wastelands are too far from the east coast, and salt is a real scarce commodity there.

A thousand acres of land requires at least 20,000 catties of seeds, or even up to 30,000 catties. Rod can't just use salt to treat it.

In addition to these methods, there are mud screening and urine dilution methods, but Rod chose the wood ash water screening method.

Using wood ash to prepare a slightly turbid solution from water makes the sieving effect closer to that of salt water, and is also a way to observe whether the seeds sink or float.

After selecting the seeds, take them out, wash them clean, and then let them dry.

Rhodes added a final manual screening step to ensure that the seeds were of the highest quality.

This thousand-acre land is the guaranteed grain supply for Shuangye Town, so we can't be careless about the seeds!
After all the seeds were selected, the farmland that Rod chose had been plowed and the fertilizer had been spread on the ground.

It is worth mentioning that after spreading the fertilizer in the furrows, the furrows need to be turned over a second time so that the fertilizer is buried in the actual furrows before sowing.

Fortunately, the northern region is cold, and the planting took place in early May, which gave Rhodes enough time to work on it.

Wheat seeds can be sown by spot sowing, row sowing, or broadcasting.

Sowing seeds is a waste.

Spot planting is not suitable for large-scale planting.

Rhodes chose the strip broadcast method.

Simply put, row sowing involves using a wooden rake to create a flat furrow about three to four centimeters wide on the ridge.

A rope is usually used as a marker to ensure that the furrow is straight, and then seeds are evenly scattered in the furrow, but the seeds should not be piled up.

After sowing, use a wooden rake to cover the seeds with a layer of fine soil containing wood ash and rake it flat. Then use a ground roller (a wooden stick with ropes tied to both ends and a shaft in the middle) to roll over the ridges to compact the soil and ensure that the seeds and soil are in close contact.

The farmers wouldn't understand the entire sowing process just by being told, so Rod personally demonstrated it to them once again.

Sowing seeds is not like tilling the soil, where you can adjust it again if it's crooked or tilted.

Once the seeds are covered with soil, no one knows what's inside.

Therefore, Rod specially selected eight shrewd farmers for intensive training and education, and spent a day personally supervising their planting process.

To ensure that they sowed the rye seeds evenly and in the right amount, Rhodes ultimately gave them a sowing standard of between 23 and 28 catties of rye seeds per acre.

Then Rhodes had these eight farmers teach other farmers, and after Rhodes's spot checks showed that they all passed, they began large-scale planting.

"The seeds have finally been planted."

Watching the people, who looked like ants, move back and forth on the vast farmland, Rod finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, this is not the end.

After the seeds are planted, a fence must be erected around the edge of the farmland, and scarecrows must be placed in the field to at least prevent wild rabbits and sparrows from damaging the crops.

Meanwhile, Rhodes had already instructed Raine to set up some traps near the fence to deal with the wild beasts and to increase the amount of meat in the territory.

These tasks do not require Rhodes's personal demonstration.

—If you can't even build a proper fence, you really deserve a beating.

Of course, Rod won't just cultivate this thousand acres.

If something unexpected happens, the whole town will go hungry.

Food is fundamental in any era, and we cannot be careless about it.

Once the food supply runs out, the entire Frostleaf Town will crumble like a clay chicken or a tile.

In fact, Rhodes didn't expect to increase all yields in one spring planting, especially since breeding improvements are not something that can be achieved overnight.

What Rod wants most is to change the farming practices here, which is also the easiest thing to achieve.

Now that the goal has been achieved, once the 1,000 acres have been sown, the remaining land under the Rhodes Plan will be mainly cultivated by Otto.

Luo De was primarily responsible for random inspections and oversight.

The necessary technical skills have been taught; Rhodes, as a lord, cannot always be preoccupied with farming.

Rhodes still had many things to worry about. The next day at noon.

In front of the newly built wooden houses of the manor.

"You two get ready, we're going to inspect the territory tomorrow."

After everything was arranged, Rhodes gave the order.

Durant and Gunther looked bewildered, not understanding why their lord, who had just finished three days of farming, would suddenly want to inspect the territory.

"Your Excellency, where are we going?"

"Go and see any place that isn't extremely dangerous."

Rod gazed into the distance with a weary expression and sighed, "I haven't had the chance to fully appreciate the scenery of Black Pine Ridge, and I don't even know if the ice in Azure River Bay has melted yet."

"My lord, if you want to see if the ice has melted, shall we go and check for you?"

Gangle chuckled twice, "It's good that you're blacksmithing in town. It's not only safe, but you can also get our axes out faster."

"So, how about planning the irrigation canals for the farmland? Did you help me with that too?" Rod asked rhetorically, glancing sideways.

"That won't work for us."

Gangle shook his head.

"Hahaha!"

Rod and Durant exchanged a smile, and then began to arrange the people who would accompany them the next day.

In fact, the scenery and the planning of irrigation canals are secondary.

Most importantly, Rhodes received a system notification a week ago that [Mineral Vein Detection (Green)] had been unlocked.

This entry allows Rhodes to sense the existence of valuable mineral veins within a 300-meter radius of himself.

It includes not only metal mines, but also salt mines, stone mines, and even yellow clay and high-quality timber.

It contains a lot of knowledge, including how to smelt, use, and so on.

For example, it provides very detailed knowledge on topics such as how to fire red bricks from clay and how to make peat.

However, you must get close to receive the prompt, and then use the prompt and your knowledge to determine the exact location of the vein.

The next entry, "Mineral Lord," requires personally exploring five mines within the territory, extracting five hundred tons of metal ore, and smelting one hundred tons of metal.

After the laughter subsided, Durant suggested, "There are many wild beasts in the wasteland, and Ryan is the most experienced in dealing with them. I hope you can take him with you, sir."

“Yes, let him bring another hunter, that way we’ll have our food problem too.” Rhodes nodded in agreement.

"Would you like to bring a maid to serve you your meals?"

"An inspection tour isn't a vacation, why bring maids?"

Rod chuckled and said without any hesitation,
"They can't do anything, and they're mostly a burden when danger comes."

No one dislikes pleasure, but now is not the time for pleasure.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Durant nodded slightly in response, also expressing his respect.

He knew that Rhodes was not a traditional, pampered nobleman. When they traveled together, they also endured hardships and ate and slept in the open, sharing meals and lodging with the guards.

He was just worried that having maids to serve him in Frostleaf Town might have changed Rhodes' habits.

But it seems that the lord has not changed.

"Alright, I'll select six more guards to accompany us. What do you think?"

"Two people are enough."

Rod decided.

The main purpose of the trip is to search for mineral veins, so a certain degree of secrecy is still required.

It's not that I don't trust the other guards, but with so many people, there's bound to be a lot of gossip.

Durant and Gunter will both be following, so there's no need for too many people, which will also make things easier.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Durant responded and immediately relayed the message to Ryan.

(End of this chapter)