The Knight of Light plants the sun in the eternal night.

Chapter 81 Polder Fields (Third Update)

After the families settled in the fortified village, Leo could clearly feel that the knights' enthusiasm had increased even more.

They are very enthusiastic during training.

After discussing it, Leo and Franken also arranged jobs for the knights' families. The children were directly handed over to the old knight Rhodes for training, the old men went to the fortress construction site to distribute materials, and the young women went to the castle to make bread.

At this stage, the serfs do not have the means to start a fire, so the castle kitchens bake all the dark bread.

Then, black bread rations were distributed according to population.

"My lord," the pioneer knight commander Harrison approached, "we've basically bought up all the building materials for Glowing Town. We'll either have to go to Lancashire to buy more, or we'll have to wait for Glowing Town to gather them."

"So little material and you're already out?" Leo frowned.

Harrison sighed, "The Firefly Wilds hasn't seen a large-scale development like Swamp Manor in a long time, so the town's materials are scattered and disorganized."

"How many days will it take for the convoy to travel to Lancashire and back?"

"If things go quickly, it can be a round trip in five days; if things go slowly, it might take six or seven days," Harrison estimated. "Then what about going towards Taro Castle? I remember there are several small towns in the Thousand Tent Hills, and there's even a small town near Taro Castle?" Leo deliberately said, as he had "acquaintances" in Taro Castle, making buying and selling more convenient.

Harrison was somewhat surprised, but still explained in detail: "At the foot of Taro Castle is the town of Konjac. A round trip to Konjac Town takes about the same amount of time as going to Lancashire. However, going to the town of Red Taro near the border is much faster, taking two days for a round trip."

Thousand Tent Hills is the name of the Earl of Long Taro's territory.

Konjac Town and Red Taro Town are both affiliated towns of the Long Taro family, loyal to the towering Taro Fortress.

"Then let's go to Red Taro Town to make the purchases," Leo decided immediately. "I'll write a letter to the Countess and ask her to send knights to assist you with the purchases. Hmm, any supplies that Red Taro Town doesn't have can be supplied from Konjac Town."

Harrison was somewhat incredulous: "Sir, is the Countess really willing to help us?"

He had never met the Countess.

Little did anyone know that the Countess had stayed at Sunflower Castle for two days and three nights, interacting intimately with Leo.

"Don't worry, the Countess and I—well, she's my teacher on my path of priesthood, she'll definitely help me, her student." Leo made up an excuse; the Countess was a second-rank bishop, so she was qualified to be his teacher.

Harrison seemed to understand something, but immediately agreed, "Yes, sir, I will lead the team out immediately."

"Thanks for your hard work."

"It is Harrison's honor to serve you, sir," Harrison said, slightly excited. "I am a knight of the Glowing Mushroom family, and I am willing to serve the Glowing Mushroom family and Lord Leo for the rest of my life."

Leo smiled and said, "I've seen all the credit you've given."

Harrison, accompanied by three pioneer knights, escorted a caravan of two wagons and sped toward the town of Red Taro.

Pluto, meanwhile, went out hunting with four patrol knights.

Old Knight Rhodes is training the children.

Oden, meanwhile, was busy tending to the spring-fed magic crystal field, managing the cultivation of light plants and the construction of greenhouses.

The knights all had tasks, but Leo was left idle. Apart from casting Holy Light three times a day, morning, noon and night, he really didn't have any extra work to do.

The construction of the fortress is on track, and Frankenstein alone can command it with ease.

The more than 1,600 serfs had become familiar with life and work on the swamp estate, and things were gradually stabilizing. No one dared to cause any more trouble.

When it was noon, Leo invited Franken and Rod to lunch, and casually said, "Professor Franken, the wheat is almost ripe, and the busy farming season is approaching. We can hold off on things here at the fortress for now and arrange for land reclamation first."

"Don't worry, Leo, I've made all the plans and contacted His Excellency Harrison. I know the areas outside the manor that are suitable for reclamation."

After a pause, Franken looked troubled again: "Exactly, clearing land in swamps is definitely difficult. It requires clearing fields piecemeal, avoiding the muddy, sinking areas, which makes it hard to consolidate farmland."

Faced with the difficult problem posed by Franken.

Leo, however, seemed confident.

In fact, he had already considered how to develop this swamp outside the manor when he was preparing to open up the land to the outside world.

For the locals, avoiding the swamp may be the only option.

But for Leo, a transmigrator from Earth, the swamp was not undevelopable. He immediately said, "Professor Franken, the muddy swamp is not terrible. As long as we do a good job of water management, we can turn the swamp into fertile land."

"Water conservancy planning?" Franken asked, puzzled.

"That's right. I investigated before. By looking at that large pebble pit, we can determine that there used to be an ancient river here. Based on that, we can find the ancient riverbed, dredge it, and then dig more irrigation ditches to control the water, which will allow the water in the swamp to drain away."

Once the water is drained, the muddy land can naturally be dried and turned into farmland.

"Is this... even feasible?" Franken had never encountered anything like this before and couldn't grasp it immediately. "The swamp is low-lying; can the water really be drained?"

"I haven't been wandering around aimlessly during this time. I've traversed the swamps and wilderness. Although the terrain here is low-lying, we can still drain the water by finding the lowest point and dredging the ancient riverbed. Besides, we can also pold the fields."

"

"Polded fields? What are those?"

"It's about using dikes to enclose a field. The dikes block the water, so even if the polder is lower in elevation, it won't flood. Of course, polder cultivation takes time, and planting crops also needs to be done slowly. You can't just plant wheat right away."

Wheat cannot be planted.

You can plant pasture, beans, and various vegetables. Once the polder is ready, you can plant wheat.

In other words, Leo didn't find rice in the Firefly Wilderness. Otherwise, he could have planted rice directly and eaten rice. He misses rice very much now. Eating bread every day is too bitter.

"Is it possible to do it this way?" Franken rubbed his head. "Leo, let me think about it. Polder—dredging ancient river channels, then digging irrigation canals, and um, we can also dig fishponds, and finally build dikes, polder."

"That's right, that's it. When you have time, think about how to plow the fields. We'll try to tame this swamp!" Leo waved his hand, brimming with enthusiasm. "With the Holy Light's blessing, there's nothing we can't do!"

"Yes, don't worry!" Frankenstein, inspired by Leo's enthusiasm, quickly patted his chest and declared, "I will certainly assist you, sir, in taming the swamp!"

Seeing this, the old knight Rhodes also joined in, huffing and puffing: "Although I'm old, young master Leo, please give the order. Digging, shoveling mud, I, Rhodes, can lend a hand!"

A lunch.

They then devised a grand plan for the future development of the swamp estate, taming the swamp and reclaiming wasteland.

This is a long-term policy. Leo has the knowledge but no practical experience, so he also has to explore along the way. He set himself a five-year timeframe to tame the swampy plains and turn it into a land of plenty.

"The farming genes of the Chinese are awakening!" Leo thought contentedly as he had a chair moved under the oak tree and the Cordyceps militaris, bathed in its fiery red light.

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