Chapter 138 Formation of the Ministry of Agriculture

As the forest land on the south bank of the Chishui River is gradually cleared, the day for farming is getting closer. ＞One novel≥﹤≤≤﹤﹤

In order to make it easier for people to travel between the two banks of the Chishui River, Roland ordered people to build a pontoon bridge on the river nearly 100 meters away. The lower part is dozens of rafts built by carpenters, connected with thick hemp ropes. He also specifically told the carpenter that the two ends of the raft should be surrounded by sharp corners, so that the resistance to the impact of water will be smaller. The two ends of the hemp rope are wound layer by layer on four round wooden stakes driven into the bank to make the position of the raft as fixed as possible. Four long wooden planks are laid in the middle of each raft as a bridge deck, and they are about two meters behind each other, allowing four people to pass side by side.

The raft pontoon bridge is very simple to build, and its service life is not low. As long as the river water does not rise or fall and cause the hemp rope to be pulled, it can still be guaranteed for two or three years. The pillars and pavement of the trestle bridge are made of giant wood in the forest, and their lifespan is almost as long as that of a small town. Even though it creaked from walking on it, it showed no sign of collapsing.

Crossing the pontoon bridge to the west, the first reclaimed land is Ye Zi's experimental field. Now it is surrounded by wooden boards, and soldiers from the First Army guard the entrance. In addition to eating, attending classes and sleeping these days, Ye Zi spends the rest of her time in the experimental field. From the window of the office on the third floor, Roland could vaguely see the scene in the wooden enclosure—the wheat there was growing crazily. In the morning, the ears of wheat were still green, but in the afternoon, they had turned into a golden ocean.

Gold One, which grows by magic power, is accumulating seeds almost once a day. If an outsider sees it, they might kneel down and shout miracles.

Seeing that the land, population and seeds were all ready, Roland decided to add the last link: the supervisor.

He recruited Assistant Minister Barov who has been busy recently.

"Your apprentice should be able to take care of himself," Roland asked. "I need to form two new departments in the city hall."

"Your Highness, there is... not enough manpower." Barov wondered.

In the past, you always agreed first, and then slowly discussed the details, but now you have learned to complain first. Roland slandered inwardly, but remained indifferent on the surface, "How could it not be enough? Didn't I just allocate a group of knights to you?"

Roland screened out more than 50 qualified knights who could read and write in the first round of review. Teachers could not have so many people, so they selected the best among the best, and finally selected nine knights as junior teachers, and the rest were assigned to the city hall to start as apprentices.

"Your Highness, those people are procrastinating, lazy, and unresponsive. They can make several mistakes in copying materials. They are not qualified as apprentices at all."

"How to discipline them is your business." Roland knocked on the table, "If you don't obey the arrangement, you can just work with the North Slope Mine. But I must build these two departments."

"Alright, Your Highness, you have the final say." Barov said helplessly.

Roland said: "The first is the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for supervising the cultivation and production of crops in the territory."

Barov was stunned, apparently it was the first time he heard that the city hall even managed to manage the land, "Your Highness, isn't this kind of thing left to the serfs themselves? It has nothing to do with us how they plant and harvest. We just need to harvest the land. It’s enough to pay the full amount of taxes.”

"So you... no, I mean that the harvest of crops in the past was so low." Roland took a sip of water from his cup to cover up his slip of the tongue, "A responsible city hall should even take care of people's eating and drinking. arrive."

"Eating and drinking...are you kidding me?"

"Of course not. Let's not talk about the importance of eating and drinking. It's the dereliction of duty of the city hall and mine to fail to satisfy the citizens. As for the second half, isn't the public toilet project built for this purpose? He put away his relaxed tone, and said seriously to Barov, "I don't know how the city hall in the capital operates. Maybe the life and death of civilians doesn't matter to them at all, but in Border Town, what I want to build It is an all-powerful political organization. It must be fully aware of the situation of the territory and the people. Only in this way can it gain the wholehearted support of the people and the efficient implementation of the government orders issued. Let me now talk about the composition of this department and the responsibilities it needs to undertake. The task, you remember it."

"Yes, Your Highness." Barov wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Go to the archives, find three or four people who have done farm work, and bring them into the Ministry of Agriculture. Two more apprentices will be responsible for records and statistics. Six people are almost enough."

"Wait...you want civilians to serve as city hall officials?" Barov looked shocked.

"They are not only obedient, but also highly motivated to do things. Why can't they be officials? Officials are not equal to nobles, and the Ministry of Agriculture also needs some professionals to guide future farming."

"But most of them don't even know the words..."

"That's why you need to send two apprentices to help with the clerical work," Roland interrupted, "and this situation won't last long, I will soon implement an education popularization plan in the territory, the purpose is to let everyone Everyone can read and write, and you will no longer have to worry about not having enough manpower.”

Obviously this news surprised Barov even more than letting civilians enter the city hall. He opened his mouth slightly, but was unable to utter a word for a long time.

Roland didn't care whether he could accept it or not, and continued to say: "Back to the Ministry of Agriculture, when serfs cultivate their own land, there will inevitably be uneven levels. For example, some people dig the soil deeper, and some This is an excellent opportunity for observation. The six people from the Ministry of Agriculture need to number the divided fields and record every step of the serfs' farming, how deep the soil is dug, and the interval between sowing. There are detailed data. I will give them measurement tools and teach them how to use them.”

"You mean...comparison?" Barov may be more rigid in some respects, but his mind is still quicker.

"That's right, you don't need to pay too much attention to the harvest for the first time farming. Continue to maintain food imports and... use some new varieties of wheat seeds, enough to ensure that everyone is not hungry. I need to find the most suitable one among these methods, write It will be recorded in the handbook. In the future, wheat planting will be carried out in this way, and the Ministry of Agriculture will be responsible for promotion, guidance and supervision.”

Roland didn't know much about farming, but this didn't prevent him from summarizing a set of optimal solutions with a scientific way of thinking. With this set of plans, whether it is expanding the cultivated area or adding new agricultural population, the average output of the land can be maintained at a relatively high level.

Barov nodded, then hesitated before saying: "Your Highness, I don't understand one thing. After the serfs were promoted to freemen, why did you only collect 20% of the crops as land tax? Even if you asked to pay 50%, you can keep Giving 50% to them also shows that you are extremely benevolent."

"Because it doesn't make sense to pile up coins in the basement," Roland explained, "After paying 20%, I will buy the remaining grain in their hands at a fixed price - in Border Town, grain trade is the exclusive project of the lord. As such Come on, the castle gets food, and they get paid. When they have a certain savings, they will want to buy things...such as cattle, iron implements, beef, cotton clothes, and good brick houses, and these only I can provide it. People in the town want to buy food, and they can only buy it from the castle. So eventually the coins will still flow back to my pocket, but in the cycle, it will continue to improve everyone's living standards, so to speak Do you understand it?"

Barov frowned and didn't answer for a long time, obviously in a state of being puzzled.

Roland smiled and shook his head, "If you don't understand, you can go back and think about it slowly, and follow what I said first."

The minister's assistant stood up in a daze, and suddenly turned around when he walked to the door, "By the way, Your Highness, you just said that you want to establish two departments. What is the other one?"

"Ministry of Education," Roland replied, "I will be in charge of this myself." (To be continued.)