Chapter 318 Devil! Get off my land!
Although it is not June yet, the weather is so hot that it feels like summer.
The Thousand River Valley is located southwest of the center of the empire. The tropical monsoon from the Emerald Sea flows upstream along the Ibe River, sending the hot summer ahead of time.
Among the three counties in the southern part of the Thousand River Valley, apart from North County, which suffers greatly from the plateau terrain, Kasha County and Langsand County both have short springs and long summers.
On the pale yellow plain outside Sugua Town, fields are divided by fences and shrubs, with thick smoke billowing from burning dead branches and weeds.
The huts, streams and wheat fields were all covered in smoke with a layer of acrid firewood fumes.
Although Horn vigorously promoted the reformist farmyard manure and green manure, and faced the huge demand for reclaimed land, they could only use traditional slash-and-burn fertilizer.
In the veil-like smoke, the agricultural workers of the Holy Hoe Monastery, wearing thin linen vests, were still working in the fields.
A man holds the curved bow of a wheeled plow like a plow handle and the wooden handrail. The hot sun has peeled off the skin on the back of his neck, revealing a large area of pink muscle.
But he seemed unaware, stepping forward with his bare feet in the soft soil.
Between the footprints, the plow broke through the waves of mud, dug up the dark soil, and left a series of furrows.
The two draft horses stuck out their tongues and panted heavily, sweat dripping down their bony backs and from their leg bones and abdomen.
Graz, who was leading the horse in front, sadly handed his water bottle to the draft horse. The draft horse immediately screamed and licked greedily the few remaining water.
"Don't give it a drink." The middle-aged plow handle probe shouted, "It is very smart. It knows that we have to rest and fetch water after we drink all the water. How much land has it been plowed? ? It's acting."
Greez touched the draft horse's head: "Let it drink, I'm not thirsty."
"Graz, you have to learn how to take care of livestock. You can't do good or bad to it. You have to treat him as the stupid big brother in the family who thinks he's smart." The middle-aged plow handler said while operating the wheel plow, "Both Don't be too tolerant to him, he will do everything possible to be lazy, and you can't be too harsh on him, because he is closer than your relatives." "I know" Gretz looked at his cousin helplessly. Uncle Nicholas, "Just this once, a pinch of white and a pinch of ashes are indeed thirsty."
"Papa, can I lead the horse instead?" Tang, who was combing the soil with a rake, Young brother Nicholas shouted in despair.
Nicholas turned to him and scolded him: "How long have you been working and you haven't even broken a sweat? Besides, are you embarrassed to compete with Gretz for the job of leading the horse?"
"If I had known, I would have cut off my hand..." The young man who continued to swing the rake muttered.
"Hey, you little bastard, how can you talk!?" Nicholas bent down angrily, grabbed a piece of hardened soil and threw it at his son, "If you were half as smart as Gretz, I would have taught you how to do it. Why are you driving a plow? You can't learn it on your own!"
Turning his head and looking at his embarrassed nephew, his uncle comforted him: "Don't listen to him, you learn hard, even though you don't have a left hand. But with this craft, I can earn two dinars more than others as a laborer.”
“Yeah, brother, I’m kidding you.” Even though a big bag was smashed out of his head. Little Nicholas still giggled.
"Why do we still need to be laborers? Your Majesty, haven't we all been allocated land?" Gretz looked at the land under his feet and changed the subject with a smile.
"You have to learn to use a plow on your own land in the future. If you know how to do it, it will be easy to find a wife." Old Nicholas is quite proud of his skills. After all, the plow handle is a technical skill. live.
Although they are still working as laborers at the Holy Hoe Monastery, things are different from before.
Under the previous manor model, draft horses, farm tools, livestock and even seeds were owned by knights.
In the manor in the hands of the lord, part of the land was originally given to farmers as self-cultivated land, and part of it was used as public land for all the people to work on.
But as time progressed, farmers began to cultivate land privately in large numbers, and their lives soon became affluent.
So while reducing the public land, the knights also required all farmers to pay monetary/grain rent or in-kind tribute on their private land.
This is equivalent to stealing the fruits of farmers' labor in reclaiming wasteland. This is why there is a large amount of arable land in Kush, but it is still abandoned.
Because clearing land will only be a waste of time.
From this perspective, Gong Bo Nong is just the slave of the lord.
Horn's 100-household community model is different. After dividing the fields, every bit they work is their own.
And in "public fields" such as the Holy Hoe Monastery, food and money are actually distributed.
The most important thing is that they can now privately own farm tools, seeds, and draft horses!
In the past, private possession of these tools was the privilege of armed farmers, and public farmers could only own a pitchfork at most.
In the previous manor economic situation, a large amount of manpower and iron ore were used to create high value-added weapons, furniture and luxury goods.
After ensuring the construction of weapons and equipment, the Salvation Army used the remaining iron ore into farm tools.
Any fellow monk can order agricultural tools, seeds and even draft horses and livestock from the head of a hundred households. These means of production controlled by the lords have finally fallen into the hands of the common people.
Even if you don't have money to buy it, you can still rent it at a very low price from the head of the household.
Although it is not as cost-effective as buying it by yourself, it can at least save this period of famine.
Looking at the smoky wheat fields next to the reclamation, Gretz smiled.
It would be great if Papa Papa and my sister were still here. Gretz looked down at his empty left arm. No matter how comforted he was by Nicholas, there was still a trace of loneliness in his eyes.
After the war, he originally wanted to join the Skitarii, but unfortunately he lost his left arm and could not join the army.
There was a faint phantom pain from the broken part of his arm, and he seemed to be back to that day again.
The ground was shaking, the wind was howling, and the simple wood door was banged.
The vicious knight who broke in and killed all his family members struck him with a sword.
He could recall the chaotic and vicious sound of horse hooves as if it was close to his ears...
Gretz raised his head suddenly, while his cousin and uncle were still looking blankly at the flying dust rising in the distance.
Under the scorching sun, the silver armor shone with golden luster.
"It's a knight, the Ibe knight from Jinhe Township." Gretz felt the blood all over his body rushing to his head.
As he spoke, he realized something was wrong and roughly pulled off the harness from the horse's chest.
“Little bastard, come here!”
Old Nicholas reacted immediately. He pulled his son over and ran over. With his hands on his waist, he pushed his son's buttocks and helped him get on the horse.
"Papa, what should you do?" Little Nicholas shouted towards his father as he hugged the draft horse's neck.
"Grizzle and I are riding another horse, you run to the forest!"
A whip was whipped hard on the draft horse's butt, and the draft horse was in pain. With a cry, he spread his hooves and ran towards the forest not far away.
"Oh, shit, this old man, oh, shit." Little Nikolai, who was dizzy and dizzy, shouted in horror.
The sound of horse hooves was frighteningly clear, and a blazing fire ignited in the village not far away.
The barking of dogs was mixed with the cries of women and children, the wheat fields were shaking, and the villagers were scrambling to escape.
Behind them were groups of knights rushing into the village.
As far as Gretz could see, flames and chaos swept over everything.
At the same time, he and old Nicholas finally took off the white harness with difficulty: "Uncle, get on the horse quickly!"
"Here it comes."
Grez was just about to hold the horse when he felt a huge force coming from behind his waist. The light and shadow in front of his eyes changed. Before he could speak, he was pushed to sit on it. horseback.
"Go to the outpost and report the news!" Old Nicholas whipped the horse on the butt.
Graz hugged the horse's neck and turned his head: "Uncle? Uncle! Get on the horse! I took...how did you take the horse's bit off?!"
"Can't carry it? If you touch two people, run away!" Old Nicholas shouted to Gretz with his hands on his lips.
It wasn't until Gretz's back disappeared into the field that the middle-aged plow handler took two steps forward and picked up the rake on the ground.
When he looked up, several knights wearing chain mail were standing at the head of the field looking at him.
"Farmer!" The knight in charge pointed at him with the tip of his sword, "Who is the owner of these lands? Take me to him."
"It's me."
"Ah?" The knight plucked his ears and walked closer, holding the horse's belly, "Speak louder, who is it? What is it?"
"It's me..."
"Hahahaha——" The knight was stunned for a moment, then he covered his stomach and laughed, "Are you the lord? Stop joking! Whose land is it?"
He didn't notice at all that the farmer in front of him was shaking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.
“Me! It’s my land!” roaring, old Nicholas picked up the rake in his hand.
The rake brought up a strong wind, and in the disbelief eyes of the knight, it penetrated into the eyeballs of the war horse.
"Xilulu" the precious war horse howled in pain, almost knocking the knight off his horse.
"You...you...damn it!" The knight knight was so shocked and angry that he could not speak coherently. He kicked the middle-aged man directly, "How dare you?"
< br>"This is my land! This is my land!" Wiping away the nosebleeds with his sleeves that reached his shoulders, Old Nicholas stood up with a rake and rushed toward the knight knight like a madman.
"Devil! Get out of my land!"
(End of Chapter)