14: Plan in mind

Rage Bear Fortress, Council Chamber.

A huge map was spread across the stone floor of the hall. It was a map of the Red River Territory. Wren was leaning over, carefully studying the information on it.

This map was created by the Derrick Family, who had spent considerable effort and money to hire a professional Cartographer from Rage Bear Fortress to travel throughout the entire Red River Territory. It detailed the terrain, mineral resources, village distribution, and other information of the Red River Territory.

Three days ago, after inspecting the farmland, Wren had increased the daily food ration quota for the subjects on the spot. From then on, the ration was set at two pounds per person per day.

Wren originally thought two pounds of rations would be enough, but the reality was that his previous estimate of two pounds was still too low.

Based on the actual situation after distributing the rations, Wren re-estimated that for an ordinary adult subject performing heavy labor without other food supplements—especially meat—they would need at least three pounds of grain a day to replenish their physical expenditure.

However, he did not raise the daily food ration standard again this time.

First, the reserves in the territory's granary did not allow for it.

Second, Wren could not limitlessly improve the treatment of the Red River subjects, nor could he give too much favor at once without reason. He understood the principle that 'a small favor breeds gratitude, but a large one breeds resentment.'

Besides, Wren was no saint!

Even so, the two-pound daily ration quota made all the subjects of the Red River Territory deeply grateful to Wren. Their enthusiasm for work surged instantly, and because they ate better, they had more strength, leading to higher efficiency.

However, Wren knew this change was only temporary. Unless the root problem was solved, this enthusiasm would be worn away before long.

What Wren needed was a fundamental change to improve the subjects' initiative, rather than having to invest something every time to motivate them. Otherwise, he might as well be like other nobles who used whips and swords; it was more practical and required less investment.

Back at Rage Bear Fortress, Wren set about studying the farming model of the territory's fields. Grain expenditure was much higher than expected, which caused his grain reserves to shrink significantly. Wren needed to find a way to increase grain production as soon as possible.

In the noble territories of the Kingdom of Asriel, every serf was required to cultivate more than thirty mu of farmland. Furthermore, there were standards for crop yield; failure to meet the goal resulted in punishment ranging from flogging to execution.

All output from a serf's labor belonged to the lord. The lord only needed to provide the bare minimum of grain to ensure the serf did not starve to death.

This model was the result of nobles calculating the labor capacity of Serfs, squeezing every bit of labor out of each one to the maximum extent.

As for ordinary subjects, they could cultivate as much land as they could clear within the territory, as long as they paid their taxes on time. The lord's tax took eighty percent of the annual harvest, leaving less than twenty percent for the ordinary subjects.

This twenty percent of output was just enough to guarantee an ordinary subject's family rations for one year and seeds for the next.

In Wren's memory, basically all nobles followed this standard. Some were even more excessive; once field yields increased, they would further raise taxes, but if yields dropped, very few nobles would lower them.

The Serfs' hard labor only earned them a miserable life where they never knew where their next meal was coming from.

Ordinary subjects were slightly better off, but only marginally so. A year of hard work barely provided enough to stay fed and warm. They spent the year waiting for the lord to bestow some items during major festivals to get by. The lives of ordinary subjects in noble territories were equally difficult.

The Red River Territory had basically been governed under this model in the past.

Wren took one look at this eighty percent tax standard and understood why the people working in the fields had no motivation.

“The kingdom's nobles haven't considered the living standards of the subjects in their territories at all!”

“Do they not see the subjects as human? An eighty percent tax... they actually had the nerve to come up with that.”

The nobles of the Kingdom of Asriel governed their territories in an extremely crude and simple manner. As long as their subordinates farmed well and paid their grain taxes on time, it was enough. As for the subjects' living standards or how they fared? Sorry, that was not a concern for the noble lords.

As long as the commoners farming for the noble lord didn't starve to death, that was the greatest mercy the lords could bestow.

On the other hand, no matter how hard the subjects worked, they were left with nothing but rations after working themselves to death. Who would be willing to do more?

Wren naturally wouldn't engage in such predatory taxation that didn't treat subjects as human beings.

Wren planned to first clarify the amount of land for all subjects. Currently, the population of the Red River Territory had undergone a major overhaul. The Serfs had been completely plundered by the Blackstone Territory, so the land definitely needed to be reorganized.

Serfs originally had no human rights, and since there were no Serfs in the Red River Territory now, Wren temporarily set aside the policies regarding them. His focus for reform was on the ordinary subjects.

Wren planned to allocate five mu of land to each adult subject. This land could not be bought or sold, nor could subjects clear the wilderness to increase their land without the lord's permission. One adult laborer equaled five mu of land.

Previously, ordinary subjects could farm as much as they wanted without limit as long as they paid taxes. Some individuals farmed seventy or eighty mu, which in Wren's eyes was a complete waste.

A serf farming dozens of mu of land wasn't really cultivating it at all. They would throw a handful of seeds in the spring, and at other times only pull some weeds and water it until harvest in the autumn. It was no better than wild grass.

Normally, an adult laborer could cultivate at most five mu of farmland. If they had the assistance of oxen and upgraded farm tools, that could be doubled.

Wren couldn't significantly increase the number of oxen in the territory in a short time, and iron farm tools also required time to forge, so he decided to allocate five mu of farmland per person first.

At the same time, Wren decided that the original eighty percent tax would be reduced to fifty percent when harvest season arrived. The territory would take fifty percent, and the rest would go to the Farmers.

“A fifty percent tax... even a legendary miser wouldn't be much worse!”

Thinking about how he was still collecting a fifty percent tax even after a massive reduction, Wren clicked his tongue once again at the greed of the nobles.

The better the Farmers cultivated the land, the more they would harvest, and the more they would keep for themselves. This would create a virtuous cycle. Wren didn't understand why the nobles of the Kingdom of Asriel insisted on draining the pond to catch the fish.

Reducing taxes would mobilize the Farmers' enthusiasm, making them actively seek ways to increase field yields. As long as yields increased, the taxes collected would also increase. In fact, even with a tax cut, the total tax collected wouldn't decrease. This was beneficial for both parties.

However, the most crucial part of this was increasing production. If the farmland couldn't significantly increase its yield, Wren's tax cut would result in a loss.

In this regard, Wren had already organized a group of skilled Farmers from the Red River Territory to brainstorm and develop a set of farming methods to increase production.

Of course, this also required Wren's personal effort. As a descendant with the bloodline of a farming nation, the genes for farming were etched into his bones.

Although Wren wasn't a professional farmer before, the knowledge he had learned included things about farming. Being from a farming family himself, he also understood some farming techniques; he just didn't have much practical experience.

Wren taught all the farming knowledge he knew to the dozen or so Farmers he had picked out who seemed relatively clever to him.

These dozen people were all old Farmers who had farmed their whole lives. Regarding the secret farming methods Wren described to them, they were all astounded. Whether it was Deep Plowing or Composting, these people had never encountered such things, nor had they even thought about them usually.

Although these old Farmers were extremely skeptical of the secret farming methods Wren spoke of, none of them dared to say it. All dozen of them nodded in agreement with Wren, lamenting the omniscience and greatness of the Lord.

Wren didn't have the time to explain anything to these ignorant Farmers. As long as they did what he said, it would be fine.

Thinking about how he had been lecturing for two or three days and those Farmers were still looking at him blankly, Wren felt a surge of frustration.

“Fortunately, there's still more than half a year until the next planting season. I can still train them slowly.”

“After another month of training, I can find a piece of land to try Composting first. Once the iron farm tools are made, I'll try Deep Plowing.”

Comparing the farmland areas on the map, Wren was already planning where to put the future experimental fields.

Upgrading the entire farming method was a process that required some time. To ensure the results were accurate and effective, Wren was willing to wait.

The soil in the Red River Valley was very fertile, and with no shortage of water, the Serfs' previous method of throwing a handful of seeds would still yield something by harvest time. With a little care, the harvest could satisfy survival needs.

Perhaps it was precisely because the land was too fertile that the Farmers of the Kingdom of Asriel had developed a rough farming style—randomly throwing seeds, pulling a few weeds, watering it, and that was it.

Fornal had mentioned that there were at least a hundred thousand mu of farmland in the Red River Territory. Wren felt he perhaps shouldn't have too high expectations for these fields.

The forty thousand mu of farmland near the river were top-quality fields in Fornal's eyes, but in Wren's eyes, they were half-finished products that were only halfway developed, completely wasting the land's original value. Further development would be needed later.

Wren looked at the vast territory on the map, somewhat worried that the shortage of population would greatly limit his future large-scale development plans.

Currently, the six thousand laborers working in the fields wouldn't all be devoted to farming later. If everyone stayed in the fields all the time, the normal operation of the territory would become an issue.

Other areas also needed labor to maintain the territory's operation. The six thousand people going to the fields now was only a temporary emergency measure due to the special circumstances.

“Right now, the only heavy work in the fields is weeding. In a few days, once the weeds are cleared, it'll be time for those craftsmen to play their part.”

Perhaps because the Noah Continent was a supernatural world, the vitality of plants was extremely vigorous. Weeds, in particular, displayed this exuberant vitality to the fullest.

The farmland, which hadn't been tended to for a month, was full of weeds everywhere. Currently, the main job of the Red River Territory's Farmers was weeding.

“If only there were herbicides.”

Having witnessed the vigorous weeds of the Noah Continent, Wren missed the efficient herbicides of his hometown. With them, he wouldn't need to spend so much manpower on weeding.

After confirming the numbers on the map one last time, Wren stood up.

“We'll divide it like this. From these six thousand people, subtract the young children and some of the women, then allocate some necessary labor and craftsmen for tasks like house repairs and fishing. In the end, there should be three thousand Farmers left. Three thousand people for 15,000 mu of land.”

“That's it!”

“The focus for next year will be cultivating these 15,000 mu of riverside farmland.”

Wren marked out the selected lands on the map.

“Did you get all that down?”

“Yiven.”

Wren spoke as he turned around. A youth was carefully taking notes with a pen and paper.

“I've got it, Lord.”

The youth was named Yiven. He was Fornal's grandson and was only fourteen years old this year.

Fornal had too much work and couldn't always be by Wren's side to take orders at any time. Wren needed a literate scholar as an assistant. There were very few literate people in the Red River Territory to begin with, so there was little room for choice.

Fornal's young grandson, Yiven, was literate and educated. He had also learned calculation and administrative skills through Fornal's daily teaching. Since there were no issues with his background, he stayed by Wren's side.

The successor Fornal had originally trained was one of his sons, but his son had died in the war against the Fel Orcs. Now, only this young grandson remained.

The 15,000 mu of farmland Wren had drawn on the map were precisely the fields on both banks of the Red River where the entire Red River Territory was currently concentrating its labor.

The Red River ran through the entire Red River Territory from north to south. The farmland on the north and south banks of Red River Town was very large. If extended to the northern and southern edges of the territory, there were about three hundred thousand mu of good riverside fields.

The area of the four northern and southern villages near Red River Town alone had about a hundred thousand mu.

Given the current population of the Red River Territory, Wren couldn't develop all the land. In the short term, he could only focus on developing the farmland near Red River Town.

Then he would gradually radiate outward from Red River Town, starting with the four riverside villages to the north and south.

“That's about it!”

“However, upgrading farming methods and the matter of land allocation and tax reduction must be done step by step. It's already the second half of the year. As long as these things are accomplished before next year's spring plowing, next year's harvest will definitely see a huge increase.”

Wren calculated in his head. Although he was anxious and wanted to change the status quo of the Red River Territory immediately, having handled many projects before transmigrating, he knew that some things couldn't be forced just because one was in a hurry. That would only lead to more mistakes.

Haste makes waste!

Today was July 3rd. Five days had passed since he returned to the territory.

There was still more than half a year until the spring plowing season next March. He had enough time to complete the plan in his mind.

“I also need to have those young men and the women of the Red River Territory form new families as soon as possible. Only then can things settle down.”

Previously, the young and strong men of the Red River Territory had been almost entirely lost. After another group was taken away, almost every remaining household of the elderly, weak, women, and children was missing a man.

Survival in the North was harsh, and the border regions were even more difficult. Death was a common occurrence, and the residents here were used to it.

Regarding family reorganization—taking a new wife or husband—the people of the North had a strong capacity for acceptance.

Furthermore, with the five noble territories in the Red River Valley having developed in this area for over two hundred years, the people of the Red River Valley were relatively familiar with each other. The residents here also recognized one another, and there were no differences in lifestyle habits, so the resistance to reorganizing families wouldn't be very great.

Wren intended to have these young and strong people form new families within a month.

“Once families are formed, subsequent reforms can be more secure, the territory can be more stable, and the population can slowly increase.”

“Although natural growth is a bit slow, having some is better than none!”

Wren looked at the locations of the villages marked on the map. Although those places were temporarily abandoned, it wouldn't be long before he reoccupied those villages, and even more.

He looked toward the north of the map, where there were large tracts of land that currently had no owner.

“Lord!”

“Lord, this is bad!”

An urgent voice came from outside the hall, interrupting Wren's thoughts.

Immediately after, Alger ran in anxiously, bringing someone behind him.

“What is it? Why so flustered?”