Outside the city of Den Burg, spring plowing is in full swing. After applying the Quyuanli, plus Ma Lin, he has 1,000 draft horses. Therefore, the speed of land reclamation is relatively fast.
During the time of plowing and sowing, Marin reclaimed 2,200 Ugrams of new arable land, applied manure, and sowed rye seeds. Of course, for raising horses, 200 Ugrams of them are planted oats. Because horses consume a lot of oats (note: there is no more soybeans suitable for feeding horses in Europe at this time). You know, this is 1030 horses. During this period of time, just buying oats cost Marin a lot of money. Fortunately, Marin has enough money to avoid bankruptcy. If it were replaced by an ordinary small manor owner, the feed for 1,000 horses would make him bankrupt.
Under Kohler's operation, family members of soldiers came one after another. The adobe house is practical, and it is not a problem to live in a family. You know, many European serfs now live in grass-wood houses that collapse when the wind blows or leak when it rains. Poor families cannot afford bricks and stones, nor can they afford wood. In fact, the houses of many poor people are basically built with firewood and dry grass, with a little dirt on the outside. This kind of broken house is much worse than the regular adobe house built by Marin.
However, the appearance of the adobe houses is average, relatively earthy, and it seems that they are lived by poor people. Only by brushing lime on the exterior, the look and feel will be much better.
But Marin's idea is that, in addition to the practicality of adobe houses, factors such as low cost and fast construction are also taken into consideration. If it is serious to build a brick house, it is necessary to send people to the mainland to buy bricks and hire a large number of masons, which is costly and time-consuming.
As for Marin himself, living in the castle does not feel comfortable at all. Castles are different from villas. Villas have good lighting, large windows and more glass. In the castle, for safety reasons, the windows are small, similar to lookout holes and shooting holes.
So, the light in the castle is very dark and it feels very uncomfortable. In some places inside the castle, lamps or torches should be lit in broad daylight, otherwise it would be difficult to see clearly.
Fortunately, the room on the south side of the third floor of the main building in the center of the castle has good light, and the windows are quite large. But what makes Marin strange is that the glass window is weird...
Why is it weird? It turned out that the glass windows and doors are indeed made of glass, but the glass looks very irregular. Because, this glass window door is spliced by pieces of small glass. Each piece of glass is about the size of several palms.
When I asked why, it turned out that in this era, glassware was blown out by craftsmen. Artisans, they can't blow a glass plate with a large area... Marin suddenly thought of the "rolling method" as a technology for making large flat glass... However, he has no plans to make glass for the time being, nor does he have any related technology Talent, this idea is just a flash...
Marin once promised to distribute the land to his brothers. So, one morning after the end of spring plowing, Marin asked Schwartz to gather all his brothers...
"Brothers, I promised to allocate land to you before. Now that the spring plowing is over, it's time to fulfill the promise!"
Hearing this, the eyes of the big soldiers under him began to look eager. However, because of strict discipline and habits, they did not make any noise.
"However, as you all know, there is not much land on the island. Even I, the baron, spent a lot of money to buy it back, and only got 800 Ugrams of arable land. Including the newly reclaimed land now, the total is only 3,000 Ugrams... "
"After thinking about it, I plan to distribute 2,000 Ugrams to the brothers. On average, each family is 5 Ugrams. Do you have any opinions?" Marin asked.
The soldiers were given the command "take a rest" and they could talk back. They all shook their heads, expressing that they had no objections. Just kidding, Marin only has 3,000 Ugrams in total, and if he took out 2,000 Ugrams, what else can he say? These days, nobles are considered good people if they are willing to share the spoils with soldiers. What's more, Marin took out two-thirds of the total arable land and divided it equally among his subordinates. What else should I say? This is the Middle Ages, not modern times. The nobles distributed things to the civilians, which were all "gifts", not what they should have.
5 Ugrams, that is, 10 acres, equivalent to 60 acres of land. If you count it carefully, it's definitely a lot. Don't dare to say anything else, it's absolutely fine to keep the family alive from starvation.
You know, Marin publicly promised that the land of these 5 Ugrams belonged to the soldier's family. Moreover, during the soldiers' service, they are completely exempt from any taxes. Of course, the tithes of the church need to be paid by themselves.
Even after retiring, Marin will only collect 10% of the tax. In other words, 80% of its income belongs to itself. This is completely unimaginable in today's Europe.
You know, in Europe right now, the taxes on serfs and yeoman farmers are very high. Needless to say, the serfs took most of the income from the serf owners, leaving only basic rations and scarce supplies. Even self-cultivating farmers need to bear at least 40% of the land rent (see "German Peasant War"). Not to mention that, the lords (non-serf owners) sometimes apportion some exorbitant taxes and so on. Fishing and hunting have to pay taxes, and they pay heavy taxes. Therefore, the hunters in the Middle Ages were actually very difficult. Previously, Marin's hunting behavior in the Black Forest was actually poaching. However, they came and went without a trace on horseback. Even if the local lord got the news and chased them to collect taxes, they left early. Moreover, Marin brought a few younger brothers, who looked like knights at first glance. Ordinary little lords don't dare to provoke them casually. If you provoke the wandering knight, it will hurt people. Those little lords are also bullying.
With 60 mu of land, even if 150 catties of rye is produced per mu, 9,000 catties of rye can be harvested, which is about 10,000 pounds. Leave 80%, which is 8,000 pounds of rye. 8,000 pounds of rye! How many people is enough to feed? At the end of the day, a few members of the family will eat a few pounds of rye, right? According to a family of five, even if all five are strong men with big stomachs, each person can eat at most 2 pounds of rye, right? In fact, that is impossible, because the black bread of poor families is mixed with many strange things. Such as wild vegetables and weeds, and even dirt and sawdust...
Therefore, for ordinary people, it is basically enough to consume a few pounds of rye a day to make bread, and there are a lot of other adulterants in it. 365 days a year, but only consume a few hundred pounds of rye. There are eight or nine thousand pounds of rye left, how much will that cost
Those big and rough soldiers spread their fingers and counted one after another. As a result, the more calculations, the happier they were. It seems that they have seen an infinitely bright future.
"Don't be too happy, soldiers. The land of 5 Ugrams is yours only if you serve me wholeheartedly. If you escape on the battlefield, this land will be taken back..."
Hearing this, everyone's heart trembled. If you want land, you can't run away when you fight in the future. However, they came out to work hard, wasn't it just for their family to live better? If the land is taken back, how will the family live
"Boss, what if I die in battle? What about the land?" asked a soldier.
"If you die in battle, or become disabled because of fighting for the lord, then this land will belong to your family forever. Moreover, the lord tax will be exempted for 20 years. After 20 years, continue to pay 10% of the tax , never overcharge, no miscellaneous taxes. As for the church’s tithe, that’s out of my jurisdiction. However, if you die in battle and your family can’t pay the tithe in a short time, I will help to pay it in advance…”
"This... the conditions are so good..." Many people were very excited. In fact, those who came out to be mercenaries were already prepared to die and were not afraid of death. They are just afraid that after their death, no one will take care of their family members. Marin's promise obviously solved their worries.
"Boss, I have a question..." a soldier raised his hand and said.
"Say… "
"It doesn't matter if I die in battle, it's just... just..."
"Just what? Just talk!"
"It's just that I haven't married a wife yet, and I haven't left any descendants..." the young man blushed and said.
"Hahahaha..." Everyone laughed. However, the soldier had a good point. When Marin selected soldiers, they all selected impoverished young people who were not married, or could not afford to marry. Everyone's situation was similar...
"That's no problem. I promised you to help you find wives. How about this, when I'm done with my work, I'll find a way to help you find wives..."
"Okay, long live the boss!"
"Stop talking nonsense, come, come, let's draw lots to claim the land!" Marin took out a box, which was full of numbered slips, representing the marked land...