As the forest land on the south bank of the Chishui River is gradually cleared, the day of farming is getting closer.
In order to make it easier for people to travel between the banks of the Chishui River, Roland ordered people to build a pontoon bridge on the river nearly 100 meters away. In the lower part are dozens of rafts made by carpenters, connected by thick hemp ropes. He also specially explained to the carpenter that the two ends of the raft should be surrounded by sharp angles, so that the resistance to the impact of water will be smaller. The two ends of the hemp rope are wrapped around the four log piles driven by the shore, so that the position of the raft is as fixed as possible. Four long wooden boards are laid in the middle of each raft to serve as the bridge deck, and when they are close together, they are about two meters, allowing four people to pass side by side.
The raft pontoon is very simple to set up and has a long service life. As long as the river water does not surge or plummet, causing the hemp rope to be pulled off, the trees in the hidden forest can still be guaranteed to have excellent texture in two or three years, such as the trestle bridge in the small town pier The columns and pavements are made of giant trees in the forest, and their lifespan is almost the same as that of a small town. Despite the crunch on it, there was no sign of it collapsing.
Crossing the pontoon bridge to the west, the first piece of land reclaimed is the experimental field of leaves. Now it is surrounded by wooden boards, and there are soldiers from the First Army guarding the entrance. Except for eating, attending classes and sleeping, Ye Ye spends the rest of the 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 where the wheat was growing wildly. In the morning, the wheat ears were green, but in the afternoon, it had become a golden ocean.
The Golden No. 1, which grows by magic, is accumulating seeds at a rate of almost one harvest a day. If an outsider sees it, he might kneel down and shout a miracle.
Seeing that the land, population and seeds were all ready, Roland decided to make up the last link: the supervisor.
He recruited Barov, the minister's assistant who had been very busy recently.
"Your apprentice should be able to stand alone," Roland asked. "I need to form two new departments at City Hall."
"His Royal Highness, this... is not enough manpower." Barov wondered.
In the past, you always agreed first and then discussed the details slowly, but now you have learned to complain first. Roland murmured inwardly, but he was indifferent on the surface, "How could it be not enough, didn't I just allocate you a group of knights?"
Roland's first round of review screened out more than 50 knights who met the requirements and could read and write. There are not so many teachers, so the best among the best are selected. In the end, nine knights are selected as junior teachers, and the rest are assigned to the city hall, starting as apprentices.
"His Royal Highness, those people are both procrastinating and lazy, and their response is slow. They can copy a few mistakes in the copy of the data. As an apprentice, they are not qualified at all."
"How to discipline them is up to you," Roland knocked on the table. "If you don't obey the arrangement, you can just distribute it directly to the Beipo mine. But I must build these two departments."
"Okay, Your Highness, you have the final say." Barov said helplessly.
"The first is the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the cultivation and production of crops on the territory," Rowland said.
Barov was stunned for a while, apparently it was the first time he heard that the city hall had to take care of even farming, "Your Highness, aren't the serfs tossing about this kind of thing? How they plant and harvest has nothing to do with us, we just harvest it. Just enough tax."
"So you... No, I mean the crop yields were so low in the past." Roland took a cup of water to cover up his slip of the tongue, "A responsible city hall should even take care of the people's food and drink. ."
"Eat and drink... Are you kidding me?"
"Of course not, I won't mention the importance of food and drink. It is the city hall's dereliction of duty and my dereliction of duty to not keep the residents full. As for the second half, isn't the public toilet project built for this purpose? He put away his relaxed tone and said to Barov seriously, "I don't know how the city hall in the capital city works. Maybe the life of the commoners doesn't matter to them at all, but in Border Town, I want to build It is an all-powerful political institution. It must know everything about the territory and the people. Only in this way can it get the wholehearted support of the territory and the decrees it issues. task, you have memorized it."
"Yes, Your Highness." Barov wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"You go to the archives, find three or four people who have done farm work, and bring them into the Ministry of Agriculture. Transfer two more apprentices to be responsible for records and statistics. Six people are almost enough."
"Wait... You want to let civilians serve as city hall officials?" Barov looked shocked.
"They are not only obedient, but also highly motivated. Why can't they serve as 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 word..."
"That's why you need to send two apprentices to help with the clerical work first," 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 all Everyone can read and write, and then you will no longer have to worry about running out of manpower.”
Obviously this news surprised Barov even more than letting civilians enter the city hall. He opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't say a word for a long time.
Regardless of whether he could accept it or not, Roland continued: "Coming back to the Ministry of Agriculture, when serfs are cultivating their own land, there will inevitably be uneven levels. For example, some people turn the soil deeper, while others 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 when the serfs are plowing, how deep the soil is ploughed and the interval between sowings. There is detailed data. I will give them measurement tools and teach them how to use them.”
"You mean... contrast?" Barov may be more old-fashioned in some respects, but his mind is still quicker.
"Yeah, the first crop doesn't have to worry too much about the harvest. Keep importing food and... using some new varieties of wheat seeds, enough to keep everyone from going hungry. I need to find the most suitable of these methods and write It is recorded in the manual. In the future, wheat cultivation 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 that didn't prevent him from using scientific thinking to sum up a set of optimal solutions. With this plan, the average output of the land can be maintained at a high level, whether it is expanding the cultivated area or adding new agricultural population in the future.
Barov nodded, then hesitated before saying: "His Royal Highness, I don't understand one thing, after the serf was promoted to a free citizen, why did you only charge 20% of the crops as land tax? Even if you ask to pay 50%, you can stay. Giving 50% to them also shows that you are extremely kind."
"Because the coins piled up in the basement doesn't make any sense," Roland explained, "After turning over 20%, I will buy the remaining grain from their hands at a fixed price. In Border Town, grain trade belongs to the lord's exclusive project. In this way, The castle gets food, they get paid. With a certain amount of savings, they want to buy something... such as cattle, iron farming tools, beef, cotton clothes, and good brick houses, which only I can provide .The townspeople want to buy food, and the same can only be bought from the castle. So in the end the coins will still flow back into my pocket, but in the cycle, it can make everyone's living standards continue to improve, so you get the idea ?"
Barov frowned and didn't answer for a while, apparently in a state of confusion.
Roland smiled and shook his head, "If you don't understand, you can go back and think about it slowly, and execute as I said."
The assistant minister stood up in a trance, and suddenly turned around when he walked to the door, "By the way, Your Highness, you just said that you will establish two departments, what is the other one?"
"Ministry of Education," Roland replied, "I will be responsible for this myself." (.)