Chapter 125: Harvest

The military strength of Northguard Keep had greatly changed. It started with only seventy-one Barbarian Warriors. Now, including the Militia and new recruits, there were one hundred eighty-six soldiers.

There were thirty Militia, forty new recruits, forty soldiers summoned by the Reinforcement Token, and five Scouts who just finished basic training. Plus the Barbarian Guard, that was the military force Su Lun now possessed.

The population of Northguard Keep had also surpassed two thousand. Of course, over seventy percent were Su Lun’s Serfs. Even the Refugees survived by working for Su Lun.

Because of trade, several Caravans came to Northguard Keep every month to trade. The White Sugar from Northguard Keep was very popular in the Northern Provinces. Because of the White Sugar, high-quality Rum also successfully found a market among the Nobles. It had been almost four months since Su Lun came to Northguard Keep. This small city deep in the Northern Wasteland had gained some fame among the Nobles.

If nothing unexpected happened, Su Lun, the pioneering Lord, would become a true Territory Noble. Then, many Nobles would come to flatter him. After all, a rising Territory Noble could grant titles to many lower-ranking Nobles.

Su Lun never considered accepting the allegiance of those Nobles. Their schemes were bound to fail. He had no intention of granting those Nobles any land. Right now, he was busy harvesting crops.

More than three months had passed since the first field was cultivated. The first batch of Potatoes planted had matured after about one hundred days. The remaining Potatoes would mature within the next half month.

If this year’s Potato harvest was good, given the yield of Potatoes, Su Lun’s Territory wouldn’t face famine for several years even if no more Potatoes were planted.

Of course, starting next year, Su Lun would reduce the amount of Potatoes planted and switch to growing some Wheat and other grains. After all, he didn’t plan to eat Potatoes forever. Were fried noodle with sauce, steamed buns, and scallion pancakes not delicious? If he had the conditions, why would he keep eating Potatoes? He planned to slowly try various delicious foods from his previous life.

The first batch of cultivated land in Northguard Keep was all good paddy fields. The soil was quite fertile. Even without fertilizer, the yield of Potatoes was still pretty good.

Su Lun went to the fields where the first batch of Potatoes were planted. He randomly selected a few plots and had the Serfs start harvesting the crops.

“Lord, we have assigned people to the land you designated,” a servant said as he approached Su Lun.

Su Lun looked and saw that the Serfs in those plots were ready. He then nodded. “Begin.”

“Begin!” a loud-voiced Soldier shouted nearby. Following the order, the Serfs in these specially selected fields started harvesting the Potatoes using various tools.

They turned over the soft soil, grabbed the vines, and pulled hard. Clusters of Potatoes were pulled out from the soil. After shaking off the dirt, each Potato, at least the size of a fist, hung together in strings, looking very pleasing. A single string of Potatoes weighed several pounds.

They removed the Potatoes from the vines and threw the fruits into bamboo baskets nearby. The Potatoes from each plot were weighed together to estimate the yield per acre as accurately as possible. Though there was still some error, it wasn’t much. This helped roughly estimate this year’s Potato yield.

An acre of land wasn’t very big. These Serfs worked very fast, wanting to leave a good impression on Su Lun. If Su Lun was happy and rewarded them with a few Points, they could gain their freedom faster and then own their own land. These people were very content with that.

Soon, the Potatoes from one nearby acre were harvested. Su Lun had people go and weigh them. Basket after basket of Potatoes were sifted to remove soil and then weighed. The Potatoes from each plot were weighed and labeled one by one.

Potatoes were widely grown in this world. They were the staple food for most commoners. This crop was easy to grow and had high yield. Only a small amount of land was used to grow Rice, Wheat, and other crops. These were usually used to pay taxes. Moreover, Rice and Wheat were basically daily foods only for Nobles or wealthy merchants.

Taxes in this world were not low. Because taxes everywhere were set by the local Lords. Some were kinder, but the greedy ones imposed various taxes—fishing in the river was taxed, gathering firewood in the mountains was taxed, and there was an annual head tax. In short, taxes were levied on all aspects of life.

Every year during farming season, they had to first work on the Noble’s land before they could tend to their own fields. Each week, they had to labor for the Lord for three days. If not for Potatoes, half the commoners in this world would starve.

After about half an hour, the Potato yields from these plots were tallied. The plot with the highest yield had three hundred three kilograms of Potatoes. The plot with the lowest yield had two hundred fifty-four kilograms.

A yield of over two hundred kilograms wasn’t very high. Because it was new land, the first year’s yield was slightly lower. Next year, with farmyard manure, the yield would be higher. Even with the current yield, the output from these lands was enough to feed over ten thousand people. Plus, Potatoes could be planted three times a year. So, for a considerable time, he wouldn’t have to worry about food.

With the food problem solved, Su Lun could increase efforts to bring in more people. At least three hundred thousand acres of good farmland could be cultivated in Northguard Keep, enough to support fifty to sixty thousand people. Only about ten thousand acres had been cultivated so far. He had no intention of leaving those lands empty.

Northguard Keep’s location was still somewhat remote. But if it weren’t so remote, this land wouldn’t be available for him to develop; others would have taken it already. So there was no point complaining. If Su Lun wanted more people, he could only rely on Caravans bringing some Refugees each time, or go to Karlt City to buy slaves himself.

But both methods required spending a lot of money and were slow to show results. Unless Su Lun was confident he could obtain a Recruitment Token regularly, this was the best method.

Su Lun also very much wanted to win over those Drow Elves. Drow Elves were also a powerful race. Compared to the obvious weaknesses of Barbarians, Drow Elves had almost no flaws. Of course, if they didn’t worship the Dark Maiden, Su Lun wouldn’t dare accept these Drow Elves.

Aside from the Drow Elves who worshiped the Dark Maiden, Su Lun thought nine out of ten other Drow Elves had mental issues. Every day was full of schemes and murders. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time practicing riding skills?

So far, Su Lun still hadn’t actively contacted those Drow Elves. After experiencing escape and finally settling down, these Drow Elves were actually very sensitive and insecure. Living long in such a deceitful environment made it hard for them to trust others. Su Lun’s best approach now was to show them some kindness but not get too close.

In fact, Su Lun already considered this group of Drow Elves as meat already in his mouth. Those who lived year-round in the Underdark most likely couldn’t adapt to the environment of the Northern Wilderness. How cold the Northern Wilderness winter was, those who hadn’t experienced it couldn’t imagine.