Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 269 Announcement
At dawn, Shovel Harbor was awakened by the sound of horses' hooves as three unfamiliar cavalrymen carrying green flags sped into the town.

They first rang the bell to gather the residents, then posted three notices on the church door without reading them aloud—literate townspeople would read them to others—and simply left for the next village.

……

Shovel Lake is located northwest of Thevadhan and is the largest lake in Thepbong County.

According to folklore, in order to educate the Platonic people, the saint Ados performed a miracle in public, digging out a lake with just one shovel.

From then on, the Parathu people here converted to Catholicism, and the lake was named Shovel Lake.

The port town, situated on the shore of the lake, was naturally also called Shovel Port.

The people of Chanzigang mainly make a living by farming and fishing, with some also engaging in business and manual labor.

Goods transported from downstream are unloaded here. Much of the agricultural produce sold in Tiefeng County is also loaded onto ships here.

Thanks to its advantageous geographical location, Chanzi Port has gradually developed into the wealthiest town in Tiefeng County, second only to Rewodan.

……

After the unfamiliar cavalrymen left, the townspeople gradually gathered around the notice. A well-dressed old gentleman squinted and began to read it aloud in a deliberately profound manner.

There were three notices in total, addressing three main points in a simple and straightforward manner.

……

The first piece is titled "Encouraging Farmers".

This winter was warm, and the early wheat sprouted quickly. The Montagne bauman ordered all town and village heads to immediately organize manpower to press down the wheat seedlings and to have cattle and horses lie down on the ground, without delay.

[Pressing wheat seedlings] means using a millstone or log to flatten wheat seedlings.

Crushing overdeveloped winter wheat is not only harmless but also beneficial, as it will make the wheat grow stronger the following spring.

The farming expert from St. John's Town explained the concept of "holding a market in a wheat field"—a concept that Winters himself struggled to grasp.

However, while holding a market involved trampling wheat seedlings, Winters went a step further, directly ordering villages and towns to use millstones and logs to "press down the wheat seedlings."

[The method of "oxen and horses lying down" was taught to Winters by another famous farmer, "Alator".]

Winter wheat is very delicate when it first sprouts; it cannot be touched or stepped on, or it will be uprooted if you are not careful.

But now it's different. After nearly a month of growth, the wheat's roots have developed very firmly.

Even if cattle or horses graze on it, they won't damage the root system under the soil. In fact, grazing the first batch of wheat seedlings is beneficial for the development of wheat the following year.

Moreover, after winter sets in, all the vegetation withers, and cattle and horses easily lose weight when eating dry grass.

Letting large livestock graze on tender wheat seedlings not only helps them get through the winter and build up their strength, but also allows them to trample the wheat fields, effectively "shredding" the seedlings.

Moreover, leaving cow and horse manure in the fields will make the wheat grow vigorously the following year, which can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

The farmer named Alator was forcibly taken to Zhevodan, living in fear and trembling the whole way.

Seeing the Blood Wolf with his own eyes, he realized that the People's Protector had not gathered the crowd to extort money, but truly to "protect the people."

Besides feeling lucky, Alator was also moved.

He stopped hiding anything and revealed all his most treasured farm secrets.

Besides cattle and horses lying down, there's also "sheep lying down," but the process for sheep lying down is more complicated. It requires someone to watch over them all night long, so the Montagne tribunal prioritizes promoting simpler measures.

……

Following "Encouraging Agriculture" comes "Preparing for War".

The "Preparedness Order" was even simpler and more direct. Winters, in his capacity as [Supreme Commander of the Garrison], issued a notification to all villages and towns in Iron Peak County:

The day before yesterday, the garrison captured a barbarian scout. The scout confessed that due to the warm winter and abundant fodder this year, the barbarians would raid the newly reclaimed land a second time.

The beginning of this section is false, but the end is true—Winters has no intention of spending too much time explaining the source of the intelligence.

The Montagne garrison commander immediately ordered the garrison commanders and acting garrison commanders of each town to block roads, check suspicious persons, and set up sentry posts.

Most importantly, the militia was immediately conscripted, and beacon towers were set up along the Dajiao River and in various villages and towns.

Once the movements of the barbarians are detected, beacon fires must be lit immediately to signal for reinforcements, and Zhevodan will send troops to their aid. Anyone who delays in responding to military intelligence will be severely punished.

The beacon towers must be ready within three days, and the garrison posts must conduct inspections by then. Those who delay will be severely punished.

Militia units and beacon towers are both emergency measures.

The Big Horn River separates the wilderness from the newly reclaimed land, and defending the river might be a good strategy.

However, the border was too long, Winters had too many places to defend, his forces were too few, and their mobility was far inferior to that of the swift-moving Hart's light cavalry.

Can the militia hold off the Teldun barbarians?
Winters wasn't optimistic, but if there was even a glimmer of hope, he had to give it a try.

The plan to recruit militia was personally devised by Winters and consisted of two phases.

Phase 1: Each village and town will establish a militia team to be responsible for local defense.

Will the villages and towns obediently comply? Of course not—Winters was prepared for this.

Towns like Mudi Town and Fuyuan Town, which are hundreds of kilometers away from the border, will not feel anything unless the barbarians kill them right in front of them.

Not to mention that Winters was unable to provide any weapons or supplies to the local militias.

The first phase of the plan was troublesome enough, but the difficulty of the first phase was nothing compared to the second phase.

As for what the second phase plan was, the esteemed Montagne tribunal for the people's protection did not mention it at all in the "Preparations for War" proclamation.

At this stage, Winters would ask for nothing more if each village and town could organize its militia in an orderly manner.

……

Compared to the previous two notices, the third notice doesn't seem to be very urgent.

The third notice had no title, but it roughly ordered each village and town to select representatives to prepare to go to Revodan to participate in a "grievance and petition meeting," with the specific time to be announced later.

"The new government hopes to investigate the suffering of the people of Tiefeng County, and the travel and accommodation expenses of the elected representatives will be provided by the new government."

The document only mentions two things: first, to convene a meeting of representatives to petition and express their grievances; and second, to guarantee reimbursement for food and lodging.

The common people of Tiefeng County wouldn't understand the term "consultation meeting." But the elderly who lived under the emperor's authority all understood the term "petition and grievance meeting."

The last one sounds ridiculous, but it was strongly recommended by tobacco merchant Priskin to be added.

Clearly, Mayor Priestkin was more experienced than the younger officers.

……

The three notices were short, and the old man quickly finished reading them. The townspeople around him started chattering and discussing them.

"Read it again, old benefactor!" A latecomer from the town jeered, "We're late!"

The old man frowned slightly, cleared his throat, and began to read again from the beginning.

The townspeople who arrived late listened carefully. The three notices were short and straightforward, with easy-to-understand words and grammar, even to the point of being "vulgar".

Winters racked his brains to write these three notices. With Bud not around, he didn't even have a qualified writer by his side.

When his head was throbbing with pain, Winters had a flash of inspiration and came up with the ultimate solution:
They found six illiterate old farmers and read the draft notice to them. If the farmers couldn't understand it or found it ambiguous, they revised it until five out of the six could understand it.

For example, the sentence "Scouts from the Hedden tribe were spotted on the border of Iron Peak County" was changed repeatedly until it finally became "The barbarians are coming to kill us."

After the old man finished reading it a second time, some people started clamoring for him to do it again. The old man ignored them, shook his head, and walked away.

The townspeople began to discuss the matter even more intensely.

Farmers were concerned about the wheat growing taller, while fishermen and merchants were concerned about the militia—because Shovel Harbor already had a militia, and complaints and petitions were temporarily ignored.

"Mayor Potal is here!" someone shouted, "Make way!"

The crowd parted to make way, and a broad-shouldered, tall man named Dussac walked up to the notice with a gloomy face.

Dusak Portal was both the mayor and acting resident of Shovel Harbor. In other words, within the political system of the newly established province, he was the de facto ruler of Shovel Harbor. He did not reside in the town, but rather in the fortress-like "Portal Estate."

All adult Dusacs, regardless of their status or position, had already been conscripted. But no one knew what methods Mayor Potal had used to exclude him from the conscription list.

The townspeople held their breath, watching in complete silence. Mayor Potal walked to the church door and tore down three notices.

Potal stood on the steps, crumpled the three notices into a ball of scrap paper, and glared at them, angrily rebuking them:

"Crushing wheat seedlings? That's utter bullshit! That's the rebel leader trying to harm you!"

"Barbarians are coming? Shovel Lake is just west of Shovel Harbor! Barbarians coming? What a load of rubbish!"

"Militia? Do we need the rebels to control us? We've had our own militia in Shovel Harbor for ages!"

"Fellow villagers, let me tell you! Militia? Bullshit! The rebels want to conscript you into the army!"

"It's all gone!"

The crowd left sheepishly.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Mayor Potal immediately ordered his entourage to bring over the horses.

He carefully tucked the three crumpled notices into his pocket, jumped onto his horse, and galloped off towards the Potal Estate outside the town.

As one of the first settlers, Potal was often robbed by small groups of barbarians when he was settled in Iron Peak County, and it was common for new immigrants living alone to be wiped out.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Portal Estate had the feel of a fortress – with moats and walls, the sturdy stone mansion was exactly like a castle main castle.

Upon seeing the master return, the tenant farmers guarding the manor gate hurriedly lowered the drawbridge.

Portal rushed into the manor without stopping, and the drawbridge slowly rose again.

Compared to other villages and towns that had fallen into ruin due to war, Portal Estate was a thriving place.

The land surrounding the manor, whether wasteland or farmland, has been cultivated, and the wheat seedlings are growing very lushly.

While tenant farmers and laborers in other villages and towns were fleeing, Potal, together with the landowners of Shovel Harbor, had taken control of the town's landless peasants.

Later, he gathered refugees from other places and distributed food to them. The refugees respectfully called him "Lord Potal the Great Philanthropist".

Portal sped back to the castle-like mansion, demanding of his eldest son, "Where is Mr. Alpha?"

“Upstairs,” Potal’s eldest son hurriedly replied.

Potal tossed the reins to his son, dashed into the mansion, and ran all the way up to the small reception room on the second floor.

There was no one else in the small reception room except for a young man.

A young man leaned against the window, reading a letter. He was dressed in light green hunting attire, with a simple small sword hanging from his belt.

Judging by his facial features alone, the young man could not be considered handsome.

But his smile was so warm and friendly that it made people like him instantly. Plus, he had a great physique—long fingers and strong, well-proportioned limbs.

Portal's youngest daughter and several young maids were completely infatuated with this "Mr. Alpha".

Seeing Potal hurry up to the second floor, Mr. Alpha put away the letter and said with a smile, "Tomorrow night, another ship of weapons and gunpowder will be delivered to Shovel Lake."

Potal was taken aback at first, then overjoyed: "That's wonderful!"

"I'd appreciate it if you could send someone to meet us," Mr. Alpha added politely.

In his excitement, Potal forgot his original purpose in coming to see Mr. Alpha. He patted his chest and assured him, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will personally lead the men there!"

"Any news from Thevordan?" Mr. Alpha asked.

Potal snapped out of his daze and hurriedly pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket: "The rebels sent three notices."

Potal tried to unfold the notice, but his fingers were too clumsy, and he accidentally tore a large hole in it. Mr. Alpha took over and flattened the three crumpled pieces of paper again.

“This… how could it be written like this…” After reading the notice, Mr. Alpha couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “How could it be written like this?”

Potal immediately chimed in, "This shows that the rebels are unpopular; they're all illiterate scoundrels."

Actually, Potal thought the notice was quite well written. At least even a roughneck like him who only knew basic words could understand it.

“The rebels may be unpopular, but they’re not illiterate scoundrels,” Mr. Alpha corrected, tapping his fingers lightly on the windowsill, squinting his eyes, and asking, “Do you think the rebel leader is telling the truth?”

"What is it? Letting cattle and horses graze on wheat seedlings?" Potal sneered dismissively. "Unheard of."

"The Heds will come again."

"Well...it might be true. This winter is indeed not as cold as in previous years. But it could also be false...who knows?"

Mr. Alpha pondered for a moment and nodded: "The rebel leader wants each village and town to form a militia. We can use the militia as cover to train the refugees. As for the beacon towers, we can set some up. Since the Hed people may come again, we should also make preparations. Send someone to send a letter to Jervodan, asking the rebels for weapons and food, saying that the militia needs them."

"Can the rebels give it to us?"

"It would be good if you could give it, but it doesn't matter if you can't."

“Okay.” Potal nodded vigorously.

"Go."

Potal bowed and turned to leave.

Mr. Alpha looked out the window and let out a barely audible sigh.

……

Meanwhile, at the town hall of Blackwater, more than 100 kilometers away, the messenger cavalry was delivering Winters's handwritten letter and three notices to Lieutenant Bard.

Bard unsealed the letter, carefully read it, and then skimmed through the notice.

He also let out a heavy sigh.

During this period, he was constantly traveling between farms, handling all sorts of matters, big and small.

He was even more short-staffed than Winters was, and he had to handle almost everything himself.

He was responsible for managing the distribution of agricultural tools, draft animals, seeds, and other means of production, as well as supervising and inspecting the autumn plowing situation at each farm.

Within a month, the resettled refugees and local farmers had already engaged in several armed clashes. It was only thanks to his prompt intervention and mediation that the conflict was prevented from escalating further.

As the weather gets colder, the farms need to repair houses and harvest fuel, and he still has to make the arrangements and plans.

Bard was visibly tired and even beginning to look old.

Seeing that the farms were gradually getting back on track, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and get some rest, but...

Thinking too much was pointless, so Bud calmly accepted reality. Composing himself, he opened the window and called out loudly to the young stable boy.

Anglu, who was brushing the red bristles in the backyard, ran into the town hall upon hearing the noise, still holding the brush in his hand.

“Bring back the horses that have been distributed to the farms.”

"Bring them in?" Anglu asked, puzzled. "Wasn't the plan to let the horses spend the winter on the farms?"

Bard handed the letter and notice to Anglu, his heart heavy, but his tone calm: "After you collect them, settle them at the farm in Blackwater. Let the horses graze on the wheat seedlings. I'll also allocate some feed for you."

Although Anglu had been learning to read during this time, he still had some difficulty reading letters. He only understood what had happened after reading the notice.

“Time is too tight,” Anglu said bitterly. “The horses won’t gain much weight.”

"Send as many as you can, and call Ish over."

Anglu raised his hand in salute and ran out to prepare a saddle for Redmane.

A short while later, Ish, covered in sweat, walked into the town hall.

"You called me?" Ish was chopping wood. He rushed over when he learned that the lieutenant wanted to see him.

“Gather all the adult men from each farm and prepare weapons,” Bud said sternly. “We must defend ourselves.”

[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
[The next chapter... no, the chapter after that... I dare not predict it anymore, it's a complete flag.]
[If winter wheat grows too well before winter, it is indeed necessary to thin out the seedlings.]
[As for the cattle and sheep lying on the ground, there is a limerick: Winter begins, frost covers the ground, the ground is clean, the fields are bare, and the stones are cold. Wild geese have flown south without a trace, only cattle and sheep are seen in the fields.]
[Quoting the *Jinwan Daily*: After autumn sowing, wheat seedlings take advantage of the early summer heat to establish roots and grow into short seedlings. In winter, appropriate compaction is necessary. Compaction of wheat seedlings has many benefits. First, compaction during the seedling stage inhibits above-ground growth, promoting tillering, resulting in earlier and more abundant tillers and stronger seedlings. This increases effective tillering and thickens and shortens the basal internodes, which is beneficial for growth. Second, it strengthens the capillary action of the soil, allowing the root system to grow fully and develop, thus promoting strong stems and improving lodging resistance. Furthermore, compaction breaks up soil clods, closes soil cracks, and tightly binds the roots to the soil, reducing soil porosity and helping to retain water, fertilizer, and provide insulation and frost protection. Finally, compaction prolongs the differentiation time of young ears, which is conducive to the formation of larger ears and increased grain count.]
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(End of this chapter)