You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 105 Aquaculture
Roman soon learned that the grain had gone moldy.

Most people discover this while moving.

Not only the farmer found it hard to accept, but he also found it hard to accept.

Having enough food doesn't mean we can waste it.

So he immediately notified Moore and bought up all the farmers' stored grain.

The grain isn't worth much money.

The town of Sige once had only a few hundred households, with each household averaging only a few hundred kilograms of stored grain.

Of course, if you include all the grains, miscellaneous grains, beans, and a large amount of vegetables, then there would naturally be over a thousand kilograms of grain.

These grains, consumed over the winter, must sustain them through the spring and then until the summer harvest.

A thrifty and responsible family will store surplus food at home to enhance their ability to withstand risks.

Of all crops, wheat is the most valuable, as it can be milled into fine, white flour.

Grains such as barley, oats, and rye are next.

Grains and beans are next in importance, while vegetables are last.

The total purchase price was only a little over two hundred gold coins.

Roman, of course, wouldn't mind the expense.

The acquisition process was quite simple.

Roman didn't even notify everyone. He simply sent the agricultural officer, Moll, into their brick house in broad daylight to calculate the weight of the old grain. Then, he threw down the corresponding copper or silver coins and hauled all the grain away.

Purchases are made at market prices; if the weight is 400 jin, you get the price for 500 jin, and if it's less than 1,000 jin, you get the price for 1,000 jin.

We've raised our estimates and are trying to resolve this issue quickly.

With his prestige and reputation, Roman was ruthless in his actions and no longer needed to worry about the consequences.

The grains were not severely moldy; only some grains had a few mold spots.

However, mold grows at an astonishing rate; if it gets moldy in one place, it can quickly contaminate the entire area.

You can eat it, but it's unnecessary.

Roman instructed the calves and livestock workers on the estate to selectively pick out the moldy grains, dry them, cook them, and use them as livestock feed.

The remaining unmolded grains were used as working meals.

In fact, there is not much shortage of feed at the livestock sheds right now.

The 500 mu of miscellaneous grain fields that Roman had previously arranged for Barlow to plant have been harvested.

Due to a shortage of manpower, there were only about one hundred people working on the farmland, resulting in an average yield of only two hundred jin per mu. Of course, this was still quite remarkable, representing a five-fold increase in yield compared to the past.

After all, the yields of oats and barley have always been relatively low.

Meanwhile, during the spring planting season—due to their distrust of Roman—the farmers secretly planted hundreds of acres as well.

Later, they worked all day and had no time to do farm work.

But crops growing in the fields cannot be hidden.

So Roman helped them reap the rewards.

It can only be said that the crops were neglected and the yield was extremely low, only about 30 jin per mu—they at least sowed 10 jin of seeds, which is better than nothing.

These grains combined can basically meet the feed requirements.

Of course, grazing also accounts for a large proportion of the forage.

Interestingly, despite the extremely low land productivity and backward agricultural technology of this era.

But if no one exploits them, even if a farmer has five children, as long as he is diligent enough, he can still provide them with three meals a day, and they will be full at every meal.

This is also the greatest advantage of agrarian civilization: a diligent farmer can support his whole family, which is by no means wishful thinking.

Roman couldn't stand such things.

If farmers dare to refuse exploitation now, I dare not even think about what they will do in the future.

Will I still need to ask for a salary in the future?

I've already offered you a job, why are you still asking for wages?! That's too greedy!

Why don't the cattle and horses in the livestock shed mention this? They only need feed and hay. We should learn from them.

That day, Roman arrived at the livestock shed.

The number of livestock in the livestock shed is not large now; they are mainly cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep.

Although the newly built brick houses are large enough to house more than 5,000 people, the livestock sheds cannot be short-handed. More than 100 laborers live here, and someone delivers meals to them every day. They take good care of these large animals.

The older children from Origin Manor would also take turns coming over to help them clean up manure and harvest hay, otherwise they wouldn't be able to manage.

Roman hoisted the sack and poured the cooked grain from the sack into their feeding trough.

He then summoned Yaki—the two-star apostle he had recruited last time.

Roman arranged for Yaki to become one of the managers of the livestock shed.

This is a young slave boy from the plateau. He is not tall, but lame and hunchbacked. He said that when he was a child, he was feeding horses and was kicked five meters away, leaving him with a limp. He was then neglected by his family.

He was categorized as one of the sick and weak, and was tasked with doing what he could.

But Roman discovered his potential as a two-star, so he put him in charge of the livestock shed.

Roman asked him, "How many animals are in the barn now?"

"Master, there are a total of 173 draft horses, 239 oxen, 167 pigs, and 211 sheep." Yaki was extremely attentive to all matters concerning the livestock shed and had an excellent memory.

Animal husbandry is well-developed in the eastern plateau, where there are vast plateau grasslands.

Every person living on the plateau is extremely sensitive to the number of livestock they care for; losing or gaining even one is a major issue.

Today, the people of the plateau suffer greatly from the bullying of the barbarians further to the east.

The highland kingdom is rife with corruption, making it difficult to organize effective defenses.

Yaki was a victim, and he thought that was how his life would be, but Roman discovered his talent and gave him power and status, without caring at all that he was disabled.

This kindness warmed his heart.

The construction of the livestock shed also broadened his horizons.

Spacious, bright, well-ventilated, clean, and sturdy. It's practically a palace for livestock.

Roman ended his livestock deal with Morey.

The development of Sig Town gradually attracted more and more merchants.

Most merchants could only carry a small amount, but they could manage to bring two oxen and a draft horse on their ships, which Roman could exchange for salt.

Gradually, the number of these livestock increased, and the number of transactions also increased.

Roman ordered the reconstruction of the docks, expanding the original one dock to five, which could accommodate more merchant ships to dock here and continuously transport goods such as flax, dyes, pottery, canvas, and oil.

But Roman felt it was still not enough, so he sent Daken to other markets to buy large numbers of piglets, foals, lambs, calves, and chicks in preparation for starting large-scale breeding.

Otherwise, there would be no way to satisfy Roman's demand for meat.

Yaki limped along and led Roman to the conservation area so he could check on its condition.

The hygiene and feed conditions here are far superior to those in the breeding area.

The domestic pigs have an extremely high reproductive capacity, and now they have seventy or eighty piglets and about twenty lambs.

The number of calves and foals was the smallest, totaling less than ten.

A foal is a draft horse.

This breed of horse is docile and slow, making it unsuitable for combat. It is best used for transportation, labor, or to allow soldiers to experience the thrill of riding.

Roman has no plans to form a cavalry force at present.

Training a knight for conquest is too costly.

Warhorses are also incredibly expensive. A qualified warhorse costs 4 gold coins. If you want to build a team, not to mention the equipment and personnel, the price of the warhorses alone is enough to make the town of Sigsburg suffer.

Most of the time, these strategic resources are unavailable even with money; connections are required.

(End of this chapter)