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

Chapter 162 The Mistakes of Our Time

The sky was overcast, and a light drizzle was falling.

Roman, wearing a straw hat and a cloak, gazed at the bushes before him.

Locals call it wild jujube, but the fruit is inedible; only cattle and sheep can eat it. It is widely distributed and found everywhere.

It couldn't be cut with a sickle; even with a machete, it took several chops to cut it.

After overwintering, all the above-ground plant tissues die, but the root system in the bottom soil remains alive and is very resilient.

Roman pulled the bush out with force.

The surrounding land first swelled, then cracked, and finally broke apart.

When the dense roots are exposed to the air, hardened clumps of mud hang on the fine roots like large tumors, which Roman holds in his hand.

His palms had a solid layer of calluses that protected them from the damage caused by friction and force, but the backs of his hands suffered the thorns' death wrath.

A splinter was embedded in his flesh. Roman put the back of his hand to his mouth, sucked out the splinter, then spat out the bloody saliva. He squatted down to examine the soil structure of the land to see if it was suitable for cultivation.

……

Soil is generally classified into sandy soil, loam, and clay.

Loamy soil is best.

It has a loose texture, is breathable and permeable to water, and has a strong ability to retain water and fertilizer.

With just a little cultivation and sowing of seeds, the harvest is generally good; it is a land chosen by agricultural civilization.

In Roman's memory, only the vast fertile plains of the Grand Duchy were of loamy soil, and the sowing-to-harvest ratio of 1:5 to 1:12 was within a reasonable range.

Because fertile soil produces higher yields than other places.

But the land before us is not loam.

The surface layer is compacted sand, about ten centimeters thick.

But the deeper layers are bonded clay.

The characteristic of sandy soil is that it has extremely poor water retention.

The light, intermittent rain created countless puddles on this barren land, and even if the water seeped in, it was difficult for any to remain in the sandy soil.

The characteristics of deep clay are quite unique.

Its advantages include strong water and fertilizer retention and high potential fertility.

The disadvantage is that it has high humidity and high water content. All the water that seeps down from the sandy soil layer is retained here, but it has virtually no drainage or air permeability.

The land is compacted and difficult to cultivate, the soil temperature is low, and fertilizer is not easily effective.

Roman commissioned Lax to build a heavy plow so that it could turn over the deep clay, expose it to the sun, remove weeds and pests, and release the fertility of the soil.

Even the hardened sand on the surface cannot be split open.

But it's very difficult.

The heavy plow that could originally be pulled by two oxen now requires four.

Moreover, the results were by no means very good.

There are only exhausted cows and no damaged fields.

But no matter what, the land still needs to be tilled.

It is essential to improve the soil structure.

Roman plans to reclaim 7,000 to 10,000 mu of wasteland this time.

They had to bring over ten million, nearly twenty million kilograms, of peat and manure.

Without a doubt, this is a big move.

Therefore, he gathered three thousand workers this time.

This included women of marriageable age who married soldiers.

Soldiers' wives were also important laborers, having to follow behind the heavy plow to pick up stones and break up clods of earth.

The construction team also needs to stop for a while and come over to farm first.

Because you can build a house anytime, but you can't farm anytime, and there's a serious labor shortage right now.

Taking advantage of the spring rain, we used pickaxes to loosen the hardened soil, breaking up the clods one by one. First, we loosened the soil, and then we mixed in 2,000 catties of peat per acre.

Two thousand kilograms of humus, a combination of peat and manure, can only spread out as a thin layer on one acre of virgin land.

However, if too much fertilizer is applied at once, it cannot be decomposed in time, which is detrimental to soil maturation.

We produce peat and manure twice a year, each time weighing one to two thousand kilograms.

It can be transformed into a qualified developed land in three to five years.

The soil is loose and soft, with a good structure and a topsoil layer 20-30 centimeters thick, ensuring a very high yield no matter what you plant.

Agricultural supervisor Barlow provided guidance throughout the process.

Roman once used a sapphire to enhance Barlow's agricultural knowledge.

Therefore, the farmer's son understood the agricultural production process more and more clearly the more he thought about it.

Simply put, it means they've finally figured it out.

He summarized his past farming experience and gradually formed a knowledge system.

Although it was only in its rudimentary form and quite rudimentary, this knowledge was like a spell, captivating Barlow and making him unable to resist, as if he had glimpsed a new world.

Barlow had a respectable and loyal father who worked hard for decades.

In the old town of Sig, no one knew more about farming than that father. He was highly respected, and sometimes even the agricultural officials would consult him on farming issues.

But that person died around this time last year.

He was bound to the past by tradition, while his lord was looking to the future.

His blood splattered at the lord's feet.

His death was irrational.

The son thought to himself, “My father faces such a predicament, and my lord faces such a predicament, yet they are determined to decide who is at fault.”

Barlow asked himself the question.

Gods, why do you let suffering flow into the world, why do you make two sides who have done no wrong decide a winner and a loser, and why do you let innocent blood flow?

You blindfold us with a black cloth, then suddenly pull it back, letting the blinding light shine into our eyes, and then you scold us for not being able to withstand the intense sunlight.

If the sun shines eternally, then why has the dark veil only been lifted today?

If the sun were not shining, what would be shining into our eyes now?
Barlow was terrified as he re-evaluated the true potential of the land beneath his feet from a new perspective.

But this is by no means a personal mistake.

It is that black cloth, it is the mistake of this era.

We must not repeat that mistake in the future!
He wanted to spread the agricultural techniques he had summarized to the world.

He sought an audience with their lord, who granted him permission to establish training courses to teach and promote agricultural knowledge, thus lifting the veil of secrecy.

He was moved to tears by this kindness and grace.

……

They first went to pay their respects at their father's grave, and then came to this wasteland that was in dire need of reclamation.

“Barlow, look how strong these oxen and draft horses are,” his wife said to him.

His whole family are farmers, and his wife is also very skilled at farm work.

The two children, one under four years old and the other a little over one year old, were entrusted to the care of the main kitchen staff. When their father died, his wife had just given birth, and the family needed more food.

He also saw those large, fat, and strong livestock.

Every winter, those large livestock would lose weight.

Therefore, oxen used for plowing in spring are often thin and bony, so thin that you can touch their bones, with each rib clearly protruding from their skin.

Even so, they still have to drag the plow every year.

However, they have been well taken care of this year.

He knew that the master had stored the chopped hay in a cellar and had also asked him to harvest 500 acres of green beans in advance to feed the animals during the winter, saying that this would prevent them from losing weight.

He was skeptical at the time, but did as he was told. Now that he saw them all, he had no more doubts and regarded the lord as a god.

“Barlow, look, so many pickaxes!” his wife said again.

There are over two thousand steel pickaxes piled up here as if they were free.

He knew that all the pickaxes were specially sharpened; he had seen them when he went to the blacksmith's shed to retrieve them.

There was a special post for sharpening the blade, where five blacksmith apprentices sat in a row, turning the whetstone.

The whetstone was soaked in oil beforehand, and the blade sizzled when placed on it. Another group of people poured salt water on it, and the blade was sharpened in just a few minutes. Both the tip and the edge were shiny, and the unique sharpness of steel was overwhelming.

Without a doubt, this is a powerful weapon!
He was well aware of the efficiency benefits of steel farm tools.

Some shrubs are tough and sturdy, and even a sickle cannot cut them.

Nowadays, a single, forceful swing of the pickaxe is all it takes to cut it off.

Looking at the vast wasteland, he said to his wife, "Let's do it!"

(End of this chapter)