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

Chapter 279 This Year's Plan
Theoretically speaking, after hearing those seductive words, Gweil should have been filled with enthusiasm, kicked Roman aside, and then rode Ami to pursue her goal without hesitation.

When necessary, this little witch is also capable of taking on enough responsibility!
But once she calmed down, Gweil realized that she was still the same helpless little witch.

She has blessed twenty acres of rice paddies so far.

At first, she could bless one acre of land every day.

But the recovery time is getting longer and longer; now it takes three or four days to bless one acre of land.

The feeling of being completely drained is getting worse.

That weakness was visible to the naked eye.

Therefore, the task Roman assigned to her this year was not heavy; she only needed to bless fifty acres of rice fields.

It's still a long time.

Depleting resources beyond capacity is not Roman's style.

In another month or two, the medium-season rice planted in April will be ready for harvest.

The planting area for medium-season rice is as large as 200 mu.

There is even more late-season rice, covering about 700 acres.

By the end of June, Roman had cultivated approximately 1,000 acres of rice paddies.

Before the end of this year, he plans to cultivate another thousand acres of rice paddies.

Roman had no expectations for rice varieties outside the experimental field.

If we calculate based on a yield of 100 jin per mu, this year's paddy field reclamation results can bring him a rice reserve of more than 100,000 jin. It's better than nothing, and what can two jin of rice per person do?

But there's nothing we can do; it's the first year of planting, so seeing any yield at all is already considered good.

With this kind of rice variety, the next generation will still only yield about 100 kilograms. It will be impossible to significantly increase the yield without planting it for four or five years.

He doesn't have time to slowly improve it now.

The harvest from the fifty acres of experimental fields was used entirely as rice seeds for the following year; Gervir's blessing was entirely beneficial.

Of course, before seeing the effects of Gavial, Roman didn't have the habit of putting all his eggs in one basket.

Meadow pastures are under construction, swamp rice paddies are being cleared, and forest wastelands are being reclaimed.

The main focus is on multifaceted development.

The total number of laborers involved in land reclamation and construction was approximately 14,000.

This year's plan is to reclaim 2,000 mu of paddy fields, 7,000 mu of wasteland, and completely transform the pasture.

The first two are relatively easy to handle, but transforming a ranch is the most difficult.

The construction team was responsible for the ranch's buildings, but tens of thousands of acres of alfalfa were planted, and all cultivable grasslands were sown with forage seeds.

This project is no ordinary undertaking.

……

By July.

The temperature that had dropped is starting to rise again.

The hottest and fiercest period of the year, known as the "autumn tiger," is coming.

Roman usually gives them a holiday.

The sun is blazing, and work efficiency is too low. Perhaps we should let them rest for a few days.

But not this year.

Even if we can only work five hours a day, everyone has to get moving. A few deaths don't matter.

The food crisis is the sword of Damocles.

The city of Origin cannot afford to relax for a moment.

The newly reclaimed wasteland must be fertilized directly, with 1,500 catties of peat and 500 catties of manure thrown into it per mu, and then crops such as alfalfa, spinach, beets, and radishes are planted.

Even if the yield of vegetables is only 200 jin per mu, it's still not a loss. Without soil improvement, the first round of yield from newly reclaimed wasteland is this low.

If Roman hadn't had the swamp peat to fertilize his plants, he would have been lucky to produce 100 jin (50 catties) of produce.

This is a problem that all farmers in this era must face.

The Black Iron Lands have a large population, but not all of their land can be utilized—meaning land that is arable but not yet developed.

According to Roman's observations, most nobles utilized about 70% of their land, leaving some corners and edges unused.

The remaining 30% of the land could have been turned into farmland if it had been reclaimed, but it simply wasn't.

This situation is widespread.

In an era when iron tools were not widely available, the initial investment in land reclamation was enormous, and the first two years yielded negative returns, making it a losing proposition.

It is often only when the carrying capacity of a piece of land reaches its limit that people choose to reclaim it.

This is a common dilemma in the development of civilization.

Without the constraints of the Papacy, what humanity should do most is to popularize iron tools, improve plows, use stronger steel agricultural implements to clear land, grow more food, and use that food to nourish society, research new technologies, and thus drive the development of the entire civilization.

However, the truth is that they have stalled in one round of internal strife after another.

The conquerors brought a brief and hard-won period of peace.

More than twenty years after he led his fleet across the sea, the Battle of Silent Valley broke out, wiping out an entire generation, and the people of the land began to lick their wounds.

Then the barbarians and pirates returned, and some nobles also became restless.

In his youth, the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor was initially able to intimidate most of the rebels and lead his army to strike at pirates and barbarians, but he later lost that motivation.

After struggling and patching things up for decades, this land is now engulfed in a new round of war.

Roman knew the theory of the population trap: land has a limit to its cultivation, but humans have no limit to their reproduction, so it must be consumed through other means.

But this land has yet to trigger that theory—because the population has never reached the land's limit, having been consumed prematurely.

Sometimes things seem saturated, but if you find a piece of wasteland to cultivate, you can still accommodate new population.

Saturation is when you can't find any more arable wasteland.

According to Roman's visual estimation, this basin has a population of less than several hundred thousand, and it is far from being saturated.

When he increases grain yield per acre, the land's carrying capacity can reach millions of people.

……

In the hottest month of July, Origin City welcomed a new guest.

Roman was arranging for people to fish at the time, and upon hearing the news, he rushed back to Origin Manor.

This guest was brought to Origin City by the Warcraft Witch.

Xia Lulu has a giant eagle that can carry people in flight, but its drawback is that it is extremely conspicuous. When she is on the run, it cannot always stay by her side. If it is frequently exposed, it will be highly likely to be shot dead by a sharpshooter.

Furthermore, there are certain special places that cannot be visited.

Cangyue is a land teeming with spirits and monsters, including some that can fly. Even the giant eagle wouldn't dare say it could escape unscathed from those ferocious creatures.

Xia Lulu was also reluctant to let it risk its life.

This new guest is from the witch forest of Azure Moon. The assistant witch that Shasta mentioned is named Lysa Silvermoon.

After a long and arduous journey of more than a month, she finally arrived in Origin City.

Roman met the witch. She was young, with freckles on her face, and looked as beautiful as a farm girl. Her eyes were bright, and she looked somewhat disheveled, as if she had suffered a lot.

She was escorted on a long journey, avoiding Sinnoh's gaze, crossing mountains, and leaving Azuremoon. After that, the Beast Witch sent a giant eagle to pick her up.

Lysa also saw Roman, and his signature red eyes. She narrowed her eyes, smiled warmly, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Prophet Witch has asked me to give you my regards."

"I hope she's doing well too," Roman nodded.

"The prophetic witch asked me to convey a message to you—the Holy See's gaze has turned from the stars back to the valley. If you are determined to fight alongside the witch, then show this land your magnanimity and compassion..."

(End of this chapter)