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

Chapter 319 Three years of farming yields one year's savings

The first-generation Rift Armor nearly killed an adult Crimson Dragon – hence the name Rift Armor Dragon Fortress.

Roman knew little about dragons, but was filled with intense curiosity.

But that's about it.

If there's a dragon, then there's a dragon.

Queen Cangyue is also a high-ranking vampire, and Roman is quite interested in her.

He understood Shasta's good intentions; who wouldn't want their lord to be stronger?

But I really don't have the time right now.

Some time ago, Mona begged him to help Cangyue.

Roman felt he couldn't offer any support.

Let alone sending troops, even weapons and armor couldn't be transported over.

Lysa set off from the territory of Cangyue, crossed the mountains, and arrived at Origin City, which took her one or two months.

Mona led a hundred support witches down the same path, and it also took her a month or two.

Moreover, they came on foot, hiking through the mountains, carrying the parchment scrolls in baskets on their backs.

Roman had to take the same route and carry the same baskets to transport the supplies.

Because oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages cannot travel on mountain roads, especially rugged and uneven ones.

The only way to transport goods on a large scale was by water along the Bro River.

However, the Bro River is firmly controlled by Sinnoh.

He transported supplies to Cangyue, ostensibly for business, but given his relationship with Sinnoh, the two sides would inevitably end up fighting on the Cangyue battlefield.

If Roman cannot launch a decisive battle to annihilate tens of thousands of enemy troops in the short term, then the two sides will have to engage in a protracted war of attrition.

In fact, let alone a long-term war, even if it lasts only half a month, the entire Origin City will be dragged down by the consequences of the war.

First, we need to understand one thing.

That is, in the previous wars, Roman fought on his own doorstep, went out and beat up the enemy, and then turned around and came back.

The idea that troops can be deployed remotely is not true at all.

There has only ever been one thing that truly troubles Roman.

That's grain!
Origin City and Abundance City can be self-sufficient, but once they are involved in war and production stops, everything will be over.

The saying goes, "Three years of farming yields one year's worth of savings, and nine years of farming yields three years' worth of savings."

In other words, in ancient agrarian societies, three years of farming could withstand one year of natural disasters, but that was only resistance; war was also one of the disasters.

There's no way around it. The foundation is too shallow, too thin.

Let's get the grain reserves out first.

These days, without grain stored in warehouses, nothing feels secure.

Roman returned to Plenty and spent two days roughly inspecting the land.

This round of vegetables was fertilized with peat and manure, and the growth is quite good, with a yield of three to five hundred catties per mu.

Infrastructure development is also progressing rapidly.

After the autumn planting season ends, the farmers who worked on the land can also come over to pave roads and build houses.

Two hundred people will be transferred from a settlement with a population of one thousand, and four hundred people will be transferred from a settlement with a population of two thousand.

Roman just needed able-bodied laborers; it didn't matter who came, as they would be fed.

Although it can't compare to the scale of Origin City, which has tens of thousands of buildings, the scattered parts combined are still not to be underestimated.

Stonemasons, carpenters, and bricklayers, each carrying their own tools, came in droves from Origin City to Abundance City.

The construction team learned teamwork in Origin City, and after a short period of adjustment, they quickly found their rhythm in this unfamiliar place.

With the improvement of the ruling system, labor efficiency also increased significantly.

September arrived quickly.

The weather is starting to cool down. Although the summers in Plenty City are cooler than in Origin City, the autumns are also colder.

It's late autumn now, and it will snow soon. Thin clothes won't be enough to keep out the cold.

At this time, the textile factory produced its first batch of wool sweaters, totaling 20,000 sets.

The uniform design is tailored to a standard adult body type. The wool sweater and cashmere pants together weigh four pounds, providing excellent warmth.

They were first distributed to able-bodied workers.

There was no other way but to do it this way; the construction task had to be expedited, and the cotton had been harvested at this time.

Roman asked someone to pick cotton for him.

He cultivated 5,000 mu of land.

Although cotton yields are much lower than wool, with only about 20 jin per mu, which can be processed into 5 jin of cotton, enough to meet the clothing needs of 5,000 people.

But farming is a risk-free business; the only investment is labor.

Moreover, with so much wasteland in Plenty City, how can we not cultivate it?

Roman was busy arranging production and construction tasks in the city of abundance.

Meanwhile, the Origin City has begun its harvest this year.

This autumn harvest mainly consists of soybeans and rice.

The former yielded only mediocre results.

Because Gweil did not have blessed bean seeds, its yield per mu was almost the same as last year, and soil improvement only slightly increased the yield. The average yield per mu was 150 jin.

But the rice is very promising!

All of them used the Geweier No. 2 rice variety as seeds. The 7,000 mu of rice yielded 1.4 million jin of rice, and the yield per mu achieved a leap, increasing from more than 100 jin to more than 200 jin.

Roman knew that the lower the starting point, the greater the potential for improvement.

However, at present, the improvement in rice production is still significant.

It is foreseeable that once the Gewier No. 3 rice variety is introduced, its yield per mu will see another significant leap forward.

"Your Highness, are you happy?" Shasta asked on the country road.

A raven perched on Roman's shoulder. These creatures are highly intelligent and, after being tamed by the Beast Witch, can regularly travel between Origin and Abundance to deliver messages.

It usually goes to the Castle of Abundance.

And this time, I happened to see Roman on the road, so I stopped by.

The letter reached Roman, and although he had never witnessed it firsthand, he could still imagine the scene of a bountiful rice harvest.

“Of course, the pigs raised on the meadow pastures this year weighed 150 pounds when they were ready for market!” Roman put down the letter, looked the witch over, and nodded to confirm, “Yes, about the same weight as you.”

Shasta is tall and slender with a curvaceous figure, a classic mature woman's physique.

Her expression was calm, but she felt somewhat helpless. She had long been used to the personality of the master she served; whenever something good happened, he would start talking nonsense.

She didn't reply, but Roman wasn't disappointed and started calculating with great interest.

This year, more than 10,000 pigs were slaughtered, which is no small number.

Every part of a domestic pig can be used; even the bones can be used to make soup.

Especially castrated pigs, not only are they plump and fat, but their meat is also incredibly delicious, without any fishy smell. Their utilization rate is almost 100%, making them extremely excellent livestock.

After all, this thing really does grow flesh by eating grass.

Now that a small section of the canal has been excavated, new arable land, grasslands, and other habitable areas can be found along the canal.

The scale of breeding will gradually expand.

Roman received the letter in the morning, and fresh pork was delivered that afternoon. There was also rice, flour, and other supplies.

He was delighted and immediately went into the kitchen, asking the head chef to help him cook a meal of braised pork with rice.

Few people were able to eat this meal; only Margaret and Shasta, his close attendants, accompanied him.

By the end of September.

The caravan from Origin City returned from Iceland, bringing with it news that delighted Roman.

The shipyard at Haibao is now complete and ready to begin mass production of ships.

(End of this chapter)