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

Chapter 333: Dead lips and cold teeth
No one expected that this rainy season would last for 150 days.

From early spring to late spring, from early summer to midsummer.

Rare sunshine and intermittent rain have become a nightmare for many.

Excessive moisture damages soil composition, making it impossible to implement orderly crop rotation.

The land was soaked by rain, and the roots of the crops were all rotten. The newly planted seeds could not germinate, and even if they did, they could not survive due to lack of sunlight.

The capital of the Black Iron Lands is Blackburg, and the surrounding areas are the direct territories of the Black Iron King.

Iolion attempted to promote agricultural reforms, but lacking the necessary knowledge and experience, he failed to implement them on a large scale. The Lord of the Black Iron Crown ordered the Minister of Agriculture to select several pilot sites.

This matter has also sparked considerable discussion within Blacksburg.

Some people are stirring up trouble, some are secretly hoping for something better, and some are full of doubts.

But the king, in the prime of his life, ignored all resistance and forcefully pushed the decree through.

They planted cold-resistant crops such as barley and oats last autumn.

Theoretically, the harvest should be ready for the spring and summer of this year, and the results will be clear then.

However, things did not go as planned.

This long rainy season came suddenly, almost destroying all the crops, leaving the land barren.

It was not agricultural production that suffered this devastating blow, but also the prestige of the Iron King.

This disaster caused his reputation among the people to plummet, and all sorts of negative news swept over him.

The beggars hated it, the farmers cursed it, the citizens swore at it, and the nobles were dissatisfied.

The pressure on food supplies also followed.

Blackburg has over 100,000 residents, making it almost the largest city of this era. Its daily food consumption is enormous, surpassing even the Sinnoh Citadel and the Holy City of the Papacy.

The consequences of running out of food would be unimaginable.

Iorion had no choice but to issue a grain requisition order, collecting grain from the nobles throughout the Black Iron Lands.

He sent messengers to many noble fiefdoms, and some of the replies were quite intriguing.

Some people openly agree but secretly delay;
Some people were rude and refused to let them in;
Some people complained and played the victim, saying they had no surplus food at home.

This rainy season disaster is widespread; so many people have been affected in Blacksburg alone, what about the surrounding areas?
Roman can boldly predict that the number of people affected by this disaster is at least one million—whether it's two million or three million is uncertain.

……

It was March. The grain requisition order arrived in Plenty, and the messenger came to pay homage to Roman.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities pose a tremendous challenge to any feudal kingdom.

Roman viewed it as a node in the dynastic cycle.

During this time, all sorts of demons and monsters will emerge, the earth will be filled with smoke and miasma, and demons will run rampant.

The Conqueror was the greatest hero of humankind in centuries, but the Conqueror's dynasty was indeed showing signs of collapse.

Natural disasters can be withstood, but man-made calamities intended to overthrow the Black Iron regime are unavoidable.

Roman learned from the Black Iron Messenger that the Papacy was inciting the starving populace to march and smear the Black Iron King and the Blasphemers.

The bishop said that the blasphemers had angered the gods, so the gods punished them with rain.

All of this is the fault of the blasphemers.

Although the criticism was not directly directed at the Black Iron King, the people were secretly pondering the relationship between the Blasphemer and the Black Iron King, and whether the latter was in cahoots with the Blasphemer.
A series of subsequent revelations from the court further reinforced this impression.

King Io III is protecting the blasphemer and is willing to marry one of the Black Iron Princesses to him.

At this point, the storm of public opinion had fully formed. The royalists, loyal to the Black Iron King, had no choice but to deploy the Blackburg Guard to suppress the demonstrations and riots, which resulted in even stronger opposition from the Papacy and the people, and the vast Blackburg was now in complete chaos.

Chaos is acceptable.

But chaos cannot begin in Blacksburg, for that is the source of order.

Besides, would Iolion fall so easily?
The Conqueror family has more than just the Iron Guard of Blackburg; they also have some special high-tier units.

Roman knew that he was not an incompetent man. He had been in a standoff with the Duke of Fury at the royal court for two years and had not yet compromised. Now he desperately needed external help.

After a moment's consideration, Roman decided to transport 5.6 million catties of grain to Blackburg.

He hoped that Io III could overcome the crisis, because the Iron King knew how to maintain balance and could analyze the pros and cons, so he did not betray him.

Even though they weren't related by marriage, they were still allies in effect.

The King of Black Iron weighed the interests and considered the overall situation, and did not antagonize him.

Now it's time to take sides, and Roman has to state his position, otherwise, it's a matter of mutual dependence.

Roman has always been concerned about the food issue and has been counting his grain every day for the past few years. After taking out these millions of kilograms of grain, the remaining grain will only be enough for him to last until summer—or at most two or three months until the summer harvest.

But is there enough food to transport?
That's not enough either.

That's all I can do.

“Your Highness, I entrust this matter to you,” said the chief eunuch named Tusos, who was pale, beardless, and had loose skin, and was extremely loyal to the Black Iron royal family.

Lord Damon had repeatedly mentioned that while the King of the Vale was difficult to deal with, he was by no means ignorant of his place. But Tussos, having seen countless people, knew that the more he expected, the more disappointed he would be. He never relied on first impressions based on others' opinions, and upon meeting him, he was immediately reassured.

He could tell that the King of the Valley had gone to great lengths to produce so much grain. The latter had only been enfeoffed for five years, and unless the gods descended, this was the wealth he had painstakingly accumulated. No noble, whether stingy or not, could possibly produce such a sum.

Even the blasphemers are afraid that His Majesty will side with the Papacy... the old eunuch thought to himself.

……

After Roman sent the guests away, he began to arrange the grain transport team, and at the same time, he also had to take over the population of Apple Town.

Not long ago, Aaron defeated the besieging army with 1,200 troops.

Roman wasn't sure how many enemies there were. According to the battle report from Aaron, the enemy was everywhere, and he, as the commander-in-chief, hadn't even counted them all when his phalanx began its advance, killing about two hundred men in a single encounter. With their heavy armor pressing in, the enemy began to retreat steadily, and within just over ten minutes, the enemy's front line was routed.

The chaos at the front lines led to the collapse of the battle lines at the rear.

And when things get chaotic, it becomes even more impossible to count.

The heavily armored squad threw away their shields, drew their steel longswords, and each soldier chased after ten men, hacking them down.

The enemy fled, and they pursued him; wherever the enemy fled, they pursued him.

They had chased after the enemy for several kilometers in plate armor, and were all exhausted, nearly dying from exhaustion. Just then, the enemy cavalry charged in.

The captains and platoon leaders were shocked and immediately ordered the soldiers who were slumped on the ground to quickly form ranks.

The muddy ground slowed the knights' advance considerably, and seeing the heavily armored soldiers quickly form a square, they mistook them for tireless, energetic superhumans. Their morale plummeted, and they fled before even getting close, otherwise they might have inflicted some serious damage on the heavily armored unit.

Of course, the damage won't be much, since plate armor and great shields aren't just for show.

After the battle, only a few dozen heavily armed soldiers were lost.

This can hardly be called a battle of annihilation; it can only be considered a battle of defeat.

The enemy was able to regroup their routed troops and launch a second attack, but their performance was even worse than the first. Before even engaging in direct combat, they panicked and fled at the sight of those rows of steel figures.

Aaron was certain that they had lost their will to fight, so he began to drive the slaves to the City of Abundance, and they indeed made no trouble along the way.

(End of this chapter)