I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 203 Duss is pregnant

The news of Duss's pregnancy spread like wildfire, quickly reaching every corner of Knightsburg.

Lane, Ek, Myman, Oliver, Peter, Gil, Miller.
Anyone with even a little influence in Knightsburg abandoned their work and quickly gathered around the Deer Hall.

"God help us! God help us! The lady is finally pregnant!"

Old Ek drew the cross over and over again. Luc had been married for almost a year, and he almost thought there was something wrong with his husband.

Ryan was overjoyed and kept offering his blessings.

The others also wore smiles and kept saying auspicious words.

Everyone knew what it meant for the master to have an heir.

Especially the free farmers who owned land, they were Luc's most loyal supporters, for having offspring meant that this land, which paid little tax and was blessed by God with exceptionally high yields, could continue to be passed down to their next generation.

Some, with even more active minds, were already thinking about whether to throw another lavish banquet so they could feast to their hearts' content.
As for Luke, the one who started it all, he sat in the Deer Hall, gently stroking Duss's belly, feeling a surge of emotions.

Duss's belly was not bulging, but he could still feel a tiny life slowly growing under his rough palm.

"Thank the Virgin Mary, I hope it's a boy."

Duss's eyes were overflowing with tenderness and happiness as she gently held Luc's large hand.

No family would overlook the birth of a new generation. If Duss's father were still alive, her pregnancy would signify a true connection between Luc and the Baldwin family. Generous families might even present gifts the moment the pregnancy is confirmed, such as a complete set of armor.
Of course, if Baldwin were still alive, Luc might not have been able to marry her.

Upon hearing Duss's words, Luc nodded silently.

To be fair, Luc would like both boys and girls, but in this day and age, boys are definitely better.

The absence of boys signifies the extinction of the family line.

"Phew~ Get some rest. After a while, Lisa and Julie will take care of you personally. Make sure everything goes perfectly."

"I'll go and see if I can find a suitable mother in a few months."

In the Middle Ages, childbirth was akin to participating in a war, with an alarming mortality rate.

Long before Duss, some farm women on the estate were already pregnant, and these past few days, with their bellies showing, they haven't been involved much in clearing the land.

After having a child, Luc was a completely different person.

He was already decisive and efficient. After spending three days with Duss, he poured the amount of rust-soaked water into the crushed acorns.

At this moment, George also returned from David's territory. This well-traveled fellow first congratulated Duss on her pregnancy, then whispered to Luc:
"My lord, we've found out that Sir David has fifteen prisoners, all of them strong, young men. Are we sure we want to buy them?"

Fifteen unmarried, prime-age men are a double-edged sword. If used well, they can greatly increase the workforce of Knightsburg; if used poorly, they can turn on you like wolves and bite off a piece of your flesh.

"purchase!"

After a moment's thought, Luke nodded firmly.

If possible, he would prefer to have a family to support, but unfortunately, with Hugo taking office and grain prices stabilizing, even Macon County may not be able to recruit enough people.

Moreover, building a new church requires a strong workforce.

"How much is a prisoner?" "Not expensive, since they're in a hurry to sell him. One hundred pfennigs each."

The fifteen prisoners were not fed any good food, so they were no longer worth the price of a strong man. Luke nodded, thinking it was fair enough.

He bent down to filter out the boiled rusty water, then took the melted beeswax that had already been prepared, and handed the reed tube and pig bristle brush to George, saying:

"Come on, draw a stag!"

Leaving George, who had a talent for painting, to ponder, Luc went to the mountains and forests. Jason kept his promise and, with the help of others, actually forged fifteen slightly rough hoes in half a month after completing the iron arrow. However, the price was that both of them were exhausted and had dark circles under their eyes. Jason and Paul were rewarded handsomely and allowed to rest for half a month each.

With enough iron tools, more than forty people spent more than thirty days maximizing the reclamation of the land, and they managed to open up nearly a hundred acres of land, which directly doubled the farmland of the estate!
Of course, only six or seven acres of land were carefully tended, and most of the rest was probably only enough to grow rye.

Just when everyone thought they could finally rest, the busy season had only just begun.

When the wheat ripened once again, and cartloads of grain were delivered to the granary, Old Ek's smile never faded.

This isn't the first time we've had a bumper harvest, but this is the first time we've managed to store up enough grain!
"Sir, everything has been settled!"

A few days later, old Eck, who also had dark circles under his eyes, stood in front of Luc, looking refreshed.

"Sir, with the taxes paid by the villagers of Ward Village, you now have over 10,000 pounds of wheat and rye! Nearly 7,000 pounds of barley, nearly 3,000 pounds of oats, 6,000 pounds of peas, and over 4,000 pounds of various vegetables and cauliflower, plus 6 pounds of hops."

"Oh, by the way, we also harvested three pounds of dragon's yang flowers."

"This is a huge sum of money!"

Old Eck's own three acres of land also yielded a very good harvest. After deducting the cost of growing food and drinking, he could still have several hundred pounds of rye left over, which he ground into flour and piled up at home, giving him a sense of satisfaction that welled up from the bottom of his heart.

"Finally, we're basically out of the problem of eating."

Luc leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

It's really not easy!
After the bumper harvest, there would still be a period of hard work. Once the taxes were collected, Ward Village was officially established. Old Eck was already the steward of Luc's castle, so Robert was chosen as the village chief. The new Ward Village had a total of eight households, with a total of twenty-three people.

He then ordered Little Maiman to build three more valley windmills.

The husks are threshed day and night, and then packed into sacks, which can be used as fertilizer or to feed livestock.

The flax harvest was also plentiful, with a yield of just over a thousand pounds, enough to weave another sixty or seventy sets of clothing.

"Linen can no longer be provided for free. We can have free farmers buy it. Perhaps we could build a market on the estate?"

After settling down in agriculture, Luke finally had time to check his robes.

George spent a year indulging in drinking, gambling, and womanizing by the bridge. When he returned home, he found himself with land, a house, and stored grain. At that moment, he was living a life of unparalleled comfort, and his art of painting reached its peak.

After soaking the fabric in black rust water, Luke slowly boiled it in warm water. As he drank mountain tea, the beeswax slowly floated up and melted, and a lifelike black deer leaped onto the "paper"!

The simple yet majestic black deer stands sideways, its front hooves raised as if leaping, its massive antlers winding and spiraling, the earthy yellow background behind it making the deep black color even more dazzling.

Luke put on the coat of arms that covered his entire front, and then took out a square stag banner and a lance banner about the size of a human face that had been made at the same time.

Perhaps it was because he was finally free from the worry of famine on the estate, or perhaps it was the simple burqa that gave Luc a sense of grandeur, but he laughed heartily and mounted his horse.

(End of this chapter)