I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 240 William Losh
Not long after Duss gave birth, Luc gave his child a new name.

He considered many names, but ultimately chose a common yet good one.

—William.

William Losh.

Loche was the last name Luc chose for himself once again.

It means a rocky place.

It also symbolizes Luc's belief that the foundation of his family's future is as solid as a rock.

The newborn, who looked like a crumpled rag, underwent Christian baptism under Hugo's supervision. This baby, who was born superior to many others, rested for a few days like Duss, but Duss insisted on returning to Knightsburg.

Although she lived in a church and had God's protection, she never felt as at ease as she did living in her own castle.

Luc originally wanted her to have a full postpartum period, but seeing her insistence, he bought a large number of soft sheepskin mats to make the carriage very comfortable—Luc was very rich these days!

Accompanied by attendants and servants, they traveled at a leisurely pace, trying not to make Duss uncomfortable, and finally returned to Knightsburg after half a month.

The return of Luc and his wife instantly plunged the entire valley into a frenzy of celebration.

Duss poked her head out of the carriage, holding the baby in swaddling clothes, and kept smiling and greeting people along the way.

Robert's family rushed over from the fields, caught sight of the baby's face, and burst into laughter. Their clumsy bodies began to dance comically. The old man had an heir, which proved that his descendants would continue to enjoy their current status!

Before fleeing the famine, he was a serf, but now he has become a free farmer like a small landowner. Strictly speaking, he has already gained personal freedom, but he is not stupid and has no intention of leaving Knightsburg.

Miller, taking advantage of their close relationship, went directly to Luc's side to help him take the reins, walking forward with his head held high while glancing at Lisa beside the carriage every now and then.

"Hey Miller, what are you looking at!"

Luc was in a good mood and looked at Miller with a teasing expression.

"Oh, it's nothing, sir!" Miller's face instantly turned as red as an apple, and he quickly lowered his head.

"I'll find an opportunity to have Madam speak on your behalf. Your family is doing quite well in Knightsburg now, and you get along well with Lisa."

"Really, sir?" Miller looked up in surprise, then was overjoyed and thanked him profusely. But then he hesitated, "But I heard that Lisa likes Mr. Lane."

"You don't need to worry about that."

Looking out over the entire territory of Knightsburg, Luke noted that with old Eck around, Knightsburg's development had been very stable. In the few days he had been away, a batch of trees had been planted on the south bank and taken back by the lumberyard for use in charcoal making or furniture making.

In fact, Duss's return indirectly helped Luc.

Hoffmann is coming back, and this time Luke plans to bring him to Knightsburg.

Hoffmann is one of the few caravans that Luc currently owns that can undertake long-distance journeys.

Luc didn't want to let him go, or rather, he needed to change the structure of the Hoffmann caravan.

We need to get him under our control.

Glancing at Miller's increasingly excited face, Luc smiled silently.

One reason Ryan didn't like Lisa was that she was no longer good enough for him. Of course, the most important reason was that, in his eyes, Lisa was no longer good enough for Ryan.

With William's birth, the manor naturally had to host a grand banquet!

Luc himself led his pack of dogs to capture another deer, skinned and gutted it, and then threw the whole deer into the banquet.

Luke happily brought out every single dish in the manor to treat everyone.

He even took out a small bag of flour and baked a batch of honey bread to share with his closest friends, Ryan, old Eck, and Jean.

Oliver kept a close eye on Luc, and every time he saw Luc take a bite of white bread, he would urge him not to eat too much.
—He hadn't forgotten that his predecessor had died from overeating while having children!

Luke, both amused and exasperated, chased Oliver away, realizing he wasn't that greedy.

Luc has long since stopped drinking kvass.

Maple liqueur was his favorite. Interestingly, even though the estate also had malt liquor, a group of people with discerning tastes preferred kvass, leading Luc to wonder if he should also introduce kvass to the tavern.
In the past, Luc was always the star of the banquet, but today, it was William the Younger who was in charge.

Charlie kept rubbing against Duss's feet, sniffing his new owner's scent, while his children jumped and hopped around the main table.

Ryan and the others looked at little William with affection. As expected, he would be their future lord, so in addition to the gaze of elders, Ryan and the others also showed respect for the heir to the feudal lord.

Old Eck was the happiest of them all. Over sixty years old and without any offspring, he treated little William almost as his own grandchild. After getting Luke's permission, he carefully took little William in his arms. Even when the baby grabbed his beard and pulled it hard by his flailing arms and legs, he didn't show any sign of pain. Instead, he laughed heartily.

“Master, I have a suggestion. Why don’t we make little Julie your personal maid? She’s only eight or nine years old, which is a perfect age.”

"Hmm, that makes sense. Little Julie, are you willing?"

"I do, sir!"

Little Julie smiled. She and Duss had a good relationship, and in her naiveté, she thought it was very lucky to be able to take care of Duss's child. Upon hearing this, she quickly agreed.

Robert stood up excitedly, wanting to say something, but Luc waved him off.

Luc is essentially a nostalgic person.

As the manor's population grew, Luc was no longer familiar with the names of many of them, not to mention that not long ago, George had just recruited a group of new subjects at the tavern who, upon hearing about the tax exemption, had indeed happily signed contracts.

There were about a dozen people stationed on the south bank, near the west side of the market. Those trees were the ones they had cut down to clear land for themselves.

Of course, they had no seeds, so if they wanted to obtain crops, they had to cultivate as much land as they could for Luke.

“If the reclamation continues, the valley alone can support five hundred people, just the farmers.”

If all 800 acres of land were developed, Luc would have 450 acres to himself, and the remaining half would support 500 people.

The Luke Plan included allocating 100 acres of land to approximately 80 free farmers.

The remaining land consisted of the allotted lands of more than four hundred serfs.

That's right, serfs needed land.

That is, the land that provides for their own food and drink.

This is why serfs had to help their lord cultivate the land before they could cultivate their own.

In fact, Luke's tax-free banner was actually recruiting serfs, because serfs only had the right to use the goods.

Why not just confiscate all the land and turn it into privately cultivated land? Serfs are just slaves responsible for farming.

It can only be said that when the number of people is small, such as now, it is barely possible to do so, but as the number of people increases, it will only bring the risk of serfs becoming passive or even revolting.

"Yes, there will also be servants, lumberjacks, miners, and so on. Eventually, the valley may be able to accommodate eight hundred people."

Luke was enjoying his venison leg meat. Eight hundred people, that's quite a lot.

It's worth noting that the town of Macon attracted nearly two thousand people because of the Saône River, while Dijon reportedly only had three to four thousand.

The reason Luc can support so many people is not because of the size of his territory, but because of his high production volume.

Of course, this is an ideal situation, and it's still a long way off.

For example, now, in addition to supporting everyone on the estate, Luc is also preparing to build a real full-time army.

“Tiha Village needs development. If they can pay enough taxes, perhaps this enclave alone can support me to support two or three private soldiers.”

"In addition, I also need to maintain a construction team."

The church would provide funds for the temple's repairs, and there would even be a profit to be made, but Luc still wanted to build his own team and reward them from time to time in his own name.

Luke spat out the bone and looked at the stonemason Saul not far away.

That's right, he kidnapped Saul!

(End of this chapter)