I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 258 Population Census

"Just these dried apples?"

Looking at the baskets of dried fruit lined up in a straight line, Luke had expected the quantity to be small, but he hadn't anticipated it to be so few.

Winemaker Kohler didn't participate in planting; he'd been busy making cider all this time. Although the new apples were juicier, nearly half of the apples had been used up in ten barrels of cider.

Keep in mind, these apples weigh several thousand pounds!

Luc put in a lot of effort for this, sending several assistants to Kohler and even bringing in Oliver and his apprentice to help. Of course, this made the vain Oliver quite unhappy.

Ignoring Oliver's displeasure, Luc was simply amused.

"I was worried that I could only brew ten barrels, but who would have thought that ten barrels would consume so many raw materials. Damn it, this batch of wine must be sold at a higher price!"

Luke thought cider was extravagant enough, but seeing dried apples made him feel a little heartbroken.

"Nearly 1,500 pounds of apples yielded 300 pounds of dried apples?"

"They couldn't even fill two sacks."

"Without good preservation methods, it really won't work."

Luke picked up a piece and tasted it. It was alright; at least the taste was good.

"Old Ek, carry him into the ice cellar!"

Having settled a matter on his mind, Luc, like a nouveau riche, went north to check on the salt mountains, west to look at the iron mines, and south to supervise the progress of the refugees. Finally, he returned to the valley in the heart of Knightsburg to personally witness the last day of planting.

Luc still hadn't acquired any new livestock, even after searching diligently. He knew why: livestock were one of the estate's most valuable assets, and no one would sell them unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, the two lame horses, along with the black donkey, pulled Luc's plow, allowing agriculture to proceed smoothly.

There's nothing we can do; Mr. Luke's farmland has increased again!

Logically speaking, the manor has been too busy lately and has no energy or time to mobilize the serfs to cultivate new land.

But don't forget about those guys on the other side of the strait.

Luc's initial policy was that whatever amount of land the other party cultivated, that amount must be cultivated for Luc!
The recruitment of refugees has now stopped, not because Luke didn't want to recruit anymore, but because autumn has arrived and fewer people are traveling. Secondly, he has screened out many unqualified people.

Luc didn't want to go back to the murder case from before, which had caused widespread panic.

So far, a total of thirteen households, totaling fifty-nine people, have been recruited on the south bank.

As required, Luke granted each household the right to cultivate four acres of land. However, in reality, due to the varying times when people settled in and their different physical conditions, each household ended up cultivating an average of about two acres.

Naturally, Luc also acquired 26 acres of new land. However, he didn't like some of the land that had been cultivated in a mess, so he selected the best 20 acres for his own private land, and gave the other 6 acres to the families who had cultivated less land.

Thus, with the north and south banks combined, Knightsburg's total arable land has reached nearly 220 acres!

"I need to do the math."

"Including George and the newborn baby, there are nineteen people in New Ward Village."

"There are forty serfs in Knightsburg."

"There are ten people at the logging site."

“My castle servants and dedicated craftsmen have been expanded. Carpenter Maiman, beekeeper Oliver, and even blacksmith Jason have apprentices. We have also added winemaker Kohler and an apprentice to him the day before yesterday. In addition, there is the private army (including Hans) and the saltworkers, making a total of twenty-eight people.”

"In addition, we should also include the Hoffman caravan, which has a total of eleven people, as well as Hoffman's three family members."

Thinking of this, Luke paused and said, "Well, we should also include Hoffman's three family members in New Ward Village."

"As for old Ek, Ryan, and Jean, they each have a servant."

"Including Lynn, Peter, Bain and his servant, Huss, Thorstein Raoul, and the fifty-nine newcomers, there are a total of sixty-six people."

"Oh, I almost forgot, there's also Thor's construction crew!"

"Alright, let me count." Luc rubbed his head, and after counting the people for his entourage, said, "A total of 186."

Faced with this number, Luke took a deep breath. He knew that this did not include the more than forty people from Riverside Manor and the more than eighty people from Tiha Village.

"I have over three hundred subjects?"

Luke blinked. Four years had passed, and the scene of the man and his dog struggling to survive seemed to be right before his eyes. The earliest semi-basement house was still filled with hay.

However, the journey to its current scale has been incredibly arduous.

Luc did not take stock of the assets again, but decided to let old Eck do it when winter came.

"It's time to name a village on the south bank and find a candidate for village chief."

"In addition, we need to build another mill."

Luc wasn't worried about the mill; he was already very familiar with it. He figured the new refugees would be very enthusiastic about building it, since it involved their livelihood.

Tapping on the table, Luke began to devise further plans for his territory.

With some arable land already established in Yanshan, and with further reclamation next year, basic self-sufficiency will be achieved. However, the logging camps will still need supplies.

"Perhaps we could relocate a few free farmers to the logging camp area?"

Speaking of the logging camp, the ships that Thorstein, Little Maiman, and others have been building day and night are already taking shape. Luc even went to take a look at them today, examining them for a while, and found that they were quite impressive.

Once autumn arrives, winter won't be far behind.

As autumn plowing, population expansion, and winemaking come to an end, the market will gradually close—heavy snow will block the mountains, making it difficult for caravans to enter.

Therefore, Luke's biggest concern right now is connecting caravans with his territory.

Before embarking on the smuggling, Luc told Hoffmann and his party about the trails recorded in the Alpine Notebook and instructed them not to go and explore the route first, but to scout it out along the way.

It was a secluded path, and no one knew what risks it might pose. They were now following the same route the Thorne Brotherhood had taken, and they estimated they should have reached Provence by now.

"We're so far apart, I wonder if things will go smoothly?"

There's no such thing as a smooth ride in smuggling, and since Luke couldn't help, he could only pray in his heart.

However, there is another matter that I can handle personally right now.

"Old Ek and Ryan, you two keep a good watch over Knight's Castle, especially the south bank. I'm entrusting the private army to your command. When I return, make sure to select a qualified village chief."

"Understood, sir!"

The two were Luke's right-hand men, so there was no need for much instruction.

Seeing them nod, Luke greeted the people around him and then left Knightsburg together.

If anyone familiar with Luc would be surprised by the bodyguards around him, because none of them are familiar faces, but rather a guy with a full beard.

This man was none other than Hus, the newly appointed shepherd.

That evening, they headed to Riverside Manor.

After checking into the tax collector's hut, Byrne took advantage of the night to tell Luke what had happened not long ago.

"Lord Luc, Bauer has made contact with that guy. It's certain that they are the same people George saw outside Castle Cooper; one tall and one short, they match perfectly!"

Before the flickering oil lamp, Byrne said in a low voice:

"The other party gave Bauer a sum of money and told him to pretend to agree to plant flax, and then take the opportunity to sabotage the seeds! They also said that after it was done, they could give Bauer more pennies."

“As expected,” Luc uttered. “Go on, any other discoveries?”

"There is indeed one more thing."

At this point, Byrne's expression turned sour, and he glanced at Luc somewhat guiltily, saying:
"My lord, I'm afraid the people at Riverside Manor are more than just resistant to your plantation policy. The very night Bauer returned, because he had openly defied me, he said that several seemingly honest serfs had privately approached him and offered to sabotage the flax seeds together."

"Judging from this, even without the man in black robes, things won't go smoothly."

This was something Luke hadn't expected.

This isn't Knightsburg; Luc doesn't have the prestige to command unquestioning support for every decision he makes. The plantation's decision was made on a whim, not after careful consideration, and currently, it seems rather inappropriate.

Luc arrived at the riverside manor with two purposes. First, he wanted to use Bauer to lure the man in black out. Since Byrne was not good at archery and had let the man escape, he would bring Huss, the archer who had given him a hard time, along with his own decent archery skills. Even if he couldn't leave the man in black alive, he would at least kill him.

The second reason was that he wanted to build a watermill here.

"It seems that the matter of the man in black robes needs to be postponed. The most important thing is to deal with the emotions of these people first."

"I'm sorry, sir, I wish I had caught the man in black that day."

The people on the plantation were not only resentful because of the change of species, but also because of York's death. In their view, Byrne could kill, but he could not kill people in a brutal and senseless manner.

"It's not your fault."

Luke waved his hand, then stood up and began to think of a solution.

After a while, Luke suddenly clapped his hands and said, "I think I know what to do."

“Byrne, go tell Bauer to make connections.”

"Huh?" Byrne thought he had misheard.

“I will have Knightsburg send another batch of seeds. You have the serfs plant them again, and then have Bauer take these people to destroy the seeds. After that, have him go find the man in black robes and try to lure him out!”

"Also, let's get another batch of rye seeds. It seems we have no choice but to plant some rye."

"Also, Fatty, I'm giving you a task. I'll write a letter right away, and you'll deliver it to Bishop Hugo in Macon County overnight."

Luc declared, word by word, "I will initiate a religious inquisition in my capacity as captain of the Pilgrims' Guard!"

(End of this chapter)