I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 86: First Repair of the Riverbank
This autumn plowing was not like a year ago when Luc worked hard alone and he didn't even have to go to the fields himself.

Although Robert was not very brave in fighting, he was a good farmer. Luc told Robert some precautions, and he went to the fields with many peasant women to sow seeds.

Early in the morning, Luke took the remaining men to the Agate River.

Luc stopped to watch, the Agate River was sparkling and the water was as blue as jade, but Luc had not forgotten how it rushed and turbulently when it rained heavily a few months ago.
There is a lot of vegetation in the mountains, and Luc actually doesn't think that the Agate River will burst its banks. In other words, even if it bursts, it will not cause a major flood, but it is always good to take precautions before it happens.

"We are still short on manpower, so we have to take our time building the riverbank."

Luc looked back at the men present, Ryan, Jill, Hans and George.

Looking past the first three people, Luc's eyes were fixed on George. As if sensing Luc's gaze, George quickly gave a flattering smile, his facial features squeezed together like a wrinkled bun.

"Jill, take George and find some willow branches, straw, and gravel."

"Okay sir."

Jill nodded and pulled George over. George seemed a little afraid of Jill, and he didn't dare to say a word as Jill pulled him away with a glare.

After the two men had gone far away, Luke said to Ryan, "Tell the foresters to keep an eye on that guy. He's a horse thief. Don't let him use his old tricks again and steal the warhorse away."

Ryan said solemnly: "Don't worry, sir. The room he sleeps in at night is a woodshed. There are no windows there. He can't escape if the door is locked."

"That's good."

Luke nodded, then went to the mountains with Ryan and the big guy Hans to start cutting down trees. He and Hoffman agreed to sell charcoal together. In addition, winter was coming in a few months, so they needed to burn the charcoal in advance.

Luke and Ryan were good at felling trees, but Hans was even more skilled than them. After all, he had lived in a logging camp since he was a child. Whether he was felling trees or carrying wood, he had a strong body like an ox and was fast. He could just hold two pieces of wood and walk away with just his hands up. Ryan was stunned and wondered where the master got such a human-shaped beast.

In a short while, Hans strode up to Luc and said in a muffled voice, "Sir, I've finished moving!"

"Okay, chop these woods into arm-length firewood, and you can have a full meal at noon."

When Hans heard the word "full", his pupils dilated. Being big and strong also meant having a big appetite. Hans and his brother always played the role of bandits when they had nothing to do. The robbed supplies were basically exchanged for food. But in this case, Hans had not had a full meal many times. This was inevitable. After all, how many pfennigs could he get by looting some disaster victims?

Ensuring that Hans had enough to eat was itself one of Luc's means of winning over Hans.

In fact, this was also Luc's way of winning over all the serfs in the manor.

A master who can provide his serfs with enough food can be considered kind and generous.

Seeing Hans chopping wood even harder, Ryan whispered, "Master, is this guy mentally ill?"

"It's quite low," Luc nodded. "So you have to train him like you would Charlie. To put it bluntly, it's like training a dog. You have to get to know him better and try to make him feel close to you and afraid of you."

"Well, I'll try."

Leaving Hans to continue chopping wood, Luc and Ryan rushed back to the river. At this time, Jill and George came back with a wheelbarrow full of stones.

Luc arranged the stones, but these stones were not enough, and at least two carts were needed. Luc and his four companions split into two groups, one group continued to push the stones, while the other group used axes and sickles to chop a full bundle of willow branches.

These things will be Luc's first line of defense to prevent the dam from bursting.

Even after collecting until noon, Luc's expectations were still not met.

At noon, except for Old Eck and Miller, all thirteen people rushed back to the forest to eat.

Sitting in the cabin, Luc saw Hans outside, who ate as much as three people. After some thought, he decided not to divide the workers into groups. Luc's plan for repairing the riverbank was actually very simple: to hire a shovel worker!
A dredge is a very ancient tool for river management, but when Luc tried to make one that morning, he realized it would take forever with just four people. So after dinner, Luc didn't split up the team, but instead led everyone to plant seeds together. Even George was familiar with farming, and they quickly planted all eight acres.

Of the eight acres, nearly two-thirds was rye, a small portion was wheat, and the rest was peas and turnips.

The seeds that Luc now has are roughly divided into two batches, spring and autumn. The seeds for autumn plowing are the above-mentioned seeds, while the seeds for spring plowing are spring rye, parsnip, lettuce, oats, wild leeks and wild garlic.

Nettles, once an alternative food, have been abandoned.

This time there was more time, and Luc had asked Robert to soak the seeds in advance to germinate. More than a dozen people worked together to plant all the seeds in three days. They spent another day making some more hollow logs for the water wheel to expand the irrigation area. Then everyone followed Luc to collect the willow branches needed by the sweepers.

A large number of willow branches with leaves still on were cut down and transported to a shallow beach by the river. This was the place where Luc discovered that the Agate River was most likely to overflow and break the dike after surveying it.

With more people working, the work efficiency indeed became faster. After lunch, all the required willow branches, gravel and vines were collected.

Luke directed the peasant woman to spread wicker on the ground, and then laid a layer of wooden sleepers, with one wooden sleeper every yard, about ten yards long. Then he asked Hans and others to lay willow branches across the wooden sleepers, piling them up layer by layer.

Luc took the dagger he got from George and used it to cut off some forked willow branches for each layer. He arranged them neatly. The neater they were arranged, the more secure they would be when they were tied together later.

At the same time, in order to ensure the tightness of the sweeping work, Luc had to cut off some bent branches so that they could be placed close together.

Everyone took turns piling up the willow branches, and Hans became a dedicated compactor. Wherever there was a loose spot, Luc would call him there and use his whole body weight to press it down.

Layer upon layer of willow branches were piled up to the waist of a person, and a huge cylindrical object appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Lian, go find four short wooden stakes, and the rest of you, tie up the willow branches!"

Thanks to the constant pressure just now, the binding was relatively easy. The many twisted rattan ropes were tied firmly on the sweeper. Ryan came over with a short wooden stake and inserted the sharpened side deeply into the buckle to further prevent the willow branches from loosening. He spent some time checking the rattan ropes. Seeing that there was no problem, everyone started the next step.

The stones collected earlier were picked up by everyone and pressed onto the willow branches, laying a horizontal strip in the middle, then covered with a layer of willow branches and tied with a circle of rattan rope. Only then was the task complete.

With one foot on the huge shovel, Luc looked at the river water that was gradually illuminated by the sunset, and decided to move the shovel into the river after dinner.

The weight of the sweeper had become very heavy due to the repeated accumulation. Even Hans, who was pushing the sweeper from behind with gritted teeth, could not move it at all.

Luc conservatively estimated that this bundle of sweepers weighed at least several tons.

After dinner, everyone replenished their energy and came to the shovel worker and began to think of ways to push the shovel worker to the river bank.

The sky gradually darkened. Old Eck and Miller also returned to the forest and stood aside with torches. Old Eck learned the whole story and suggested to Luc, "Sir, let the men pull the rope in front and the women push from behind. This place is not far from the river bank and it is downhill. Although it will be tiring, we can push it in if we take it slowly."

Luc didn't say anything. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, "Just do as you say, but make a slight change."

So, under Luc's command, only a part of the people pulled the ropes on both sides of the sweeper to ensure the direction of the sweeper's rolling, while all the others cut some hard wooden stakes and found some stones, placed them behind the sweeper, padded the stones at the bottom, and then inserted the wooden stakes between the sweeper and the stones, and pried the sweeper up.

Every time they pried, the shovel rolled towards the river bank. This process was repeated, and without much effort, the people pushed the shovel towards the river bank.

Pfft! !

There was a huge sound of falling water accompanied by splashing water, and this low river bank was finally initially managed.

The dredging work, mainly made of impermeable willow branches, will block all the water and mud in the river in the shallows. As time goes by, the mud will slowly form a new, natural river embankment!

(End of this chapter)