I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 93 A Small Church (Part )

Gululu~
The steam rising from the pottery pot gradually rose. Luc sat on a chair and took out the shredded lettuce inside and put it into a pottery plate. He took out a small pottery bottle, poured out a little apple cider vinegar, and picked up the pork liver from another boiling pot, chopped it up and put it in to mix together. It was paired with the soft black bread baked on the stone slab. The smell of vinegar stimulated the stomach acid, and Luc's appetite was opened, and he swallowed it all in one gulp.

"This bottle of apple cider vinegar is great. Finally, I have a condiment."

Luke patted his belly, stood up and stretched himself, while Ryan took the initiative to clean up the knives and forks.

It was rainy today and no one in the forest went out to work, so it was a rare day of rest.

Apple cider vinegar evolved from apple cider, and apple cider naturally becomes apple cider vinegar after fermenting for a period of time.

Half a month passed in a flash, and the eight rooms were completely completed. In addition, Luke built a new toilet.

Even Old Eck, including Ward Village and Hans, still couldn't change the problem of urinating and defecating anywhere. After being scolded by Luke, they stopped defecating around the cabin and went into the woods to do it.

I was busy with their food, clothing, housing and transportation before, and only during this period did I take the time to build a new toilet for them.

Luc looked out the window at the serfs' residential area outside the fenced yard. Not far from them, there was a toilet built with earthen walls in the mountains.

The toilet does not occupy a large area. A deep pit was dug as a dry toilet, covered with wooden stakes and thatch, and separated into male and female areas by earthen walls. A most basic toilet came into being.

I thought little Charlie could control his butt, and they would definitely go to the toilet if there was one. But who knew that a group of people still did their own thing. It wasn't until one day that Luc caught George and taught him a lesson that the situation changed.

Of course, there was still no toilet paper in the toilet. Everyone basically used dead leaves and branches. Luc made some toilet pads for himself, which were polished tree branches that would not cut their buttocks.

Commonly known as a shit stirrer.

After digesting the food, Luke told Ryan to put on his straw raincoat and go out to check. There were only two sets of straw raincoats now, so he could make more later.

"Ryan, go to the livestock area and check on the poultry. A bunch of pheasant chicks died a few days ago. Don't let more die today."

"no problem!"

"Oh, and call old Eck over here."

Ryan nodded, opened the fence gate, and strode towards the east. Luke waited quietly. After a while, he heard old Eike's voice coming from the door.

"Sir, are you looking for me?"

"Yes, come in."

"Is your house leaking?"

Old Eike pushed open the wooden house and was stunned when he heard Luke's words. "Sir, I didn't expect you to call me here for this matter."

"You are truly a sir with great qualities, like St. John. To be honest, I have been to as many places as George in my life, but I have never seen anyone care about serfs as much as you do."

"God forbid that anybody's house should be leaking."

"That's good." Luc nodded, "Sit down first."

"Old Eike, you used to be the village chief of Ward Village, so you must be very good at accounting. It's just as well that you've been here for a few months now. What are the records in Shanlin's recent account books?"

After Luc finished speaking, old Eike immediately sat up straight. He knew that the master was examining him. Whether he could answer correctly would determine whether Luc would be replaced in the future.

Old Eck coughed lightly:
"Sir, in addition to the original eight acres of farmland, we've plowed two acres of fallow land. You took us on three large hunts in the forest, and we've taken down a herd of wild boars, two goats, a red deer, and a few hares. We fish once a week, and we now have about fifty salted fish. The mill grinds out fifteen hundred pounds of flour, of which barley and oats each account for one hundred and fifty pounds, but we've eaten a third of that. We still have one hundred pounds of dried pork. We have about thirty or forty apple trees, but they're not all clustered together, but interspersed among the trees, making them difficult to count. The grapevines on the other side of the river cover about half an acre. In addition, we have four goats, five pigs, a horse, a donkey, a mule, a pair of adult pheasants, and fifteen chicks the day before yesterday."

"In addition, we have buildings such as a mill, a barrel wheel, a bread oven, a charcoal kiln, a brick kiln, a granary, a cellar, a woodshed, a storehouse, a shooting range, a well, an oil press, toilets, and several houses."

"Besides that, sir, our division of labor isn't clear. We basically work as farmers, fishermen, lumberjacks, builders, textile workers, shepherds, chicken and pig farmers, and so on. We possess special skills. Ryan's entourage is a carpenter and cooper, Little Miller is a potter, Jill is a charcoal burner, and I am a leatherworker. Well, of course, these are all skills taught to us by you, sir."

"As for the amount of remaining seeds, farm tools, and weapons and equipment that should be in your hands, Your Excellency, I am not quite sure."

Old Eike paused and said, "But sir, I think there are still many things missing in the mountains and forests."

"Oh? Tell me."

Seeing Luc's acquiescent look, Old Eck continued, "For example, we still lack professional blacksmith shops, carpentry shops, kitchens, and women's workshops—well, places for dyeing and weaving. If you want to make wine, you'll need a wine cellar, and so on. We also lack stonemasons, saddlers, doctors, and so on. And we still have too few livestock."

Old Eck rattled off a bunch of buildings and professions, but Luc knew that wasn't the end of the story. There were still too many buildings and personnel that he hadn't listed. Although Luc wouldn't recruit more people until next year's harvest, he was still surprised to hear Old Eck say so much.
"Old Eike, I really underestimated you. You are a village chief, but you are just like a real housekeeper!" "Thank you for the compliment, sir~"

Old Eike's face wrinkled a little more, and he was obviously very happy to receive Luc's recognition. He said with some pride, "Sir, I have been to many places in my youth. I have met some real castle stewards. I am lucky to remember some of them."

"Being able to remember is a skill!"

Luc waved his hand, feeling relieved. It seemed that old Eike was really capable of being a housekeeper.

"Sir, what I'm talking about is about the future. Right now, I have a very urgent matter."

Seeing old Eck's hesitation, Luc roughly guessed what he was going to say.

After all, Old Eck had deliberately overlooked the most important building and personnel.

"church?"

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Old Eck's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly. "It's the church, sir. To be honest, the last time I saw you at the monastery, I thought you would invite a priest. But I can understand why no one came. It must be because this place is too remote and no one likes to come here. But you are a person blessed by God after all. I think even if there is no priest, there should be a church first, so that everyone can pray every week and comfort their souls."

“You are right.”

Luc nodded silently. Old Eike might not have guessed that the man who he thought was blessed by God had never invited any pastor at all.

"Well, when the rain stops, we'll start building a church!"

"Thank you, my gracious lord!"

……

After two days of rain, the rain gradually weakened.

The construction of the church was immediately put on the agenda.

When they heard that a church was going to be built, everyone was very excited, much more so than if they were building a house for themselves.

Even Ryan, who had followed him the longest, and Hans, who had low intelligence, were extremely excited.

Led by Luc, they chose a flat area outside the farmland, which was close to the junction of forest, farmland and stream. The sky was blue, the mountain breeze was refreshing and the scenery was beautiful.

After all, no step in building a church can be ambiguous.

Stone churches had not yet become common, and people did not know that they did not have the spare capacity to build a purely stone building, so they prepared to build a perfect church with red bricks.

First, it took a week to burn enough red bricks for use.

The charm of the church deeply attracted everyone, and the foundation was laid soon. Even those who went out to pick wild fruits would come back in the evening to dig some soil for the church. Being able to participate in the process of building the church with their own hands was very sacred to these devout believers.

The entire church is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. Its height is the same as that of the Luc cabin and the area can accommodate about twenty people standing. Prayers and masses are usually held standing, and there is no need to add additional tables and chairs inside. Only a high platform is built in the north and a huge cross is hung on the wall.

There is a high protruding "Jie" character monument on the top of the wooden door, with a hollow middle. A wooden ladder is placed on it, on which is placed the statue of Jesus that Ryan had spent a lot of effort to carve.

There is a wooden cross on top.

There was a light-transmitting window on each side of the wall. Since this was the first time a house made entirely of brick was built, the team spent a long time working with clay to form red bricks, stacking them layer by layer, and then using beams and rafters to create the sloping roof. Ultimately, the roof wasn't made of red bricks, but rather a wooden roof like Luc's. Luc then stepped on it and painted it red with a brown-red powder mixed with ochre.

Finally, around November, the church, whose appearance far surpassed all other buildings, was completely completed!
On the weekend of the first week after the completion of the project, everyone was dressed up, and Luc also wore a slightly faded purple linen.

Under his leadership, they pushed open the wooden door of the church, everyone stood on both sides, Luc stood in the middle, and they all sang hymns solemnly.

The people in Ward Village who lost their loved ones prayed that their families could go to heaven. Ryan hoped that God would bless the forest to develop better and better. George closed his eyes, not knowing whether he was atonement to God for his stealing behavior. Hans simply hoped that he could eat more.

Luc stood at the front with his eyes closed, praying for nothing.

(End of this chapter)