I'm not a lord

Chapter 219: Where the enemy goes, I can go too
Lynn's first stop on his northward inspection tour was naturally Kawanuma Prefecture.

Kawanuma Prefecture is the largest and most populous of the six prefectures in the Shirakawa Territory.

Its geographical location is also extremely important, serving as the southern gateway to Baihe Territory and controlling its land and water routes.

After taking control of the entire White River Territory, Lynn moved his ruling core, along with his family, to River Marsh County and appointed former White Bear Territory governor Albert as its first county magistrate.

Old Ai's son, Xiao Ai, succeeded his father as the county magistrate of Baixiong County.

Although Albert's family produced two county magistrates, old Albert was not arrogant in the slightest.

He diligently guided the serfs of Kawanuma County in using advanced farming techniques, and during the summer off-season, he also took on the task of road construction throughout the entire Shirakawa Territory, directing the construction of a high-quality road that runs from south to north through the entire territory.

In addition, he also took the opportunity to renovate several main roads in the county before the rainy season and laid two layers of gravel.

Despite being battered by nearly a month of continuous rain, these main roads remain sturdy and smooth, greatly improving local traffic conditions.

Amidst a light drizzle, Lynn, surrounded by a large entourage of guards, inspected a farm in River Marsh County. Old Albert, accompanying him, explained to Lynn:
"My lord, the serfs are resting at home during this rainy season. Once the rainy season and the August harvest season are over, Kawanuma Prefecture will begin a large-scale renovation of houses, following the method you used in Shirokuma Prefecture, to ensure that the serfs live in brand-new stone houses and can safely get through the coming winter."

Lynn is now the renowned Earl of White River in the North, and Old Ai has been promoted to county magistrate, serving as the Earl's court official.

Theoretically speaking, Old Ai should address Lynn as Earl.

But he still habitually referred to Lynn as Lord.

This habit is ingrained in him and is very difficult to change.

In Lao Ai's mind, wasn't the master just the master? What else could he be called?

Lynn, mounted on his horse, carefully examined the full ears of wheat on both sides of the road and said, "Albert, you've done a great job these past few months. Transferring you to River Marsh County was definitely the right decision."

Faced with the lord's praise, old Albert lowered his head slightly shyly: "Sir, you flatter me. I just did some minor tasks that were within my duty."

After praising him, Lynn immediately got down to business: "I will launch a war as soon as the rainy season ends."

Based on the current situation, as long as the continuous rainy weather ends within a week, Kawana Prefecture will undoubtedly have an unprecedented bumper harvest this year.

The county has nearly 1,600 indigenous households, with each household cultivating an average of 50 mu of strip fields, plus 50 mu of grassland under rotation.

If we calculate based on last year's output from Shirokuma-ryo, averaging 90 kilograms per acre, then Kawanuma Prefecture's total output this year will reach an astonishing 7200 tons.

Generally speaking, urban residents consume far more grain per capita than rural residents because they drink a lot of ale.

However, if Kawanuma Prefecture's harvest this year meets expectations, it will be able to support not only the local population but also the entire population of Mikawa City.

What is war potential? This is war potential!

In the North today, having money doesn't make you a big shot; whoever has a stable and abundant food supply is the real boss.

After hearing Lynn's words, old Albert immediately said, "River Marsh County can mobilize more than 1,500 serfs at any time."

The implication is that, for the sake of the lord's great cause, the serfs of Kawanuma Prefecture could have delayed moving into the stone houses by several months.

The four newly incorporated prefectures, including Kawanuma Prefecture, still widely practice serfdom.

This system is deeply entrenched, and it will not be easy to change it overnight.

Due to the characteristic of harvesting only once a year, production and life in the rural areas of the North are measured in years.

Lynn conscripted over a thousand soldiers from these four counties, and the families of these soldiers will not be granted free citizenship until next year.

In other words, Kawanuma Prefecture is still implementing the land allocation system this year, which means that serfs cultivate half of their allotted land and the other half of the public land for the lord.

At the same time, the master could also conscript laborers without compensation during the off-season, and the scope of this conscription included all serfs.

“There is no need to conscript laborers. There should be quite a few serfs who have been moved from the western suburbs in the River Marsh County. Select a thousand young laborers from them, both men and women, and put them under Finn’s command.”

Lynn did not want the war to disrupt the agricultural production patterns within his territory. After capturing the western suburbs of Three Rivers, he immediately relocated tens of thousands of people from the western suburbs.

Of these, 3,000 people were assigned to Heuma County and Canglu County respectively, 4,000 to Chixi County, and the remaining few hundred immigrants moved to Luhu County.

The iron mines in Chixi County have begun producing ore, and the local ironworks and forging workshops need a large workforce. These four thousand people are just enough to fill the labor shortage.

Old Albert immediately replied, "Sir, no problem. I'm currently arranging for these three thousand people who moved from the western suburbs of Sanhe City to reclaim wasteland, and they can be mobilized at any time."

For these immigrants, Old Ai still used the same method that Lynn had used in White Bear County last year.

Free housing, wasteland, and food rations were provided, and loans were then used to distribute seeds and advanced agricultural tools.

As for oxen and horses, these immigrants brought their own, so there was no need for Kawanuma Prefecture to provide them.

They cleared land and planted pasture this fall, and after harvesting a crop of pasture next spring, they can begin spring plowing.

After one to two years of successful farming and harvesting, their lives in their new homes will be on track, and they will be fully integrated into the local environment.

Old Ai was, after all, a soldier trained by Lynn, and when faced with a problem, he would always think of the tricks that the master had taught him.

He then asked, "By the way, sir, did Finn offend you? The boy's handwriting is rather crooked; I'm afraid he'll be ill-suited for the position of secretary."

Finn is considered a veteran of White Bear Territory; he was practically raised by old Albert.

Old Ai knew exactly what he was capable of.

Finn could handle being a steward or even a county magistrate, but asking him to be a secretary who serves him pen and ink is a bit of a stretch.

“With Finn’s abilities and loyalty, it would be a waste for him to be a secretary. In this war, I plan to put him in charge of the supply transport. If he can complete the mission successfully, I will make him a county magistrate in the newly occupied territory.”

Lynn always adhered to the principle of making the best use of people.

Because Finn was in charge of grain transport in White Bear Territory for a long time, he acquired the [Transport] trait through training.

Such a person is naturally suited for the job of escorting grain and fodder; it would indeed be a waste of talent for him to be a secretary.

However, Lynn only assigned Finn a thousand men this time, which was quite limited in terms of the amount of food and supplies they could transport, making it impossible to supply an army of nearly three thousand men.

Lynn's strategy in response was to obtain supplies from the enemy and sustain the war through warfare.

The reason he waited until autumn to launch his attack, besides the annoying rainy season, was naturally because he had his eye on the soon-to-be-ripe autumn wheat in Tuanliu County.

What? If the Duke of the Marsh can seize the Crown Territory, why can't I seize his Turbulent County?
What the enemy can rob, I can rob too!

Of course, Lynn's strategy was not mindless plundering, which would be like drinking poison to quench thirst, forcing the local farmers into vagrants, and then into thieves and bandits.

Once the area is occupied, a large number of troops will have to be stationed there to suppress bandits, which is really not worth the effort.

Now that it has been decided to occupy Turbulent County for the long term, Lynn's methods need to be more moderate and approachable.

Once the rainy season ends, the third brother will lead his army into Tuanliu County as quickly as possible to seize as much territory as possible before the autumn wheat ripens.

At that time, Finn and his thousand serfs will harvest the autumn grain on the spot, but they cannot harvest more than half of each strip of land, which will be used as the tax to be collected from the local farmers this year.

The remaining half was left for the local farmers to harvest themselves.

This will also tie these farmers to the land.

They can't just abandon the soon-to-be-ripe autumn wheat and run away, can they?
For them, running away empty-handed was not much different from waiting to die.

This year, the North is unusually lively, and no matter where the farmers of Turbulent County flee, they may not be able to escape the ravages of war.

(End of this chapter)