Chapter 282: Bumper Harvest

When the war drew to its close, Rhonin still did not travel with the main army, choosing instead to ride his dragon back to the Northern Crow territory alone.

Four days later, the dragon folded its wings and touched down on the landing pad behind Marsh Keep.

"You are free to roam, I shall summon you if needed."

Watching Carlos depart, Rhonin stepped into the courtyard.

At this moment, the entire courtyard was utterly silent, without a single soul in sight. Had it not been completely clear of fallen leaves and tidied all around, he might have thought the place abandoned.

"Where is everyone?"

Rhonin called out, "Eileen? Black Tiger?"

Black Tiger possessed the keenest scent and was always the first to emerge in the past, yet the beast was nowhere to be seen.

"My Lord, you have returned!"

Finally, a head peered out from a corner of the courtyard—it was the maid, Bella, wiping her hands on her apron, seemingly in the middle of washing something.

"My Lord, you are finally back!"

She jogged forward in excitement, offering a flurry of curtsies.

The castle had been without its master, and even after the departure of such noble, extraordinary beings as Elrond and Jenny, the servants were left at a loss as to whom they should serve, forced to find tasks for themselves each day.

Fortunately, the grain from the recent autumn harvest had been collected, and under the leadership of the Chief of Civil Affairs, Wilson, the servants had helped gather the grain into the granaries, preventing them from falling entirely into idleness.

"Ah, Bella~"

Rhonin smiled, looking the maid up and down.

Unwittingly, it had already been a year since she joined the castle; compared to before, Bella was no longer frail and sickly, her complexion now bearing a healthy hue.

As for her figure, despite the modest maid uniform, she appeared rather shapely.

Joining the castle as a personal maid was a stroke of fortune for Bella; not only did she eat, drink, and dress well, but whenever she left the castle to return home, her relatives and friends looked upon her with envy, and some even asked if she might advance to become the Lord's mistress.

Regrettably, the noble Lord seemed entirely uninterested in women.

Yet, being scrutinized by her Lord in such a manner caused Bella's cheeks to flush red, and with a nervous heart, she quickly asked, "My Lord, what do you require of me? Shall I prepare hot water for your bath, or have the kitchen prepare lunch? Or..."

Rhonin waved his hand; why take a bath in the middle of the day?

"Have the kitchen prepare lunch, and go inform Galen to bring Wilson, Chahar, and the others here."

"Oh, by the way, where is Eileen? Why is she not in the castle?"

Bella's nervous tension finally eased; the Lord remained unchanged, clearly harboring no such designs upon them.

"Miss Eileen was perhaps too bored; she rode Black Tiger to Purplefruit Village two days ago. Oh, and My Lord, Miss Eileen said she has already become an intermediate mage!"

Rhonin’s eyes lit up; he had not expected that so shortly after Jenny became an advanced mage, her daughter would follow with a breakthrough of her own.

"This is truly joyous news. When Eileen returns, I shall host a banquet for her to celebrate her breakthrough."

An intermediate mage at fourteen—such talent was not a single whit inferior to Breton's.

If she cultivated diligently, she might very well become an advanced mage before the age of twenty.

As Bella went to notify Galen and the others, word soon spread to every servant in the castle and all the officials of the territory that the Lord had returned.

"My Lord, welcome back!"

Galen ran back at the very first instance; ever since Chahar had been reassigned as the financial officer, the duties of the butler had gradually fallen upon Galen's shoulders, and this former personal manservant had finally met his own grand opportunity.

"Long time no see, Galen. I summoned you here because I need you to handle something."

Rhonin pointed to the stalks of grain laid out upon the bluestone floor, "This is a type of grain called 'rice,' similar to wheat and barley. I need you to remove the grains for me, dry them in the sun, pack them into linen bags, and store them in a dry place to be kept as seeds."

From the front lines to Marsh Keep, Carlos’s flight speed meant a single day should have sufficed.

The reason he had taken so many days to return was precisely because he had made a detour to the swamplands to harvest the fully ripened wild rice.

"Rest assured, My Lord, leave it to me!"

Galen assumed this was some special grain Rhonin had brought back from the front, and asked no further questions.

Rhonin offered a few more instructions; this small amount of wild rice would likely yield at most a hundred or so catties of seeds. To promote its cultivation on a large scale across Marsh Town, it would likely require several years of farming and selective breeding to secure a greater abundance of seed.

Therefore, he summoned Wilson, directing him to arrange for men to develop a plot of rice paddies within the swamplands.

To the Northern Crow territory, rice was a novel concept, its cultivation methods entirely distinct from those of wheat.

To successfully grow rice, they could only rely on Rhonin's own amateur knowledge to experiment.

Though Rhonin knew only a smattering, no matter how poor his methods, they could hardly be worse than the wild environment.

These stalks could grow and ripen in the wild; given a superior environment now, there was no reason for them to perish.

"My Lord, the autumn harvest of wheat is now completely finished. Although the peasants have toiled without a moment’s rest during this period, all the wheat has been gathered. After a brief respite, they will soon begin harvesting the barley."

Wilson, the Chief of Civil Affairs, was currently reporting on the autumn harvest, "Under the guidance of your cultivation techniques and fertilization methods, My Lord, the average yield of wheat per mu has increased from the original 105 catties to the current 178 catties!"

He could not help but marvel; in all his years of life, he had never seen such a bountiful harvest.

During the reaping, nearly every peasant smiled from ear to ear, their daily speech filled either with praises for the Lord’s brilliant greatness or phrases like "Follow the Lord, and your belly will be full."

Rhonin nodded slightly.

Such a yield per mu would naturally be considered abysmal in the modern era, but that was the result of widespread chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

A yield of 178 catties per mu was already highly commendable.

The Northern Crow territory had planted over thirty-four thousand mu of wheat during this spring plowing; at this yield, they would harvest over six million catties of wheat this year!

Furthermore, there were still over thirty-eight thousand mu of barley fields yet to be harvested...

Perhaps the total grain output of the Northern Crow territory this year could exceed ten million catties!

Rhonin began to smile, "It is a year of abundance!"

"Indeed, My Lord. If we can secure such a harvest every year, our Northern Crow territory can earn a great deal of gold coins annually by selling grain externally!"

Ever since assuming the role of financial officer, Chahar spent every day pondering matters of coin.

"My Lord, this year's yield per mu has increased, all thanks to the techniques, tools, and draft oxen you provided. I believe the castle should claim a share of this bounty, so should we perhaps increase the tax rate?"

This was a matter Chahar had been turning over in his mind recently.

However, it was of great import, and he dared not make the decision himself, choosing instead to wait for Rhonin’s return to inquire.

"Seeking greater revenue for the castle is well and good, but our population policy has only just been promulgated, and yet you already think to alter the taxes—this is unseemly."

Rhonin rejected the other man's proposal.

Issuing orders only to alter them arbitrarily was not a mark of maturity; it would provoke discontent among the populace, which would be highly detrimental to the Northern Crow territory's efforts to attract external populations.

Furthermore, Rhonin encouraged childbearing; if the subjects could not even fill their own bellies, how could they bear children for him?

"We must let the subjects know that by growing more grain and harvesting more food, they themselves will live better lives. Only then will they possess greater initiative."

"The Lord speaks truly!"

Wilson echoed, "Though the peasants have been exhausted these past days, smiles linger on their faces, and they work with far more initiative and vigor than in days past."

Chahar sighed, "I also know this is far from ideal, but the territory’s expenses are vast. We now pay out at least two hundred gold coins in wages each month, the workforce is still expanding, and several of our industries remain in a mere state of self-sufficiency..."

He feared that should the day arrive when the coffers ran dry, he would find himself unable to account for it.

Don’t worry about the money,” Luo Ning said with calm detachment. He was still in the investment phase; he wouldn’t let stinginess stop him from spending what he had.

“If this war ends in victory for Wushan Fortress, our gains will be immense.”

Wilson and Chahar exchanged a glance. When they had arrived, they had been uneasy—after all, their lord had returned alone. They had no idea whether the battle had been won or lost.

Now, hearing these words, they finally breathed easier.

“So don’t fear spending too much—as long as it’s worth it,” Luo Ning smiled. “Starting today, we must recruit more new hands, for there will soon be far more tasks for you to handle.”

“Lord… you mean…?”

A thought stirred in Wilson’s mind.

He had once been merely the administrative officer of Shanlin Town. Back then, Luo Ning had urged him to learn more, observe more, act more—and now, in the blink of an eye, he was Chief Administrator of the Northern Wushan Domain, overseeing the affairs of four towns.

Now, with the lord speaking thus… could it be that new territories were coming? (End of chapter)