Malik invited everyone to the tavern to rest, and many villagers had already gathered in the store. Many of them were familiar faces, and Roland could vaguely call them by name. Everyone talked about the past two years ago, from the scavenger in the garbage dump to the old ghost woman in the misty swamp, and this meal was very happy.

While chatting with the villagers, Roland stumbled out the window and saw a newly built wooden house opposite the tavern, shaped like a chapel, with a prominent Sindra emblem painted on the wall.

After asking Malik, I learned that many people in the village had already gone to Krasbourg to participate in the sanctification ceremony a few years ago, and after returning they raised funds to build this church dedicated to the goddess of fate for the believers to pray.

"Who is running the village church now?" Roland asked Malik.

"He is usually taken care of by Qiao Sen, who was one of the first people in the village to make a pilgrimage to the capital." Malik pointed to a sturdy-looking young man in the crowd and introduced Roland, "This is this young man, he is very religious, the church was built by him by cutting wood, and even the statue of the goddess in the church was carved by his own hands, and it is said that it is exactly the same as the statue of the goddess of the Grand Temple of Krasbourg!" ”

Roland raised his glass to the pious carpenter: "Brother, thank you for all you have done to spread the gospel of our Lord, and the kingdom of my Lord deserves a place for you." ”

The young man's hands trembled with excitement, he raised his wine glass and bowed deeply to Roland, and said reverently: "Your Royal Highness, may my lord be with you!" ”

Roland drank it all and asked him with a smile: "Qiao Sen, are you usually busy with work?" ”

Qiao Sen hurriedly shook his head: "Occasionally helping people do some carpentry work, it doesn't matter." ”

Roland patted Peter on the shoulder, "This little brother is the resident pastor sent to our commune by the church, in the future, he will be responsible for managing the village church, presiding over the sacraments on Sundays, in addition to opening a school church and a commune savings house, there are too many things, you need an assistant, Qiao Sen, if you are willing to accept this position, the commune can provide you with a salary, do well, and have the opportunity to become a full-fledged civil servant in the future." ”

"I do! Opportunity to serve Mr. Pastor, willing to take no money! Jossen replied without thinking.

Roland was pleased with the honest and pious young man, and turned his head to give Peter a look.

Peter filled a glass of wine with a smile and said to Qiao Sen: "This big brother, I will trouble you more in the future, I will toast you." ”

Qiao Sen raised his glass respectfully in return: "Dear Mr. Peter, you must not be polite, if there is anything in the future, please tell me." ”

Peter took a sip of wine, stuck out his tongue so hot, and turned back to Roland and grimaced: "I've grown so big, this is the first time someone has called me 'Dear Mr. Peter', it sounds weird...... If you are heard by the gangsters in the slums, you will definitely laugh in your belly! ”

Roland patted the little priest on the shoulder and smiled indifferently: "This proves that you are no longer the Peter of the slums, slowly get used to this new title." ”

After the dinner, Roland rests in the tavern with Peter and Nikolai, and Lyudmila accepts Tonya's invitation to stay at her house, and with Bavra, the little cat woman, the three women inevitably have to gossip all night.

The next morning, Roland had breakfast at the tavern, and accompanied by Malik and Jossen, went to the chapel opposite, and witnessed Peter lead the village believers in the first sacrament since his inauguration—a simple morning prayer, but a good start.

After the morning prayers, Roland followed Malik around the village. After more than half a year of training, Lyudmila has fully adapted to the role of secretary, and while following Roland's visit, she wrote down some important data, such as the total population of Valley Village after uniting several surrounding villages, including about 900 laborers.

The labor force of less than 1,000 people had to cultivate 20,000 acres of farmland, which was obviously too busy to rely on manual labor, so the great effect of the 100 ploughing horses sent from afar was highlighted, and the peasant households who joined the commune were encouraged to learn that they could borrow the commune's ploughing horses for free, while those who did not join the commune were quite dissatisfied and complained privately about the unfairness.

Roland was silent about the talk. It is ridiculous that the ploughing horses provided by the government for the commune, and those who refuse to join the commune think that they have the right to use it, and as Bafra said, they must not give the slightest favor to these selfish fellows.

After the inspection, Roland returned to the tavern, found a secluded room, and called in the team of Malik, Bavra, Nikolai, and Peter. After a brief explanation of the problems found during today's visit, suggestions for improvement, and then a list was drawn up to point out the facilities that needed to be improved in the commune, including village offices, hospitals, schools, shops (supply and marketing cooperatives), pastures (livestock stations), warehouses (seed stations), security offices (armed forces departments), and savings offices (tax offices). Some facilities can be "one set of people, two brands", and it doesn't hurt to combine them to work.

"That's all I want to say today, Malik, Bavra, Nikolai, and Peter, from now on you are the leadership of Valley Village, discuss and get ideas when you encounter things, I won't say much nonsense about unity and cooperation, it's the beginning of April, spring plowing is about to begin, you have to be busy, I won't bother much, I will come to visit you again at the end of September when the autumn harvest comes, I hope you can welcome my return with a good harvest, do you have confidence?"

"Yes!"

The four of them replied loudly in unison. Peter's face was devoid of his usual playfulness, and Pavra, the little cat woman, looked unusually dignified.

"I will remember your promise, and see you in the autumn harvest."

Roland had a smile on his face, but his mood was a little heavy. He had high hopes for the first autumn harvest after the implementation of the rural reforms, but he was not sure whether the Far East would already be in flames of war when the harvest he was expecting arrived, and whether the people of the valley villages would still be able to harvest with peace of mind.

PS. Regarding the proportion of the working population in the total population

China's 2012 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Communiqué: The total working-age population aged 15-59 (including those under 60 years old) was 937.27 million, a decrease of 3.45 million over the end of the previous year, accounting for 69.2% of the total population, a decrease of 0.60 percentage points over the end of the previous year.

Life expectancy in an agrarian society may not be so high, and the proportion of infants and young children in the family structure is even higher, but the participation of minors in the labor force is also more common, and I have not yet found more authoritative data on the ratio of the rural working population to the total population, so I can only give a simple estimate: 60%.