In the scorching sun, Seni Dali walks on the banks of the river in a straw hat to check the growth of the ears of wheat. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After nearly four months of planting, the wheat is now almost ripe.

As far as the eye could see, the wheat fields were like a sea of gold, the ears of wheat were thick and full, and the number of the fruit had not only doubled, but even the size was larger than any spring wheat he had ever seen. Without having to wait for the harvest to be weighed, Saini knew it was going to be a good one.

There is no doubt that this must be the work of the witches.

He had been planting with his father for ten years, so he naturally knew what ordinary wheat should look like, and a wheat plant was divided into one to three ears, and each ear could produce twenty or thirty fruits. Whether the soil is fertile or not does affect the size of the wheat kernels, but doubling the fruit of the ears of wheat can be thought of without any other explanation than that of the witch.

There are many more such changes, such as the town's towering water towers, which he had seen up close, and it was impossible for a single human hand to carry a large iron bucket to an iron frame taller than a residential building, not to mention that they were built almost overnight. Nowadays, the townspeople living in the community rarely need to carry their own buckets to fetch water, and if they turn on the tap, cool well water will pour out of the pipes.

The same is true of the "small island" in the middle of the Chishui River, where the use of witches has become more and more unconcealed since His Highness held an investiture ceremony and brought Miss Nanawa to the podium. Letting a piece of land pop out of thin air on the empty river is obviously something that only a witch can do.

He had asked Barov, the head of the town hall, about this, and the answer he received was that he should not pay attention to it, and that His Highness Roland had his own ideas.

All right...... Anyway, the royal family always likes to fight against the church, even if the latter sends an army to crusade against His Royal Highness, it must first win the first army before it is qualified to speak, otherwise, the western frontier can only be the western frontier of Roland Wimbleton.

Isn't Duke Ryan the best example of this?

"Your Excellency, you are here," said the two serfs who were weeding in the field, and immediately greeted Seni Dali, "Look, this wheat field is ready to be harvested, so, I would like to ask you ......."

"I would like to ask if what the lord said before is valid?"

"Yes, yes," said the serf, rubbing his hands a little nervously, "can we really be promoted to a free man?"

As the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, in addition to recording the best planting methods and counting the harvest, Seni also had an important duty: to communicate with the serfs and to inform them of the policies of His Highness and the town hall in a timely manner. Although he didn't like the hillbillies who worked with mud all day, the knight's self-discipline allowed him to fulfill his mission.

"See those slogans?" said Seni, pointing to the banner on the edge of the farmland.

"My lord, I ...... I don't understand ......" the serf smiled awkwardly.

"Labor creates wealth, and labor changes destiny," he said, "that is, if you work hard to cultivate, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to a free people, which is a promise made by His Highness, and it will be fulfilled." ”

"yes, yes? That's great!"

"And when you become a freeman, you can live in the center of the town, have your own brick house, and get the right to primary education, so you don't have to ask me what these slogans mean. Saini repeated the corresponding promotional content.

"Yes, sir. The serf nodded excitedly and said, "It's hot, do you want to go and sit in my shed and drink a glass of cold water?"

"No, go get busy. He waved his hand and watched the two of them bow their heads and thank them for a long time before returning to the field to continue their previous work. This was the question that Seni had heard the most in the last month, and no matter how much he preached, they would always take the trouble to ask it again, as if the lord had canceled the policy in the blink of an eye.

I didn't go far before someone gathered around me, "Hello, Lord Saini, after these wheat are harvested and dried, do you really only need to hand over seventy percent?"

Huh, he sighed in his heart, this problem is second only to the promotion of free people, "This is true in the first year, and it will only become less and less in the future, if you become a free citizen, you only need to pay 20%, this is what we have repeatedly emphasized." ”

"It would be nice if we could really be promoted," said one of the tall men, touching the back of his head, "and the remaining thirty percent of the wheat, can we—"

"It can only be sold to His Royal Highness, eaten by himself, or kept as seeds. Seni clapped his hands and simply asked them to call all the surrounding serfs over, "Listen, the border town prohibits the private sale of grain, whether it is sold to local townspeople or to foreign merchants, it is against the law of the border town. If you do, you will not only have your proceeds confiscated, but you may also be imprisoned. ”

"What if the lord only offers a very low price?" muttered the tall man.

"Of course, this will not be the case, His Highness's purchase of grain will be carried out at a stable market price, and there will be no major changes in whether it is a poor harvest or a good harvest. So you don't have to worry about selling your wheat and not being able to afford it, and you don't have to worry about harvesting too much and not being able to sell it or selling it at a low price. "There is only one place in the entire border town where you can sell grain, and that is the convenience market, and the manager of the market is our town hall." ”

"And what the hell is the price......?"

"Rest assured, Your Highness will personally announce it to you before the acquisition. ”

Looking at the serfs who had dispersed in twos and threes, he licked his somewhat dry lips and continued to check the crops. I don't know how many of these people will take their words to heart, but Lord Barov has clearly conveyed the strong will of His Highness, and those who smuggle grain will be severely punished when the time comes.

Just then, a young serf broke away from the crowd and turned back, "My lord," he gasped, "I want to ask you a question. ”

"Huh?"

"Do you know where Miss May and Miss Erin have gone?" he hesitated, "there has been no theatre in the square lately, I suppose...... Ask you how they're doing, won't you...... Sick?"

This is a fresh and interesting question, Seni couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth, if he hadn't happened to see them at the city hall to go through the formalities, he really couldn't answer, "They're heading to the Changge Fortress." ”

"Ah," the other looked disappointed, "aren't they going to stay in Frontiertown?"

"It's just a performance at the Fortress Theatre," he shrugged, "and it's so hot that you can't bear to see them sweating in the sun, right? ”

"That's what I was...... Thank you, sir!"

Looking at the back of the young man leaving satisfied, Seni couldn't help but think of himself - from knight to captive, and then from captive to town hall official, the experience of these months can be described as ups and downs. He didn't want to go back to the territory of the Running Wolves, where there was nothing but dilapidated houses and wheat fields, and becoming a knight was just a way to get away from the life of following his father all his life.

Not every knight has the best territory and servants like the dawn of the morning, or the best territory and servants like the duke's knight, and now he is paid more a year than he was when he was a knight, and there is a lot of room for growth. Maybe it's time to bring your parents to town, marry a girl, and enjoy life. (To be continued.) )