As the woodland on the south bank of the Chishui River is gradually cleared, the day of cultivation is getting closer and closer.

In order to facilitate people to travel back and forth between the two banks of the Chishui River, Roland ordered people to build a pontoon bridge on the river surface of nearly 100 meters. In the lower part are dozens of rafts built by carpenters, connected by thick hemp rope. He also deliberately told the carpenter that the two ends of the raft should be surrounded by sharp corners, so that the resistance to water impact would be less. The ends of the hemp rope are wrapped in layers around the four log stakes driven into the shore to keep the raft as fixed as possible. Four long planks are laid in the middle of each raft to serve as a bridge deck, which is about two meters together and can be used by four people side by side.

The raft pontoon bridge is very simple to erect, and the service life is not low, as long as the river does not rise or fall sharply and the hemp rope is broken, two or three years can still be guaranteed - the trees of the hidden forest are of excellent texture, such as the trestle columns and pavements of the town's wharf, which are made of giant trees in the forest, and the life span is almost the same as that of the town. Despite the creaking of walking on it, there are no signs of collapse.

Crossing the pontoon bridge to the west, the first piece of land that was reclaimed was the experimental field of leaves. Now it was tightly planked on all sides, and the entrance was guarded by soldiers of the First Army. In addition to eating, attending classes and sleeping, Ye spends the rest of his time in the experimental field. From the window of his office on the third floor, Roland could see the scene in the wooden enclosure, where the wheat was growing wildly, and the ears of wheat that looked green in the morning had turned into a sea of gold in the afternoon.

Golden One, which grows on the basis of magical power, is accumulating seeds at a rate of almost one day at a rapid rate, and if it is seen by outsiders, it may be necessary to kneel down and chant miracles.

Seeing that the land, population, and seeds were ready, Roland decided to make up for the last link: the custodian.

He recruited Assistant Chancellor Barov, who had been busy lately.

"Your apprentice should be able to take charge on his own," Roland asked, "and I need to form two new departments at the town hall." ”

"Your Highness, this ...... There's not enough manpower. Barov was embarrassed.

In the past, you always agreed to it first, and then slowly discussed the details, but now you have learned to complain first. Roland said in his heart, but he was indifferent on the surface, "How can it not be enough, didn't I just allocate a batch of knights to you?"

Roland's first round of review screened out more than 50 knights who met the requirements and could read and write. There were not so many teachers, so the best of the best were selected, and finally nine knights were selected to serve as junior teachers, and the rest were assigned to the town hall, starting with apprentices.

"Your Highness, those people are procrastinating and lazy, and they are still slow to react, and they can copy a few mistakes in copying materials, and they are not qualified at all as apprentices. ”

"It's your business how to discipline them," Roland knocked on the table, "If you don't obey the arrangement, just send them to the North Slope Mine." But I must build these two departments. ”

"Well, Your Highness, you have the final say. Barov said helplessly.

"The first is the Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees the cultivation and production of crops in the territory," Roland said. ”

Barov was stunned, obviously it was the first time he heard that the city hall even had to take care of farming, "Your Highness, isn't this kind of thing tossed by the serfs themselves, how they plant and collect has nothing to do with us, we just need to receive the full amount of taxes." ”

"So you ...... No, I'm saying that crops have been so low in the past. Roland took a sip of water from his cup to cover up his mistake, "A responsible city hall should even be in charge of the people's eating, drinking, and Lazar." ”

"Eat and drink Lazar...... Aren't you kidding?"

"Of course not, not to mention the importance of eating and drinking, it is a dereliction of duty for the city hall to not let the people eat enough to eat, and it is also a dereliction of duty on my part. As for the second half, isn't the public toilet project built for this purpose?" he put away his relaxed tone and said to Barov seriously, "I don't know how the city hall of the royal capital is run, maybe it doesn't matter to them whether the civilians live or die, but in the border town, I want to build an all-round political body, which must know everything about the territory and the people, so that it can gain the wholehearted support of the people and the decrees issued by the people. I will now tell you about the composition of this department and the tasks that need to be undertaken, you have memorized it. ”

"Yes, Your Highness. Barov wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"You go to the archives and find out three or four people who have worked on the farm and incorporate them into the Ministry of Agriculture. Two more apprentices were transferred to take charge of the recording and statistics, and six people were almost enough. ”

"Wait...... You're going to make a civilian a city hall official?" Barov looked shocked.

"Not only are they obedient and highly motivated, so why can't they be officials? Officials are not equal to aristocrats, and the Ministry of Agriculture also needs some professionals to guide future farming. ”

"But most of them don't even know a word......

"That's why you need to send two apprentices to help with the paperwork," Roland interrupted, "and it won't last long, I'm going to be implementing an education program in my realm soon, with the aim of making it possible for everyone to read and write, so you won't have to worry about running out of manpower anymore." ”

Apparently this news surprised Barov more than letting civilians into the town hall, and he opened his mouth slightly, unable to say a word for a long time.

Roland didn't care whether he could accept it or not, and continued: "Back to the matter of the Ministry of Agriculture, when serfs cultivate their own land, there will inevitably be uneven levels, such as some people plough the soil deeper, and some people sow more densely. This was an excellent opportunity to observe, as the six men from the Ministry of Agriculture had to number the divided fields and record every step of the serf's cultivation, with detailed data on how deep the soil was turned and at the interval between the seeds. I give them measurement tools and teach them how to use them. ”

"You mean...... "Barov may be more old-fashioned in some ways, but his brain is still quick.

"That's right, you don't have to worry too much about the harvest when you're planting for the first time. Maintain food imports and ...... The use of some new varieties of wheat seeds is enough to ensure that everyone does not go hungry. I need to find the most suitable one of these methods and write it down in a manual. In the future, wheat cultivation will be carried out in this way, and the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for extension, guidance and supervision. ”

Roland doesn't know much about farming, but that doesn't stop him from using scientific thinking methods to summarize an optimal solution. With this plan, whether it is expanding the cultivated area or adding new agricultural population, the average output of the land can be maintained at a high level.

Barov nodded, then hesitated before saying: "Your Highness, I don't understand one thing, after the serfs were promoted to free people, why did you only charge 20% of the crops as land tax? ”

"Because there is no point in piling up coins in the basement," Roland explained, "and after paying twenty percent, I will buy the rest of their grain at a fixed price—in the border towns, the grain trade is the exclusive property of the lords." In this way, the castle received food, and they were paid. Once they have some savings, they will want to buy something...... Farming cattle, iron farming implements, beef, cotton clothes, and good brick houses, which only I can provide. The townspeople who wanted to buy food had to buy it from the castle as well. So eventually the coin will still flow back into my pocket, but in the cycle, it will improve people's living standards, you know?"

Barov frowned, did not answer for a long time, apparently in a state of bewilderment.

Roland smiled and shook his head, "If you don't understand, you can go back and think about it slowly, and do what I say first." ”

The assistant minister stood up in a trance, and suddenly turned around when he walked to the door, "By the way, Your Highness, you just said that you want to establish two departments, what is the other one?"

"The Ministry of Education," Roland replied, "will be the responsibility of me personally." (To be continued.) )