Chapter 9: Cutting the Gordian Knot

On the way back, Green took off his helmet and looked at Roman strangely, "I thought you would continue to feed them porridge and give up exploiting them."

The word "exploitation" was something Green had learned from Roman; Green found it very suitable, very apt.

Roman said nothing.

Green kept scoffing, "It's a good thing you're doing this. Without exploiting the commoners and slaves, we wouldn't even be able to afford white bread, and how would we maintain my training then?"

Suddenly, Roman asked, "What if you really couldn't eat white bread?"

Green looked surprised and skeptical, as if trying to judge whether Roman was joking or not. Even the usually silent Aaron glanced their way.

The three of them had grown up together. Both Green and Aaron knew that Roman wanted to do something significant, and today was clearly the start of his charge.

Roman had waited a full thirteen years for this day.

Green said carelessly, "If we can't eat it, then we can't. You are the noble lord, we are just your attending knights. Whatever you want to do, just do it well; after all, we couldn't oppose it even if we wanted to."

His personality was erratic, but he himself did not like to think, especially about the future. The more he knew, the more confused he became.

But no knight would ever betray his lord; he would support all that the lord did unconditionally.

Concentrate your forces to do something big! To do something big!

Wasn't that why he and Aaron had chosen to follow this lord?

Roman knew this would be their reaction, but hearing Green's words still cheered him up right away. He smiled and looked forward.

This time, Seth leaned in; he wasn't interested in the conversation between the two. He simply said, "I don't know what you want to do, but asking for children under 15 and over five years old to come to the estate seems inappropriate."

He had been getting updates from Moor and was now more familiar with the situation in Sige Town.

There were about three hundred children in this age group, a significant proportion of the population in Sige Town.

Children of this age could help their parents with basic and simple tasks.

Especially the older children over ten years old, who were basically viewed as basic labor forces. Taking such a workforce from all families would have a significant impact on the entire town.

Furthermore, it was very likely that there were infants in these households who needed care.

Before, an elder brother or sister could watch over them, but now they would only burden their parents and interfere with work in the fields.

Seth expressed his concerns to Roman, saying this could cause serious problems.

Roman claimed to care a lot about these minors. He would select the right people with learning talent to cultivate and would also arrange for the younger children properly.

Seth doubted Roman's decision.

In his view, Roman had brought two clerks with him, and Sige Town already had its administrators. There was no need for Roman to go out of his way to cultivate his own personnel, and the number he was planning to train seemed excessive.

Roman didn't explain what he planned to do; this was a very long process, and today was just the beginning. He wanted to get the town's young people in the habit of going to the estate when they had nothing else to do and slowly start to influence them.

Roman pondered for a moment, his red eyes focused ahead, and said, "I want to change all this, and to start, I have to destroy their old ways of life. Manor economics only amuses me, I want to oversee all resources, then distribute them uniformly. I will not tolerate any waste..."

His actions today were meant to show his might and authority, so those fools would genuinely fear him and not treat him like a parental official, ready to be spoiled in his embrace.

He couldn't show those wretches any kindness, or they would take advantage and climb higher.

Roman wanted to crush all their illusions forcefully, wipe out all their hopes, tear down all their psychological defenses, and make them the most suitable offerings to exchange for a ticket aboard the new era.

He didn't have time for gentle reform and gradual guidance. Those lukewarm methods of the Asiatic would only fill him with loathing.

A swift cut to resolve chaos and establishing a foundation with an iron fist was the optimal path with the least sacrifice and the fastest speed.

For this reason, Roman could not allow that ignorant bunch to raise any objections.

Under Seth's horrified gaze, as if saying 'you're mad', Roman continued, "I want to reduce the cultivated area, and if they can't adapt, then they can just die."

It's not the case that the more wilderness you reclaim, the better, nor is it the better the more you plant.

In this era, where a family needs to plant 60 acres just to ensure enough food, the ratio of seeds to harvest is about 1:4.

That is to say, for every wheat seed planted, on average, only four wheat seeds can be harvested.

Because in these times, farming relies solely on the favor of the heavens—winds halve the yield, rains wash it all away, with no capacity to withstand any risks.

Although merchants, given a 300% profit, dare to commit any crime, if you ask a merchant to farm, he would probably bash his head in frustration right here!

Theoretically, if Roman managed to harvest eight wheat seeds from one, he could reduce the cultivated area by half.

If he harvested sixteen seeds, he could abandon three-quarters of Sige Town's cultivated land.

Of course, doing so meant maintaining the nearly dead appearance previously, it was inevitable that the farmers couldn't get enough to eat at each meal, and it was also very risky, unable to withstand turbulence.

Roman strived to harvest as much food as possible on the existing yield base.

The population of Sige Town gave him a pleasant surprise, but labor was still scarce.

And while intensive and meticulous farming increased the level of trouble, it indirectly reduced the demand for labor.

More importantly, it could free up a group of laborers.

Just as "Breathing Story" said.

Roman had a lot to do.

Right now, the urgent task was to plant enough food before the end of this season.

As long as he selected superior strains, the soil nutrients were sufficiently supplied, and the conditions were right, the crops could grow close to the limit of their genetics—wheat is just like humans.

With such yields, naturally, it wouldn't be low.

Therefore, abandoning most of the cultivation area was beneficial to the whole.

Roman's expected input to output ratio was 1:20.

In his view, this was already a very normal expectation.

If such a goal couldn't be achieved, then Roman would feel ashamed toward his ancestors.

Now was the perfect time to prepare for spring planting; he must seize this opportunity.

Sige Town had a total of more than 80 plow oxen, and the climate of this land made animal husbandry simpler than farming, but animal husbandry alone couldn't keep people alive; they still had to rely on farming.

Farmers couldn't afford to buy plow oxen, these oxen in the past belonged to the Agricultural Officer Moor and those stewards collectively.

And now, those properties belonged to Roman.

Roman felt no burden in requisitioning Sige Town's resources.

He was the lord after all, having this privilege was very normal, and he couldn't stand the sluggish development pace of Sige Town anymore.

This kind of primitive accumulation was extremely slow; up to now, they had only accumulated a few dozen cattle.

Out there, when the prices fluctuated only slightly, a full gold coin could buy two plow oxen.

But Sige Town's commercial scale was still too weak, lacking transport capabilities, and even with money, not everything could be purchased.

Roman didn't need to be a genius to understand that nearly two thousand people sharing more than 80 plow oxen was an extremely tight situation, and it was impossible to complete all the cultivation tasks.

He had asked before, and in the past, the land that couldn't be plowed in time had to rely on manpower for extensive planting—that is, casually scattering seeds and leaving it all to fate whether they would sprout.

Under normal circumstances, there was usually at least some sporadic harvesting.

There was no choice; in the absence of effective improvements in land productivity, expanding the cultivation area was inevitable.

And this was a huge waste of resources; abandoning those wilderness lands where planting once yielded twice, planting twice yielded four times, and concentrating efforts were the wise move.