Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Chapter 45 - 45 14 Buying Grain

?45: Chapter 14: Buying Grain 45: Chapter 14: Buying Grain [Cooking Experience +1]

[Cooking Experience +1]

[Cooking Experience +1]

Roman stood before the chopping board, chopping meat with loud thuds.

Sowing was a tedious process, solely involving manual labor.

Either too many seeds were sown, or too little fertilizer was used.

Either the furrows were made too deep or too shallow.

Efficiency was hard to improve, especially for uneducated farmers; it was considered a skillful job.

Fortunately, learning this technique was not difficult.

Once mastered, it became routine.

Roman preferred to take it slow rather than witness a wheat field with irregular growth, some dense and some sparse patches.

That was hardly meticulous farming.

However, during this period, he would offer an additional free dinner, enabling them to meet the basic requirements of sowing.

Roman could also use this opportunity to boost his “Cooking” skill’s experience points.

Large chunks of bones and meat, large chunks of onions, large chunks of carrots, all tossed into a wooden basin on or around the ground.

Not clean, yet eating it caused no sickness.

With these twice-daily meals, the peasants no longer had to eat their stored food every day.

They could simply come to the public land to eat, and even bring along the elderly and children.

Moreover, the food was plentiful, they could even have pork soup.

But, there was a problem.

After the previous winter, Sige Town faced a period of little to no crops, with already scarce food supplies.

If they were frugal, they could likely make it to July of summer.

By then, the new round of wheat and other crops would mature, perfectly matching up with the consumption of food supplies, ensuring no one in Sige Town would starve.

However, since Roman started offering free lunches, the amount of food consumed in this period seemed astronomical to Moor.

Daily consumption had reached a shocking total of more than a thousand pounds!

Even though it was mostly grains, mixed grains, and vegetables, the quantity was substantial!

It was said that consuming this much daily was comparable to eating an entire draught ox!

That refers to a strong, well-fed ox weighing about six hundred pounds, potentially replacing the work of five or six laborers!

That was a supremely valuable asset for Sige Town!

Even Moor, as the Agricultural Officer, mostly had meat staples of sheep, pigs, and chickens daily.

Each year, they would only slaughter one aged draught ox to occasionally relish the taste of beef, and even then, he had to share it with his relatives and friends, and offer a bite to the slaves he purchased, as a reward for the past year.

And now, Roman was about to start offering an evening meal, which doubled the consumption.

The already meager food reserves were becoming even more strained.

Therefore, knowing this, Moor had to come before Roman to explain the situation.

Roman stopped chopping and nodded after hearing him out, “You mean to say even the landlord has no surplus, right?”

Moor wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, not sure why, but every time he faced Roman’s gaze, he felt sweat drench his back.

Moor bowed respectfully, “You are absolutely correct.”

He feared Roman might doubt him, disbelieve his words, and command the guards to plunder all his possessions…

The food was indeed almost gone, only a few thousand pounds left, so Moor wasn’t very afraid.

But he was fearful of other issues.

Over the years, he had siphoned off quite a sum for himself; if that wealth were exposed…

Survival or destruction—therein lay the problem.

Roman had never thought of this.

He bowed his head in contemplation for a moment before saying to Moor, “If there isn’t enough grain, then go buy some from outside.”

Buy grain?

Moor was stunned.

“This… this… isn’t quite appropriate.”

Every year, Sige Town would sell a large amount of grain.

Moor had never thought of buying grain from outside.

He had assumed that once he informed Roman, Roman would cease providing free lunches, letting the farmers bear the grain cost—their reserves combined were even more than his own.

It wouldn’t be a problem to collect a hundred or two hundred pounds of grain from each household, and it wouldn’t even hurt much.

Wouldn’t that just fill the grain shortage perfectly?

He was prepared; as soon as Roman mentioned it, he would implement it.

If Roman didn’t think of it, he would subtly hint at it, displaying the Lord’s incredible wisdom!

But what are you doing?

Dropping the ball at the crucial moment, are you even a noble?

Was the real Roman Riptide hijacked on the way to take office?

The food was already in their stomachs; it wouldn’t be wrong to ask them for grain.

You didn’t ask them for a dime.

Not imposing a meal tax on them was already generous enough, so why would you buy grain to support these farmers?

Roman looked at Moor and said, “What’s inappropriate about it?”

He slammed the kitchen knife down onto the wooden stump with a “thump!”

The loud noise made Moor’s heart leap.

With an unquestionable tone, Roman commanded, “Gather all the merchants here for me!”

Roman had not considered plundering the farmers’ reserves, as that was their lifeline, which could easily incite public resentment.

You can kill people; ten or so deaths didn’t matter in this era.

But you cannot seize their grain.

Are you, a noble lord, trying to rebel?

Before long,

Five merchants appeared before Roman.

These men were local small merchants from Sige Town, selling the town’s produce—such as mountain goods, furs, and agricultural products—to the outside world for marginal profits.

But since Roman had taken away all their labor, their source of goods had dried up, and business had been dead for days.

Now, summoned by Roman, they were puzzled.

“Do you know the price of grain?”

They looked at each other and bowed their heads, saying, “Yes, my lord.”

“How much grain does Sige Town sell each year?

And at what price?”

The merchants’ keen senses noticed that Moor’s face had turned deathly pale.

This drummed up anxiety in their hearts.

Their upcoming answer might involve Lord Moor’s destiny.

They didn’t want to answer the question, but facing Roman’s calm face and piercing gaze, they felt a dryness in their throats and ultimately said, “Perhaps…

perhaps about twenty to thirty thousand pounds annually.

A little over two thousand two hundred pounds of grain can be traded for one Gold Coin.”

He spoke very conservatively.

Roman didn’t care about Moor, who had collapsed on the ground.

He continued to question the merchants, “What is the current price of wheat?”

The small merchants looked at one another.

Eventually, one of them said, “It’s the off-season now, one Gold Coin can only buy about sixteen hundred pounds of wheat.

But during the peak season, it can buy about two thousand pounds.”

Roman considered for a moment.

Then he said, “Hm, I need one hundred thousand pounds of grain now, including mixed grains, vegetables, and cereals.

You will have to go outside to purchase this grain to meet my needs.

I won’t provide profit, but I will pay you wages.

If you transport one thousand pounds, you will receive five copper coins; transport ten thousand pounds, and you will receive five silver coins.

As for your purchasing capital, Moor will pay…”