Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Chapter 47 - 47 16 Beguilement

?47: Chapter 16: Beguilement 47: Chapter 16: Beguilement Roman’s voice was firm, his expression calm, effectively shutting down Balrog’s litany of complaints.

The young man thought of his deceased father.

He bowed his head in silence, visibly upset.

Roman patted his shoulder in comfort, then told him to get lost.

He picked up the kitchen knife and chopped the vegetables deftly.

After making lunch for the day, Roman shrugged his aching shoulders.

He took Gwivelle with him and found Seth.

“Seth, let everyone rest this afternoon,” Roman said, “I need to plan a route to the Salt Mine, and after that, these people will build the road.”

Understanding the importance of the Salt Mine, Seth didn’t feel that Roman was being impulsive this time.

“Sir, you should also pay attention to your own image,” he advised, “You’ve been chopping vegetables in the fields for two days, which will make those farmers look down on you.

They will forget your authority and won’t fear you anymore, which is very fatal for nobles.”

Seth tidied up Roman’s rolled-up sleeves, disheveled collar, and messy hair, making Roman look neat and giving him lessons on nobility all the while.

“Hmph, that’s nothing,” Roman snorted.

“In the future, I’ll show those nobles what really is deadly.”

Seth was already immune to Roman’s baseless talks.

He had no idea what the kid was talking about.

Where do you think you are when you say such things?

Under Roman’s leadership, the farmers who had been busy for nearly half a month finally got a half-day rest.

Though the intensity of work was the same as before, it was still exhausting.

Having standards didn’t change the level of physical work, but the mental toll was different.

Since the sowing ended in the morning, Roman announced in the early hours that only lunch would be provided today without dinner.

This dimmed the farmers’ minor hopes of prolonging their work into the afternoon to potentially receive a free dinner.

Roman wasn’t going to give them that chance.

The lunch for spring farming was cancelled.

But the lunch for road building was about to start.

…

On the large map of “Breathing Story,” Roman planned a specific route.

He aimed to build a solid, durable road, not just a bumpy dirt track, only those who had lived in this era would understand how terrible the road conditions could be.

Both road conditions and vehicles greatly affected transportation efficiency.

Sige Town was well-rounded, having developed over decades.

The town had over eighty oxen, several draft horses, and a large number of pigs, sheep, and chickens in varying amounts.

Idle farmers wouldn’t refuse to breed these animals.

After raising the poultry and selling them to Moor or other stewards, or even traders, it formed a significant part of family income.

Roman was preparing to manufacture a specific type of transport cart.

This was a significant amount of work.

Moreover, Roman wasn’t familiar with cart manufacturing—he would have to wait until he improved his “Manufacturing” skill.

But the task itself was not difficult.

So he sought out Vic, the carpenter from Sige Town.

This man was skilled, having previously made the wheels for a heavy plow, and most of the town’s ox carts and horse carts were somewhat related to him.

According to Roman’s requirements, designing a simple transport vehicle was not a difficult task.

After all, the design couldn’t escape the limitations of the era.

These carts didn’t need to be large.

As Roman envisioned—a width of two meters, a length of three meters, and a load-bearing capacity of one or two tons, pulled by a single draft horse—it was essentially a modified ox cart.

After hearing Roman’s needs, Vic responded, “My lord, this shouldn’t be difficult, but I don’t know how many carts you need.”

“Start with ten, later a hundred; I’ll need as many as you can make.”

Transportation was crucial for development.

Vic anxiously said, “My lord, building these carts is time-consuming; I can’t craft ten carts in a short period.”

He vividly remembered the scene of making plowing tools.

He had to work as soon as he opened his eyes, sometimes even skipping meals, which left him extremely exhausted.

Though the payment was incredible, Vic felt that if he maintained this work intensity for long, death might reach him before the silver coins would.

Roman waved his hand dismissively, “Then have them cooperate in division of labor, pass on your carpentry skills for mass production, and your helper count will triple from today.”

Vic gaped, reluctant, and said, “It might take me ten days to craft the first cart.”

Roman replied, “There’s no rush on this issue, I’ll give you a month.

Is that enough?”

Vic looked somewhat troubled—as if it would still involve overtime.

“If successful, I’ll personally give you one gold coin as a reward.

How about that?”

Vic’s face twitched, “I’ll do my very best.”

It seemed death was slower than gold coins after all!

Because what was chasing him was gold coins!

Roman continued, “Vic, if you can’t finish, you can train carpentry apprentices.

“If you can train a number of qualified carpenters, I’ll give you the same number of gold coins.

“You can also tell Lax that if he can train qualified blacksmiths, I’ll give double or even triple the gold coins.”

He had lost hope in Sige Town’s production efficiency; his only recourse was to cultivate more craftsmen to possibly boost productivity.

The carpenter, in his late thirties to early forties, was momentarily moved.

He realized that a single carpenter wouldn’t satisfy the lord.

If that was the case, teaching carpentry skills to others wasn’t a bad idea.

Although his carpenter life was decent, his income was low.

He could only earn one gold coin in a year, and most of the time, farmers even had debts.

Whereas Lax made at least two gold coins a year.

“Vic, you don’t have to work hard every day or rise early and stay up late; you just need to teach your skills to others, and by training just ten carpenters a year, you can earn ten gold coins…

“The ceiling is 100 carpenters; if you can train 100, I will give you a hundred gold coins.”

If the previous statement had moved Vic, this one ignited a passion within him, making his pupils tremble, like a meteor crashing into a lake and causing great waves.

He already had two carpenter assistants and several slaves who had worked in his shop for years.

If he could… if he could…

He had never thought in his life he could earn a hundred gold coins!!

Vic’s lips trembled, his cheeks flushed red, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “I definitely will!

I will follow all your commands, sir!”

With staggering steps, he left Origin Manor.