Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Chapter 67 - 67 1 One-Quarter Copper Coin

?67: Chapter 1: One-Quarter Copper Coin 67: Chapter 1: One-Quarter Copper Coin 50 Demon Hunting Knights formed an elite troop, but in the end, only 3 Demon Hunting Knights returned alive.

The Sixth Rank Dawn Knight wearing silver armor and a golden sword was also in a near-death state.

“Such a thing actually happened…”

Roman quietly listened as Agata divulged everything she knew.

He realized that when he was still in Sige Town fixing roads and building cowsheds, a small-scale yet intensely fierce and brutal war had broken out in the Northern Land.

The ferocity of the war far exceeded everyone’s imagination.

An entire troop of Demon Hunting Knights had nearly been annihilated.

One of the contributing factors was a Nightmare Witch named Shasta.

“You can go back,” Roman told Agata.

She obediently left.

The village woman didn’t understand what being a Demon Hunting Knight entailed.

Roman, however, was very clear that it was one of the Church’s strongest armed forces, comparable only to the Judgement Knights and Holy Temple Knights, and the Demon Hunting Knights had the richest combat experience.

Any single Demon Hunting Knight could easily kill Aaron or Green, and even if the two men teamed up, they wouldn’t stand a chance against any Demon Hunting Knight.

They had campaigned everywhere, battle-hardened and renowned in the past years.

Yet now, they had suffered a significant defeat in the Northern Land, and the Sixth Rank Dawn Knight had barely made it back.

The Church was a colossal entity, and any action it took could affect everything connected to it.

Agata was merely a pond fish that was affected by the Church’s overarching actions, which stemmed from its exhaustive exploitation.

Roman saw it as an omen.

These circumstances would only worsen, and more innocent bystanders would suffer.

The Church would not quit while it was ahead.

Those Demon Hunting Knights were both a harbinger and a pretext for their actions.

The Church Court would likely add fuel to the perennially troubled and tumultuous Northern Land, and the flames reaching to the sky would paint the entire Wandong Kingdom’s sky a burning red.

At that time, would the three Grand Dukes of the Black Iron Kingdom remain seated on their thrones, watching indifferently?

Or would they stand up again, forcibly involving the whole Black Iron Kingdom, commanding all the nobles of the allied countries to incite another “Silent Valley Bloodbath”?

Yet Roman couldn’t imagine Grand Duke Riptide standing in front of a large army.

Could his father even stand anymore?

Roman found it amusing.

The future was uncertain and unpredictable.

Without a doubt, the struggle had accelerated!

The struggle was speeding up!

The pirates in the North, the highland Barbarians in the East, and the forest Barbarians in the West would all revel in this chaos.

And all the contradictions and wars of this land were about to enter a more intense and complicated stage.

“An era more chaotic than the troubled times of over a hundred years ago is about to arrive…”

Green asked, “Roman, what shall we do?”

Roman hummed, “We don’t need to care about their life and death; history will tell everyone who the victors will be.”

Green solemnly vowed, “I will clear the path of obstacles for you, become your shield, become your Long Spear, and kill all your enemies for you!”

Aaron glanced at Green, speechless at his colleague’s fanaticism, but could only murmur, “Same here.”

Green seriously said, “That’s why I must train diligently, preparing to kill the enemies in the future!”

Aaron, feeling compelled, followed with a nod, “Same here.”

Roman tilted his head, looking at Green.

At first, he didn’t understand what they were up to, but now he did.

He said with a faint smile on his face, “The livestock barn is done, but the work isn’t over yet, Green.

Don’t think about escaping.”

Green complained bitterly, “I’ve helped you build houses for half a month.

Let me go.” He really didn’t want to do that strenuous work anymore.

Roman immediately set his face stern, “No!

Tomorrow you will go and burn stones with me!”

“I beg you, spare me!”

…

Having Green burn stones was a joke.

Roman was preparing to build an army, and he couldn’t do it without professional soldiers.

The active guards in Sige Town totaled more than 40 people, coming from both former guards and newly joined hunters.

Aaron had trained them for over a month, and they were beginning to show some effectiveness, standing in neat formations.

Green was to assist Aaron.

Roman planned to increase the number of his army by the end of this summer to facilitate his future raids for captives.

The arrival of these two hundred slaves had somewhat alleviated Roman’s need for labor.

To help them recover quickly, Roman provided them with three meals a day, ensuring each person ate at least three kilograms of various cereals, grains, and vegetables daily, adding salt liberally as if it cost nothing.

The local people of Sige Town envied such treatment.

Roman didn’t care about this consumption; in his view, only fools would let their slaves go hungry.

He was convinced that the resources created by the slaves far outweighed the resources they consumed.

But if any slave were lazy or not actively working, it would be simple.

Roman would hang him.

One dead for each lazy one!

If need be, kill them all!

Such vermin wasting food didn’t deserve his rule!

After three days of rest, Roman also tallied the basic human resources available.

There were 103 adult laborers—counting both men and women, 38 children under fifteen, 17 people over forty, 30 sickly and weak individuals, and 7 children under five.

Sickly and weak individuals were singled out because they were severely depleted physically, or were diseased, or had been injured in the past.

Essentially, they couldn’t do physically demanding work and were considered defective goods—selling them for even six or eight copper coins was considered profitable.

Yet Roman didn’t reject these newcomers.

Not all jobs here required heavy physical labor; some lighter, skilled tasks also lacked manpower.

For instance, at the carpenter’s, one could learn if they didn’t understand; if they weren’t diligent, they would die, but they had to be useful in some way.

Even if two weak slaves could only do the work of one healthy person, it was still profitable.

To conserve resources, Roman found ten physically healthy male slaves to act as temporary stewards, each responsible for managing twenty slaves.

Roman’s requirements were low; they just shouldn’t cause any trouble.

If any of these people damaged his property, he would show these slave stewards what cruelty meant.

Correspondingly, he would also improve the treatment of these slave stewards.

For example, they could earn one ‘quarter copper coin’ per month as a reward—this type of copper coin contained only a quarter of the normal copper content.

One copper coin was quite negligible to Roman.

For ordinary households, though, it was a valuable asset.

Gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins were currency units used by nobles.

Commoners used half copper coins and quarter copper coins, and in some backward areas, even iron coins were popular.

However, iron coins had natural defects, so they hadn’t spread widely.

A farmer earning a quarter copper coin each day was sufficient to keep his family from hunger and well-fed.

In their daily trade, they usually bartered goods without using currency.

Nothing else—metal coins were too expensive to use.