Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

Although many people did not understand Lord Marquis's behavior of throwing money to the mud-legged people to improve their housing conditions, and many people expressed their opposition, but as an arbitrary feudal lord, Ma Youfu still insisted on promoting this plan.

Short-sighted people simply do not see the benefits behind this move.

First of all, after there is no mixing of humans and animals, the sanitation situation can be greatly improved, and the occurrence of various plagues can be curbed from the source.

In addition, the improvement of the living environment can effectively enhance the personal dignity and spiritual outlook of farmers, and lay the foundation for Ma Youfu's future literacy campaign.Moreover, it is also beneficial for farmers to carry out production and fertility activities more efficiently.

Yes, you heard that right.Lord Marquis was very worried about the fertility rate, and even took into consideration the privacy of the peasant couples.

After all, the whole family lives in a big room, and when the husband and wife are doing business, the children lie on the bedside and stare at them curiously, with the sound of the old mother playing with the kitchen utensils behind her... just thinking about this kind of scene Soft.

For farmers in Western Europe, if there were no wars, this era can be said to be the best era before the Industrial Revolution.The development of the commodity economy has basically dismantled serfdom, and a large number of farmers have gained personal freedom and can freely control their own labor force.The ravages of the Black Death made labor force scarce, and the income of farmers continued to rise.

In the future, even if the per capita arable land decreases with the increase of population, there is still a way to moisten the colony.

So Ma Youfu is not worried about overpopulation at all, leading to the Malthus trap or something.

Encouraging childbirth is his basic national policy.

The new house designed by Ma Youfu for farmers has a main house with two bedrooms and a living room, with a barn, a storage room, and a dry toilet attached.

One of the main reasons European farmers are used to living together with animals is that they can rely on the body heat of livestock to keep warm in winter.Now that humans and animals have been separated, Ma Youfu introduced the kang from northern China into the house, and replaced the fireplace stew pot that farmers used to with a Chinese stove.

The stove and the kang are connected together through the flue, and a fire wall is built to form a fuel-saving and efficient heating system.

The residents who lived in this new type of farmhouse all praised it and affectionately called it "Ma Youfu's House", which made Lord Marquis unintentionally enjoy the treatment of Su Suizong.

The conditions for farmers in Rouen to obtain a "Ma Youfu House" are not strict.As long as you sign a contract and promise to settle in the local area for more than ten years, you are eligible to apply for living in the "Ma Youfu House".This is also one of Ma Youfu's measures to attract free farmers to settle in Rouen.

If you not only want the right to use the house, but also want to obtain property rights, you can also purchase it through an interest-free loan.

If there is a man in the family who joins the army of Lord Marquis, then even this restriction is gone, and a set of "Ma Youfu House" with greatly improved living conditions can be allocated immediately.

After listening to the old man's introduction, Princess Mary nodded again and again: "Master Marquis's kind deed will definitely be blessed by the Seven Saints."

Seeing this beautiful and noble lady praising Ma Youfu, the old man let go of her wariness and started talking more: "It's not just that small villages like ours have built 'Ma Youfu Houses' everywhere, big towns like Rouen The city has changed even more. In autumn, I went to Rouen once to sell the hazelnuts picked up in the forest. I found that the city has changed a lot. Walking on the street, I can hardly smell the smell, and I can’t see it. Human and animal excrement. The roads in the city have also become wider, and the dirt roads are all paved with stone slabs. I heard that something called a 'sewer' has been built. Even Paris may not be as good as Rouen today. gone."

Princess Mary naturally knows the virtues of European cities in this era.So she lived most of the time in a palace in the country and rarely traveled to the city.

Although, as a lady, I am embarrassed to bring up the topic of excrement and fart, Princess Mary still couldn't help asking curiously: "Sir, how did Rouen become clean and hygienic, so it is so different from other cities? "

"This is because the Marquis built many public toilets in Rouen, and formed a manure collection team and a sanitation inspection team. In this way, not only will the city become clean and hygienic, but our countryside will also be able to obtain a lot of valuable fertilizer." The old man pointed to the yard not far away.There were several large wooden boxes for composting.Although the cold winter can't cover up the faint smell that emanates from it, making the two noble ladies cover their noses from time to time, but for the farmers, this is the guarantee of a good harvest in the coming year.

Chapter 360 The Second City Is Clean and Hygienic

Like their Eastern counterparts, European farmers have long known that human and animal waste can be used as fertilizer.But compared to China, manure is more in short supply in Europe.

The main reason for this situation is that the rural economy dominated by feudal lords and the urban economy dominated by merchants and handicraftsmen, the two systems were not fully integrated.

That's why there is no one to dispose of human and animal excrement in the city, which leads to environmental pollution and greatly affects the health of residents, while the rural areas are in a situation of serious shortage of fertilizers for a long time.

Compared with China, where towns and villages have long been integrated into one economic system under the management of a centralized empire, the ills in European society can only be attributed to "systemic problems."

In order to solve the problems of urban sanitation and rural fertilizer, Ma Youfu took three measures.

First of all, set up a sufficient number of public toilets to cover the entire urban area of ​​Rouen, so that citizens can develop a good habit of going to the toilet at designated locations.

In order to let those ordinary citizens who have defecated indiscriminately since childhood, have no education, and do not know the concept of "clean and hygienic" at all, develop good new hygienic habits, Ma Youfu formed a "hygiene inspection team".

This monitoring team consists of two detachments, one civil and one military. The members of the "Wen Detachment" are mainly mobilized from the church, and they tell the citizens through preaching tours that fixed-point toileting is not only a virtue extolled by the Seven Saints, but also the best way to fight against the plague evil god.Every time you poop in a public toilet, you are one step closer to heaven after death.

For Europeans who value religious life, this method is very effective.After several rounds of lectures by the sanitation inspection team, most citizens have accepted the new concept of sanitation and regard going to public toilets as a new way of worshiping God.Even the citizens spontaneously installed a cross sign symbolizing the seven saints on the top of the public toilet, and supplemented it with incense, candles and other decorations, making the whole process of using the toilet a bit more sacred.

Of course, no matter how well the publicity work is done, there will inevitably be stubborn people who still like to defecate indiscriminately.At this time, the "Wu Detachment" of the health inspection team is needed.

This team is all composed of strong and strong men, many of whom have military service experience.Holding wooden sticks as thick as their arms, they patrol the streets and alleys of the city. As long as they encounter people who urinate and defecate indiscriminately, they will go up to them with sticks.

Ma Youfu didn't know whether his move was based on Showa's authentic spiritual injection stick, or the advanced experience of the third brother policeman. All in all, the effect was quite good.

After solving the problem of open defecation in the city, it is necessary to collect the feces in various public toilets and the feces in the septic tanks of residents' homes and transfer them to the countryside.

Ma Youfu handed over this task with a strong taste to the Ministry of Health.

Picking up excrement may sound like a dirty and menial job, but it's actually quite lucrative.Otherwise, there would be no "dung tyrant" in Huaxia, who has the nature of a triad.

Although there is no shortage of money, Ma Youfu does not want this lucrative industry to be handed over to "vigorous social organizations", but regards it as a public service provided by the government.In addition, by controlling the supply of manure, it can also strengthen the government's control over the countryside, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.

Through various measures, the living environment of the entire Earl of Rouen, whether it is a city or a village, has been greatly improved.And because the supply of manure has been greatly increased, next year's agricultural harvest is also very worth looking forward to.

After listening to the elders in the village tell about the earth-shaking changes in the past six months, Princess Mary's curiosity was finally satisfied.She bid farewell to the old man with her maid, Catherine, and rode on a steed that was worth more than the entire village, and rushed to Rouen.

Along the way, newly reclaimed flat fields can be seen everywhere, as well as traces of burning and deforestation.

This is the result of Ma Youfu's vigorous implementation of the policy of absorbing refugees.Compared with a year ago, when Normandy became more and more desolate and desolate under the rule of England, this pastoral scene of chickens and dogs and smoke from kitchens can be called prosperous and peaceful.

On these neat farmlands, Mr. Renault de Joigny, who became the new Minister of Agriculture because of his excellent results in the civil service examination, is vigorously promoting new farming methods.

At this time, the farming method commonly used by French farmers was called the three-field system.That is, a field is divided into three equal parts.One spring sowing, one autumn sowing, and one fallow.

The new Minister of Agriculture, Renault, began to promote the farming method called "pastoral farming".This farming method is an improvement on the Santian system.Renault discovered that planting alfalfa on fallow fields quickly restored soil fertility.Therefore, the original three-field system was improved by him to a crop rotation system of half-pasture and half-cultivation, which is "wheat is grown on the most fertile land, rye is grown on the medium-fertile land, and alfalfa is grown on the fallow land."

Rye can be used as both human food and livestock, and alfalfa is a good feed.After adopting the new pastoral system, farmers can raise more livestock.Therefore, more manure can be obtained, which can further increase the yield of crops, so that the land utilization rate and farmers' output can be greatly improved.

When Renault took office, he wrote his proposals for agricultural reform and sent them to Ma Youfu in a letter.After the latter read it, he was inspired and remembered the biological knowledge taught by his high school physical education teacher.

Later, Ma Youfu wrote back to Reynolds, telling him that in addition to alfalfa, leguminous plants such as peas also have a strong ability to fix nitrogen.

Renault did not understand professional vocabulary such as "legume" and "nitrogen fixation", and only regarded it as "mysterious oriental wisdom".But he still understood Ma Youfu's meaning.According to the suggestion of Lord Marquis, Renault began to develop a new crop rotation system based on the "pastoral system", to explore the most reasonable sequence of cultivation of various crops, and how to keep the land with high yield without loss of fertility.

Speaking of the new Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Reynaud, and his good friend Garmond de Tucy, they can be described as typical characters favored by the goddess of luck.

When the two of them went to Rouen to take the civil service examination, they had a relationship with the Marquis of Lamanche. After passing the civil service examination, they continued to receive attention. Finally, with their respective professional knowledge, one became the Minister of Agriculture. One became the Minister of Navigation, which can be said to have reached the sky in one step.

But Renault has now begun to flex its muscles and promote new farming methods.Garmon, on the other hand, encountered the embarrassment of "a clever woman can't cook without rice".

The shipyard on the Cotentin Peninsula has just begun to be built, and it will take at least half a year to reach peak production efficiency.And a Karak galleon, even if it cut corners, would take at least a year to build.In addition, although the Marquis's mansion used cash everywhere to buy ships, so far, only the lowland sea merchants have sold two carravel sailboats and a dilapidated carrack sailboat for the sake of the Marquis.

Today, the entire Navigation Department is conducting various improvement experiments around these three small or old sailing ships, making preliminary preparations for the "powerful fleet" that will arrive at an unknown time.

Garmon knew that the Marquis wanted to create a new type of warship that could carry a large number of artillery pieces, use long-range bombardment as the main method of combat, be more self-sustaining than galley warships, and have better seaworthiness than Karak sailing ships.To this end, he devoted himself to this work with unparalleled enthusiasm, living and eating in the shipyard almost all the time.

It's not that Garmon likes 007's life as a cow and horse, it's just because he's afraid.

At the beginning, because he couldn't control his mouth, he told a joke about Lord Marquis having too many titles during the night, and the other party knew about it.

Although the Lord Marquis did not make things difficult for him after some explanations, the more Garmont thought about it afterwards, the more he felt something was wrong.

Comparing the Marquis of Lamanche to the Ottoman sultan who conquered half of the Balkans seems to be a compliment, but the problem is that the sultan did not end well in the end and died under the knife of an assassin.

What if Lord Marquis mistakenly thinks that he is cursing him to die?

Garmon didn't know that Ma Youfu didn't care about such things at all, and instead fell into a vicious circle of scaring himself, so he could only work hard, hoping to calm "the hidden anger of Lord Marquis" with a good performance.

Garmon enjoys the blessings every day, and has made great progress in the design of the ship.Through various experiments, he improved the Karak sailboat and designed a new type of warship that was more flexible and designed for artillery battles.

If Ma Youfu saw his design, he would definitely say: "Isn't this the most popular Galen ship in the 16th century?"

Today, three new sailboats of this type are under intensive construction at the shipyard in Cherbourg, and are expected to be launched in one and a half years.

Garmon hoped to invest more resources into the shipyard and increase the speed of shipbuilding as soon as possible, so he approached Juvenir many times.However, Juvenir also faced many difficulties. Even with Ma Youfu's order to devote all his efforts to the shipbuilding industry, he could not fully meet Garmon's needs.

The Cotentin Peninsula is a traditional shipbuilding base in Normandy, so Mayouf also located his new shipyard near Cherbourg, the northernmost tip of the peninsula.

As the general manager of Normandy, Ma Youfu has the ultimate power here, and the lords and mayors of various places are also very cooperative with his request for the development of the shipbuilding industry.

However, this situation where everything went smoothly changed after the first civil service examination in the Earl of Rouen.

After seeing Ma Youfu aggressively promoting those who passed the exam, forming new government departments, and strengthening the rule step by step, the nobles in Normandy felt a sense of crisis.

The reason is that the rulers of these places have a bad reputation.

The reason why they were able to become the rulers of a manor, a town, or a barony was that they received a letter of commission issued by Charles VII himself in time during last year's war.

However, the official positions granted by these commissions are neither formal nor hereditary, and they are in danger of being replaced by others at any time.

Chapter 360 Three Factions Against Marquis Autocracy

These aristocrats were very worried that Ma Youfu would spread the civil service examination of the Earl of Rouen to the entire Normandy region, and then let well-educated and professional civil servants replace traditional feudal lords like themselves.

Therefore, while Ma Youfu was far away in Provence, the nobles in Normandy began to resist Ma Youfu's rule and seek to expand their power.

They began to obey the orders of the Marquis of La Manche and respond negatively. This is the main reason for the slow progress of the production and construction of the Cherbourg Shipyard.

In addition, these nobles are also actively contacting foreign nobles, wanting to jointly fight against the increasingly powerful Marquis of La Manche.

They even sent envoys to Paris seven times in a row, crying to Charles VII about the despotism and arrogance of the Marquis of La Manche, hoping that His Highness the King can take back the position of "Normandy Royal Family Manager".

No one knows what Charles VII thinks in his heart.However, His Royal Highness also knew that it was a critical moment for the preparations for the Crusade, and the southern coastline was still facing the threat of undead from other worlds, so he directly rejected the request of the Norman nobles.

But these people did not give up.

They hoped to take advantage of the visit of the Princess of Burgundy to find a strong support and force Ma Youfu to expand their power and even grant him a formal title of nobility.

The representative of this group of Norman nobles is Ambroise de Montillo.

His father was French, and his mother was an English aristocrat. During most of the Hundred Years' War, the whole family's position was "to vote for Britain and France".

It's just that Ambroise is very smart, or has special horizontal jumping skills.Realizing that England would lose the war and be driven from the Continent, he immediately surrendered to Charles VII.This gentleman who speaks English more proficiently than French, just like that, has become a model figure in France who abandons darkness and turns to light.

It is also for this reason that Charles VII rewarded him generously and made Ambroise the tax collector of the city of Caen.

Caen is the second largest city in Normandy after Rouen. As a tax collector here, even if you don't engage in corrupt practices, you can still make a lot of money.

But Ambroise is clearly not satisfied with the status quo.He wished he could become Baron of Caen and make this wealthy city his hereditary fief.

It doesn't matter if His Royal Highness doesn't want to take out the royal territory and divide it up. Ambroise can also become a baron elsewhere.He believed that as long as he helped Charles VII complete the great mission of "weakening the power of the powerful minister Ma Youfu", he would definitely get the reward he deserved.

Ambroise knew that it would be difficult to compete with the Marquis of Lamanche based on his own strength.But he is not without reinforcements.

When Charles I, Duke of Orleans, was a prisoner in London, Ambroise forged a friendship with the heavyweight of the Valois royal family through family connections, and married his half-sister.

Although the Duke of Orleans is not as good as before in terms of prestige and strength, and his favorite thing to do is to enjoy the scenery and write poems in the garden, but he is still a strong support.

When Ambroise asked for help from the Duke of Orleans, the other party readily agreed to his request and sent a capable assistant to help Ambroise make suggestions.

Ma Youfu took advantage of the danger and took away the Earl of Beaumont from the Duke of Orleans. Later, the two sides had conflicts over the wool soldiers' disposal plan, so Ambroise's attitude towards his brother-in-law was not surprising at all.

Now, he has amassed a lot of wealth by virtue of his position as tax collector in Caen, and with a duke as his backing, he has become the leader of this group of Norman nobles who oppose the "marquis despotism".

That night, Ambroise arrived in Rouen with his attendant Armand, preparing to attend the welcome banquet held for the Princess of Burgundy.

Ambroise, who has a strong figure and handsome features, specially dressed up today, and when she appeared at the banquet, she attracted the attention of many celebrities.

"Armand, what do you think I look like?" Ambroise asked while arranging the gorgeous dress.

"My lord, you are impeccable like a legendary hero who came out of a knight's epic. Any noble lady will be attracted by your elegant demeanor."

"That Burgundian princess is no exception?"