Warlord: King of All Clans

The snow on the Wolf Plain is even harder to melt than on the banks of the Anzeno River.

In Village No. 7, located further north of Linhai Town, the farmland is still covered in white.

But on the main road at the entrance of the village, all the villagers, young and old, were mobilized and were working hard to clear the snow on the road and collect pebbles to fill the potholes on the road.

Yesterday, officials from the town's Civil Affairs Department waded through the snow to inform them that ten carts of high-quality wheat seeds, twenty oxen and ten wheeled heavy plows would be delivered in the next two days, and they were asked to quickly repair the road into the village.

The wrinkles on the face of the village chief, Old Sam, were deeper than in previous years, but his spirit did not look like that of a fifty-year-old man who had just survived a cold winter.

His daughter Bessie is now the richest person in Linhai Town. She runs a big business in the city of Abros. The money she sends back every month is more than what all the villagers earn combined.

His son entered the Atrium Middle School, where he was both good in character and academic performance. At the end of the year, he was selected as an outstanding graduate by El. The last batch of outstanding graduates from the Atrium are now officials, with a higher starting point than him, a small village chief. At least he will be a civil official in a knightly territory.

Before winter came, he also received instructions from the mayor of Linhai Town.

If the population of Village No. 7 reaches 100 this year, and the cultivated land area, infrastructure level, and production efficiency are all rated as excellent, then he, as the village chief, will have the opportunity to be crowned a knight.

The titled knight! The honorary knight of the Reach!

I dare not think about it, I dare not think about it at all.

Old Sam, wearing a warm sheepskin coat, supervised the villagers to repair the road while whispering to the crier beside him, "Little Henry, trolls... are also considered the population of the River Bend, right?"

Henry, the crier sent to Village No. 7 by the Lord's Mansion of the River Bay and also the head of the craftsmen group, knew what Old Sam was up to as soon as he heard it. He stared at him and said, "What are you thinking about? There are more than 400 people in Village No. 7, and there is not enough arable land. Do you still want to recruit the trolls? If they have no food to eat, won't they eat your precious son?"

Old Sam was exposed by him, but his face did not blush at all. He analyzed for him: "It is true that there is not enough arable land, but the more than ten hills behind belong to our Village No. 7, right? Usually only a few hunters dare to enter the mountains. It is better to use them to raise a few trolls."

"If we use the giant troll's arm strength to pull the plow, our village won't have to go to the town to borrow oxen next year."

After hearing what he said, Henry was a little moved.

Village No. 7 is located on the edge of the gravel hills. Apart from the valley where the village is located, which has hundreds of acres of fertile land, the rest of the valley is covered with grasslands, forests and gravel.

In the past, when the population was small, people could make a living by relying on the hundreds of acres of land in the valley.

Now the population of Village No. 7 is increasing and the area of ​​arable land is also expanding.

The villagers could not cultivate much land with just their own hands and their old oxen and broken plows, let alone continue to open up wasteland deep into the wilderness.

Every spring, Old Sam had to go to the town and rent bulls and heavy plows from the civil affairs hall to improve the villagers' farming efficiency.

However, the official number of agricultural tools and animal power in Linhai Town is limited, and there are more and more villages under its jurisdiction, so the Civil Affairs Department cannot just take care of their village.

If we could move in eight or ten troll households, that would be equivalent to ten or twenty high-quality livestock that can find their own food!

The two of them whispered to each other and then got to work.

Sam immediately called his cousin and asked him to go to the troll village north of Gravel Hills and call the troll chieftain Kedosha for negotiations.

This clever troll has been learning human farming techniques and often spies on the farming scene in Village No. 7 under the guise of trade.

Old Sam had also been to a troll village once. These trolls, who only knew how to hunt, bought iron plows and pulled them themselves without using any cows.

Moreover, they don't have ridges and ditches to conserve moisture in their farmland, nor do they know how to irrigate or apply fertilizer. How much they can harvest depends entirely on fate. Any half-grown child in Village No. 7 can farm better than them.

Old Sam thought that if he used the excuse of teaching them farming techniques, he would be able to convince them.

Before arriving at Kedosha, Old Sam received the supplies allocated by Linhai Town.

Carts loaded with wheat seeds and farm tools slowly entered the village, escorted by patrolling cavalry.

The leader of the patrol cavalry escorting the carriage was a young man wearing a bearskin cloak, and under his crotch was a dark red dragon-scale horse covered with scales.

Old Sam had only seen Leo a few times, but he recognized him immediately and knelt down in the mud. "My Lord Earl!"

Leo frowned and said unhappily: "Stand up and speak. The people of the River Bend never kneel."

Old Sam quickly got up and said, "The Earl has arrived. I'm sorry for not coming to greet you..."

Hearing the illiterate headman of Village 7 trying to be polite using the Imperial elegant language that only the Imperial nobles like to use, Leo secretly laughed and jumped off his horse to comfort him: "I am Bessie's friend and Noyes's elder brother. We are all family. I came to visit you on the way. You don't have to be so nervous."

What? The Earl and I are family?

Old Sam was so excited that he forgot everything else for a moment and answered all of Leo's questions.

There was not enough animal power, or the land was barren. After calming down, they realized that all the bitterness had been poured out.

The agricultural officer of Linhai Town, who was following nearby, frowned as he listened, but did not dare to say anything to stop it.

Leo listened to everything before nodding and saying, "Well, I understand what you said. Linhai Town will do its best to handle it. I can see that you've done a good job."

Leo himself is an experienced person and can see at a glance the real living conditions of the lower-class civilians.

When they entered the village, the villagers of Village No. 7 were all watching. The faces of men, women, old and young were all pale. Children were chasing and playing around in groups, while the young and strong people were working in the cold wind.

Without sufficient food support, such a scenario would simply not be possible.

The hungry and cold villagers would not go out so early, and the children who were swollen from hunger and covered with frostbite would not have the energy to jump around.

The outer walls of the village and the villagers' wooden houses were all built solidly and airtight, and not a single one of them was collapsed by the heavy snow.

During this period, he visited the villages around Linhai Town one by one, but there were not many that were better than Village No. 7.

After walking around the village casually, Leo was sure that the village was well governed, so he said, "In addition to the oxen and iron plows rented from Linhai Town, there are also a batch of books and clothes on the cart. These are the supplies your daughter Beixi bought for the villagers, and you are responsible for the distribution. Well, this is her letter."

Old Sam's first reaction was that his daughter was gone, and the death was so tragic that the earl had to deliver the letter personally.

Leo didn't know what he was thinking, the letter was given to him by Agata.

After Olivia, Agata also became pregnant, so she returned to the River Bay Peninsula to rest and take care of her baby. When she heard that Leo was going to inspect Linhai Town, she handed the letter that Bessie gave her to Leo.

After completing the task, Leo continued, "The land in the entire Linhai Town is very poor and seriously lacks fertility, but the climate is fine. Starting this year, Swamp Town has added two new peat plants. After a while, you will be able to see them in Linhai Town. If the land is too poor, buy two trucks of peat to cover it."

"If you keep careful accounts, the money you spent on peat in the first three years can be used to offset your taxes."

Old Sam nodded quickly, "Yes, Lord Earl."