Chapter 38: Chapter 34: The Fish Pond Project
The distance to Border City is far, it’s quicker to mine salt directly than to buy it.
Shallow rock salt is relatively easy to mine and can even be broken off by hand without tools.
The method of refining rock salt is also quite simple. First, crush it and use coarse linen to filter out large clumps of dirt and stone impurities, then boil and filter it a second time, and finally boil it again to crystallize it.
After these simple three steps, the salt obtained isn’t as fine as what Rod ate in his previous life, but in this era, it is considered pretty good quality and can meet daily needs.
The main responsibilities Rod assigned to Gang Le are supervision and transportation.
"Your brothers have to make a choice, to continue being mercenaries or to stay and become the settlers of Frost Leaf Town."
Rod said to Gang Le in front of him, "There’s no other way. Such tasks must be entrusted to someone trustworthy, and I only trust you."
Only those willing to stay in Frost Leaf Town can handle these tasks.
If none are willing, Rod would have to select trustworthy people from elsewhere.
"Okay, understood." A rare thoughtful look appeared on Gang Le’s face.
"You can be more generous."
Rod added, "No rush. Tomorrow, go find Rein and take your brothers to walk northeast to clear the ferocious beasts near the road."
Sometimes beasts are harder to deal with than robbers, and Rod needed to eliminate these troubles in advance.
He didn’t want to have headaches later on.
"Alright, I’ll go find him first."
Gang Le nodded, turned around, and left.
Rod then took out an agreement and walked into the wooden house next door.
Inside, Avril sat at the table, embroidering something. She turned around when she heard the noise.
She gently tucked the hair at her forehead behind her ear, revealing a sweet smile,
"Good day, Baron Rod."
"Good day, Miss Avril."
This was the agreement between Rod and Avril: before the Razor Plain was recaptured, she would be addressed as "Miss."
"Are you comfortable staying here?"
"Yes, it’s fine. Much better than the Razor Plain."
Avril’s smile was slightly shy, "It would be even better if there were more honey every day!"
Avril was fond of sweets. When they returned to Frost Leaf Town, Rod immediately gave her a jar of honey, which was nearly consumed within a week.
"There isn’t much honey stock in town. I’ll have someone buy more."
Rod actually wanted to keep bees, but beekeeping in the north faces significant challenges during winter.
"You should have a maid by your side too. How about that little girl, Susan?"
Susan was the little girl they brought back together from the hunter’s cabin.
"It’s fine, Baron Rod. I’ll follow your arrangements." Avril smiled sweetly.
"If you need anything, you can let me know, and if I’m not around, just tell Lawrence."
Rod had never actually dealt with noble ladies, so he had no idea about their needs.
The "Manor Story" had no guide on this either.
After some light chatting, Rod didn’t waste any time and laid the contract of animal hide on the wooden table.
"Take a look, Miss Avril. These are the contents of our discussion that day. If there’s no issue, you can seal it."
"No need to look, I trust you."
Avril took out her seal, pressed it into the red wax, and decisively stamped it onto the agreement.
Rod nodded with a smile and, without hesitation, stamped it with his own engraved seal.
He then put away the agreement, got up, and closed the door.
"Since we’re allies, I’d like to ask a favor."
"Please, feel free to ask."
"My subordinate, Gang Le, that giant bear-like guy, is going on a hunt in the Desert. I hope your avatar can accompany him."
Rod returned to his chair and, lowering his voice, said, "You and your avatar are in sync, and can relay messages to me anytime."
Rod wasn’t planning to spy on Gang Le; he was concerned they might encounter danger. It was also a test to see how practical Avril’s abilities were.
"Sure, Viviane doesn’t like staying still anyway, so it will be perfect for her to go out!" Avril agreed cheerfully.
"Please remind her to wear a mask."
Rod instructed.
"Okay,"
Avril looked at Rod and asked, "Are you planning to develop the salt mine there?"
"Hmm?"
Rod was puzzled.
Although he hadn’t deliberately concealed it, Rod hadn’t informed Avril about the salt mine’s existence.
"I saw the salt mine in Susan’s package, so I guessed there might be a salt mine at the cabin?" Avril proactively explained.
"Yes."
Rod nodded in affirmation, refreshing his impression of Avril.
Noble ladies are indeed smarter than ordinary commoners.
"In the future, I may need your avatar to relay messages for me there."
"No problem."
Avril said, "I’m happy to help you."
"Then take a rest, I have other things to do."
"Wait a moment."
Avril stopped Luo De, who was about to leave, and picked up the leather pouch in front of her, handing it to Luo De,
"Here, this is for you."
Luo De looked down at the pouch, which was embroidered with dragon claws and tulips, exactly his own badge.
But the embroidery and pattern design on this pouch were much more exquisite and beautiful than what he had done himself.
His own was at best a draft, while the one in front of him was the final refined version!
This kind of badge truly matched the noble temperament.
"The badge on your bag last time was a bit ugly, so I helped you re-embroider it."
Avril tilted her head and smiled a little embarrassedly, "I might not remember it quite right, if there’s anything you don’t like, I can help you modify it."
"It’s already very good, much prettier than the one I drew myself."
Luo De put away the pouch, and earnestly said, "Thank you, Miss Avril."
"I can only do these little things, as long as you like it."
"I like it very much."
Luo De nodded, smiling.
Without further small talk, Luo De bade a simple farewell to Avril and left her wooden house.
After completing the estate, the slaves temporarily had no new work arrangements.
Luo De couldn’t support them for nothing, so he decided to start the canal project immediately.
Frost Leaf Town had thousands of acres of farmland, and many were on hillsides, so the canals couldn’t naturally cover everything.
In the preliminary plan, Luo De intended to draw water from the River Bay over at the closest distance, then dig a reservoir relatively close to Frost Leaf Town.
Of course, the so-called reservoir was what Luo De also desired as a fish pond.
Luo De was very eager for a fish pond.
It could not only bring in water for irrigation but could also be used to raise fish as food, and even for a dip in the summer.
More importantly, it could unlock terms in the aquaculture field.
Once the reservoir was completed, they could then channel from the reservoir to other fields and build more irrigation ditches.
For those areas where canals couldn’t be drawn for irrigation, water could be manually carried or waterwheels could be built for irrigation.
Things would get much simpler by then.
But now, the most urgent task was to dig the reservoir.
Luo De’s initial plan was for it to be twenty meters wide, thirty meters long, and three to four meters deep, shallow around the edges and deep in the middle, which would be enough work for the slaves for two months.
The first reservoir was to be positioned in the valley between two hillside fields, over sixty meters long and wide, more than enough even if the fish pond was expanded later.
This valley was filled with damp mud, Luo De estimated it might also collect water in the rainy summer.
Such soil was easy to dig, and the mud dug up could be transported back to the town as compost.
The soggy, sticky mud exuded a foul stench, with about ten slaves standing barefoot in the valley in a circle, rhythmically shoveling the mud and tossing it to the shore.
Plop—
The foot pulled out from the sticky mud with a dull thud.
"Damn mud!"
Martin complained, shaking the mud off his foot with effort.
Old Tom straightened up, joking, "Did you eat too much black bread this morning? Look at your build bigger than a wild boar, tsk tsk tsk..."
"Shut up, old man! I’m strong!"
Martin raised his arm, confidently pressing his biceps, only to find them flabby.
Old Tom shook his head, "Come on, you’re not as sturdy as this old guy here."
"Hahahaha!"
The slaves burst into loud laughter.
Having new work made the slaves very happy.
Without any work, their food allowance would be reduced by half every day.
Only when busy would there be enough food, and they would even get a small cup of ale in the evening.
The slaves had gradually gotten a feel for the temperament of Luo De, this Noble Lord.
As long as they worked hard and didn’t slack off, they would have the necessary food and drink, and wouldn’t be abused without reason.
They no longer had such deep resentment as before.
After all, where wasn’t there work to be done?
"Humph."
Only Martin was sullen.
"Look down on me? I was chosen as a reservist soldier last time, and I was acknowledged."
Martin muttered quietly, keeping his head down as he continued to work.
The shovel lifted a clump of mud, where a fat loach was wriggling in the sludge trying to escape.