Chapter 45: Chapter 41: Crop Lord
Early June.
The cold Northern Wasteland finally welcomes warmth.
Even without working, there’s no need to wrap oneself in thick clothes.
Under the full effort of the slaves, a two-thousand-meter-long irrigation canal has been dug, and Luo De starts building the embankment at River Bay.
By the way, construct a fish pond.
What Luo De desires is not merely playful fishing, but the ability to catch enough fish to last for months during the winter season.
The Northern Wasteland cannot be farmed in winter, so Luo De hopes to have a granary to store fresh supplies.
Therefore, Luo De plans to expand and deepen the River Bay while he’s at it.
Luo De found a narrower river channel upstream of River Bay and assigned slaves to build a temporary diversion channel on the opposite bank.
After the diversion channel is completed, they build a dam with sacks filled with mud and sand, diverting most of the water to the opposite diversion channel, isolating River Bay.
Next is to wait for River Bay to dry up before expanding it, turning it into a large reservoir capable of storing fish.
Of course, before construction, the fish must be caught first.
Early summer is the breeding season for many cold-water fish. Luo De had slaves excavate small ponds nearby for storing smaller fish,
and the slaves throw sandbags into the river channel downstream of River Bay, leaving only three to four meters of space to set up a large net, waiting silently.
As the river level continuously drops, the water level in River Bay rapidly decreases, the rushing waters slow to a gentle trickle, and the deep pools turn into puddles.
When standing in these puddles, the water only reaches the ankles.
Countless fish struggle in the puddles, in the largest puddle, the dense school of fish are almost packed together, constantly turning over.
The silver fish scales glisten in the early summer sun, making the riverbed appear as if covered in silver coins.
Even before entering the water, Luo De can already see the half-meter-long silver-mouthed fish, fat grass carp, catfish, and salmon, among others.
It makes one’s heart itch with excitement.
Then, sixty slaves jump into the river channel to start catching fish.
Or rather, picking fish.
Some slaves directly swing a basket in the water with force, scooping up half a basket full of lively, jumping fish.
However, this lazy behavior is strictly prohibited by Luo De.
Such actions could easily kill many small fish.
Luo De plans to raise them, after all.
With preparation time included, it took over three days to harvest nearly three thousand pounds of large fish, as well as countless small fry that cannot be counted.
In addition to this, there were some river crabs, river mussels, and river shrimp, totaling only eight hundred pounds.
Most of them were river shrimp, preserved like fish by salting and drying.
Some river crabs were dead and couldn’t be eaten, so they were steamed and served on the table the same day.
River mussels are too dirty, waste time to process, and have little edible parts, so they were entirely smashed and used as compost.
These large fish are cleaned; their offal is partly used as food for the slaves, partly as compost, while the fish meat is salted and dried for preservation.
This three thousand pounds of fish consumed over three hundred pounds of salt. If Gang Le had not just transported back two thousand pounds of salt from the salt mine, Frost Leaf Town’s salt would really not be enough.
It’s worth mentioning that Luo De’s salt mine is considered a rich mine, and with full-scale mining, it can produce two thousand pounds of salt each week.
To ensure that the slaves are fully dedicated to mining, Luo De specifically sent four female slaves there to cook for them.
The mine shafts at the salt mine are relatively small now, and more hands wouldn’t help much.
The women were responsible for handling the salted fish while the project at River Bay continues.
The slaves not only dug down but also expanded outwards, ultimately reaching a trumpet-like reservoir with the widest part at eighty meters.
Due to the seepage of water in the soil, the river channel’s overall depth could only be dug down to about a meter.
To increase the depth of River Bay, Luo De had to instruct people to raise the river banks.
To prevent erosion, wooden stakes were used to create protective walls, filled with clay, crushed stones, and bundled thorns.
The main structure of the dam was also framed with corrosion-resistant pine wood, with wooden planks inserted at an angle towards the water, covering the dam, and filled inside with stones and clay mixed with crushed grass, layer by layer solidified.
On the outside of the wooden planks, a layer of pine resin was applied as a protective layer to prevent corrosion.
The gate was crafted from four layers of interlocked wooden boards, similarly coated with pine resin as a protective layer, with each side embedded in chiseled stone grooves, constructed into a lifting gate via winch and counterweight stones.
Though it sounds simple, the actual making process involved many details.
It was also Luo De’s first time actually participating in design and production, constantly designing and researching with the carpenter, adjusting as they went along.
He even dreamed at night of brushing resin and nailing boards.
Just as Luo De was feeling exhausted, a system prompt suddenly appeared.
[5000 acres of land in the territory have been cultivated, unlocking entry: Crop Lord]
[Crop Lord (purple): Ordinary grain crops within the territory are inspired to flourish under your influence, with a basic yield increase of 100%.]
Pfft!
The water Luo De was drinking sprayed out!
Simple words, straightforward effect, truly shocking!
No wonder it’s a purple entry!
Defying common sense!
This is truly a Crop Lord in name and reality!
Luo De quickly calculated, which means that the yield from his meticulously farmed one thousand acres could reach up to 600 pounds!
This nearly reaches the low-yield regions’ grain yield per acre in his past life!
And once the food yield doubles, this means Luo De can support more slaves and even double the military-civilian ratio!
For instance, before, a hundred people would support five soldiers, but now Luo De can support a hundred and ten soldiers with a hundred people!
Because the extra doubled food requires no additional consumption, it can all be used to support soldiers!
The better the farming, the more the food will double!
Of course, this is only theoretically, as more resources are needed for actually military upkeep.
These also involve taxes and economics, unless pushed to the limit.
But this also means food will no longer be a barrier for Luo De!
At the same time, besides abilities, the Crop Lord entry provides extensive crop cultivation knowledge and agricultural tool-making techniques.
Not only for wheat, rye, and potatoes but also for crops like corn and rice, which have not yet been cultivated in Black Pine Ridge, as vast as the sea.
This means that Luo De could just farm and sell grain, buy slaves, and keep expanding his territory!
Of course, that method takes time.
Feeling elated, Luo De immediately looked at the next entry.
[Next entry: Successfully obtain four entries: [Crop Lord], [Mineral Lord], [Breeding Lord], [Hunting Lord], unlock: Great Lord of Nature]
He has obtained the Crop Lord, still lacks one for the Mineral Lord, and hasn’t unlocked any in the Breeding Lord and Hunting Lord series.
The carpenter beside him noticed Luo De standing motionless, squinting his eyes at him, with a deep gaze and a slight smile.
Was it because he didn’t do well?
The carpenter couldn’t help but shiver.
"My Lord, do you, do you have any instructions?"
Luo De came back to himself and calmly instructed, "Go tell Durant to meet me in the hall!"
Luo De strode back to the estate, and shortly after, Durant hurriedly arrived.
Before Durant could speak, Luo De waved his hand grandly,
"Convert the militia and fifteen reserve slaves into regular troops, participate in full-day training!"
"Additionally, select ten well-performing ones from the slaves and townspeople to participate in militia training."
The militia is considered a reserve unit, training occasionally while needing to work in daily life.
"Huh?"
Durant was stunned, unsure why the Lord had such a sudden change.
"Spring plowing is over, the fish pond’s foundation is set, the rest and the canals can be slowly built. If necessary, we can buy some more slaves from Border City in a few days."
Though the effects of the Crop Lord are not immediate, it means Luo De can be bolder, not needing to reserve so much food for winter.
The gold coins at hand can also be spent more daringly, accelerating the development speed.
Training soldiers is not an overnight process, but with confidence, Luo De must seize the moment to prepare in advance.
Without military growth from increased food, what’s the point of having extra food?