The first batch of wheat planted in Border Town finally ushered in the harvest day.

The serfs, braving the scorching sun, used sickles to cut the wheat stalks, tying them into bundles and transporting them to the other side of the river.

Roland knew that the process from wheat ear to grain was quite cumbersome. Before the popularization of mechanical farm tools and combine harvesters, the grains needed to be separated, cleaned, screened, and dried manually. Now, he witnessed this process once again.

After the wheat stalks were transported back to the camp, the serfs spread them out on the ground to dry. Then, they used various tools—whatever was available: wooden sticks, stones, and rakes all came into play, repeatedly beating the stalks and ears to separate the grains from the outer shells. This process often lasted three or four days. In Roland's memory, the countryside used oxen or donkeys to pull stone rollers around the threshing floor, which was not only much less laborious but also more effective in hulling the grains evenly.

It had to be said that the town's agricultural level was really too backward.

After threshing, they turned the field, using whatever they had. If there were no forks, they used wooden sticks instead, or simply grabbed the wheat stalks with their hands and tossed them into the air, like stir-frying in a wok. After the initial beating, most of the outer shells of the grains had already broken, and this process separated the grains from the ears.

The threshed wheat straw actually had many uses. After being crushed, it could be returned to the field, used as bedding for livestock, or used to make feed and paper. However, Roland didn't have time to develop green industries at the moment, so he had to watch the serfs pile the wheat straw by the river and burn it all in one go. In the following days, the sky above the town was filled with gray smoke all day long, comparable to the cement dust pollution from before.

At the same time, the two spindle-shaped islands of the Redwater Bridge had also been cleared, and the construction of the water retaining wall was proceeding according to plan. The foundation piers adopted the same prefabrication method as the main bridge—first, concrete columns containing shaped steel and rebar were poured in an open space, then they were "weight-reduced and hoisted," and finally, Lian was responsible for sinking them into the soil, leaving only half of the steel plate exposed, waiting to be connected to the bridge body.

Therefore, during this week, Roland basically shuttled between the Redwater Bridge and the threshing floor, and his skin was tanned a lot.

After the wheat straw was forked away, only a layer of wheat grains and husks remained in the threshing floor.

The serfs swept them into piles, forming small mounds. Then, standing on the mounds, they used shovels to scoop up the mixture and throw it onto the open space in front. Since the husks were much lighter than the grains, they landed further away under the influence of the wind. Therefore, what fell underfoot were wheat grains, while in the distance were empty shells and debris—the people used this method to gradually collect the grain.

Of course, it was impossible to completely clean up the husks, and this process would also mix mud and sand into the wheat grains. Therefore, Roland decided that when the next harvest day came, he must prepare a batch of mechanical farm tools in advance—a combine harvester was probably impossible to build, but a thresher was quite easy to realize, simply replacing the stone roller with a millstone, adding a screen underneath, and using a blower to separate the broken husks.

When plump wheat grains were evenly spread on the threshing floor, it seemed to dye the entire north bank of the Redwater River with a layer of gold. Looking at these golden fruits, Roland's heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Regardless of whether the harvested grain was enough to feed more than ten thousand people, at least for Border Town, it was a day worth commemorating.

From this day on, the grain in his territory would gradually shift from complete dependence on imports to self-sufficiency.

After drying for three days, the wheat entered the bagging and weighing stage.

"Your Highness, this is actually a bumper harvest!" That afternoon, Barov rushed into the office excitedly, "According to preliminary statistics from the City Hall, the yield per acre of each responsibility field is at least four times higher than in the past, and the highest has currently reached six times. Calculated in this way, this year's harvest is enough to fill the stomachs of the people."

"Is that so," Roland couldn't help but smile, "It seems that the newly built granaries in the castle district finally don't have to be empty all the time."

"Do you know what this means?" The chief of the City Hall looked even more excited than him, "The town only needs to add two thousand more farmers to meet the food consumption of fifty to sixty thousand people! This is simply unbelievable. The town can completely expand into the largest city in Graycastle, no..." He paused, "The most magnificent city on the continent!"

The reason why the urban population in this era could not be increased was mainly due to the low grain production capacity. A large city like the royal capital, with more than 20,000 people, already needed dozens of surrounding villages to provide food for it. Each village had about one or two thousand people. If half of them were engaged in agricultural cultivation, the comprehensive calculation would be almost 20,000 people feeding 20,000 people. In other words, the grain produced by one farmer, in addition to feeding himself and his family, could at most supply one city dweller.

The so-called invisible constraint of productivity lies here. Perhaps Barov could hardly imagine that when mechanized planting was popularized, the output of one person alone would be enough to feed tens of thousands of people. The main credit for Border Town's achievement of such a bumper harvest without promoting and developing agricultural technology lies in the «Golden No. 1» modified by Yezi.

Using as few farmers as possible to feed more people, and freeing up human resources from farmland to invest in industrial production, was the strategy Roland had set from the beginning. Now the Ministry of Agriculture has obtained the best planting process. In addition, next year there will be iron farm tools and machinery participating in farming, and the per capita output will inevitably become higher and higher.

……

In the evening, Roland held a bonfire speech by the Redwater River—time seemed to have returned to that dusk four months ago, the same burning bonfire, the dark crowd, and the last ray of afterglow reflected on everyone's faces. The only difference was the expressions on everyone's faces. Compared with the initial panic and uneasiness, now their faces were filled with the joy of harvest and undisguised expectation.

Roland waved his hand down, and the scene suddenly became quiet. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the prince to fulfill his promise.

"I know what you want to hear," he didn't follow the usual practice of putting his name and title in front, but said directly, "—I can also tell you without a doubt that the promotion rules announced before are still valid now, and will continue to be so!"

This sentence alone detonated the atmosphere on the scene. Everyone couldn't help but shout out, and many people knelt down, praising the prince's benevolence. "Long live the Lord!" "Long live His Highness the Prince!"

"After the grain is handed in and weighed, the promotion list will also be announced," Roland continued, waiting for the shouts to subside slightly, "The City Hall will be responsible for the arrangements after becoming Ziyou Min. You can choose to continue farming, or you can find other jobs in the town."

"In addition, starting next year, as long as the harvest reaches the promotion standard this time, even if the output is not in the forefront, you can become Ziyou Min. In other words, as long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to get rid of the status of serf—as I said, labor creates wealth, and labor changes destiny." He paused for a moment, looking around, "I hope that one day in the future, there will no longer be a single serf in Border Town, and everyone can become my true people."

As Roland's voice fell, the cheers of the people instantly resounded over the Redwater River, lasting for a long time. (。)