Age of Empires From Scratch

  Chapter 35: Send five farmers at the start

  This matter is not difficult to guess, not to mention that Maloney Mansfield has no intention of hiding it. At this moment, he looked at David so directly, and it was obvious that he immediately wanted to know the answer.

   "How many can be recruited?" David didn't need to spend too long thinking about it, and this matter didn't do any harm to him at all.

   Isn't it just to take care of Maloney Mansfield's illegitimate child? You don't even need to take care of yourself too much, as long as you let the other party live a stable life in your own village, the adult in front of you will be very satisfied.

"Five contract farmers who are in their prime, three of them have already married, and their wives will live with their husbands in Winter Village." Maloney knew that David would ask this question, meaning that he agreed to do him this little favor Yes, and directly gave his own conditions: "There are three free farmers."

  David has lived in this world for so many years, of course he knows what is a contract farmer and what is a free farmer.

  The former are farmers who do not have their own land and can only sign labor contracts with nobles and big landlords to sell their own labor in exchange for remuneration.

The remuneration is part of the income from the land that the farmer is responsible for cultivating. The share ratio depends on the contract signed with the employer, but it is generally not very high, and most of them are able to maintain life. As for whether there are other benefits, it depends entirely on the ideas of the employers. and mood.

Free farmers, or self-cultivators, are farmers who own their own farmland. These farmers live on their own farmland, but after harvesting, they need to pay taxes to the lord who governs this area. The Marquess of Leigh-Morgan paid taxes, nominally in exchange for the lord's asylum.

  The proportion of this tax is not clearly stipulated in the Kingdom of Tilan, and the specific amount is completely determined by the lord. The owner farmers here in Iron Tree Fort generally need to pay 30% to 40% of the harvest as tax, which is relatively low in the entire kingdom.

  In addition, self-cultivating farmers can reduce the tax they need to pay by participating in various labor services and military auxiliary work issued by the lord...

According to the conditions mentioned by Maloney, the five contract farmers were transferred to David himself, which means that after arriving in Lindong Village, the fields reclaimed and planted by these five contract farmers belong to David. , David only needs to pay the 'salary' to those few people according to the ratio set in the contract.

As for the fact that the recruiting of farmers in the newly built villages uses "whoever can offer the land will return it" as a bargaining chip, Maloney didn't take it seriously at all. He would say that these contract farmers would be transferred to David, Of course, it can be ensured that those people will not have any dissatisfaction.

As for the other three so-called 'free farmers', David knew that they were names, and most likely they were arranged for the mother and son outside - after the three free farmers reclaimed the land, they 'resold' it to the mother and son. , I turned into a contract farmer to work for the mother and son, who turned into small landlords and have a stable income to support their lives.

   "I'm a little curious...Of course, you don't have to answer if it's inconvenient for you."

   Maloney made a gesture of asking, he knew that David wanted to ask about the mother and child.

   Sure enough, this is what David asked: "In your capacity, it's not difficult to take care of this mother and child nearby, right?"

  As an aristocratic official of Maloney-Mansfield, it is not a strange thing to have a lover or an illegitimate child. As for sending him to a remote "countryside"?

   Judging from the series of arrangements made by this person, he should have some affection for this illegitimate child; maybe he feels that as a father, he has the responsibility to take care of the child?

"It's not difficult, but it's somewhat troublesome. Sending it outside can ensure that the child grows up safely and without worries." Maloney glanced at David, and he would ask David to help with this, because he thought this You can definitely understand why he did this: "Staying here will not do him any good."

"I understand." David nodded. It seemed that Mansfield's family was not calm. He was not very interested in the internal affairs of these noble families. He turned his head and looked at the mother and child outside: "What are their names?" name?"

   "Conn."

David originally wanted to ask the names of the mother and child, but Maloney only answered a 'boy' name. As for the child's mother, he did not mention it, as if to show an attitude: what he values ​​is the child, not the child's identity. Mother?

  David didn't know whether his guess was right or not, and he wouldn't ask such a thing out of his wits. After nodding his head to express his understanding, he stopped worrying about the situation of the mother and child, and finally asked himself when he could leave?

   "If you want, you can leave Iron Tree Fort tomorrow morning."

   "In that case, leave tomorrow morning after breakfast."

   "Yes, five contract farmers and five free farmers (including the mother and son) will pack up their personal belongings and set off with you tomorrow morning."

  David didn't ask if such a short time would be difficult to arrange? Maloney even said such a thing, proving that he can easily solve this problem.

   Just listen to the meaning of Maloney's words. Tomorrow, I will leave Iron Tree Castle with me for Lindong Village. It will be a small convoy, not just a few farmers and a few family members!

  He didn't ask in detail, anyway, he will know the answer tomorrow.

   Sure enough, as David guessed, when he finished his breakfast the next day, packed his things and walked out of the residence that Maloney had arranged for him, a small convoy had already been waiting for him at the door for a long time.

   "My master gave you this." Along with several farmers was Maloney's servant Huey, and when he saw David appearing, he respectfully handed over a thick bag.

   Unsealed the bag, David took out the contents and took a look at it, and found that it contained the contracts of several farmers. In addition, there was a list introducing what the team had.

   After a few glances, David had some understanding of the team in front of him. David smiled and nodded to Huey: "Say my sincere thanks to Mr. Mansfield for me."

As for taking care of the illegitimate child, it is impossible for Huey, an attendant, to mention it here, and David would not say something like "leave it on him". .

Now that everything is in David's hands, Huey can go back to report, and David doesn't want to waste time here any longer. Following the team of a dozen people, two horses, and two ox carts, they walked slowly towards the outside of Iron Tree Fort.

   Waiting for the team to walk out of the outer city of Iron Tree Fort, looking at the vast plain and the pass that is still some distance away, David took out the list and looked at it carefully.

  The contracts of the five contract farmers were all transferred to his name, and the contract period was as long as 50 years, which was basically no different from the contract of selling oneself.

  These five contract farmers are very young, and three of them are married, but they have no children. At this time, these three women are also in the team, sitting in the same bullock cart with the mother and child.

  The three free farmers are all alone, but David guessed that the three of them had already signed the contract of sale, and the contract was likely to be in the hands of the mother and son.

  Eight farmers, three family members, plus the mother and son, and David, who was looking at the list on horseback, were all the people in the team.

  The two horses belong to David himself, the four cows that pull the cart, and several chickens and ducks, these are all the livestock and poultry in the team;

  A number of brand-new farm tools, in addition, there are five brand-new hunting bows, 500 newly-made arrows, several long swords, war hammers, hand axes...

I packed two carts in bits and pieces, so I sent two more carts by the way—even if it’s just an ox cart for transporting goods, it is already the best means of transportation for Lindong Village, which has nothing. Before getting the horses, you can only rely on people to carry things.

   When the team returned to Rindong Village, Rindong Village really became a village, and a dozen people gathered together were much more lively than four or five people.

After putting away the list again, David sat on the horse proudly, with his head held high, his mind filled with pictures of Winter Village being bustling and getting better and better. The style of painting has gradually gone astray. For example, the ancient villages that were originally very backward have gradually built asphalt roads, erected telephone poles, built skyscrapers, and built strange landscapes that shocked the world...

   Seeing that his village was no longer satisfied with living on the ground, and started building a space port, and preparing to colonize other planets, David suddenly remembered one thing: There still seems to be no artisans in my village!

   "..."

  David, who fell from the spaceport back to the ancient times, looked back. He was sure that none of the people behind him were artisans, and the pass had disappeared from sight. Do you want to take people back to Iron Tree Fort to recruit a group of artisans?

   "Forget it, wait until these people are brought back to Cold Winter Village, and arrange to recruit some craftsmen!"

Let's settle the immediate matter first, and then wait until the farmers settle in the village and bring the agriculture of Lindong Village on the right track. Population, villages and towns with enough people living, are attractive to them.

"The blacksmith must recruit one, and maybe another stonemason should be recruited?" If he can recruit a stonemason, David can even design a more comfortable house for himself. , a large house built of stone is undoubtedly better.

  If you are willing to spend time and energy, you can build a comfortable house that is not inferior to your previous life.

   "Find another carpenter and build a complete set of furniture. Wouldn't the standard of living improve after a little scratch?"

  Thinking about it, the picture in David's mind reappeared asphalt road, castle villa, space fortress...

  (end of this chapter)