Chapter 264 (2/2)
After drying for three days, the wheat was all stuffed into bags and weighted.
“Your Highness, this was a great harvest!” In the afternoon, Barov excitedly rushed into the office, “According to the preliminary statistics from City Hall, each field’s allocated output was at least fourfold more than normal, the highest output even reached six times as much. So this year’s harvest will be enough to fill all your subject’s belly.”
“Is that so?” Roland couldn’t help but laugh, “It seems that the new barn in the castle district will no longer be so empty.”
“Do you know what this means?” The expression on the City Hall’s Premier Minister seemed to be even more excited than Roland’s, “Border Town only needs to increase their numbers of farmers by 2000, and we will be able to satisfy the food consumption of 50’000 to 60’000 people! This is simply inconceivable, Border Town can definitely expand to become Graycastle’s largest city, no…” He paused, “The most magnificent city in the whole mainland!”
The main reason why the city’s population of this era didn’t increase was because that the food production capability was just too small. For example, big cities like King’s City that had more than 20’000 people needed more than a dozen surrounding villages to provided them with enough food. Each village would once more needed almost one thousand or two thousand people, if even just half of them were engaged in farming, it could be estimated that nearly twenty thousand people were needed to support another twenty thousand. In other words, a farmer’s food production, in addition to feeding their family and themselves was up to one other city resident’s.
This was the so-called invisible restriction of production capability. Roland feared it would be difficult for Barov to imagine, that after the mechanization of farming, just one person’s output was enough to support tens of thousands of people. And that Border Town, in the absence of developing and spreading of agricultural technology, was still able to acquire this kind of bumper harvest, was mainly accredit to Leaves’ magically transformed “Golden Ones”.
To employ as few farmers as possible for feeding as many people as possible. Liberating the human resources from simply cultivating land to move onto the industrial production was the strategy that Roland had decided on from the beginning. Now after the Ministry of Agriculture had obtained the best planting process, coupled with the iron farming tools and machines to help with the farming coming next year, the per capita production was bound to become higher and higher.
…
In the evening, Roland once again held a bonfire speech at the shore of the Redwater River – it seems to be a return to the time from four months ago, it was evening, there was a roaring fire in the background, the crowd formed a dense mass, and the last rays of twilight fell over everyone’s face. The only difference to that day was the expression on each person’s face, compared to the beginning of when they had arrived and were feeling both terrified and uneasy, their faces on this day were all brimming with joy at the bumper harvest and couldn’t conceal the expectation in their eyes.
Roland stretched out his hand and moved it downwards, the scene around him quieting down immediately. Everyone was holding his breath, waiting for the Prince to fulfill his promise.
“I know what you want to hear,” he did not follow his usual practice of first announcing his name, and instead came straight to the matter, “– I can tell you without a doubt, that the previously announced rules of promotion are still valid and will hold!”
Just this sentence was enough to detonate the atmosphere of the scene, not one person there could restrain themselves from shouting out loud, many people fell on their knees and praised the Prince’s kindness. “Long live the Lord!” “Long live His Royal Highness!”
“After the end of the grain weighing, the promotion list will be announced,” the moment the shouts had subsided a little, Roland continued, “The City Hall will be responsible for your promotion to a freed person. At that time you can choose to either continue farming or come find a new job in Border Town.”
“Also, starting from next year, if your harvest next year is the same as those promoted this year, even if the output is not on the forefront, you will still be freed. In other words, as long as you work hard, you will be able to rid yourself of your status as serfs – as I said, ‘labor creates wealth, labor changes destiny’.” He paused for a moment, looked around and then continued, “I hope that in the coming days, there will be no longer any serfs in Border Town, and everyone will be my real subject.”
The moment Roland’s voice faded, the people’s cheers unceasingly resonated throughout the sky above the Redwater River.