Chapter 209: Chapter 208: An Unexpected Injury

Starting in January, the entire Wubei Territory began preparing for the spring plowing.

By early April, after months of intense work, more than 30,000 mu of Wubei Territory’s 100,000 mu of reclaimed land were planted with crops such as vegetables and flax. The remaining 70,000-plus mu were entirely sown with barley and wheat.

Once the sowing was complete, it should have been a relatively idle time for farming.

However, Ronin had already made other plans, so his subjects would get no rest.

Civil Affairs Chief Wilson organized the villages—including those in Mountain Forest Town, Swamp Town, and Black Earth Village—into reclamation teams, and the work of clearing new land began in full swing.

Now, in addition to each village being equipped with Curved Plows and iron farming tools, Ronin had also transferred many Black Water Buffalo from Swamp Town and assigned them to the village chiefs.

With these resources, the difficulty of reclaiming new farmland was lower than in previous years, and the pace naturally quickened as well.

On top of this, Ronin also implemented a system of rewards and punishments:

By early July, every family in the three villages that reclaimed the most land would receive a reward, and the village chiefs and team leaders responsible for the work would be rewarded even more generously.

These rewards included land allotments, grain subsidies, permission for home expansions, monetary bonuses for particularly capable individuals, and even, in exceptional cases, freeing slaves who performed well.

But where there were rewards, there were also punishments.

For the village that ranked last in reclamation—and lagged behind the next by more than three thousand mu—the chief and team leader would have to resign in disgrace. At the same time, depending on the situation, the taxes for every household could be raised.

With this carrot-and-stick approach providing twofold motivation, every village plunged into the work of reclamation with fiery enthusiasm. They even started sending out “spies” to check on each other’s progress, fostering a clear sense of competition.

Such strenuous labor naturally required a greater consumption of food.

But Ronin wasn’t worried. He still had Three Thousand Gold Coins on hand, more than enough to purchase another 600,000 jin of grain if needed.

In Wubei Territory, everyone from the Lord down to the slaves was busy, yet the world outside its borders was remarkably peaceful.

No unusual incidents occurred within the territory, and the border with Wushan Territory was also surprisingly quiet. ’I wonder if the Polante Thief Gang and the Black Gold Brotherhood are too busy with spring plowing to cause trouble?’

In two months, Ronin’s Mage cultivation progress had surpassed one thousand. In just three more weeks, he would become a Silver Knight and a Chief Mage.

’It’s a good thing I have this Attribute Panel that lets me assign points. Otherwise, I’d have to pour tons of time into Cultivation every day, and I’d have no energy left to travel between my different territories.’

He had already merged Cyan Bamboo Village, Purple Fruit Village, and Grey Soil Village into “Sanfang Town.”

Black Earth Village already had over a thousand subjects. After another six hundred slaves were assigned there, its population approached two thousand, so Ronin renamed it Black Earth Town.

…

“My Lord, this entire plot has been planted with Mulberry Seedlings.”

In a Mulberry Field in Purple Fruit Village, Horn accompanied Ronin on his inspection.

Ronin sighed. ’Back then, I only planned for ten mu of land to plant Mulberry Trees. It seems that was too little now.’

’But there was nothing to be done about it. How could I have known back then that I would conquer Swamp Town and become the Lord of Wubei Territory so quickly?’

“What’s the survival rate?”

Ronin squatted before a row of plants, observing the small Mulberry Seedlings. Though they were currently just twenty-centimeter cuttings, the three leaves on top of one were full of life, a clear sign it had successfully survived.

“I’ve checked. Although a number of them didn’t survive, we followed the Grafting Method and the cutting method you told us about and made sufficient preparations. We’ve already dug up all the failed ones and replaced them with new seedlings. Now, basically all the young Mulberry Seedlings in these ten mu have survived.”

Horn was filled with admiration. ’Using the cutting method and the Grafting Method to propagate Mulberry Trees is so much more convenient than using mulberry seeds.’

“Excellent!”

Ronin smiled. “Next, just be sure to water these small seedlings and fertilize them again in thirty days.”

“Rest assured, My Lord. As for fertilizer, I’ve already had people make compost according to Chahar’s method. If it’s not enough, we can bring more over from Swamp Town.”

As one of only three Intermediate Knights in Wubei Territory, Horn’s combat ability was lower than that of Krami and Babulin.

Compared to increasing his strength, he seemed more inclined to devote himself to agriculture and animal husbandry.

“This is the first year of raising silkworms. Although it’s mainly a trial to gain experience, it is still extremely important. You must select people who are meticulous, obedient, and patient.”

Ronin added, “Later, I will have Leia and her apprentices move here to settle. The loom workshop will also be relocated to Purple Fruit Village, so have your people prepare housing.”

Purple Fruit Village is to be the future base for sericulture. Placing the weaving, loom manufacturing, and related industries here will save the trouble of transporting cocoons and other materials back and forth.

The work of processing the cocoons, reeling the silk, and weaving would naturally be handed over to Lady Liya. After all, not only did she have the experience, but she had also successfully woven a silk scarf that Ronin had given to Lurans as a gift.

As long as they produced cocoons, even if Master Dan’s looms weren’t ready, they could still weave silk under Leia’s leadership. It would just be slower, more painstaking, and a bit cruder.

After inspecting the Mulberry Field, Ronin and Horn headed back.

On the way, he continued to pass on his knowledge of sericulture to Horn.

This included controlling the room’s temperature and lighting, chopping mulberry leaves for feeding during the first and second instar stages, wiping the leaves dry of moisture, and regularly checking for diseased silkworms and cleaning their droppings from the rearing rooms.

After all, he had actually done this before, so he spoke with great confidence and in thorough detail.

During these past two months, Ronin had begun to explore the Papermaking Skill.

The tree bark fibers soaking back in Mountain Forest Town were probably soft enough by now. Once he returned, he could try the next steps, like pulping and mixing. He believed that actually producing paper wouldn’t be too difficult.

Once he had a sufficient supply of paper, Ronin could compile books on sericulture to preserve his knowledge.

That way, even if he had to leave Wubei Territory in the future, Horn and the others could still reference and learn from his writings.

Following the country path, the two returned to the village.

Ronin was about to take advantage of the early hour and ride his Cloud Stepper back to Mountain Forest Town when the urgent sound of hoofbeats came from outside the village.

He and Horn couldn’t help but look over.

“It’s Tom, one of the men who went on patrol with the Commander,” Horn said.

Tom had good potential. Having followed Macken and Ridder for a long time, he had learned a great deal.

After things in Swamp Town had settled down, Ridder recruited him into his patrol squad, which scoured the mountain forests daily.

Ronin’s brow furrowed slightly. The rider looked disheveled and panicked.

“My Lord!”

Tom pulled his reins tight, stopping before Ronin. He hastily dismounted and knelt on one knee to report, “My Lord, the Commander is injured!”

Ronin’s heart skipped a beat and his expression changed. Beside him, Horn also looked on in disbelief.

In Mountain Forest Town, a Silver-level Knight like Ridder was considered a top-tier combatant.

’He was only on a patrol mission. How could he get injured?’

’Could they have encountered a powerful Magical Beast during their patrol?’

Ronin could only think of this one possibility, yet it didn’t seem very logical.

Ridder was responsible for the northern forests, not the Wushan Demon Beast Mountain Range to the west of the Ironwood Workshop, which was the area Macken’s squad patrolled.

’Relatively speaking, Macken’s squad should have a much higher chance of encountering a powerful Magical Beast.’

“What exactly happened?” Ronin asked in a low voice.

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