Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Incentive Plan

Early the next morning, Ronin had just woken up and gotten dressed when he found Elron already waiting outside his room. Elron presented him with two successfully crafted Healing Spell Scrolls.

Faced with such a diligent and hardworking Mage, Ronin couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up and invite him to breakfast.

When Ronin learned that Elron had failed twice, he didn’t say much. It was perfectly normal, after all. ’Didn’t I fail once myself last night?’

As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success. Without the experience accumulated from those failures, how could Elron have succeeded twice in a row?

However, Ronin noticed that Elron had used up all his Mana so early in the morning and couldn’t help but offer a word of caution.

Although crafting Magic Scrolls was one of the domain’s main sources of income, both Elron and Ronin himself needed to reserve a certain amount of Mana for emergencies.

For instance, if someone were suddenly seriously injured and needed Elron’s Healing Skill, but Elron had exhausted his Mana making Magic Scrolls and the person died as a result, the loss would be immense.

Considering Elron’s current Mana levels and the supply of Magic Ink and Magical Beast Hide, crafting just one Healing Spell Scroll per day was sufficient.

During the meal, Ronin received the payroll sheet from his butler, Chahar. It clearly listed everyone’s wages. While eating breakfast, Ronin randomly checked a few of the calculations and, finding no discrepancies, prepared to distribute the salaries.

A month in this world was twenty-eight days long. Macken and Chahar had been with him the longest, followed by the group of Guards who had been with him for twenty-five days.

Macken had been at the Basic Level for two days, Intermediate for nineteen, and Advanced Level for six. Adding the daily subsidy of 20 Copper Coins for his role as Guard Officer, his salary for the month reached an astonishing 2 gold, 3 silver, and 40 copper coins.

Chahar had served as a manservant for twelve days and then as a butler for fifteen days, earning a total of 160 copper coins.

The salaries for the regular Guards were easy to calculate: 58 copper coins each, for a total of 1682 copper coins. The Ten Thousand Copper Coins from the Green Clan were still available, which was perfect for paying them.

David’s calculation was a bit more complex: six days as a regular Guard and nineteen days as a Basic Level Knight, totaling 582 copper coins.

Then there were Tom, the other castle servants, Civil Servant Wilson, and the newcomer, Ridder. Every single person was accounted for and paid.

After a series of calculations, Ronin determined he needed to pay out a total of 9 gold and 47 copper coins today.

Compared to the money he had spent in Pasture City, this sum was nothing. However, calculated over a year, the payroll would still exceed a hundred gold coins—a genuine burden for an ordinary Baron’s Domain.

Paying these wages from his savings of 120 Gold Coins was a drop in the bucket for Ronin; he barely felt the expense.

But for the Guards, the castle servants, and even people like Macken who received their pay, it was an extremely joyous occasion.

After all, what could make someone happier than getting paid?

Seeing his subordinates happy naturally made Ronin happy as well. As long as they did the jobs he assigned them, the money was well spent.

After distributing the wages, Ronin met with the four village chiefs and sixteen group leaders in the main hall of the Outer Fortress.

When these men had learned from Wilson the day before that the Lord himself was summoning them, they had all been too excited to sleep.

Those who were a little better off had even taken out linen jackets they hadn’t worn in years. Despite being patched, they were a bit more formal than the tattered clothes they usually wore.

Those who were not as well-off had at least washed their faces and combed their hair, trying their best to look sharp so the Lord wouldn’t find them lacking.

They appeared solemn and serious, but the nervous trembling of some of them gave away their true feelings.

Ronin, however, didn’t pay much mind to their attire. This was just how things were in Mountain Forest Town; it was already quite impressive that everyone could afford a complete outfit of linen clothing.

’He just saw them as beggars with clean faces. And, of course, that would make him the chief of the Beggar Gang.’

“Mountain Forest Town has now been divided into four villages. Village Chief Delin of Fuqiang Village, Village Chief Rad of Qianjin Village, Village Chief He Siba of Diligence Village, and Village Chief Han of Jingye Village. The four of you, step forward. Let me put some faces to the names.”

Ronin wasn’t particularly interested in dealing with them, but for the village chiefs, being personally singled out for recognition by the Lord was a great honor.

The four men stepped forward excitedly, stating their names and offering their greetings to the Lord.

Ronin nodded in acknowledgment and then patiently listened as each of the four chiefs introduced the four group leaders from their respective villages, making this the first formal meeting with everyone.

Although he wouldn’t remember all their faces, they would certainly remember his.

Although Ronin had specifically emphasized that village chiefs and group leaders possessed only supervisory authority and no law enforcement power, the special treatment they received from the Lord had, in a sense, elevated their status among the populace.

To maintain this status, they would do everything in their power to complete the tasks the Lord assigned.

For some, the monthly subsidy of Two Copper Coins and two pounds of barley was irrelevant; what truly mattered to them was the position of group leader itself.

At this meeting, Ronin laid out the two most important tasks for the four villages:

The first was the autumn harvest. It was already September sixth, and the barley in the fields was gradually becoming ready. Ronin required the village chiefs to take the lead and ensure that every last stalk of barley was harvested from the fields, leaving nothing behind.

The second concerned what to plant after the harvest.

Ronin had consulted with Wilson and learned that Mountain Forest Town did not plant winter wheat. Typically, after the barley harvest, the farmers would be busy harvesting carrots before planting vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower.

After these tasks, the farmers would enter a relatively idle period. Some would sell their labor to the Lord for wood to repair their houses in preparation for winter. Others would use the time to maintain their farming tools, while still others would focus more on feeding and caring for their livestock.

Once the winter snows had passed, the farmers would get busy again preparing for the spring planting.

Given this downtime, Ronin planned to introduce his Ridge Cultivation Method. He decided to start by experimenting with cabbage and cauliflower. They could be harvested in December, which would give the farmers time to learn the new method before the spring planting.

Ronin then had the four village chiefs select a plot of land for him. He announced he would personally direct the workers and even get his own hands dirty.

They had never heard of a nobleman working in the fields; this was a first. Not only did Chahar think it was inappropriate, but even Wilson was on the verge of objecting.

Ronin, however, was unconcerned. His participation would show the commoners how important this new cultivation method was to him, which would in turn ensure a smoother implementation.

In addition, Ronin gave the hoes and shovels he had purchased in Pasture City to Wilson to be distributed among the villages.

Of course, these tools were to be given first to the Peasant Slaves. If the Free Tenant Farmers wished to use them, they would have to pay a small price—for instance, by turning in a little extra grain with their rent.

Furthermore, to motivate everyone to farm diligently, Ronin instructed Wilson to track the annual yield of grain, vegetables, flax, and other crops for each village.

Ronin announced that the village chiefs of the top three villages in total production would receive rewards of 1 Gold Coin, 5 Silver Coins, and 1 Silver Coin, respectively. Their group leaders would receive 3 Silver Coins, 1 Silver Coin, and 50 Copper Coins. In addition, all participating farmers from those villages would receive a grain bonus.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of all the village chiefs and group leaders lit up. The rewards were higher than their annual salaries, and a determined glint appeared in their eyes—they had to win.

But then Ronin quickly added a condition: if a village ranked last in total production for two consecutive years, and failed to show any outstanding performance in any single crop, he would replace all of them, from the village chief to the group leaders. Not a single one would remain, and new people would be appointed to take their places.

Where there were rewards, there must also be punishments. Ronin had no intention of supporting lazy, good-for-nothing village chiefs and group leaders. Only those who proved effective would be allowed to stay.

The men below exchanged worried glances. None of them wanted to be stripped of the status they had so unexpectedly acquired.

However, a single thought ran through each of their minds: ’There are four villages. Surely ours won’t be the one to come in last, right?’

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