Chapter 781 Spring Plowing
As the wife of Flanders, the mother of the regent was not as strong as most widowed women. On the contrary, she is a kind and gentle hostess. Coupled with Lord Galvin's status as an elder, she was even more respectful.
Flender’s wife’s name is Anna Otto, who was originally a noble lady from the Duchy of Burgundy. At that time, the Flanders family was not welcomed in the Duchy and County of Burgundy, and was even ostracized by many nobles. With no one to rely on, Flanders had no choice but to live in the Longxia Mountains and live the life of a mercenary licking blood from the edge of a knife.
The acquaintance between the two originated from when Flanders took a caravan to Dijon, the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. The specific details are unknown. But what is certain is that Anna was forced to break with her family in order to marry Flanders.
After the marriage, Flanders did not treat Anna badly. Although Flanders has been fighting outside with Longxia mercenaries all year round, Anna, as the mistress of Longxia territory, keeps her husband's territory in order.
When she learned of Flanders' death, she went without food or water for three days and nights. After getting through the most difficult days, this strong woman wiped away the tears from her eyes, once again proving that Flender's vision was right.
In order to continue the glory of the Otto family, she went through many twists and turns, secretly dealing with those forces who tried to kill Flanders's two sons. It was not until Lord Galvin returned to Besançon that she breathed a sigh of relief.
Hence, Anna only has gratitude and respect for this family elder.
"?Uncle, I heard that you have been in poor health recently?" Anna asked with concern.
Lord Galvin waved his hand and explained: "It's all old problems, don't worry about me."
Anna frowned, sighed, and sighed: "Uncle, if you and Phoenix hadn't been in charge of Besançon, I'm afraid the three of us, mother and son, would have-"
Galvin listened. Then he hurriedly shouted softly, "What are you talking about! Everything is under our control now. You only need to raise the king to an adult with all your heart. Just leave the other things to my old bones."
Everything is under our control now.
"I'm fine!" Galvin shook his head repeatedly.
At this time, Glenn Otto finally came to the inner court.
"The King~" Upon seeing this, Galvin hurriedly stood up and saluted, but Glenn quickly stepped forward to help him up.
"Mr. Finance Minister, you are anxious to see me. Do you have anything important to do?" Glenn asked.
Galvin quickly took out the secret message Art sent from the south and handed it to Glenn.
"This was sent by Count Art of Wales, who is currently fighting in Lombardy. There is evidence that the Lombard court exchanged land for the support of the Principality of Swabia in attacking the border of Jonah Province—"
"Attacking the border of Jonah Province? This~" Glenn took a breath after hearing this. As a young man who was inexperienced in the world, he suddenly ran out of ideas and quickly asked, "Then what should we do?"
"Chen Bing is on the border of Yona Province, and the enemies are attacking!" Galvin did not hesitate at all.
Eventually, Glenn accepted his advice. That night, Glenn announced at the royal meeting that he would appoint the palace military minister as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition and lead a thousand elite troops to the eastern border of Yona Province to set up defenses. Phoenix is responsible for the army's logistical supplies and the defense of the capital as a reserve force.
Two days later, a thousand well-armed elite soldiers left Besançon and headed east. While the northern part of the Burgundy Kingdom and the southern part of Lombardy were preparing for the final decisive battle, there was a busy scene in the province of Wales bordering Lombardy.
In early March, the snow had already melted, and the mountain streams kept flowing. After several months of cold winter, the valley territory once again ushered in the annual spring plowing season.
As the temperature rises, the bare birch trees in the dense mountain forests begin to sprout green buds, starting a new round of growth.
In the large wheat fields on the edge of the dense forest, those who originally settled in the valley were almost in full force, plowing the soil, draining water, sowing seeds, and fertilizing the fields that had been covered with snow all winter. After intensive cultivation in recent years, these initially cultivated lands can be considered the most fertile land in the entire valley territory. According to statistics from the Government and Tunnel Affairs Department after last year's autumn harvest, the grains produced by these early reclaimed lands are full and taste excellent. Compared with the yield of newly reclaimed lands in the southern valleys, the yield has doubled.
Of course, this is largely due to the fertilizer method invented by Art. Coupled with the planting methods promoted by the Ministry of Tunnel Affairs that the residents did not understand, these initially cultivated lands achieved a bumper harvest.
With the promotion of fertilizer method, more and more people in the territory began to accept this method. Nowadays, except for the fertile land in some manors in the northern part of the valley, this method is no longer needed. From the barren land of Tyniec in the north to the lakeland near Nanguan Army Fort, this farming method that can double food production has begun to be used.
In addition, the Valley Iron Workshop created a curved shaft plow that could use oxen to cultivate land based on the drawings left by Art. With this kind of efficient farming equipment, the land reclamation efficiency of the Tunnel Service Department has increased several times.
As more and more territorial citizens came to Wells Province through recruitment, the original large wastelands here turned into contiguous fertile fields.
As the center of gravity of the Province of Wales gradually shifted from the wooden castle in the valley to the intervalley land further south, the government office originally located in the wooden castle also moved southward. However, in order to facilitate management, some staff from the Tunnel Affairs Department and the Construction Department were left in charge of related matters surrounding the wooden castle.
South of the wooden castle in the valley, the land between the valleys.
With the arrival of spring plowing, the residents of the valley who have been idle at home for several months have picked up their farm tools and walked towards their farmland.
· Thanks to many considerations in early reclamation, although the intervalley is subject to the influence of the terrain of the valley and rivers, it has now become the main grain-producing area in the valley territory. According to government statistics, wheat and other food crops produced in the valley last year accounted for more than half of the entire valley territory.
After several years of reclamation and management along the river, it can be summed up in the word "good land".
After unified planning by the government, the cultivated land in the valley can be said to be well-organized and well-organized. In order to facilitate management, the government decided to divide the cultivated land in the valley for planting.
Food crops such as wheat, rye and oats are used as staple foods, and fertile land with flat terrain is preferred for cultivation. Not only is it convenient for management, it is also conducive to the growth, harvesting and transportation of crops.
· Edible vegetables and root crops are selected for planting at the foot of the mountains that are relatively barren.
Fruit crops such as apples and grapes are preferred on steep slopes along rivers. On the one hand, because fruit trees have a large demand for water, they are planted along rivers for easy irrigation. On the other hand, the roots of fruit trees penetrate deeply into the soil, which is helpful to prevent soil and water loss on both sides of the river during heavy rain seasons.
With the increasing population, the original residential areas in the Valley began to spread to the surrounding areas along the original area under the unified planning of the government. However, the scope of residential areas also has strict boundaries, that is, cultivated land is not allowed to be occupied.
In addition, in order to resettle a large number of people, the Government and Tunnel Affairs Department opened several new settlements along the periphery of the valley to accommodate the people who had recently joined the province of Wales.
But land for settlements is not free. According to the regulations of the Government Affairs Office, all territorial residents who obtain land for housing construction must participate in land reclamation, road construction, workshop construction and other matters as laborers under the unified arrangement of the Government Affairs Office. During this period, the government will pay corresponding salaries based on market prices.
Even so, there is still a steady stream of territorial residents joining the Province of Wales. For these landless refugees and unemployed citizens, this place is simply a paradise.
But as the population continues to increase, the government begins to face more and more problems. In order to reasonably deal with a series of endless contradictions, Cooper, as the chief official of the Government Affairs Office, called together senior officials such as the Tunnel Affairs Department, the Construction Department, and the stewards of the Valley Workshop to discuss countermeasures.
In the lord's hall on the first floor of Wells, although it is the beginning of spring, the remaining cold of winter still remains in this fortress built of strips of stone.
At the foot of the east wall of the Lord's Hall, the firewood still burning in the fireplace kept the hall warm.
Cooper, the chief government officer, wore a white sheepskin coat and sat on the first seat near the chief seat. I saw him slowly opening the statistical list in his hand that recorded the number of new residents who had joined the territory since the beginning of winter, and then said: "Madam, everyone, according to the records of the officials responsible for managing the household registration of the territory's residents, since the beginning of winter, the number of new immigrants in the territory has been There are a total of 2,356 households, with a population of 5,162, including 1,962 green men, 1,883 peasant women, and 979 children. The rest are craftsmen and their relatives who are of household age."
"Based on the current population inflow, the newly opened settlements in the valley will reach full capacity in a few months. By then, the continued increase in territorial residents will have no choice but to settle in the lakeland further south. Therefore, in order to prevent the newly added territorial residents from living in temporary straw huts, the Ministry of Tunnel Management needs to speed up the reclamation of suitable residential areas around the lakeland."
At this time, the construction officer Lawrence, who was sitting next to Cooper, stood up. He came forward and nodded to the countess and Cooper beside him, "Madam, old housekeeper, the Tunnel Affairs Department sent more than ten craftsmen and handymen to the lake area yesterday to conduct surveys. There should be news soon."
"My lady is right, the master is leading the soldiers to fight the Lombards in the south, and we government officials guarding the valley cannot relax." Cooper's words made the government officials present nod repeatedly, "Next, let's move on to the most important topic of this government meeting-spring plowing!"