Alien Knights

At six o'clock in the evening, it was different from the past, the church in Muxi Town was brightly lit, and the chapel was packed to the brim. No one sat down, everyone stood and looked at the huge birch cross in the center of the church, clasped their hands together and prayed silently.

Since learning about the miserable situation of the farmers in the afternoon, Todd immediately called their leader—Sassoon, an old farmer who escaped from the east and couldn’t bear the exorbitant taxes, and ordered him to immediately notify all the farmers in Muxi Town. Each family should choose one person to enter the church when the bell rings six times (the bell tower in the Middle Ages rings every three hours, for example, twice in the morning, about six o’clock in the morning).

Holding the Bible in his hand, he walked up to the pulpit from the side door of the chapel, and Todd glanced at the auditorium.

Originally, he thought that the life in the monastery was already a place of extreme misery in the Middle Ages, but when he saw this group of farmers with thin cheeks and sunken eye sockets, he realized that the depths of hell would never have a bottom.

A piece of tattered felt, a felt hat that looks like a torn sock, and linen trousers that are so messy that the original color cannot be seen, these are all the belongings of the farmers. These poor people with wet hair and water stains on their shoes obviously had a hasty rinse before coming to the church, but the smell of mud and manure in the air still permeated the whole room, making Todd have to breathe through his mouth to drive away the smell in front of his nose.

The first is the customary daily praise. Todd opened the scriptures and said loudly: "Eternal Creator, you make the day and night go round, the seasons change, there is more beauty and less pain..."

Everyone is devout to the scriptures.

After completing the ceremony, he counted, and there were a total of 33 registered farmers in Muxi Town, but only 32 people were present.

"Why is there one person missing?"

Holding the felt hat in his hand, Sassoon came out respectfully, and replied: "A few days ago, a family went to the nearby woods to collect firewood, but they didn't make it back before the sun went down, and were dragged away by bandits."

What? !

Todd's eyes widened in surprise.

He was surprised that there were still bandits around Muxi Town, but what shocked him even more was that no one showed the slightest sympathy or sadness on the faces of these farmers who were neighbors all day long.

Looking at everyone again, Todd also understood the reason. Many of them have large heads, chicken breasts, hunchbacks, bent legs, and distended abdomens, which are symptoms of long-term malnutrition. Just ask, if you can't even provide for your own food and clothing, how can you have the energy to care about the lives of others?

Sighing, he simply put down the Bible and chatted with the farmers about the daily routine.

As the topic unfolded, Todd became more and more apprehensive.

He had heard of the darkness, ignorance and backwardness of the Middle Ages in the past, but after he really understood it, he realized that the real situation was far beyond his imagination.

These farmers drink raw water every day and eat wild grass to wrap their stomachs. Their houses are nothing more than huts or shacks made of logs and turf. When entering the house, there is mud at the foot, and the roof does not open a window, so a hole is dug to let the cooking smoke leak out. The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren nest in a small room, and sometimes some animals have to be squeezed in to eat and sleep together. People have sex in front of their relatives and friends, metabolize, and meet various physiological needs. In the end, they live or die without exceeding this square inch of space.

As for farming tools, don't even think about iron tools, they are just simple wooden tools with rough workmanship, which wear out quickly during farming. Farm cattle are not practical for them. They don't know the correct way to drive draft animals. They just tie the plow around the neck of the cattle with thick leather ropes. In the end, the leather rope may be continuously tightened during the cattle plowing process, strangling the animal's throat, cutting off the blood supply to the brain, causing it to die of ischemic brain damage or suffocation. Therefore, when these farmers need a plow to plow the land, they prefer to use another kind of "livestock" in the family-women.

Hearing this, Todd thought there was something wrong with his ears. But yes, the farmers here think that it is reasonable and reasonable to use the women in the family—wives or daughters—as cattle.

Then turn the topic to this spring harvest failure. 29 of the 32 farm households plant some bean root crops, most of which are not suitable for the alkaline soil of the seaside, resulting in reduced production or even no production.

Todd was a little strange when he heard this, so he asked these farmers why they didn't grow wheat, barley, rye, and oats. These four kinds have relatively low soil requirements and can wrap their stomachs.

The farmers' explanations also left him speechless for a while.

Because legumes are more valuable than the latter, and they need money to repay the loan.

After Todd got a better understanding, he understood why.

Unlike those free people who owned land and farming tools, these peasants in front of them had no fixed property. In the past, they could only rely on the farm owners or nobles to survive by renting land, farming tools, and seedlings. But a few months ago, in order to attract immigrants, Muxi Town, which was born out of nowhere, announced that the conditions for providing land free of charge were so favorable that these farmers took the risk, broke away from the original landowners, and joined Muxi Town as free citizens.

But the problem came next. Although Muxi Town provided land, there were no tillage tools and seedlings to borrow. In desperation, these farmers had to borrow money from merchants to buy. In Todd's view, the loan interest offered by the merchants at an annualized rate of 33% (the annual interest is 33% of the principal) is simply unconscionable, but the expressions of the farmers seem to be very common.

In the end, due to ignorance of the acid-base principle of the soil, the seeds bought at a high price all rotted in the soil.

After asking around, Todd returned to the pulpit with a sigh. Since the establishment of Muxi Town, all affairs have been handed over to the residents of the town to take care of themselves, while he buried himself in the laboratory and fiddled with flasks and reagents. He believes that everything is beautiful outside and that people have the ability to take care of themselves. But he forgot one important thing. This is not the previous life of the 21st century. This is the Middle Ages when knowledge is scarce. People have no way to search the Internet and have few opportunities to learn. They just rely on the little experience passed down from their ancestors to survive in this dark world.

So, what should I do in the future?

If he is alone, the mystery of "Sutherland's relic" has been solved, and he no longer has to worry about his life, so he can rely on the knowledge of his previous life to find a place to be happy and happy; but if he helps the world... Can he bear this mountain-like burden?

The church fell into a dead silence, and the priest seemed to be in meditation, without any movement or sound. The farmers looked at each other, apprehensive.

Snapped!

Todd suddenly slapped heavily on the pulpit, startling everyone. He stood up and said to Sassoon, "There is one thing I need you to do immediately! Find someone who can read and tell me that it's my request, and list the loan amounts of all farmers' families!"

Hearing the priest's words, the woman hidden behind the doorpost smiled slightly and left the church.