If I let you farm, will you become the emperor of the empire?

Early spring.

Roman had been in Origin City for five years.

The cruel winter had long passed, the snow on the ground had returned to the loess, and the snowflakes in the sky had turned into drizzle before they fell.

The sky over the fields was covered with mist, as if entering a world of spring rain.

It was raining in Origin City.

The dense drizzle did not affect the work, but the damage to the land was very obvious.

The wheels would get stuck with mud within a hundred meters on the bad yellow mud road, becoming thick and swollen, and stuck tightly. No matter how hard the draft horse in front pulled, it would not move. The driver had to use a stick to clean it off, but within a few dozen meters, he had to repeat the previous steps.

Not to mention the wheels, even if you walk barefoot, your feet will gradually become thick and heavy.

Rugged, winding, and blocked roads are the real road conditions of this era.

The basin is moist and watery, with abundant rain and distinct four seasons. Natural rainfall alone can meet the irrigation conditions of crops.

The consequence is that the roads in Origin City are muddy for seven or eight days every month.

But Roman spent five years building roads just to deal with this.

To this day, Origin City has a solid and developed transportation network and has not suffered much impact, so what needs to be done must be done.

He always adheres to a philosophy. That is, build roads wherever people go.

Now that the canal is navigable, the transportation cost of building materials has become extremely low.

…

Roman sat in a narrow long boat and moved along the canal.

He was wearing a silver-white cloak with a hood buckled on his head, but it was not very effective in preventing rain. The thick brown hair hanging in front of his chest was wet by the floating water vapor, and he could feel the cold and wet smell when he breathed.

“More, there,” Roman stood upright at the bow, pointing to a hill, “Yes, that’s what I mean, you find someone to reclaim it.”

The low hills were covered with sparse green, and weeds grew out of the soil, but they were not lush now.

Roman had been there when he explored this land, and he knew that the soil there was suitable for farming.

But the time was not ripe at that time, so he just secretly noted it down, and now it can finally be developed.

"You have a good eye for pearls, Your Highness. The agricultural managers all think this is feasible, but there is another group of people who oppose it. If the farming effect is not good, the initial investment will be wasted." The agricultural officer More hurriedly flattered him.

Roman turned a deaf ear to him. He came back to make decisions. These idiots can't do anything without him.

Roman said. "First arrange... arrange two thousand people. The wind on that hillside is very good, suitable for building a windmill... Well, let's call it Windmill Village."

More took out a pen and paper and recorded Roman's instructions.

Two attendants pulled the oil cape to protect More from the rain to prevent the white paper from getting wet. In this era without umbrellas, it is a hassle to shelter from the wind and rain in the wild.

"Not only wheat, but also trees can be planted in places that are not suitable for farming, especially fruit trees, apple trees, pear trees, peach trees, and grapevines. I remember a businessman named Albert brought me mulberry seeds last time. I arranged for someone to try to plant one." Roman said about the future plan for the land.

"Okay, Your Highness, I will arrange it." More wrote a whole page in the small notebook in his hand.

This canal is only five or six meters wide and small in scale. It runs through many rivers and leads to the coal and iron town.

Roman expects to settle about 10,000 people along the way.

This is just a preliminary plan. With the subsequent reclamation, the carrying capacity of the land will also be improved. When the infrastructure is completed, it can be migrated as a family unit to form a certain scale.

As for how to get those residents to migrate, Roman also has his own ideas.

On the way back, he turned to More and said: "This year, 50,000 acres of land will be reclaimed. You are the agricultural officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, you will supervise this task."

More is used to the various amazing instructions issued by Roman, and he has gradually gotten used to it since the spring five years ago.

The young man with a tough face is now a true king.

To this day, he still doesn't dare to question Roman when he sees him.

Mor said weakly: "Your Highness, this year... we don't have enough manpower, and you are still recruiting soldiers."

More than 10,000 people can't reclaim 50,000 acres of land.

Even if there is a canal to transport materials, it won't work.

It took decades for Sige Town, generation after generation, to reclaim 30,000 to 40,000 acres of arable land - not strictly reclamation, most of which are wasteland, only preliminary leveling, and it takes time to slowly transform. The real good land is only a few thousand acres.

Even so, those few thousand acres are only half-ripe land.

But five years after Roman came here.

Now there are 20,000 acres of cultivated land, and nearly 30,000 acres of half-ripe arable land. Last year and the year before, there were about 20,000 acres of wasteland reclaimed. And there are more than 7,000 acres of paddy fields opened up from the swamp.

Because of this, the fertile lands near the Origin City that were easy to cultivate have long been gone.

We can only look for new lands that are easy to cultivate.

It's okay to take it step by step, but if you take a big step, snap! It's easy to get into trouble!

"I'll give you enough manpower." Roman said.

"Moir, just tell them this: whoever cultivates the land is... well, I rented it to them. The lease term is fifty years, and it can be passed on to sons and grandsons.

"I only take 50% of the harvest, and the other 50% is theirs.

"I will provide them with all the logistical resources they need, including food, animal power, and farm tools, before they harvest...

"The Valley Guardian keeps his word!"

Roman ordered these things down, and couldn't help but secretly look forward to how much those cattle and horses can squeeze him?

...

For an agricultural society, the only stable source of income for farmers is crop output.

Roman used to deprive all farmers of their income and exchange it for free houses, food, and clothing.

The advantage is that they can concentrate their efforts on doing big things and let them do whatever they want.

But the disadvantage is that farmers are not so motivated without income.

They work hard for a year, running back and forth, working themselves to death, but the food they harvest is not theirs.

Now it's bad!

The farmers who planted the land also got a harvest.

And it's a full 50%!

This is not as good as the 50% harvest in the past. All farmers can see the land income in Origin City, and the per-acre yield is three times that of the outside world. .

With such a high yield, only 50% was taken away.

Is this true?

Is there really such a benevolent government?

It shocked the farmers of the old times for a whole year!

To put it bluntly.

Those low-level people used to work for Roman for free.

So Roman had to set a time limit for each project.

For example, building a 50-kilometer road must be completed within a month.

If the pressure is high enough, it can be completed in 25 days.

But if they are squeezed too hard, before they have enough sense of belonging, these people will really give up, which will only delay production.

Sense of belonging is the degree of individual identification and maintenance of the collective.

Roman gave the farmer a house, and the farmer felt a sense of belonging to the house, but lacked sufficient understanding of Roman.

The farmer worked for the house, Spontaneously maintain Roman's rule.

But this is passive.

Working is passive, and maintaining Roman's rule is also passive.

Except for a few people who are really grateful, most people cannot take the initiative to selflessly contribute and really work like a cow or a horse.

Therefore, the grassroots farmers usually control the progress of the project tacitly and delay it until the last day of the deadline.

They know that they have spare energy, but they are unwilling to pay.

It's so disloyal!

But they also have something to say: it's enough to complete the tasks set by the master.

After this job is done, the next job is waiting. Only fools will work fast and take the initiative to do the work.

But after getting the contracted land, they are equivalent to working for themselves, which is different.

After all, the grain output from the land can not only meet the food needs of the whole family, but also They can be sold to Roman for money.

With money, they can go to the department store they have always dreamed of.

They can buy salt and sugar, soap, meat, iron pots, honeycomb coal, clothes, furniture and other commodities that they could not afford before.

They don’t need to buy improved crop seeds, Roman gave them for free, so that these idiots would not choose other seeds to reduce grain production.

Alas, it is all because of Master Roman’s kindness and generosity that they can buy those practical and cheap commodities. They can buy on credit even if they have no money in the first year, and the interest rate is shockingly low, and it only increases by one-fifth of the principal every year.

Woohoo, Master Roman, I will farm like crazy for you! I will sell all the harvested grain to you! I will use the money to buy the cheap commodities you sell to us!

Woohoo, are you really not considering raising the price? What if you lose money?