Lord of Industrialization

"Quick, catch it!"

In the freshly harvested wheat field of Chickpea Village, a black field mouse was running for its life, with several young mice clinging to its back, fleeing for their lives along with their mother.

"squeak!"

A flying lead bullet accurately hit the target, the field mouse screamed, and the whole family died in front of Baron Turgot.

Baron Turgot just glanced at it and continued to watch the professional rodent exterminator team at work.

Rats have always been the sworn enemies of humans, spreading diseases and stealing food, making their entire species vulnerable to death.

Humans have come up with various ways to deal with rats, from traditional rat poisons and cats to specialized rat-catching dogs. Now some villagers use guns to shoot rats. All possible methods are used.

Nowadays, some people even mix cement powder, roasted wheat and oil as rat poison. When the rat eats it, the cement solidifies in the rat's belly.

But the most troublesome thing about rats is that they hide in burrows. Sometimes they can survive underground for a while by storing food.

The wheat fields are about to be planted with sweet radishes and oats, and if the mice hiding in the fields are not cleared away, they will eat the seeds.

Recently, several professional rodent control teams have appeared in Weissenburg City. The team that came to Chickpea Village today used soft steel wire to push a bomb through the mouse hole, then ran away and detonated the bomb.

The mouse hole was basically destroyed by the explosion. Except for the mice that happened to be frightened near the entrance of the hole and ran out, most of the mice hiding in the hole were killed by the shock wave. It would have been easy to survive on the spot.

It was less lively when the rodent control team went to work in nearby Lizi Village, using dry ice.

Someone once wanted to use the newly discovered chlorine gas, but Psyche stopped him.

Baron Turgot looked at the field for a while and decided to go to the drying field. .

The owner of the bakery downstairs where Baron Turgot lives is coming here today to discuss the business of purchasing flour, so he also came to investigate.

When he first arrived, he discovered that this village was different from the village in his impression. The land here was in patches, not traditional strips of fields.

During this period, the village harvested the winter wheat planted last year and the spring wheat planted this year. The tractors in the village were parked next to the drying yard, and villagers lined up in front of the tractor-driven threshing machine.

A dozen people gathered not far from the thresher, some squatting on the ground and some sitting on bundled straw. One of them was the village chief. Everyone gathered in a circle, apparently having a meeting.

A farmer in his thirties said: “Now that our family has too much land, we can’t take care of it.”

Another old farmer in his early fifties with a big nose also said: "Now my eldest and second son have gone to live in the city. There are only two elders in the family, my mother-in-law and me. The third son still has to go to school, and the fields can't take care of him."

After he finished speaking, many people nodded in agreement.

The old blacksmith next to him immediately said: "You might as well give up the rent and become a city dweller."

Big Nose shook his head and said: "Who knows how the boss and the second brother are doing in the city? If they don't do well, they can come back to farm."

"Hey..." the old blacksmith glanced at him disdainfully, "If you can, don't wander around the village wearing the new clothes sent by your son and holding a thermos cup all day long, telling your sons to buy less and save more."

An old bald man in the village who had grown up with them saw them starting to quarrel again and immediately said, "Okay, let's get down to business now, you guys, stop arguing."

He then said to the old blacksmith: "You envy his family's wealth, so you might as well let your daughters marry his sons."

At this time, the village spoke to stop the old blacksmith and Big Nose from beating up the old bald man. After coughing twice, he said, "Stop arguing and let's get down to business."

"There are not enough manpower now, so there is nothing we can do about it. It is the same in other villages."

"In the past few days, many people have told me that the village should buy more machines. What do you think?"

Farmers like Big Nose and Old Baldhead all nodded in agreement. It is too difficult to wait in line for machines now.

When the village chief saw that no one of the people who could speak in the village objected, he said: "Now we are all selling flour, and the mills are not enough. Then buy two large mills, which are better than the small mills we use now. And I have my own engine and don’t need a tractor.”

The farmers nodded.

The village chief continued: "We also need to buy a threshing machine. This is related to the farming season. We can't save money. Let's buy three."

At this time, the old blacksmith said: "Village chief, how much wheat could grow in the field before, how much wheat can grow now, and there will be more and more wheat in the field in the future, so buy more."

Other villagers agreed, but the village chief rolled his eyes and said to them: "The more wheat in the field, the bigger the wheat ears will be. The thresher is allocated according to the size of the field."

The old blacksmith who has never farmed does not understand this. The farmers pretend not to understand because an extra machine can reduce the queues, but the village chief understands.

The village's public funds are composed of funds allocated in proportion after paying taxes, the income from all the workshops in the village, and the rental fees for machines such as tractors, mills, and threshers. The money to buy agricultural machinery must come from here. The quantity is limited and cannot be messed up. flower.

The village chief continued: "Three threshing machines are enough. I plan to buy a large tractor and a small tractor. The smaller one can be used in the vegetable field."

The villagers think this is not bad. Although there is one less threshing machine, it is better to have a small tractor. It is more convenient to cultivate the vegetable field and it can be used during the farming season.

At this time, someone said: "Now we need to find someone to learn to drive a tractor. Who will pay for the tuition? Can the village borrow money?"

Nowadays, farmers' income has increased a lot, but they don't have much savings. The tuition for learning tractors is a large amount of money for them.

Some people want their children to study, but they can't afford the tuition, so they use the village's public funds. Many people with the same idea agree.

"Let my family do this." The old blacksmith raised his hand, "I can't make iron anymore, and my two daughters have to make a living. I saved some money and sent them to Oak City this afternoon."

When the village chief heard that there was no need to use public funds, he immediately said, "Okay, I'll give them a letter of introduction and they will have a living allowance in school."

Those who want to use the village's public funds have nothing to say. They pay for it themselves, so there is no reason to object.

No one says that women can't learn to drive tractors. Angela from the nearby Chestnut Village was praised by Grand Duke Wesson in the newspaper for learning to drive a tractor. She also came to the village to help, and her work was neat and tidy, no worse than men.

Seeing that the matter was almost settled, the village chief said, "Two large mills, three threshers, a large tractor, and a small tractor, that's all."

"I'll go to the city tomorrow to ask for a price, and then the village will hold a meeting to decide."

Baron Turgot had been listening nearby. With his hearing level, he could understand what they were saying, but he seemed to think he had heard it wrong.

He couldn't help but think of a major event related to tractors that had happened in Le Havre.

Count Volpe, the lord of Le Havre, bought a tractor at the World Expo last year. Thanks to the city being a port city, this tractor became the first tractor assembled and put into use in the Kingdom of Gaul.

Count Volpe treasured this tractor so much that even when His Royal Highness Louis, who came back on the same ship, wanted to touch it, he had to take out his handkerchief and let His Royal Highness wipe his hands first. Baron Turgot could only watch from afar.

Later, when selecting the driver, it was even more lively. The knights under Count Volpe were all eager to fight and compete to subdue this steel machine.

What is the situation in this village now?

Buy two tractors at once, and more importantly, women can drive them?

Baron Turgot suspected that he had heard wrongly.