Chapter 158: Victor’s Ambition

In Victor's domain, Bruce always encountered many novel things. At first, he merely satisfied his curiosity by taking a look and moving on. Now, however, Bruce observed, asked questions, and listened with the attitude of a learner, because this was his mission, and he was a lord as well.

"Victor, are these farmers planting ground potatoes?" Bruce pointed at the farmers not far away and asked in surprise.

No matter how unfamiliar he was with agriculture, Bruce knew that arable land was extremely precious, especially the land near water sources, which should be fully planted with crops. Yet here, he saw farmers continuously burying round ground potatoes deep into excavated holes. Bruce felt that although ground potatoes were edible, there was no need for them to occupy fertile farmland.

Victor nodded with a smile, saying, "Indeed, they are ground potatoes. If you hadn't sent fifty thousand pounds of seeds, I was planning to plant ground potatoes across all of this land."

So it was a matter of insufficient seeds. Bruce apologetically said, "Victor, our seeds are not enough either. This year we can only give you fifty thousand pounds, and I'm afraid that for the next few years, we won't even be able to sell you food. Fortunately, your population is small; planting some ground potatoes should meet the needs of your people."

Victor expressed his understanding. Life was not easy for the York family, as they had a population of one hundred and twenty thousand after all, and Sylvia had truly done her best to squeeze out fifty thousand pounds of seeds for him. However, since Sylvia had sent him seeds, Victor could give her a big surprise in return.

"Bruce, how much arable land do you have? How many mu of barley can you plant this year?" Victor asked.

"My domain can reclaim at least four hundred thousand mu of arable land. This year, I plan to reclaim forty thousand mu first, because I was only allocated one million pounds of seeds, which can plant about ten thousand mu of barley. The remaining thirty thousand mu, I plan to plant with alfalfa to raise cattle and sheep."

After being promoted to a Grand Knight, Bruce had been enfeoffed as a baron, acquiring a territory of over seven thousand square kilometers. Bruce was very satisfied with his domain. The Black River ran right through the entire territory, allowing him not only to build castles along the riverbanks but also to reclaim hundreds of thousands of mu of arable land. Although Bruce was currently dirt poor and had over four thousand people depending on him for a living, the family would support him unconditionally for three years, and only after three years would he need to give back to the family. That was the advantage of having a powerful backing.

"Bruce, I suggest you also plant twenty thousand mu of ground potatoes," Victor advised.

"Well, planting ground potatoes doesn't seem as profitable as planting alfalfa. After all, cattle and sheep have a higher value. Even if our food supply is inadequate, the kingdom will provide a portion, and we can purchase some more, which should basically be enough. In three years, we will have plenty of seeds, along with herds of cattle and sheep. Isn't that better?" Bruce said tactfully, genuinely unable to understand why Victor, with his small population, insisted on growing these worthless ground potatoes.

Victor sighed. From Bruce's words, he could hear that the York family's agricultural planning still followed the traditional model; they had no realization of the changes the ant tide had brought to the domain. If the York family failed to seize this rare opportunity, one of Victor's grand plans would be impossible to realize.

"Bruce, you have so much land suitable for reclamation. It wouldn't hurt to plant another twenty thousand mu of ground potatoes, would it?" Victor smiled, then added, "A year ago, no lord knew that toxic ground potatoes could also be used as food. Although you have tasted ground potatoes, you do not know their true value.

This crop has many advantages. Planting fifty pounds of ground potatoes on one mu of land will yield three hundred pounds of ground potatoes next year. Its yield ratio is one to six, whereas barley is one to two.

In addition, ground potatoes grow underground, so they are not pecked at by birds. In fact, apart from wild boars, almost no animals spoil ground potatoes. I heard from my farmers that no matter how closely they watch, about ten percent of the wheat is ruined by birds every year. To protect the harvest, farmers must guard the wheat fields constantly, otherwise those flying thieves can eat the wheat clean. This requires a huge amount of manpower. Planting ground potatoes, however, requires no tending; farmers only need to water and fertilize them regularly.

Of course, ground potatoes also have disadvantages. After all, they have a slight toxicity, and humans cannot consume them long-term, so we still need to plant barley and wheat. Furthermore, ground potatoes are quite demanding on soil fertility, which requires a sufficient amount of fertilizer.

Compared to their high yield and labor-saving advantages, these drawbacks of ground potatoes are negligible. Now, we have the land, the water sources, and the farmers; what truly restricts our sowing is seeds.既然如此, why not plant some ground potatoes?"

"You're right. Idling around anyway, I might as well just plant twenty thousand mu of ground potatoes," Bruce laughed, amused. He truly looked down upon ground potatoes, but since planting them required little labor, it didn't hurt to plant some.

Victor, however, shook his head and said, "I am planting this batch of ground potatoes not just to supplement our food shortage, but for seed breeding. In three years, I want to plant one hundred thousand mu of ground potatoes."

"What? So many! Didn't you just say that ground potatoes deplete soil fertility? Victor, I suggest you'd better plant some alfalfa. Cattle and sheep are true wealth! Sometimes, cattle and sheep can even be used directly as gold solars," Bruce was startled and quickly advised.

Victor did not explain, merely saying, "Come, I'll take you somewhere."

Puzzled, Bruce followed Victor. After walking for a short while, he saw a large area of sheds. Before Bruce even got close, he heard the grunts of wild boars coming from inside. The sheds housed wild boars of all sizes, numbering around several hundred. Bruce asked in surprise, "You're even raising wild boars in captivity?"

"The smell is a bit strong."

Ever since awakening the High Elf's wind-walking talent, Victor's five senses had become extremely acute, and the stench emitted by these wild boars was somewhat unbearable to him.

After using X-3 to neutralize the odor, Victor said, "Wild boars are not as valuable as cattle and sheep, but they eat almost anything: oak acorns, worms, termites, seabuckthorn berries, and blue-core grass—things that are useless to us can all serve as food for wild boars. Raising a wild boar can produce about five hundred pounds of meat and lard a year, whereas a sheep provides at most a little over a hundred pounds of mutton, and cattle require three years before they can be slaughtered, yielding only about a thousand pounds of beef. You tell me, is raising pigs cost-effective?"

"Victor, I cannot agree with your view."

Bruce shook his head and said, "Cowhide, ox tendons, and sheepskin are more valuable than meat, not to mention that cattle and sheep also produce milk. As for wild boars, we in the York family know them inside out; there is no need to raise them at all, as they are everywhere in the wild. You might not know this, but lords generally allow their people to hunt wild boars within the domain. As for us nobles, occasionally eating wild boar meat is fine, but eating too much of it is beneath our dignity. Now that you've penned up all the wild boars, your people will likely think you are a stingy lord, considering wild boars are the primary source of meat for the common folk."

Within a domain, all resources, including wild boars, were the property of the lord. Bruce mistakenly thought Victor was penning up the pigs to prevent the common folk from poaching, an act that could be termed harsh governance.

Victor frowned. He truly hadn't considered this issue. Up until now, Victor's subjects exchanged labor for work points, and work points for food, which amounted to eating out of a communal pot. However, whether they were vassals, subjects, or freemen, everyone desired private property. The reason the subjects were willing to eat from the communal pot was that they were part of the system where work points could be exchanged for land, whereas Victor's current subordinates were either members of the work point system or alchemical militiamen. The problem was that the work point system was closed off; what would happen to those subsequent freemen? When they saw that even wild boars were kept in captivity by Victor, would they still be willing to stay and settle down?

"Bruce, I believe raising wild boars in captivity is the best choice."

Victor decided to put this issue aside for the moment and introduce his agricultural and pastoral system to Bruce first. "Have you noticed that after the ant tide, all the fierce beasts in the Centaur Hills are gone, leaving only packs of wild boars? With their natural predators gone, these wild boars will multiply uncontrollably before long. At that time, do you think the common people will still be able to gather berries and wild vegetables in the wild?"

Bruce was instantly stunned. He was not unfamiliar with the food sources of the common people; aside from crop farming and animal husbandry, hunting and gathering accounted for a huge proportion. During the lean months between harvests, the commoners usually needed to gather various wild fruits, nuts, mushrooms, and wild vegetables for food. However, these vital wild crops were also the food of wild boars. If the wild boars ate them all clean, what would the common people do? Surely they couldn't eat pork for every meal! Moreover, wild boars were fierce and not easy to hunt, and every year quite a few hunters died under their tusks.

"Bruce, if we leave the wild boars unchecked, they will not only devour wild crops but also threaten the survival of yellow sheep and short-tailed deer. A few years from now, the wilds of the Centaur Hills will only have wild boars left. Therefore, before the wild boars become a plague, we must control their numbers. Now, you have two choices: either slaughter all the wild boars or raise them in captivity."

"My choice is to raise wild boars in captivity. Uncontrolled wild boars are pests, but captive wild boars are precious wealth. These wild boars can turn things we don't eat into meat we can consume. Wild boar feces make excellent fertilizer, which can increase crop yields. With the wild boars gone from the wilderness, delicious yellow sheep and short-tailed deer will multiply, wild fruits and vegetables will increase, and those who go out to gather and hunt will be much safer. The reason I am planting so many ground potatoes is precisely to raise more wild boars."

"Bruce, if we manage the domain according to my methods, the total amount of food will increase by at least three times," Victor said passionately.

"Then we aren't raising cattle and sheep anymore? Without cowhide, we won't be able to make leather armor! Producing only food won't work," Bruce took a long while to snap out of the scene Victor had painted, and said slowly.

Victor smiled and said, "Bruce, after the ant disaster, are there any fierce beasts left in the domain? Cattle and sheep can of course graze in the wild!"

Bruce's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Right! Why didn't I think of that! Victor, you really are a different kind of yellow sheep!"

"Me? A yellow sheep?!"

Bruce smiled awkwardly and explained Edwin's evaluation to Victor.

Victor shook and smiled, saying, "Master Edwin's metaphor is truly vivid." Then he said solemnly, "A few years from now, the wild beasts will eventually return. Therefore, I plan to establish settlements in the wilderness and have people specifically herd cattle and sheep. As for the problem of water sources, that can also be resolved. I plan to use cyan bricks to build reservoirs to collect rainwater for the settlements' use. As long as there is no drought, the drinking water problem of the settlements can be completely met."

"Wait! What did you say? Reservoirs? Settlements?" Bruce asked excitedly.

Victor knew the reason for Bruce's excitement. Water sources were an important factor restricting human production activities; some domains were extremely vast yet could only support a few thousand people precisely because of insufficient water sources. Digging a pit to store water was nothing new, but the water in the pit easily seeped into the underground, making long-term storage impossible. Cyan brick-lined pools, however, could achieve this. Still, expecting to expand villages based on reservoirs was wishful thinking.

Victor carefully explained the characteristics of the cyan brick reservoirs to Bruce, saying, "The rainwater collected by the reservoirs is only enough for the cattle and sheep to drink; there is no way to use it for farming."

"What a pity," Bruce first shook his head regretfully, then said with renewed vigor, "However, being able to graze cattle and sheep is already very good."

Victor felt a secret joy in his heart; as long as the York family tasted the sweetness of the reservoirs, they would not reject his proposal.

"Bruce, I have a treasure to give to Sylvia," Victor smiled mysteriously.

Bruce saw a wooden implement shaped like a giant bow, with a refined iron moldboard attached to its bottom. He asked doubtfully, "Is this a plow?"

"That's right, this is a moldboard plow I designed," Victor nodded.

Victor had seen his farmers plowing fields; they used an ox-drawn hook plow to turn the soil. He had only seen farmers driving plow oxen, plowing horizontally once, then vertically again, resulting in only a shallow layer of soil being turned. Victor's face had darkened at the time; even someone who knew nothing about farming understood the importance of deep plowing and meticulous cultivation, and shallow plowing like that would be lucky to grow any crops at all. From then on, Victor had wanted to build a moldboard plow, but subsequent events left him no time to attend to it. It wasn't until now that Victor had finally crafted the new plow.

"Using this plow to farm can double the crop yield!"

Bruce left. When he came, he brought fifty thousand pounds of wheat seeds; when he left, he tightly hugged the plow Victor gave him, along with twelve sheepskin scrolls detailing Victor's entire agricultural production system. Bruce regarded them as priceless treasures.

In fact, even if Bruce hadn't come, Victor would have still tried to sell his ideas to the York family, because Victor had a grand plan: to build a giant water conservancy project.

After the ant disaster, the murloc tribes on the banks of the Golden Water River suffered heavy blows. Without the interference of the murlocs, it was the perfect time to dig an artificial river. However, building such a giant project required at least tens of thousands of laborers. Victor did not have that many hands, and by the time he did, the murlocs would have already recovered their vitality. Therefore, Victor had set his sights on the York family.

The York family had a hundred and twenty thousand people, but it was hard to imagine that people busy gathering food all day would have the time to complete such a project, let alone build three fortresses. Therefore, to liberate productive forces, one must first fill the stomachs of the subjects and keep them from worrying about food. Only thus could these ordinary people create miracles.

Victor was not prepared to tell the York family about the plan in advance; letting facts speak for themselves was more persuasive than anything else. Once the York family's subjects were liberated from the fields, it would be almost impossible for them to reject the plan to build the artificial river. This artificial river could irrigate tens of millions of mu of farmland, and Victor would be the first beneficiary. By that time, his domain would be enough to support two hundred thousand people.

Victor took a pleasant sip of purple sugarcane wine, calculating that the project should begin construction in four years. If it were delayed any longer, the murlocs would become a major trouble.

"Perhaps I should send people to continue shooting those lovely murlocs right now."