Chapter 160 Private Plot

Victor’s Flat Lake Camp was built at the entrance where the Black River met Flat Lake. After dozens of days of renovation, the facilities within the camp were fully complete, increasingly resembling a large village. Victor named it Estuary Village.

Three kilometers south of Estuary Village lay a scenic valley, where Victor had ordered the alchemical militia to construct a manor to serve as his residence.

Covering fifteen mu and enclosed by eight-meter-tall iron-oak palisades, the manor was equipped with four arrow towers. Most of the dwellings inside were made of wood, with the main building being a three-story gray-brick villa. The manor was heavily guarded both inside and out, with forty alchemical militia members acting as sentries. Four alchemical battle mastiffs lurked in the surrounding mountain forests, while ten alchemical crows monitored any movement around the perimeter of the manor.

Aside from the alchemical creatures, the manor housed twelve veteran battle bears and fifteen maidservants. These veterans were busy compiling and editing the mercenary corps operation manual according to Victor’s instructions, while the maidservants were responsible for tending to their daily lives. Lilia had personally selected these maidservants, each of whom was a sturdy woman with a robust build. Upon seeing them, Victor could not help but sigh with deep emotion; he had always assumed Lilia was immune to jealousy, but it now appeared that was merely a misunderstanding.

"Victor, we have now farmed seven hundred and twenty-six wild boars, and the adult wild boars we've hunted and killed exceed three hundred. Those pork, wild fruits, wild vegetables, and mushrooms have already begun to be cured and air-dried. The harvested nuts have also filled the warehouses to the brim. Coupled with the five hundred thousand pounds of rye flour sent by the York family, our food reserves are entirely sufficient for two thousand people to get through the Season of Waters. Mmm—" Lilia’s face flushed red as she wriggled her body slightly to make it easier for Victor’s hand to explore the secluded depths beneath her dress.

Victor was truly not lacking in food right now. Upon receiving Victor’s scroll, Sylvia’s heart had filled with delight, and she had ordered large quantities of provisions to be sent over. Combined with the various animal and plant resources within the territory, not to mention two thousand people, even three thousand could easily be sustained. What Victor lacked was labor.

"How many freemen have we rounded up so far?" Victor caressed Lilia’s smooth and tender thighs while whispering softly in her ear.

Lilia panted lightly and said, "We've captured two more batches, totaling two hundred and thirty-nine people, all of whom fled from the Buriate territory." Halting Victor’s mischievous hand, she added with concern, "Victor, most of them are the liege-men of Baron Matthew Buriate. Baron Matthew is a titled noble no matter what; is it really proper for us to kill his vassals?"

Vassals were upper-class individuals with status. A lord might not care about the lives and deaths of the lower classes, but he would certainly investigate the whereabouts of a vassal. Since Baron Matthew’s vassals had gone missing in the Randall territory, he was bound to make a statement—at the very least, dispatching troops to search the area—and they would inevitably come into conflict with Victor. This was precisely why Balor had suggested driving all those people away. Leaving the commoners behind while vassals went missing was a flaw in itself. The resulting trouble was obvious, and Lilia clearly saw this as well, yet she still did not understand why Victor had to do it.

"Lilia, whether I kill those people or not, our conflict with Baron Matthew is inevitable. The Buriate family needs food, and while I need population, I do not need it without limit. Once we exceed three thousand people, the territory’s resources will be strained. If I let those people go, they will spread the word back and bring even more people, because they can no longer find food in their own territory. Word spreads ten, ten spreads a hundred, and the incoming crowd will grow larger and larger, eventually turning into an organized confrontation. Baron Matthew will inevitably find an excuse to contend with us for that forest.

"Lilia, I can accept a limited population from the Buriate territory, but I can never allow the Buriate family to seize my resources. Since conflict is unavoidable, why should I be polite to them? Severing the tentacles of the Buriate family and keeping the population we need is the best choice. At worst, we will simply fight a war."

Victor spoke nonchalantly, holding zero psychological burden regarding a conflict with the Buriate family. In terms of background, Victor had the undisputed king of the Centaur Hills as his backing. In terms of strength, he already had over nine hundred alchemical militia under his command, including eighty-five bull-subduing militiamen equipped with ant-man armor. Even if Viscount Buriate were not dead, he would amount to no more than two Great Knights. And how could a Great Knight evade Victor’s sniper fire when surrounded by fearless alchemical militia?

"Mm, I understand." Lilia leaned against Victor’s chest and murmured softly.

***

"Let’s set aside the issue with the Buriate family for now. What has been the general response regarding the policy on private plots?" Victor asked.

Lilia’s spirits lifted. She straightened her posture and said, "Everyone is very happy, especially the freemen; they have become much more proactive in their work. However, our members under the work-point system believe that freemen should not be allowed to enjoy private plots as well."

Private plots were a welfare policy introduced by Victor for newly joined members, nearly identical to the private plots of ancient China. Both the liege-men and freemen under Victor’s rule could acquire a small patch of land—three fen of land per liege-man and one fen per freeman. The yield from these plots belonged entirely to them individually or to their families, without needing to pay any tribute to Victor. However, these plots could not be factored into a vassal’s ten-mu standard, and should they become vassals, the private plots had to be returned.

The conversation with Bruce the other day regarding liege-men hunting wild boars had made Victor realize a massive flaw in the domestic policy system he had designed: there was completely no place for newcomers.

In the very beginning, the rapid development of Victor’s territory had left everyone dumbfounded. This was because his development plan fundamentally differed from those of other lords—the distinction between planning and freedom. And what supported this distinction was the work-point system. Now, Victor had formulated even grander agricultural and water-conservancy development plans, yet his work-point system had been closed off.

Victor’s agricultural and water-conservancy plans required a massive population. To be precise, they required a massive amount of effective labor. Without the work-point system, would freemen become effective laborers? Victor pessimistically discovered that this was nearly impossible, as the freemen lacked sufficient attachment to the lord.

For a lord to declare sovereignty over a territory, he must first build a castle in a suitable location as his administrative center. Next, the lord needed to construct towns and villages to expand his control over the territory. Towns and villages were chosen to be built near water sources. Therefore, the more water sources a territory had, the more towns and villages there would be, the stronger the lord’s control over the territory would be, and any land outside the lord’s control could not be counted as his territory.

The effective control range of a village was the activity area where villagers could go out during the day and return by night—roughly three hundred square kilometers. Beyond this range lay the wilderness. The wilderness was inhabited by orcs, monsters, and ferocious beasts, making it extremely hazardous. Ordinary people could not survive in the perilous wilderness; they had to rely on the protection of villages and stockades. Thus, lords protected ordinary people, while ordinary people had no choice but to accept exploitation by their lords.

Within this relationship of protection and tribute, the status of freemen was the lowest. There were no rights and obligations between a lord and a freeman; freemen were not required to perform corvée labor for the lord, nor would the lord concern himself with the affairs of freemen. The lord only collected tribute from vassals, and vassals hired freemen to work, providing them with compensation. When the territory came under attack, vassals and liege-men had priority to enter the castle for refuge, whereas freemen had to fend for themselves. To gain tangible protection and better treatment, freemen strived to become liege-men.

Within the lord’s actual sphere of control, liege-men enjoyed the lord's protection. Additionally, aside from being hired out, liege-men had the right to rent farmland and retain twenty percent of the yield. Liege-men were also obligated to perform unpaid labor for the lord: two months during the Season of Fire and two months during the Season of Wind every year, they had to perform agricultural labor for the lord, harvesting hay or crops. During the construction of the castle, liege-men had to take turns serving until the castle was completed. When the territory was violated, liege-men bore the responsibility of defending their homes and castle; the lord could call upon liege-men to subjugate monsters within the territory, but could not compel them, and absolutely could not drive liege-men to attack the territory of other families.

After carefully sorting through the various factors of a lord’s rule over a territory, Victor discovered that monsters in the wilderness were the very reason freemen and liege-men depended on a lord in the first place. Yet, the monster populations in the Centaur Hills were pitifully sparse to begin with, and in Victor’s water-conservancy blueprint, there was no room for monsters to survive.

Without monsters, would freemen still need to depend on the lord? Would they still accept exploitation? Would they still perform corvée labor? The answer was self-evident—wasn't that precisely how the various large and small freeman camps in Victor’s territory had come to be?

Constructing artificial rivers was a long-term and arduous project that would provoke public grievances even in a highly centralized ancient China, let alone under a feudal system formed by relying on monsters. Even if Victor filled everyone’s stomachs, liege-men would not be willing to do hard labor for extended periods. Pushed to the limit, they would simply flee into the wilderness and become mountain dwellers. And if Victor dared to resort to coercive measures, the Church wouldn't mind locking him away.

***

Victor needed to redesign a system of benefit distribution to motivate the general populace to support his plans, but prior to that, he had to ensure that the newly joined members would not break away from his rule. Alchemical battle mastiffs could fill the role of monsters, but that was not a long-term solution either. Therefore, the policy of private plots came into being.

"Lilia, those people who drifted into the territory were mostly of liege-man status, and only took on the role of freemen out of necessity because they had no food. Once they weather this difficulty, they will certainly want to return to the Buriate territory, and private plots can keep many of them here. Three fen of land can’t grow staple crops, but it can grow some vegetables. The damage to us is minimal, while the benefits are immense. As you know, the work-point system can no longer be opened up, but the private plot policy can attract hardworking and steadfast freemen to join us." Victor pinched Lilia’s chest and laughed, "Alright, go find Balor and bring him here. I have a task for him."

Two hours later, the scout Balor appeared in Victor’s study.

"Milord, what are your orders?" Balor asked respectfully.

"I want you to investigate the situation of the Buriate family. You don't need any top-secret intelligence, but I need to know their strength, background, and relationships among their members—the more detailed, the better. Especially regarding Baron Matthew," Victor said indifferently.

Victor had killed Baron Matthew’s vassals; a clash between them was already inevitable, so he naturally needed to understand his opponent’s situation. Balor had long been prepared for this and was filled with anticipation. He said in a deep voice, "Milord, I need manpower."

"Of course. I will give you ten elite soldiers. Each of them possesses strength comparable to Shack, more than enough to protect you and the safety of your junior scouts. From now on, they will answer to you," Victor nodded and said.

Balor’s heart surged with wild elation. He had witnessed Shack’s battle crushing a holy warrior. In Balor’s eyes, Shack was a death squad member comparable to a squire-knight, yet Victor was assigning him ten such powerful death soldiers all at once. This showed just how formidable Lord Victor’s strength was, and also demonstrated that he had won Victor’s favor.

Suppressing the excitement within his heart, Balor said in a deep voice, "Milord, I need to go to Black Fortress Town to recruit some personnel."