Chapter 826: Agricultural Mobilization Conference

This time, the month of demons lasted for nearly five months. When the dark clouds dissipated and the warm sunshine appeared over the western region again, more than half of the spring had passed.

An urgent task was placed before Roland.

That is spring plowing.

Initiating the war to conquer the extreme southern border in Xieyue, when other forces are unable to make any progress, can save a lot of time and allow the subsequent unified strategy to be carried out with ease, but the consumption of food is also staggering.

Due to only going out but not going in, coupled with the rapid population growth, the granary in the border area bottomed out for the first time. Roland secretly rejoiced that the first thing he did after he annexed Longsong Fortress was to hand over the "Golden No. 1" seed cultivated by the leaves to Peiluo, and order him to forcefully promote improved crops, otherwise this evil month would be really difficult.

The cement boats traveling between the border and Changge constituted the lifeline of the First Army, and the rough pancakes made from a large amount of wheat were distributed by shipping to the soldiers fighting on the front lines.

So Roland held a spring plowing operation meeting the day after the "Victory Day" celebration.

Not only the Ministry of Agriculture, but the entire city hall, including the second-level officials of the Longsong District, as well as the District Consul Pelor and Falling Dragon Ridge Consul Speer, were all summoned to Neverwinter Castle by him. Among them, Speer Passy was still airlifted directly by Maggie, his face was pale when he landed, and there were a few complaints when he saluted him.

Calvin Kant, the lord who temporarily governed the northern border, was replaced by his daughter Edith and his second son Cole. I don't know if it was an illusion, but Roland always felt that the Pearl of the Northern Land returned from the Great Snow Mountain had an extra share. With a bright look, Cole, who was following her, looked much weaker, and that outfit...wasn't it a bit too neutral?

In any case, representatives from all parties in Graycastle have been gathered at the meeting so far, except for the eastern border that has not yet surrendered, and the central region that has not yet established a city hall system, this can basically be regarded as a national congress.

He looked around the hall with satisfaction, then tapped on the table.

Everyone fell silent immediately, and Qiqi turned his attention to the king.

"I know you must be wondering why the word war is used on the banner," Roland said, pointing to the red cloth banner hanging on the wall behind him, "because this is a war. It is not only related to whether this year's strategic plan can be achieved." The smooth implementation also determines the correctness of Neverwinter's rule! As early as the beginning of recruiting refugees, I promised that as long as they are willing to work hard, they will never go hungry one day."

"I have achieved this in the past three years. The territory has expanded from a remote border town to more than half of Graycastle. It makes no sense that it cannot be achieved this year. The kingdom will be stable only if the people in the territory have no worries about food and drink. Therefore, I ask everyone They all take spring plowing seriously, and complete this year’s plowing in accordance with the regulations and sowing manuals formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture.” He paused, “And from this year on, special assessments will be implemented for agricultural work, including the cultivated area, the number of farmers and the number of agricultural workers. The output will become the standard to measure whether you are suitable to be in charge of one place!"

Looking at the bewildered participants, Roland couldn't help raising the corner of his mouth, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand what these assessment items are, and then Minister of Agriculture Saini will spend a day explaining them to you in detail. All in all, if you don't meet my requirements Standards, it can only show that the ability is limited, and it is no longer suitable to continue to serve as the consul."

Although no one made a sound, it could be seen from their expressions that they were visibly nervous.

This is exactly the effect Roland wanted. Abolishing the aristocratic system, in addition to being able to recover the power of the fief, there is another point that the fiefdom officials are no longer hereditary for life. He doesn't mind these people enjoying their rights, but he doesn't allow them to hinder his development plan.

The agricultural assessment is just the beginning.

Roland lifted a curtain behind him, revealing the number marked in red letters below, "Other standards in the first year can be relaxed, but in terms of agricultural output, I require you to reach this number!"

Everyone took a breath in unison, "Fifty thousand dendrobium?"

His reaction to this is not surprising. After all, based on the average level of this era, the annual harvest of ordinary cities is about 10,000, and important towns such as the old capital can reach 15,000. When Bianbian Town used "Golden One" for the first time, it only collected more than 7,000 hu, which was considered a shocking harvest at that time.

Of course, the actual harvest in various places also has a lot to do with the area of ​​farmland and the number of farmers. Unlike Border Town's development of high-yield agriculture, big cities rely entirely on the surrounding villages and small towns and the brutal cultivation of tens of thousands of farmers to obtain so much food. That's why he included these two items in the assessment content.

After all, the fewer the number of farmers, the more workers the factory takes in.

Roland reached out his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, "Actually, when you see the test field of Gold No. times more than that, the ears of wheat that grow in the field are enough to overwhelm the stalks.”

This time it was Pei Luo's turn to exclaim, "Your Majesty... can it really be more than double?"

Among the officials from other places, he was the only one who was most impressed by the astonishing output of the Golden No. 1—during the entire Xieyue War, the Changge District provided more than 50% of the rations for the First Army. There is a large amount of surplus food. If it was replaced by ordinary wheat, it would not even be able to feed a whole city.

"That's true, but Gold No. 2 is not without flaws." Roland looked at Ye Zi beside him. "Next, Ms. Ye Zi from the Witch Union will explain its features in detail."

After Ye Zi nodded and saluted, she walked up to him with a bag of ripened wheat grains, and began to show everyone "Golden No. Every year, I have to come to Neverwinter to receive new wheat seeds. I have also greatly strengthened its root system so that it can absorb nutrients from deeper underground, but this also makes it consume a lot of fertility, so it needs to be fertilized and planted, otherwise it can only be planted. Set aside three fields to take turns fallow. And..."

Roland looked at the leaves, which were a little stiff at the beginning, but became smoother and smoother later, and touched his chin with satisfaction—Golden No. In addition to the ability to absorb fertilizers, except for the inability to reproduce continuously, it almost surpassed the Golden One in other aspects.

And the only disadvantage is actually an advantage for Neverwinter City - the inability to keep the seeds means that once other cities start planting Golden No. 2, they will be inseparable from the supply of the new royal capital, and other low-yield wheat will be squeezed out market, which is beneficial for him to monopolize grain sales and attribute this resource to the state.

Roland believed that no farmer would go back to grow common wheat after trying to grow Golden No. 2.

As long as this newly improved seed is spread throughout the country, it can greatly alleviate the food shortage in various places.

With food... Naturally, more people can be accommodated.

After all, just a Graycastle can't satisfy him.