He Only Knew He Was Going to Kill

For the few days the Lord was away patrolling the forest, Old Albert basically lived in White Bear Town.

He had to supervise the blacksmith and the carpenter on-site as they crafted the heavy plows.

He personally inspected the quality of every single one produced before sending them off to the various farms.

Old Albert knew the temperament of the serfs in this day and age all too well.

You had to demonstrate a fresh, expensive contraption like a heavy plow a dozen times on the spot before you could gain the approval of even a portion of the serfs.

And among those who approved, only a small fraction of the wealthy serfs were willing to pay for one.

If they found it worked well, they would spontaneously promote it to other serfs and drive them to purchase heavy plows as well.

Only when it reached this stage could the heavy plow be considered truly popularized throughout White Bear Territory.

The most critical point in all of this was the quality of the heavy plows.

If an accident occurred during a live demonstration, then there would be no point in talking about promotion.

Therefore, Old Albert had to personally oversee production in White Bear Town.

He also understood the nature of the blacksmith, Qi He, and the carpenter, Torima, perfectly.

If no one supervised them, these two scoundrels in their respective monopolies would definitely cut corners.

In the past, a little corner-cutting wouldn't have mattered much—it would have just meant the serfs spent a bit more on repairs each year.

But the heavy plow was a task personally assigned by the new Lord, and Old Albert, wanting to show his worth before the Lord, dared not be careless.

Besides, Old Albert had a share in the money earned from selling the heavy plows.

His son, Little Albert, had married Qi He's daughter.

When Qi He first opened his branch shop, Old Albert had invested money into it.

As for the price of the heavy plow, it was currently set at 8 silver coins, which could buy about 300 kilograms of rye or 8 sheep in White Bear Territory—a price the serfs could afford.

Although Old Albert was stationed in White Bear Town, he did not neglect the composting affairs on the territory.

Under his command, the stewards and farm managers of White Bear Territory poured out in full force, urging the serfs to collect manure for compost.

Even children under the age of ten were mobilized to pick up manure along the farm roads and pastures.

March, the time before spring planting, should have been a rare period of rest for the serfs, but they were forced into new labor; one could imagine how foully they cursed.

It could only be said that Old Albert truly managed to "let the serfs suffer, while he took the blame."

When Yagna walked out of the castle, this was the vibrant scene she saw.

In the strip fields, a farm manager drove a heavy plow, kicking up waves of soil and drawing gasps from the surrounding serfs.

On the roads, children carrying wicker baskets could be seen everywhere, the baskets piled high with manure, the stench permeating the air.

Yagna was not entirely ignorant of farming.

Influenced by the Marsh Duchess, she had read several books on agriculture at court and had also gained on-the-ground knowledge of agricultural production in Shallow Beach Territory and White Bear Territory.

Seeing that the two-wheeled plow could easily turn over furrows a dozen centimeters deep and could be operated by a single person, Yagna immediately realized the value of the device.

After making inquiries, she took her two "bodyguards" and soon arrived at White Bear Town, finding Old Albert, who was counting timber in the warehouse.

"My Lady, why have you come?"

Seeing Yagna appear suddenly, Old Albert was clearly surprised.

He did not know whether Yagna and Lynn had reached a consensus.

But since this former Lady of the territory could continue to live in the castle, it was clear that something had happened with the new Lord.

Addressing her as "My Lady" was unlikely to be a mistake.

"What is the story with that wheeled plow in the strip fields? Also, isn't White Bear Territory starting spring planting next month? Why are the serfs still working? And what is with those children carrying baskets of manure?"

Yagna was very satisfied with the title of "My Lady," but that did not stop her from firing off questions like a volley of cannon fire.

"My Lady, you had better wait for the Lord to return and ask him yourself. I am merely acting according to his orders."

Old Albert could not gauge the actual relationship between Yagna and Lynn, so, adhering to the principle that saying too much leads to mistakes, he pushed this series of questions onto Lynn, who was still exploring in the forest.

After a moment of thought, Yagna asked, "You mean to say that all these new things are related to him?"

"Yes." Old Albert simply nodded.

Walking out of the timber warehouse, Yagna gazed at the clear northern sky, looking forward to Lynn's return all the more.

At this moment, Lynn was still exploring the forest.

To unlock as much of the map's fog as possible to facilitate future road construction, he had deliberately taken several detours.

He had spent nearly four days going to the salt mine.

By the time he returned to the castle, a full eight days had passed since his departure.

Before they left, the group had been neatly dressed.

Upon returning, they looked even more like wild people than the Wild People themselves.

Lynn's coat had been shredded into strips by tree branches, and he looked disheveled, like an elder of a beggar sect.

It was only by his pair of still-spirited eyes that the three brothers guarding the castle were able to identify him.

Lynn let two middle-aged maids in their thirties remove his gear, then enjoyed a comfortable hot bath.

After finishing dinner, he shared the harvest of his trip with his brothers in the study.

As Lynn drew a simple map on parchment, he said, "I discovered a salt mine in the northwest of the territory. It is buried very shallowly, making extraction very simple, and it is about forty to fifty kilometers from the territory."

Upon hearing about a salt mine, the three brothers were naturally restless with excitement.

Why had they risked being hunted by the Duke to come to the territory and impersonate nobles?

Wasn't it just to make money?

Wasn't selling illicit salt much faster than supervising serfs in the fields?

"I know you are all eager, but don't be hasty. Selling illicit salt in the Northern Border is equivalent to going against the King; the risk is no smaller than impersonating a baron."

The three brothers all laughed upon hearing Lynn's words.

Lao Si, the boldest of them, spoke bluntly, "Big Brother, we are horse bandits. We've already offended the Duke, so we aren't afraid of offending a King too!"

Lynn stopped his quill and swept his gaze over the three brothers. "There is one more problem: that salt mine is already being mined by someone."

"Who?" The hot-tempered Lao Wu was murderous, as if he were just waiting for Lynn to name a person so he could turn around and go kill them.

"In all likelihood, it is the Wild People."

"The... the Wild People?" Lao Wu's eyes went blank.

Lao Liu asked, "Big Brother, are there really Wild People in the north?"

Unlike Lao Wu, who was still working on his primary school diploma, Lao Liu had received a professional education at a monastery. He had a certain understanding of the Wild People and knew about the great war thirty years ago.

"We didn't actually see the Wild People, but based on the traces of mining left at the site, it is basically certain that they are Wild People. If we want to mine the salt on a large scale in the future, we will inevitably come into conflict with them," Lynn briefly recounted his deduction.

"In other words, we have to fight the Wild People?" Lao Wu's eyes lit up again.

He didn't know what the Wild People looked like, nor did he know their level of martial prowess; he only knew he was going to kill.

Anyone who blocked them from getting rich had to die!