Only When You Run a Household Do You Know the Cost of Living

Only When You Run a Household Do You Know the Cost of Living

Following the principle of putting free labor to use, he tossed all four horse bandit brothers, who had slaughtered countless men, into the fields to swing hoes and contribute to the territory's construction.

Only then did Lynn have time to look at the terrified Territory Steward.

"What did you just say?"

Albert's scalp immediately prickled, and his slightly hunched back straightened at once. "Ah, my lord, I was saying that it's getting late. I think we should return to the Castle first. It'll take more than an hour to walk there from here."

"No rush."

Lynn had already mapped out the subsequent work arrangements on the way here.

According to the confiscated list of territorial assets, the entire White Bear Territory contained five manors.

No. 1 Manor belonged directly to the baron and held more than half the territory's population and farmland.

The remaining four manors belonged to four ennobled knights, each with around three hundred serfs.

Under Lynn's arrangements, apart from Second Brother, who was assigned guard duty, the remaining four brothers each took several underlings and headed for the four manors to count the population, livestock, and farm tools, as well as take over assets such as the houses left behind by those fleeing knights.

It was certainly painful that the money and horses had been taken away.

But in the sparsely populated Northern Border, population and farmland—especially population—were the most valuable "assets."

As long as there were people, the land could provide an endless stream of output.

Time waited for no one.

To avoid a future of being hunted across the world by the Marsh Duke, Lynn needed to understand White Bear Territory's population and agricultural conditions as quickly as possible, then formulate a viable plan to increase agricultural production.

Food was the foundation of every industry. Without sufficient food, no other industry could develop.

As the managers and farm managers of the four manors departed with Lynn's four brothers, the crowd gathered at the crossroads dwindled by more than half.

Lynn looked again at the deferential Territory Steward. "What was your name again? Aero?"

"My lord, my name is Albert."

"Oh, Albert. Can you ride?"

"A little."

"Then stay by my side. I have a few things to ask you."

"I will answer everything I know, my lord."

Ruling and managing a territory was a complicated technical task.

Given White Bear Territory's vast area, if it were placed in the ancient East, it would at least qualify as a county-level jurisdiction.

If Lynn, the lord, was an outsider like a powerful county magistrate, then the managers and farm managers led by Albert were the local clerks and petty officials.

Even a hero needed three helpers. Without the assistance of these local hands who knew the territory inside out, it would be difficult for a lord to manage it well.

Of course, unlike in the ancient East, a lord's authority was greater than that of an ordinary county magistrate, and he commanded stronger armed forces.

A lord's authority within his territory could practically be considered unlimited.

Military affairs, administration, taxation, justice—he oversaw everything.

More importantly, these powers could be inherited unless the family line died out.

This gave lords an absolute natural advantage when dealing with the territory's lower-level administrators.

Albert believed Lynn was a lord from the Cold Wind Family, backed by the prosperous Cold Wind Valley and equipped with ample personnel to replace White Bear Territory's managers and farm managers. But Lynn knew perfectly well that the twenty-odd men he had brought were genuine horse bandits.

Every one of them was an expert at killing, but complete amateurs at farming.

On the well-maintained dirt road leading to the Castle, Lynn questioned Albert in detail about the territory's population structure and agricultural production.

Albert truly answered everything he knew, and his answers matched the list in Lynn's hand.

White Bear Territory currently had just over three thousand local residents.

More than ninety percent of them were low-status serfs.

The remaining less than ten percent were the territory's middle and lower-level administrators and their families, along with some craftsmen.

Including blacksmiths, tanners, stonemasons, and carpenters,

craftsmen were the most precious wealth in the territory.

Their importance was no less than that of the lord who protected the territory's security.

It could be said that the number of craftsmen determined a territory's level of development and prosperity.

Those fleeing knights had taken only movable wealth while leaving the most valuable "wealth" behind in the territory. This was the greatest surprise Lynn had received today.

However, White Bear Territory's backward level of agricultural development was hard for Lynn to accept.

The serfs in the territory averaged five people per household, and each household possessed more than sixty mu of "allotment land." In exchange, they had to cultivate an equal area of "public land" for the lord.

The Northern Border had a frigid climate, and crops usually ripened only once a year. The main crops were cold-resistant rye and barley.

The yield of both crops in White Bear Territory was truly dismal. More than fifteen kilograms of seed had to be sown per mu, yet by autumn they could barely harvest forty kilograms of grain.

The ratio of sowing to harvest was not even one to three.

Moreover, to preserve soil fertility, White Bear Territory strictly practiced the Two-field System, with half the farmland required to lie fallow every year.

This meant each serf household could only live on the harvest from thirty mu of land each year. After paying rent to the lord, even with favorable weather, they could probably do no more than barely fill their stomachs.

"Thirty mu of land yields only a little over seven hundred kilograms net per year, and they still have to pay taxes. Can that support a family of five?"

Though Lynn was a horse bandit leader, he was highly sensitive to food consumption.

Only after running a household did he understand how expensive daily necessities were. The moment he opened his eyes each day, he had to face more than twenty mouths to feed. How could he not be sensitive about it?

He had calculated it precisely: to keep a horse bandit in peak fighting condition, he had to eat at least the equivalent of two jin of bread every day.

If there was a combat mission, such as yesterday's forest ambush, they ate even more.

Serfs usually reduced their food intake during the slack season, and children certainly could not eat that much, but a little over seven hundred kilograms of grain definitely could not support a family of five.

"My lord, White Bear Territory's grain production truly cannot compare with the south, but we have abundant grasslands here. The land left fallow each year is also planted with pasture grass. By raising cattle and sheep, the serfs do not go hungry."

They happened to be passing a stretch of fallow strip fields. Albert pointed at the vast open farmland and said, "Look, my lord. This field is resting this year. The serfs are sowing pasture grass seeds. They sow in early March, and grazing can begin in the final week of May."

"Is there a rough figure for the livestock each household keeps?" Lynn looked thoughtfully at the serfs laboring among the fields.

Hearing the commotion, the serfs in filthy sheepskin coats raised their heads one after another to look toward the bannered procession on the road.

"In reply to my lord, every serf household in the territory has at least one draft horse, two to three pigs, and another twenty to thirty sheep. As for chickens, geese, and the like, they are difficult to count."

Albert had spared no effort in promoting livestock raising throughout the territory over the years. At the mention of it, his chest unconsciously lifted a little higher.

This was the second surprise Lynn had received today, so much so that he found it hard to believe. "Are you sure every household has a draft horse?"

(End of Chapter)