Food Dilemma

Since the White Bear Territory began the Spring Planting, Yagna had become a very busy person.

By day, she was responsible for bookkeeping and accounting; in the evening, she tallied the inventory; and late at night, she still had to report the work situation to the big boss.

As for the location of these reports, it was usually in the Baron's bedroom.

More accurately, it was on the soft, large bed in the bedroom.

There was no helping it; the nature of the work required face-to-face, close-range reporting.

"My Lord, in the last half-month, we have consumed a quarter of the salt in the warehouse and over half of the sausages. The stocks of rye and Dried Peas are also not very optimistic. If you intend to levy large-scale Corvée in the summer, such as repairing the Castle or cutting roads, we will very likely face a shortage of food and salt."

Yagna had just finished her bath and put on a white, thin Wool Nightgown, reporting the latest inventory status in a soft voice.

After a month or so of getting along, the relationship between the two had smoothed out to be quite harmonious.

Yagna had straightened out her position and accepted her role as a mistress, no longer dreaming of becoming the Baroness.

Usually, she would not take the initiative to raise problems, but rather passively accept all the demands Lynn put forward.

However, while reporting work in the study yesterday, she had inadvertently caught a glimpse of that slightly crude route planning map.

Mainly, that map was hanging on the wall, far too conspicuous to ignore.

"I actually do intend to levy Corvée, and not in the summer, but next week. When I was exploring the forest last time, I discovered a large salt mine."

Things having reached this point, Lynn naturally would not hide it from Yagna anymore.

He held the smooth shoulders of the person beside his pillow and detailed his specific plans for road construction and mining.

"My Lord, for large-scale Corvée like road construction that lasts for several months, the Lord needs to provide three meals a day; otherwise, the serfs won't even be able to hold out for half a week. I think it is necessary to go to Three Rivers City as soon as possible to purchase a batch of salt and grain."

Although Yagna also knew the huge risks involved in a salt mine, she would never try to persuade him or voice opposition like Old Albert did.

She knew well the decisiveness and arbitrariness of the man beside her.

Since he was saying it to her, it was an order that brooked no questioning.

Lynn lowered his head and sniffed the fresh fragrance in Yagna's golden hair: "Hmm, I will find a way to solve the problem of food and salt. During the road construction, you will remain at the Castle and continue to be responsible for managing the warehouse."

Having been a Lord for over a month, Lynn finally understood the meaning of that saying—the boss is often just a hollow shell; every day when eyes open, thousands of people's eating, drinking, and excreting all wait for me to serve them. How much can actually end up in my own mouth?

Managing the territory's inventory was a very complex job.

He carefully flipped through the account books of the past few years and found that the White Bear Territory never stored too much surplus grain.

The surplus grain produced was sold to merchants traveling upstream every autumn.

The grain stored after the Autumn Harvest could basically only barely cover the needs of the coming year.

The logic was also very simple: the older the grain, the less valuable it became.

Moreover, it could only be sold in the autumn of that year; it could not wait until the spring and summer when grain prices were high.

Because merchants were not fools; they only came to the White Bear Territory to purchase grain in the autumn.

The main trade item of the White Bear Territory in the past was only grain.

If they didn't sell the grain at the highest price, how would the Lord and the knights have money to purchase Warhorses and equipment?

This stumped Lynn, the newcomer.

Human food intake often increases with the intensity of labor.

During the slack season, when no large-scale Corvée was levied, the serfs only needed to eat two meals a day, morning and evening, with enough caloric intake to maintain vital signs.

The grain consumed would naturally drop significantly.

Therefore, when levying large-scale Corvée, the Lord needed to bear the three meals a day for the serfs.

After all, the serfs didn't have much surplus grain at home, and any extra grain would be exchanged for salt, ironware, and other daily necessities.

If food wasn't provided, they simply couldn't work. The situation with salt was much the same; if they didn't work, they wouldn't sweat, and the demand for salt wouldn't be high.

To put it bluntly, when people lie flat, their energy consumption decreases.

The White Bear Territory had been lying flat for many years, and the inventory was prepared according to that state.

Now that they suddenly had to start running a marathon, could they get used to it?

"My Lord, going to Three Rivers City to buy grain now, the price won't be cheap," Yagna voiced her concerns.

In fact, she was even worried that they wouldn't be able to buy enough grain in Three Rivers City.

Because the merchants in Three Rivers City wouldn't deliberately store too much surplus grain either; the reserves usually only met the city's daily needs.

Most of the grain purchased that year would be transported downstream to coastal cities for sale within that same year.

The depreciation rate of old grain was terrifying.

The purchase price of rye in the White Bear Territory was 8 silver coins for three hundred kilograms.

After storing it for a year, the price would drop by 20 to 25 percent.

Almost no merchant would risk huge losses to gamble on the low-probability event of a famine.

Any surplus grain on the market would be brewed into alcohol in a short time.

Because the older the alcohol, the more valuable it became.

"Don't worry, I have my own ways. You just need to follow my orders; don't worry about the rest."

The "way" in Lynn's mouth was naturally the omnipotent Leon.

If he wanted to monopolize the private salt trade, investing in advance wasn't too much to ask, right?

Leon should be very happy to pay this money.

But thinking about it carefully, Lynn actually felt it was quite ridiculous.

The White Bear Territory clearly could sell a large amount of grain every year, and they hadn't encountered any major disasters in recent years.

Yet, they were facing a food shortage dilemma just because of some extra Corvée.

He finally understood why famines appeared so easily in ancient times.

Because the entire society's ability to resist risk was zero, or even negative.

Lynn remembered a certain Three Kingdoms strategy game he used to play.

In that game, it was extremely convenient for players to buy and sell grain; they could trade at will at any time.

One could even pull off the slick move of selling grain in June and buying it in July to earn the price difference.

However, Lynn soon cast the complex problem of thousands of mouths aside; he still needed to feed the bright and moving little mouth before him tonight.

The eight-day deadline hadn't arrived yet, and while the serfs were still farming their own Allotment Land, Lynn had already begun the preparatory work before road construction.

Except for Lao Liu, Second Brother, and others who were left to guard the Castle and the exit of the territory, he took all his subordinates with him.

In mid-April, with spring warming and flowers blooming, the Northern Border welcomed a brief spring.

Brown Bears, Black Bears, and wolves appeared frequently in the forest, and there were even several cases of bear attacks in the territory.

To protect the safety of the serfs, clear obstacles for road construction, and also to train his subordinates, Lynn launched a large-scale hunting operation.

Hunting and war had a high degree of similarity.

Lynn used the Bone Whistle he used to command in battle to direct his subordinates to surround and hunt the animals.

Under the command of his varied whistle sounds, the eight subordinates cooperated, sometimes driving, sometimes surrounding, and sometimes shooting.

In just three days, they successfully hunted two Black Bears, over a dozen wolves, and several deer and other small animals.