Since White Bear Territory began its Spring Planting, Yagna had become incredibly busy. This article is free to search: Zhaowang
She handled the accounts during the day, checked inventory in the evening, and had to report on work matters to the big boss late at night.
As for where she reported, it was usually in the baron's bedroom.
More precisely, on the soft, large bed in that bedroom.
There was no helping it. The nature of the work required close, face-to-face reports.
"My lord, over the past half month, we have used up a quarter of the salt in the warehouse and more than half the sausages. Our stocks of rye and dried peas are not looking too promising either.
"If you wish to levy large-scale corvée labor in the summer, such as repairing the castle or building roads, we will most likely face shortages of both food and salt."
Having just finished bathing, Yagna put on a thin, pure-white wool nightgown and softly reported the latest inventory figures to Lynn.
After more than a month together, their relationship had settled into a remarkably harmonious rhythm.
Yagna had accepted her place as a mistress and no longer dreamed of becoming the Baroness.
She usually did not take the initiative to raise questions. Instead, she passively accepted every demand Lynn made of her.
It was only because, while reporting in the study yesterday, she had inadvertently glimpsed that somewhat crude route-planning map.
The map was hanging on the wall, far too conspicuous to ignore.
"I was just about to levy corvée labor. And not in the summer—next week. During my last exploration of the forest, I discovered a large salt mine."
By now, Lynn naturally had no reason to hide it from Yagna.
He wrapped an arm around the smooth shoulder of the woman beside his pillow and explained the plans for road construction and mining in detail.
"My lord, a large-scale corvée project like road construction, which will last several months, requires the lord to provide three meals a day. Otherwise, the serfs will not last even half a week. I think we must go to Three Rivers City and purchase a batch of salt and food as soon as possible."
Yagna also understood the enormous risks hidden within a salt mine, but she would never try to persuade him otherwise or voice opposition as Old Albert had.
She knew all too well how decisive and autocratic the man beside her was.
If he had told her about it, then it was an order not to be questioned.
Lynn lowered his head and inhaled the fresh fragrance lingering in Yagna's golden hair. "Mm. I'll find a way to solve the food and salt problem. During the road construction, you'll remain at the castle and continue managing the warehouse."
After being a lord for over a month, Lynn had finally understood the meaning of that saying—the boss was often just a figurehead. The moment he opened his eyes each day, the food, drink, shit, and piss of several thousand people all needed him to take care of. How much of it actually ended up in his own mouth?
Managing the territory's stockpiles was an extremely complicated task.
He carefully reviewed the account books from the past few years and discovered that White Bear Territory had never kept much surplus grain.
Any grain left over after production was sold to merchants traveling upstream during that year's autumn.
The grain stored after the Autumn Harvest could barely cover the following year's needs.
The reason was simple: the older grain became, the less it was worth.
Moreover, it could only be sold in autumn, not held until spring or summer, when grain prices were higher.
Because merchants were not idiots. Only in autumn would they come to White Bear Territory to purchase grain.
White Bear Territory's main trade commodity in the past had been grain alone.
If they did not sell their grain at the highest price, where would the lord and knights get the money to buy warhorses and equipment?
That put Lynn, a newcomer, in a difficult position.
People's appetites often increased along with the intensity of their labor.
During the farming off-season, when no large-scale corvée labor was levied, serfs only needed two meals a day, morning and evening. They merely needed enough calories to sustain their vital functions.
Naturally, their food consumption would drop drastically.
Thus, when levying large-scale corvée labor, the lord had to provide the serfs with three meals a day.
After all, serf households did not have much surplus grain. Any extra food was exchanged for daily necessities such as salt and ironware.
Without food, they simply could not work. Salt was much the same. If they did not work, they would not sweat, and their demand for salt would not be high.
Put bluntly, when people lay around doing nothing,
their energy consumption fell.
White Bear Territory had been lying flat for many years, and its stockpiles had all been prepared on that basis.
Now they suddenly had to run a marathon. How could they possibly adapt?
"My lord, grain is not cheap in Three Rivers City at this time," Yagna voiced her concern.
In fact, she was even worried that they would be unable to buy enough grain in Three Rivers City.
The merchants in Three Rivers City would not deliberately stockpile too much surplus grain either. Their reserves generally only met the city's daily needs.
Most of the grain purchased that year would be transported to downstream coastal cities for sale within the same year.
The depreciation rate for old grain was terrifying.
White Bear Territory purchased rye at eight silver coins per three hundred kilograms.
After storing it for a year, its price would fall by 20 to 25 percent.
Hardly any merchant would risk huge losses by gambling on the small chance of a famine.
Any surplus grain on the market would quickly be brewed into alcohol.
Because the older alcohol became, the more valuable it was.
"Don't worry. I have my own methods. You only need to follow my orders. You do not need to concern yourself with anything else."
The method Lynn had in mind was, naturally, the all-purpose Leon.
It was not excessive to make an advance investment if he wanted to monopolize the illicit salt trade, was it?
Leon should be more than willing to pay for it.
But after thinking it over, Lynn actually found the whole situation pretty damn ridiculous.
White Bear Territory clearly sold vast quantities of grain every year, and it had not suffered any major disasters these past few years.
Yet merely adding some corvée labor would leave it facing a food shortage.
He finally understood why famines occurred so easily in ancient times.
Because society as a whole had zero capacity to withstand risk—perhaps even less than zero.
Lynn recalled a Three Kingdoms strategy game he had once played.
In that game, buying and selling grain was incredibly convenient. Players could trade it freely at any time.
They could even pull off absurd tricks like selling grain in June, then buying it back in July to profit from the price difference.
However, Lynn soon cast aside the complicated problem of feeding several thousand mouths. Tonight, he still needed to satisfy the alluring little mouth before him.
Before the eight-day deadline had even arrived, while the serfs were still farming their own Allotment Land, Lynn had already begun preparations for road construction.
Aside from Lao Liu, Second Brother, and the others who remained behind to guard the castle and hold the territory's exit, he brought all his subordinates with him.
In mid-April, as spring warmed the land and flowers bloomed, the Northern Border welcomed its brief spring.
Brown bears, black bears, and wolves appeared frequently in the forest, and several bear attacks had even occurred within the territory.
To protect the serfs, clear obstacles for road construction, and train his subordinates at the same time, Lynn launched a large-scale hunting operation.
Hunting and warfare were highly similar.
Lynn directly used the bone whistle he employed in battle to command his subordinates as they hunted the animals.
Under the commands of his ever-changing whistles, the eight subordinates divided their tasks and worked together, sometimes driving prey, sometimes encircling it, sometimes shooting.
In only three days, they successfully hunted two black bears, more than a dozen wolves, and an unspecified number of deer and other small animals.
(End of Chapter)
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