The Great Fertilization Battle of Peanut Hamlet

The gestation of an Elf Bug requires a vast amount of nutrients. The Peanut Hamlet fields were so barren that they restricted the development of the Elf Bug, causing the peanut seedlings everywhere except for the patch in the center of the field to wither away once the nutrients were concentrated there.

The method for salvation was simple: fertilize the peanut fields.

Liszt recalled his knowledge of farming and spoke to Old George.

"Old George, I have a few things for you to do. First, mobilize the farmers to gather firewood and withered grass from everywhere, then burn them and collect the remaining wood ash. Second, mobilize the able-bodied farmers to dig mud from the ponds; only take the layer of mud from the very bottom. Third, have the children collect manure—any kind of manure, just pick it all up."

Upon receiving the Lord's instructions, Old George did not question them in the slightest. "Very well, my Lord. Old George will certainly complete your orders."

After Old George limped away, Liszt spoke to Gortai again. "Teacher Gortai, I suspect the manure in Peanut Hamlet won't be enough. Go to the town and organize things; have all the farmers go out and collect manure... Hmm, let's do this: purchase the manure in the name of the administrative officer, and set the price at one copper coin per basket."

Copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, and Dragon Coins were the common currency of this world.

However, the gold, silver, and copper coins issued by different empires, kingdoms, and grand duchies varied. The copper coin Liszt spoke of was the currency of the Sapphire Grand Duchy; one copper coin could buy about four boxes' worth of black bread, and a single one was enough to feed an adult for several days.

One silver coin could be exchanged for one hundred copper coins, and one gold coin could be exchanged for one hundred silver coins.

As for the Dragon Coin, its full name being the Sapphire Dragon Coin, it was a gemstone coin imbued with the magic of the only Sapphire Dragon in the Grand Duchy. It could be exchanged for ten thousand gold coins and was, in itself, a magical item.

Upon hearing this, Gortai couldn't help but complain, "Wow, Liszt, why would you spend such a high price to buy filthy, lowly manure? Those droppings are nothing but a stinking nuisance to the nose; they have no meaning whatsoever."

"No, manure is very useful. Just go ahead and issue the order. Also, find a place to pile the manure, preferably on wasteland far upwind." Liszt understood the value of manure very well. In this day and age, without chemical fertilizers and with a shortage of Elves, the best source of fertilizer for farming was manure.

As a major landowner—the major landowner who owned all the land in Flower Town—Liszt had a lot of fields to farm, and the fertilizer had to be sufficient. Furthermore, he didn't want his town to have manure and urine splashed about the streets; such an environment was simply a trampling of civilization.

He intended to purchase manure long-term. Firstly, it would be used for composting, and secondly, it would improve sanitation. Promoting things like toilets was impossible for the time being, so purchasing manure was the most cost-effective and labor-saving method.

"But this price is too high. One copper coin should buy ten baskets—no, it should buy twenty baskets."

"Just do as I say, Teacher Gortai." Liszt's tone carried a hint of severity.

Only then did Gortai stop complaining and spread his hands. "As you wish."

In this day and age, the Lord was the ultimate authority.

Once Liszt's orders were issued, no one dared to shirk or stall. Thus, the clerks and farmers acted very quickly, and the pond mud, manure, and wood ash he required were already piled up in Peanut Hamlet.

"Very good, Old George. Now, take your men and mix these things together. Then, dig a hole next to the roots of every peanut seedling, sprinkle a little of this mixture in, and bury it. Then, water them and weed often. I believe the peanut seedlings will recover soon."

Mounted on his Fire Dragon Horse, Liszt happily directed the farmers of Peanut Hamlet to fertilize the peanut fields.

As a Lord, he naturally wouldn't do the manual labor himself—the aristocratic system didn't allow it, and he himself had no desire to do so.

The total area of the peanut fields in Peanut Hamlet was about one hundred mu, roughly the size of ten soccer fields or seven or eight elementary schools. There were twenty-three households in Peanut Hamlet, totaling ninety-two people.

The ninety-two serfs, excluding the children who couldn't work, plus the serfs brought over from town, made a total of one hundred and twenty people working busily.

"Teacher Gortai, what is the total population of Flower Town?"

"Uh, my apologies, Liszt. I haven't been in town long enough to have it sorted out." Gortai couldn't figure it out, so he turned to ask a clerk, "You've lived in town for many years; do you know how many households and how many people there are? Over a thousand?"

"I don't know, my Lord." The clerk shook his head.

Gortai looked at another clerk.

This clerk shook his head as well.

Consequently, not a single person in all of Flower Town knew how many people lived there. Liszt was speechless. Was Flower Town a forgotten town? Had the administrative officials of Coral Island never come to conduct a census? Had the previous administrative officer never once counted the population?

"There must be a thorough census. A Lord who doesn't even know the population under his rule is truly beyond words."

Thinking this, he had already given the order: "Teacher Gortai, organize the manpower and hurry to arrange a census. I want to know how many households and how many people are in Flower Town, everyone's name and family relationships, as well as their occupation, age, gender, and marital status."

"That will be a busy task, Liszt. You know, there are too few officials in town. We have no treasurer, no defense officer, no legal officer, and no diplomat. In fact, we don't even have an administrative officer. I should be serving as your advisor, not the town's administrative officer."

In an aristocratic territory, the civil officials were basically led by an advisor, who oversaw the administrative officer, treasurer, defense officer, legal officer, and diplomat.

The military officers were led by the Knight Commander, who oversaw the Order of Knights.

Undoubtedly, Gortai, as a down-and-out Baronet Knight—the lowest rank in the aristocratic system—was still an aristocrat. He had followed Liszt with the intention of serving as an advisor. The other knight teacher, Marcus, should undoubtedly serve as the Knight Commander... as for whether Flower Town could afford to support an Order of Knights, that was another matter.

"Don't be anxious, Teacher Gortai. Flower Town is in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt, and my castle is also waiting to rise. You manage the administration of Flower Town for me first, and we'll talk about the census later."

The authority of an advisor was too great, and Liszt didn't want to hand it over to Gortai immediately. It wasn't that he was afraid of being sidelined, but rather that Gortai's head was filled with the aristocratic system; he was out of touch with reality and couldn't keep up with his development ideas.

"Very well, Liszt. You have come of age and have the thoughts of a qualified Lord. I will strictly follow your orders." Gortai bowed with one hand, displaying his aristocratic upbringing, calm and unhurried.

For three consecutive days, Peanut Hamlet was in the midst of a heated fertilization effort; this was a great battle of farming. The one hundred mu of land were all quickly fertilized with the organic mixture of pond mud, manure, and wood ash.

The patch in the center, in particular, was given several times the amount of fertilizer.

Liszt had also come here to direct for three days. When everything was finished, he could only continue to wait—wait for the peanut fields to improve.

"I've done everything I can. I hope the mission can be completed soon." He wasn't a person who dwelled on things; once the work here was done, he quickly moved on to other territorial affairs.

The most important thing was the Elf Bug.