Release That Witch

As the woodland on the south bank of Redwater River was gradually cleared, the days of plowing drew closer and closer.     

In order to facilitate the movement of people across the river which spanned nearly 100 meters, Roland had ordered the construction of a floating bridge. It was supported by dozens of timber rafts, which were made by carpenters, bound together by hemp rope. He specifically instructed the carpenters to make sure that the two ends of every raft were sharp so as to reduce the resistance to water impact. On each bank, the ends of the hemp rope were tied around four wooden poles to keep the position of the rafts as stable as possible. Four long wooden planks were placed on every raft to form the deck. They extended two meters off the rafts, such that four people could walk abreast on the bridge.     

The assembly of the floating bridge was simple and highly durable. As long as there were no incidents of water rising or falling violently, and thereby causing the hemp rope to snap, the bridge was guaranteed to last for two to three years - the timber from Misty Forest was of excellent quality and was also used to manufacture the columns and pavement of Bordertown's jetty, such that the lifespan of the jetty is said to be as long as Bordertown itself. Although it produced a creaking sound when stepped upon, there were never any signs of collapse.     

Across the bridge towards the west, the first piece of land to be plowed was Leaf's experimental farm. At present, it was already securely boarded up on all four sides, while its entrance was guarded by the First Army soldiers. These days, apart from eating, attending class and sleeping, Leaf spent the rest of time on the farm. Roland could vaguely see the scene enclosed by wooden boards from a window in his third-floor office—wheat was growing at such a frenzied pace that what was only green ears of wheat in the morning would become a sea of gold by the afternoon.     

These Golden Ones, which depended on magic power to grow, took only one day to ripen. Any outsider who saw this would probably kneel down and hail this miracle.     

Seeing that the land, population, and grains were fully prepared, Roland decided that it was time to add the final piece of the jigsaw: supervisors.     

He summoned over Assistant Minister Barov, who had been terribly busy of late.     

"By now, your apprentices should be ready to take on leadership roles, right?" Roland asked, "I'll need to set up two new departments in the City Hall."     

"Your Highness, but... we don't have enough manpower," Barov replied awkwardly.     

[You'd normally agree right away before discussing the details. But it seems that you've learned how to complain recently.] Roland bemoaned in his heart while remaining indifferent on the surface. [How can that be? Didn't I recently allot you a fresh batch of knights?"]     

In the first round of examination, Roland had picked out more than 50 knights who made the grade and were able to read and write. As there was no need of too many teachers, he ultimately assigned only nine of these knights to be elementary school teachers, while the remaining knights were assigned to the city hall and started off as apprentices.     

"Your Highness, that bunch turned out to be tardy, lazy and unresponsive. They even make mistakes while copying notes. They're completely unfit to be apprentices."     

"It's up to you to discipline them." Roland thumped lightly on the table. "If they don't follow your instructions, send them straight to the northern slope mine. I'll definitely need to set up these two departments."     

"Alright, Your Highness, as you say," Barov replied in resignation.     

Roland explained, "The first is the Ministry of Agriculture, which will be responsible for supervising the planting and growing of crops within my territory."     

Barov was surprised, undoubtedly because this was the first time he had heard that the City Hall would take charge of farming matters. "Your Highness, why not let the serfs handle these things themselves? How they plant or harvest has nothing to do with us. We just need to collect the right amount of tax."     

"That's why your... no, I mean to say, that's why the crop harvests have been so low." Roland lifted his cup and drank a mouthful of water, as if to cover up his slip of the tongue. "A responsible City Hall needs to take care of how the people eat, drink and sh*t."     

"Eat, drink and sh*t...? Your Highness, are you kidding?"     

"Of course not. I don't have to talk about the importance of eating and drinking. If my subjects don't have enough food, both the City Hall and I are guilty of dereliction of duty. As for sh*tting, don't you think the public toilets project is done for this purpose?" His casual tone turned serious. "I don't know how the City Hall in King's City operates, or if the lives of the common folk are of no great concern to them. But, in Border Town, I want to establish an all-purpose government agency which understands clearly the various conditions and situations that the people are in. Only this way will I be able to obtain the wholehearted support of my subjects, and thus ensure that the decrees I issue will be carried out effectively. Make sure you remember what I've told you about the setting up of this department, as well as the tasks that it'll be responsible for."     

"Yes, Your Highness." Barov wiped away the sweat on his forehead.     

"Go to the archives and find three or four people who used to do farm work, and recruit them into the Ministry of Agriculture. Then choose two of your apprentices to be in charge of records and statistics. In total, six people should be enough."     

"Wait... you want a few commoners to serve as the City Hall officials?" Barov revealed an expression of shock.     

"They're not only obedient but also highly enthusiastic when doing things, so why not? Officials aren't equivalent to nobles. And the Ministry of Agriculture will require a few professionals to guide the farming from now."     

"But most of them aren't even literate..."     

"That's why you'll have to assign two apprentices to manage the paperwork." Roland interrupted. "This state of affairs won't last for too long. Soon, I'll implement a universal education program throughout my territory to teach everyone to read and write. When that time comes, you'll no longer have to worry about lack of manpower."     

Clearly, this piece of news was even more startling to Barov than the decision to allow commoners into the City Hall. He gaped in silence at Roland for a long time.     

Roland was not concerned about gaining his acceptance, and continued saying, "Back to the matter of the Ministry of Agriculture, when the serfs cultivate their own land, there'll inevitably be different standards and results. Some will dig the soil deeper while others will sow more densely. This will be an excellent opportunity to observe them. The six people of the ministry will need to number every plot of land, record every step undertaken by the serfs, and provide detailed information about how deep they dig and how much spacing they leave between every seed. I'll give the ministry the necessary measuring tools and teach them how to use these."     

"Your Majesty, is this... comparison work?" Although Barov was old-fashioned in certain aspects, his brain worked faster than he usually got credit for.     

"Indeed. For the first round of cultivation, the harvest amount won't be too important. We'll continue to import grains and... use a few new varieties of wheat to ensure that our people don't get hungry. What I need is to find out the most suitable method of all and compile it into a manual. We'll then use this method widely, with the Ministry of Agriculture in charge of promoting, guiding and supervising it."     

Although Roland was not well-versed in farming, it did not prevent him from using scientific thinking to devise a set of the best farming methods. Once it was completed, the average yield per plot of land would be maintained at a relatively high level even if the acreage was increased or inexperienced hands were added.     

Barov nodded in agreement but hesitated for a moment before responding. "Your Highness, there's something I don't understand. When the serfs were promoted to free citizens, why did you only collect two-tenths of their harvest as land tax? Even if you decided to collect half of their harvest, you would have been seen as big-hearted like no other."     

"Because money piled up underground has no meaning," Roland explained, "and after they turn over that two-tenths, I'll purchase their excess grains at a fixed price—in Border Town, the Lord franchises the grain trade. This way, the castle obtains the grains while they get their due remuneration. Once they accumulate some savings, they'll think about buying things... such as farm cattle, iron-made farming tools, beef, cotton clothing, as well as top-grade brick houses. I'm the only person who can provide these. Similarly, the townspeople can only purchase grains from the castle. Eventually, money flows back to me, but within this cycle, it allows the living standard of the people to increase continually. Do you understand now?"     

Barov frowned and did not answer for a long while. It was obvious that he had fallen into a state of complete bafflement.     

Roland laughed and shook his head. "You can go back and try to comprehend everything on your own time. But first, do as I've instructed."     

The assistant minister, still visibly dazed, stood up and made his way out. When he reached the door, he abruptly turned his head back. "By the way, Your Highness, you mentioned two ministries earlier. What's the second?"     

"A Ministry of Education," Roland answered, "I'll personally handle this one."