The next morning, the sun pierced Art through the panes of the cabin, and he lifted the blanket and got out of the wooden bed, where Ron had already placed a wooden bucket full of water on the table, and a large bowl of broth was still hot in front of the fireplace.

Art rinsed a handful with water, picked up the broth and drank it down.

"Ron, Ron!"

Ron was feeding the green mules and war horses black beans in the stable, when he heard Art's voice and quickly put down the bag and ran in, "Master, you called me?" ”

"Go and fetch the old butler, and then saddle up and prepare the food, and we will make a trip to the southern valley to-day." Art said as he got dressed.

Ron went out to find Cooper Sr., and in a few moments Cooper came in.

"Good day, sir."

"Cooper, it's a rare day of good weather, and I'm going to go to the South Valley again. There are three things you have to do today, the first is to register all the people in the wooden castle; The second is to take stock of all our supplies, including food, weapons, livestock, farm implements, land, scraps, etc.; I don't know anything about farming, so you can let them help you. So the third thing to do is to draw up an arrangement for the reclamation of the valley, and we can call Scott and Lawrence together to discuss, and I'll come back in the evening to hear the results of your discussion. In addition, after bringing back the old carpenter, I will hand it over to you to help you do some carpentry work, and his wife and little granddaughter will help out in Emma's house. Now we have to make good use of everyone, children for women, women for men, men for livestock, but to tell Emma that everyone has to work hard during this cold weather, so we must ensure that everyone can eat enough. We don't have much food, so let everyone pick more wild vegetables and fruits when they have time, and I will also take them to hunt, and stew some broth for everyone from time to time. ”

After saying that, Art returned to the bedside, took out a quill wrapped in torn parchment paper and a small jar of ink from the wooden box under the bed, handed it to Cooper, and said, "The ink is too expensive, save some use, and the parchment is gone, so you can replace it with birch bark." ”

After instructing Cooper, Art left the cabin and pushed open the door to the cabin opposite. Otto, Bas and Kazak were huddled together on the wooden bed, and Art walked over and patted Kazak on the side of the bed.

Kazak wiped the eye droppings from the corners of his eyes, looked at the person with confused eyes, and only reacted for a long time, and quickly woke up the two people beside him.

"My lord, we drank a little too much yesterday and overslept. We get up right away, get up right away. ”

"Otto, what's wrong with the wound on your arm?"

"My lord, you smeared those medicinal juices on me yesterday, and the wound did not continue to fester, and it was still cold."

"Well, that's good. I'm going to the south today, you don't have to go with me, you can just rest at home, go to eat early, and the room won't leave food for the lazy. ”

Ron came in with Arte's weapon, leather armor, and told him that Atma was ready to go.

Art took the leather armor from Ron's hand, fastened his belt, hung up his sword, and walked out of the gate and stepped onto his horse. Ron mounted the green mule and followed.

............

The two rode south along the creek in front of the wooden fort, through the dense forest gorge, and before noon they were out of the valley and came to the northern edge of the valley.

In front of him was an open field in the shape of a trumpet, and the valley was less than a hundred feet wide where the stream flowed, and there was a low gentle slope on the right side, on which was a flat land; Less than two miles further south, the terrain opens abruptly, a mile wide at its widest point, and a series of hills on either side of the remaining veins of Mount Borge and Mount Carmel rise to the level of the main vein. The stream became gentler and more open as it entered the intervalley, and the river passed through the middle of the valley and meandered southward, six miles to the south, bypassing a gentle hill on the right side of the mountain range and then flowing southward. The land between the valleys has been untended for hundreds of years, and the land is overgrown with grass, and in some places the thatch grows taller than a man.

The two men drove out of the valley and walked along the river bank to the south of the valley, where the weeds on the right bank had clearly been cut out of a path, and every few dozen paces there was a path leading deep into the barren meadow, and there was some newly opened land on the path, which should have been left behind by Cooper and Scott when they had come to survey some time ago.

After walking for about a mile, the road they had opened before was interrupted, and the two men rode slowly through the grass.

"Master, there is movement in the wild grass." Ron rode his green mule and looked into the half-man-tall grass, which was shaking.

"Maybe it's a wild boar, a hare or something, we need to be careful." As he spoke, he took out the bow from the saddle and held it in his hand.

All the way south, except for the barren grass that is one person high, it is difficult to pass through, the two of them are safe and sound, and the occasional wild thing is also frightened and scattered.

When the sun was setting in the west, the two of them had just reached the foot of the hill on the right side of the valley, and they tied their mules and horses to the little tree, and climbed to the top of the hill, which was not high, and in a short time they climbed to the top of the hill. At the top of the hill there is a flat area of about half an acre where a few dwarf pines and birches grow sparsely, and on the west side of the hill is a steep cliff, and the eastern slope gently stretches out to the river, surrounded by the river to form a small peninsula with water on three sides.

Art stood at the top of the hill, put his right hand on his forehead and looked south, the river continued to the southwest, through a weedy wasteland into a dense forest, and as far as the eye could see, there was a large area of hills and basins to the south, and spread to the southern canyon.

In the distance, the mountain stream continues southward, following Mount Carmel to the plains of northern Lombardy......

This is the first time that Yate has gone deep into the valley to survey the whole picture.

"Master, it's amazing, who would have thought that there would be such a wide land in the midst of these mountains and forests." Ron was stunned by the vastness of the land in front of him.

"yes, I didn't expect that. It is said that hundreds of years ago, it was a trade route connecting the north and the south. But now it's a forgotten corner of God. ”

At noon, the two of them ate some bread at the foot of the hill and began their return journey.

Before dark, the two rushed back to the wooden fort. In front of the room, everyone held wooden bowls and tableware in their hands, gathered in front of the iron pot and clay pot, waiting for Emma to put porridge. Kazak, who was standing at the end of the line, saw Yat returning from going out, and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello and took the reins for Yat.

"Kazak, how was your rest today?"

"My lord, we are all resting, in the morning we helped the old housekeeper to register and count the materials for everyone, and in the afternoon we went to the dense forest with you to cut back a lot of firewood."

"Okay, let's go eat."

Art handed the horse to Ron and walked straight into his small courtyard. Cooper was still talking to Scott, Lawrence, and a few farmers about clearing the land for farming.

"Lord (my lord), you're back," everyone greeted Art.

"Let's go to dinner first, Cooper and Scott and Lawrence are here for me, and I want to hear the results of your discussion." Art said as he returned to the cabin.

......

As soon as Ron had finished cleaning up the cutlery on the wooden table, Cooper led a few men into the cabin with low stools and wooden mounds, and each found a place to sit down.

Art put down the wooden cup in his hand and said to Cooper and the others: "Let's come one by one, Cooper, you first talk about the registration of the displaced people and the cleaning of materials. ”

Cooper picked up a few flattened birch barks and said, "Good sir, after cleaning and making a book, there are thirteen peasant households and thirty-four people in the wooden fort, including thirteen peasant men in the prime of life, eleven peasant women, six children over ten years old, and four children under ten years old; There is a carpenter, as well as his wife and granddaughter. The other four are Ron, Otto, and you and me, making a total of forty-three people. ”

Cooper pulled out another piece of birch bark and read, "In terms of supplies, except for the items that the farmers bring with them. We have two acres of land, more than 1,200 pounds of grain, twenty-one farm implements, one or two four-wheeled carriages, one mule and one horse, and some odd and miscellaneous items such as axes, wooden saws, iron pots, and cooking utensils; In terms of weapons, there are 11 short spears, 10 spearheads, 3 long swords, 7 short swords, 5 battle axes, 4 bows, more than 50 arrows, 3 sets of leather armor, 1 set of iron armor, 2 iron helmets, a round shield, 3 sets of saddles, 8 sets of quilts and other items, as well as some bits and pieces such as marching blankets, water bladders, and whetstones. Food and weapons were kept in Odo's house, and farm implements were kept in the stables. I'm in charge of the day-to-day access. ”

Cooper handed the birch bark to Art, who took a general glance and gave it back to Cooper, "Just a few of you know about the supplies, don't pass it on, especially the amount of food in stock." ”

"Yes, sir, now we consume at least thirty pounds of barley a day, and in the future, we will consume more than forty pounds a day in cultivating land, and our grain storage can last for a month at most. And when we plant in the spring, we need a lot of seeds, and we have to supply a lot of food after the spring and until the autumn harvest......," Cooper said, sorting out the birch bark in his hand.

"Well, Cooper, you don't have to worry, I'll find a way to deal with food and materials, you mainly do a good job of clearing wasteland and farming and wooden castles, Scott and Lawrence, you have to share it with the old butler." Yate said to a few.

"That's it for supplies, let's talk about the reclamation of wasteland. Cooper said first, you guys can add. ”

"Master, clearing the land is a big deal, and we have to solve many problems as we go, but today I got Scott, Lawrence, and some farmers to discuss a rough plan."

Art looked at Cooper and nodded for him to continue.

"Some time ago, Scott and I went to the southern valley to carefully investigate, and the valley is generally relatively fertile, especially near the river, and most of the soil is black. However, the whole valley is overgrown with weeds, and the roots of the grass are deeply rooted in the soil, and it will be difficult to cultivate. Our plan was to reclaim two pieces of wasteland, about a hundred acres, bounded by the river, half a mile south of three hundred yards on each side of the river. These two areas of land are the most fertile, and they are close to rivers and have easy access to water for irrigation. ”

"Well, it's okay to cultivate the most fertile land along the sides of the river first. Cooper, when demarcating the area of reclamation, demarcate more land for my army, and first demarcate it according to the food supply for fifteen soldiers. ”

"Yes, sir. In terms of the specific steps of reclamation, we think that the grass burning method is the simplest. In order to prevent the fire from spreading too much, we can first cut a fire barrier up to 30 feet wide along the border, and then set fire to the wild grass in the fire barrier, so that there is no need to mow the grass with great effort, and the ashes from the weeds can also increase the fertility of the land. ”

"Yes, yes. The weather is good during this time, the snow is almost melting, and the weeds are easy to ignite when they dry up. ”

"Yes, sir. After the weeds are burned, it is necessary to organize everyone to pllow, level, and rake the land before the land is frozen...... "Cooper explained the steps of clearing the wasteland one by one.

"Well, Cooper, I told you that I don't know how to farm, and that you are in charge of clearing the wasteland and farming, and Scott and Lawrence will assist the old butler. If there is a problem, let me know and I will try to solve it for you. Cooper, I believe in you. Art has faith in the former builder and farmer.

"Anything else to add?" Art asked a few of the others.

Lawrence stood up and bowed to Art.

"Lawrence, you don't have to be restrained, you can say whatever you want."

"My lord, I want to ask~ ask you, how to distribute the reclaimed land, what to do with wheat seeds, and~ Is it really not to pay taxes in the first year?" Lawrence's problem is also a concern for all farmers.

"I have said that I will give you enough land to cultivate, and the old butler has just said that he plans to have a hundred acres of land, and I plan it this way: when the land is cleared, three acres will be allocated to men and women in the prime of life, and two acres to children over ten years old, and no tax will be collected for the first year, and five taxes and one for the next, and the land will belong to you after five years. I will lend you the farm tools free of charge, and I will also lend you the wheat seeds in the spring and autumn of the first year, and you will return them to me after you harvest. As a condition, you have to cultivate my military camp well. ”

"Cooper, how much grain do you estimate that land will produce?"

"In the first year, one pound of wheat seed can produce up to three pounds of grain, and in the future, it is estimated that it can produce five pounds."

"Huh? But this year's fifty pounds of wheat seed in your wheat field has yielded three hundred and fifty pounds of grain~"

"There was too little land, so I worked in the field every day, watering and weeding every wheat seedling myself, and of course I harvested more. Now such a wide land, it is impossible to cultivate like that. And we don't have heavy ploughs and horses at present, and we can't dig deep into the soil with iron hoes and light ploughs alone......"

Due to the lack of sufficient agricultural tools and livestock, the newly cultivated land can only be ploughed in a thin layer, and the fertility of the land cannot be brought into play.

The people in the house discussed the matter of clearing the wasteland and farming for most of the night, and roughly planned the division of labor, the use of farm tools, the supply of food, and many other matters.