At the end of March, in early spring.

The withered grass has been re-brushed green, the morning dew has brought the vitality of early spring, and the green shoots on the trees are also full of vitality and vitality like wheat collars.

The two-month-long training session is finally over.

Blessed as Anson, none of the recruits were seriously injured or disabled.

Now, the Lord's direct team has also changed greatly, and it is no longer as shabby as before.

Metenheim Great Swordsman, 10/10

Pande armed cavalry, 30/30

Pande Armoured Archer, 30/30

Pande armed infantry, 30/30

There are just 100 people in total, all of whom are real elite soldiers.

The 40 vigilantes led by Mai Xiang have all become high-level soldiers, but they can't beat the recruits half a month ago, and the great swordsmen of Metenheim can barely fight a draw - this is still when the lord helps them come up with ideas.

This is the day when the recruits come out of the sea of misery, and they graduate.

But they didn't seem excited, but they were all extremely nervous.

Even a little scared.

In fact, it was an ordinary, sunny afternoon, the weather was excellent, there were no foreign enemies, and there was not even petty theft in the territory.

But they were still a little trembling, as if what they were about to face was more terrifying than going to battle against an army group......

Indeed, this day is quite scary for the guys of Mai Xiangling.

They are going through the first college entrance examination in their lives......

That's right, it's the college entrance examination!

- Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Rank Exam!

Except for the only few intellectuals who had to serve as invigilators, this examination was attended by all members.

The lord has long felt that there are too many illiterates under his command, and he deliberately created such a famous hall.

And this exam is a surprise attack.

The lord asked them to gather in the morning to give a lecture and announce the end of the training, and then the exam began immediately in the afternoon......

"The brothers did well in training, and Mr. Ben was very pleased."

"But do you remember, Master Ben kept reminding you during your training that it was best to learn to read and write. Master Ben also specially invited Amy to be your teacher......"

"You should be able to see that we need more officers."

"Therefore, this afternoon, I intend to determine the first batch of 'senior non-commissioned officers' in the fairest way possible - after all, officers must at least be able to read military orders."

The lord had indeed reminded his subordinates to learn to read.

But with the exception of Eric, the dog, it seems that most people don't take it seriously......

You must know that Leon has not been idle in the past two months, since Amy came to Mai Xiangling, he was immediately dragged by the lord to run a night school.

Amy didn't expect that she was originally here to be a student, but instead she became a Chinese teacher for more than 100 people!

There are not many courses, an hour every night, free teaching, not forced, come if you want to.

Sarah and Amy, two beautiful teachers, cooperate with each other to teach, and the lessons are not boring.

There are a lot of people who come to listen to the class, but I don't know if it's because Amy's teacher is too beautiful, or because the training during the day is too hard, anyway, the students basically don't want to go to class, and the teaching results don't seem to be very good.

Therefore, the lord decided to teach them a real lesson, and suddenly announced the 'college entrance examination' in the afternoon, and only after passing the exam can they get the qualification of 'senior non-commissioned officer'.

Those who have the qualification of senior non-commissioned officer will be awarded ten shares of Maixiang International......

Li Ang's so-called senior non-commissioned officer is actually a rank he set, just like a threshold for a qualification certificate or diploma.

This is not the same thing as a position.

For example, Klose's position is Stormtrooper and he is a formal officer, but he is not a senior non-commissioned officer. There are positions that are only listed separately in the lord's ranks, just like Anson and Sarah.

There are still many people in the team who are captains - in previous battles, people with military merits have actually been promoted and rewarded, but those who are promoted to captains for merit have nothing to do with senior non-commissioned officers, but the spoils are more shared.

The lord is to separate the rank from the position.

Everyone knows that the lord is a man of his word, and there must be a reward for fighting bravely, so it is definitely beneficial to train hard and practice his skills well.

But no one expected that if they wanted to be promoted and make a fortune, they had to rely on the college entrance examination to get a 'diploma'......

This is the result of repeated measurements by the lord.

On the one hand, it is true that only literate people can be leaders, and the kind of illiterate people who can't even read military orders may be good soldiers, but they can't lead troops to carry out complex tactics.

On the other hand, Leon wanted to establish a simple logic of promotion in the army, a new class that had nothing to do with the position and would not create class contradictions - non-commissioned officers.

A non-commissioned officer is not an officer, it is a kind of identity, or a kind of collective term for 'personnel in the establishment' devised by Li Ang.

Due to the need for gradual acceptance, only three simple ranks were used for the time being.

Privates, non-commissioned officers, senior non-commissioned officers.

First of all, you must have more than four weeks of rigorous training before you can become a private, and the lord will not take the junior troops out to fight in the future.

As long as a private passes the test of the lord through hard training, and completes more than one battle with the lord, and passes the battlefield performance, he can become a 'non-commissioned officer'.

The test of lords is actually mainly to determine loyalty through battles, and to check whether they have become a high-level class through the system - this test will certainly be quite fair.

But the soldiers didn't know it, they only felt that the lord was wise and fair......

After becoming a non-commissioned officer, even if you enter the official establishment, you can still receive a salary when you are not fighting, which is very attractive.

All of these 100 are now eligible to become non-commissioned officers, as they have already participated in battles before.

But what is even more attractive is the 'senior non-commissioned officer'.

The lord said that if you become a senior non-commissioned officer, you will become a full-time warrior, and whether you eventually become a knight or not, you will say goodbye to your farming career!

Moreover, the senior non-commissioned officer is a necessary prerequisite for becoming a knight under the command of the lord, and all food, clothing, housing and transportation are free, and all equipment will also be provided by the lord!

Being able to work completely and no longer have to work in the fields to become a professional soldier means having a higher social status. In fact, the knights of the Pander Continent are like this.

In other words, this is actually a knight without a fief, but not a nobleman.

However, the treatment is better than that of the knights of ordinary noble families, not only the salary is high, but the lord also has food, shelter and equipment, and there is no need to work for any nobleman.

In this day and age, this is even more attractive......

However, if a non-commissioned officer wants to be promoted to a senior non-commissioned officer, he must first pass the 'college entrance examination' and get a qualification certificate;

That is to say, a person who can become a high-ranking non-commissioned officer must first have good skills, have fought in battles, have some merit, and then have to be educated.

After becoming a senior non-commissioned officer, it is possible to become a knight if you study hard and establish some merit - the lord still has a knight exam waiting for them, most of which are also cultural subjects, after all, becoming a nobleman requires culture......

Of course, for those illiterate men with outstanding skills, it is not impossible to be a rich man by military merit alone, the lord is very trustworthy in distributing the spoils of war, and he can live a very rich life as a captain in Mai Xiangling.

But the senior non-commissioned officer gets ten extra shares!

It's also a package of food and accommodation!

What a good treatment!

But no one expected that the lord's assessment of the rank of non-commissioned officers would be a cultural class......

So, in the afternoon exams, everyone was about to collapse - they spent all their energy on training, and they didn't study the cultural courses at all.

Right now, there is a gloomy fog in the examination room.

Even Klose, the old subordinate who had followed the lord for the longest time, actually gnawed his pen in the examination room—the quill was almost bald by him, but he still didn't write a few words......

This guy stared pitifully at Leon and Amy, who were invigilating, and looked like they were about to cry.

And not only him, but most of the fighters had sad faces, and most of the wooden planks in front of them that served as 'rolls' were blank.

Probably for them, writing is much more difficult than cutting people - especially the people of Metenheim, who are basically all difficult households!

Exams are rare, and these soldiers have not learned to cheat, and they are scratching their ears and cheeks one by one......

In fact, they can't cheat at all, many people don't even know how to pinch the pen, they can't copy it, and besides, this topic is all essay questions.

For example, "Write a military report after a detailed investigation, and the data can be used as an example." ”

Another example is "Please write a letter asking for help to your lord." ”

Amy's face was rather gloomy now.

These uneducated rough men are all her students, and her teaching itself is not much of a problem - what is the big problem in teaching basic literacy and writing? These people are adults, not six-year-olds.

But the quality of Amy's teaching is not good, and the main reason is that she is too gentle.

As a well-bred aristocratic girl, Amy never swears or swears, and corporal punishment is even more impossible......

Her upbringing also affected Sarah, after all, she was in a cultural class, and Sarah didn't torture anyone.

And Mai Xiangling, a group of illiterate people, although no one made trouble in their identities, most of the people who came to listen to the lecture actually came to rest on the fire to pass the time......

In those days, there was no nightlife, and the lord strictly forbade them to participate in gambling, so these guys had to gather in this 'classroom' with a long brazier at night to bake the fire, and watch the two beautiful young ladies by the way.

Li Ang asked the merchants to open entertainment venues everywhere, but the management of their own territory was extremely strict, and those who dared to gather to gamble were confiscated as eucalyptus tools, and they had to be whipped until they could not get out of bed.

The whole McXiangling, the only good student is Eric.

This guy has been studying hard since he became a political officer, and now he can even memorize several poems with emotion, let alone literacy.

The results of this exam were quite miserable - out of more than 100 people, only five people passed.

You know, the passing grade is just a matter of writing a common military newspaper according to the topic and writing a simple letter - that is, a daily document that a captain officer will often use.

Eric was the one with the best grades, and he even did a good job of the extra tactical questions.

The five who passed were personally awarded a small griffin badge by Leon, made of bronze.

They became the first batch of 'senior non-commissioned officers' of Mai Xiang Ling, and also became the captains or vice-captains of each unit, and they would put feathers on the top of their helmets, and they were awarded an additional ten shares of Mai Xiang International, and they were all happy.

And that small badge became Mai Xiangling's first 'qualification certificate'.

From now on, in the lord's territory, those who hold this badge will not have to worry about food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and all supplies will be given priority.

And the dozens of people with the worst grades will be temporarily excluded from the non-commissioned officer sequence as a punishment for them - in fact, it is a deduction of salary!

Because, after two months of study, they can't even write the name of the lord! Many people can even misspell their own names!

These dozens of illiterate people wept bitterly, hated themselves for not working hard enough, and said that they would definitely change their previous efforts to study.

Fortunately, the lord reminded me early, and everyone in Metenheim can write their own names and know simple military orders.

However, this is probably mainly due to the fact that the people of Mettenheim are all about striking iron, they are used to carving names into the iron tools they make, and they are not purely illiterate in the first place.

But other than that, they, including Klose, are semi-literate......

Nian has followed him for the longest time, and has done a lot of credit, and the lord has given them a new job to become his own personal guard.

But when they saw someone wearing a senior non-commissioned officer badge, they still had to salute - this was also to motivate their men to learn more.

And the day after this "college entrance examination", the lord issued the second official knight appointment under his command - Eric.

Because Eric applied for the knight exam the next morning and passed it without any problems!

The knightly exam designed by the lord is actually very difficult.

It includes martial arts, aristocratic etiquette, the history and current situation of Pande, and also tests basic tactics and management skills.

Eric did work hard, he had even participated in all the cavalry courses with the recruits before, and almost broke his leg.

It's just that he didn't expect that the lord's knight exam would not test horsemanship......

And the lord is really what he says, no matter what his background is, as long as he meets the requirements of the lord, he can become a real nobleman.

However, due to the fact that the territory is so small, Leon has not assigned a knight domain to Eric at the moment - this is also an important reason to make a high-level non-commissioned officer for the transition, and the lord actually has a little subtle meaning of replacing the land division in other ways.

Eric still serves as the administrator and sheriff captain of McCyanol.

That is, the director of the village committee and the head of the police station.

With Eric as a role model, the learning atmosphere in the territory suddenly became hot, and everyone's eyes were full of hope and energy.

The semi-literate people finally began to actively learn the culture.

However, they only took Chinese lessons seriously for a few days before they had to suspend them temporarily.

Because during this time, merchants also came to this busy territory one after another.

Merchants are here to sell people.

The lord had made an appointment with them before, 50 dinars alone, as long as it was a young man who could speak.

Ranwen

Of course, this is a very high price, and the merchants do not even carry anything else in their convoys......

Today, there are more than 300 poor people in rags.

The total population of the territory is now 500 people, and the number is increasing every day.

Population growth is a good thing, but it also means a big problem......

"Teacher, you seem to have brought in a lot of people...... But you may not know that when the Bacchus Empire besieged the city before, the fields around White Hart Fort were ruined a lot. White Deer Fort may be short of food this year, so I can't provide you with food! ”

Amy is the 'general manager of Bailubao Grain and Oil Company', and after seeing the growing population, her first reaction was that Mai Xiangling's food was not enough!

The newcomers, who are mostly refugees who have lost their livelihood, will become new farmers, just in time for the spring wheat planting season in late April and early May.

The land near the wheat collar can be harvested twice a year, and the winter wheat grows for a long time, from October to April.

Spring wheat is planted in May and harvested in September.

But a good land can't stand a lot of people.

The wheat fields planted before were already lush, but the winter wheat fields sown by the 100 or so people with poor sowing methods were obviously not enough for so many people to consume.

The Pande continent is vast and sparsely populated, and the people here do not cultivate intensively, and the grain yield is quite low, with only a hundred pounds per mu in most areas.

The Raven Kingdom in the north has a cold climate and even fewer harvests, yielding less than a hundred pounds per mu.

That is to say, there are few people in the land, and the per capita planting area is dozens of acres, otherwise there would have been a famine.

The climate is good, but only about 150 pounds of wheat can be produced per acre of wheat – which is quite a high yield.

The lord didn't know how to farm, he didn't know how to increase yields, and he didn't have time to pay attention to it before.

Now that I've settled the score, I feel quite stressed.

With more than 800 acres of wheat fields, he was expected to harvest 120,000 pounds of coarse wheat—thanks to the seeds Godric had provided at the time.

120,000 pounds, doesn't that seem like a lot?

But the problem is that in order to quickly attract the population, the lord only collects 30% of the agricultural tax, and only 30,000 pounds can fall into his hands.

More than 30,000 pounds of wheat is completely sufficient if it is only for the purpose of raising soldiers, and there are only a few dozen people who are completely out of production at present.

But when it comes to the more than 300 new arrivals, it's a hundred pounds per person...... There are not even enough seeds to plant spring wheat.

There are now 500 people in the territory, more than 40 war horses, and dozens of horses, and at least 2,000 acres of land must be planted to feed them next season, and 40,000 pounds of seeds alone will be needed.

The lord of the lord can be regarded as having made a fool of himself - at that time, the war had just ended, he did not expect that there would be another war on the side of White Deer Fort so soon, in order to quickly increase the population of the territory, so he asked the merchants to find people for him.

Originally, there would definitely be surplus grain in White Deer Fort, the two sides were allies, and they were close to each other, and buying the surplus grain in White Deer Fort was enough to maintain rapid development.

But now, due to the previous siege, the fields around White Deer Fort have suffered huge losses and cannot give any support......

Amy has calculated, not only does White Deer Fort have no spare energy to sell food, but it also has to purchase from outside.

The lord is also a human after all, and he only stayed in White Deer Fort for one day, still to carry out the kidnapping, and he didn't have time to understand the situation at that time.

There's a food crisis......