Ronan sent one of his knights to the Emerald City to communicate, and the people are still on their way.

He and Lao Motou worked out the next tax issues.

In today's situation, the treatment of peasants in the territory must be greatly improved.

The previous lord of Blackstone, Viscount Pex, was in charge of the taxation, and his serfs were required to give him seventy percent of the grain harvest.

In addition, the serfs had to pay taxes to the lord on their daily food, including bread, beer, and, rarely, meat, cheese, etc.

He also had to perform labor services for the lord on a regular basis, including moving bricks, building houses, and removing garbage.

After paying these taxes, serfs could own their own houses, property, and marry and have children, thus distancing themselves from slaves.

As for the free peasants, they had to pay the lord sixty percent of the land tax, as well as a certain amount of meat.

If the quantity is insufficient, it will need to be replaced by labor.

In addition to the land tax, the peasants were required to pay 10 percent of their grain to the church as tithes.

In general, the peasants of this era, although they had been freed from slavery, still had a bad life.

Under the oppression of the lords, the food obtained from farming was even a luxury, and the life was poor.

In the following spring planting plan, in order to increase the enthusiasm of farmers and allow them to recover from the brutal blows of the Black Death, Ronan needs to reduce the land tax.

The tax will be stable at thirty percent, and it will include the tithes of the church.

Anyway, when the time comes, these peasants' grain can only be sold to him, and high taxes do not mean much to his territory.

That would only hinder the speed of cultivation of the farmland, and what he needed now was real food, not a small bargain.

Hit by the Black Death, there was now a shortage of labor in all parts of the empire, and the original serfdom would no longer be able to maintain the food needs of the empire, and the improvement of the peasants' treatment was the general trend.

When the other nobles saw his situation here, they sighed at most that people were stupid and had a lot of money, so they wouldn't care much.

Except that tax issues need to be regulated by Ronan himself.

The rest includes the division of areas for wheat, oats, barley and rye in spring ploughing, the intercropping arrangement of pulses such as peas, kidney beans and broad beans with wheat, the depth and frequency of soil ploughing, and so on.

These practical problems involving grain planting were basically completed by Lao Motou for him.

As an old man who has an in-depth understanding of the cultivation of farmland in the western Great Plains, Lao Motou has been involved in the planting techniques of various crops.

He has a lot more experience than Ronan knows about these details.

In addition to the training of soldiers and the study of craftsmen in the Northern Foreign District, it can be said that most of the credit for the construction planning and prosperity of the town of the Cold Wind Leader is due to this old man.

Next to him, Lao Motou is planning the planting methods of various crops.

After confirming that he couldn't help, Ronan gave him a thumbs up and turned to check on the other affairs of Blackstone.

The impact of the independence of the Dantuma Alliance was multifaceted, and the major commercial cities on the Blackstone Trade Route saw an increase in the commercial taxes on all kinds of goods, as well as the prices at which they were sold.

Prices in the empire are rising, and although the Black Death is beginning to subside, the lives of ordinary people may not be easy.

After a while, a small head poked out from the stairs of the main hall.

Kasanna stole down.

I saw that Ronan and Old Mo were in a state of rest, not busy.

I stumbled up the stairs to the first floor.

"Ronan, Grandpa Artur, you guys worked so hard, I made some chocolate chip cookies, they're still hot when they've just baked, come and try them."

Kasanna couldn't wait to hand the plate in her hand to them.

On top are more than a dozen cute chocolate chip cookies, which exude an enticing aroma.

When Ronan tells the chef at the castle about the chocolate, the silky sweet treat quickly catches the love of the three girls.

Especially Kasanna, who was often by Ronan's side when she was making desserts for them in the kitchen.

Now he has been able to replace him and skillfully make a variety of delicious desserts.

Ronan picked up a cookie, put it in his mouth and bit it.

"It's delicious." Ronan smiled and picked up another piece and put it in Kasanna's mouth, making her blush.

He has no particular interest in sweets, and he rarely eats them, but he still expresses his pleasure at the girl's heart.

The old Mo next to him smiled on his wrinkled face, and he didn't taste it again after tasting two pieces.

After all, he is not young, and he still prefers to eat light food.

Seeing this, Ronan asked the maid to bring a gift box, put the cookies in it, and handed it to him.

Not long ago, Ronan learned that Old Mo Tou had adopted orphans from two towns, a boy and a girl, two eight-year-old children.

"It's a small gift from Kasanna and I to our two children."

"Thank you, Lord and Miss." Old Mo took it with a smile, looked at the time and left.

After the old Mo Tou left, Kasanna came to Ronan's side and said with a worried expression: "Ronan, you go to the kitchen and take a look, Sister Alice is not in a good mood." ”

"What's wrong with her?" Ronan wondered.

"Sister Alice also made a lot of cookies, but after they were baked, she began to sit alone and not speak."

Kasanna remembered the scene, and she wanted to comfort her, but Alice kept shaking her head.

Kasanna, who had no choice, had no choice but to come to Ronan.

"I'll go now, it's lunchtime soon, you go to the restaurant first."

After Ronan understood the situation, he walked up the stairs into the specially set up dessert kitchen on the second floor, and sure enough, he saw Alice staying there.

She was now lying listlessly on her head on the table, her cheeks bulging, deflated with a pop, and then puffed up again, repeating the motion.

Ronan's proximity to her didn't elicit a reaction either.

Looking at the plate of cookies next to her, the color was slightly burnt black, and the appearance was not bad.

Ronan picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, but after a while, the chewing action stopped.

Well, he shouldn't have taken the cookies by their appearance, the taste was more unpalatable than he had imagined, burnt, bitter, sweet and so on mixed up with a complex and strange taste.

Ronan began to regret putting the thing in his mouth.

It's a pity that he can't regret it, Alice's ears have been pricked up, if he dares to vomit, he will definitely not want to sleep well tonight.

Ronan, who didn't want to be lifted at night, had to swallow it with a bitter face.

After hearing the sound of swallowing, Alice's mood improved significantly, and the calf wrapped around Bai Silk began to sway under the table.

Ronan smacked his lips after a few glances, picked up a cookie again, and thought to himself that he couldn't be the only one who suffered.

(End of chapter)