85_85536 That's it, William after seeing the plight of the people living in his domain. For a moment, I felt very uneasy. William no longer felt that he could enjoy life in the castle, which had satisfied him in the first place, or in some places, that he could enjoy it with peace of mind.

Those people, the peasants, are in dire straits, close to extreme poverty, close to the death line. In such a situation, he was not only fed and clothed, but also able to live in a spacious house, eat rice from the Indies, and have spare money to buy books, papers, and other luxuries.

So, William naturally had this doubt: Am I excessive?

Then he came up with the answer for himself: yes, it is indeed excessive.

This answer kept William awake at night.

At the end of the day, William was different from the aristocracy of his time. This difference is not only a difference in behavioral habits and abilities, but also a psychological difference.

William was uneasy, and William couldn't bear it. He felt that if he continued to maintain this state, then he would most likely have a nervous breakdown, and then have a nervous breakdown, and finally hang up. At the same time, however, he also knew. If he had been like the peasants, working in the fields before dawn every day, eating the coarsest black bread, wearing tattered clothes, and living in leaky rooms, William would have felt that he would have died more quickly.

In this way, the left and right roads cannot be taken, so there is only one road in front of William. That is to help, to help the people in his territory out of poverty. So that they can live a good life - although they don't have to live in the castle like William, and have meat for their meals, but at least they should be well fed and clothed, and have a little money to spare.

William felt that in that case he could look down from the castle tower, eat the expensive food and drink the wine, and then sit down and watch the peasants beneath the castle toil and feel superior.

But the question is, how do you make the peasants in his territory rich?

Having observed his father, Baron Otto, and recalling what his father had done before, William understood that his father was not a man of internal affairs, and that he was completely incapable of doing this, even though Baron Otto was already a rare good lord in the eyes of the lords.

Their concept of a "good lord" is very simple: first, don't collect too much tax, second, don't collect too much tax, and third, don't collect too much tax.

The agricultural tax in the realm was now 10% less than that of the other nobles, and the commercial and industrial taxes were half a percent. In addition to the regular taxes of the peasants in the summer and autumn, and the merchants did not pay any taxes except the customs duties required for entry and exit, the taxes on the products of industry, and the tithes for the church.

In such a situation, Baron Otto can already be called a little red from the green, a little white dove that falls on the pig, and a red-crowned crane in the flock. Baron Otto, who was so outstanding, rightly won the praise and heartfelt love of the vast majority of the people in the realm. Even the bard, no matter how much he hated the lord system and how ironic he was, had to admit after seeing this scene: he always thought that the world was as black as a crow, but he didn't expect that there were still a few grays.

However, this is not enough for William, far from enough. Baron Otto's policy of lightly dispensing with the people and recuperating with the people may or may not have been successful if it had been placed in the East in the previous life. But in this world, this era similar to the European Middle Ages can only be said to be better than nothing.

The reason why William would say this is because the situation in the East and the West is completely different. Or in the Central Plains of the classical era, it was completely different from the rest of the world.

Compared with the people of the Central Plains on the East Asian continent, the vast majority of ethnic groups in other parts of the world are unusually clumsy in agriculture.

This clumsiness is not just reflected in one aspect. It's all-round, all-round, all-encompassing.

Their knowledge of agriculture was extremely poor, and the tradition of slash-and-burn farming continued for a long time in Europe, despite the fact that calendars and agricultural books were compiled specifically for agriculture in the Central Plains.

Their agricultural machinery and tools are much worse than China's proprietary and classified more than a dozen different agricultural tools.

The horse farming techniques they used were much worse than those used in the Central Plains. It's the same for speed, efficiency and results.

They don't use manure, they don't use green manure, they don't use natural fertilizers like pond mud, river mud, etc. This has resulted in a population starving to death on one side of the land is extremely barren, and on the other side is a sanitary disaster of random defecation, filthy and smelly.

Under such circumstances, the European peasants lived in dire straits for a long time, living in abject poverty for a long time. This has not changed until modern times.

During the Age of Discovery, the Great Geographical Discoveries brought high-yielding crops such as potatoes and corn to Europe.

The long-term strict breeding system has given birth to a monster in Europe in terms of artificial selection, and the strength, endurance and ability to cultivate are better than that of cattle.

Breakthroughs in the modern European chemical industry have made it possible to produce chemical fertilizers on a large scale.

In the following time, the mechanization of Western agriculture was increased, pesticides, tractors, combine harvesters...... The terrifying power of the Industrial Revolution made the level of agriculture in the West surpass that of the East in an all-round way.

Of course, that was a long, long time later...... In this world, due to the interference of magic, the church, and other factors, the level of development of industry and technology has been stagnant, so that those inventions and innovations that can greatly affect agriculture are still far away, and it is not known when they will appear. William naturally had no way to count on those things.

But luckily, very lucky, William has the ability to read the mind. He can perfectly reproduce the knowledge that William had accidentally touched in his previous life, and who may not be able to remember clearly, and even organize and edit it into a book.

In the era of information explosion in his previous life, the popular science books that William had been exposed to when he was a child, the agricultural channels he saw when he was bored on TV, or the knowledge he gained by browsing the Internet when he grew up, became priceless at this moment.

These slightly fragmentary things, which are difficult to systematize, a hammer in the east and a mallet in the west, are probably worth more than all the other information in his psychic reading room combined.

In the past few days, all William has to do is to do his best to squeeze his poor memory, and then draw drawings of what he knows and the agricultural tools he has come into contact with, and compile the agricultural knowledge into a book. It is used to guide agricultural production activities within the territory.

Although it is half-baked, although it is impossible to have a heavenly creation, the medieval crossing artifacts such as the complete book of agricultural politics and Qi Min's art are so moving. But William thought it was enough. Just like for illiterates, whether it is a high school student or a college student, William thinks that in this world, in this era, it may not be possible to say anything else. But when it comes to farming, he is definitely number one.

The only problem now is how to trust Baron Otto, the lord of this territory, to believe that he really has the ability to do this.

To be honest, it's much more difficult than using the ability to read by mind for a few days on end, and drawing drawings of those farm tools.

If it is said that it is the talent in swordsmanship, the table at the time when he treated the centaur before, then Baron Otto can be seen as the reason for William's bloodline and talent. The Hereford family is indeed known for producing talented warriors.

But, alas, the Hereford family never had an agronomist - in fact, not even a natural scientist.

Under such circumstances, William knew that unless he really made some achievements, his father, Baron Otto, would never approve of him.

In this way, William took advantage of his status and proposed to his father that he wanted to manage a manor in order to gain experience in managing the domain. At the same time, he also vaguely proposed to his father that he had obtained some experience in agricultural management and new farm tools from some sources, and drew the styles and drawings of these farm tools.

Naturally, William's first mention was granted. After Baron Otto said, "Don't let this waste your studies, and don't forget to practice swordsmanship", William was given control of a small estate of about 500 people.

Again, as a matter of course, William's second mention was not accepted. Although various drawings were taken out and the working principles of these tools were explained in detail. But Baron Otto, of course, just laughed and left these things behind.

After getting the result he had already expected, William was disappointed and at the same time felt a little relieved. He then summarized what he was going to do next:

"Well, that's it. While ensuring the completion of daily training, it is also necessary to guide production activities. Follow my plan to change the agricultural production of that estate.

This wave of summer grain is not dry. But at the time of the autumn harvest, it is absolutely necessary to make achievements. In order to convince his father, he entrusted all the agricultural production in the territory to himself. In this way, I will be able to do as much as I can this winter, and wait until next spring to make some adjustments. At that time, the affairs of the territory will be considered complete. ”

Thinking of this, William felt full of energy. He was already a little impatient to put his knowledge and abilities to ...... for his own territory and people.