Mountain Forest Town was quite large. Ronin had spent the entire afternoon on his inspection, yet he had only managed to cover the wheat fields and vegetable patches on the eastern side.
If he wanted to walk a full circle around his territory, it would probably take him two or three days.
He had set out in the afternoon full of anticipation, hoping to make so surprising discovery. But upon his return, the opposite was true; his heart was heavy with disappointnt.
Not only had he failed to find any surprises, but he had also discovered a series of problems, particularly concerning grain cultivation.
Ronin took a sip of barley tea and sat down at his desk. He began to recall what he had seen in the wheat fields, pondering solutions to the problems.
’The wheat growth is uneven, likely because it’s planted too densely. The thod of broadcasting seeds randomly makes the seedlings grow chaotically. The stalks are too close together, which not only affects their access to sunlight but also stunts their growth.’
’On top of that, this dense planting prevents farrs from getting into the fields to weed, fertilize, or water the crops. When it’s ti for harvest, it even causes so of the wheat ears to rot.’
After much thought, he concluded that the root cause of this situation was the thod of sowing.
A term from his history books popped into Ronin’s mind: the Ridge Cultivation thod.
The Ridge Cultivation thod was a farming technique where the land was tilled into a series of ridges and furrows, with the crops planted on top of the ridges.
This cultivation thod had nurous benefits:
For instance, planting on ridges raised above the ground ensured proper spacing between crops, as they were separated by furrows. This allowed for more effective photosynthesis and prevented the poor root developnt caused by overcrowding.
The height difference between the ridges and furrows facilitated drainage, preventing waterlogging, and also made it easy to irrigate by flooding the furrows.
Ronin had also asked several locals that afternoon and learned that Mountain Forest Town received plenty of rainfall. Digging furrows would improve drainage and significantly reduce the chance of seedlings being waterlogged to death.
Furthermore, the furrows between the ridges gave farrs room to weed and fertilize, unlike the current situation where there was no space to even step.
Of course, there was another very important point: using the Ridge Cultivation thod could maintain soil fertility.
This year’s ridge becos next year’s furrow, and this year’s furrow becos next year’s ridge. It was a form of crop rotation that functioned as a fallow system.
’This thod is worth promoting!’
He took out a quill and a sheet of sheepskin parchnt, beginning to write down the details of the Ridge Cultivation thod while also sketching a simple diagram of the farming process.
As night deepened, the male servant, Gallon, had already lit the candles in the study. The candlelight illuminated Ronin’s focused face, causing the maidservant attending nearby to stare, sowhat srized.
’She had heard that nobles loved their comforts, spending all their ti eating, drinking, and making rry. So young lords even summoned their personal maids to their beds.’
’But this Baron before her was completely different.’
’Throughout the day, Bella had noticed that aside from his midday rest, the Baron was constantly busy, as if he had an endless list of tasks to complete and docunts to write.’
"My lord."
Chahar walked in carrying a glass of milk. Upon seeing him, Gallon and Bella lowered their heads, backed out of the room, and stood outside the door.
The castle’s steward, while not a nobleman, still held a certain status. Moreover, Chahar was part of Ronin’s original retinue.
Therefore, the newly hired servants in the castle were all very respectful of Chahar and obedient to his managent.
Chahar was finally getting a real taste of what it was like to be a steward.
However, his respect for Ronin had not diminished in the slightest; on the contrary, it had grown imnsely.
"Ah, Chahar."
Ronin glanced up before lowering his head to continue writing.
He had finished describing the Ridge Cultivation thod and was now planning how to apply fertilizer.
During his journey, Ronin had noticed that whether it was in Wushan City, Lake Town, or his own Mountain Forest Town, the sight of feces on the streets was unavoidable.
That afternoon, Ronin had pulled a farr aside to ask. He desperately wanted to understand why the farrs of this world didn’t know how to use fertilizer.
After a brief inquiry, he discovered that the people here had considered using fertilizer, but their thods were wrong.
The man said that when they threw feces and urine directly onto the fields, not only did it fail to make the crops grow better, but it actually caused a phenonon known as "seedling burn."
Because of this, they ca to believe that manure was a harmful substance that shouldn’t be put on farmland, which in turn rendered it valueless.
Naturally, no one bothered to manage sothing considered worthless. The nobles ignored it, and the common people treated it as trash, leading to the situation of streets being covered in filth.
How to make good use of this manure was the problem Ronin was now pondering.
Fortunately, he ca from a farming family back on Earth. He had seen many people farm when he was young, and later on, he studied science in high school and college, so he knew about chemistry and microbiology.
To properly utilize human and animal waste, one could choose composting, decomposition, and ferntation.
Promoting this thod throughout his territory could not only solve the fertilizer problem and maintain a certain level of soil fertility, but it could also resolve the poor sanitation issue.
Once the farrs understood the importance of manure, they would no longer relieve themselves wherever they pleased.
For Ronin, this was a plan that killed two birds with one stone.
However, neither the Ridge Cultivation thod nor composting could be implented with just a single command to get everyone on board.
Ronin planned to find two people and set aside two experintal plots to test the thods.
If both thods proved effective in this Otherworld, they could be fully implented by the spring planting next year.
"My lord, you’ve been busy all day. You should get so rest!"
Chahar placed the milk he was holding by Ronin’s side, thoughtfully urging him to rest early.
"I’m not tired yet."
Ronin set down his quill, picked up the cup, and took a sip of milk.
’The milk in this Otherworld didn’t taste very good; it even had a faint, gay flavor.’
’Still, not just anyone could afford to drink fresh milk. It was a rare delicacy.’
"How are the other servants in the castle settling in?" Ronin asked casually.
"Everything has been arranged smoothly!"
Chahar, the steward, was very satisfied with the new servants. They were eager to learn what he taught them and were performing well.
"Rest assured, my lord. In a month at most, the servants here in the castle will be up to the standards of Wushan Castle."
Ronin chuckled. "Rember my previous reminder: the castle’s sanitation must be a top priority. Deal with any damp areas imdiately. I don’t want to see any rats or bugs in my own castle."
"You can rest assured. I have already stressed this point repeatedly, and I personally inspect every area each day to ensure there are no problems!"
"I feel at ease leaving the castle’s affairs in your hands."
Ronin said with a smile, "Have the Civil Servant, Wilson, co see tomorrow morning. I have a task for you and him to handle together."
’Chahar was a little surprised. What sort of task would require both him, the castle steward, and a Civil Servant to complete?’
"Understood, my lord. I will go and inform Wilson tonight."
"Have Gallon go inform him. You, find a rather large ceramic vat. I’ll need it tomorrow morning."
’Chahar was confused again. What did his lord want him to do now? He couldn’t guess his lord’s intentions at all. Sotis he even suspected he was a truly incompetent steward.’
’However, he also understood that so things didn’t need so many questions. He just had to carry out his lord’s orders properly.’
"As you wish!"
Chahar took Gallon and left the second floor to attend to their duties.
Ronin, anwhile, resud his design work.
His reason for having Chahar prepare the ceramic vat was simple: he wanted to build the most primitive form of a toilet in the castle.
Since he was planning to collect manure for fertilizer, the necessary facilities had to be in place, and a toilet was indispensable.
Ronin would have liked to design a flush toilet, but that was a ti-consuming and laborious task. Besides, he didn’t yet have a solid idea for how to design the plumbing.
He could only settle for the next best thing and build a primitive toilet for now. From there, he would gradually promote the benefits of fertilizer to give everyone a basic understanding. After that, he could introduce more toilets and improve the overall sanitation.
User Comments
0 comments from readers