Ch49.2 - Dissemination Of Knowledge (Part Two)

Editor: Alysia

Proofreader: Lia 

Since that day, Northumberland had reaped large and small gangs one after another, with a total number of nearly 1000 people, all trying to grab some valuable things or trying to occupy the fief directly.

Who would have known that even before they saw Northumberland’s team of knights, they would be exterminated by the farmers?

The team of knights were all somewhat angry. Just because they live in the siheyuan and were not living near the edge of the fief, did that mean they have no chance of performing meritorious service and no chance of obtaining rewards?

After so many people suffered a devastating defeat, the outside world eventually calmed down and dared not act hastily. Who would have guessed that a baron in a remote location could have such a tremendous military force? 

And the prisoners caused the stewards to experience both delight and sadness. The fief had an overabundance of people. They could have used them to spare the farmers a lot of effort if they had sent these slaves to cultivate the crops. But wouldn’t this be a waste of resources?

The stewards thought, either we reclaim the wasteland and get more land for these people, or we’d better ask for a ransom and send them away.

“No more reclamation of wasteland. We have to maintain a certain forest area in our territory. In the future, we can build houses and tools. Which one doesn’t need wood? What will we do if we cut down all the wood?”

Cui QiChao had calculated the area of forest land, so he couldn’t cut it all to create farmlands. After Northumberland recovered the heavy saline-alkali land, the amount of cultivated land had been considerably sufficient.

Cui QiChao arranged for the captives to cultivate their own land. Northumberland’s own people were responsible for managing their own land, planting cash crops such as sugar beet and cotton in the newly developed saline-alkali land, and building some infrastructure.

When people had more free time, they would all opt to fix their houses. Northumberland now had almost no people living in thatched houses, and all of the roads were flat and structured.

Cui QiChao told the stewards that these captives would be kept to cultivate the fields for a period of time. After finishing their work, he would return them.

The steward’s face immediately blackened. “Lord, you let them stay at work and give them mush as food. You also have to teach them how to farm. After they learn the skills, you will release them back. Even if they have to pay the ransom, we are letting them off too lightly!” 

Cui QiChao disagreed. “We got the labor force and the ransom, and we didn’t suffer from a disadvantage.”

The steward clapped his hands and said, “Lord, as soon as they implement the farming methods in the fief, they will have a good harvest!!”

Cui QiChao smiled. “Steward, you see, sugar beets, wool trees, and vines are planted on the white soil that has returned to normal. If the fields in other territories have a good harvest and they have more food, they will want to exchange brown sugar, wine, cotton clothes and quilts, and even farm tools from us. How many craftsmen do we have now?”

The steward, “… Anyway, I just think we’ve been taken advantage of!” 

He felt that even if they made the other fiefs produce a good harvest, they should wait until the Lord occupied them. Unfortunately, the Lord was always unwilling. He said that his people were not rich enough, so why bother fighting a war?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“Lance, what do you think?” Cui QiChao asked the child’s opinion. 

Lance grew older by a few years, and his stature also jumped up. His blue eyes were sombre and he grew up to slightly have a young lad’s appearance. He scratched his cheek. “Uncle, your esteemed self said that we aren’t rich. Does your esteemed self mean that we will only be considered rich if everyone can afford meat in our Northumberland?”

Cui QiChao, “You’re almost right.”

This wish was too grand. Lance said, “I think it will come true soon. If people in other places know that we can eat meat, they wouldn’t want to wage a war with us. They will stay here voluntarily like those slaves in the castle.”

He glanced at Cui QiChao and whispered, “Not to mention that this will happen in the future, I think after these captives have stayed in Northumberland for some time, maybe when you try to drive them away, they will be unwilling to leave.” 

Cui QiChao was very satisfied with the first half of what Lance said. Yes, he didn’t want to spend his limited time here continuously battling. If Northumberland developed well enough and no one could manage to defeat them, naturally there would be people who would bring their lands and seek refuge with Northumberland, just like Gavin who was somewhat forced to do so.

As for the second half of his sentence, Cui QiChao felt that it was a little unexpected, “Is that so? Isn’t the steward very strict?”

No matter how strict the steward was, he didn’t treat the captives like how the other territories would treat their captives. The current Northumberland had rules. What should they do if they beat up people so badly that they lose their abilities to work? These people work here and eat only mush, but they could see what a good life the Northumberland people were leading.

Even those captives who used to be civilians and knights would think that they were also civilians/knights, why would Northumberland treat these people of similar status as theirs so well? 

Lance said, “I heard some captives complain, saying that if they knew what Northumberland was like, they would have long taken refuge. You said they could be redeemed later. Will they turn around and take refuge in you immediately?”

Cui QiChao thought to himself, it seems that he still lacks understanding of the gruelling days the people in other territories were leading. There was no need to wait for Northumberland to become richer. Now that people were willing to come, “The steward should be happy.”

.

Without a doubt, what Cui QiChao and Lance discussed came true. 

After the captives worked for a period of time, Cui QiChao informed the other territories to redeem their people. The knight’s family gave some food in return for their family members. As for the civilians, forget it. Their families had no money to pay to redeem them.

As soon as the civilians heard that they were going to leave, they immediately shouted, “Lord, I’m not going! Look how well I’ve done my work! Just leave me here. I’ll rent your land to farm!”

The steward, “Ptooey! Who wants to rent you land, the captives can only be slaves!”

The civilian, aggrieved, said, “It’s also fine if I am a slave. At least I could stay in the house.” 

The steward was about to roll his eyes to the back of his head. “What a great imagination you have. Go away. We wasted so much food.”

If the Lord hadn’t said that he wanted to send these people away, he would definitely make these people stay and let them experience the true life of a slave.

These people symbolize the seeds of new knowledge. When they return to their territory, they would tell everyone about their magical experience in Northumberland.

How did the people there cultivate and fertilize? Why could they have so many wheat grains on one ear of wheat? How could one mu of land produce so many kilograms of crops? What were the methods they used to preserve seeds? In the coming year, they could sow the whole land with only a few seeds… 

Of course, they would also say that every farmer in Northumberland could be a soldier once they take up arms, and they would even line up to go to the toilet.

Oh, you ask where the toilet was. Of course, it was a place to collect feces. Feces were good things and should be used as fertilizer.

Therefore, Northumberland’s land was always clean because people were clean when they bathed with special herbal water. Even civilians washed their faces and bodies like aristocrats in the south.

Even when their sugar mill produced brown sugar, children would be able to get a share of sweet, sweet paste. Even the poorest serfs, after selling brown sugar, had the money to exchange some salt and add it to their usual soup and dishes. 

When the Lords of other areas heard this, they didn’t think about “welfare,” but they did think about “profits.”

Well, no wonder a Baron could afford so many knights. Originally, they thought it was caused by planting beets, grapes, and wool trees. It turned out that they had more grains of wheat per ear than elsewhere.

The other territories had to sow a mu of land with about half of their produce. However, Northumberland used less than a quarter of their seeds. Needless to say, Northumberland’s harvest was more than twice as large as theirs.

The people working in Northumberland saw these with their own eyes and cultivated them themselves. Of course, they had to learn these farming methods. It was said that Northumberland’s white soil had been turned into cultivated land, which was used to grow beets and grapes. No wonder the people of Northumberland didn’t find cultivated land rare, and they were not afraid of teaching the captives how to grow wheat and fertilize. 

For a time, manure wars were also staged in other territories. Because their situation was different from Northumberland’s in the past, it was also more chaotic.

Farmers secretly hid excrement, and the village head took people to rob excrement from door to door. “These excrements belong to the Lord. Only the Lord can enjoy them first. You can enjoy them only after the Lord has enjoyed them!”

LJJ:

[Wow, the grape yield is so low] 

[Don’t lowball the yield. This is used to make wine. The output can’t be high. Besides, just look at the era he’s in]

[Although I insist on scolding Cui QiChao, you’re really humiliating Cui by saying that the output is low. Even if you want to demean an industry, you shouldn’t demean the farming industry]

[It seems that we have learned a lot from Cui QiChao, but we can’t use the knowledge at all…]

[? Why are you scolding Cui QiChao? Although he is either growing vegetables or raising pigs, building houses or abusing cats, cooking or mixing dung, he is really cool] 

[I can’t tell if the fan on top is blackened or not blackened…]

[It’s like this: Anyway, I have already vented out my feelings. This program is toxic, yet I can’t get out of it]

[I came from the female genre program, and I have to say that this is not a standard development. Normally, in the end, everyone would be saying “really delicious, really delicious”]

[Hehe, you’re all right. I watched the program for the sake of seeing romance or people conquering others on the screen. Who can console me? My friend said that there was a cute pet in the program, and the feelings of the human and cat was extremely touching] 

[…Extremely touching, extremely touching. It’s not a wrong descriptor]

.

[Stop talking about fried beef!!!]

[Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. My beef jerky will arrive in a minute, wait for me!] 

[I think LJJ has a conscience. Now, in the next episode preview, they will mention what Cui QiChao eats. I have already bought my grapes!]

[Eh, he let these captives leave… true, he probably couldn’t afford to feed them]

[Don’t make excuses for him. If he can’t afford to keep them, couldn’t he snatch some land and keep them?]

[Don’t rob, don’t rob, don’t rob, I just want him to wholeheartedly farm. Prprpr] 

[Fuck. Fortunately, my screen was lagging. They’ve started to fight amongst themselves for feces again]

[I’m fainting. Why are they cutting in the part of people snatching feces… Cui QiChao is spreading knowledge or excrement]

[Are people in the middle ages so well versed in the art of speaking? One of them said that if the Lord helped the sow to deliver the piglets, the piglets belonged to the Lord. Another said that Lords should have the priority to use the dung??]

[How many years have passed in the livestream? How long will it be till this program ends] 

[Will you brothers all follow me to watch Cui QiChao in the next virtual plane?]

[Why wouldn’t I go? I’ll wait till the day he awakens his other skills. I don’t believe he wouldn’t have other skills, hehe]

[If you don’t know what kind of virtual plane he will go to, will you still follow him? What if it’s a scum gong and cheap shou virtual plane?] 

[…The sisters who came from the female genre are saying strange things again. I can’t understand, I can’t understand what she’s saying]