Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 102 - 6: Castle? Useless Thing

Chapter 102: Chapter 6: Castle? Useless Thing

Roman furrowed his brow slightly.

"Would your father, Selin, who is on good terms with the Oak Grand Duke, also fear the Fury Grand Duke?"

Selin was a commercial councilor, essentially a merchant of noble status.

When a merchant of the guild grew to a certain extent, they would seek affiliation,

whether with the Church, the nobles, or the King, thus obtaining some formidable guards.

Otherwise, they might encounter a scenario similar to Daken’s.

According to Roman, Selin had signed an agreement with the Oak Grand Duke years ago to have the Grand Duke’s Conquest Knights guard his merchant caravans in exchange for generous compensation.

Roman was not unfamiliar with this, as the Riptide Family’s Duke Domain also had similar merchants coming and going every day.

His brothers and sisters would occasionally partake in guarding these merchant caravans.

But he had chosen to journey far, and those merchants from the Duke Domain wouldn’t travel thousands of miles through the wilderness to help him develop.

Morry offered a wry smile, "The Oak Grand Duke wouldn’t care about a son of Selin."

And that was after the son had split from the main family.

A major merchant like Selin signing a contract with the Oak Grand Duke did not mean that Selin’s son had also signed the contract.

If his merchant caravan were to encounter the Fury Grand Duke’s army, it would be like encountering the pirate Daken; he couldn’t deter them using the Oak Grand Duke’s name.

Of course, Morry was not Daken.

The guards of professional merchants were typically their private armed forces, some not weaker than Conquest Knights, and extremely loyal to their merchants.

But their numbers were destined to be few because merchants had no base of operations and couldn’t afford to maintain large-scale armed forces.

Even if they could afford it, if the scale of the armed forces reached a certain level, it would draw the attention of the nobles.

If you’re doing business, then just do business. What do you need an army for? Do you no longer wish to be their easy harvest?

Nobles had the right and land to maintain an army; a Baron could raise an army of ten thousand without worry, and no one would gossip or object.

What’s wrong with establishing an army of ten thousand?

You, an Earl, question me, a Baron?

Shall we settle this?

Either you kill me, and my land is yours;

Or I kill you, and your land is mine.

...

Nobles could play by these rules, but merchants could not.

Morry’s guards were part of his "separation fee" from his father.

In the face of pirates, they would fight to the death for Morry.

But an encounter with the Fury Grand Duke’s army was a different matter altogether.

Roman understood Morry’s concerns.

He thought Morry’s caution was a good thing.

If Morry were to have trouble too, then Roman’s available manpower would remain the same, with no way to increase it in the short term—he would be disappointed, but it would simply mean pushing back his plans.

To Roman, flipping the table a year earlier or a year later was just a matter of timing—he could just lie low for a few extra years.

Fortunately, Morry was more rational, knowing better than Daken how to avoid risks.

Merchants and all nobles had trade treaties, paying high commercial taxes in exchange for a certain level of safety and insurance.

These treaties were not always in effect.

If there were conflict, nobles’ armies acquiring merchants’ goods at lower prices was considered reasonable, and sometimes they would take everything—often it was the latter, with companies rarely making any compensation.

This unwritten rule also advised ordinary merchants that without military connections, they shouldn’t strut around in front of others unless they were willing to do business with army caravans.

Morry stayed at Pearl Harbor for a full half month until the situation stabilized before he dared to resume his journey.

During this time, he was also responsible for meeting all the needs of the slaves, placing him under immense pressure.

He had never dealt in the slave trade before.

In this era, human life was as cheap as dirt.

But prices kept low because transportation was a major issue; the efficiency of transit during this time was exceedingly low.

Slaves are not inanimate objects like salt, iron, tobacco, liquor, sugar, or cloth; they cannot be stacked and stored away, neglected without care.

Slaves need food, and just over six hundred people require at least a thousand catties of food each day.

Hygiene has to be maintained; they must be allowed out regularly, or they’ll turn his clean merchant ships into a complete mess.

By comparison, Morry preferred commodities like silk, fine linen, spices, wool, as well as expensive and lightweight goods such as salt and steel.

In fact, had it not been for Roman’s strong request, he would never have allowed any slave onto his merchant ship—unless they were sailors or boatmen.

But this lord was so desperate for slaves.

He had no choice but to bring a batch of them over.

Subsequently, rumors of Grand Duke Fury mobilizing troops scared him half to death.

Luckily, the Grand Duke took no further action, and all disturbances gradually subsided.

Morry successfully arrived at Sige Town and brought his slaves to Roman.

"Having said that, what reward do you desire?"

Roman was never stingy with wealth, especially toward those who aided him.

The exploitation of the salt mines provided Sige Town with a substantial amount of startup capital, offering all the nourishment needed for its wild growth.

In fact, every salt-producing area was extremely wealthy. Several nobles would fight fiercely over a single salt field until a victor emerged or a cooperation treaty was signed.

After a moment of thought, Morry spoke, "When I arrived, I saw you were heavily invested in construction? You built many red brick houses."

Roman’s expression turned slightly unsightly upon hearing this.

"The recent torrential rains washed away those fools’ thatched cottages. I had no choice but to build them sturdier brick houses to prevent them from disrupting my schedule each year."

The benefits of a permanent solution were crystal clear to him.

It also meant doubling the results with half the effort for future production efficiency.

Living in a clean environment helped them recover their strength and save time needed for their daily lives.

Of course, only Roman could afford such grand gestures. Not all domains could afford to cease production for two or three months—whether house building counts as production is debatable.

Morry was greatly surprised.

"I’ve never seen other nobles do this."

"Because they are a bunch of idiots!" Roman’s attitude was one of contempt, his words as pointed and piercing as an awl.

Morry never thought those who could build strong castles and fight bravely on the battlefield were fools.

He glanced around the hall, noting its spaciousness and brightness,

but it was indeed made of wood.

He was certain of this.

This was merely a manor, sufficient for an ennobled knight. But for a nobleman—scarcely bearable—his serfs were soon to be housed in brick homes.

"Are you not building a castle?"

A castle served as a military defense and a symbol of status, with its scale often representing a noble’s ruling power and wealth in the area.

"A castle? Useless things!" Roman felt indifferent towards them.

Enormous projects, spending one or two years and investing a hundred gold coins, just to build a small castle?

In Roman’s eyes, such actions were simply ludicrous.

He slouched in his chair, resting his arm on the armrest, humming lightly, his fingers curling into a fist. "If anyone dares infringe upon my territory, I will crush them, making them suffer a crushing defeat!"

If any noble dared to advance into Sige Town, he would immediately halt all production, urgently mobilize everyone, and have them grab shovels, cross pickaxes, and hoes to join the battle.

Sige Town was easy to defend but hard to attack, possessing natural geographical advantages. The tributary of Bro River surged from Silver Dragon Canyon, with the wharf facing the riverside and mountains and ridges on the opposite bank, meaning there was no broad foothold for enemies.

The attackers would need at least 2000 infantrymen, who would have to storm in, piling up lives, otherwise, they absolutely couldn’t land.

But transporting 2000 infantrymen would also depend on whether there were enough ships.

Of course, it would be a different story if Conquest Knights came.

If Roman didn’t take action, currently 50 fully armed Conquest Knights would suffice to devastate the land.

Or rather, Conquest Knights were an unsolvable problem for present-day Sige Town.

Now that Morry had brought this batch of slaves, Roman was confident he could resolve the issue before the end of winter.

By then, not to mention 50 Conquest Knights, even 100 would be futile.