Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 115 - 19: Breeding

Chapter 115: Chapter 19: Breeding

Roman quickly learned about the spoilage of grain.

Most people discovered it while moving.

Not only was it hard for the farmers to accept, it was hard for him to accept as well.

There was enough grain, but that didn’t mean it should be wasted.

So, he immediately notified Moor and bought up all the farmers’ stored grain.

The grain wasn’t worth much money.

Originally, Sige Town had only a few hundred households, each averaging a few hundred kilograms of stored grain.

Of course, counting all the grains, coarse grains, legumes, and a large amount of vegetables, there naturally were thousands of kilograms of grain.

These grains had to support them through the spring after being consumed during the winter until the summer harvest.

A well-planned, qualified family would store surplus grain at home to enhance their risk resistance.

Among all the crops, wheat was the most valuable, capable of being milled into fine, white flour.

Barley, oats, and rye were next.

Coarse grains and legumes were even lesser, and vegetables were the least.

The total purchase price added up to just over two hundred Gold Coins.

Roman naturally didn’t mind this expenditure.

And the purchasing process was quite simple.

Roman didn’t even notify everyone, he just had the Agricultural Officer Moor burst into their brick houses during broad daylight, calculate the weight of the old grain, and then throw down the corresponding copper or silver coins in the brick houses, and haul all the grain away.

They purchased it at market price, giving the amount for 500 kilograms for every 400 kilograms, and the amount for 1000 kilograms for anything less than that.

They estimated on the higher side, aiming to resolve the issue quickly.

With his prestige and credibility, Roman did not hesitate, nor need to worry about the consequences.

The extent of spoilage in the grain wasn’t very severe, it was only slightly tainted with mold spots.

However, the growth rate of the mold was alarming; once one spot was affected, it could quickly contaminate the whole.

It was edible, but unnecessary.

Roman had the calfs and horses in the manor and the laborers who tended to the livestock selectively pick out the moldy grains, air them, cook them, and use them as livestock feed.

The rest of the grain that wasn’t moldy was used as work meals.

In fact, the livestock shed didn’t really lack fodder now.

The 500-acre field of coarse grains that Roman had previously arranged for Balrog to plant had been harvested.

Due to the shortage of manpower, there were always just one hundred people at the farmland, eventually producing an average yield of only two hundred kilograms per acre. Of course, this was still astonishing, as the yield had increased by five times compared to the past.

After all, the yields of oats and barley had always been low.

And during the spring planting period—out of distrust for Roman—the farmers secretly also planted several hundred acres.

Later they labored all day and had no time for field work.

And the crops growing in the fields couldn’t be hidden.

So Roman helped them harvest it.

It could only be said that due to neglect, the yield was extremely low, just about thirty kilograms per acre—they had at least sowed ten kilograms of seeds, it was better than nothing.

These coarse grains, when added together, basically met the fodder needs.

Of course, grazing also accounted for a large proportion of the fodder.

Interestingly, despite the extremely low land productivity and backward agricultural technology of this era,

should the farmers be unexploited, even if a farmer had five children, as long as they were diligent enough, they could manage to have three meals a day, each meal sufficiently filling.

This was also the greatest advantage of an agrarian civilization, a diligent farmer sustaining his whole family, which was far from being a foolish fantasy.

And Roman couldn’t stand to see such a thing.

If the farmers now dared to resist exploitation, then he couldn’t bear to think what they might dare to do in the future.

"Will you still want a salary in the future?"

"I’ve already provided you with a job, why do you still want a salary?"

"That’s too greedy!"

"The cows and horses in the livestock shed don’t bring this up, they just need feed and grass, you should learn from them."

That day, Roman went to the livestock shed.

Currently, there weren’t many animals in the livestock shed, mainly cows, horses, pigs, and sheep.

Even though the new brick house could accommodate over five thousand people, the livestock shed couldn’t be understaffed, and it had over a hundred laborers living there who were given meals regularly and diligently cared for the large animals.

The older children from Origin Manor also came over in batches to help them clean up manure and harvest the grass, otherwise, they couldn’t manage.

Roman picked up a sack and poured the cooked grains from it into their troughs.

He then called over Yaki—he was a Two Stars Angel Envoy recruited last time.

Roman appointed Yaki as one of the stewards of the livestock shed.

He was a slave child from the highlands, not very tall, limping, and hunchbacked, telling how he once got kicked by a horse as a child, thrown five meters away, which left one leg crippled, and subsequently neglected by his family.

He was classified among the weak, taking on what little he could handle.

But Roman discovered his Two Stars potential, so he made him a steward of the livestock shed.

Roman asked him, "How many animals do we have in the livestock shed now?"

"Master, we have 173 draft horses, 239 oxen, 167 pigs, and 211 sheep," Yaki replied, showing great concern and an excellent memory for all matters regarding the livestock shed.

The Eastern Plateau’s animal husbandry was developed, with vast highland pastures.

Every highlander was extremely sensitive to the count of their livestock, whether one more or one less, it was a significant matter.

These highlanders were greatly oppressed by the barbarians to the east.

The Highland Kingdom was riddled with corruption and struggled to organize effective defenses.

Yaki was one of those afflicted, thinking his life was set in stone, but Roman unearthed his potential, giving him power and status, not minding his disability.

This gratitude warmed his heart.

The structure of the livestock shed also astounded him.

Spacious and bright, well-ventilated and clean, sturdy, and solid. It was practically a palace for the animals.

Roman concluded the livestock trade with Morry.

The development of Sige Town gradually attracted more merchants.

Most merchants didn’t carry much, but bringing two oxen and draft horses by boat was feasible, and Roman could exchange them for salt.

Gradually, the number of these animals increased, and so did the frequency of trades.

Roman ordered the reconstruction of the docks, expanding from one dock to five, allowing more merchant ships to dock and continuously bringing in flax, dyes, pottery, canvas, and oil products.

But for Roman, it still wasn’t enough, so he sent Daken to other markets to buy a large number of piglets, foals, lambs, calves, and chicks to start large-scale breeding.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to meet Roman’s demand for meat.

Yaki, limping, led Roman to the conservation area to inspect its conditions.

The sanitation and feed here were far superior to those on the breeding side.

The domestic pigs were highly prolific, now boasting seventy to eighty piglets, and there were also about twenty lambs.

The calves and foals were the least in number, totaling less than ten.

The foals were draft horses.

This breed was gentle and slow, not suitable for warfare but for transportation or labor, or to give the army’s warriors a slight taste of the thrill from horseback.

Roman didn’t plan on forming a cavalry unit yet.

Training a Conquest Knight was too costly.

A warhorse was also incredibly expensive, with a qualified one worth four gold coins. If he were to organize a unit, setting aside the costs of equipment and selection, just the price of warhorses was enough to overwhelm Sige Town.

Most of the time, such strategic materials couldn’t be bought even with money, requiring connections.