Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 198 - 3: I Am the Mandate of Heaven!

Chapter 198: Chapter 3: I Am the Mandate of Heaven!

The development these days had actually gone quite smoothly.

However, what troubled Roman was that the commercial routes to Sige Town had been blockaded.

Since the end of that war, not a single merchant ship had come to Sige Town, and not a single merchant had come to do business with him.

The Earl of Kant and the five great Nobles had sealed it off tightly.

They believed that by doing so, they could starve Roman, winning the war without a fight.

Little did they know that the residents of Sige Town were living quite comfortably.

It was laughable—they wouldn’t starve at all.

But they inadvertently caused Roman a great deal of trouble.

Roman needed to purchase a large amount of materials to speed up development.

Considering the simple social structure of Sige Town, it definitely couldn’t produce everything.

For example, making pencils required graphite, and printing needed ink, or else students wouldn’t be able to do their homework.

For example, the Wood Factory needed paints and varnishes to protect the furniture.

For example, pottery and ceramic jars were all purchased from the outside.

For example, many pieces of military equipment required lubrication and waxing.

Although Roman could have carpenters plane wooden bowls and coopers make barrels, there were no hands to fire pottery.

Those broken pottery jars were all unique, never to be reproduced.

Of course, these things could be produced.

But the issue was that to develop those industries, many people were needed, inevitably leading to the creation of an independent industry.

Where would Sige Town find extra hands now?

This need for materials was multi-leveled and multifaceted.

Many things seemed trivial, but were actually very important.

Once cut off from the outside world, Roman was like a good cook without rice—quite troubled.

Without a supplement of foreign goods, it was extremely frustrating.

Of course, there was no major problem now, as there was still enough stock.

But Roman had the habit of planning ahead.

Trade was the essence of the territory’s development; losing trade meant losing vitality.

Some farmers had savings at home.

Some families had a Soldier, and the family received the soldier’s military salary.

Some were engaged in special professions and received Roman’s rewards.

Some sold livestock or stored grain to Roman.

Others got up early and worked late, secretly Planting grains, which Roman’s men harvested, and were compensated for.

Roman satisfied their basic needs.

But once basic needs were met, farmers had to face other needs.

Wealthy farmers would rush to the docks to do business with merchants when merchant ships arrived to buy some goods.

Including but not limited to furniture, pottery, textiles, beer, cheese either to decorate their houses or to improve their quality of life.

Some goods could be produced by Sige Town.

Others couldn’t be produced at all.

Take textiles, for example.

Although Roman had created looms, they were useless without raw materials.

Now that early summer had arrived, residents couldn’t wear wool sweaters and could only wear as thin linen clothes as possible.

But Roman hadn’t planted linen—he found it troublesome to deal with and preferred buying ready-made items.

Now they were really stuck.

Without being able to buy goods for a long time, Sige Town would become stagnant.

For Sige Town, which was rapidly rising, and its citizens who had a high desire for development, this was akin to a devastating blow.

Of course, Roman didn’t think the five great Nobles could blockade the river for three to five years—they couldn’t even last half a year.

It was merely a war of attrition.

Either I couldn’t stand it, or you couldn’t.

Regrettably, Roman lost, and he lost thoroughly.

He had a high Persistence when it came to farming, willing to work hard for two to three years, but he absolutely could not bear being choked by others!

Because in his past life, he was a hardcore fan of the S3 season!

What do you think you are!

Dare to choke me!

...

Roman had gathered all of Sige Town’s military forces.

A total of two thousand men.

These Soldiers had undergone at least two months of physical and drill training.

Physical training was self-explanatory—the stronger one’s physical condition, the stronger one’s combat ability.

Drill training not only improved organizational strength and discipline but also reinforced muscle memory.

More importantly, it altered their physical and mental appearance.

You could tell what a farmer looked like with one glance.

Dark-skinned, unable to stand straight, hunched back, awkward gait.

A completely healthy person walked as if he had Yaki’s gait.

Roman could tell from afar that they exuded a countryside poor and lowly scent.

Why the hell are you all timid!

Straighten your spine, head up, chest out!

A soldier should look like a soldier!

Of course, Roman never lost his temper with his Soldiers; only Jet with his Thin Sword Whip could do that.

As a Sword Master skilled in the art of killing, Jet’s hands were extremely steady, and his strikes were precise, hitting areas of the body that wouldn’t cause serious injury but were painfully accurate.

Not to mention the new recruits—even last year’s veterans felt anxious around Jet.

All stood at attention with stiff necks, not daring to relax even a bit.

Two months had passed, with remarkable results.

Their military posture and formations had greatly improved their spirits!

One look, and they appeared filled with vigor!

...

The army assembled.

Roman gave a pre-battle speech to all the professional soldiers:

"We are about to wage a war!

"Yes, we are heading into battle again soon!

"Why are we waging this war?

"Because of you!

"Don’t look around or doubt, it’s because of you!!

"Some of you are of slave origin, some from the Kant Territory, some born and bred here.

"I ask you, what were your lives like before?

"Hungry! Exposed! Sick and impoverished!

"Am I exaggerating? Not at all! A mere cold could kill you! You had no protection for your lives!

"You have rulers, you have Lords, why have you come to this?

"Because your Lords don’t care a whit about your lives!

"I want to ask!

"Why!

"Why can they treat you like this!

"Is it because you are disloyal? Is it because you disrespect your Lords? Are you not tame enough?

"No! You’ve done nothing wrong!

"It’s all their insatiable greed! It’s their unbounded demands!

"It’s their oppression of you!!

"There’s only a system of oppression! No basic protection!

"Only rights to exploit! No duty to help!

"Those idiots! Those vermin! They are not qualified rulers! They’re not qualified Lords at all!

"And such vermin are everywhere! Too many! Too many! They can never be completely killed!

"But!

"Will you just sit and wait for death!!

"Can you only watch helplessly as your family suffers, as they starve, as they freeze to death?

"Yes, you can only watch helplessly! You can only endure, suffer, and live each day...

"Because you are too weak! You have no strength! You have no rights!

"From now on!!

"Everything changes!!

"I! Your now and future, the only Lord! I, Roman, grant you the right to rebel!

"I want you to unite!!

"If you lack strength, I endow it upon you!

"If you lack weapons, I provide them to you!

"If you lack rights, I grant you the right to rebel!

"I have only one demand of you!

"And that is to resist! Resist! Resist until the end!

"At all times remember! Only the spirit of resistance is indestructible!

"Incompetent Lords don’t deserve to rule you! They are unworthy!!

"From this day forward! I will lead you! We’ll kill every single one of those unfit vermin! One by one! Until the rivers run red with their blood! Until we’re surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

"And for this! We need war!

...

"Are you afraid of war?

"Whoever dares to say they’re not, I’ll whip him!

"Because I am afraid! What makes you think you can be fearless!

"I’m afraid we will be defeated, I’m afraid we will lose our future, I’m afraid we will lose hope!

"I’m afraid that you will have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no home to live in, I’m afraid your parents will die of exhaustion, I’m afraid your wife will be sick without anyone to care for her, I’m afraid your children won’t get enough nutrition to grow up!

"I’m really scared!!

"But! You should know! You ought to know!

"Humans are a life form that finds courage when they are frightened!

"The hymn of humanity is a hymn of courage!

"The greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage!

"We stand together, live and die together, fight shoulder to shoulder!

"We must win this war, because we must carve out our living space!!

"And we must win future wars, because we must cement our foundation of existence!!

"We have no one to rely on! We have no allies! Yet we challenge the whole land! But we will certainly win!!

"Because destiny is with me!

"Because I am destiny!

"Destiny is obvious! We are invincible!"

...

In the early summer of the following year.

Roman stood erect, in front of all the soldiers. He raised his right fist high, shouting at the top of his lungs.

And in response...

Were soldiers also holding their right fists high above their heads, sparkling like a Divine Ring.

They let out a roar like a tsunami, "Destiny is obvious, we are invincible!"