I Was Reincarnated as a Marquis in Another World- Chapter 11

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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A year had already passed since I instructed the village chiefs on the revolutionary farming method and began governing and managing this territory.

Many changes had occurred during that time.

When I ordered the peasants to plant turnips on the land where wheat had been planted and beans on the land where barley had been planted, they initially collectively rebelled.

Fortunately, they followed along because I promised the village chiefs that if the farming failed using this method, I would directly bear all the losses.

And before starting the bean and turnip farming, I ordered them to scrape the soil accumulated on the forest floor, sprinkle it on the fields, and plow the land.

This way, even without making separate fertilizer, an effect equivalent to that could be obtained.

However, until people saw the bean stalks and turnip leaves growing rapidly, they did not believe it, even if it was the words of their lord who had retrieved their property.

No, rather, they extremely disliked it because they had to work 12 hours a day on farming, which used to be 8 hours a day, because of me.

So much so that I even heard these words while passing by:

“At this rate, should we just start a rebellion!

Not only does he make us do half more farming work, but he also ruins the fields by planting beans and turnips in the fields that should be resting!

Wouldn’t it be better to just cut off the young lord’s head and become slash-and-burn farmers?”

Well, even without me taking action, the village chief reportedly flogged the guy who said those words for the crime of cursing the “merciful Lord Ciel who returned the stolen property and grain,” going beyond disrespect.

When I heard those words, I was honestly shocked.

Even though I promised that it would be a jackpot if it went well and that I would at least make sure they broke even if it didn’t, they still had such complaints.

However, a few months later, when it was time to harvest the beans and turnips, my nickname changed from “the crazy lord doing weird things” to “the great lord who allows us to make a living.”

Because although not as delicious as wheat, rye, or barley, the harvested turnips and beans at least allowed these people to endure the barley hill they were worried about.

So, in order to gain the maximum support from the people of the territory, I proclaimed that I would not collect taxes on beans and turnips for this year only.

As a side note, Ella, who had somehow become close with the villagers, was also happy when I issued this order.

And some time later, we harvested the barley, and a few months after that, we harvested the wheat.

As a result of cultivating crops in this way, we were able to obtain about 7 times the amount of food.

Although 70% of this was turnips, they were sincerely delighted to be able to eat their fill, even if it was turnips.

Some children, upon seeing me pass by, ran up to me, held my hand, and said,

“Lord, you are amazing! Thanks to you, my mother was happy that we can eat three meals a day this year!”

“So she told us to be grateful to you every day while eating!”

“I also want to become a great person like you someday, Lord!”

Of course, when the parents of the children who approached me so freely saw this, they were startled and ran over to make the children kneel and apologize…

But I just stopped them and quietly patted the children’s heads.

At times like this, treating the children kindly rather than driving them away is helpful for future governance as well.

No, more than that, it’s just because I like seeing the sight of people who were starving until half a year ago being grateful for being able to eat their fill thanks to me, using the knowledge I learned in modern times.

**

“Master, Master~!! Wake up.”

Ella shook my body.

Usually, I would open my eyes right away, ask, “Yes, did you sleep well?” and then get up.

But today, for some reason, I felt like playing a prank on Ella.

“No, just 5 more minutes… Just 5 more minutes of sleep..”

“Master..”

“No.. really, just 5 more minutes.”

Then Ella pulled my blanket, made a sulky expression, and said,

“No, Master. You have to get up quickly and eat bread.

I made bread and soup, so let’s eat together. Varso is also waiting.”

“Ah, okay. okay.”

I got up as if I had no choice, changed my clothes, and went to the dining room.

When I went to the dining room, Varso was waiting for food with a blank expression as always.

“Ella, give me bread. No, meat too..”

“Yes, Varso. Is chicken okay?”

Hearing those words, Varso made a gloomy expression for no reason and said,

“No, I’m also a noble, and the young master is the successor of His Excellency the Marquis, so do we really need to be so frugal?”

“It’s because it’s the young master’s order.”

If a stranger saw this, it would look like a family member complaining about why they don’t make more delicious side dishes.

When I first came to this territory and told Varso to eat together with Ella, Ella was extremely uncomfortable with Varso.

Because even though Varso looks like that, he is a knight, so she used to watch his reaction even if he just coughed while eating.

But after eating together like that for a month or two, they became close like now.

As I was about to sit down and start eating, Varso looked at me with a serious expression.

I was already a little annoyed that he complained about side dishes when I was trying to eat, so I said in a slightly disgruntled voice.

“Let’s just eat. Today is a rare day with nothing to do, so let’s rest comfortably.”

At those words, Varso spoke in a voice mixed with regret.

“Yes, young master. But when will we have pork or beef…?”

“Not this year.

Absolutely not this year.

Because I used up all the tax collected from the territory’s peasants to buy horses, cows, pigs, and carts.”

“Aren’t those things usually all borne by the peasants?

If you say you’ll do that, young master, they don’t seem to particularly oppose it either.”

As he said, honestly, since I crazily increased the harvest (by a whopping 7 times) and made it so that the peasants wouldn’t starve to death, the peasants have come to believe and follow whatever I say.

To the point where even if I suddenly go crazy and say, “The sun will rise from the west today, so let’s go see the sunrise on the west mountain,” the peasants in our village would show the momentum to all follow along.

So even if I order them to buy a lot of livestock without asking for their opinion, no one would oppose it.

If the number of livestock increases right now, the cost of livestock will initially be a burden, but they can be sufficiently raised by feeding them turnip and bean stalks, and raising them like that and selling them later will make money.

However, in order to proceed with the plan I established, I have to bear all the costs and buy the livestock first. Because livestock is needed to use the farming tools I want to create.

“So when will the livestock arrive? Varso.”

“I heard they will arrive around this afternoon. The peasants in the village will have already built barns and stables for the new livestock.”

“Is that so? It’s going according to plan.”

Hearing those words, Varso sighed and said,

“Even so, what is this, young master?

I don’t know about me, but for you to eat only chicken every day… If His Excellency the Marquis of Kreutel finds out, he will sigh.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll persuade Father well.”

**

“Young master, a little while ago, the Secretary of Letters delivered a letter sent to you by His Excellency the Marquis and left.”

I received the letter from Varso and opened it.

[I’m glad to see that you seem to be doing well in the Windheim territory.

Thanks to that, the retainers who were worried about you not going to the academy are now relieved, and they are praising me for having foresight.]

[Also, I heard that you created a method of farming called the four-field crop rotation, which allows farming without leaving fallow land.

So I would like you to inform the other retainers and nobles about this new farming method, so can you come immediately and teach them?]

When I finished reading the letter, Varso and Ella asked.

“Master, what was written in it?”

“Young master, what is the content..”

“Ah, Father asked me to share the farming method I used in Windheim.

Since eliminating starving peasants and increasing the harvest of agricultural products will help the prosperity of the territory to that extent.

He wants me to go and teach them right away.”

I spoke as if it was nothing, but sharing this farming method with nobles other than our territory’s retainers could be a big problem.

First of all, compared to the benefit of increased harvest that can be obtained, this farming method does not require much effort to emulate.

Just add the effort of providing fertilizer, increase the area of farming by that much, and accurately follow the order I instructed, that’s all.

However, the effect that can be obtained is enormous.

By cultivating radish and beans, if you just put in the effort of continuously farming and using twice the labor force instead of letting the land rest, you can harvest more than 7 times the amount compared to before.

That’s why historians evaluated this farming method as the “foundation of the Industrial Revolution” and said to the extent of “It was the only reason why England was able to go from a food-poor country to a food-exporting country.”

Therefore, if this farming method spreads, the food production of the entire territory that adopts this technology will increase like crazy.

But the problem is, if the overall productivity rises across a wide area, including our territory… A war may break out to seize the territory with high productivity, and our Kreutel Marquisate could be ruined in an instant.

On the other hand, if that bastard of a duke with his rotten personality, whom we serve as our lord, finds out that the Kreutel Marquisate is in this state, he will send a few soldiers and take an enormous amount of food…

Seeing me lost in thought, Varso spoke to me.

“Excuse me, young master? Do you have any concerns?”

I waved my hand and said,

“No, there’s no such thing as concerns.

It’s just that the livestock will arrive soon, and then I have to directly teach how to put the farming tools on the livestock and how to use them…

I’m worried that there will be setbacks if I leave for a while.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right. As you know, I designed and made all those farming tools. Only I know both the usage and application.”

Hearing those words, Varso let go of his suspicion and replied,

“Indeed, who would know how to use those besides you, young master?

Even that strange farming method.

Even now, when the village chiefs have questions about what is what, they come to you, don’t they?”

“That’s right.”

“So you have to write everything down before you go.

Young master, about what needs to be done.

Some of the peasants in this village can read, no, if you write it down in detail, they will figure it out on their own.”

Wait a minute, writing? Conveying it through writing?

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind. If I just bring this idea to life, I will be able to achieve all the goals I want.

Varso must have been frustrated by my lack of response, so he tapped the desk and said,

“Young master, young master.

So, you need to leave clear instructions to the village chiefs about how to use those farming tools and how to distribute the livestock to the farmers before you go.

We will manage all the horses and cows, but you’re planning to grant the pigs, right?”

“That’s right. Varso. You’re correct.

But do you happen to know how to handle administrative tasks?”

At those words, Varso replied with a serious expression.

“A valiant knight only needs to know how to ride a horse and read letters.”

“Let’s just write down the usage and application and leave it to the village chiefs.

They wouldn’t dare to misuse it when I’m going to personally check.”

With that, I responded to the summons and headed to the castle where the Marquis was.

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