Mountain and Forest Kingdom

Sofia stood on the balcony of the Harbor Villa and looked at the harbor city in the distance. The warm sea breeze was blowing in her face. It was already a sunny afternoon outside.

Breathing in the fresh air, Sophia's mood became active and she turned to look inside the house.

The young prophet was calculating some data with a pen on the paper, and it seemed that he would not be able to finish it for a while.

The bold and lively Sophia didn't care so much. She walked in and urged directly: "Master, why are you so busy? Why don't we go out for a walk?"

Lawrence raised his head and looked at Sophia, smiled and said: "Just wait for me for half an hour, and that's almost it."

Sofia was satisfied after hearing an accurate time. She quickly walked to the side and sat down. She put her hands on the armrests of the chair and sat down with her legs crossed in boredom.

Her legs changed positions every second, and she seemed a little unable to sit still.

"Master, what have you been busy with lately? Is it about the war?"

Hearing Sophia's inquiry, Lawrence replied while doing his own thing: "It's still the same thing as before, calculating the approximate ration consumption and determining the wages of various industries."

Sophia asked curiously: "Isn't that a long time ago? I remember I was busy with this in the spring, and it's not over yet?"

Lawrence lowered his head and thought about the data, but still answered Sophia's question casually.

In terms of knowledge, Lawrence has always been willing to share and tell others how important what he does is, but most of the time Sophia and the women around him are not interested in such things.

All the women, including Saryl and Catherine, lacked interest in this aspect of the matter.

"I have said it, they are from all walks of life." Lawrence smiled, "Not only the shieldmaidens and maids around us, but also serfs, farmhands, tenant farmers, guards, patrolmen, dock workers, sailors, and soldiers from various regions , coachman, cook, etc.”

"This is a huge amount of data, and it is very important to us. I have to spend more time processing it."

Lawrence didn't feel tired, and added: "Cassandra helped me a lot. I sorted out too many things, and sometimes I forget them, so I have to check with Cassandra every night. She can remember it and quickly find the corresponding data for me to check when I need it.”

When the numbers become extremely huge, Cassandra's ability to store data becomes crucial.

Her ability is like a computer, able to quickly record and store various information.

Especially now that there is a shortage of paper books, staff and civil servants, this ability is becoming more and more important.

Sofia was not interested in such things and complained: "Why should we pay them? Aren't they our slaves?"

Lawrence said: "Slaves also need to eat."

Sophia said matter-of-factly: "Yes, I am the master's slave, and I must eat, but why should I give them wages?"

Lawrence stopped calculating the data, discussed the matter with Sophia, and said: "I give you a lot, you have daily food, as well as a monthly allowance for pocket money and luxury goods. You are just receiving a salary. "

"It's different!" Sophia said seriously: "What the master gave me was given to me by the master. Those people are obviously our slaves, but they take money and food from us every month. This is unheard of!"

Lawrence shook his head. Even after living together for more than ten years, there were still many differences in the thinking and cognition between the two parties.

If it is an extraordinary person outside, the difference will be even greater. Many times we cannot talk together, and we cannot understand each other's language but cannot communicate.

People in civilized society and slave society are all human beings, and the essential difference is not big.

There are some mentally retarded fools, and there are also people whose brains cannot react. Of course, there are also some geniuses.

People need to eat, and eating is the core thing that runs through all civilizations and development.

Lawrence observed for more than a month, from young girls to strong dock workers, to young men and veterans eating and drinking at the military academy.

Regardless of whether you are poor or rich, people's physical fitness and basic needs are there.

It’s not that people in the civilized world eat less, nor is it that farmers in the feudal era ate wild vegetables and bark all day long.

No matter how good you are mentally, if your physical fitness is there, you will be hungry and have no energy if you don’t have enough to eat.

Whether they are hard laborers or slaves, if people are not fed enough for a long time, these people will soon be useless.

In the past, the life of the Pumixiu people was not bad. They could not eat meat for every meal, but they could basically eat enough.

You can’t eat delicate bread, but you can still eat hard bread with grains.

Because of Andrew's powerful relationship, Salil can often eat meat and eat pure wheat bread that won't break her teeth.

Pirates often go out to do business. Coupled with the small population and abundant marine resources, they can have enough to eat to a certain extent.

On the contrary, people in the West next door have been suffering from malnutrition for a long time, and they often rise up and cause trouble every now and then.

If you don't have enough to eat, you will rebel. This is a sure thing.

Now that food production has increased, although Lawrence continued to use the term slave, he never really treated people as slaves.

Maybe from the outside world, the Kingdom of the Stars is a slave system, but from the inside, this country has only one slave owner.

Does a country with only one slave owner count it as slavery?

Moreover, human sacrifice and human trafficking, two standard features of slavery, have been outlawed. Now, in addition to feeding people, Lawrence also wants to increase the enthusiasm of some talented people.

The brutal slavery system will definitely be overthrown. Lawrence is not in a hurry to abolish slavery immediately, but has been doing things little by little.

Lawrence also understood the logic of the witches. The witches did not think that because there were many people below, they were right.

The establishment of the Kingdom of the Stars was a combination of supernatural power and local barbarians. It was the master recognized by the witches who created this kingdom and made it a rich place.

That group of people came from outside like parasites, sucking blood and asking for money within a few years of living here?

Sophia didn't understand why she would give her own things to those who worked for her. It was obviously her place that provided them with protection.

Slaves should work. Now the witches do not object to the treatment given to people like Fleiss and Seravan, but they do not understand why they should provide treatment to those who have no impression.

What did they do? What else do you do besides farming?

The Kingdom of the Stars was not built on the strength of serfs, but on the strength of witches and barbarian warriors, especially the conquerors under the leadership of Lawrence.

The slaves were forced or semi-forced to gather on this land as trophies of conquest, and they were given very good treatment, even so good that people from outside risked their lives to cross the sea.

In the past, when the time was not ripe, productivity was not enough, and if we paid wages during a period when everyone did not have enough to eat, it would only affect production.

Now that we have almost settled down, before slavery is abolished, the people below must have a certain amount of savings so that they will not continue to be slaves.

If the following group of people are all people without extra food and daily necessities, even if it is announced that slavery will be abolished, these people will only get confusion and panic.

It will take at least a few years to slowly accumulate wealth.

At least the farmers must cultivate land that can support their families, otherwise they will still be working for others.

In addition, in the past few years, every household has been raising a family. To lift the slavery system at this time, for the residents of the Kingdom of the Stars who have no intention of resisting the slavery system, this seems to be depriving them of their legal status to survive in this land. All the same, it will only cause chaos.

People from the outside world start as slaves. Slave is a derogatory term in the outside world, but not here in the Kingdom of Stars. Especially Heidi and Sophia, who both start as female slaves and slowly rise up are the key. figure.

There are also slave-born nobles like Seravan and Beow.

The status of slaves did not cause any trouble to anyone, but rather protected most people on this land.

Instead of always caring about whether slaves are slaves or not, it is better to give them more money and let them have some savings.

This is Lawrence's idea. Compared with names and systems, giving everyone enough food and spare money is the real kindness.

The people below don't care at all whether they are slaves or sharecroppers. Even if you are a slave, you are not qualified to call yourself master. If you are not a slave, do you dare not be a prophet?

Even if Lawrence didn't care, the barbarians around him would teach this disrespectful man with unforgettable pain, or even kill him directly.

Before the savages learned to respect life, the identity of slaves was the best protection for the weak. They were Lawrence's slaves, whether they were men or women. Anyone who dared to kill them would be destroying Lawrence's private property.

Without this layer of identity, what you get is so-called freedom.

This kind of freedom, in the eyes of most people, is as severe and cruel a punishment as being deported into exile.

Despite the opposition and incomprehension of many people, Lawrence successfully formulated the ration wages for all walks of life.

Wages were mainly in grain, and only warriors and craftsmen, as well as Lawrence's Holy Legion, had direct access to money.

This food is not only for the people who work, but also a guarantee for them to support their families. Even farmers who farm at home can supplement their family's food accumulation, or they can eat more securely and become richer.

Without this ration salary, in addition to paying taxes and daily consumption, many people would also have to use part of it to exchange supplies, buy salt, firewood, clothes, and briquettes for the winter.

Now the productivity of agriculture has been greatly improved, and the output from the land is enough for everyone to eat until next year.

The most critical issue is that after the land area doubles, there will be some areas where production will be reduced or even no harvest due to weather disasters.

At this time, you need the food you usually accumulate to tide over the difficulties. If you don't save enough, you need to sell your children, daughters, and wives' houses to survive.

Save money and food.

There is no need for Lawrence to teach them about this kind of thing. These people are not fools. They may not understand what a civilized society is, what a slave society and a feudal society are, but they definitely know how to deal with tomorrow and next year.

***

At the monastery, Bull issued the prophet's decree while leading a group of nuns in prayer.

"According to the prophet's order, each of our sisters can receive the prophet's rewards like warriors and shield maidens in the future."

"The great prophet knows our dedication and loyalty. There is no need to complain or compare with others. No matter how much the prophet gives us, we should be grateful."

Bull actually felt that this was very bad. As a nun, she shouldn't receive a fixed ration salary according to the month. It's not like there was no food in the convent.

If food and money are given out every month, what's the difference between being a nun and those soldiers outside?

A salaried believer?

Although he was very opposed to this kind of salary payment, Lawrence's decision was an order in this area, more absolute than any imperial edict.

Bull could only tell the nuns this unpleasantly.

The senior nuns under her also didn't understand this kind of thing.

"Lord Bull, we already gave a dowry when we came to the monastery. As prophets and servants of God, we have always eaten and stayed here. Why do you still need to give us food?"

Bull looked at these nuns. The nun who asked the question was the princess of the Kingdom of Kojako, a female noble who was closely related to this place.

These people have no worries about food and clothing. They also contributed a lot of money and assets when they came in. After moving into the monastery, they are pampered every day. They don't need to do chores, let alone worry about eating.

Now suddenly they are told to give them wheat and millet, these people are only afraid.

"I don't quite understand the prophet's will." Bull honestly revealed his heart, "But I think this must have the prophet's intention. The great, wise and benevolent prophet will guide us."

"Whether it is God's instructions or the prophet's instructions, it makes no difference to us. We just accept them gratefully."

A group of noble nuns looked at each other with helpless expressions.

There really is no way.

Whether it's good or bad, all we can do is accept it.

For most people, the payment of rations and wages is a very bad thing, which makes people feel scared and worried.

If you receive ration wages, you won’t be able to eat in the cafeteria in the future, right?

If you suddenly have to give a bag of food, does that mean you have to go out to fight?

Or let's go to a farther place to open up wasteland... This kind of thing is even more terrifying! !

Many people who are eligible to receive ration wages would rather die here than go out to open up wasteland.

While others were worried about the future, the little nuns in the convent were excited.

Under the daily guidance of the little nun, several other little girls doing chores in the convent are also looking forward to the distribution of rations.

Lawrence does not pay ration wages to everyone. He still gives priority to his own people, first from the early entrepreneurial team, then to the priority craftsman area and military area, as well as several areas near Oak City.

These grains come from last year's reserves and from cheap grains that are continuously shipped from all over the world.

The Lawrence family's warehouse couldn't hold it.

Now there is not enough room to store gold, silver and jewelry, and the granary cellar also takes up a lot of space, so despite the objections of many people, Lawrence did not let the grain continue to mold in the dark cellar. (End of chapter)