Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 275 - 11: The Violence Apparatus of the Ruling Class

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Chapter 275: Chapter 11: The Violence Apparatus of the Ruling Class

Roman had to spend two days settling the witches.

They brought considerable changes, the most direct being the increase of combat power in Roman’s hands by more than ten units.

Don’t underestimate them just because they are middle-rank witches.

In Origin City, they are genuine high-end combat forces, equivalent to squad leader level officers in an army.

Among them, Margaret caught his attention.

But since they just pledged loyalty, Roman couldn’t exactly have them reveal their secrets right away.

Once they became familiar with each other, some things could be easily discovered.

Secondly, Gwivelle and Sanna finally had teachers, and half-baked Galin could finally be relieved.

Lastly was the future potential changes.

Roman thought he might be able to use this batch of witches to establish a connection with the Witch Forest.

The Witch Forest had declined, but its foundations remained.

Things like metal smelting, universal magic, magic potion formulas, and ancient secrets were all of great use to Roman.

What intrigued him most was the Prophet Witch who had lived for over a century.

Shasta said the Prophet had the ability to activate hidden potential in others, which excited Roman.

So, once settled, Roman immediately had Shasta write a letter to the Witch Forest.

In this era of communication difficulties, delivering a letter was quite a challenge.

Some scholars knew how to train various birds to travel between two locations to transmit information.

However, this method had many hazards and even if many birds were released at once, there was no guarantee the message would reach the right person.

For confidential intelligence, a messenger had to be dispatched.

The Beast Witch could complete the task of delivering letters quickly and efficiently, as she could lodge her soul consciousness in a bird.

The downside was that if the host died, her soul would be damaged.

Moreover, this process required someone to care for her sleeping body long-term, making the Healing Witch Lusa an ideal candidate.

From this, one could see, although the witches had limited capabilities, what they could do was often beyond others’ reach.

This was the uniqueness of witches—they possessed special advantages.

At present, Roman didn’t need the witches to do anything irreplaceable.

However, he still assigned them tasks.

He couldn’t just let them do nothing.

Teaching Gwivelle and Sanna,

assisting military training,

and sometimes helping out in the kitchen when manpower was short by fetching water and chopping vegetables.

Finding something for them to do was straightforward, and it was also a way for them to quickly familiarize themselves with Origin Manor.

Only in a familiar environment can one truly relax.

...

And at this point in time,

the summer harvest in May arrived.

The over twenty thousand acres of winter wheat were finally ready for harvest!

According to Roman’s observations, this year’s winter wheat yield was noticeably higher than last year’s.

This made him extremely happy!

Due to the agricultural revolution increasing grain output, Origin City had never faced a food crisis.

However, with a rapidly growing population and mounting pressure, Roman had no way to store excess grain.

The food reserves from the last quarter were consumed almost entirely by the time the next harvest arrived.

Each time, he would only have around one hundred thousand pounds of reserve grain left.

Roman’s storage plans for Origin City were precisely calculated.

In other words, Origin City’s grain reserves have always been relatively tight.

If Roman encountered a disaster, he would have to lead troops outside to seize food.

As long as the residents of Origin City are not well-fed, he couldn’t care less whether the nobles outside could eat.

Why was he so focused on military strength?

It was to avoid food problems.

Fortunately, the basin had been blessed with favorable weather in recent years.

Or rather, the residents of Sige Town had not encountered any significant natural disasters, at most some summer floods, but the upstream plains were not affected, making it an almost ideal agricultural area.

Even so, food consumption was still quite extreme.

Now, this batch of winter wheat gave Roman hope for storing grain.

A good harvest indeed!

In these days, no one dislikes a good harvest.

Therefore, those silly witches cheerfully came to help as well.

This round of winter wheat was grown on land prepared the previous year, so the yield was relatively high.

The average yield per acre reached an astonishing over two hundred seventy pounds.

A total of over six million pounds of wheat was harvested.

Winter wheat had a higher flour yield compared to spring wheat, producing more flour.

The entire population of Origin City was celebrating this bountiful harvest.

Roman did not disappoint and had prepared for a celebration in advance.

It was still the banquet style—eat as you cook.

They deeply felt the generosity and benevolence from the Lord!

It wasn’t only the residents; even the prisoners of war were moved to tears.

After wading through water and mud every day, digging pits and carrying soil, and working like beasts in the swamps for a full three months,

now they could finally catch a breath!

Roman was wary of the prisoners causing trouble and had never relaxed his attitude toward them.

Prisoners had no human rights and a fixed daily labor quota.

Accomplish the work, you get three meals.

Fail and you get beaten, flogged severely, and if you continuously fail, then you await death.

This was labor reform!

In the process of heavy labor, the body becomes extremely fatigued, the will becomes less determined, making them easier to manipulate.

The prisoners cooperated as well.

Tired or not, they accepted it.

Damn it! Being prisoners, what good treatment could they still expect?

Saving all five limbs was already a win!

Eventually, there really was better treatment!

With a policy of carrot and stick, after this tough labor, not just the mercenaries, but even the believers’ army underwent some ideological change.

Gasp... this, this oppressive system is too advanced!

Felt the benevolent rule from Roman, the great Lord!

Of course, it was impossible for everyone to directly fuse into the kingdom.

But as long as some were swayed, it was sufficient.

Roman was in no rush regarding this.

Prisoners lacked human rights, whereas residents who integrated into the kingdom had them.

Naturally, it was easier to oppress the former.

For instance, the labor assigned to prisoners was definitely more compared to local residents.

If digging a canal required nine days, Roman would allow residents ten days, increasing the margin for error.

They manage their time freely, just needing to complete the work, then he would inspect the results.

However, the prisoners had no such leeway. If told nine days, it was expected in eight, seven days was the extreme, and failure to complete within six days led to whippings.

Roman planned to oppress them to the limit for a while, then release word that prisoners integrating into the kingdom could obtain residence registration.

By then, the scene would likely be of great fanfare and fireworks.

Anyway, mercenaries would certainly be the first to defect and surrender with respect.

Once they obtained the green card for Origin City, Roman could smoothly assimilate them into the army.

As for those believers who held steadfast to their faith in All Gods, Roman greatly respected their persistence.

Continue using them to exhaustion!

Origin City was autocratic, a regime in which one class ruled another with violence.

The more slaves without human rights, the better.

Because, relatively speaking, the cost Roman spent on slaves was very low, but the returns were high.

He was not afraid of rebellion, because if one occurred, the residents with human rights would spontaneously become enemies of the slaves, upholding the ruling class’s interests.