Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 277 - 13: Take Full Control of Their Destiny!

Planting pasture on some cornered lands, Roman had no objections.

But that was tens of thousands of acres, not a small figure.

In the final analysis, staple food had a higher priority.

At most, three thousand acres of remote land could be spared for the planting of pasture.

Without pasture, there could be no breeding.

But Roman was not willing to give up breeding.

He had to look for new places to breed.

Once, he had found a herd of wild horses on a grassland.

Now it was time to make use of them.

Roman planned to build a breeding town there, with all the grasslands planned into a large-scale pasture for extensive grazing and raising.

Grazing was more labor-saving than pen-raising. freewebnøvel.coɱ

But Roman personally had to find the exact location.

He had come to this vast grassland again.

This was also considered a plain, yet much smaller than that of Origin City, and while called a plain, it was not really flat, filled with low grass mounds and gentle slopes, with not much undulation.

The entire grassland spanned over ten kilometers horizontally and twenty kilometers vertically, totaling three hundred thousand acres of grassland.

The only concern was the low location of the land, which might be submerged.

Ultimately, Roman chose an elliptical natural meadow with wetlands inside and surrounded by mountains.

Here, the terrain was flat and wide and the soil fertile, with streams crisscrossing, and convenient conditions for both rainfall and irrigation for the growth of pasture.

The drawback was that the unselected pasture did not have a competitive edge against wild grass and could not expand its living space.

To turn it into high-quality pasture, further management and transformation were needed, and the breeding of pasture had to be scheduled.

Roman delineated the area and arranged for manpower to come and develop it.

During this time, he encountered a group of wild donkeys, which was an unexpected pleasure.

Like the wild horses, this group of wild donkeys was also a significant asset; they had extraordinary endurance and, once domesticated, could be used for farming, riding, and even military purposes.

Roman returned to the estate.

Gwivelle was still in a weak phase.

She seemed to have a high fever, her face flushed, and her body covered with dense rashes—anyone unaware might think she had a mishap from drinking a magic potion.

With the careful care of Shasta and others, although she was somewhat weak, her overall state was still quite good.

"Gwivelle, look what I’ve brought you," Roman removed his wide hat, carrying a bound live animal into Gwivelle’s room.

"It’s a donkey..." Her eyes lit up a bit.

"A gift for you, once you recover, you’ll be able to feed it yourself." He lifted the thirty-five-pound donkey, annoyed by its noisy braying, and so gagged its mouth.

Roman had originally chosen other gifts.

For example, picking some beautiful wildflowers to weave into a wreath, or picking up some rare stones as souvenirs for her.

But on his way there, he happened upon a group of wild donkeys, so he caught a young one.

"Mm." She looked delighted, her eyes squinting into crescents, "Then how long do I need to raise it before I can eat it?"

Roman was stunned; his original intention was to domesticate it for Gwivelle to use as a means of transportation—actually, a pony would have been better, but inferior horses were not presentable, he was reluctant to part with high-quality horses, and a high-quality donkey seemed just right.

"Three to five years," Roman said off-handedly.

He handed the donkey over to a maid, who took it to the stables with her.

He did not stay at the estate for too long and turned to go to Origin City.

Summer cultivation was still in progress.

This round was still planting soybeans.

Because tofu was too delicious!

One pound of soybeans could be made into three to five pounds of tofu, which barely could be used as a staple food.

Roman came this time not just to check on the cultivation progress but also to inspect the current condition of the hospital.

In the past time, Roman had again arranged for dozens of nuns who were not so devout, but knowledgeable in medicine, to work in the hospital.

These nuns came from diverse backgrounds, some from noble families, some from gentry, some from merchant backgrounds.

For various reasons, they left their original environments and became nuns of the Eve Monastery.

From then on, they adhered to the monastic precepts, maintaining purity and a lifestyle of abstinence. In name, it was to dedicate body and soul to All Gods.

It could only be said that not all nuns enjoyed such a life.

Nuns prone to wavering generally lacked devotion.

Especially just after they had faced significant upheavals in life and had been declared no longer nuns.

Roman did not have the authority to abolish a nun’s status.

The nuns knew this too.

But, you see, they were not warriors tempered through a thousand trials.

A person’s identity usually stems from external affirmation.

Without a sufficiently strong mind, it’s impossible not to be influenced.

Not to mention nuns, even if an emperor walked out onto the streets and everyone ceased to treat you as an emperor, then you truly would not be an emperor.

That nuns could be influenced simply meant their faith was not devout.

In Roman’s view, the less devout people were, the more value they had for reform.

They were young, vibrant, energetic, with the potential for future growth.

More importantly, they had a conscience—even if just a bit—but compared to those vermin, they still resembled humans somewhat.

Roman intended to establish a new medical system and incorporate it into Origin City’s public health service system.

But this point was also the most difficult.

The level of medical care in this era was evident to all.

The royal family, of course, had Imperial Physicians, but they were certainly not meant for the masses.

Moreover, in Roman’s view, everyone was a quack, all deserving to be taken out and shot!

He was about to establish a complete, or rather not-so-complete, medical system, and this was absolutely unprecedented.

This meant that everything had to start from scratch.

Roman had to train a group of medical personnel who fit the hospital system.

Regulate their behavior,

Clarify their obligations,

Teach them skills.

Like the agricultural revolution, this was a genuine medical revolution.

There also had to be a pay and reward system.

All personnel in the public hospital would have their salaries distributed by Origin City’s Ministry of Finance.

Theoretically, their duties were not just to assist in childbirth.

Though that was the original intention of the hospital, the reason for its establishment, and the foundation for its construction...

It did not mean that other patients could be ignored.

In an era where a common cold or flu could easily lead to death, providing basic medical care could significantly reduce the death rate.

Cold? BANG! We’ll give you a shot!

A capable labor force requires twenty years to grow; how could one allow this herd of cattle and horses to be snuffed out by trivial illnesses!

This was also one of the most vital junctions in the development of civilization.

A strong society must ensure that people feel their lives are being protected rather than letting them die like weeds in a neglected corner.

If even the basic guarantee of life cannot be provided to the people, then the society is inevitably unstable and disconcerting.

In such a society, don’t even talk about organizational or mobilization capacities.

The rulers definitely can’t fully control their people.

Because at the bottom, everyone is cursing the damned ruler up high.

Roman’s desire for control was strong and domineering.

Organizational and mobilization capacities had to be raised.

Besmirched name? No matter.

Keep cursing, hmmph, you bunch of fools are overdue for weeding out!

But they were all his property, not to be lost before serving their full purpose!

Fully control their destinies!

Like an invisible pair of hands manipulating every puppet on the stage of Origin City.