Imperial Calendar, September 1453.

It has been four years since the two grand wars in the Thousand River Valley.

It has also been two and a half years since the signing of the "Treaty of Wolfbridge Shire" and the triumphant return ceremony of the three major armies.

This war, which lasted four years and occurred twice, finally came to an end two and a half years ago.

As for whether there will be a third Thousand River Valley war, people are uncertain.

But at least they are sure that the battlefield for the third Thousand River Valley war will not be in the Thousand River Valley, and the opponent will not be the Leia people.

Because the entire Leia Kingdom can no longer manage itself.

In September 1449, the Battle of Falan-Leia Windmill Land broke out.

In October 1449, the Battle of the Border Royal Court erupted, and by November of the following year, the Royal Court's forces were pointing straight at Golden Horn Bay.

In May 1451, after two years of negotiations, the Oslar Clan and the royal family fell apart once again, and Duke Omes raised the banner of independence.

The entire Leia Kingdom was in chaos like a pot of oatmeal.

In contrast to those terrifying wars, it was the Thousand River Valley, once mired in conflict, that gained the rare peace of this era.

Shells and war, blood and plague have gradually disappeared from people's daily lives.

Shangruifo County was no exception.

After four years of recovery, this county, which had experienced the Great Flood of 1444, the first Thousand River Valley War of 1445, the Great Flood of 1447, and the second Thousand River Valley War of 1449, finally ushered in a rare peace.

The scars of the war and flood gradually healed, and farmers once again stood on the abandoned farmlands.

Only when plowing and digging, occasionally digging out arrowheads, could prove that this brutal war hadn't been gone long.

The horse hooves clattered on the moist gravel, making a dull, sticky sound.

In early September, even though it was overcast in Shangruifo County, it was still muggy.

Sitting on his saddle, Aleksei lifted his beaver hat and observed the High Castle Basin ahead.

On both sides, blue-grey mountain terraces embraced, and the V-shaped mountain entrance with the azure sky seemed to frame the corner of the basin in front.

The closer Aleksei's group got, the more they could hear the "gurgle" and "whoosh" of the rushing water in the valley.

On the slender strip fields, the crack of whips driving the draught horses could be heard.

The rustle of farmers spreading fertilizer mixed with the long folk songs in the air.

In the distance, there were also the sounds of vendors shouting their wares and the stubborn "ee-aw" of mule and donkey.

This was completely different from the vast plains and marshes of the Roaring Corridor.

"Do you need a rest, Your Highness?"

Aleksei didn't initially want to rest, but seeing his other retainers burdened with large bundles, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then let's take a break."

Only then did the retainers breathe a sigh of relief, finding a flat piece of land to begin resting.

However, Aleksei couldn't sit still. He grabbed Gloev's reins: "Gloev, accompany me to the nearest farm and market."

"Now?" Gloev, who had just taken out some pine nut liquor, frowned.

Although only thirteen, Aleksei was a quite determined and stubborn person: "In traveling, traveling is the most important, learning is secondary."

Accepting his misfortune, Gloev gave some instructions, then called two guards to accompany this curious young bear lord towards the market.

The muggy wind couldn't blow away the sweat on Aleksei's neck. Walking on the tea-brown muddy ground, he deliberately slowed his pace.

September was the season for sowing barley.

The seeders pulled by two draught horses moved forward in the long strip fields, the triangular harrow leaving finger-wide furrows on the ground.

The wheels rolled, moving the belt with them.

The gears turned with a clatter, driving the opening and closing of the seed box.

With each half turn of the wheel, a few seeds from the seed box would drop into the furrows.

"Great," Aleksei suddenly clapped his hands.

Accustomed to the young bear lord's frequent surprises, Gloev took a swig of liquor: "What's great about it?"

"Look at this field, this horse-driven seeder, it plows from start to finish without running around, one person and two horses can till this—such a long piece of land."

Aleksei spread his arms wide, feeling it wasn't long enough, so he stretched them further: "How much grain could this produce?

Why do we use so many hedges to separate fields? Removing the hedges and gradually accumulating land could also yield a significant grain output."

Ignoring the excited Aleksei, Gloev took another swig of liquor.

He was quite attentive to the movements of the Holy Alliance, purchasing every issue of "Truth Newspaper" to watch.

With every trade with the Holy Alliance, as long as he had the time, he would personally come, being something of a "Holy Alliance expert."

Otherwise, he wouldn't accompany the newly adult young bear lord on a study tour to the Holy Alliance.

Aleksei had good ideas.

But he knew that such large-scale strip fields as those in the Holy Alliance couldn't be implemented in the Bear Castle Territory.

The reason was simple: those Norn Tribe clans in the wild might have the conditions to implement strip fields, but Aleksei and others couldn't control them and could only patrol Sogon.

As for the Norn serfs in the castles and manors, they faced a huge challenge: the redistribution of farmland.

Strip fields looked convenient, but the prerequisite was having control over all the land.

In the Bear Castle Territory, the eastern land belonged to this Count, the western to that Knight, and then there were tenant lands of self-cultivating farmers and serfs, scattered everywhere.

There's also a large number of exclave lands, such as nobility from Codfish Castle purchasing land from Blue Pattern Castle within the Fat Cow Castle estates.

Especially the self-cultivating farmers who could randomly open new land, making the farmland patchwork, east and west.

More importantly, if all the farmland was together, it could easily be wiped out under local disasters.

Therefore, farmers preferred to have several small separated plots; anyway, their time greatly exceeded the farming area, making it more secure.

The Holy Alliance could do this for three reasons.

First, after sweeping away the two largest landlords—the church and nobility—from the country in one go, they ended the chaotic feudal land relationships and had the margin for distribution.

Second, the population plummeted during the war, leaving a considerable amount of land, resulting in more land than people and thus the emergence of horse-driven seeders.

Third, with the Hundred Households District's poverty-relief warehouse as a backup, even if a local crop disease caused losses, at least they wouldn't starve.

Even so, when the Holy Alliance initially implemented strip field distribution and village mergers, it caused quite a commotion.

Riots where mobs surrounded the parish offices broke out, ultimately quelled by Valent Taylor personally.

The attention of children comes and goes quickly; in a flash, Aleksei was attracted to a different scene.

"Eh, why are the farmers in that field much taller than those in this field?"

After a cursory glance, Gloev grasped the situation and coughed lightly: "Those are Knights of Leia who couldn't pay their ransom and were left in the Thousand River Valley."

Among the captives taken from Leia, an ordinary laborer would generally have a military chaplain inquire.

If willing to stay, they'd get 50 acres of land, a three-year tax relief, and access to rentals from the Hundred Households District for seeds, cattle, horses, and horse-driven seeders.

If unwilling, they had to gather their peers; once the numbers were sufficient, they'd be given money to leave.

The purpose of gathering fellow villagers was because, in today's imperial situation, returning home alone with money was pure suicide.

But for soldiers, mercenaries, knights, nobles, etc., luck wasn't as favorable.

If a knight had killed civilians or was identified as a war criminal, ransom wouldn't be mentioned; exile to the eastern counties was considered fortunate, with many hanged.

If not, then ransom would be discussed.

Of course, to scrape together travel expenses for laborers, the Holy Alliance demanded higher ransoms from knights, requiring many knight families to gather or outright fail to gather the ransom.

At that point, the knights would have to cultivate the land to pay their ransom.

After Gloev explained, the young bear lord suddenly realized and laughed: "That's actually a good idea. In the past, when they couldn't pay their ransom, we'd still have to treat them well, but now we send them directly to farming; it's much better."

Upon hearing this touchy subject, Gloev quickly diverted his attention: "Your Highness, look, we've come just in time; today there's a market!"

"Why is the farm in the Thousand River Valley"

""

Clearly, strangers like Aleksei's group were not common in this closed market town.

"Your Highness, you shouldn't be in"

""