Being a lord in another world begins with farming

Chapter 10 Villages and Watchtowers

In addition to robbers, there are also animal disasters in the north, but the latter occurs at an irregular time. Generally, the beasts will be more irritable before winter, and they will be more ferocious in spring, and wild beasts will often enter the territory and cause casualties. Therefore, every noble lord I like hunting, firstly, I can obtain rare meat, and secondly, it also reduces the risk of the territory.

At the same time, every few years, a coalition army will be formed to go to the barbarians in the north to fight grass and valleys, giving full play to the law of the jungle.

These problems need to be prepared in advance, in case things come to an end and regret it too late, so Owen has been busy with these business matters.

The problem of robbers was imminent. They couldn't break into tall castles guarded by soldiers, but serfs didn't have this condition. After they robbed them, they could go to other nobles to exchange for food, which made Owen very distressed.

It stands to reason that the space of the castle is large enough to accommodate all the serfs in the territory, but the Hydera family has never done this before. Even if the serfs freeze to death in the nest every winter, these serfs are not allowed to step into the castle. .

Irving has trouble understanding this approach, but he has no intention of violating the tradition.

When you are in trouble, it is best to refer to your predecessor's practice, so that even if you miss many opportunities because of this, you will not make major mistakes.

The problem is that Owen can't just sit back and watch the serfs being plundered by robbers. These serfs are all his property.

After thinking about it, Owen decided to gather the serfs and build a village, which would make it easier for him to garrison the serfs to protect the serfs from robbers.

Originally, serfs did not have houses, and they lived in nests.

Just find a sunny place to dig a hole, spread a thick layer of hay inside after drying, and sleep in it at night.

This thing can only be used for emergencies. After all, people are not rats. Living in a nest for a long time will definitely cause problems. However, the life span of serfs is inherently short, and many times the sick person dies before the disease occurs, so Nobody cares about that.

Since Owen decided to get rid of the dependence on the food system, a large number of indigenous farmers are indispensable, so he can't just sit back and watch the territory continue to lose population. Therefore, he decided to let the artisans take these serfs to build some straw huts during the slack season. Add earthen walls before winter, and it will become a thatched cottage. Although simple, it is better than a nest, so that too many people will not freeze to death in winter.

There is no technical content in the straw shed. It can be done in half a day by using wooden sticks to support the frame, and then spreading the woven hay layer by layer.

So it didn't take long for a small village to appear not far from the castle.

Although they are all simple straw huts, Owen still made plans in advance. All the huts face north and south, so that they can get more sunlight and ensure that moisture will not accumulate in the huts.

At the same time, a sufficient distance was left to facilitate future expansion. He also dug drainage ditches and built public toilets in advance. It can be said that he has done everything he can think of and can do.

Next, the serfs were asked to build fences around the village, so that no one would be taken away by wolves at night.

Perhaps it was because of having a home that the serfs were rarely active, which made Owen very relieved, and then arranged for craftsmen to start building a guard tower at the entrance of the village, which would be a guarantee for the safety of the village.

As a defensive building, the sentry tower must not be muddy, it must be made of masonry, otherwise it would be ridiculous to kick it down.

But in this way, it is necessary to lay foundations and erect beams to increase stability and frame strength. The amount of work is not small.

Fortunately, there are plenty of stones under the castle walls, which can be directly used to build watchtowers, otherwise it will be more troublesome.

These stones were originally part of the city wall, because the city wall of the castle has two layers of stone walls inside and outside, filled with soil in the middle, which saves more materials, so although the city wall collapsed in half, the stones were not lost, and they were all buried underneath. That's it, just dig it out and use it.

In fact, the Hydera family has always wanted to rebuild the city wall, firstly to enhance the defense of the castle, and secondly to make it look better.

It's just that it takes too much manpower and time-consuming to rebuild the city wall, so the Hydera family has never rebuilt it.

Owen wanted to repair it, but after calculating the cost, he gave up decisively and could only put it in the later plan.

These peasants from the imperial era have only retained their construction ability, and their craftsmanship has been strengthened. Originally, they could only help build a house in the village. Now, as long as it is not too complicated and delicate, they can get started and work with tools. It was very quick, and it took three days to dig the foundation, and then lay stones and bury the pillars. In less than half a month, the sentry tower was built.

The built sentry tower is square and looks quite strong, because there are wooden pillars and beams inside as support, so a total of two and a half floors were built.

The first floor is the storage area, where food, drinking water and equipment are stored, and even metal farm tools used by serfs are stored here.

The second floor is where soldiers rest. Owen specially asked craftsmen to build canopy beds, so when necessary, the sentry tower can guard more soldiers.

On the top is a watchtower with a parapet, on which soldiers can be on duty and shoot arrows to kill the enemy.

The appearance of the tall and sturdy sentry tower gave people a strong sense of security. At least the serfs relaxed a little from their numb expressions when they knew that their safety was more guaranteed.

In fact, they can also feel the changes in life during this period. First of all, there is more food, and they dare not say that they are full, but at least they will not feel weak every day, and they will not be too hungry to sleep every night. With the appearance of the tower, these serfs really saw hope. They may no longer be consumables, but have the hope of becoming real leaders.

After the sentry tower was built, Owen stationed a total of fifteen soldiers here. They patrolled during the day and kept vigil at night. They rotated with the soldiers of the castle once a week, so as to protect the wealth of the territory to the greatest extent.

However, Owen thinks that the best way is to form a cavalry squad, which can not only attack actively, but also expand the scope of inspection, and deter the surrounding neighbors, so that they can control their claws.

It's a pity that although the cavalry has only one more horse than the infantry, the price is several times more expensive. A light cavalry needs three progress points, but the combat power it displays is completely inferior to the price, because three swordsmen or infantry archers can easily Killing a light cavalry, the combat power is not proportional to the exchange value.

After careful comparison, Owen felt that the better cuirassiers were most suitable for the current situation of the territory.

Cuirassiers are between light cavalry and knights. In addition to swords, they are also equipped with spears and shields. In this way, they can not only be tough from the front, but also chase after chaos. It only needs five progress points to exchange for one, which is very cost-effective.

However, if you want to gather a cuirassier squad, you need [-] progress points. Considering the recovery speed of the progress value, if you really want to form it, I am afraid that even the autumn harvest will not be able to catch up.

In desperation, Owen could only choose to increase the number of swordsmen and archers first, so that more soldiers could be sent to patrol without worrying about the safety of the castle.

The effect of the implementation was not bad. A five-member patrol team was enough to dispel the idea of ​​most robbers wanting to take risks, and the four scout cavalry also played a big role in preventing the territory from being invaded by robbers.

(End of this chapter)