25 – The road to a rich country and a strong army (1)

One day, a tsundere senior who constantly cursed at our department’s alternative history and spiritual books while watching them until the end told me this story.

“The main characters live a very comfortable life. No, even if a high school student or college student introduced technology like the Bessemer converter, the population increased without any problems when food production increased. Are you getting the same results?”

“No, historically, isn’t it? After introducing the 4-rotation farming method in England, it surpassed France’s food production, and while listening to the sound of the world’s granaries, it buffed the population.”

Then the graduate school senior said while punching me in the head.

“That was only the good side of increased food production, and that was not the case when food itself was the de facto key currency. The increase in production technology was good. But that much made the serfs unemployed. If you have to roll 10 serfs to get 100 kilos of food, it comes out as 1 person. They were overworked as industrial revolution workers.”

“Yeah…”

“By the way, if you look at the novels about manor management, there are no machines that can be used like that, but what would happen if only surplus food production increased?”

“The number of unemployed increases like crazy, and they become bandits and criminals. The rest aren’t even sold, so even if we scrap them…”

As he said, there is now a surplus of food in our territory, which has greatly increased food production.

Of course, the nobles cannot dismiss the serfs who are protected by customary law and the like in an instant.

However, there is still a good chance that the value of serfs will fall compared to before.

And to stop that, we need a group that will eventually spend a lot of food…

In the end, military expansion is the answer.

**

One day, a few weeks after taking office as the lord of Creutel.

As usual, after waking up in the morning and changing clothes while being attended by Ella, on the way to the office, Balt saw me and walked quickly.

“Oh, Balt. what’s the matter?”

“Yes, Bitch… no, sir. Finally, the mercenaries that His Excellency called for have arrived.”

“Let’s go.”

**

When I entered the parade ground surrounded by a flimsy wooden fence outside the castle of Baron Creutel, there were about 100 mercenaries standing there.

Each carried weapons such as long spears, crossbows, swords and shields, maces, and axes, and although breastplates, they also wore iron armor.

When I first saw Helmut’s mercenaries, each of them was wearing different armor, but these friends are a little compared to each other wearing unified armor.

So when I looked around at Helmut standing next to me and the mercenaries over there, Helmut tried hard to pretend not to look me in the eyes.

I stretched out my hand to say hello to the lone mercenary who looked like a captain with a feather in his helmet.

“It is an honor to meet the renowned Baron Kreuttel! I am Vice, the leader of the Red Bear Mercenary Corps. And the guys behind here are all mercenaries belonging to my mercenary corps.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Mercenaries go anywhere if there is a request. Instead, keep your faith towards us!”

I said while holding the hand of Vice in front of me.

“As promised, I will employ you for life. No, if you want, I will give you a chance to become a knight later.”

At those words, Weiss’s eyes widened.

don’t even do that The position of ‘knight’ in this era is not simply a ‘job’, but a ‘status’ and ‘privilege’.

Even if it was a prisoner of war, if it were a knight, would the nobles share what they ate and treat them with respect?

“Jung, are you really?”

I smiled and answered Weiss.

“I can’t do it right now because I have eyes to see, but someday. Of course, if you’re hired for life now, or just come into our territory, I’ll guarantee you a fixed income that will enable you to live a better life than you do now. If you don’t believe me, yes Helmut!”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Are you a mercenary too? Did you see me breaking my promise?”

Helmut looked back and forth between me and Weiss and then smiled.

“Didn’t you already make me a knight? Now, if we just get married, it will be perfect.”

At those words, Weiss looked at Helmut with a shocked expression on his face.

“Okay, what would you like me to do?”

“I swear allegiance. Our mercenaries belong to Baron Creutel from now on!”

“Please take care of me.”

**

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My name is Jacques, the third of the Baron Creutel’s serfs, and I inherited nothing.

At least, I do various chores under Lord Night Hans, the lord of the village, and farm the land under my direct management, so I don’t die of starvation…

Still, life was miserable.

All I could eat every day was two bowls of bland, transparent porridge mixed with barley and wheat, let alone meat or bread, but when there was nothing to eat, like in winter, I couldn’t get a single bowl.

So, some of them tried to become bandits after being tricked by the fact that they would give them food, women, and alcohol, but after enjoying it for about a week or a month, they were caught by the baron’s soldiers and ran away.

But now, the lords have become rich thanks to the introduction of the farming method of four rotations…

I’ve been able to get 2-3 bowls of thick barley porridge every day, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll get any better…

No, but you can still eat to your heart’s content every day, so what’s the point?

Even so, the other serfs who grew up with me when I was young have been in trouble lately.

The serf Max, who plowed the field with him, also boasts that his family eats bread every day, not porridge…

What am I…

“Hey, Zach! what are you doing! work! You don’t want to eat porridge?!”

“no! No, soldier!!”

“work!!”

***

After working all day like that, my salary came out after a while and I headed to the market in the village.

Gotta go and have a beer and some rye bread…

“Come on, buy some cheese from Hamburg. Buy 1 kilo of cheese and get 1 kilo of bread!”

“How about salted fish? If you eat it between bread, it’s just… sweet. Run!”

“How about some hot soup? A bowl of forever-boiled soup is the class leader of Donghwa class, just for today!!”

It’s a market that comes in almost two weeks, but it was full of energy as always.

Cheese, bread, and even pickled fish that merchants recommend buying…

Before, I had nothing to eat, so I only sold mixed soup, but everyone ate and lived well.

Still, at this age, let alone get married like everyone else, drinking a glass of beer on payday is the greatest luxury…

Suddenly, I felt humbled by myself, so I sighed and said,

“Ha, what are you doing at this age… Jackson, who lived next door, is already married and has two kids… I’m the third serf, so I’m living here and there… I can’t do it, even in Changgwan today…”

**

I entered the ‘Serf’s Rest’, an inn I usually visit.

There, like me, cheap beer, rye bread, or occasional cheap salted fish as snacks are gathered together.

To enjoy a moment’s rest and maximum luxury at the inn’s chairs made from discarded oak barrels and tables cut from brittle boards.

That’s why I don’t smell anything like meat here, but when I went inside the inn, I smelled ‘pork’.

Bocchan, no, it must be because of the reform of the lord, who has now become Baron Creutel, that everyone has gotten better.

Suppressing those feelings, I raised my hand to place an order and called the inn’s maid, and the waitress came up to me with quick steps.

“What can I get you?”

“A pint of beer, salted fish on rye bread.”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

After a while, the maid brought the beer, rye bread, and salted fish I ordered.

A mixture of brown and yellow beer with white froth rising up, bread filled with halved rye, lightly salted fish…

The greatest luxury that I can enjoy only once a month, this is possible because the young master tried a new farming method and increased the yield…

Previously, I came here for chowder or…

Ha, what are you thinking about?

I picked up some salted fish, put it on rye bread, took a bite, and gulped it down with a beer.

The strong taste of rye covers salted fish with a slightly nutty but strong salty taste, and the beer erases the bitterness left behind…

Isn’t this the taste of heaven? That’s why the priests and Deus said that you can drink beer, so they drink beer.

By the way, the taste of barley has become very strong, probably because more barley was added than before…

“Ha… this is delicious.”

After enjoying the once-a-month beer, salted fish, and bread for about 30 minutes like that, I was about to leave the bar when the door of the bar suddenly opened.

And inside, a man dressed in fancy black and blue clothes, although not as shiny as the clothes worn by knights, entered.

The man then smiled and looked at the waitress in the bar and said:

“Give the gentlemen sitting here a glass of beer and the roast pork we have reserved.”

“I… Actually, I roasted a whole pig…”

The man heard that and said with a bluff-filled expression.

“No, no way! If there’s any leftovers, the business won’t work… Okay, I’ll buy them all. Hey there you guys! I’ll tell you a good story, so bring all your friends. Get rid of all those cheap desks and oak barrels so some of them can make room for the pigs!”

As soon as that was said, most of the men quickly went outside to rescue their friends, and I helped push the oak barrel and desk into the corner.

And after an hour passed, enough men came to fill the store.

The man who confirmed it laughed and said.

“Don’t you guys want to get a chance to start over? Then come to the army. I am a soldier serving Baron Creutel… No, I am Sergeant Heinz. You guys can become as good as me if you make a little contribution. And with my salary, I can live like the knights. You can put several whole chickens on your family’s table once every three or five days! And give me bread and meat!”

At that, the men and I looked at the man who called himself a sergeant with a puzzled look on his face.

“It’s true, why would I come here to lie to you? And don’t you know that if you sell the baron’s name carelessly here, you’ll be stoned to death? It’s real, even if you’re not as good as I am, if you serve in the army for 7 years, you’ll be given a piece of land. So, if you collect your salary well and go out, you can become a free farmer. Who to support?”

For a moment I doubted my ears.

Occasionally, if serfs were conscripted and served in the army, they would not give a reward unless they cut the throats of high-ranking people like knights and 30-ranking officers, let alone salaries.

In the military, which boasts a harsh environment where you have to buy food with the money you brought with you because even the food is not properly prepared…

Even though I have to be in the army for 7 years, they give me land? This looks like a scam…

So I thought it was nonsense and said with a snort.

“A gentleman called a sergeant, get rid of the nonsense. Although our baron is great, can you go that far…”

A nobleman named Heinz laughed at me for saying that, then showed me the order in front of my eyes with the seal and seal of the baron.

Seals and seals recognizable to any human living in the Baron’s territory, no matter how blind he may be.

The fact that I held out that thing is proof that that sergeant, a nobleman, is carrying out the orders of the ‘Baron’…

“You fools! The Baron himself is giving idiots like you a chance to enlist as soldiers in order to save their lives! Haven’t you all heard the story of Sir Helmut, a mercenary knight who is a specialty of our territory? I will give you the land for real! As proof, I’ll give you lots of pork and alcohol. And under this glass… there is ‘one gold coin’, your down payment, so those who want to sign a contract drink and take the gold.”

…

If it’s a chance to really change my life, if I can survive 7 years without being ignored anymore, become a free farmer, get married, and live a life that doesn’t envy other guys…

Even if it doesn’t work out, isn’t there nowhere else to fall anyway?

So I emptied the beer first and took the gold coins inside.

“Okay, sergeant man! I will go to the army!”

“Okay, what are the rest of you going to do?”

**

On that day, Baron Creutel was able to obtain 100 soldiers from the poor.

I read the report and laughed.

“As expected, since ancient times, I will do anything as long as you put alcohol and atmosphere on it..”