I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 33 Gone
……

The next morning.

The townspeople had already learned from experience and lined up at the manor gate in advance.

Those who arrived earliest had already secured their spots before sunrise.

If the guards hadn't forcibly dispersed them yesterday, some townspeople would have planned to spend the night in front of the manor.

Looking at the hungry faces of the pack, Lawrence glanced back at his lord, Rhodes, and sighed inwardly.

I hope the lord can find a solution.

Rod smiled and slowly walked forward.

"I am very pleased that everyone here has worked so hard over the past month, which has changed my impression of you."

Rhodes's gaze swept over everyone, and he said leisurely, "Therefore, as a reward for everyone, I have fulfilled my promise ahead of schedule this month, allowing everyone to exchange work points for supplies."

"This is a happy thing, but it's not enough, so I've decided to give you more to exchange."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd stirred and began to discuss it.

"Quiet!" Durant shouted, quelling the commotion in the arena.

With a smile, Rod continued, "I just arrived here this year. Because of everyone's lack of planting techniques and knowledge, in order to stop you from wasting the land, I have taken the land back for everyone to cultivate together."

"In this process, many farmers performed very well. They learned about farming and gained experience, which I am very satisfied with."

"So I've decided that starting next year, I will lease out a portion of the land to everyone, and let them manage it themselves again."

"As for the method of leasing land, it is done by exchanging work points."

Rod's tone was calm, and his voice was not loud.

But it struck like a muffled thunderclap, leaving everyone speechless.

Ignoring the reactions of the others, Rod extended his hand in an inviting gesture.

"Alright, I've said everything I needed to say. Everyone, please continue exchanging."

After saying that, Rod turned and left.

The scene was silent; everyone was looking down, pondering Rhodes' words.

After a while.

"We have enough food at home, so I won't exchange it."

"gone."

"Back to work."

……

Without any prompting from anyone, the dozen or so people immediately turned around and left.

The other farmers also realized what was happening and gradually turned and left.

In the eyes of a farmer, nothing is more important than the land.

Exchanging grain for food now is only temporary. Only by having land can we produce grain continuously and have hope in our hearts.

Nothing is more important than the land than life itself.

Some hardworking and honest farmers, in particular, would rather pay more taxes than work with lazy people.

It's not a matter of doing more or less work, it's just that I don't think much of it.

Therefore, many farmers decided to save their work points and wait to rent the land back next year.

Before long, only sixty or seventy people remained at the entrance of the manor.

Some of these people didn't have any food, and a large portion of them were exchanging it for meat.

Meat is priced between 150 and 300 cents per pound, while pickled fish is priced at 120 cents per pound.

Each town resident would only exchange for one or two jin (500-1000 kg), and very few would exchange for three jin (1.5 kg).

Raine had set up many traps in the surrounding wasteland to catch wild rabbits and pheasants, and the hunters also regularly cleared out the wild animals in the vicinity, so the manor had enough meat.

The pickled fish, however, were almost all gone because there was no winter fishing in Frostleaf Town and there were only two or three hundred of them.

However, pickled fish wasn't a particularly important or delicious food, so the townspeople didn't mind not having it.

The news that land could be leased using work points next year quickly spread throughout the town, and those who had exchanged their work points yesterday hurriedly ran back to the manor gate.

This included Lov, who had exchanged 150 jin of rye.

"Lord Lawrence, can I return the items I exchanged yesterday? My family has enough food..."

"Lov pleaded with a pained expression."

Lawrence frowned. "Retreat? Do you think I'm sitting here acting out a play with you?"

"Lord Lawrence, what is this play?" "Get out!"

Lawrence shouted to the crowd, "All redeemed work points will not be refunded!"

"No, sir! Give me back my work points! I need to keep them to exchange for land!" Love pleaded.

"Yes, give it back to us..."

"Shut up!"

Lawrence slammed the record book shut.

"I asked you yesterday if you wanted to replace all of them, and you said you wanted to replace them. Now you're blaming me?"

"If you have nothing else to do, get back to work and don't delay my job!"

Lawrence immediately ordered the guards to drive away the farmers who wanted work points, and chaos erupted at the manor gate.

"Don't worry, everyone. There's still a lot to do in the territory, and there will be opportunities to earn work points."

Otto wore a smile, his expression revealing undisguised smugness.

Although working for the lord often resulted in being scolded, it did earn the highest work points and wasn't tiring.

I should be able to exchange a lot of land next year.

Haha, thank goodness I didn't change first.

"Otto, are you telling the truth?" Love asked with a pained expression.

"Of course, we still have 3,000 acres of farmland that haven't been sown yet. In the future, Lord Rhodes will also build irrigation canals and fishponds, so we can earn work points."

Otto answered confidently.

With his guarantee, the farmers finally felt a little more at ease.

Although I'm still a little apprehensive, this is good news amidst bad news.

In reality, they had no other choice but to try to comfort themselves that there was still a chance, and then they left dejectedly.

Even fewer people redeemed work points in the afternoon.

Lawrence packed up his stall early.

He ran up to Rod with a face full of excitement.

"Sir, you are truly amazing!"

Lawrence chuckled smugly and reported in a low voice, "All the people exchanging grains have disappeared this afternoon. Only a few families exchanged meat and fish, and a few dried fruits."

"Many people wanted to exchange their work points back, but I refused them as you instructed."

"Ah."

Rod simply replied, "When we have time, I'll have Otto persuade everyone to exchange in moderation."

Rhodes' actions during the day were intended to stop his subjects from frantically exchanging and hoarding, not to stop them from exchanging altogether.

This is the same principle as consumption; you should consume when you should.

"The work points that are issued must be recorded, and the work points that are returned must also be recorded. At the end of each year, I need to see the total work points of the whole town and the work points of each person."

Based on this data, Rhodes will set prices for leased land next year.

Land is the lifeblood. If you can control the price of land, then Rhodes won't be afraid of giving out too many work points.

Rod didn't lie to everyone during the day; he did indeed intend to rent out a portion of the land.

After all, the lack of enthusiasm for collective farming is a difficult hurdle to overcome, so leasing should still be the way to go.

Of course, Rhodes will also leave some land as a safety net.

"In addition, after the exchange ends tomorrow, we will sort out our large quantities of supplies and establish a trading market."

Rhodes looked at Lawrence and said, "Tell everyone that if you have any unused supplies, you can come and trade them. The price will be based on work points."

The townspeople will inevitably have some useless supplies. Rather than letting them trade privately, it would be better for Rhodes to take the initiative to set up a market and monitor the prices of supplies.

"No problem, my lord, I'm good at this."

Lawrence readily agreed, but just as he was about to make arrangements, he turned back and said, "By the way, sir, we don't have enough salt. We only have 235 catties left."

Two hundred jin sounds like a lot, but for the whole town, it's only enough for two months.

As temperatures gradually rise, demand will increase.

"Should we find some time to go to the border town and buy a batch?"

Instead of answering directly, Rod ordered, "Go and call Gunle here and tell him it's time to get to work."

(End of this chapter)