Farming Is Best Left to the Experts (2)
When I explained the cultivation calendar to the old man, he understood it much faster than I had anticipated.
"If we had something like that, it would certainly make things much easier."
In reality, there would be far more factors to consider—weather, rainfall, soil quality, and so on. Even so, it was clear even to a farmer who couldn't read that having a general guideline for different crops would drastically improve efficiency.
"Say, Administrative Officer, sir. There is something more important than knowing when to plant or harvest which crop. Especially from now until we start sowing."
"You mean the work that needs to be done in the spring, before sowing the seeds?"
"Yes, yes."
"What is it?"
"Deeply turning over the soil. I was born and raised in the North, so I don't know how deep they plow the land in other regions, but..."
"If you say 'deeply,' how deep are we talking?"
"Because of the long, cold winters, the soil in the North is frozen solid quite deep down. Especially in land where a lot of snow has piled up, the melted snow from spring can pool beneath the surface and freeze again. If you sow seeds on top of that without properly thawing it, they won't grow come summer—they'll just rot away."
"Ah!"
"Old folks like me who have nothing but age know this from experience, but the hot-blooded youngsters sometimes overlook it and ruin their farming. It's a real shame."
"I'll have to make sure to record that and emphasize it repeatedly."
"Yes, yes, sir."
The old farmer continued to speak for quite a while after that. He talked about cultivation methods for staples like barley and oats, root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, and carrots that would fill the bellies of the Northerners, and of course, leafy greens like cabbage and kale.
"Oh, so berries grow here too?"
"If you plant them around this time, you can pick the fruit in June or July. If you make jam or wine then, it stays good for a long time."
For Aiden, who hadn't even thought about fruit because the region was so cold, this was another unexpected harvest.
As the farmer's words began to trail off, Jamie, who had been frantically taking notes, let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
"It would be helpful if we also wrote down the monthly tasks in the cultivation calendar, Administrative Officer."
"Right. You can make a sample, right?"
"Yes. In that case, it would be better to visit other experienced farmers, listen to their stories, and highlight the points that overlap."
"Agreed. As for anything that seems particularly unusual, we can't be sure, so we'll verify it at the Lord's Castle and revise the publication next year."
"I'll prepare it immediately!"
"Before that, one more thing."
Jamie, who had been ready to dash into the Lord's Castle to send subordinate officials to various villages, had to stop in his tracks.
"While you're going around the villages, buy up any leftover seedlings or seeds if they have them."
"Seedlings and seeds?"
"Yes. Tell the officials who will be sent to other villages about this, too."
"Uh... Yes!"
Fortunately, since a fair amount of tax had come in from the merchants who had traded furs and left the North, I could afford to pay for the seeds with a smile. Though, the treasury was still far from flush.
"We need to finish and distribute the farming calendar as quickly as possible, so put the distant villages on the back burner for now. We can investigate those later and add them in. Let's start with what we can do. Start with what we can do."
There is no need to be perfect from the start.
'Where is there such a thing as perfection in administration? Just implement it first and fix it later.'
No matter how much you rack your brain at a desk to complete a project, various problems are bound to erupt when applied in the actual field. Therefore, in times like these, even if you see some shortcomings, it is better to handle them quickly and revise them while observing the results after implementation.
The second flea market was held before long. It now had a name: The Northern Exchange, a name that was extremely dry and administratively convenient.
"Seriously, the name..."
"What? It looks just fine."
"You could have chosen something prettier. Something with meaning."
"Hmph."
Aiden snorted at Jamie's grumbling. People aren't good at everything. Unfortunately, it seemed that what Aiden lacked was a sense for naming things.
"Still, there are definitely fewer participants than last time."
"Well, it was the first time back then, so the attention was high, and above all, the sowing season is about to begin."
"I suppose so."
"That's why this time, there are many cases where representatives from each village gathered goods and came. Since not all the young men could come, they seem to have used their heads."
"People's thoughts are all similar."
The North's economic scale was still struggling to handle a regular market. Therefore, it had been agreed that the market would be held every fifteen days, and today was the second market day.
"Come, come! We're trading seedlings and seeds here, so take a look before you go."
There was one more change. It was the wooden building at the entrance of the market, the Trade Post, where low-level officials from the former Kalisa Merchant Guild, now part of the Commercial Development Department, were raising their voices in earnest.
"What is that?"
"Was that there last time?"
"No, I don't think I saw it before."
People's interest was also focused there.
"What is this place for?"
"It is a trade post authorized by the Lord's Castle where we purchase goods or sell items that have been permitted. We also provide guarantees for large transactions and purchase items needed by the Lord's Castle."
The pre-trained trade post staff answered with smiling faces. Since they were originally merchants, they seemed to have easily gotten used to the work.
"Then, do you buy these items too?"
A man who had been listening to the explanation pulled out a bundle he had been carrying on his shoulder. "It's sheep's wool... There's another cartload over there."
The man said he hadn't come to the last market, thinking, 'What would there be to see?' Naturally, he didn't know how much he had envied his neighbor who had gone to the market and sold off a pile of cheese made from the milk of his sheep and goats.
"How much do you have?"
"For now, this is the highest quality. There are two cartloads, and while the quality is a bit lower than this, it's not low-grade."
"Then let's see..."
The trade post staff took out a thick table from the desk, checked it, and soon wrote down the estimated purchase price on a small slip of paper and handed it over.
"Hmm... This is a bit low."
"Well, the price purchased by the trade post is a bit lower than individual transactions."
The staff member gave an apologetic look.
"Can't be helped. Then, if I try to sell it myself at the market, will you buy the remainder at this price?"
"Of course."
"Then I'll try to sell as much as I can and come back later."
The man, who had been slightly offended after seeing the initial price, was satisfied enough with the ensuing conversation and left his spot.
There was someone watching that scene from the second floor. It was Aiden and his two adjutants.
"You set the prices in advance?"
"Since the trade post is an agency under the Commercial Development Department, I thought it would be best to create standards in advance to avoid any talk."
Kalisa still had an expressionless face, but she had begun to adapt to administrative work faster than expected. Even though she had started working through coercion, it seemed to suit her aptitude more than merchant work.
However, a few times, she had tried to grab Aiden as he passed by to say things like, "Administrative Officer, actually, my past is..." or "My family was originally in the capital..."
It might have been a big decision for her to reveal it, but all she ever heard in response was, "Ah, I'm not curious. I'm not asking. Don't tell me."
'Let's not cross the line while working together.'
Aiden was a man who had absolutely no interest in the private lives of his colleagues. 'Well, she must have dissolved her merchant guild and joined because it was a position that would be helpful.' That was enough. Aiden had resolved a significant portion of the talent shortage, one of the North's chronic diseases, and Kalisa seemed to have her own plans, so this was sufficient.
"You're doing good work, too."
"...Thank you."
Kalisa, as if caught off guard by the sincerity that had slipped out, rolled her eyes and bowed her head.
"...Ugh!"
It was Jamie who let out a groan while watching that scene. Biting his lip, his muttering of 'A rolling stone...' was so pathetic that Aiden chose to simply pretend not to notice.
"I'll tell you in advance, if there are any guys who come tomorrow and make a fuss about selling goods, send them all to the trade post. Don't even think about letting them open an illegal street stall nearby just because you feel bad for them."
"Say, Administrative Officer, isn't it good if street stalls open? You said it before. You said it was a good thing because if the private economic scale grows, street stalls will naturally appear."
"But I think I also said that it would be a long way off until that happens."
"That may be true, but I thought that perhaps this opportunity might lead to a natural, private-led market."
"No. That's not a permanent market supported by economic scale. It's just people breaking the rules and being difficult, not a street stall."
"Ah..."
"Let's be clear about the difference."
"Yes, sir."
Jamie finally conceded.
"Are the seeds and seedlings secured by the trade post properly prepared?"
"Since there aren't many cases where people have seedlings to spare, the quantity itself isn't large, but the variety is more diverse than I thought. It seems there will be quite a few interested people."
Kalisa answered Aiden's question immediately. Securing seedlings and seeds was something Aiden had ordered while making the cultivation calendar.
"It's absolutely necessary for cultivation diversity, so pay some attention to it."
"Yes. Since Commercial Department staff will be arriving one after another in the distant villages, we will be able to secure much more seed in a month."
Seedlings and seeds were originally work that should have been handled exclusively by the Technical Labor Department, but because a proper system hadn't been established yet, Kalisa was taking charge and preparing them.
"Is there quite a difference between villages?"
"There isn't a big difference for grains or root vegetables, but there was a significant difference for luxury crops like leafy greens, medicinal herbs, fruits, and herbs."
"Were there cases where they grew herbs or medicinal plants separately?"
"It's hard to say they grew them for sale, but most cases were growing a little bit for their own use at home. Still, now that I've gathered them, there's quite a bit."
"Let's try growing those well on the Lord's Castle's direct-managed farmland that we planned in advance. We also need to confirm which ones grow well in this North."
"Yes."
The best things to sell from the North are still furs or leather. However, grain is always important. There is a reason why they call it food sovereignty.
'It would be nice if I could find even one or two things that fit the land well.'
Depending on the crop, there are those that like a cool climate. That means they are things that are difficult to grow in the warm center of the Empire, and 'If I do it well, it might become a product.'
Of course, as farming usually goes, there's no way there will be remarkable results in just a month or two, but there's no harm in preparing in advance.
"Let's spread the ones with a slightly larger quantity to as many villages as possible through the trade post."
"I've set the prices low as well."
One thing I felt while purchasing seeds and seedlings: there were always one or two things in every village that were almost non-existent. The central village where the Lord's Castle is located grows a lot of endive, but they said almost no endive is grown in villages a bit further away, and parsnips, which are common in that village, were hard to find in the villages near the Lord's Castle.
'Because you can't easily get them through a nursery.'
This is what it means when there is a lack of exchange between villages. It means that even the types of crops that go on the dining table are limited.
"This is a parsnip root?"
A farmer who had just entered the first floor of the trade post to look around was showing interest in the sample with curious eyes.
"Yes. We guarantee the condition."
"Are you sure it grows in cold places?"
"Of course! We got this from a northern village that is even colder than here."
"Really...? I once got seeds and planted them, and the roots grew well, so I dug them up and ate them, but they didn't flower, so I couldn't get seeds."
The farmer added, looking suspicious. "It's a waste if you just dig it up and eat it once. If you can't get seeds, that is."
"That must have been because it's a biennial."
"A biennial?"
"If you sow the seeds, only the stems and roots grow the first year. You have to harvest the roots that autumn and store them well during the winter. And if you plant the roots again in the second year, they flower and you can get seeds. Of course, the roots get tough then, so they're not great for eating."
"Ah, is that how it was?"
The farmer exclaimed at the staff's explanation, making a loud sound. "Can I buy one sack, no, two sacks of this?"
"Shall I give them to you as seeds? We have seeds, too."
It was the first transaction of the trade post, and the first beginning of crop movement between villages.