The Golden Harvest of the North
The Marquis of Aguilar nodded, and I began to lay out the plan I had been formulating.
"First, we must prepare the soil. If the topsoil on the mountain is poor, we should spread gypsum and sow a mixture of rye and vetch to use as green manure; that is highly effective. Since it is September now, you should let your sheep graze there next summer. Another method is to mow it in May and use it as mulch to cover the fields."
"After the summer ends and autumn arrives, and the sheep have been moved down, do not clear away the remnants of the rye and vetch. Leave them to cover the land. Those remains will decay until next spring, protecting the earth throughout the winter."
To spend an entire year just on preparation! The Marquis of Aguilar nodded, but his mind was clearly racing with rapid calculations.
"I know little of farming, but your plan is undeniably detailed and clear."
"Farming, by its nature, requires a precise, month-by-month plan to enjoy a bountiful harvest."
At the words of Marquis Juan, famous as the bringer of bumper crops, the Marquis of Aguilar nodded in agreement.
"On the fine land prepared in such a way, we shall first plant linen. We will maximize the soil's fertility to grow the finest linen that will draw silver coins from Madrid. By growing it with the cold waters of Aguilar, we will produce linen that boasts a more vivid white than that of the northern lowlands."
"So, you mean to grow linen every two years? That sounds far better than planting rye."
"If you plant linen every two years, the land will wither and die, Excellency."
I saw his eyes light up as I spoke of cash crops. Ignoring his greed, I continued with the plan.
"Next, we grow 'profitable' hay. I shouldn't be the one to say this, but you are aware that the price of hay in this region is currently higher than that of wheat, are you not? With the roads being laid and large wagons pulled by horses and oxen traveling them, there is a shortage of high-quality hay to feed those beasts. This northern land is perfect for growing the best hay."
"Doesn't hay grow better in the south? Grasses like alfalfa, which goes to the royal stables, don't grow here."
As expected of a family that held the title of 'Keeper of the King's Seal' in Madrid, he had an eye for such details. I praised his discernment and replied.
"To think you know of alfalfa—it shows the depth of your family's wisdom, Excellency."
"Alfalfa is indeed the king of hay. However, if you grow oats and vetch together and mow them before they bloom, it becomes the finest hay for the white horses of the royal stables. You don't even have to send it all the way to Madrid. Just supplying the local logistics traffic is enough to fetch a sufficient price."
In truth, this was the favorite feed of my horse, Aventador. He insisted it be given separate from water, and he would soak it himself. If I soaked it for him beforehand, he would throw a fit.
"I see."
"Since people cannot live on bread alone, the next step is to grow rye once to tidy the soil, which will produce some food, even if it is inferior to wheat."
"Must we grow it? I never want to see rye growing on this land again."
I felt an unmistakable disdain in his voice. I smirked and offered a solution.
"If you desire a 'special' crop, Excellency, there is one I know very well."
"A special crop? Tell me at once!"
"Hehehe, it is none other than the parsnip."
"That... what is that, Marquis?"
Parsnips. This strange root vegetable, looking like a white carrot, has the characteristic of increasing in sweetness when hit by frost. In 21st-century Korea, it was rarely grown, but it was a specialty item contracted for high-end restaurants. Depending on the quality, it could sell for 150,000 to 200,000 won per 10kg! It sold for ten times the price of a carrot.
Granted, if you take on contract farming, you have to grow them with extreme care, but they sold for over 200,000 won easily. This crop, which required meeting strict standards for shape, color, and sugar content, was what had given me decent pocket money back in Gangwon-do.
"Noble lords like yourself taste the sugar coming up from the south, but this root vegetable is a sweetness that the farmers of this land have loved for a long time."
"If it's something those farmers eat, does it make money? Isn't it just like rye?"
I could hear the disappointment in his voice.
"However, with a little processing, it becomes liquid gold. I know the method."
"Could it be! Can you extract sugar from it here?"
Syrup is possible, but I wasn't sure about crystallization. I knew sugar beets could do it, but...
"It's better than that. The liquor made from this is very..."
"Very?"
"Good for virility."
"!!!!!!"
I smiled at him. Could liquor possibly be good for virility? But when introducing something new to a man, saying it's good for virility or health is the key.
"Is that true!?"
"As you know, Excellency, the whole world knows how rough and cruel the pirates from the island nation in the north are. Those pirates go wild whenever they see a woman because they drink liquor made from these parsnips."
The Marquis said with a sour face, "Then isn't that a bad thing?"
"That is why you must purify it with fire once to burn away the bad energy, and extract only the energy good for virility; then it becomes a true medicine."
The Marquis, who had been running around trying to conceive a son, had his eyes pop open at the word 'medicine'.
"Is there such a secret recipe!?"
"Ahem. This is a secret recipe I discovered in an ancient manuscript of the Benedictine Order, which I have studied deeply. If you were to hear this secret and send me away, I would truly..."
When I mentioned the Benedictine manuscript, he cut me off with an enthusiastic face.
"Benedictine! This Manrique family does not engage in such base acts! That secret! Tell me the secret!"
I had once made liquor out of parsnips that I had grown under contract, only for the restaurant to go bankrupt, leaving me with a surplus. To be precise, my father, a heavy drinker, had dragged me into the pain of forced labor, saying, "If wine won't do, we must at least make gin."
"First, you wash the parsnips well after they have been hit by frost twice so the sugar content is rich, then cut them into finger-sized pieces and crush them. You boil them in water to make a porridge. While it is still warm, you add malt, and when the sweet porridge cools to a lukewarm temperature, you add raisins to make liquor with the soul of the grape. I hear the English pirates use beer foam, but according to the Benedictine manuscript, it is better to use naturally dried raisins."
Of course, in the 21st century, I used yeast, but I didn't know how to make that. However, I knew that grape skins were covered in yeast. And surprisingly, if it had a bit of grape aroma, it created a complex flavor that 'non-drinkers' like me enjoyed. When I used raisins from the wine trees I had converted into landscaping, my father, the liquor lover, had shouted, "Blasphemy! This is not gin!"
"Indeed, Benedict! If it contains the soul of the grape rather than base barley, it must be better for the body."
I gave him a 'pure and righteous' smile and said,
"You purify it once with fire to receive its essence, then soak juniper berries—the fruit of the juniper tree—and angelica root in it for 12 hours, and that essence enters the space where the bad energy has been removed."
"If you soak it too long, the power of the herbs becomes excessive and creates a bad taste, so you must remove the herbs after 12 hours and purify it with fire once more. This time, you must discard the murky poison that comes out first. That is how you remove the bad energy contained in this poison that drives the pirates mad. And when the medicinal power is all gone, a bad smell rises, which also has poison, so you must discard that as well."
"Only after removing all the poison does the true medicinal liquor for men emerge. If you add a pinch of saffron to this, it is truly liquid gold. It is a liquor that is so good for a man, yet one that cannot be spoken of elsewhere."
Marquis Juan's cunning expression spoke for itself as to how 'good for a man' this secret recipe was. The Marquis of Aguilar, seeing that look of absolute confidence, made up his mind.
"Marquis! That secret recipe. Entrust it to Aguilar."
The Marquis grabbed my hand tightly. I could feel his resolve that he would never let go if I said no.
"If I hadn't intended to entrust it to you, Excellency, I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place."
I smiled brightly and told him that was my intention from the start, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"How could I have failed to engage in deep exchange with a great man like you, listening only to the words of commoners! I am truly ashamed of myself!"
"It is not over yet, Excellency. You have grown linen, mowed hay, and made medicinal liquor, so you must prepare to grow linen again."
When I spoke of the new cycle, he looked deeply impressed.
"Indeed, the Marquis is right! I must grow linen again!"
"After harvesting the parsnips, try creating good pasture for your livestock. If you sow a mixture of clover, chicory, and wild radish and use it as pasture for two years to feed your cattle and sheep, it will become land that can grow the finest linen once again. The problem where the soil's vitality does not return even after years of cultivation is simply because you let weeds grow. Growing plants that nourish the earth's energy is the power to revive the land."
Simply using it as grazing land doesn't do much to restore soil fertility. Sowing deep-rooted plants and nitrogen-fixing plants together and releasing animals onto them was the most certain method of soil restoration in the 17th century.
"I don't know much about farming, but it is clear that your words are filled with wisdom. Marquis! Let us work well together."
The Marquis of Aguilar was already seeing a future where silver and gold coins sprouted from the empty land.
"If you wish, Excellency, I will purchase all the linen you grow and send it to my factory in Valladolid. If we go through retting and heckling in the land below the valley to turn it into fiber and distribute it, transportation costs will be halved, and the price will double."
I pointed to the location of my settlement on his map and said,
"If all the fiber used for my 'Company's' linen comes from your land! You will end the year counting not silver coins, but gold. It is certain that the bankers of Genoa will also have to reassess their judgment of your leadership, Marquis."
"Marquis. I misunderstood you so much. Now I think I understand why Enrique and Velasco are with you."
The Marquis of Aguilar had tears in his eyes at the silvery, no, golden future that Juan was describing.
"Excellency. I trust you. At the very least, you are the first noble who has told me that you would farm and create products."
"Marquis! We must be together for a long time! I may not have a son, but I have several daughters! Marquis! Hurry and produce a son!"
"Hahahaha, children are sent by God and the Virgin Mary, so how could I do otherwise? I am merely complying."
"Indeed! Surely God will grant a healthy son to you, and to me as well!"
The Marquis of Aguilar left the mansion and saw me off to the bottom of the gorge.
Thus, farming not for the sake of growing wheat to survive, but for the professional cultivation of commercial crops, had begun in these mountains of northern Spain.
Author's Note
Readers, one more is going up! ////I deleted the part that went up twice! This is a novel we are walking forward together, arm in arm!