TS Duchess Eliza’s Internal Affairs

Chapter 22

Provision

Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV

It was the autumn of the year 376 of the Kingdom’s history. The young Elizabeth’s reforms were not limited to the improvement of harnesses and the invention of the heavy-wheeled harrow. A series of reforms implemented at this time would save the famine that would hit Rynegard a few years later.

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One month after the inspection of the farmland, I was in the living room of the manor house listening to the echoes of the heavy harrow. I was in the living room of the estate, listening to the echoes of the weighted harrow from Father.

「Eliza. Your idea of farm equipment is impressive! I hear the farmers who came to install them are happy with how easy it is to till the soil.」

「I am glad they have accepted it. Now we can get ready for the next one.」

Father picked me up and gave me a big smile and a squeeze on the cheek. As I was being held by him, I was beginning to think about my next move.

「It’s all thanks to Eliza. Thank you. By the way, what’s next? Do you have anything else in mind?」

「Yes. Can I ask Father something?」

「Of course you can.」

With Father’s beard, which was beginning to grow a little longer, stabbing me in the cheek, I began to talk about the real purpose of installing a harrow.

「Father. The introduction of the shoulder collar and the collar harrow has produced three advantages:

First, it will be now easier to make ridges.

Second, deep tillage has made it possible to grow root crops.

Third, the levy can be converted into more tribute.」

The land in the Clanetta territory in northern Rynegard is damp and heavy. To turn this into well-drained land suitable for cultivation, it was necessary to dig the soil deeper and make ridges. This work required a lot of mobilization, but the horses and heavy-wheeled harrow allowed it to be done faster and with fewer people.

「I can see the advantage of making ridges. But in what other ways is it an advantage?」

「Let me start with the second advantage. By growing root vegetables, we can change the fields into a more crop-resistant and more yielding regime.」

I asked him to lower me onto his lap and continue my explanation. By increasing the number of types of fields grown, the risk of total loss due to disease or insect damage is reduced. Also, if turnips and other root vegetables are used to feed livestock, it is possible to raise the number of cattle and horses needed to run a harrow. In addition, the compost obtained from the manure would make the land more fertile, thus increasing the yield.

「We will harvest less wheat, but we will gain more when we add other crops. Therefore, I would like to divide the farmland that has been used alternately as cultivated land and fallow land into four equal parts: grain fields planted in spring and fall, root vegetable fields, and fallow land.」

「You use them in order. I understand. Let’s try it in some of the fields.」

「Thank you very much. The fallow lands could be planted with legumes that do not harm the fertility of the land and nourish the farmers—— Father?」

Father suddenly started shaking and shaking, and then he hugged me tightly and started rubbing his cheek again.

「How clever! As expected of my brilliant angel!」

「F–Father! Your beard, your beard!!」

Father was so moved that he attacked me with his cheek, and it was not until later that I spoke of the third advantage, the reduction of the levy and the consequent increase in tribute from the peasants’ private farmland. Since then, Father has been shaving his beard with great care since he was forced to choose between me and that.

The experimental rotational farming started on directly managed farmland was a success. The farmers, who had seen the success of this method at first hand, adopted it in their villages, and the crop yields in Clanetta increased year by year.

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While Emily was holding me up, I was inspecting the inside of Amyn, checking the sanitary conditions.

The road is not very clean, and in some places there is dirt residue in the drainage ditch that runs down the center of the road, which slopes slightly inward and runs into a hollow.

「Plagues can spread from places like that. Amyn is home to over 10,000 people, so it must be kept clean.」

「How will you do it?」

「Building public toilets and collection vehicles.」

I convinced Father that this would improve sanitation and create jobs, and he had public toilets and human waste collection tubs installed in each town. And with the prohibition of illegal disposal and free-range swine, and the stipulation of penalties for violators, the sanitary situation in the city improved dramatically. Furthermore, the saltpeter extracted from the collected human waste was highly valued as a supplementary fertilizer that promoted the growth of crops, and became one of Clanetta’s valuable sources of income.

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Thus, agricultural reform in the Clanetta territory took place over several years, and Elizabeth’s name grew in the territory. But as if to test its reputation, an unprecedented crisis was approaching all of Rynegard.