Chapter 302: One hoe, one hoe, % of the new field reaches the house
After listening to Horn's questions, Busak began to tell Horn the story with his extraordinary memory.

However, Horn felt drowsy after listening for a short while.

"How about this." Horn stood up and stretched, "Take me to the Holy Hoe Monastery."

Now that the land distribution work has been completed and has been replaced by a system of 100 households, Horn has much less burden on his shoulders.

There wasn't much to do today, so he could take some time to go to the scene and see the situation at the Holy Hoe Monastery.

His original intention in setting up the Monastery of the Holy Hoe was to absorb surplus labor and reclaim wasteland.

According to the survey of the land distribution team, there is a lot of uncultivated arable land in Kush Territory, and the abandoned part alone is nearly 20 acres.

However, these fields were not fertile enough, and the lords were too oppressive, so the public farmers would rather flee than cultivate these fields, resulting in them being left empty.

The first task of the Holy Hoe Monastery is to reclaim this abandoned land.

Walking out of the town hall, Horn, accompanied by several Holy Gun Cavalrymen, headed towards the Holy Hoe Monastery with Bussack.

The Abbey of Saint-Hoe, originally one of the three major monasteries near Fort Joan of Arc, invested 3 gold pounds in Horn Angel with all its wealth.

He was even moved by the saintly grandson’s holiness and offered the well-repaired and beautifully decorated building to Horn for his use.

Thus, this monastery became the shared headquarters of the Holy Shovel Monastery and the Holy Scythe Monastery.

As for the other two monasteries, they became the headquarters of the Boys' Brigade and the Officer School of the Salvation Army.

The Boys' Brigade continued the monastery's previous name [Lubyanka Monastery].

As for the Salvation Army, at Jeanne's suggestion, the monastery was converted into the [Saint Tange War College].

Crossing the wooden bridge over the river, you will see the vast fields of Jeanne d'Arc before your eyes.

Before he even had time to get close, he heard a burst of orderly calls.

"One hoe, one hoe, and 40% of the new field will be covered with dirt!"

"Two hoes, two hoes, the whole family doesn't have to worry!"

Farmers wearing linen vests or with their upper bodies bare stood in a row among the criss-crossing fields.

Sweat waxed their wheat-colored backs, and the hoes in their hands gleamed brightly in the sun.

The hoes were raised and lowered, and spots of mud and weeds jumped onto their clothes and skin.

Countless hoes were like the legs of a centipede, rising and falling like waves.

The plowing horse pulled the wheel plow, and the sharp plow blade cut through the soil, leaving neat and parallel ridges behind the horse's hooves.

In another field that had been reclaimed, hired farm workers threw alfalfa and other green manure seeds into the soil, followed by workers spreading farm manure.

In front of several pre-built wooden houses, several cooks and helpers were stirring with spoons in several large pots.

Since the Papal Palace is the major shareholder of the Abbey of Saint-Hoe, it does not pursue economic benefits too strongly.

So Horn ordered the dean, Elder Himus, to provide the hired farm workers with free food and accommodation.

In the reclamation team of the Holy Hoe Monastery, there are special people responsible for washing clothes and cooking.

Those who have skills can do delicate work, for example, technical talents like plow operators will receive preferential treatment.

If you don't have work to do, you can't do fine crafts. Don't think about biting torches to show off your skills. Just do non-technical farm work such as carrying, weeding and turning the soil.

In addition to providing food and accommodation, the Holy Hoe Monastery also provided an additional ten gallons of food rations and some firewood and peat every month as wages for their work in clearing the wasteland.

If this part of the ration is used sparingly and combined with potato roots, it can barely fill the food gap for his family.

In order to motivate the farmers, Horn ordered that 40% of the reclaimed land be distributed directly to the pioneers as dividends.

Of course, if you don't want the land, you can also ask for shares in the Holy Hoe Monastery.

However, most people still decided to take the land, especially the large number of refugees.

Although Horn issued a decree that land to the tiller belongs to the tiller, land was distributed to a large number of refugees.

But there is a prerequisite, that is, the land has been cultivated continuously for more than three years, otherwise it cannot be reversed through the tax book.

Many refugees worked as hired farmhands in different manors every year, and suffered great losses. It was heard that 40% of the reclaimed land of the Holy Hoe Monastery would be used as a reward for the pioneers, and these refugees worked so hard every day that they urinated blood and wished they could urinate in the fields.

After all, the land you cultivate might be your own land.

"How many people are there here?" Horn asked, squinting his eyes and pointing at the bustling scene in front of him.

Busak, who came with him, blinked and said, "There are more than 10 reclamation teams in the Abbey of Saint Hoe. This one is so close to Jeanne Castle, it should be the second reclamation team, with more than 420 people."

After Horne repealed the Fugitive Slave Act, farmers were free to leave their plantations and work outside during the slack season.

So far, the Holy Hoe Monastery has recruited more than 3000 hired farm laborers to open up wasteland in various places.

According to Horn's plan, it is expected that 5000 farm laborers, 200 cooks, and 800 helpers will be recruited.

This provided nearly 6000 jobs at one go and absorbed a large number of hungry people and refugees.

Since most of these properties were abandoned semi-cultivated land, the Holy Hoe Monastery was able to reclaim land at an average rate of 3000 acres per day.

It is estimated that in two months, that is, by mid-June, the reclamation of about 6 acres of abandoned land will be completed.

After mid-June, it was the season for harvesting rice crackers in early July. The hired farm workers returned home seamlessly to harvest the crops and smoothly survived the famine.

Although the laborers who were previously refugees have not had time to plant their fields, they can join the Holy Scythe Monastery and start working in industries such as agricultural and sideline product processing.

By the next spring, they will have learned all the agricultural and sideline product processing and agricultural techniques and will be able to return to their own land to farm.

"How much has been invested in the Holy Hoe Monastery so far?" Horn asked, holding Beech beside him.

"Currently, the total investment is 2000 pounds. The Salvation Army has invested 300 pounds, the Papal Palace has invested 1000 pounds, and the citizens have invested 700 pounds."

The Salvation Army invested 300 gold pounds, which was actually contributed by various legions.

During the war, each legion will receive 20% of the spoils, and this money will be credited to the legion account as the legion's public fund.

As for the 1000 gold pounds invested by the Pope, 200 gold pounds were offset by providing venues and food.

Two months later, when the goal of land reclamation was completed, after deducting the land distributed to hired farmers, there were still 12 acres.

Taking one year's total output as the standard for land price, 12 acres is roughly equivalent to 10000 gold pounds, which means that the assets of the Abbey of Saint Hoe have increased fivefold.

Of course, this is only a floating profit, because it will take a long time to recoup the investment from selling or leasing these lands.

Of the 2000 gold pounds currently in the account of the Holy Hoe Monastery, most of them, except for a deposit of 500 gold pounds and reserved wages, were used to purchase farm tools, cattle, horses, and seeds.

Horn mostly placed orders for the farm tools used by the Holy Hoe Monastery from rural blacksmiths in each hundred-household district.

These rural blacksmiths may not have as good skills as the blacksmiths in Huilu Town, but they are still very good at making simple farm tools.

As for the plows and wooden tools, they were handed over to the rural carpenters in the hundred-household district to complete.

By creating demand through government orders and restoring the economy, logistics will be guaranteed and manpower and money and food will be provided continuously.

"Is this 2000 gold pounds enough?" Horn asked with his back to Busack.

"That's enough. It's a famine. They don't plan to make money. They are satisfied as long as they have enough food and clothing, so the order price is kept very low."

"What about the Holy Scythe Monastery?"

"The Holy Scythe Monastery is currently training staff and trying to raise fish and pigs with potato roots. Anyway, we have a lot of peat, and potato roots are very convenient for removing toxins."

Even purified potato roots are slightly toxic and can easily lead to death if not handled properly.

Therefore, if there is a choice, potato roots cannot be used as a staple food, but can only be used as a side dish.

But the starter of all the above economic wheels is not the gold pounds in Horn's hands, but the grain in Kasha County.

After all, gold pounds can’t be eaten.

A few days ago, Horn waited and waited before finally receiving news from Kasha County.

They agreed that Horne would receive 1 gallons of grain for 50 gold pounds and 40 gallons of peat, mortar and other goods of equal value, for a total of 90 gallons of grain.

But they also made a request, that is, Horn had to bear the transportation costs during the period himself.

(End of this chapter)