I Was Reincarnated as a Marquis in Another World

After directing the village heads on groundbreaking farming methods, it had already been a year since I started managing this territory.

During that time, there had been many changes.

When I commanded the serfs to plant turnips in the land where they had grown wheat and to plant beans where barley had been grown, they initially resisted as a group.

However, since I promised the village heads that I would take full responsibility for any failures resulting from this method, they reluctantly complied.

Furthermore, I ordered them to scrape the soil piled on the forest floor and spread it on the fields before starting to grow beans and turnips, instructing them to plow the land.

By doing so, they could achieve results comparable to fertilizer without needing to create it separately.

Yet, until the bean stalks and turnip leaves began to shoot up vigorously, the serfs could not trust my words, no matter how much I promised to restore their lost property.

On the contrary, they were extremely displeased that their work hours increased from eight to twelve because of me.

It got to the point where I overheard someone saying as I passed by, “At this rate, should I just start a rebellion? If I have to work more, why plant beans and turnips in fields that should be left alone, ruining our crops? Wouldn’t it be better to just chop off this young lord’s head and become a wandering peasant?”

The person who said this was reportedly punished with a beating from the village head for insulting “the benevolent SIEL who returned our lost wealth and crops” excessively, even without my intervention.

When I heard this, I was honestly shocked. I had promised that if things went well, they would hit the jackpot, and even if they didn’t, I would at least ensure they recovered their investment, yet they were still so dissatisfied.

However, when the time came to harvest beans and turnips a few months later, my nickname changed from “the crazy lord doing strange things” to “the great lord who allows us to eat and live.”

Although the harvested turnips and beans were not as delicious as wheat, rye, or barley, at least they allowed these people to withstand the fear of starvation.

Therefore, to gain maximum support from the people of the territory, I declared that there would be no taxes on beans and turnips for this year.

As a side note, Ela, who had become friendly with the villagers, was pleased when I issued this command.

Soon after, we harvested barley, and a few months later, we harvested wheat.

As a result of cultivating crops, we were able to obtain roughly seven times the amount of food.

Though 70% of it was turnips, I was genuinely happy that they could at least eat their fill with whatever it was, even turnips.

When some children saw me passing by, they rushed over, grabbed my hand, and said, “Lord, you’re amazing! Thanks to you, we can eat three meals a day this year, and my mom is happy!”

“So, she told us to always thank you while eating!”

“I want to become a great person like you someday!”

Of course, seeing these children approach me so freely caused their parents to dash over in shock, kneeling and apologizing on their behalf…

But I just gently patted the children’s heads instead of shooing them away.

In times like this, being kind to the children helps with future governance more than simply driving them away.

Honestly, more than that, it was a beautiful sight to see people who had been starving until six months ago thanks to my knowledge from the modern world now able to eat their fill.

**

“Master, Master~!! Please wake up.”

Ela shook my body.

Normally, I would wake up immediately, ask, “Did you sleep well?” and then get up.

But today, I somehow wanted to play a little trick on Ela.

“No, just five more minutes… five more minutes…”

“Master…”

“No, really, just five more minutes.”

Then Ela pulled on my blanket, pouting as she said, “No, Master. You need to get up quickly and eat your bread. I’ve made bread and soup, so let’s eat together. Balt is waiting too.”

“Oh, right.”

Sighing, I got up, changed my clothes, and went to the dining room.

As I entered the dining room, Balt was waiting for the meal with his usual blank expression.

“Ela, give me some bread. No, some meat too…”

“Yes, Lord. Is chicken okay?”

Upon hearing that, Balt made a sulky face and replied, “I’m a noble too, and you’re the heir of Count Croilet, so do we really need to skimp like this?”

“Because it’s the master’s order.”

To an outsider, it might look like a family squabbling over not serving the tastiest side dishes.

When I first came to this territory and told Balt to eat with Ela, she was extremely uncomfortable around him.

Even though he looked like that, being a knight, he would watch for cues if he so much as coughed while we were eating.

However, after a month or two of dining together, we became friendly like this.

Just as I was about to sit down and start eating, Balt looked at me with a serious face.

Feeling slightly annoyed that he had complained about the side dishes when we were about to eat, I spoke in a somewhat displeased tone.

“Let’s just eat. Today is a rare day with no work, so let’s relax.”

At that, Balt replied with a voice full of disappointment.

“Yes, Master. But when will we have pork or beef…?”

“Not this year. Absolutely not this year. I’ve used all the taxes collected from the serfs to buy horses, cows, pigs, and carts.”

“Isn’t that usually the burden of the serfs? If you say so, I don’t see anyone opposing it.”

As he said, to be honest, after I drastically increased production (by a whopping seven times) and ensured that the serfs wouldn’t starve, they became willing to believe and follow anything I said.

At this point, I could even say something crazy like, “The sun will rise in the west today, so let’s go watch the sunrise on the western mountains,” and the serfs of our village would likely follow along fervently.

So, if I commanded them without consulting their opinions to buy a bunch of livestock, no one would oppose me.

While increasing livestock would initially be a burden on them, they could grow enough by feeding turnips and bean stalks, and later selling them would yield profit.

However, to follow through with my plan, I had to first cover all expenses to buy livestock myself.

Because I needed livestock to use the farming tools I was planning to create.

“So when will the livestock arrive? Balt.”

“I heard they’ll arrive this afternoon. The village serfs have probably already built stables or barns for the newly brought animals.”

“Really? It seems things are going according to plan.”

Upon hearing that, Balt sighed and said,

“Even so, what is this, Master? Even if I don’t mind, you can’t just eat chicken every day. If Count Croilet hears of this, he would sigh.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll explain everything well to Father.”

**

“Master, just now the steward delivered a letter sent from Count Croilet to you.”

I took the letter from Balt and opened it.

[I’m glad to hear you’re doing well in the Windheim territory. Thanks to you, the vassals who were worried about you not going to the Academy can now relax, and they are praising me for my insight.]

[I’ve also heard that you’ve invented a farming method without any fallow land, known as the four-field rotation method. So I hope you will share this new farming method with other vassals and nobles, and can you come up immediately to teach them?]

Once I finished reading the letter, Balt and Ela asked,

“Master, what does it say?”

“Father is asking me to share the farming methods I’ve used in Windheim. Eliminating starving serfs and increasing agricultural yields would certainly help in the prosperity of the territory. He wants me to teach them right away.”

Although I said it so casually, sharing this farming method with nobles outside our territory could lead to huge problems.

First, this farming method requires very little effort compared to the significant increase in yield that can be gained.

It only adds the effort of applying fertilizer, expanding the cultivated area accordingly, and strictly following my orders.

However, the effects that can be obtained are enormous.

By cultivating turnips and beans instead of letting the land rest, you can harvest over seven times the yield compared to before with just double the labor.

That’s why historians have evaluated this farming method as the “foundation of the industrial revolution,” claiming that it was the only reason why “England could go from being a food-deficient country to a food-exporting nation.”

Therefore, if this farming method spreads, the overall food production in the territory adopting this technology would skyrocket.

But therein lies the problem: as the production capabilities of not only our territory but also a broad area increase…

Wars could break out over occupying territories with high productivity, and our Croilet Countdom could collapse in an instant.

On the other hand, if the incompetent Count we serve learns about this situation in the Croilet territory, he would send just a few troops and seize a massive amount of food…

As I fell into deep thought, Balt spoke up.

“Um, Master? Do you have any concerns?”

I shook my head and replied.

“No, it’s not that I’m worried. It’s just that livestock will be arriving soon, and I need to teach them how to harness and use farming tools. I worry that if I step away for just a moment, there might be issues.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. As you know, I planned and created all those farming tools. Only I know how to use them and where to use them.”

Upon hearing that, Balt seemed to clear his doubts and replied.

“Indeed, who would know how to use those except you? Even now, the village heads come to you with questions whenever they’re uncertain about anything.”

“Exactly.”

“Then you should write it all down and hand it over to them. Some of the serfs in the village can read, so if you write it down in detail, they will manage it.”

For a moment, write? Communicate through writing?

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

If I can capitalize on this idea, I can achieve all of my desired goals.

Seeing my silence, Balt, perhaps feeling anxious, thumped the table and said,

“Master, Master. You must instruct the village heads on how to use the farming tools and how to distribute the livestock to the farmers. We will manage the horses and cows, but are you planning to give away the pigs?”

“That’s right, Balt. You’re right. But do you happen to have some administrative skills?”

At that, Balt answered with a serious expression.

“A valiant knight just needs to know how to ride and read.”

“Let’s just write the usage and application methods down and entrust them to the village heads. Surely I won’t let them take advantage of it without checking up on them every day.”

With that, I complied with the summons and headed to the castle where the Count was.

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