Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Roman thought for a moment and took back the gemstone.

He had a sentimental attachment to the ruby, as it was a possessions from his childhood; if he weren't so short on money, he wouldn't have considered parting with it.

Emotions were one thing, but rationality was another. To him, the ruby was merely a luxury item. Since becoming a Transcendent, the ruby had greatly diminished in effect, so Roman would not refuse to exchange it for initial development resources.

He calmly said, "I won't take anyone's favor for nothing. I will repay you in other ways in the future."

Roman knew Morry's thinking; merchants pursue profit, so he might as well offer him a good profit.

He disagreed with anyone buying shares in Sige Town, nor did he accept anyone having the opportunity to morally blackmail him with favors.

However, he would never refuse investments from others, especially at times when he was still vulnerable.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and he needed a capable merchant to help him sell the resources produced by Sige Town in the future.

Roman suddenly asked, "Have all your goods been sold?"

Morry was startled. He had been temporarily staying here for four days, which was quite long for a caravan, especially for a still impoverished market town like Sige Town where the trading was already completed.

The seven or eight merchant ships, even just staying here, incurred sizable hidden costs.

But he couldn't leave now; he had to wait for Shasta. He had promised to wait for Shasta for two days—today was the first day, tomorrow the second, so he planned to wait until the day after tomorrow. If he still hadn't met Shasta's people, then he really had to leave.

Now Morry was stuttering, unable to find a good reason, internally cursing Shasta as an utterly despicable teammate.

He swore if he let a Witch on his ship again, he would be a dog!

Roman keenly noticed Morry's embarrassed expression.

Roman, lost in thought, did not continue to inquire.

He simply told Morry that Sige Town still needed iron ingots, urging Morry to ship them over as soon as possible, and he would trade corresponding resources for these iron ingots.

Steel was in demand and didn't necessarily have to be sold specifically to Sige Town.

Therefore, Roman agreed to exempt Morry from business taxes for the next two years; if Morry was willing to come, his benefits were guaranteed.

In the eyes of true nobility, the statuses of merchants and peasants were similar, distinguished only by having more or less "wool."

Thus, some nobles heavily exploited merchants, resulting in no merchants willing to do business in such places.

Roman planned to provide business tax favors to merchants in the future to attract more to Sige Town, and he would promote a significant tax exemption policy.

Roman, gesturing with his hands, told Morry, "I need a large number of draft cattle. Before this spring ends, I need you to bring 100 head of draft cattle to Sige Town. I won't wrong you on payment, I will offer 60 gold coins for these 100 head of cattle, but you will have to cover the transportation costs..."

Morry immediately shook his head, "I can't do it. Even if I brought every available draft cattle from Kant Territory to here, I couldn't gather 100 head."

Kant Territory was the nearest Earl's territory to Sige Town, separated by a hundred miles with wild mountains in between, generally accessible by water transport.

Although Silver Dragon Canyon had rapid currents and was full of reefs, making it impossible for large ships, transporting a hundred head of cattle was not a challenging task.

It was merely impossible to purchase such a number of cattle in such a short period.

"Would draft horses work, though less durable and resilient than draft cattle, and slightly more expensive? But if you need them, I could get you 100 head of draft horses as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Roman frowned slightly.

A hundred head of cattle were worth 50 gold coins, and although mass purchasing could cause a price surge, it shouldn't exceed 60 gold coins.

But 100 draft horses were too uncertain, requiring him to spend perhaps 70 or 80 gold coins, and slight price fluctuations could push it to 90 gold coins.

Roman had no choice, and without caring whether his pockets were full, he bluntly said,

"I want both the draft cattle and the draft horses."

Eventually, Morry agreed to bring 50 head of draft cattle and 100 draft horses to Sige Town.

Seeing Roman toss the ruby to him, he no longer doubted whether this young noble could afford the purchasing cost.

Here was a young noble daring enough to exchange a ruby for development resources.

Undoubtedly, this lord had great vision, much like the valley itself, which held immense developmental potential.

This remote area would soon undergo a revolutionary transformation.

As long as one could invest early, there was no doubt of a future profit.

However, due to that foul-tempered Shasta, Morry felt he was on Roman's list of suspects, which greatly frustrated him.

Later, Roman, Lax, and the carpenter Vic each carried a wooden box containing 150 lbs of iron ingots towards Sige Town.

With this batch of high-quality iron ingots, they had barely managed to fill the gap in their steel shortage.

By now it was also very late, and the farmers had stopped their work.

Roman checked the progress of the work.

It was barely satisfactory.

Due to the mass mobilization of labor, the farmers could dispose of all the manure within two days.

The tech treeas always, was a peculiar thing; unlocking a key technology could significantly enhance productivity and, due to its simplicity and replicability, rapidly advance the entire civilization.

But without sufficient accumulation or due to historical factors, the tech could not be unlocked and the civilization would stagnate, going in circles for thousands of years.

The heavy plow was one of these crucial technologies; Lax and Vic had a heavy workload and started working overnight.

Roman did not join them, as blacksmithing and collecting skill experience points could be done anytime.

Today was not the day—he needed to conserve his energy.

The merchant named Morry, for some reason, had hoped he would venture into the mountains, yet today he had not mentioned it at all.

Roman then thought of the witch who had suddenly appeared in Sige Town.

He felt it was necessary to explore the deep mountains and uncover their secrets.

…

Roman had spent seven days upgrading the "Planting" skill.

He then spent two days integrating all the resources of Sige Town, introducing standard methods like mud water sieving seeds, plow modifications, and fertilizer fermentation.

Today, was Roman's ninth day in Sige Town.

He woke at the crack of dawn and took out the Giant Bow brought over from the Riptide Family.

The bow's body was as red as blood, and the bone-white bowstring was tough; the draw weight was between 150 and 200 pounds, with large gem-quality diamonds embedded at both the head and tail, each the size of a pigeon's egg.

Drawing this longbow was equivalent to lifting over a hundred pounds with one hand, and drawing it fully required even more strength.

The bow was made from "Redwood," a wood that seemed to be soaked in blood.

Redwood was a natural and special extraordinary resource,tough and with an extremely long growth period; it was said to be stained with Dragon Blood, giving the bearer the power of courage and fervor.

It was said that even the timid, upon grasping a branch of Redwood, could become brave and fearless.

The bowstring, supposedly made from the tendons of sea monsters through a complex tanning process; was incredibly tough and formidable, able to withstand great force, such that even sharp swords could not sever it in one strike.

Two sparkling, high-quality diamonds at the ends of the bow granted the body and arrows an unstoppable force.

Redwood, sea monster tendon, diamond; these formed the might of this extraordinary weapon.

Yet to Roman, it was just average, its penetrative power perhaps on the level of a heavy sniper rifle, but its destructiveness, range, and accuracy were not as effective as a sniper rifle.

This was Roman's most prized weapon, worth at least a triple-digit count of Gold Coins, sought after by countless nobles.

However, this item could not be sold, supposedly a replica of a weapon from the Grand Duke of the Riptide Family; roughly equivalent to an heirloom. If the Grand Duke saw this on the market, wouldn't he be furious enough to flay him alive?

It was originally unrelated to Roman, but before he left, the Grand Duke of the Riptide suddenly called him to the family's secret room, had him take down this large bow hanging on the wall, and shared with him the motto of the Riptide Family—

"Bramble and Thorn!"