Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Roman spoke, his voice carrying far under the sky.

"I am Roman Riptide, the Lord of Sige Town, your ruler from now on!"

"You should know, this land, all the land, now belongs to me!"

The peasants had no land, everything visible was owned by the nobles, a situation most modern people would find utterly terrifying.

Though called free citizens, they could only rent the land and pay land rent through money, labor, or goods, never being able to truly own their own land.

There was a strong personal dependency between the nobles and the tenants.

And the oppression was endless.

"You are ignorant, foolish, and have committed unforgivable sins."

"The fish in the river, the wildlife in the mountains, the animals on land, the birds flying through this sky, they all belong to me."

"Now, I will exercise my rights, I will reclaim ownership of this land, I will reorganize everything, and I will not allow you to waste my resources like this!"

"Moreover, in the past few decades, you have secretly entered the mountain to cut trees, poach, and fish, violating the nobles' laws, all of you must pay me one Gold Coin as a penalty!"

Roman sat atop a towering horse, his back against the blinding sun, his face seemingly immersed in darkness, his gaze indifferent as he watched the dense crowd.

Having lived in this world for more than a decade, if nothing else, he had perfectly learned this superior noble attitude.

Before he left, he had obtained three years of tax exemption from Grand Duke Riptide.

That is to say, for these three years, he could manipulate these fools however he wanted without being accountable to anyone.

The scene seemed to hit the pause button, silent as the grave.

Suddenly, it was like a pot exploding.

"No... no..."

"Please, master, show mercy, we can't afford the penalty..."

"Please show mercy..."

"No, one Gold Coin? That's insane..."

"Would you grant porridge to a slave, yet in your eyes, are your farmers even less than slaves?"

Plead after plead, wail after wail, everyone was begging, falling down like wheat, numerous pleading eyes converging, and some even screamed and rushed forward!

Zist!

The friction sound of the sword and the scabbard.

The crisp and smooth metallic sound suddenly resounded in everyone's ears, causing everyone to shiver and get goosebumps.

Everyone was horrified to find that the two noble knights in full armor behind Roman had simultaneously drawn their Heavy Swords.

They rode warhorses, silent, swords in hand, their sword tips gleaming coldly straight up to the sky, like two ruthless killing machines.

The peasants who tried to rush forward to plead were so frightened by this turn of events that they repeatedly retreated, fearing the next moment would bring splashes of blood.

Unmoved, Roman continued, "But I give you two choices, either pay the penalty or obey my arrangements."

Is there even a choice?

One Gold Coin was a unit they had never dealt with before, even copper coins were considered precious.

"And furthermore, you are to send all children aged between 5 and 15 to my estate."

After the impact of a gold coin, everyone grew numb to his commands.

Roman spoke again, "All merchants, step forward before me."

According to the information supplied by Moor, Roman discovered that commerce in Sige Town was beginning to take shape and with more people came various needs.

Despite the mountains surrounding Sige Town making land travel difficult, the well-developed waterways could meet the basic needs of commercial transportation.

The Bro River split into two tributaries, one flowing through Silver Dragon Canyon and Sige Town, while the other tributary bypassed Silver Dragon Canyon.

However, Silver Dragon Canyon was riddled with hidden reefs and raging rapids, posing certain risks to navigation.

This resulted in few merchants reaching Sige Town.

After a while, the merchants of Sige Town realized they couldn't escape this ordeal and squeezed forward from the back of the crowd, looking very apprehensive.

Roman looked down at the merchants, "I know some of you are not from Sige Town, but your commercial activities have occurred without my permission and you have not paid the commercial tax, which should be punishable."

"Yes, my lord," the merchants responded with a look of distress.

Roman was not overly harsh with the group of merchants, he stated, "Your previous commercial taxes need not be paid for now, but from now on, your business activities must meet my requirements."

At this moment, a young merchant suddenly spoke up:

"My lord, your requirements are all reasonable, and we shall obey you. The mountain is your property, and we are all thieves stealing from you. But why do you focus only on the petty thieves, and overlook the real bandits in the mountains?"

Roman looked toward the young merchant who had spoken, aware that his firm stance might have sparked certain dissatisfactions among these people. Was someone speaking up for the peasants?

"Who are you?"

"Morry Pereya. Greetings from the son of Selin to you, Lord Roman!" Morry bowed deeply.

Morry had a rather handsome face, about in his twenties, with sun-kissed bronze skin from frequent travels and dressed in a well-tailored robe—a clear distinction from the typical merchants of Sige Town.

Selin Pereya was a well-known grand merchant, and Roman had heard of his name.

The children of a great merchant were numerous; encountering an illegitimate child was not surprising and he could be useful in the future.

Roman snorted coldly, his voice indifferent and arrogant, "I will thoroughly investigate everyone, those hidden in the mountains included. I will not spare anyone, be it a petty thief or a grand bandit. No one, no one will use my territory and resources without paying a price!"

He then looked toward the crowd once more.

"Starting today, I forbid you to cultivate my fields. The fields you previously worked will all be abandoned! Guards will supervise you, and anyone who dares to till the fields will be executed! Tomorrow marks the beginning. From now on, you are to accept my rule, unconditionally carry out every order I give you!"

These fools who know nothing of the land, maintaining the same production methods means laboring all day for naught.

Next, Roman's abdomen contracted and his chest expanded, his throat seemed to erupt with a fierce breath of fire and steel. He spoke resoundly:

"I restate once more, I will exercise my rights, take back all the lands of Sige Town, and I will have complete control over all resources. I declare a change in your way of life and cultivation! I will redistribute everything, and I will offer you no leniency! You must only obey!"

With that, he tugged the reins and rode away as everyone watched.

Moor, sweat soaking his back, watched all that had unfolded, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a pale face.

He felt at ease about Roman's earlier irrational behavior, murmuring to himself, this was indeed the noble style he was accustomed to.

But while he had heard of draining the pond to catch all the fish, he had never seen delving three feet into the ground.

Moor felt his heart tremble.

Could Sige Town ever return to how it was before?

...