King of Mercenaries

Chapter 14: The oriental plough

The Hoffman Estate is located in the southeast of the small town of Bochum in the territory of Markbo, on the north bank of the Ruhr River. This place is a hill, and the plain only accounts for a small part. The ancestors of the Hoffman family used to be one of the guards of the Marker State Court, but they were not very valued. Therefore, when the Knights' territories were separated after a certain war, they were assigned to this hilly area. In theory, Hoffman Estate has 500 yugrams (1000 acres) of land. But in fact, in this 1000-acre site, only 200 acres (1200 acres) along the Ruhr River are suitable for farming. The remaining 800 acres are basically hills. Moreover, these hills seem to be very poor, and even a tree can not grow out, only long and thin weeds. This was mainly because the ancestors of the Hoffman family had sinned the palace of Markbo. Therefore, in the distribution of the land, the palace secretly sealed the Hoffman family to this unfortunate place. And those who are lucky, sealed to 6,000 acres are all cultivated land, then, this knight family is very rich. Even if the European agricultural level slag, 6000 acres of land is placed there, it is difficult to find poverty. If it is in the Ming Empire of the East, who has 6,000 acres of land, it is definitely a big landlord. Liu Wencai, the landlord, has only 10,000 mu of land at home.

But in the Middle Ages in Europe, 6,000 acres of land is really not an anecdote. In general, the French knights has basically 1,500 acres. Therefore, the French knight is very rich and well equipped. During the Anglo-French war, the king easily summoned two or three thousand knights. In the UK, only a few thousand knights can be found. The rest, had to use the long bow soldiers to join.As for the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperial Knight, the family of knights who work for the Emperor, is also generally 1,500 acres of land. The knights in the territory of the Principality, the Bodhisattva and other territories below are smaller. After all, the Principality of these Principalities has a limited area, and there are not as many territories as the French and the Emperors. Therefore, the knights in Marker's country are generally only 1,000 acres, and not all of them are cultivated land. In general, this 1000-acre land can be more than half of it is the cultivated land, even that it is good. For the Hoffman family, it's so bad, only a small part is cultivated land, so the days are too tight. In order to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, the Hoffman couple are all hurt their brains. Nowadays, I heard that cows can be used instead of horse farmland. Old Hoffman and Mrs. Mary are very happy.

In order to prove Marin's assertion, Mrs. Mary immediately sent Adler to the city of Bochum to purchase five strong bulls and a barrel of spirits. After returning, according to Marin's method, five bulls were put down with spirits. Next, the five cows were tied with a rope.

After that, Marin, a professional, put the ring in the middle of the bull's nose and pierced the hole with a knife. Then, Marin cleaned the perforated wound with spirits to avoid infection.

At first, the 5 bulls certainly didn't adapt, but the copper rings were on the nose, and they didn't dare to move. A few days later, several bulls finally accepted their lives and no longer rebelled.

Then, the old Hoffman quickly let the serfs take 5 cows to the 600 acres of land, try to use cattle to cultivate land.

"Hey? Five cows raise the bar."

Marlin looked at the 5 cows in the field and pulled a heavy plow together.

"Saxon has a heavy plough, haven't you seen it?" Adler looked at Marin contemptuously. Rarely, Adler found an opportunity to crush Marlin in terms of IQ.

"5 cows pull a plow, it's a waste of cattle."

"This is also a no-brainer. The Saxon ploughing is deeper and better for crops. With a Germanic plow, a horse or a cow can pull, but the farming is too shallow and not good for the crop." Mrs. Mary explained on the side.

The reason why Hoffman Estate has raised up to 25 horses is that I used a 5 horse parallel Saxon plough.

The deep-growing Saxon heavy plow can make rye production high.

"I am really a pig, why didn't you think of Qufu?" Marin patted his head.

"What happened?"

"I suddenly thought of a kind of oriental plough that the teacher taught me. It is efficient and labor-saving. The Qufu plow is much stronger!" Marin flicked.

"Is there such a good thing?" Old Hoffman and Mrs. Mary are all looking at the light. Only Adler, who has not yet been exposed to the management of the estate, is less sensitive to agricultural matters.

"You wait and see!"

Then, Marin found a serf in the Hoffman Estate who knew how to forge iron and woodwork, and began to smash the drums.

The next day, the Qufu plow with the wooden body iron head debuted. The Hoffman family once again came to the farm to watch the effect of the "Oriental God Plough".

Under the guidance of Marin, a serf put the Qufu on the shoulder of the cows, hand-joined the rope attached to the nose of the cow, and held the Qufu plow in one hand, and began the cultivation experiment.

Half a day later, the serf gradually mastered the use of the Qufu Plough. Then he shouted excitedly at Old Hoffman:

"The Lord Lord, this is amazing! A plough with one cattle, the effect is almost the same as the 5 horse-drawn Saxon plough!"

"Really?" Old Hoffman couldn't believe it. But after he went down to the ground, he opened the land that had just been plowed by Qufu, and measured the depth with his hand. It was close to the depth of the cultivation of the Saxony heavy plow, and the effect was very good.

"It's amazing. So, don't you say that with 10 cows, I can easily cultivate 600 acres in half a month?"

(Note: A cow cultivates an average of four or five acres per day.)

"In theory, this is the old man!"

"Can a horse to move this plough?"

"Try it!" Marin said in an understatement.

Then, the serf put the Qufu plow on the shoulder of the horse and began to test again. It turns out that a horse can also pull this "Oriental God Plow".

After the test was successful, Old Hoffman decisively sold 15 horses used for arable land and exchanged 15 cows. Then, a number of "Oriental God Plows" were built in the manor for the spring ploughing of the coming year.

Even Qufu Plow and Bull Nose Ring were regarded as strategic secrets and were temporarily ordered by the Hoffman family not to be rumored. The Hoffman Estate is surrounded by hills and the Ruhr River in the south, therefore, the old Hoffman decided to close the door to enjoy the benefits.

As for the emperor or the count? Old Hoffman thought about it and gave up. Because, in Europe, in addition to the warfare and the emperor's favor, other methods are difficult to obtain the fief. Putting this technology up, rewarding a few dinars at most, it is impossible to reward the title and the affordable land. Don't give the title and the fief, a little money reward, old Hoffman can not care. Therefore, he simply enjoys the benefits of the Qufu Plow and the Bull Nose Ring, and he has the benefit of his own house.