Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 301 - 7: Bullied by the Whole World

"Your Highness, we are isolated and without support," Seth said.

"No matter, they are no match for us," Roman replied.

The consequences of provoking the Church Court are terrifying.

The most terrifying part is that no one is willing to do business with him!!

This is very understandable.

The influence of divine faith on this land is extremely frightening.

Counting all the priests, nuns, shallow believers, and zealots.

These believers make up about 50% of the entire human society.

If all the people who say "All Gods above" are considered believers, they would probably account for 80%.

The other 20% include pirates, barbarians, and other groups with special beliefs.

The Church Court’s war potential is almost equivalent to half of human society’s war potential.

Dare to go against the Church Court?

You truly aren’t afraid of billions of believers!

Even if the three Black Iron Dukes join forces, they can only stand against the Church Court.

But this is only if the Church Court violates the Conqueror Order, and they are willing to maintain the Conqueror Order.

However, the current Order of the Conqueror has long fallen apart.

The Black Iron King has severed ties with Roman, although they haven’t revoked the Conqueror Lord titles, pretending to know nothing.

If the Black Iron King is like this, those well-informed merchants are even less inclined to come here.

Admittedly, they can sell the rope to hang themselves.

But they certainly don’t want to gamble their entire fortune on a very slim likelihood. Otherwise, if they fail, they’d lose everything and be purged by the Church Court; staying away is best.

Now things are bad, Roman is directly being bullied by the whole world!

Roman, who wanted to bully the whole world, is very displeased with this.

Dammit!

You bunch trying to do business like this?!

A group of spineless merchants who cherish their bodies when doing big things and forget their lives over small profits!

Sooner or later, he’ll order the army to kick open their doors, force them to trade freely with Origin City!

For now, just let it be.

Manpower is abundant right now, so Roman sets up more production posts to accomplish the goal of self-sufficiency.

In fact, given Origin City’s current scale, the limited trade volume really can’t meet its daily needs.

In reality, since swallowing up those twenty thousand slaves, Origin City’s supplies have been in a very scarce state.

No clothes, no brick houses, no furniture, some even lack eating utensils—chopsticks without bowls or plates.

The immediate priority is to expand production and establish an internal circulatory system for Origin City.

Enhance material supply, hire more workers, pay more salaries, and then recoup all of it through department stores.

Roman had to redeploy a batch of emergency Blue Gems, assigning knowledgeable Angels Envoy to different posts.

Digging clay, firing pottery;

Large-scale, standardized collection of resin to make paint;

Using soybean oil to mass-produce oil lamps or candles;

Batch production of vinegar and soy sauce;

Opening more specialized distilleries and soap factories...

Making blackboards and chalk, etc...

These measures can effectively enhance Origin City’s risk-resistance capabilities.

Moreover, these workshops can help divert the population and stabilize society, each workshop has its own small kitchen.

Roman calculated food allocation precisely based on labor force numbers, delivering a batch of firewood, rice, oil, and salt to workshop kitchens every few days, ensuring his steady acquisition of their output.

In the blink of an eye, it was August.

Roman learned that Pirate King Alex had defeated Duke Riptide at the Northern Front.

The front line began moving south.

Pirates rapidly advanced to Riptide’s Domain, finally stopped by the passes of Iron Flower County.

The victorious pirates finally found time to trade with Roman.

They escorted countless war prisoners to trade with Roman, exchanging them for a large number of weapons and arrows.

Especially the latter, having tasted success.

Trading in arms always has pros and cons.

The advantage is convenience and speed; the disadvantage is it hinders developing one’s own military potential.

Simply put, talents need nurturing, industries need establishing; this doesn’t happen overnight.

Once path dependency forms, there’s a lack of independence in certain areas. If this path is cut off, it becomes uncomfortable.

Roman doesn’t know if the pirates understand this.

But there’s no need to say more.

The pirates are on a roll right now, best if they penetrate into Black Iron Kingdom’s heartland, helping to block the Church Court’s Holy War Army.

After all, the Church Court and the pirates are also hostile forces.

The pirates and Origin City both know this might be their last trade this year.

But in this trade, Roman only wanted thousands of carefully selected slaves.

Origin City really can’t take any more now.

The population is nearing the 80,000 mark.

Food is truly running out.

Even wartime rationing can’t sustain anymore.

He is only waiting for this year’s autumn harvest now.

...

Early August.

Roman harvested a batch of medium-season rice, the yield slightly higher than early rice, over twenty thousand pounds of grain, a delightful scene.

At this time, the Church Court’s Holy War Army was about to arrive at Roman’s doorstep.

"Your Highness, what should we do?" the Witch asked.

"Ignore them," Roman said.

The witches were stunned; they thought Roman would strike hard, even knowing his ways in the brief time they spent together, having heard of his glorious deeds countless times.

Roman couldn’t be bothered with the dumbfounded witches.

Fight?

Fight for what?!

I said I wanted the All Gods to come after me, but I didn’t say I would hit hard.

Under no circumstances can there be more fighting this year!

If they want to blockade, let them; in the current situation of Origin City, blockade or not, it doesn’t matter.

Roman decided to just stay put here this year.

He went to review the troops.

The new recruits enlisted this year were beginning to take shape.

After all, training with veterans, having learning templates, learning by example, they naturally knew how to do many things.

Roman held a military meeting and said to the senior army officials, "The Church Court’s troops are coming."

The mood was solemn, no one spoke.

Soldiers live by orders as their duty, and the army is the ultimate embodiment of Roman’s will.

Whether to fight or not is just a matter of his word.

"But you continue training, for now there’s no need for you to take action," Roman continued.

The officers, having heard similar info before, all relaxed now.

They don’t fear war.

But taking these new recruits to the battlefield, how many would return alive?

"You must focus on your training tasks—my safety and Origin City’s safety is entrusted to your hands."

Aaron suddenly stood up, raised his right hand high, and shouted, "We will not disgrace our mission!"

The other officers were startled by him, then they all stood up, saluted, and said, "We will not disgrace our mission!"

The voices thundered!

Roman was very pleased with the orderly scene before him.

"Very good! I will select another two thousand new recruits—our warriors are well-tempered, and our enemies are no match for us! They are all paper tigers! Nothing to fear, we will crush them next year."

Roman finished these encouraging words and left.

After he left, Jet began to organize the army for more rigorous and challenging field exercises.