Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 353 - 26: Special Departments

"How does it feel?" Roman saw Aaron and quickly stepped forward to give him a bear hug!

"It’s no different from usual," Aaron said, a slight smile curved at the corner of his mouth. His subordinates nicknamed him the turtle, for his facial expression was as gloomy and eternal as a turtle’s shell, but he was just not good at expressing himself—not that he was uninteresting. Only when encountering something that could tug at his heartstrings would he reveal various emotions.

"I’ve brought back many people."

He handed the list to Roman, all of which were the results of his hard work.

Roman glanced over it and immediately said with delight, "You’ve done well! These are all the talents I need!"

This list was enough to fill a number of vacant positions. Now that the size of the territory was growing day by day, production pressure was quite significant.

He had changed the production model, implementing more efficient manufacturing processes.

But those manufacturing processes also required specialists who could learn them.

Hundreds of skilled craftsmen, all master artisans. One master could teach two or three apprentices.

Oxen and horses were creatures of remarkable adaptability; give them carrots, and there isn’t a mill they can’t pull.

This time his expansion strategy had taken out five noble nodes in one fell swoop, with Apple Town being the most profitable one.

Residents living in market towns are often smarter and of higher quality than rural folk.

There was no shortage of literate lawyers and judges either, cultivated by city universities to serve power and willing to be employed, unlike hereditary judicial officers from noble families in certain territories.

But Roman’s reputation was so bad that no one was willing to work for him, fearing that if he fell from power, they would be implicated.

Now, they had no choice but to come.

"You guys really did a great job this time."

"It’s part of our duties," Aaron said.

"I must reward you well."

Rewards included fabrics, salt, ironware, and other daily necessities. Every time they won a battle, Roman would distribute a batch of extra supplies as a reward, to prevent his men from breaking rules due to shortages.

Such motivational actions always yielded benefits far greater than the costs.

This time, the residents of the market town and prisoners of war were all excellent labor forces.

There had been no rain disasters here, and the sky was clear, which was extraordinary; his recruitment drive was massive, and so much land awaited cultivation. Heaven knows how much Origin City needed labor.

Of course, labor alone was not enough; if it could not be organized effectively, it would be a waste of food.

"Come, sit with me in the castle hall and tell me in detail how you did it over there," Roman urged Aaron to sit with him.

He was very interested in this operation, as it was the only experience of dispatching troops to be stationed outside.

He had twice sent troops far away, once to rescue Morry, but that could only be considered an expedition. The other time was to Sea Castle, but that also could not be taken as a standard reference. The people of Sea Castle knelt the moment they saw Nillie return.

What if Roman’s forces went elsewhere?

Like to Apple Town, they would definitely face considerable resistance.

Even if the residents complied on the surface, they would be non-cooperative in secret, ready to trip you up at any moment. Let your guard down, and they would dare to stir up trouble and boast of defending their homeland.

Aaron fought on the front lines; two thousand auxiliary soldiers had to guard the rear, lest they be backstabbed.

Under the feudal system, who was the outsider?

Roman was the outsider. His word was only good in Origin City and Fertile City; the outside world called him a blasphemer.

The people of this era had two great mountains in their hearts.

One was the Church Court, the other the Nobles.

Don’t think that because the nobles oppress them, they will hate the nobles.

In fact, their bones have long been tamed into the shape of the nobles’ masters.

And yet Roman wanted to straighten their lowly bones into the shape he desired.

If he had a hundred thousand Heavy Soldiers, he would dare to conquer the entire land directly, and just by inserting pegs everywhere, he could quickly turn this land into a steel plate.

However, at present, he had only cultivated twelve hundred Heavy Soldiers, and this army was also the one with the highest cultural literacy under Roman’s command. Thanks to the sufficiently long training period and low attrition, they were steadfast.

In other professional squads, it might not be possible to achieve such a level.

Governing a place is too hard.

Roman listened as Aaron said he had ordered everyone to stay home and not go out, with most production work forced to stop, such as taverns closing, blacksmiths extinguishing their fires, and carpenters halting work. Aaron commanded the Heavy Soldiers to knock on doors from house to house to record information.

One squad was responsible for this area, another for that area.

Twelve hundred literate veterans faced over six thousand residents. It took them more than ten days to collect all the information.

The efficiency was slow, but there was no other way because they couldn’t act alone.

In the early stage when they started the work, some isolated Heavy Soldiers were attacked in the narrow alleys by the local residents. Fortunately, the Heavy Soldiers were experienced and suffered no non-combat casualties.

If they didn’t die on the battlefield but died on the road during visits, that would be a disgrace.

Hearing these things, Roman couldn’t help falling into contemplation: How exactly should he rule those difficult people?

Military control was effective, but Roman’s current army wasn’t up to standard—even the highest quality Heavy Equipment Squad, assisting in production was achievable, but leading in production was not.

Not to mention that he wanted to take ownership of all the land for redistribution, and subsequent improvements in living conditions, agriculture reform, the proliferation of iron tools, and the improvement of manufacturing techniques.

All these things were too complex, each one more difficult to implement than the last, and mishaps were likely without Roman personally present, as the situation in Iolion was still vivid in his memory.

He thought it over and over but had no clue, only certain of one thing—he still had to rely on the army.

The army was the most organized group in social development.

But they could fight, and it was unrealistic to expect them all to become jacks-of-all-trades.

Just like ordinary farmers, their learning and comprehension abilities were limited.

You tell the farmers that we are the army of the people, but those ordinary farmers didn’t understand the principles behind it.

That bunch of troublesome people were stubborn, greedy, suspicious, blind... Damn it, Roman wished he could kill them all and purify the world. Once the next generation of children, influenced by him, grew up, things would be easier.

But that would mean waiting ten years, and besides, there would be no one to work for him!

Just as Roman was at his wits’ end, Aaron finished recounting that experience and took off the heavy pouch from his waist before handing it over.

Roman opened it and was delighted to discover that the pouch contained hundreds of variously colored gemstones and crystals.

"Is this also part of your spoils?"

A faint smile appeared on Aaron’s face: "We scoured that trading town completely."

Prisoners of war and slaves were a part, gemstones another, and Gold Coins, silver coins, and copper coins a part as well.

How much wealth does a thriving trading town have?

That was hard to count, but Aaron could provide an approximate number, and in total, it was not less than a five-figure sum of Gold Coins.

Roman looked at the gemstones and smiled. Other professional squads also had their share of spoils, bringing in varying numbers of gemstones, knowing that Roman was in need of various resources, but it still had to be Aaron.

Looking at these gemstones, he felt as if he had found a road to the future.

He singled out a batch of Soldiers with the best learning progress and established a special production department to seriously Upgrade their brains!