HTLCCBFT Chapter 130

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 130

Oliver had not anticipated that after successfully suppressing the rebels in Albury, many of the original residents would be unwilling to return.

Once he resolved to take Albury, he completely abandoned his original plan of absorbing displaced populations: Laina was too remote, severely lacking in transportation, with limited fertile farmland and scarce mineral resources. Although the improved saline-alkali land could now grow some salt-tolerant crops, the overall yield still couldn’t compare to ordinary fields—even with his orders to begin composting.

To address these unavoidable weaknesses, he had designated Laina City’s development direction as primarily focused on animal husbandry, with crop cultivation as secondary.

Laina City possessed the fast-flowing Laina River encircling its territory as an excellent water source, along with vast forest resources. With proper planning, it would undoubtedly become excellent natural pastureland.

The daily fertilizer output from the farms could enhance soil fertility and increase crop yields, allowing the people of Laina to achieve modest surplus beyond self-sufficiency.

Furthermore, the final animal products and byproducts from the farms had relatively lenient requirements for storage and transportation.

Once overall production increased, they could consider selling to neighboring cities.

For such a city with a clearly defined development direction and limited labor demands… Oliver believed it wasn’t suitable to absorb too many permanent external residents.

Albury was different.

Although Albury City’s geographical location couldn’t compare to Gregor, the largest city in the south, it was far superior to Laina, which bordered the mountain ranges.

From its center: five days and nights on horseback eastward lay Gregor City; three days and nights southeastward lay Laina City; within four days’ journey westward stood three medium-sized cities slightly larger than itself: Iron[mfn]爱恩(ài ēn)[/mfn], Copper[mfn]阔普尔(kuò pǔ ěr)[/mfn], and Gemstone[mfn]简斯通(jiǎn sī tōng)[/mfn].

Iron, Copper, and Gemstone were cities famous for their abundant metal and gemstone mines: although the core veins were controlled by nobility from the royal capital, scattered smaller veins had fallen into the hands of major merchants, naturally attracting large numbers of traders and miners.

Due to scarce other resources within these three cities, most residents regularly traveled to the nearest Albury City to replenish daily necessities.

Precisely because of this, although Albury couldn’t claim superiority in any natural resources, it attracted far more merchants to settle than Laina City.

The turmoil throughout the entire winter not only devastated the lives of Albury’s residents but also severely impacted the inhabitants of these three neighboring cities.

After analyzing Albury’s situation, Oliver preliminarily established a development plan focusing on crop cultivation with brewing as secondary support.

Though this might be his personal bias… in his understanding, places with more men engaged in heavy physical labor would sell more alcohol.

The carefully crafted wines from specialized vineyards were luxuries only nobles could enjoy.

The types of alcohol ordinary people could afford were extremely limited, mostly consisting of inferior pale ale.

Before dealing with the mess left by the previous lord, Oliver had also tasted a bit of it.

The tip of his tongue that touched the liquor was both bitter and astringent, and his mouth was so bland that he couldn’t taste the “mellow aroma” of alcohol at all.

Yet even such liquor made the commoners very happy, and they cherished and enjoyed it bit by bit.

Oliver set his sights on this potentially lucrative business.

“Indeed, I must see it for myself.”

Looking out the window, Oliver sighed sincerely.

The large hole he had personally smashed in the castle wall was quickly repaired by Fosse and the craftsmen.

Not only that, the loyal and capable butler had also refurbished the main bedrooms in the shortest possible time.

This was to restore the rooms—which had been occupied by the absurd rebels for an entire winter and had become unrecognizable—to their original state, making them somewhat worthy of the noble status of the new occupant.

Oliver had always had extremely low requirements for his living conditions.

Unlike the decadent nobles who spent most of their days idling in their bedrooms and halls unless hosting banquets or going hunting, this duke and lord lived a full and busy life every day, only returning to his bedroom to rest late at night.

If not for the mandatory rest imposed by the game system, the one in his heart could even work through the night.

Upon hearing his words, the golden-haired deity with cat ears boldly exposed in the bedroom couldn’t help but tremble slightly at the tips of his ears: “Why?”

“According to previous intelligence, the cultivated land area of Albury is not even as large as Laina, which has bleached saline-alkali land.”

As he spoke, Oliver stared unblinkingly at the vast grasslands outside the city walls.

It was as if he could already see the bountiful fields of the near future through their currently unremarkable appearance.

Those beautiful blue eyes, which even the deity found deeply enchanting, shone like sapphires reflecting the brilliant sunlight, clear and bright: “There’s still so, so much land!”

Just because it wasn’t enclosed within the outer city walls, in people’s minds, it was excluded from the “Albury territory.”

As the only listener, although He still found it difficult to understand why his beloved believer would be excited about such ordinary grasslands, after several months of interaction, He only had to think slightly before naturally arriving at the most likely answer.

Was Oliver… thinking about digging in the mud again?

The furry tips of his ears trembled slightly once more, and He calmly continued along this line of thought: “But if we start planting now, it might be too late.”

After the snow melted, the exposed ground was covered with weeds that had been left to spread and grow for centuries without any care—some areas were so deep they nearly reached a person’s height, while the shallowest parts could easily submerge an adult man’s knees.

Just clearing the weeds would take a long time, let alone plowing and sowing.

Unlike Laina, which had the Laina River flowing around the city, Albury had to rely on deep wells for irrigation.

Upon hearing the cat-eared deity’s words, Oliver, who had been immersed in his own thoughts, couldn’t help but feel slightly surprised.

He gazed earnestly at the solemn-faced deity, his eyes gradually curving into crescents as the corners of his lips lifted, revealing the beautiful smile that It loved most: “Dear Cat God, you’re becoming more clever and reliable by the day!”

No sooner had he spoken than he couldn’t help but chuckle, watching the other’s large tail—previously relaxed and drooping—slowly rise.

Completely unaware that its delighted mood had been thoroughly exposed, the deity, encouraged by the smile, earnestly pondered words that might make Oliver even happier.

“Oliver, do you… need my help?”

It asked expectantly.

“Though receiving the protection of a great deity is a blessing for the people of Albury,” Oliver said with a smile, “matters so crucial to their future livelihood should be left to their own efforts.”

It nodded, only half-understanding.

“Though I have an idea in mind, I need to inspect the fields in person to confirm the situation.”

With these words, the typically decisive duke and lord left the castle, accompanied by the Cat God who always followed closely at his heels.

By the time he rode through the town area and passed through the outer city gate, over a hundred guards had gathered behind him.

Oliver naturally didn’t stop Fosse’s arrangements.

After all, the rebel army had only recently been suppressed, and with uncertainty about whether remnants might still linger nearby, the loyal butler believed utmost caution was necessary.

Oliver himself had no intention of staying out for long: he merely rode around the perimeter of the newly designated farmland, occasionally dismounting along the way. Under Fosse’s watchful, barely concealed nervous gaze, he personally scooped soil into his palm.

The yellowish-brown clods lay in his fair, delicate hand—a stark contrast no matter how one looked at it.

But Oliver paid no mind to such trivial matters as dirtying his hands, focusing entirely on observing the soil’s characteristics.

He gently clenched the soil in his hand, allowing it to form into a large clump before loosening his grip, then lightly shaking it from side to side.

Under the slight motion, the clump didn’t break apart.

Only when he applied slight pressure with his fingers did the soil suddenly disperse, turning into fine, granular particles.

—Which meant it had passed the preliminary test.

To further examine the development of the aggregate structure, Oliver used a small iron shovel he carried to dig about 10 centimeters deep at each new area, collecting only the third shovel of soil each time and placing it into small cloth bags prepared in advance by Fosse.

After returning to the castle, under everyone’s anxious stares, he calmly placed three spoonfuls of soil into expensive glass bottles, filled them with water, then inverted them several times until the water turned completely murky.

“Your Grace.” Unlike the deity who cared only about Oliver himself rather than what he was doing, Fosse, who had been quietly observing for a long time, finally couldn’t resist asking: “Might I ask what you’re doing?”

“Ah, Fosse. This is just a simple method to observe soil fertility,” Oliver replied almost to himself as he watched the changes in water clarity in each bottle: “The faster the water becomes clear, the more suitable the soil condition is for crop cultivation… hmm, remember to remind me to have Arte compile the specific content into the intermediate textbook once he arrives.”

The principle is actually quite simple.

There are cultivation methods that emphasize thorough weed removal, and of course, there also exists what is known as “grass-growing cultivation”—a method that utilizes weeds while requiring minimal composting, land reclamation, and weeding.

The so-called “fertile soil” typically refers to land rich in various microorganisms, bacteria, and fungi. The greater the diversity of organisms inhabiting the soil, the more readily the decomposed organic matter forms new structures, causing the soil to develop a granular texture—appearing as clusters of “pellets” of varying sizes, dotted with pores.

This is undoubtedly the most ideal soil for grass-growing cultivation: it boasts excellent drainage while maintaining strong water retention. It doesn’t accumulate water during rain, yet it can still provide moisture to crop roots during dry spells. The abundant pores also ensure strong aeration, supplying the necessary oxygen to plant roots.

Oliver soon noted with satisfaction that out of the 12 samples he had collected this time, only three took excessively long to turn clear. This meant that the other nine could be considered high-quality granular-structured soil, suitable for experimenting with simultaneous cultivation of leguminous and gramineous crops.

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