Don't disturb my farming Chapter 61 Who is Ayun?
Carlisle Harvey Ferdinand, the second prince of the Kingdom of Saint Bridget, was only the third in line to the throne, but he had been baptized in the Holy Cathedral and had been given a middle name that carried a divine blessing. He was considered a well-known royal among the many small countries in the Southern Kingdom.
Carlisle, who had traveled to countless countries at the age of 26, had experience beyond that of ordinary people. When the Kingdom of Saint Bridge was in financial distress and was hesitating whether to fully surrender to the Holy See or bow its head and join the Federation, Carlisle proposed a third solution without hesitation: to break away from the southern countries and find another way to open up a sea trade route that belonged only to Saint Bridge.
Well... a small country like Saint Bridge on land can't challenge the Lamia Merchant Group which has the support of the Federation.
There are more than thirty countries in the human kingdom , large and small, seventeen of which have joined the Federation. The rest are either struggling to survive on their own or hiding under the protection of the Holy See.
Carlisle knew that if a small country like his with a small territory and a population of only tens of millions joined the federation, it would be difficult for the powerful countries to pull their troops to its territory. However, it was not necessarily a good thing to seek shelter from the Holy See. The tithe may not seem like much, but don't the priests and bishops stationed in various towns in the country build churches? Don't we have to pay religious donations to these high-ranking clergy? And those religious police who are more ferocious than the gendarmes, can the king not pay their salaries?
He was baptized in the Holy Cathedral and almost joined the Vatican's Sky Knights. He knew what the actual situation was of those countries that bowed to the Vatican.
Among the six small countries in the Southern Kingdom, Saint Bridge is neither the poorest nor the richest. Logically speaking, most of the spices on this continent are produced in the six southern countries, so it shouldn't be so embarrassed. However... in the human kingdom, spices can't be sold at a high price!
If you want to sell the spices produced in your country overseas, you can't avoid the Lamia Caravan - you can't transport them out by land anyway, let alone by sea. Where do these small countries in the south get the capital to build high-sea merchant ships to transport the spices?
In desperation, Carlisle had no choice but to turn his attention to the Lamia Caravan's forbidden territory: the northern grasslands across the inland sea.
Sailing from the seaport of the Kingdom of Saint Bridge, going up into the inland sea, and crossing the inland sea to reach the southwest of the grassland, the shipping cost is three times higher than that of Lamia sailing from the port of the Northern Kingdom. But even so, if you can open up a trade route to sell your own goods to the grassland tribes, the profit will still be ten times that of before... The Lamia Merchant Group takes the products of the six southern countries at a low price and sells them to the Orc Empire through long-distance voyages. The profit is unimaginable for ordinary people. They even disdain to sell spices to the grassland. After all, those lowest-grade black mud and green salt are enough to plunder the wealth of the grassland.
That's right... Although His Majesty Prince Carlisle is old, he is a man who is very successful and adventurous. After much inquiry, he found out that there were no spices on the cargo ship of the Lamia Caravan bound for the grassland. So he pulled out an empty caravan, pretending to be a mercenary group willing to do anything for money, and rushed thousands of miles to the grassland.
The journey was naturally not very peaceful. Although they crossed the inland sea and avoided the route of the Lamia Caravan in the southeast of the grassland, they were still discovered by the patrol team of the Lamia Caravan after they landed, and they were chased for more than ten days.
Fortunately, luck always comes after misfortune. After getting rid of the patrol of the Lamia Caravan, Carlisle met the grassland people who were quite friendly to humans...
While following the grassland people to their tribe, Carlisle appeared calm on the surface but was very excited inside. He secretly rehearsed countless times in his mind how to negotiate with the grassland tribe, how to give up part of the profits and cooperate with the grassland tribe to open up ports and trade routes that belong only to St. Bridges, and use the advantages of the grassland tribe's indigenous inhabitants to help them maintain the trade routes.
It is true that their purpose of coming to the grassland is no different from that of the Lamia Caravan, which is to make profits. However, behind the Lamia Caravan is the entire Federation. In order to ensure the interests of all countries in the Federation, they will naturally exploit them mercilessly. And this is where Saint Bridge's advantage lies. They only need to maintain a certain profit that can save the financial crisis. Their eating habits are definitely much better than those of the Lamia Caravan. I believe that the people of the grassland will know how to make choices.
Walking on the grass that had fallen after being stepped on by the snow werewolves, Carlisle's heart was filled with excitement. The Lamia Caravan could exchange a small bag and a few pounds of the lowest quality well salt for an adult crooked-horned ox over four years old, and transport the ox back to the human kingdom. The cowhide alone was enough to offset the labor cost and transportation costs of the bag of well salt, and the rest was profit - more than a hundred times the profit!
He didn't need to be so greedy, he just wanted ten times the profit, ten times the profit would be enough to save Saint Bridge. If he could maintain this trade route for a long time, he could also bring in the other five of the six southern countries... If the southern countries could unite on the basis of common interests, why would they be afraid of Lamia on the maritime trade route?
The more Carlisle thought about it, the more excited he became. He no longer cared even if Dan Claudy kept muttering something. He didn't feel tired at all after walking for two days in a row.
It was not until... a dry river channel with obvious signs of artificial excavation, running straight from north to south, appeared before their eyes that Carlisle came back to his senses from countless negotiation drills.
"Is there a shortage of water on the grassland? Why is the whole river dry?" The greatsword warrior Darren squatted down curiously to check the dry riverbed. There was no water stain on the ground.
"It's not time for the flood yet. The upstream gate of the river used for flood discharge has been closed, so naturally no water will flow down." Qingyan jumped off Ashan's back and said casually.
"Flood discharge..." Carlisle's eyelids jumped, "Is this the artificial river you dug to drain water?"
"Yes, the naturally formed river is fine at ordinary times, but when it floods, it will flood everywhere. So we dug this river channel from the upstream of the river that flows through the tribe. When it floods, we open the gates upstream and the excess water is drained from here to the bottom to avoid flooding the fields in the tribe." Qingyan explained as he reached out to catch Qiu who jumped down.
"...fields?" Carlisle doubted that he had heard wrongly. Fields and grassland tribes? How were the two connected?
Qingyan glanced at the shocked human inexplicably, and pointed to the other side of the river: "That's the field over there, you can see it after passing here."
After all three of them had gone down, Ah Shan jumped down the two-meter-deep riverbed carrying the yellow flowers he had collected, ran a few steps and jumped onto the opposite bank. At this time, the tribe was busy with spring plowing and sowing, and had no time to build a bridge for this artificial river. Anyway, there was no water, so they could just crawl across.
After crossing the artificial river and walking forward about 200 meters, Carlisle and the other five humans almost dropped their jaws in shock - Qingyan was really not joking, this really was a field!
Large fields are connected together, with neat rows of crisp green buds between the ridges, and there is no end in sight!
Darren gasped and looked at Carlisle, his eyes wide open. The fields were so neatly maintained and planted so neatly, even the royal estate could only be at this level?
Carlisle… Carlisle was sweating. Was the intelligence he collected wrong or was it that the person who sold it to him fooled him? Aren’t the Tauren the only ones who know how to farm on the grassland? What’s up with these Snow Wolf People and Cat Tribe? !
"Go this way, there's a path here." Qingyan saw that the five humans were standing there stupidly and didn't follow him, so he waved and urged them, "Don't go into the fields. If you trample on the crops, Ayun will be angry."
The five people hurriedly followed...
The roads in the fields must be opened for the Snow Wolf People to walk on. Of course, they cannot be "small roads", but must be wide roads. The road width is about five meters. The ground is paved with gravel and loess and then rolled by a stone roller, so it is relatively smooth to walk on. Carlisle walked and looked at the fields on both sides of the road. He couldn't help but be curious: "What are they growing here?"
"Alfalfa forage grass." Qingyan said, "All we grow here is alfalfa. Ayun said that this year's fertilizer can only be used for wheat fields, soybeans, and vegetables. We don't expect alfalfa to produce much, so we plant more."
Carlisle's eyelids twitched... Fertilizer? Wheat fields, soybeans, and vegetables? He turned to look at his teammates. Dan and Yumi were just as confused as he was. It was obvious that they couldn't accept such words coming from the grassland people...
They were all nobles, with manors and plantations at home, so they were not completely ignorant of agriculture. Darren and the alchemist with monocles, who came from the lower class, had no land at home, so they were not so shocked. Darren even asked curiously: "Did you also plant wheat? How was the harvest?"
Qingyan thought for a moment and looked at Qiu: "I remember when we harvested wheat last summer, Ayun seemed to say that the yield per mu was 400 kilograms?"
Qiu nodded. "After removing the husks, there's not that much left. After grinding and removing the bran, there's even less. It seems to be only about 300 kilograms."
Not to mention that the three sons of Carlisle's landlords dropped their jaws again, Darren, who didn't know much about agriculture, and the man with the monocle were also shocked.
"There are so many? Isn't it said that if an acre of wheat can produce 200 kilograms, it means it is blessed by the Goddess of Harvest?" The man with the monocle was extremely shocked.
Qingyan, Qiu and Ayue all showed extremely confused expressions, and the three of them, six eyes, looked at him blankly.
"...Did I say something wrong?" The man with the monocle looked at the three landlords guiltily. His common sense wasn't that bad?!
"Is it a lot? I remember that Ayun was in a very bad mood after calculating the output." Qiu touched his head, looking puzzled.
Even Ashan, who was carrying the animals in front, turned around and said, "Yes, Ayun didn't smile the whole afternoon. He treated everyone as an enemy. After we harvested soybeans, the yield per mu was only 200 kilograms. Ayun was so angry that he didn't have the energy to talk to anyone. He even became lazy when I talked to him."
Ah Yue sighed, "We have to work harder on the farm this year. Ah Yun was angry about the low yield because he was worried that we wouldn't have enough to eat."
Qingyan and Qiu nodded in agreement.
The five humans silently watched these grassland people showing off... It is normal for wheat and soybean yields to be hundreds of kilograms per mu. I don't know whether these people are really worried about the harvest or are just slapping them in the face.
Walking out of the alfalfa field and crossing the small wooden bridge over the river, the five humans were shocked again... These grassland people were not joking at all, they really did grow crops, a lot of fields, and this side was full of fields - a large group of snow werewolves, cats, and dwarves were busy working in the fields, and not far away you could see a snow werewolf who had turned into a wolf and was dragging a huge, strangely shaped triangular plow to plow the land.
"You guys are back... Hey, why are there humans here?"
Several people were walking towards them at the edge of the field. The one in the lead was half-naked and wearing tight shorts that covered his buttocks. He had fair skin, handsome features, sharp features, a long nose, thin lips, thick eyebrows, and deep eyes. The long and thin scar on his brow bone did not spoil his handsome face, but instead added a bit of handsomeness and toughness. His two long thighs were slender and strong, and there were a few beads of sweat on his well-proportioned muscles. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead while speaking, and the strong smell of hormones hit him in the face.
"They are from the caravan - eh?" Qingyan started, but before he could finish his introduction he saw a dark shadow passing by out of the corner of his eye. He subconsciously reached out and grabbed a person, and then Qingyan just stood there in a daze.
Darren quickly stepped forward, covered Yumi's mouth, and dragged the female mage with glowing eyes back.
“???” Dahe, the most handsome man of the Snow Wolf Clan, turned his blank gaze towards Qingyan.
Qingyan: "...They are from the caravan, where is Ayun?"
"Behind the greenhouse, where the compost is." Dahe pointed backwards.
"Then I'll take them to find Ayun." Qingyan said, "Where are you going now?"
"Let's go pick elm seeds." Dahe pointed at the caracal cubs that followed her and showed the large rolled-up bag in her hand, "Qiuqiu, will you go with us?"
"Okay." Qiu joined the caracal group and picked up the youngest one. "Then Da He and I will go."
When Daha passed by Ashan, he touched Ashan's drooping wolf head with his head to show intimacy. When he passed by humans, the human woman who was pinned down suddenly struggled desperately and reached out to grab her, scaring her so much that she leaned back and looked at the other humans in surprise.
"..." Carlisle used the greatest control and grace in his life to give a polite smile to the snow werewolf who was emitting a strong smell of hormones.
This snow wolf, whose body proportions and appearance are as perfect as the statue of the Son of God in the cathedral, drives Yumi, a fangirl, crazy, and will inevitably attract the hatred of human men...
"Daha, don't worry about it, these humans are just a little weird." Qingyan waved his hand casually.
...Carlisle's royal etiquette almost broke down.
Daha left. Yumi looked at Daha's "heartless" back and stretched out her hand weakly... and then was carried on the shoulders of Darren with a dark face.
After walking a little further, Ah Shan turned around and said, "I'm going to unload the stuff into the warehouse. Qing Yan, you and Ah Yue go find Ah Yun."
Carlisle was so surprised that he immediately reached out and grabbed Dan's throat when he almost ran away following Ashan's wolf tail.
Dan Chong stretched out his hand to Ashan, who was walking away briskly... and was then dragged away by Carlisle, who had a stern look on his face.
The tribe of the Snow Werewolves was completely different from the imagined clusters of tents. It was a broad and flat square with a surface as smooth as stone and no visible signs of splicing (it was actually a cement floor. Without the back and forth rolling of trucks, the cement floor with a low specification could also be very durable). The buildings that seemed to be made of bricks and stones were neatly arranged and divided into living areas, warehouses, greenhouses, and industrial areas. They shocked the five humans who had a somewhat contemptuous attitude at the beginning - except for the fact that the houses were larger and there were no bustling commercial streets, this so-called tribe was no different from a human town and looked much more upscale than those shabby towns.
The man with the monocle exchanged doubtful glances with Carlisle. With the eyes of an alchemist, he discovered that the grassland tribe seemed to have used some special building materials that were not even possessed by the human kingdom to pave the flat square. Stepping on it was like walking on a very finely laid stone slab road, except for the potholes and joints that were inevitable on stone slabs.
Carlisle nodded slightly with a serious expression. He understood the alchemist's reminder... This tribe was definitely different from what he had heard!
But Carlisle was also worried... The pure white crystal salt, smooth pottery tableware, planting technology far superior to that of the human kingdom, and these amazing buildings that this tribe possessed were definitely not something that the Lamia Merchants Group could provide. In other words, this tribe was separated from the Lamia Merchants Group! In this case, there was a possibility that this tribe could trade with them anyway, so he naturally didn't need to be too nervous.
Led by Qingyan and Ayue, they crossed the side of the astonishingly large square and entered the greenhouse area. When Qingyan introduced that this was the greenhouse their tribe built to grow crops and raise earthworms in the winter, the group was no longer as surprised as before.
Carlisle knew that the royal family of the northern countries in the Federation had a greenhouse. The winter in the human kingdom was not as long as that in the grasslands, but the royal family could not bear not eating fresh vegetables for several months. But what about raising earthworms?
Carlisle looked at the alchemist. The man with the monocle had a bewildered look on his face. Well, he could only humbly ask Qingyan for advice. This irritable cat was relatively friendly to humans as long as they did not provoke him.
"Earthworms can be used to feed pigs." Qingyan did not hide the truth. "Earthworm manure can also be used to fertilize fields. This is what Ayun said. The pigs we raised with earthworms grew very fat in just two or three months. There was a lot of fat under the skin, and the lard refined from it was very fragrant."
Carlisle looked at the alchemist again, and saw the shocked expression on his face, which was not much better than his own... Even the learned alchemist didn't know this kind of knowledge? !
Carlisle bit his lip, and became even more confused about what kind of mysterious person "Ayun" that was often mentioned by the people on the grassland was. He had also asked indirectly, but whether it was the cat tribe or the snow werewolves, the answer was "Ayun is Ayun" which made him vomit blood. The reaction was very normal and natural, making him not know what to say.
Before passing through the greenhouse area, Carlisle sniffed and felt a little strange. Looking at the others, Darren and the alchemist didn't react, but Yumi and Dan had already waved their hands in front of their noses, so they must have smelled the strange smell as well.
This strange smell can't be said to be stinky, but it is rather awkward and has a strong presence, making people feel a little uncomfortable. After enduring the discomfort and walking for a while, Carlisle finally discovered what this smell was...
In the large open space outside the greenhouse area, countless neatly arranged pits were dug, and the pits were filled with various types of black substances. Several snow wolves were busy near these strange pits, using shovels, pitchforks and other tools to dig out the black substances in the pits and transfer them to empty pits. The empty pits were connected to the canals dug from the river. The snow wolves held spike rakes, mixed the black substances into the water, scooped them up, loaded them into a wheelbarrow with an iron sheet and wooden frame, and pushed them away...
Well, of course the fermented fertilizer must be mixed with water before being spread on the fields. Although the fermented fertilizer does not stink, it is inevitable that there is an odor.
"Ayun!" Qingyan waved and shouted from afar, "A human caravan is coming!"
Carlisle looked over there quickly and saw... a rare werewolf wearing a shirt turned his head to look at them, put the rake in his hand aside, and strode over.
The closer this man got, the wider Carlisle's eyes became... After passing through the farmland of this tribe and seeing so many snow wolves, the group had some understanding of the size of the snow wolves: most adult snow wolves were about the same size as Darren. Darren, who stood out among humans, looked like an ordinary person when thrown into the pile of snow wolves, such as A Yue, who was already quite familiar to them.
In other words... those who are about the same height as ordinary adult men among humans are all immature cubs among the snow werewolves, and some of the cubs are even stronger than ordinary men.
The "Ayun" who was walking towards them was shorter than Carlisle and about the same height as Yumi. His body shape was not special, and although his arms had some muscles, they were only at the level of an alchemist. Even by human standards, he was not strong.
Carlisle felt that the world in front of him was a little blurry, and his brain was sluggish, as if a stone was stuffed in his head - the "Ayun" that these grassland people always talked about, who knew everything and could do everything, was actually a snow wolf cub? !
...Maybe the way was wrong!
Carlisle looked at Qingyan for help, hoping to hear Qingyan say something like "Hey, where is Ayun?", but Qingyan obviously didn't have the same thoughts with him. This black cat was waiting calmly for the cub to approach, and he showed a relaxed expression of "finally being able to hand over the trouble"...
Carlisle: “…”
Xiao Yun walked to a few meters away, stopped, and looked at the five humans from left to right.
A guy who looks like a knight with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing half-body armor, carrying a shield and a long sword on his waist. He looks like a knight. He seems to be mature and reliable in business talks, but his honest eyes and poorly concealed emotions have betrayed his greenhorn nature.
A sturdy man with a body size close to that of an adult snow werewolf, wearing leather armor and fish scale armor, carrying a big sword on his back. He hid his doubtful look well, had a relatively stable temperament, and his IQ was definitely higher than that of the rookie knight.
A tall and thin man wearing a monocle with a thin chain and a gray robe, pretending to be a literary youth, but the hem of the robe tucked into his waist and the badly damaged boots revealed his casual and sloppy inner self.
A golden-haired beauty wearing a funny pointed hat and struggling to play with her long curly hair on the grassland. She has absolutely no queen vibe. Her failed expression management and frank behavior that reveals her confused face are enough to prove that this is a Husky who grew up in a greenhouse and is disguised as a beauty.
As for the last one… he has the qualities of a leader, but he is a little young and still at the stage of “setting a route to success and then rushing over the cliff to win” that needs social education. It’s not that the guard of honor’s standing posture is bad, but how come you can’t lose the swan posture with your neck stretched out even when you are mixed in with a flock of chickens?
Xiao Yun laughed in his heart, his eyes fell on Carlisle's face, and he asked with a smile: "Caravan?"
Carlisle: “…”
