236: Chapter 137, Inventory _2 236: Chapter 137, Inventory _2 Hudson had already shifted his position, dumping the preparations for the victory feast on Baron Redman.

Thankfully, a host of his kinsmen had volunteered to assist; otherwise, it might have been too much to handle.

Notably, since the Mountain Domain was poor and underdeveloped, whereas the feast was held in name, the real work was overseeing the castle construction.

The principal structure was straightforward, but the trickier part was the internal décor.

Sculptors, painters, designers…

all sorts of artists were hired from the provincial town at heavy prices.

Without an ounce of artistic flair, matching the pace of these individuals’ thoughts was tough.

And if these fellows were given free rein, the probability of horror definitely outweighed that of astonishment.

Hudson was unaffected watching cartloads of harvested grain, yet it did startle the others.

Who spread rumors that the grain yield from the Mountain Domain was low?

The yields per acre from the Mountain Domain were hardly different from those outside in the plain.

You must know that this is newly reclaimed wasteland and is in the soil-nourishing stage.

Luckily, Hudson had the foresight to plant oil crops in these areas, not the mainstream rye.

It was just that the soil was suitable.

Unless specialized soil research is conducted, it’s difficult to determine which crops are best suited to the soil.

Coincidentally, there is no specialized soil research profession on the Continent of Aslante.

Surprise is one thing, but envy and jealousy are not needed.

Everyone’s domains are on the plains, where almost all crops yield higher.

The joy of a bountiful harvest didn’t last long as Hudson shockingly discovered that the gap in his domain’s grain supply grew rather than decreased.

Indeed, they had reclaimed a significant amount of land, adding one hundred and ten thousand acres of mountain land and sixty-eight thousand acres of new paddy fields as a result, exceeding their mission for the year.

Unfortunately, the increase rate of the land did not keep up with the growth of the population.

Without any recreational facilities, people started procreating once the sun went down.

The serfs, who were free from limitations, showed higher enthusiasm towards procreation than Hudson had anticipated.

Although the assertion of one birth per year was a bit of an exaggeration, it wasn’t far from the truth.

Both men and women of the right age were reproducing heedlessly.

Master Hudson’s excess kindness was really the problem.

He imposed rules that pregnant women were not allowed to perform heavy physical labor.

Furthermore, cow’s milk and sheep’s milk were supplied to infants, allowing everyone to proceed without worrying about their rear.

The rate of natural population growth had even exceeded 6%.

Of course, this data was unscientific.

Due to the short period of time captured for statistical purposes, the infant mortality rate could not be included accurately.

It was easy to raise children in this era.

Having a bunch of newborns didn’t add much to the cost of raising a child.

What truly caused the food issue was the Orc slaves that were obtained at low prices.

The soaring number of slaves not only disrupted the domain’s population structure but also widened the gap in the food supply.

The number of serfs was just above twenty-eight thousand, but the number of Orc slaves was about to breach sixty thousand.

This kind of an unhealthy population structure was certainly a threat to the domain’s long-term development.

The only consolation was that although the food gap was growing, the self-sufficiency rate in food was also gradually increasing.

According to the current land reclamation rate, achieving basic self-sufficiency in food was quite hopeful in two years.

If this news were to get out, it would definitely cause an immense stir.

Basic auto-sufficiency in food meant that the bottomless pit of Mountain Domain reclamation was beginning to turn around.

Continuing to lose money was inevitable, but the losses would start to decrease from the tens of thousands of gold coins per year, eventually realizing a reversal from negative to positive.

According to external estimates, this turning point should have been in the next ten years or so, not in the recent two to three years.

It’s just that no one, however optimistic, could imagine the sight of the Earth Bear on the construction site—it was simply too “unbearable”.

Unfortunately, there was only one Earth Bear.

Hudson did not dare to squeeze Belsden’s potential, so he had to coax it into working.

Otherwise, this efficiency could further increase.

…

“The area of land for this year’s ploughing has greatly increased, so you all have heavy tasks.

Especially the newly reclaimed paddy fields, this year we need to introduce foreign rice, you all should pay more attention.

Orc slaves are not suitable for doing delicate work, so all of the spring ploughing will still be taken care of by the domain people.

The old rules still apply: tasks will be distributed according to the Guard Team Unit, based on the number of laborers.

Now, I’m going to fulfil the promise I made to the domain people as a reward.

Last year’s reclamation plan for the domain included one hundred thousand acres, but in reality, one hundred and ten thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven acres of wasteland were reclaimed, with a surplus completion of ten thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven acres.”

With the one-third bonus reward system, there will be 3,632.3 acres of land set aside as public land, to be divided among the domain people who participated in the land reclamation.

The records show that from the next season on, the profits from these lands will be drawn and distributed to each domain person involved in the reclamation.”

Hudson boldly stated.

The profits from a few thousand acres don’t bother him now.

As long as everyone is willing to work hard, Master Hudson will not be stingy with rewards.

Unfortunately, these incentives can only be applied to the serfs.

The slaves, who were more numerous, still had to be primarily subjected to forced labor.

The language barrier made Master Hudson, who was good at painting rosy pictures, feel helpless for the first time.

If not, it would definitely be the rule of thumb that the best workers eat meat, the worst eat dirt, and those in between eat forage.

“Yes, Master!”

The crowd answered in unison.

It was clear that everyone was in high spirits.

Following a generous lord obviously had more prospects than sticking with a stingy one.

He was clear about the rewards and punishments for the serfs, let alone for his management team.

For entrepreneurs, reputation is crucial.

Especially when dealing with their own people, any breach of contract could potentially cause dissent within the team.

It is easy to lose credibility but almost impossible to regain it.

After a pause, Hudson continued.

“I’ve also readied your share, which Tom and his team will deliver to your homes later.”

Although many people in Hudson’s start-up team had dubious origins and questionable loyalty, they couldn’t be short-changed on their rewards.

These were benchmarks that only Hudson himself could set and no one else could help with.

On the Continent of Aslante, there was no concept of the New Year or the associated bonuses, not even a clear standard for salaries.

There was no choice, serving a noble lord was their honor.

What terms and conditions are we discussing here?

Even though these people might be from noble families, by their generation, the noble titles were long gone.

They were mere commoners.

Only the fief nobles can inherit the noble titles.

All other honorary nobles held titles for life.

The children of honorary nobles can claim to be noble offspring because their father is a true noble.

But their grandchildren won’t be anything.

Without effort from the middle generation, the later generations may become commoners.

Nowadays, those who follow Hudson are all commoners.

The self-proclaimed fallen nobles were merely self-promoting.

They were all attracted by wealth, and they certainly won’t be rich.

Hudson will not be stingy with monetary rewards that he could give them.

As it turned out, financial motivation was very effective.

Everyone’s mood was uplifted, despite not receiving anything yet.

Perhaps there was some acting/faking involved, but life is a show, after all, isn’t everyone an actor?

“Master, last year’s plans are completed.

What about this year’s territory development plan?”

Concerned, Luke asked.

As a businessman, he had developed a keen ability to read people and situations.

He noticed Hudson’s intent to win hearts immediately and promptly acted to support him.

“With the coal problem for the mine production resolved, we should aim to double the production this year.

The related commercial network should be firmly expanded into the neighbouring provinces.

The trend is to replace bronzeware with ironware.

This is our chance.

Let’s conquer the consumer market while others are still focusing on weaponry orders.

When necessary, we can decrease the selling price outside the province to offset the increased costs caused by transportation.

For the land reclamation plan, since there are more available laborers, we should aim to develop 150,000 acres in the mountainous area.”

“The swamp reclamation plan is initially set at 250,000 acres, with the estimated input of 50,000 slaves.

As for farming…”