When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 643 - 604: What exactly does he want to do?
Horn splashed a handful of clear water onto his face, and as the ripples settled, he squeezed a smile at his blurred reflection in the basin.
But soon, the smile's eyebrows drooped, and the corners of his mouth turned down in bitterness.
At the age of 40, Horn wasn't sure whether this midlife career change was good or bad.
Compared to his previous job teaching the unruly kids of Armed Farmers and Knights at the Church School, this new job was far busier and tougher.
The transformation of the Knight Manor in the mountains wasn't without reason, as mountain dwellers, born into exclusive small circles, are inherently xenophobic.
It's important to know that although the Armed Farmers hold significant power upon taking up manor positions, even Knights cannot easily move against them.
As long as Knights team up with the lower-tier Public Register Farmers and catch a few small slips of the Armed Farmers, they can effortlessly sweep away these traitorous "relatives."
With evidence, even if a Knight expels his own relatives, it's reasonable and won't earn him the stigma of being a ruthless kin slayer.
The fact that Adrian can't handle Henderson indicates either that there is no slip or that his control over the Public Register Farmers is very high.
Even the Knight, the highest authority, cannot contend with Henderson, let alone the outsider Ansel.
He doesn't disdain those with dreams; it's just that he prefers not to have those dreams affect his life.
He needs this job as a Priest, but doesn't want to offend these local tyrants.
After slashing numerous church institutions and reducing taxes, despite a decline in total revenue, the distribution per person increased.
Both Horn's Holy Path faction and the Juanist Faction have one advantage: they permit priests to marry.
Although he didn't particularly fancy the fat woman, she was his only option, not to mention their illegitimate child was already five years old.
Upon hearing that he was allowed to marry, the fat widow was all sweet syrup during his short break home after passing the exam, severed ties with her slick lover, and tried many things she hadn't before.
No need to live in the cold monastery, the salary is enough for warm meals, he has a son and a wife, and he can even afford new clothes at year's end. What more could he ask for?
Ansel was bound to leave; he couldn't contend against Henderson. Why meddle in unnecessary matters?
Stepping out of his room, he forced a smile and walked towards Ansel in the courtyard, "Good morning, Brother Ansel."
"Let's go to a place."
"Oh, okay." As he speculated Ansel's mysterious method, the feeling of unease hit Bryson as they walked closer to the fields through shrubs.
Ten minutes later, by the strip fields of the manor, in the morning's blazing yet cool sunshine.
Holding a sickle and wearing a straw hat, Bryson stood expressionless on the ridge, "You said you had a method, I thought there'd be a clever trick. Why resort to such crude measures?"
"Why rough?"
"Even if you help the poorest farmers harvest fields, they won't oppose Henderson for it."
"Though mountain dwellers are xenophobic, they are also sincere." With the grass bundle fork on his shoulder, Ansel adjusted his hat, "They have one main trait; they repay kindness and resentment equally."
Repaying kindness and resentment is a common belief among mountain dwellers. Or perhaps, it's this harsh living environment that fosters such even unwritten rules.
Since Mountain County is resource-poor and disputes are violent, it's custom to mercilessly bully those seen as easy targets, making kinship and mutual help essential to survival.
Especially during hunting and disaster relief, if one actively helps another but receives no reciprocal aid, the other might not survive, discouraging further help.
It's similar with revenge: failing to strike back will lead to relentless bullying until one's home and family are destroyed.
If deemed unrewarding of favor or revenge, one suffers social death in mountain communities.
In modern society, social death is just that, but in the Empire's grassroots closed circles, social death is but a waiting game for real death.
Armed Farmers in Mountain County have power partly due to their relentless revenge and resistance against the lords.
This conduct is seen as rebellious by ordinary Empire farmers, but as just and reasonable by mountain dwellers.
Bryson awkwardly held the long-handled sickle, something he'd not touched in ages, "Excuse my directness, but I fail to see how fieldwork helps others. Wouldn't paying them some dinars be better?"
"Giving dinars would be wrong; helping with labor is support, giving away money is charity." Ansel looked at the swaying oat field before them, "In the former, he sees you as one of them; in the latter, as an outsider."
"Honestly, even with this slight help, it won't dispel their prejudice, our voice can't compare to Henderson's." Bryson tried persuading earnestly, "Such little favor won't earn their support for perpetual lease rights."
"Why rush? I have a three-step plan." Ansel laughed, holding up three fingers, "This is just the first step. Let's go harvest oats."
Seeing Ansel and Bryson harvesting oats, a farmer named Lalor stood baffled on the ridge for quite a while.
But then, he neither questioned nor evicted them, choosing instead to silently pick up a sickle and continue harvesting oats on the other side of the field.
Lalor understood Ansel's intentions but couldn't refuse. As the poorest household in the village, he had nearly 20 acres of fields to harvest.
From July to the end of August, it's the busiest time of the year for mountain villagers, because it's harvest season.
Mountain areas cool down faster than plains, and by September it starts to get colder, with cold rain beginning to fall sporadically.
This means that from mid-July, when wheat, oats, and barley successively mature, until the latter part of August, every household must harvest about 30 acres of land with two or three laborers.
A month may seem long, but in fact, it's not, because they have other farm work to do—the mid to late July is exactly when the fallow land is given the second loosening of soil.
Although it's unclear why this couldn't be done earlier or later, once adjusted, the next year's harvest from the fallow land wouldn't be good. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
So they can only choose this time for soil loosening, and truly start harvesting from the end of July, effectively only having 15-20 days.
The issue is, besides harvesting their own land, every week they must also allocate a day or two to harvest crops on the lord's reserved land.
Even more, the entire family is needed, except for the housewife who manages household duties, and all the labor force must work to assist the lord with farmwork and household chores.
It's not just harvesting, and it's not just for the lord; the Armed Farmers must provide the straw, fern piles, and firewood, repair the houses, feed the livestock, help with threshing and binding the straw—all requiring their labor.
Yet they cannot refuse to do these tasks, as they vary in intensity, arranged by the steward; if he is offended, he might assign heavy work continuously for several days, exhausting even the strongest person.
And then the subsequent harvest would be ruined.
Lalor doesn't want to offend Henderson, but he is the only laborer at home, and even owes external debt, needing to harvest on the lord's reserved land tomorrow.
If Ansel is expelled, perhaps this year the harvest won't be completed, and farmers from neighboring fields may use "not to waste" as an excuse to forcibly harvest the wheat.
The poorest farmers in the manor are poor for a reason, once personal connections are depleted after a natural calamity or disaster, they spiral into a vicious cycle.
So with Ansel helping with the work, he can only pretend not to notice.
Although Ansel is sweating heavily, he smiles, which is why he inquires about who the poorest households in the manor are.
Lalor has no reason to refuse.
After a morning of harvesting, during lunchtime, Ansel actively approached Lalor.
He didn't mention lifelong rights or the Hundred Households District, instead, he proposed: "Among the three of us, individually harvesting and binding is inefficient and tiring.
How about two people harvest while one binds? The binders can rest and rotate. Farmers in Pingyuan County do it this way—it's really effective. How about it?"
Having already accepted Ansel's help, Lalor agreed after considering his options.
From morning until evening, right until the sunset, their farm work gradually stopped.
Ansel still didn't talk about lifelong rights; he simply agreed with Lalor to continue after two days and then left, standing at the edge of the field, Lalor's expression complicated as he watched the two leave.
In the old days, he could only harvest about an acre by frantically working all day, returning home too exhausted to eat.
But today, he was not overly tired and yet harvested as much as four acres—at this rate, he could finish harvesting his fields in three or four days.
Yet, what exactly does Brother Ansel want?
The next day, Ansel and Bryson continued with their sickles, and found the second poorest in the village.
This time, the farmer wasn't home, having gone to harvest on the lord's reserved land; only his wife and a twelve-year-old child were working in the fields.
Unlike a man, the wife and child were more willing to accept Ansel's help; similarly, Ansel and Bryson harvested while the wife and child handled the binding.
It must be said that having or lacking a strong labor force makes a difference; they only managed to assist in harvesting close to four acres from dawn till dusk.
In the following days, Ansel either helped the poor farmers in the manor with harvesting or assisted families whose strong laborers were doing service labor in harvesting.
The peculiar behavior of this odd Monk quickly spread throughout the manor.
No one knew what others thought, but Henderson chuckled.
Upon hearing the news, he first didn't believe it, then followed his underlings at the field multiple times before he dared to confirm.
To think that a Church Monk would be covered in straw, bending over helping farmers harvest wheat?
The most important thing is, he actually believes that helping people harvest wheat would be enough to win their hearts!
Young fool indeed, truly a young fool, using strategies that Henderson couldn't come up with even after racking his brains.
"Boss Henderson, should we pressure those receiving help?"
"No need!" Henderson generously shook his head with a smile, "Let him continue helping; how many can he assist? If we punish them now, it could just provide them an excuse."
Standing in the shade and watching Ansel full of sweat, grim-faced, straighten up and rub his aching back, Henderson casts a mocking smile.
Keep at it, I have all the time in the world to keep this up with you.
