Volume 3 Chapter 60 - Before leaving
Volume 3 Chapter 60 Before leaving
The result of the spring harvest this year in Banta City was dazzling.
When it was the spring harvest last year, the wheat harvested in Banta City was six hundred and thirty thousand tons. It was already a very large number, being in the front ranks of the Lampuri Kingdom.
For a small city like Banta City that was at the bottom of the Lampuri Kingdom’s ranks, this was a very hard to obtain performance. Everyone thought that Banta City with the help of the agricultural magic machines had already dug out all its potential and couldn’t raise this number again.
But after this year’s spring harvest was over, the City Lord Manor reported that Banta City harvested a total of eight hundred and seventy thousand tons of wheat!
It was even two hundred and forty thousand tons more than last year!
It had to be known in the year before last, because of the farmland improvement project Count Sean had carried out, all the farmland that could be opened was already opened with the help of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce agricultural magic machines. Now every year in Banta City, they were planting wheat in every place possible.
So theoretically, Banta City’s grain yield had already reached a peak by last year.
There was only one reason for this shocking breakthrough, which was the important product from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, the fertilizer.
In this spring harvest, according to the data, the farms that used fertilizer produced much more than the farms that didn’t use fertilizer.
The most exaggerated part was that one mu of land provided almost double the amount of crops!
During the winter, many villages under the lead of Koror Village, Kambia Village, and Mexilan Village used fertilizer. The final output that they received was from using fertilizer in their fields.
According to the calculations of the City Lord Manor, if all of Banta City’s farms used fertilizer, with a conservative estimate, Banta City’s seasonal grain yield could break over a million tons.
This was a very shocking number.
It had to be known that in the past, Banta City’s grain yield was only two hundred thousand tons and now it was possible to break over a million tons.
If this transformation was brought over the Lampuri Kingdom, with such an astonishing grain yield, not only could they easily feed their citizens, they could even have a large surplus.
In the eyes of many Banta City citizens, this was an unbelievable matter because it was already pretty good for the Lampuri Kingdom citizens to eat their fill, how could there be a surplus?
But in Xu Yi’s eyes, this was a very normal matter.
Although the Lampuri Kingdom was a small kingdom, it had a very good geographical position. Most of its land was suited for farming and most of its land was flat, so it was suited for large scale cultivation.
With such a good terrain, it was a joke that they wouldn’t be able to feed themselves.
Normally speaking, the Lampuri Kingdom should be a great nation exporting grains.
Of course, the Lampuri Kingdom was a bit remote. After all, in these two years, the Lampuri Kingdom was finally able to solve the basic issues of their citizens with the help of the agricultural magic machines.
Although now that the output of grain increased in Banta City, the extra grain wouldn’t be wasted.
Of the eight hundred and seventy thousand tons of grain harvested, six hundred and twenty thousand tons was turned over to the City Lord Manor and five hundred tons of that was turned to the agricultural department to enter the kingdom’s granary. The final one hundred and twenty thousand tons of grain was controlled by the City Lord Manor.
But in reality, how to deal with this was a problem for the City Lord Manor.
When Banta City only harvested two hundred thousand tons of grain, the City Lord Manor only had around ten to twenty thousand tons, it was just a drop in the bucket. There wasn’t anything left after giving everyone a share and they even needed to subsidize a part of it to use for expenditures.
Now that they had over one hundred and twenty thousand tons of wheat, the City Lord Manor didn’t know how to deal with it.
If it was before, it would have been very simple. They would have just sold the wheat and earned several tens of thousands which would be used to pay the expenditures of the City Lord Manor.
But with Count Stagg being more lenient to business in Banta City, the business tax since the beginning of the year had increased for Banta City. Just the tax for April alone was already close to a hundred thousand gold coins.
So there was no financial pressure on Banta City right now and it wasn’t worth it to sell this wheat anywhere.
So after considering it, Count Stagg constructed a granary outside of Banta City, specially used to store this extra hundred and twenty thousand ton of wheat. He also sent the city guards to guard that place.
Setting up a granary outside a city was a first for the Lampuri Kingdom.
This action had created a stir in the Lampuri Kingdom.
Regarding Count Stagg’s idea, everyone had praise and opposition.
The people who praised him said that Count Stagg’s actions were looking to the future, ensuring the stability of Banta City.
If Banta City ever met a disaster that resulted in a famine, this hundred thousand tons of wheat would be the greatest hope during this time of turmoil.
The people who opposed this said that Count Stagg’s actions were too selfish.
Since Banta City had this much surplus wheat, then why didn’t he give this hundred and twenty thousand tons of wheat to the agricultural department and have them separate it evenly? Wouldn’t it be better to use it to support the areas that were lacking in grain?
As for this argument, whether the kingdom’s cities should keep their grain or not, people even had the idea that Count Stagg might be thinking of rebelling.
And after half a month, the order from the Royal Parliament shut the mouths of everyone.
The order was very simple, because it was a transfer order. It said that with Count Stagg’s outstanding performance in Banta City, the Royal Parliament after careful consideration has assigned him to take the post of City Lord of the northern Lorren City. With his strong agricultural development abilities, it would help Lorren City solve its agricultural problems.
This transfer order was very simple, but it was very thought provoking.
First was the time.
Count Stagg had come last July to take over as Banta City’s City Lord and it was currently May of the next year, he had only been the City Lord for ten months.
He was transferred after this short time, doesn’t that mean he wasn’t suited for being the City Lord?
But if one looked at Count Stagg’s new position, they would find that he wasn’t being demoted.
Because Lorren City was one of the biggest cities in the north and holding the position of Lorren City’s City Lord was much better than being Banta City’s City Lord. This was the same as when Count Sean took over as Sowell City’s City Lord, it could be considered a promotion.
Everyone was very doubtful, this transfer order from the Royal Parliament, was it to praise Count Sean or to demote him?
What was even more thought provoking was that this transfer order even said that Count Stagg had strong agricultural development abilities, so they were having him be the City Lord of Lorren City to solve their agricultural development problem. It hadn’t mentioned anything else.
This was completely different from the transfer order that Count Sean had received.
Of course, no matter how outsiders discussed or how mighty the waves of the inside story was, in the days before Count Stagg had transferred, Banta City continued moving forward like normal.
Although Count Stagg didn’t announce he was loosening his suppression of trade activities, based on his relaxed actions and the rumours of him leaving, the sharp companies had reacted quite quickly.
Banta City had become stagnant, but it gradually became more active in the past two months. There were small and large shops that reopened in the streets with colourful commodities displayed on shelves, while the streets were once again filled with people.
All of Banta City seemed to have regained its prosperity from before Count Stagg had come.
Seeing the people outside the streets of the City Lord Manor, Count Stagg gave a deep sigh. He turned to look at Xu Yi who had summoned for the first time with a very complicated look on his face.
After being silent for a while, Count Stagg slowly shook his head and said, “Xu Yi, congratulations, you win.”
Xu Yi’s expression changed and he revealed a helpless smile. He replied in a soft voice, “Lord City Lord, if you’re referring to our bet, I can confidently say that you are correct. But if you’re talking about something else……I don’t dare agree.”
Count Stagg knit his brows, “What? I’m being transferred and you’re not satisfied?”
Xu Yi was silent for a bit before saying with a serious look, “Lord City Lord, you should know that I don’t mean this. Although your perspective is not the same as mine, I approve of your thoughts of improving Banta City very much. In this regard, there is no meaning in winning or losing because our goals are actually the same. The only difference is…..the method.”
“Method?” Count Stagg had a smile of self ridicule. After thinking for a bit, he waved his hand and said, “Alright, there’s no meaning in this. I asked you here because I am about to leave this place, so I wanted to talk to you one last time and ask you a few questions. The first question, Xu Yi, do you treat yourself as a merchant or as a noble?”
Xu Yi slightly knit his brows. This question was something that Count Stagg emphasized the first time they met. It seemed like he had always taken note of this question.
“First, I am a person, then I am a person of the Lampuri Kingdom and a person of Banta City, finally I am a merchant or a noble. Moreover, these two identities don’t really mean anything to me. Lord City Lord, are you satisfied with this answer?”
Count Stagg gave a slight nod, “I can understand your meaning. It seems like I’ve really underestimated you, your goals are far wider than I thought. But Xu Yi, before I leave, I have to remind you of something. Merchants and nobles are different, there will be a day when you have to make a choice.”
Xu Yi gave a shrug, neither confirming or denying this.
Seeing Xu Yi’s indifferent response, Count Stagg wasn’t surprised. He nodded before asking, “The second question, Xu Yi, do you really not favour his highness Eric?”
Xu Yi’s casual look instantly became serious as he narrowed his eyes to look at Count Stagg.
Count Stagg asked such a sensitive question at this time, what answer did he want?