Chapter 29: Farming Advice

Richard Dietrichson was a young farmer who had worked in the fields since his childhood. Born with short black hair paired with deep brown eyes, and a goatee on his face. He got into farming when he was 6 years of age, and now has over 2 decades of experience with tons of people he calls family and friends.

Yesterday he and his farmer friends got a message from the palace delivered by a knight. Prince Kant had ordered for their presence to do a discussion with them on the topic of agriculture. Considering his great reputation, everyone chose him to go. He wore his usual clothing, which was a hemp brown tunic, blue leggings and calfskin shoes, as there was nothing else for him to wear.

He lived at the outskirts of the city near the farms he tend to, so it would take him a good while to walk over to the palace. Instead he hopped on a wagon sharing seats with his buddies to arrive to the place. All were curious to see whether anything said in the past few weeks were to be true.

They left first thing in the morning, after taking their usual breakfast and saying goodbye to their wives and children. It took until midday to arrive to the palace. Richard and his friends awed at the magnificent large palace, with it's breathtaking classical architecture.

After the guards let them in, they walked through the cold marble floor to the room set for their meeting. They all entered, finding a long dark oak table with many dark oak chairs with red cushions. The room lit by the windows light to enter that the Prince was not there.

"Sire Kant will arrive in a few minutes. He is currently working on disputes, and would be finished soon." said one of the maids.

"Alright, thank you." a farmer responded. They all sat down and looked around the room. They started noticing the finer details of it all. The large glass chandelier on top in the middle of the room, had some detailed patterns that can be seen from here. The walls themselves were painted in a daisy white color, and the red table cloth with yellow stripes was made out of expensive silk.

"Her Richard, you exited to meet the prince?" asked one of his friends on the left.

"Well, it is the first time we get to see whether those rumors are true. So yes, very exited."

"I wonder what he wants to discuss with us. I am pretty sure he did not tell us in the message."

"Well the land all belongs to the royal family. So he might want to see how will it is going."

Just then, the dark oak door swing opened. A man wearing a black royal suit, with his signature platinum blonde hair that looked identical to a shining silver coin, and his eyes with jet black pupils in them. He was holding a blue file as he entered the room. Everyone stood up accordingly, as they all knew who he was.

"Thank you gentleman for coming to this discussion. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Please, sit back down."

Kant went over to sit on the chair reserved for him, which was at the right end corner of the table. There were a little whispers whispers among the farmers, who were all a bit nervous and intimidated.

"Before we start, I would politely ask for your names." The farmers went one by one, all giving their full names.

"Now, you all might be wondering why this meeting has been called. Correct?" Kant asked. Everyone nodded their heads.

"As I hope to increase the overall population of the city for the foreseeable future, this meeting is meant to help increase agricultural output of the current farms that feeds your families, and the families of others.

To reach that goal, however, requires your assistance and expertise on the subject matter. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sire."

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"Now, can anyone volunteer to explain the current method of farming. I would like to confirm my research on the field." Richard raised his hands.

"I can sire."

"Go on Mr. Dietrichson."

"We use a method called crop rotation. There are three fields, and only two we plant. In the first field we plant wheat and rye, the second we plant barley, oats, peas or beans. The third one is left to not be fallow."

"What is the purpose of the third field being fallow?" Kant asks.

"It is so that the plants can grow on the soil. If we use it too much, food will not grow." another farmer responds.

"Thank you Mr. Bellic. With that being said, has anyone considered experimenting with a four field crop rotation?"

"I'm sorry your highness?"

"According to my report, 20% of farmland is fallow. Following a four field crop rotation using the crops of wheat, turnips, barley and clover, the farms, theoretically would be able to produce more food for everyone.

Taking one farming field, wheat can be grown in the first year, turnips in the second year, with barley in the third year and finally clover in the forth. With the turnips being able to be used for feeding sheep and cattle during the winter."

They all listened to what Kant said. Though the farmers were impressed by his knowledge, they were still skeptical. They all whispered around each other, arguing amongst themselves of what to do. Richard himself thought that though it could work, the risk involved is what makes him reluctant to try it out himself. It was when Richard voiced his concerns.

"That method could work sire, but the risk involved is rather high, and the damage it could cause to be long lasting. Is sire willing to take the risk?"

"To answer your concern Mr. Dietrichson, the city has enough stocks to feed the current population for around a year, and also have proper funds to import more food from other city states incase if it does go south. With that in mind, this is a risk I will take."

There was a little silence. A little moment given by the farmers to themselves to think for a minute.

"I will also guarantee that any surplus you gain, could be sold to the market. I will not take any more of the food that you produce."

"When do you want it implemented sire?" asked one of them as soon as he finished talking.

"As soon as possible." Kant replied.

After the discussion came to an end on a good notice, Kant went back over to his office. He sat back on his seat, and started typing on his typewriter once again, with 3 pages already completed. He would dedicate the next few days on writing this new piece of legislation.

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