11 Preparations for Winter
1597 Words
This was the first dinner that Janus enjoyed with his men. He couldn't believe it took him this long to ask them to join him.
He had always been a loner when he was young, and even when he was at school he had always preferred to eat alone. The situation at this new world was much of the same, he would retire to his room and read during the evenings, where his dinner would be served by a maidservant. In the mornings his breakfast would either be delivered to him or it would be waiting in the dining area as everyone else went on their own way.
Acting as the head of the Manor and the sole member of nobility didn't allow for much friendly interaction. When they first thought of him as the old tyrant Prince, they would avoid him and wouldn't so much as look him in the eye. Now that he's working as a leader who's guided them to a much better standard of living, he started getting either venerations or protests, sometimes both.
But this dinner was a great change of pace. Everyone was smiling and lowered their guard for once (except the knight, who seemed only slightly relaxed). Bodwin, Millen, and Dulfo made fun of each other and recalled tales of their gambling exploits around the pub. Cedi asked Arthan for ways to track larger monsters on the borders of the forests. Master Oswald and Master Ringo were eating quietly and sipping their wine, tired from a hard day of work.
The scent of the broth and texture of the noodles sent waves of relaxation, putting Janus' mind at ease. He didn't find the need to say anything this time, he was quite content seeing their smiling faces. Funny, to think that just a few weeks ago, these men were afraid of being rounded out to be murdered.
"You did really well Rufus, it tastes exactly like how I remembered it, and the additional spices made it a tad better." Janus said.
"I am very pleased that you enjoyed it your highness, but are you sure we should allow these three idiots have more portions?"
"Hey I helped you!" said Bodwin.
"You did nothing but consume everything in five minutes and say that it's good!"
A roar of laughter erupted around the table. Even Arthan managed a thin smile.
"This is a curious recipe indeed. I would have never thought that shaping the dough into strips would make a really good dish. Forgive me your highness, but where did you learn of such an innovative idea?" said Master Oswald
Janus gulped. Almost spitting a mouthful of broth.
"Was it something you ate at the parties at Melecia? I heard they had dishes consisting of different shapes of dough, they called it pastimes or something." asked Master Ringo.
Janus' mind was racing, he must have read the recipes a dozen times to oversee the production of ingredients but he just glossed over the author of the book and its origins.
"I had something like this once, when I was working in the mines near the river Laom, the villagers had something like it but the soup was thicker." Dulfo said.
"Ahh yes indeed, it was from a recipe book of the Laomite people. I once had it when we attended a gathering at the castle. I've been searching for the recipe since and only got to have it recently." Janus said, stuttering around while he said it.
To his relief, everyone in the room nodded.
"What do you think? Could this recipe, along with our improved bread make its way across Galedon and the neighboring Kingdoms?" Janus asked, eager to divert the subject.
"Why, yes your highness. The bread has been a huge hit with the serfs, guards and overseers. They've started calling it the Prince Janus bread." Said Master Ringo.
Janus winced, that would get him unwarranted attention.
"And the women were happy to make. The flour was actually easier to work with combined with the yeast and salt. Who would have known it was possible?" Said Rufus.
"Ahh yes... well you see it's from an old and forgotten technique from an ethnic Melecian tribe, nothing fancy at all." Janus stammered, trying to deflect the subject again.
"Millen, Bodwin can I ask you and some of the house help to share these recipes at the pubs around the area? I want you to give them the recipe for free, as long they buy the ingredients directly from us." Janus said.
"Why yes your highness, this would be a great upgrade from the Old Hag's food in the Orc's Mistress pub." Said Millen.
"Yes that's great, look for other pubs around the area as well. If the food is such a big hit to them as it is for the workers in this manor then the prices of our crops could go higher." Janus said.
"And we could earn better to pay the King while making more improvements around the place." Master Oswald said.
"That's the idea."
"Brilliant! Such a great plan for your highness." Added Master Ringo. "Truly, your presence is such a blessing to us. I'm sure everyone here can agree that the changes that you've been making has made a remarkable improvement in our lives. And I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'll be here to help you all the way."
Everyone in attendance nodded.
A warm feeling came to Janus. He couldn't help but blush.
"I'd say we all cheer to that!" Bodwin said.
Arthan stood up first, to Janus' astonishment. "To the New Prince!"
"To the New Prince!" Everyone repeated.
They cheered and drank the stale wine. Janus thought it was bitter, but it made him feel good. It took the edge away from the biting chill of autumn. Best not to get drunk though, he may start talking about smartphones and airplanes."
"Thank you everyone for your support. I doubt that there are workers more loyal and hardworking as you are. But there is more work to be done. We need to prepare for the winter, and I plan to make this manor a better place for everyone."
"Cheers!"
Everyone cheered, and that night Janus slept with a satisfied stomach and without a care in the world.
#
The next morning, Janus went over their plans for the upcoming winter.
It was a tricky situation. The peasant folk was mostly unproductive due to the season's crippling cold. Janus had other ideas. This plan would ensure that they would have an even better yield for the next season.
First of all, they had to build a central irrigation system. This involved building a water mill by the river and regulating the flow to each of the fields. They will need to dig several trenches to connect them. This would free up a good percentage of the workforce from needing to walk to the river for watering.
Janus showed this plan to the carpenters, something he drafted himself and heavily copied from Irrigation Techniques for The Modern Manor by Esmeralda Thoroughfield. They all thought it was a good plan and started updating the drafts to follow the layout of the fields. There were a few problems that they had to consider though, something that Master Oswald didn't hesitate to tell him right away.
"Sire, I doubt the serfs will be too happy to work in the winter. The cold here is too great. That would be a danger to their health, and many of them would rather rest during the cold season." He said.
"We'll construct better heating facilities in their homes and in their work sheds. Give more pay to those who volunteer to do some work in the winter. I plan to make the manor as productive as possible, just a few minor tweaks to our systems and we can make up to a year's profits in the upcoming season."
Janus laid out plans for creating better plows, rakes, and various tools for agriculture. All of these were taken from Work Smart: Manufacturing Advanced Tools for the Advanced Farmhand by Oscar Scuttlebutler.
"Ah about that sire." Master Ringo added. "I'm not sure if you already know, but the blacksmithing services we employ in town cannot be hired at this moment. They are currently working at full capacity. Making weapons for the Kingdom on the Southern defense efforts.
"Can't we do it with our own workers?"
The steward rummaged through his papers and checked through the numbers.
"I'm afraid not, in between harvesting and building new houses for our serfs, we have our workforce completely occupied. You can move them around if you think it will help, but that would skew the calculations for the season's yield."
"No, that won't do."
"Also your highness, there's one issue that just came up from the recent upsurge of work. There have been complaints about the tools that are being used in the field. Too many of them are either broken or worn out. The serfs have been struggling to balance between fixing it themselves on top of harvesting the fields."
Janus met with the men in the sheds and saw just how bad the situation was. Scythes had missing handles and rusty blades. Plows were too rugged and frayed from several seasons without repair. Janus was surprised that some were still using stone tools even to this day. It worked pretty well for how the Manor was managed before he arrived, but if he wanted to improve production. This just won't do.
Janus accessed the Golden Library that night to find books on advanced ironmaking. He had already used up a lot of CP on various educational books as well as books for his entertainment. He was running quite low on points but he figured he should have enough for one more.
- Writer
