13 – Black Tulip
“Come on, hurry up, f.u.c.king oafs! Dillydallying, you are courting death! Sir Lord wants an account of your families" circ.u.mstances! Harry up! Put on your clothes, take your women and children, and a.s.semble in the open s.p.a.ce! Anyone who is missing, will have their legs broken by me!”
A ranger strutted about as he knocked on the gra.s.s huts" doors and yelled.
Before long, all of barley settlement"s serfs came out of their homes and gathered in the open s.p.a.ce amidst the ranger"s verbal abuse.
Whispering in groups of two or three.
From time to time, they would raise their heads and look at the table in the middle of the open s.p.a.ce. Behind the table sat a forty-year-old woman dressed in a fitting dark green dress sorting out a stack of thick bast paper pages. Behind the women was still a young maid helping out with mixing ink in a mug.
“Who are they?”
“I have never seen them before.”
“Fool, they surely are maids from the castle!”
“Yeah, look at their clothes, they were ironed. Unlike our smelly and wrinkled clothes, only Sir Lord"s maids would dress such neat and tidy clothes.”
“What is Sir Lord up to? From listening to his henchman, he wants to count… count what?”
“It is to count the population.” An elderly serf chewed the roots of some kind of gra.s.s, “Ten years ago, Sir Count had sent over people to do a count. At that time we had… had… had many households and serfs, we had much more people than we have now. Ugh, many people have starved to death seven years ago during the heavy snowfall.”
In front of the table.
The ranger, who had been strutting about just a moment ago, bowed to the two maids, saying: “Mrs. Mawson, Young Lady Michonne, everyone in the barley has a.s.sembled.”
“I am not a lady, I am just a maid of the castle.” Michonne Oxtail was actually very happy with being addressed as young lady. She asked with a smile. “Is everyone present? Do not miss a single person, or Sir Lord will punish us, you included.”
“Of course, of course, I guarantee that no one would dare to hide.”
Mrs. Mawson nodded. “Very well, then let them approach one household at a time. Once the serfs are counted, then send them home immediately. They must not return, so that we do not registered them again.”
“Alright.”
The ranger started to let the serfs approach the table one household at a time.
Mrs. Mawson followed Liszt"s long-prepared questionnaire, “You are the head of the household? What is your name?”
“Ho… Hopper, Mrs..”
“Do not be nervous. I want your full name, including your family name, Mr. Hopper.”
“Oh, al… alright. My name is Hopper Rancidwater.”
“So, Mr. Hopper, is everyone of your family here, a total of five people? What are the names of your wife, your two sons and your daughter… How old are you, what is your vocation, and what are you responsible for? What about your wife? Is your eldest son working?”
Before long, Mrs. Mawson finished with her questions and started recording the information on the thick bast paper pages.
Serfs" household head – Hopper Rancidwater, age – 37, grows barley, no handicap; wife – Simone Rancidwater, age – 34, grows barley, no handicap; eldest son – Rob Rancidwater, age – 20, grows oats, lame; second son – Peter Rancidwater, age – 17, grows barley, no handicap; daughter – Lily Rancidwater, age – 15, raises chickens, no handicap.
After recording the information, Mrs. Mawson checked it once.
After she was certain that there were no mistakes, she said gently: “Mr. Hopper, Mrs. Hopper, your family can go back.”
“Oh, al… alright.”
This sight only lasted for a day. Stacks of thick bast paper pages were delivered to the castle and piled up on Liszt"s desk. The work related to Flower Town"s census was finished.
“Liszt, it is truly unfathomable. This troublesome task was easily settled by you. You are definitely qualified to be lord.” Gort praised.
“Teacher Gort, it is too early for praises. I want you to summarize the data of each settlement and then give it to me.”
“At your service.”
Perhaps the swift and decisive actions of Liszt had put Gort under pressure, resulting in him acting as a follower instead of an adviser. He worked at night under the light of candles, which was really a rare sight.
Early the next morning.
The statistical data had appeared before Liszt after he was done with his breakfast and had finished with his knight cultivation lesson"s practice.
“My Lord, Sir Gort had worked through the night. He had blood-shot eyes when he delivered the data.” Carter held the thick bast paper pages with both hands, saying.
“Good wine, good food, and entertainment require some reciprocation. Flower Town has to grow. I do not want my fief to be as lifeless as it used to be.”
Carter was absent-minded for a few seconds before agreeing: “My Lord, it feels like I am seeing Sir Count in his youth, the high-spirited viscount who had obtained the t.i.tle of count and established Tulip Family as the ruler of Coral Island within five years. With you as their lord, the inhabitants of Flower Town are truly fortunate.”
“Perhaps.” Liszt was not modest.
He quietly looked through the thick bast paper pages. The thick stack had actually not much content. Even if one were to use a goose feather pen to write in very small symbols on the thick bast paper pages, one still would not record many symbols.
“Thick bast paper is really backwards.”
“My Lord, we already do not have much thick bast paper left. We have already used up four fifth of thick bast paper from the warehouse.”
“I know, I will think of a method to solve this.” Papermaking had already been placed on Liszt"s to do list, only awaiting the right time to be accomplished.
It took half an hour for Liszt to completely comprehend all of Flower Town"s data.
Eight settlements in total.
Village, 257 households and 907 people, of which, 41 households and 125 people were freedmen, with the rest being serfs.
Peanut , 23 households and 92 people, all serfs.
Mushroom , 68 households and 211 people, all serfs.
Tomato , 30 households and 152 people, of which, 10 households and 28 people were freedmen, with the rest being serfs.
Barley , 48 households and 155 people, all serfs.
Wheat , 101 households and 342 people, all serfs.
Flower farm, 21 households and 54 people, all serfs.
Dairy farm, 18 households and 60 people, all serfs.
Flower Town in its entirety, a total of 584 households and 1973 people, of which, only 51 households and 153 people were freedmen, with the rest being serfs. The castle, 10 servants, 4 retainer knights, 2 followers – Gort and Marcus. 17 people including Liszt.
Gort and Marcus still had their own family members. However, they had yet to come over. They were staying in Coral City, they might be unwilling or taking some time to come over
Therefore, the population of Flower Town was at a total of 1990 people.
Most of them being engaged in agriculture – planting barley, wheat, oats, tomatoes, mushrooms, peanuts and tulips, and raising dairy cows as well as a small number of chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, dogs and sheep.
Only 7% of the population was engaged in handicraft.
There was a tailor shop, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, a bakery, a mill, a grocery store, a cobbler shop, a barber shop, and a locksmith shop.
“The census is detailed enough, it should be enough to complete the mission.” Liszt pushed away the thick bast paper pages releasing a faint fishy stench, thinking.
Just at this moment, the old butler, Carter, came over: “My Lord, great news, the flower farm"s manager has come to report good news.”
Hearing the two words ‘flower farm", Liszt"s eyes lit up. He realized that it should probably be the reward for the mission: “Where is he? I want to see him… What are the good news?”
“It is a never before seen Black Tulip. My Lord, I will go get him.”