23 – The Convoy Arrives
The dairy farms" idle serfs were summoned by Liszt to clear open the uncultivated land around the castle and to cultivate alfalfa.
As the lord"s serfs, Gort had intended to make them come over and work unconditionally.
Liszt, however, did not go so far as to exploit them. He had decided to give the serfs three meals a day. Commoners generally ate two meals a day. Therefore, the serfs had rushed over to do the work.
The excess wheat bran in the castle was evenly distributed to the serfs. Wheat bran was the hard outer layer removed from wheat. The fine wheat flour was solely for Liszt to enjoy. The wheat bran was generally used to feed horses, yet commoners were also used to eat it. The wheat bran cookie he had previously fed to the wild horse was what quite a lot of serfs were used to eat.
“Supposedly, the nutritional value of wheat bran is higher than that of wheat flour.” Liszt remembered that in his previous life, he had bought wheat bran cookies. The seller had claimed that wheat bran contained rich dietary fiber and Vitamin B, could soothe constipation, and could lower the cholesterol, “However, wheat bran is unpalatable and is difficult to digest.”
As an aristocrat, he was not lacking in nutrition. Thus, he did not have to force himself to eat the rough wheat bran.
Naturally, aristocrats ate white bread.
Here, bread was an absolute staple food. According to different materials and taste, it could be divided into nine grades. There were four grades of white bread, and five grades of black bread.
The finest white bread was made from multiple-times-sieved fine wheat flour. Only greater aristocrats had the financial, physical, and human resources to make this kind of white bread. The price of this white bread was astonishing, with one loaf going for quite a few silver coins.
The next grade of white bread was made from sieved fine wheat flour. Because the coa.r.s.e particles were sieved out, its taste was exceptionally exquisite. Usually, one loaf would go for one silver coin.
The following grade of white bread was made from unsieved fine wheat flour. The taste was a bit lacking, with two to three loafs going for one silver coin.
The last grade of white bread was made from crude, simply processed wheat flour. The taste was even worse, with one loaf going for ten copper coins. The white bread Liszt currently ate was of this grade, while the white bread eaten in Tulip Castle was of the grade above.
Commoners ate black bread.
‘Wheat bran whole wheat bread" going for a few copper coins was what well-off freedman among the commoners ate; ‘no wheat bran whole wheat bread" going for one copper coin was what ordinary freedman could eat; serfs ate ‘blend black bread" made from a blend of no wheat bran wheat flour and other kinds of flour, with four big loafs going for one copper coin.
Serfs a bit poorer either ate ‘grains black bread" made from peas and other grains ground into flour, or ate wheat bran cookies made from whole wheat bran.
Additionally, Liszt still knew of a kind of black bread commonly made by commoners.
This black bread, after fermentation, would become very hard. Commoners would carve it into slices, and then use as plates or as table leg pads
Reportedly, the black bread plates could be used for quite a few months.
“Evils of a feudal society, ah.” Liszt sighed hypocritically, then recovered his train of thought. He had no intentions of smashing the aristocratic system. Where one stood depended on where one sat. Aristocrats enjoyed great status, so of course they were not willing to be pulled down from their high chair.
Besides, it was very hard to smash it. Without dragons or sprites, what could be used to smash it?
“My Lord, do you want Fierydragon to be brought?” Thomas inquired very cautiously. He had always been so cautious in Liszt"s presence.
“There is no need. By the way, Thomas, how is Blackdragon doing in the stables? Did he loose his temper?”
“My Lord, that big fellow that you had just subdued had bullied Fierydragon last night. In the morning, however, Fierydragon could already approach it and eat the straw.
Liszt nodded, not finding it unexpected.
There could not be two tigers on the same mountain, unless one was male and the other was female.
Blackdragon was a stallion and Fierydragon was a mare, it was inevitable for them to get along. Besides, it was highly probable that the first batch of Blackdragon"s offsprings would be born by Fierydragon, to which Liszt was not opposed. Fierydragon was also of a fine breed as it had the bloodline of the low-ranked magic beast, Flame Horse. A combination of the strong was bound to give birth to better offsprings.
No longer concerned.
Liszt began to practice the moves of the [Fire Surge Fluctuations] secret manual.
Generally, Earth Knights would not practice other secret manuals before being proficient in the manual best fitted for their qi. Liszt"s comprehension ability was good, he was still familiarizing himself with the [Fierydragon Drill] secret manual and could concurrently practice the [Fire Surge Fluctuations] secret manual. Unlike the targeted attack [Fierydragon Drill] secret manual, the [Fire Surge Fluctuations] secret manual emphasized crowd battle.
The moves tended towards sweeping with a sword at a large area, and thrusting with a lance at a large group.
Unwittingly, he had immersed himself in his practice. Fire-attributed qi was being incessantly released, burning the surrounding air. The power of the move was not yet known, but at least it looked formidable.
“Great Fire Wave!”
A sword slashed, shooting flames about.
He saw the butler Carter hurriedly walking towards him.
He had to restrain his qi, and then inquired: “Mr. Carter, did something happen?”
“My Lord, Jesse has just come back from reaping gra.s.s outside the castle for the horses. He claims to have seen a caravan. My guess is that it is the groups sent by Sir Count and Madam Baroness.”
Liszt"s spirit was stirred: “Have they finally come? I have to trouble you to go summon the two teachers to welcome the caravan with me. I am going to first take a shower and have a change of clothes.”
He rushed upstairs to take a shower.
Marcus and Gort arrived before long.
The castle was located on a slope and had a decent vantage point. From up there, the caravan slowly hurrying over from the direction of the distant Thorns Ridge could already be seen.
“Teacher Gort, remember to remind me to reorganize the patrol. When the caravan appeared, no one had taken notice of it. Only after my servant had discovered it was I made aware of it.
“The patrol members are all scoundrels. Lend me your retainer knights to train them.”
“No problem.” Liszt mounted a horse. Instead of riding Fierydragon, he rode his newly subdued Blackdragon to show off: “Follow me to welcome the caravan. Father should not have come in person. The one to accompany the tulip great sprite might be my big brother.”
The trio urged their horses over.
Carter hurriedly informed all the servants: “Attention everybody, remember to tidy up your clothes! You cannot look dirty and loose Lord"s face! Jesse, I am talking to you. Oh heavens, there is mud on your trousers. Do you want us to hang our heads in shame? Quickly go change your trousers!”
“Yes, yes, Mr. Carter.” The a.s.sistant servingman with flax-colored hair, Jesse Ricewater, hurried back home to change his trousers.
Carter shouted again: “Mrs. Mawson, notify Mrs. Abby to prepare dessert, tea and snacks. Also, remember her to prepare good food, to prepare a most sumptuous banquet; people that require Lord to receive them personally are coming.”
“Are you saying that there will be aristocrats?”
“Of course there will. As you know, the Black Tulip is very important, so the family has sent sprites to a.s.similate it. Perhaps the one accompanying them is Young Lord Lytton. Anyway, it is an important figure. We cannot make Lord loose face. There are still those of the same occupation as Thomas.”
People of the same occupation as Thomas were also gentleman"s valets of aristocrats.
After busying themselves, the servingmen and maids quickly arrived at the castle gate under the butler Carter"s leadership. With the servingmen on the left and maids on the right, they stood on both sides of the gate, awaiting the arrival of the n.o.ble guests.