As the woodland on the southern bank of the Chishui River was gradually cleared, the days for cultivation were drawing closer. (From #……Net)

To facilitate people's travel between the banks of the Chishui River, Roland ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge across the river, nearly a hundred meters wide. The lower part consisted of dozens of rafts built by carpenters, connected with thick hemp ropes. He specifically instructed the carpenters to make the ends of the rafts into sharp angles, so that the resistance to water impact would be smaller. The ends of the hemp ropes were wrapped around four wooden stakes driven into the shore, layer upon layer, to fix the position of the rafts as much as possible. Four long planks were laid in the middle of each raft to serve as the bridge surface, about two meters wide when joined together, allowing four people to walk side by side.

The pontoon bridge was simple to build and had a long lifespan. As long as the river did not experience a sudden surge or drop that would cause the hemp ropes to break, it could be guaranteed for two or three years. The trees in the Misty Forest were of excellent quality. For example, the pillars and decking of the town's pier were processed from giant trees in the forest, and their lifespan was almost the same as the town's. Although they creaked when walked on, there were still no signs of collapse.

Crossing the pontoon bridge to the west, the first piece of land reclaimed was Leaf's experimental field. Now it was surrounded by wooden boards, and soldiers from the First Army guarded the entrance. Besides eating, attending classes, and sleeping, Leaf spent the rest of her time in the experimental field. From the window of his office on the third floor, Roland could vaguely see the scene inside the wooden fence—the wheat was growing wildly, the ears of wheat were green in the morning, and by the afternoon they had turned into a golden ocean.

Relying on magic to grow, the Golden No. 1 was accumulating seeds at a speed of almost one ripeness per day. If outsiders saw it, they would probably kneel down and shout for a miracle.

Seeing that the land, population, and seeds were all ready, Roland decided to add the final link: the supervisor.

He summoned Barov, the Minister Assistant who had been extremely busy recently.

"Your apprentice should be able to handle things independently, right?" Roland asked. "I need to set up two new departments in the City Hall."

"Your Highness, this... we don't have enough manpower," Barov said with difficulty.

You used to agree immediately and then discuss the details slowly, but now you've learned to complain first. Roland thought to himself, but remained unmoved on the surface. "How could there not be enough? Didn't I just allocate a batch of knights to you?"

Roland's preliminary review screened out more than fifty knights who met the requirements and could write. So many teachers were not needed, so the best were selected from the best, and finally nine knights were selected to serve as junior teachers. The rest were assigned to the City Hall, starting as apprentices.

"Your Highness, those people are both slow and lazy, and their reactions are also slow. They can even make mistakes when copying a document. They are simply unqualified as apprentices."

"It's your business how to discipline them," Roland knocked on the table. "Those who don't obey the arrangements will be directly assigned to the North Slope Mine. But I must establish these two departments."

"Okay, Your Highness, you have the final say," Barov said helplessly.

Roland said, "The first is the Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for supervising the planting and production of crops in the territory."

Barov was stunned, obviously hearing for the first time that the City Hall would even manage farming. "Your Highness, isn't this kind of thing handled by the serfs themselves? How they plant and harvest has nothing to do with us, as long as we receive the full amount of tax."

"That's why you... no, I mean that's why the previous crop yields were so low." Roland picked up his cup and took a sip of water to cover up his slip of the tongue. "A responsible City Hall should manage the people's food, drink, and sanitation."

"Food, drink, and sanitation... are you kidding me?"

"Of course not. The importance of food and drink goes without saying. It is the City Hall's dereliction of duty, and my dereliction of duty, if the people cannot be fed. As for the latter half, isn't the public toilet project built for this purpose?" He put away his relaxed tone and said seriously to Barov, "I don't know how the City Hall in the Royal Capital operates. Perhaps the lives of the civilians are irrelevant to them, but in Border Town, I want to establish an all-round political organization that must be familiar with all aspects of the territory and the people, so that it can gain the full support of the people, and the decrees it issues can be executed efficiently. Now I will tell you the composition of this department and the tasks it needs to undertake, and you should remember it well."

"Yes, Your Highness," Barov wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Go to the archives and find three or four people who have done farm work, and include them in the Department of Agriculture. Then transfer two apprentices to be responsible for recording and statistics. Six people should be enough."

"Wait... you want to let civilians serve as City Hall officials?" Barov looked shocked.

"They are not only obedient, but also highly motivated to work. Why can't they serve as officials? Officials are not equal to nobles, and the Department of Agriculture also needs some professionals to guide future farming."

"But most of them don't even know how to read..."

"That's why I need you to send two apprentices to help with the paperwork first," Roland interrupted. "And this situation won't last long. I will soon implement a popular education plan in the territory, with the goal of enabling everyone to write, and then you won't have to worry about not having enough manpower."

Obviously, this news shocked Barov even more than letting civilians enter the City Hall. He opened his mouth slightly and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Roland didn't care whether he could accept it or not, and continued to say, "Returning to the matter of the Department of Agriculture, when serfs cultivate their own land, there will inevitably be uneven levels, such as some people turning the soil deeper and some people sowing more densely. This is an excellent opportunity for observation. These six people in the Department of Agriculture need to number the divided fields and record every step of the serfs' cultivation, with detailed data on how deep the soil is turned and the spacing of the sowing. I will issue measuring tools to them and teach them how to use them."

"You mean... comparison?" Barov might be more rigid in some aspects, but his mind was still quick.

"That's right. There is no need to pay too much attention to the harvest for the first cultivation. Continuing to maintain grain imports and... using some new varieties of wheat seeds is enough to ensure that everyone is not hungry. I need to find the most suitable method among these methods and compile it into a manual. In the future, wheat cultivation will be carried out according to this method, and the Department of Agriculture will be responsible for promotion, guidance, and supervision."

Roland didn't know much about farming, but this didn't prevent him from using scientific thinking to summarize an optimal solution. With this solution, whether it is expanding the cultivated area or adding new farming population, the average output of the land can be maintained at a high level.

Barov nodded, then hesitated before saying, "Your Highness, there is one thing I don't understand. After the serfs are promoted to free citizens, why do you only collect 20% of the crops as land tax? Even if you require them to hand over 50%, leaving 50% to them would still make you seem extremely benevolent."

"Because money piled up in the basement is meaningless," Roland explained. "After handing over 20%, I will buy the remaining grain in their hands at a fixed price—in Border Town, grain trade is the exclusive business of the lord. In this way, the castle gets the grain, and they get the reward. With a certain amount of savings, they will want to buy some things... such as cattle, iron farm tools, beef, cotton clothes, and good brick houses, and only I can provide these. The residents of the town who want to buy grain can only buy it from the castle. Therefore, the money will eventually flow back into my pocket, but in the cycle, it can continuously improve everyone's living standards. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Barov frowned and did not answer for a long time, obviously in a state of confusion.

Roland smiled and shook his head. "If you can't figure it out, you can go back and think about it slowly. Just do as I say first."

The Minister Assistant stood up in a daze and suddenly turned his head at the door. "By the way, Your Highness, you just said that you want to establish two departments. What is the other one?"

"Department of Education," Roland replied. "This will be personally managed by me."