Pinecone Farm.

The wall made of stone bricks and wooden piles is towering and towering, enclosing a large area of ​​land. On one side of the wall are densely packed houses, and on the other side are fields with traffic and fruit trees decorated with broken snow. Rather than saying that this is a farm,

Rather, it is a city from the classical era.

There are between 10 and 20 thousand people living within the wall, with the market as the core forming a settlement where officials, craftsmen, soldiers and their families live. Outside the wall there are 30,000 to 40 thousand people, most of whom are farmers, and most of them have lost their freedom.

Of the serfs, the other half are tenant farmers who rent the land and have not yet gone bankrupt. Everything here is the property of the farmer. Whether it is land or people.

If Boulder City is an extreme product of industrialization coordinated by the Production Department of the War and Construction Committee, then this farm is another extreme product of the free growth of survivor settlements.

There is no sign of industrialization here. Although there is a city in the near future not far away, there is no trace of inheritance here, not even a specious thing.

As for the reason, it is actually very simple.

The boat couldn't move on its own while it was parked there, either because of the wind or because someone was rowing the oars.

For the ship Pinecone Wood Farm, these two elements obviously do not exist. They are neither within the plan of the War and Construction Committee, nor have they any motivation to develop industry.

The farmer here did buy a few machines from Boulder City, but the results were not very satisfactory, and over time they were left in the warehouse gathering dust.

To put it bluntly, whether they are bankrupt serfs or tenant farmers on the verge of bankruptcy, they can be regarded as the private property of the farmer.

Even if the poor people wear new clothes, for the farmers here, it is just a new wallet to put the banknotes in their pockets, which is completely unnecessary.

But even so, Pinecone Wood Farm is much better than most of the survivor settlements that are still in the "tribal period".

At least some raider tribes are no match for them, and the agricultural products here can be sold as far away as the valley provinces in the north.

Direct exchange of abundant agricultural products and cash crops for industrial products in Boulder City can be said to be the economic lifeline of this farm over the past century.

It is no exaggeration to say that without the big landowners in Boulder City, there would be no small landowners of all sizes in Jinchuan Province.

Most farmers here will cooperate with merchants in Boulder City, or simply keep a few loyal servants to act as profit representatives.

Pinecone Wood Farm is no exception, and the owner here, Zhao Tianqian, is more ambitious than any other farmer on this land. _o_m

His parents have accumulated enough wealth for him, and a small settlement is no longer enough to satisfy his appetite.

He wants to build a huge and permanent kingdom in this wild land like the royal families of Luoxia Province!

In order to realize this ambitious goal, he showed an open-minded and learning attitude towards the talents and technologies in the wasteland, and used the savings saved from the food trade to recruit troops and stockpile weapons.

However, just when he was full of ambition and was planning to do something big, bad news suddenly came from the north.

A revolution broke out in Boulder City, and the Boulder Building collapsed overnight. The nobles in the inner city were either exiled or sent to the Alliance's prisoner-of-war camp for reform.

And his sponsors basically fell in that revolution.

The news he heard on the radio scared him into a cold sweat on the spot and he couldn't sleep for several days.

If he wanted to build a huge agricultural empire in the south, the support of northern industrial owners was indispensable. After all, he could not expect a group of unknowledgeable farmers to learn to operate machines, and knowledge was exactly what he could not give to those people anyway.

But now, his biggest partner has turned to the Alliance.

Although the Alliance is also his trading partner, since the war in the west has ended and the railway from Luoxia Province to the southern part of River Valley Province has been opened, food from Luoxia Province has almost completely replaced them.

This was almost fatal to the slave owners in Jinchuan Province.

With the use of chemical fertilizers and high-yielding seeds, one acre of land can even feed two or three people. But without the achievements of industry and primitive farming technology, only three acres of land can feed one person.

.

When the profits from exporting agricultural products cannot be exchanged for sufficient means of production and weapons to protect the means of production, the virtuous cycle will be broken, and their good days will be over.

Although they will not go bankrupt immediately, the shrinkage of production activities has almost become inevitable.@·The first post without error~~

If there is no interference from outside forces, they will probably completely deplete the social wealth accumulated through trade with Boulder City in the past 100 years in twenty or forty years, until they enter a new cycle and stabilize again.

And their current prosperity will be transferred to the oases in the desert along the railway that has been built.

Pinecone Wood Farm is slightly better. After all, the family has enough money. Even if the settlement of more than 50,000 people is left alone, a group of carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, alchemists and other craftsmen will automatically appear.

However, other small farmers are unlucky. Looking at the camu camu rotting in the forest, they have gradually become accustomed to the bitter consequences of losing their sponsors.

Fortunately, the church forces from further south extended a helping hand to the locals in time.

Since it is no longer profitable to grow ordinary crops - just plant some fruits.

The land planted with Naguo is no longer suitable for the growth of ordinary crops, but the crops eroded by Naguo will grow exceptionally strong.

The survivors who had eaten the fruit were not only invulnerable to all diseases, but were also humble and docile, as hard-working and well-behaved as puppets holding strings.

Thinking about it from another perspective, they actually don’t need chemical fertilizers that much, and they don’t even need herbicides anymore. All their material needs will be satisfied.

Under the emerald green halo, man and nature will be perfectly integrated, realizing the true "I am natural".

In order to gain support from the southern church forces, Pinecone Farm also introduced Nago.

And the effect of receiving fruits did not disappoint Zhao Tianqian at all.

After his serfs ate the fruits, they stopped being lazy and no one complained anymore. They were all as docile and obedient as sheep.

They may not be excellent soldiers or qualified for expert positions, but they are definitely the best farmers and workers.

It's easy to use them as cannon fodder. Just give them an injection of "holy water". The Torch Church has medicine that can immunize them against the symptoms of addiction.

The withdrawal reaction can become a rope that binds them. No one dares to be lazy anymore. In order to listen to the gospel of the Son of God, they will work even harder when they are awake.

However, unlike those shabby farmers, Zhao Tiangan could never let go of those magicians.

The royal physician he hired told him that the serfs who had eaten Naguo were not truly invulnerable to all poisons, but that their body functions had completely given up resistance to viruses and bacteria. Similarly, viruses and bacteria had also lost their aggressiveness.

, forming a symbiotic relationship with the infected person under the influence of a special mycelium.

This caused the serfs to become a breeding ground for germs. Some normal people who did not eat Naguo would contract strange infectious diseases almost by being close to them.

Some tenants who were not forced to ration naguo were forced to eat naguo because they did not have enough antibiotics and other medicines. At first, Zhao Tianqian expected that 20% of the residents would be baptized with the "holy fruit", but when he came to his senses,

At that time, the entire settlement became believers of the Torch Church.

I want to stop, but it seems it's too late...

In the magnificent manor house, a group of children are laughing and playing on the lush lawn.

In the main building not far away, Zhao Tianqian stood by the window and looked out at the smoke-filled settlement, with a frown on his furrowed brows.

He has never been so worried about the future of this settlement, and has never been so confused about the future. However, at this moment, the feeling of not knowing where to go is getting stronger.

The fruits and beliefs brought by those believers solved most of the problems he faced, but the biggest problem was that he didn't know where those people would take him.

His throat felt itchy, and Zhao Tianqian couldn't help coughing into the handkerchief.

As he moved the handkerchief away from his mouth, a faint trace of blood caught his eye, making his heart tighten involuntarily.

"Oh shit!"

Cursing a few words, he hurriedly took out a box of pills from his pocket, knocked two pills out of his palm and threw them into his mouth.

Inside, he grabbed the cup on the table and drank the warm water.

After a while, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more comfortable.

Recently, for some unknown reason, he had a slight problem with his lungs. At first, he took some medicine and it was cured, but the disease came back again and again, and now he is even coughing up blood.

He didn't know why this happened, but coughing up blood was not a good sign.

At this time, there was a knock on the door,

Zhao Tianqian cleared his throat and stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket.

"Please come in."

The door opened.

An old man with graying temples came in. His name was Ma Zhongxian, he was the steward of Songguomu Farm and also the confidant of the owner.

Looking at Zhao Tianqian standing by the window, the old man nodded slightly, saluted, and said respectfully.

"grown ups."

Without any more nonsense, Zhao Tianqian spoke immediately.

"Is there any news from Yang He?"

Ma Zhongxian nodded and said.

"He just reported to me that they have purchased the weapons on the list, and the transport convoy is heading in our direction... However, because of the snow on the mountain road, they were delayed for some time at the junction of the two provinces. I'm afraid they will have to

It will take a while to arrive.”

Zhao Tian said in an irritable mood.

"Tell him to hurry up."

Ma Zhongxian nodded respectfully.

"yes."

Zhao Tianqian glanced at the children playing outside the window, looked at the little girl sitting next to his daughter, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

In previous years, at the beginning of December, Yang He, who went to Qingquanshui area to sell autumn grain, would have returned, but this year it was more than a month late.

But he is not worried about the merchant running away with the money. The guy's baby daughter is still in his hands as a hostage. I believe he will make the right judgment and know what should be taken and what should not be taken.
To be continued...