Chapter 109: Technological Improvement
In the fields of Broken Wave City, Duane stood atop a terraced slope, watching his subjects below as they toiled away.
Besides his Male Servant and Haien, he was accompanied by John and a few of his militia subordinates, all members of the Police Department.
"Haien, is this how you normally harvest?"
Duane asked with a frown as he continued to observe.
Agricultural Officer Haien could see the displeasure on the Baron’s face, but he couldn’t understand what was wrong.
Although he had known the Baron for a long time through Ralph, he still felt immense pressure at times as his subordinate.
Faced with the question, he racked his brain, trying to figure out what was amiss.
After a long moment, he hesitantly voiced what he thought might be the issue.
"When we harvest at Lakefront Manor, we mostly use iron sickles. The farmers here have limited resources; some use knives made of bone, and others use stone or even wooden ones."
Duane’s brow furrowed even deeper upon hearing this. He hadn’t noticed before. ’People are still using wooden and stone knives?’
"This is far too primitive!" he couldn’t help but exclaim.
"It is. You said that the island’s iron ore must first be used to meet our own needs. I believe things will get better."
Thinking he had hit the mark, Haien continued.
"Right now, your subjects are all actively answering your call, dedicating themselves to reclaiming land, felling trees, and building roads. Once they’ve earned some money, they’ll be able to afford a few sickles."
Duane shook his head. "The sickles are an easy problem to solve. The real issue is their process for gathering the grain after cutting the stalks."
Haien looked over.
He saw two farmers standing by a wooden barrel. They held bundles of rice stalks in both hands, raised them high over their heads, and slammed them forcefully against the inside of the barrel. Grains flew out, only to be caught by a surrounding barrier and fall back into the container.
The staple grains of the Pruck Kingdom were various types of wheat. Although Haien had never grown rice before coming to Black Forest Island, the harvesting method for wheat was the same.
So, he scratched his head and looked at the Baron in confusion, his expression seemingly asking, ’Is there something wrong with this method?’
Of course, there was nothing wrong with it.
Duane simply felt the method was too archaic and inefficient.
With this manual threshing method, two people working from dawn to dusk might harvest half an acre, and that would be considered highly efficient.
"Perhaps what Black Forest Island needs is a rice thresher."
"A rice thresher?"
Haien knew this was another one of the Baron’s new terms.
Every time he coined a new term, something revolutionary followed.
"Yes, a rice thresher! With two people operating it, you can harvest at least three acres of rice in a single day!"
GASP!
Haien was stunned by this claim.
"Two people, three acres?"
What kind of speed was that!
"What kind of rice thresher is it? A product of Mages?" he couldn’t help but ask.
As an Agricultural Officer, he knew that if such a device truly existed, it would spark a revolution in harvesting.
"You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it. You’ll see in due time!"
Duane offered no further explanation. "Alright, that’s all for today’s inspection. You may all return to your duties. I’m heading back to my villa."
After returning to his study, he immediately began drafting the designs for the rice thresher.
’Modern harvesting uses reapers, and large farms have even more efficient combine harvesters that can cover dozens of acres in a single day.’
’However, something like that is probably impossible to build here, so I can only aim for a manually powered rice thresher.’
’The machine’s structure isn’t complicated. It’s just a pedal-driven mechanism with wooden connecting rods, gears, a threshing drum, and a grain hopper.’
Duane’s Basic Manufacturing Skill Level had now reached the Mastery Level, so he had a rather thorough understanding of these fundamental mechanical transmissions.
’Drawing the rice thresher’s design from memory shouldn’t be too hard.’
’The real difficulty will be producing gears with a low margin of error.’
’Fortunately, this machine doesn’t demand perfection. As long as the tolerances are controlled, it’s achievable.’
In addition to the rice thresher, Duane also drew up plans for a simple rice huller, a stone mill, and a windmill.
These devices only required wood, stone, and hemp rope.
Once the designs were distributed, his subjects could build them on their own, helping them save time and improve their quality of life.
Soon, the Blacksmith Yanger and the carpenter Riesen were summoned to the Baron’s study.
Although the rice thresher was a new invention, anyone with a discerning eye could tell it held immense value.
If it could be sold to outsiders, it would surely fetch a hefty price.
For this reason, the blueprints were considered confidential and could not be shown to just anyone.
However, these craftsmen were all under contract with Duane; they wouldn’t dare leak the designs.
Besides, who on Black Forest Island could they possibly leak them to?
After hearing Duane’s description, both Yanger and Riesen were extremely interested in building such a machine.
Their only concern was the sheer amount of work already on their plates.
The tracks, carts, winches, and pulleys for the mine were all their responsibility as well.
But Duane gave the order: their priority was now to build the first rice thresher.
Though they were starting a little late and might not finish in time for the current harvest, it had to be ready before the late-season rice ripened.
As for the mine tracks, the two of them would act as supervisors. After creating a prototype section, they would arrange for the other blacksmiths and carpenters on the island to handle the rest of the production.
Yanger and Riesen were more than happy to accept this arrangement.
During their time here, the two of them had become the de facto leaders of the blacksmiths and carpenters on Black Forest Island.
They possessed both skill and the Baron’s trust—a combination other craftsmen lacked.
This was why they both felt that taking a gamble and following the Baron to Black Forest Island had been an incredibly wise decision.
’Our old neighbors and friends in the Royal Capital would probably regret not coming with us if they knew how well we’re living here!’
’Maybe someday, some of them will even come to Black Forest Island to join us.’
’Because here, there’s a Baron who understands invention and creation. Black Forest Island is bound to see many new innovations, and it’s destined to flourish with vitality.’
After seeing the two craftsmen out, Duane stretched, then sat down and picked up a document from the corner of his desk.
It was the defense plan for Black Forest Island, discussed and prepared by Kaelon, Raymond, and the others, now awaiting Duane’s final decision.
He’d been mulling it over for a few days. ’If I approve it now, we can start implementing it right after the harvest rush ends.’
The first item was the expansion of the Guards.
They had proposed adding three new squads to the existing seven, with Hardy, Iron Hammer, and Kubatu appointed as their respective Captains.
Duane approved.
Although they were all former members of the Broken Wave Gang, they were serving him now, and he was willing to give them a chance.
Besides, they were among the few Middle Level Warriors on the island, which made them well-suited for the role of Captain.
According to the regulations of the Pruck Kingdom, ten squads could form a company, which made Raymond a bona fide company commander.
Duane felt the title "company commander" sounded a bit underwhelming, so he changed it to "Camp Commander."
A unit of a hundred men would be called a camp, five hundred a regiment, a thousand a division, and ten thousand an army.
With the Guards expanding, the Militia needed to be expanded as well.
They proposed recruiting another three hundred militia members, but Julian and Ralph, among others, were opposed.
Militia members were all able-bodied men. Over a hundred had already been recruited, and taking away another three hundred, on top of the thirty or so who would become Guards, would be too great a loss to Black Forest Island’s workforce.
While Duane agreed with their reasoning, the number of militia was indeed insufficient.
Therefore, he only approved the recruitment of an additional hundred militia members.
To better train the militia, Duane ordered Simone and Gaius to take their own squads, along with the hundred new militia members, and form them into a Second and Third Camp, with each of them serving as a Camp Commander.
Next was the issue of weapons and equipment.
The weapons collected from the Broken Wave Gang and the Holy Hand Association were barely enough to arm all the Guards and a portion of the militia.
For the remainder, Duane planned to substitute with hardwood staffs.
’I’ll learn a Staff Skill to pass down to them. It should be enough to handle troublemakers on the island and common wild beasts.’
’As for proper iron weapons, armor, and bows and arrows, we can slowly acquire those later.’
’The key is to improve their basic training first.’
’Three hundred men between the Guards and the Militia... I suppose that’s barely enough!’
Duane tapped the desk. Hearing the sound, Owington immediately walked in from outside the door.
"Take this to Regiment Commander Kaelon and Julian. Tell them to begin implementing it once the busy harvest season is over!"