Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Enacting the Power Field Technique
With confirmation and support from Frederick, Su Li immediately smiled and said, "Alright then, the first law our court passes in the territory is the ’Power Field Technique’: working wholeheartedly for the Hesse Territory and creating value is the sacred duty of every serf. The territory will reward and punish accordingly. Each year, the three serfs with the highest output will be rewarded for their contributions, with the Lord personally freeing them from slavery. Meanwhile, the three with the lowest will be punished by direct execution."
The bitterness of being forced into endless competition in his past life couldn’t be borne solely by Su Li and his fellow countrymen; others should also taste the capitalist’s exploitation methods. Only by reminiscing about the hardships together, by being the king of competition or being overwhelmed by it, can one escape this cattle-like life.
Frederick’s eyes widened in an instant. He thought Young Master Suli was complaining about his excessive killings, but it turned out the Lord felt he wasn’t ruthless enough!
He took a sharp breath and said, "Lord, executing three serfs annually is not an insignificant loss of wealth. With the freed serfs, you might lose as much as a dozen Gold Coins."
Su Li replied with a confident smile, "Knight Frederick, you need to learn to view the issue from a broader perspective. Yes, executing three serfs might indeed cost us nearly 10 Gold Coins. But in terms of overall earnings, we make a huge profit. A farmer earns at least 1 Gold Coin per year. Thus, if the serfs’ overall efficiency increases by just 1%, 1,000 serfs can easily recoup this loss. Do you think our territory won’t have 1,000 serfs?"
"If punishment is unknown, then its deterrent power is immeasurable. None of the serfs know how much grain and wealth their peers produce, so they fear being the ones eliminated and thus must compete intensely. Efficiency might increase by over 100%. We can easily make up for this minor loss."
Upon hearing this, Frederick was greatly shocked. Isn’t Young Master Suli a devil who plays with people’s hearts? He could already imagine that once this law was enacted, the serfs would never have peace.
Therefore, the law couldn’t be issued in the name of the Lord. A territory always needs someone to play the bad guy and someone to play the good guy.
Undoubtedly, the Lord is always benevolent and generous, his grace and brilliance benefiting every citizen of the territory.
Hence, such severe laws could only be proposed by the court’s harsh officials, and Frederick drafted the law in his own name by noon.
The effect of the ’Power Field Technique’ was extremely significant; once enacted, the serfs felt as though the sky had fallen. Over fifty slaves cleared as much as 60 acres in one afternoon!
It’s truly as if the Death God’s scythe was at everyone’s neck.
Whenever a serf thought of slacking off, seeing others in a fierce competition would frighten them into a cold sweat immediately.
Anyone who’s ever studied or worked knows it’s easy to have bursts of enthusiasm. Thinking about certain things makes one feel they mustn’t slack, must study hard, and strive.
But 99.99% of the people can’t maintain this zeal, and when this initial zeal fades, they start to slack.
However, the ’Power Field Technique’ is indeed a noose around everyone’s neck. The moment they slack, the pressure of death closes in, like a rusty rope tightening around the throat.
Thus, all the serfs had no choice but to summon bursts of three-minute enthusiasm repeatedly, battling with their lives in relentless competition.
Until the sunset disappeared, the golden glow vanished from the earth, and the moon rose, illuminating the serene, fertile land. The knights patrolling the territory returned one by one, yet the serfs were still laboring in the fields, clearing stones, crushing weeds and roots, and breaking up compact soil, turning it into flat land.
Su Li stood on the castle battlements, looking eastward, and saw a clearly leveled field being reclaimed, with some parts already planted with wheat, carrots, and other grains.
Not until 7:30 pm, when the spring night completely settled, did Vandar leave the fields and excitedly head to the castle that night.
This old man, with his mottled white beard, jogged all the way up the castle walls, coming before Su Li, with a zealous and ghastly expression: "Honorable Lord, your serfs in this territory are the most perfect devotees of the Dawn Goddess. They’re even rarer among those industrious and diligent inside the Dawn Church. They rise early, work late, endure hardship, and toil tirelessly, which aligns so well with our church’s teachings!"
"Praise be to the Dawn Goddess, following you to the Hesse Hills must be a divine oracle granted to me. This is our Dawn Church’s promised land."
"You won’t believe what happened, but during today’s preaching, I vaguely felt the Divine Grace of the Dawn Goddess, especially when sowing the Wheat Seed you arranged; it was like I felt the gaze of the Dawn Goddess."
"Our territory is definitely a blessed, Divine land, and a great harvest will surely come soon!"
Su Li looked surprised at this Elder Druid. In his mind, this elderly was proud, gloomy, and filled with resentment, completely different from now.
He was fanatic now, his eyes seemed to glow with light, and with his wizened bark-like face full of wrinkles, it’s truly like a withered tree coming to life, or an iron tree blossoming. As if in a double night under the mandarin duck duvet, a pear blossom pressed down on the crabapple, his mental state was precisely that.
At this moment, even if you chased him with a stick, you couldn’t drive him away, let alone worry about him escaping the territory secretly.
Su Li didn’t expect that the implementation of the ’Power Field Technique’ would have the most influence on this powerful priest of the Dawn Church, an Elite Level Druid.
If he could now see the loyalty option, this Elder Druid’s loyalty would surely be full.
But that’s a good thing, as Su Li had some ideas about farming that he wanted to discuss with this Elder Druid.
So Su Li smiled and said, "It’s indeed worth celebrating that the Dawn Goddess’s brilliance can illuminate our territory, but we cannot bask under the Goddess’s grace and enjoy without giving back. Instead, we should actively expand, turning more territory into fertile fields through labor, don’t you agree?"
Vandar listened and felt like having met someone who truly understands him and finally finding the wise leader he was seeking. His eyes gleamed red with excitement, and he exclaimed while patting his thigh in praise, "Lord, you are simply the perfect saint of our Dawn Church! Every word of yours perfectly reflects our doctrine. The Dawn Goddess should choose you as her Divine Chosen Warrior."
Su Li’s mouth couldn’t help but curl upwards; so this is how his previous employers felt when promising people grand visions! No wonder they were always eager to do so!
Although Su Li never served as a Lord, he spent his past life consuming grand visions till his end, accumulating ample experience as cattle.
He vaguely felt that he might have found the secret of being a Lord.
However, promising grand visions to the Dawn Church’s priest was just a trivial thing that brought a slight smile to his face; he soon focused back on the main issue and said to Vandar, "You need to speed up the progress regarding the farmland. Starting tomorrow, divide the serfs into three farms to plant wheat, carrots, and cabbage respectively. Let them specialize in one crop to further improve farming speed."
Vandar thumped his chest in assurance, saying, "Starting tomorrow, the serfs won’t clear outposts anymore. I’ll allocate 70 more serfs, dividing them into three groups. We’ll ensure opening up at least 150 acres of farmland by tomorrow!"