One Down, Three to Go

After laying out the details of the contract, Smith was left utterly speechless. As for the farmer, he was at a complete lose for words. What he had just heard would go against everything he knew about the Duke.

"If that is truly everything the contract entails, then only a fool would refuse signing it. With that said, I don't believe myself to be a fool. I accept your proposal so long as you demonstrate how this plow works."

After handing the contract to the farmer to sign, Smith and Michael got to work removing the plow from the cart. After they sat it on the ground, Michael returned to the farmer in order to retrieve the signed contract.

"One more thing I forgot to mention, the contract also states that you will be given a portion of land in the future should it come into my possession. If things progress as I am expecting them to, then you will received more land by the end of the month. That too will be tax free."

After explaining the part of the contract that had slipped his mind previously, Michael retrieved the horse that was not pulling the cart and fixed it to the front of the plow.

"I will now give a simple demonstration as to how to utilize this new machine."

After directing the horse to pull the plow to the edge of the field, Michael demonstrated the raising and lowering of the blade before having the horse move down one side of the field. After the demonstration, he turned the control over to the farmer for the returning row. Once back at the cart, visible excitement could be seen on the farmer's face.

"Duke Asher, I thank you on behalf of myself and my family for this generous arrangement. Having taken up enough of your time to come all the way out here, I will turn back to my work and wish you a good day."

With that said, the farmer turned to working his field with the new plow. By the time Smith and Michael had remounted the cart and turned it back to the city, the farmer could be seen coming back towards them yet again.

After riding a short way away from the farmer's land, Smith raised a question.

"Do you intend to offer the same contract to every farmer within the Astra territory?"

After think over his response for a moment, Michael decided there was no harm in explaining the details to Smith. After all, he would be the one to construct the plows and would likely be with him when making the propositions.

"To answer your question, I will have to both confirm and deny the concept. I chose to bring the first plow to that specific man because in the time when I was destroying this city, he was one of the only things holding it together.

He has the most favorable of the offers. As for the others, I will propose the same terms of overturning half of their crop to the city as well as the removal of taxes on their land and produce. I will also be adding in the clause that would restrict them from doing any trade with neighboring territories or residence outside Astra."

Smith understood the reasoning behind the added clause. By removing the ability to sell their crops outside the territory, Michael was increasing the amount that would be turned over to the city and the people. It would also restrict them to selling the crops to local businesses. In his opinion this was a smart move.

"It is likely that even with the benefits, one or two of the remaining farms will decide against signing the contract. Even if they do, they will likely still attempt to sell their produce outside the territory. What will you do then?"

Michael was expecting that question. He recognizes the intelligence in Smith and understands that he would be familiar with the farmers and their personalities.

"Should they refuse the contract then I will be forcing them off their land and turning it over to those that agree to the contract. Should they sign the contract and go against the added clause, they will be publicly executed to set an example for the others. Their land would then be turned over to the remaining farmers."

Smith was not expecting such a cutthroat alternative. He was beginning to see the young Duke in a new light. A light that contradicted his current understanding of the man's personality. Seeing the look of confusion in Smith's eyes, it didn't take much for Michael to understand its origin.

"I will tell you now, I am not the same man I was even a week ago. I am going to dedicate myself to the future prosperity of Astra. I will not allow for any person under my rule to threaten that. I have some rather big plans for this land.

At the moment, increasing the food situation is the main priority and it will take the rest of this year to correct it. Come next spring, I will begin implementing my other ideas. I will have to ask you to start working on another plow once we return. When it is complete, we will again travel to deliver it to the next farmer.

Should they accept, we will repeat this again for the third. Should they refuse, we will move onto the next farm. I will notify all contracted farms about the land changes personally should the need arise."

With that being said, Smith was left laughing. He had always hoped that some Duke would come along and remove Michael's control over the land and city. Never would he have thought that the conceited brat would attempt to turn things around.

What caused the most amount of laughter to leave his lips was the fact that he truly believed the young man beside him could actually improve the city as well as the lives of everybody in it.