Food Issue

The farmlands beyond Xia Village were a patch of golden yellow. As the village chief, Chu Tian played an exemplary role by leading his villagers down the fields to harvest the foodstuff.

Even the village chief himself went down to the fields, so Hua Mulan, Elder Li, Zhao Qi, Wu Shang, and the other heroes and soldiers were no exceptions. They had to finish harvesting as soon as possible before the event 'Trails of the Yellow Turban' began, or else the chaos of the war would devastate the crops.

In the age of cold weapons, rations and forage set off before the soldiers and horses even moved. If they didn't put in efforts into farming, the soldiers would be starving, and they wouldn't have the energy to fight enemies.

In Feudal Lords, the morale of troops was very important. Troops without morale would choose to turn their heads and flee, or they could even start a mutiny. According to past records, numerous troops had suffered defeats due to a shortage of food.

Harvesting crops with sickles wasn't in the least bit less rigorous than fighting and killing.

After just half a day of harvesting, Chu Tian was already feeling exhausted and drained.

Meanwhile, the other feudal lords of Xu Prefecture were most probably harvesting crops alongside their villagers as well.

"Village Chief, time to have some noodles."

Elder Li's daughter, the current low-grade doctor of the Level 2 hospital of Xia Village, Li Lan, handed a bowl of noodles to Chu Tian.

"Thanks a lot."

"You're always so courteous, Village Chief," Li Lan couldn't help but tease.

The women and girls of Xia Village had to prepare cool water, rice, and noodles at noon. All the people would have their lunch in the fields.

A farmer's life was not an easy one. As the village chief, Chu Tian harvested wheat in person, conducted the rearing of pigs, chickens, and fish, and he even had to take note of public security and the satisfaction level of villagers. He finally got to experience the hardships of a farming life.

During his breaks, Chu Tian also had time to look up the requirements for upgrading Xia Village to Level 3.

The requirements for upgrading a Level 2 village to Level 3 weren't exactly arduous, to be honest.

Firstly, raise the level of prosperity to 200.

Secondly, popular sentiment had to reach 70, public security 70.

Thirdly, the number of special constructions must not be less than 10.

Fourthly, the military score must not be lower than 400.

Fifthly, the population must not be less than 800 people.

Xia Village had fulfilled four of the requirements, and they were only one step away from fulfilling the fifth one.

A village of 800 people could no longer be considered a small village. After getting upgraded to Level 3, it would be qualified for a large-sized village.

With the food collected by Xia Village, they could afford to feed several cavalrymen as well as 50 elite infantrymen.

It was said that above the elite infantry was the Grade 3 infantry, the Army of Xu Prefecture. They had their own formal title.

Currently, the only one in Xia Village who could qualify for a commander was Hua Mulan. The 25% reinforcement in attack and defense that she brought about was very prospective.

"Haih, we planted these crops last year. Now that the scale of the village is getting bigger, Village Chief, please take note of the forage reserve. When the need arises, we have to purchase foodstuff from the outside."

Elder Li came over with his wooden walking stick and reminded Chu Tian of something very important——the latent food crisis faced by Xia Village.

The initial food reserve of Xia Village was 500 units, which would suffice the expense of 500 people a year. With Xia Village's initial population of 100 people, the reserve was more than enough.

However, the population of Xia Village was fast-approaching 800 right now. A food reserve of 500 units would hardly be enough to sustain lives for a great half-year.

Besides, in order to replenish their energy during times of war, soldiers would need to consume twice more food than usual.

The food issue was a tough issue.

'Accumulate great stores of forage, claiming the throne can wait' was really not just a slogan. In times of turbulence, food was as valuable as gold and silver.

"We'll go rob others if we run out of food. We'll rob the Yellow Turban soldiers."

Chu Tian's eyes were gleaming with ferocity.

In Feudal Lords, the number of Yellow Turban soldiers who were killed by feudal lords and officers was so numerous they could form a circle around the earth. One would be wasting the gifts of nature if one did not rob Yellow Turban soldiers for food.

They could even rob gold and silver from the Yellow Turban soldiers and trade their gains at Langya City, so as to purchase extra food from the hands of the city master, Zang Ba.

Before the war between feudal lords and NPC officers broke out, feudal lords were totally allowed to trade with officers legally.

Upon hearing Chu Tian's violent words, Elder Li wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. His village chief was more like a Yellow Turban soldier than the actual Yellow Turban soldiers out there.

If it wasn't for the purpose of building a solid foundation for the territory and that the function of conquering other feudal lords' territories was not yet made available, Chu Tian would have led his army out of the village to go on a rampage.

Chu Tian thought of the Xiaozhu Village that was located 5 kilometers away. There were economical premises like rice stores, commerce centers, and armed escort agencies in the village. It seemed that he could purchase foodstuff from Langya City directly through the premises of Xiaozhu Village——the precondition was to have money.

Chu Tian made a request to the village chief of Xiaozhu Village to utilize her premises.

"No problem, but you'll have to pay the normal prices."

Very soon, the chief of Xiaozhu Village, Xia Tianliang, replied Chu Tian.

The benefit of forming an alliance was obvious now. It was as though two villages were developing at the same time while complementing each other with what they needed. That was the advantage of trading.

Chu Tian continued delving into the harvesting of crops.

Gains of crops were not calculated according to the food income on the panel, but the actual harvest of seeds sown in October instead. A great harvest was likely, but locust plagues or draughts could possibly happen too.

You reap just what you sowed. The gains in the year to come were determined by the efforts you invested this year.

"Food crops are too monotonous. We have to enrich the type of crops and cultivate fine species as well."

After a day of hard work, Chu Tian noticed some problems while he was laboring away.

The staple crops of Xia Village were wheat and vegetables at the moment.

In Feudal Lords, the settings in the Eastern Han did not include corn, Champa paddy, sweet potatoes, and many other crops during the Age of Discovery. Neither did the Vatican region and the Dongying region have them. Sure enough, the Eastern Han had its own special crops like tea.

Specialties from different regions of civilizations could only be exchanged after the borders among them were made open.

Nonetheless, seeds for crops like rapeseed and Chinese yams could be purchased in Langya City. As the village chief, Chu Tian had to figure out ways to enrich his own menu as well as that of his villagers.

After harvesting wheat, it was far from over. The crops had to be dried and preserved.

Xia Village had its own barn. Barns were default constructions and could be upgraded or expanded even without construction drawings. Theoretically, a Level 2 village could also build a top-level barn… But no feudal lords would probably expend large amounts of resources to expand their barns during the early stages. Without foodstuff, even a humongous barn would be useless.

The days of the appearance of big groups of Yellow Turban soldiers were fast approaching.

This time, the appearance of Yellow Turban soldiers was merely a warm-up for the historical warfare, 'Riot of the Yellow Turban'. As for the historical warfare in the Eastern Han, according to the information Chu Tian got hold of from the guild, it was very tough. 

They had to fight to their deaths with the troop of Yellow Turban soldiers led by special heroes like Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and so on. Of course, the rewards were very attractive too. They would even stand a chance to recruit special heroes from the Yellow Turban camp.

Before that, Chu Tian decided to upgrade Xia Village to Level 3, and in the meantime construct defense works.

The fundamental defense works of Level 1 and 2 villages were wooden fences, whereas wooden fences could be changed into the combination of defense works consisting of cob walls and wooden fences in a Level 3 village.

Chu Tian even had the construction drawings of wooden arrow towers rummaged from the renegade general left to use.

If they were to focus on defending the village, they could even set up hunting traps in the vicinity of the village.

Wooden fences and hunting traps were enough to give the attacking Yellow Turban soldiers a terrible headache.

"It's more than just defense. We have to attack as well. Only if we try our best to kill more Yellow Turban soldiers, we will receive more merits."

Chu Tian waited until the population of Xia Village increased to 800 people. He then went to the feudal lord's residence, ready to upgrade Xia Village to a Level 3 village.

He could also be considered one of the feudal lords in the first echelon of the Eastern Han now.

After getting upgraded to Level 3, at least two wooden arrow towers ought to be erected at the entrance of the village. Xia Village had to be forged into walls of brass and iron.