CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 43: CHOICES FOR PIONEERING CULTIVATION

On the plains by the river, a group of beastmen gathered under Austin’s command, pulling up the weeds on the ground, dragging the felled branches and leaves together, burying the stumps underneath, and then lighting a fire.

Taking advantage of the clear weather, Austin planned to tidy up this plain, then proceed with tasks like turning the soil.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

The branches and leaves had been left for over a month and were already dry. As the great fire blazed fiercely, the flames leaped up, and the beastmen nearby added the freshly removed weeds from the side, instantly causing the fire to emit a large amount of thick smoke.

"So many stumps..."

Although a large area of land had been cleaned up, the stumps left after the trees were cut down still fiercely occupied the space, with gnarled roots emerging from the soil, making Austin’s head throb with pain.

Even though the Blue Young Dragon really wanted to remove these remaining stumps, it was practically impossible to extract them from the soil. The vast area covered by the roots beneath determined that the beastmen simply couldn’t easily dig these stumps out.

"We’ll just have to leave these things in the soil to slowly rot."

Unable to clear away these nuisances, this was the only solution.

The Blue Young Dragon lowered its head, clawing at the ground.

The dry soil appeared slightly gray, indicating that it wasn’t very fertile; rather, it was quite barren.

However, this was normal, as the nutrients in the soil had been absorbed by the large trees that originally grew here, and with the climate resembling a tropical rainforest for most of the year, it would indeed be strange if the soil were fertile.

"We’ll just have to try planting some staple foods like kudzu root first."

Staring at the barren soil underfoot, Austin thought to himself.

Initially, Austin reclaimed this land to plant rice this year, but after some contemplation, he abandoned the idea and planned to plant kudzu in this twenty-acre reclaimed land instead.

The so-called kudzu root was not actually the powdered kudzu seen in Austin’s previous life, but rather some edible tubers resembling kudzu that the beastmen had dug out from the forest. The beastmen hadn’t named these plants, so to keep it simple, Austin simply called them kudzu root.

"Kudzu belongs to the legume family and seems to be able to enrich the soil. After planting it for a year or two and adding silt, manure, and other fertilizers, even the most barren land should become fertile. It’s just a pity we haven’t found potatoes or sweet potatoes, otherwise that would be even better."

In fact, the kudzu root in this world, whether in yield or starch content, was less than a tenth of the powdered kudzu of Austin’s previous life, but after careful consideration, Austin believed that it was the best crop to plant on a newly reclaimed land.

Firstly, this newly reclaimed land was still very barren. If planting rice or similar crops, the harvest might be poor due to soil issues. Moreover, in the highly variable environment of typhoon rainstorms in the Kawa Great Forest, concentrating on planting rice could result in lodging due to storms, significantly reducing yield. Also, concentrated planting could easily encounter pest infestations and other disaster resistance challenges.

Austin had grown up in rural southern areas during his previous life, and even though he later moved to the city and hadn’t farmed much again, he still remembered a thing or two about planting rice crops.

Even if the kinds of crops and their growing habits were different in every world, fundamentally, the growing environment for rice was similar.

Moreover, with the various scattered stumps in the reclaimed plain land, it wasn’t very friendly for rice, which required meticulous care and cultivation.

This first reclamation planting held significant importance for the Dragon Nest Territory, bearing the crucial responsibility of addressing the food source for the Dragon Nest Tribe. The Blue Young Dragon felt it would be better to plant sturdy and resilient crops.

Kudzu root was suitable for planting the first time due to its underground growth, and its roots and vines were not picky about growth environments, with life force stronger than rice crops.

"One step at a time is always the way to go."

Compared to rice crops, the yield of kudzu root was certainly not as high. Even if twenty acres were planted, it might not meet the entire Dragon Nest Tribe’s needs. But kudzu root’s life force was much stronger than rice, generally impervious to natural pest disasters. Once the kudzu was harvested, combined with other foods hunted and gathered from nature, it would be enough.

"After a year or two, after planting kudzu for a few seasons and turning the barren land mature, planting rice for more food harvest would become feasible."

For rice planting, Austin decided to remain cautious, but he wasn’t entirely giving it up either.

For instance, there were some wild rice growing in ponds and marshes outdoors. Then, sending the beastmen to clear the wild grasses there, leveling those ponds and marshes and sowing rice seeds on top, treating them as experimental fields, planting rice a few times to gather experience first.

The beastmen were new to farming with no experience at all, so by creating a few experimental fields like this, it would be more convenient for large-scale planting later.

While Austin was dreaming of a beautiful future, Vini, the Kobold who temporarily served as the "Village Chief" of the Dragon Nest Village, was grimacing, holding a strangely shaped wooden shovel, flipping a clump of weeds onto the fire.

Lord Austin had started issuing those baffling orders again lately.

Yes, in "Village Chief" Vini’s view, these orders to fell trees and clear land were just "random blundering," and even the present, let alone the entire Dragon Nest Tribe, the beastmen thought so.

In expounding them to craft these strangely shaped wooden shovels, inexplicably cutting trees by the river, burning the weeds and leaves, and incomprehensibly turning a wooded plain into a "bare soil" appearance...

The Blue Young Dragon hadn’t shared his plan with the beastmen, but the concept of obeying orders was deeply ingrained in their minds after military training, driven by Austin. Moreover, these beastmen had no conception of farming or agriculture; they wouldn’t understand the importance of agriculture, so they just followed orders. Once the harvest came, they would naturally understand its significance.

For this reason, many of Austin’s actions seemed like idle games to the beastmen.

But due to the absolute prestige Blue Young Dragon had achieved through various accomplishments during this period, none of the beastmen, including Vini, who highly admired him, would utter a word of complaint. Even if the Blue Young Dragon continued his antics, they would support and follow him.

However, in Vini’s heart, he still hoped that Austin’s playful whimsy would pass quickly. In his Kobold mind, even going for military training would be far better than this "random blundering."