Rome Must Perish

"Having finished discussing fertilization, let's talk about how to cultivate the land," said Pro, after a brief pause. "I specifically walked around this area at noon and found that some diligent villagers have already started tilling their yards, but I noticed that the ground is not being tilled deeply enough. According to the requirements of our Nix Agricultural Department, the fields should be tilled at least this deep."

Pro spread his hands, indicating a distance of over two feet. "Only when the fields are tilled this deep can the roots of weeds be thoroughly cleaned, and the eggs of insects hidden deep in the soil be turned up and killed. At the same time, the deeper soil can be exposed to the air and sunlight, increasing the fertility of the entire field..."

"But tilling so deep would be very labor-intensive for us," Selisys interjected as a reminder. "Look at our village, many households have no men. Depending on the women alone to till the fields this deep would be very difficult."

"You're right to point that out; I've also noticed," said Pro, kindly nodding toward Selisys, and then continued, "At noon, I did some checking. You used to use oxen to till the fields, but now there aren't many families in the village that own oxen—"

"Our family used to have oxen too, but unfortunately, last year the clan leader took our oxen away by force, saying they were needed to transport supplies for the army fighting at the Kupa River, and they were never returned!"

"The same happened to my family, a perfectly good ox was taken and not returned. Kerokas deserved to die! (Kerokas was the leader of the tribe.)"

"Village... Village Chief, were our oxen taken by your Nix Army after winning? Can we get our oxen back?"

...

Everyone chimed in begrudgingly to Pro, and Selisys had to step in again to quiet them down.

The Nix Army did capture some cattle and horses in this war, but Pro had no intention of helping these tribesmen retrieve what had become tribal property—cattle. Instead, he loudly declared, "If your household doesn't have oxen, that's not a problem. I will apply to the tribal Agricultural Department to borrow some strong oxen for our village's communal use. They will be kept in the main house and fed by assigned personnel. If anyone needs to use the oxen to till fields, they can borrow them, but they must take good care of the oxen. If they exhaust the oxen, they must compensate."

"Will the tribe lend us oxen to use?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, they will," Pro confidently answered. "Leader Maximus once said that whether it's him or the chief officers of the various departments, the most important task is to ensure that the tribesmen live good lives. If the tribesmen don't live well, it means he and the chief officers haven't fulfilled their responsibilities, and they should be punished, including himself!"

Upon hearing this, the people were all taken aback. They couldn't help but recall the actions of previous tribal leaders and clan leaders, and then look at this new village chief discussing how to cultivate the land with them as soon as he arrived... In an instant, everyone fell silent without any prior agreement.

Pro was unaware that the minds of the people before him were quietly changing. When he started talking about farming and tilling, he couldn't stop: "We've used your Iron Plow, but that plow is too heavy and effortful. It was still Leader Maximus who received a divine insight and improved your Iron Plow, transforming it into this... even redesigning the flat iron plowblade to this..."

Pro demonstrated as he spoke: "...Later, we used this new Curved Plow. Not only is it labor-saving, but it can also till very deep soil, and even a woman can easily till several acres in one day with it..."

"Village Chief." Lerdu called again, getting more comfortable with the title. "A plow this good must be hard to make, right?"

"Of course, you wouldn't be able to make it by yourselves. But I can borrow some plows from the Agricultural Department. By then, we will use them in turns. In the future, when you have money, you can buy your own..."

Pro spoke tirelessly, and the people listened intently.

He talked from tilling to seed selection, then to close planting, sprouting, grain filling, harvesting, drying, threshing, winnowing, and storing... he talked for a whole hour.

By the end, he himself felt parched, swallowing several times, and then said with a somewhat hoarse voice, "I've told you so much, and you probably won't remember it all. Tomorrow, when the land is distributed, I'll teach you specifically how to manage your land so that it can produce more grain. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come find me, and I'll do my best to help you solve them."

As soon as Pro stopped speaking, Lerdu excitedly shouted, "Thank you, Village Chief!"

Everyone else echoed sincerely, and suddenly the atmosphere became lively.

Selisys watched as the people surrounded Pro and couldn't help but feel moved. That morning, when he saw this skinny old man, he doubted if he could manage this village. But just by standing there and speaking, the people here accepted him. It's not that the clansmen are foolish, but their eyes are sharp and can sense who truly has their best interests at heart!

Perhaps it was due to the good news of "land distribution the next day", or perhaps because the new village chief told them how to make their fields yield more produce, the people remained excited all day long. As a result, they showed no strong hostility towards the former Skodisqi slaves who now lived door-to-door with them in the village, and everyone went through the day peacefully.

The next morning, the Nix Soldiers, including Casaridaoa, who had become residents of the village but had been out on duty, returned, along with the subordinates from the Civil Affairs Department and the Agricultural Department.

All the villagers gathered once again in the square. This time, a simple wooden platform stood in the center of the square, which Pro and Selisys had led the villagers to erect yesterday afternoon.

At this moment, whether Segestica citizens or former Skodisqi slaves, they all focused intently on the wooden platform.

On the platform, a subordinate from the Civil Affairs Department looked at a roster in hand and called out loudly, "Is No. 21 Village's Nikocus here?!"

For the convenience of registration and management, the Political Affairs Hall had numbered each village that had hosted a Centurion. This village's number was 21.

"Here!" Nikocus responded loudly, quickly ascending the platform, and standing in front of the Civil Affairs Department subordinate.

The subordinate solemnly, using fluent Illyrian Language, declared loudly, "According to the Civil Affairs Department's battle merit statistics, verified by the Political Affairs Hall, and signed with approval by Leader Maximus, Reserve Tribe Member Nikocus is promoted to Second-class Tribe Member, entitled to sixty acres of personal land. Congratulations, Nikocus!"

"Thank you! Thank you!..." Nikocus, in excitement, vigorously shook his hand.

"I hope you continue to strive and make new contributions to the tribe, advancing your rank further!" the subordinate earnestly encouraged, while quietly withdrawing his right hand from the other's grip. Almost everyone who came on stage strongly shook his hand, and he felt that this hand was a bit swollen.

"Rest assured, I will continue to work hard!" Nikocus confidently saluted in a military fashion, waving excitedly to the crowd below as he descended the platform.

His beaming smile left a deep impression on everyone present, especially the Segestica citizens, who clearly remembered that he was originally a Segestica person, a tribesman from their neighboring tribe. After being captured in the defeat last year, he joined the Nix Tribe, and within just a year, he had been promoted from Nix Reserve Tribe Member to Second-class Tribe Member, gaining 60 acres of land by earning merits...

If we also work hard for Nix, could we also become like him... Such a thought arose in the people's hearts.

Nikocus wouldn't know that in the blink of an eye, he had already become a role model for his compatriots to learn from.

"Is No. 21 Village's Casaridaoa here?!"

"Present!"

"Based on the Civil Affairs Department's battle merit statistics, verified by the Political Affairs Hall, and approved by Leader Maximus, Second-class Tribe Member Casaridaoa is promoted to First-class Tribesman, awarded eighty acres of land. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." Despite the gasp from the crowd below, Casaridaoa wasn't overly delighted because, before this war, he was already a Second-class Tribe Member. The merits he earned in this war were enough for him to be promoted to First-class Tribesman, but he was still a bit lacking to be knighted. Given the current situation, if he wanted to become a knight and truly enter the ranks of the tribal nobles of the Nix Tribe, he would have to wait for the next battle to earn more merits and get promoted. But when will the next battle come?

However, the fact that all the other Nix Veterans in this village had also been promoted to First-class Tribesman and not knighted made Casaridaoa feel somewhat better.

This assembly on the square was essentially a promotion commendation ceremony. The main characters were the Nix veterans and new soldiers already belonging to this village, but it served as a vivid demonstration for the Segestica citizens and Skodisqi slaves who were in the supporting cast, showing them how the tempting words of the Nix people that they had previously heard were being realized, inspiring greater hopes for their future lives.

After the promotion commendation meeting, the subordinates of the Civil Affairs Department left the village, and the Agricultural Department's turn came next.

Land distribution, which excited the entire tribe, was a deeply cherished event, given utmost importance by the Agricultural Department, which had dispatched quite a few personnel.

The first to receive land allocations were, of course, the Nix Soldiers on duty and some Skodisqi slaves. Once they received their land and left, it was finally the long-awaited turn for the Segestica citizens.

The Agricultural subordinate held the roster and called out the first Segestica citizen's name: "Selisys!"