In the early morning, Shovel Harbor was awakened by the sound of horse hooves, and three strange cavalrymen with green flags rushed into the town like lightning.

They first rang the bell to gather the residents, and then posted the three notices on the church door. Without reading them out - the literate townspeople would read them to others - they simply left and went to the next village.

…

Shounzi Lake is located northwest of Rewardan and is the largest lake in Tiefeng County.

According to folklore, in ancient times, in order to educate the Plato people, the saint Ados performed a miracle in public and dug a lake with just a shovel.

From then on, the Palatuan people here converted to Catholicism, and the lake was also named Shovel Lake.

The port town located on the lakeside is naturally also called Shovel Port.

The people of Shouzigang mainly make a living by farming and fishing, and some people do business and work hard.

Commodities shipped from downstream are unloaded here. Many crops sold in Tiefeng County are also shipped here.

Due to its unique geographical conditions, Shouzi Port has gradually developed into a wealthy town in Tiefeng County, second only to Jevaudan.

…

After the strange cavalry left, the townspeople gradually gathered in front of the notice. A well-dressed old man squinted his eyes and pretended to read deeply.

There are three notices in total, saying three things, and the content is simple and straightforward.

…

The first article, "Encouraging Farmers".

This year's winter is warm and the wheat is beginning to bloom early. The tribune of Montagne ordered all town and village chiefs to immediately organize manpower to [press wheat seedlings] and organize [cattle and sheep to lie down on the ground] without delay.

[Pressing wheat seedlings] means using rollers and rolling logs to flatten wheat seedlings.

After the overgrown winter wheat is crushed, it is not only harmless, but also beneficial. It will grow stronger next spring.

This is what the farming experts invited from Shenk Town said about "holding a market in a wheat field" - and it took Winters a lot of effort to understand.

It was just that people were used to trample the wheat seedlings to hold the market, but Winters went a step further and directly ordered the villages and towns to use rollers and rolling logs to "crush the wheat seedlings".

[Cattle and sheep lying on the ground] was a method told to Winters by another famous farmer "Arator".

Winter wheat is very delicate when it first sprouts and cannot be touched or stepped on. If you are not careful, it will be uprooted.

But it's different now. After nearly a month of growth, the roots of the wheat have developed very firmly.

Even if cattle and sheep gnaw, they will not damage the root system under the soil. The gnawing of wheat seedlings will actually help the development of wheat in the coming year.

Moreover, after winter, the vegetation dries up, and cattle and sheep eat hay and lose weight easily.

Allowing large livestock to nibble on fresh wheat seedlings not only helps the livestock survive the winter and preserve fat, but also allows the livestock to trample the wheat fields, which has the effect of "crushing the seedlings."

Moreover, if the cow and sheep excrement is left in the fields, the wheat will grow vigorously in the coming year, which can be said to kill three birds with one stone.

The farmer named [Arator] was forcibly taken to Gevaudan, and he was frightened and trembling along the way.

Seeing the blood wolf with his own eyes, he realized that the tribune had not summoned the people to blackmail, but to "protect the people."

In addition to being lucky, Arator felt moved.

He also stopped hiding things and dumped out all the secrets of farm work at the bottom of the box.

If handled properly, the "disaster" of wheat jointing caused by the warm winter can actually become a boost - Winters' unexpected gain.

…

After "Encouraging Farmers" comes "Preparing for War".

The content of the "War Preparation Order" is more simple and straightforward. Winters, as the [Supreme Commander of the Garrison Army], notified the villages and towns in Tiefeng County:

The day before yesterday, the garrison army captured the barbarian sentry. The barbarian sentry confessed that this year's mild winter and abundant forage meant that the barbarians would raid the newly cultivated land for the second time.

The first part of this part is false, but the second part is true - Winters did not intend to spend too much time explaining the source of the intelligence.

The garrison officer in Montagne immediately ordered the [garrison officer] and [acting garrison officer] in each town to block roads, investigate suspicious persons, and set up sentries.

The most important thing is to immediately recruit the militia and set up beacon towers along the Big Horn River and inside every village and town.

Once the movement of the barbarians is discovered, a beacon must be raised immediately to warn, and Jevaudan will send troops to rescue. Anyone who delays the military situation will be severely punished.

The beacon tower is required to be prepared within three days, and the garrison is due for inspection. Those who delay will also be severely punished.

Militia and beacon towers are emergency measures.

The Bighorn River isolates the wilderness from newly cultivated land, so it may be a good idea to defend along the river.

But the border was too long, Winters had too many places to defend, his troops were too few, and their mobility was far inferior to that of Hurd's light cavalry, which came and went like the wind.

Can the militia stand up to the Telton barbarians?

Winters was not optimistic, but if there was any hope, he would have to try.

The plan to recruit the militia was formulated by Winters himself and was divided into two stages.

The first stage: Each village and town forms a militia to be responsible for local defense.

Will the towns and villages obey? Of course not - Winters is prepared for this.

Towns like Mudi Town and Fuyuan Town, which are hundreds of kilometers away from the border, will not feel anything unless the barbarians kill them.

Not to mention that Winters was unable to provide any weapons or equipment to the local militias.

The implementation of the first-stage plan is troublesome enough, but the difficulty of the first-stage plan is nothing compared to the second-stage plan.

As for what the second phase of the plan is, the respected Tribune Montagne did not mention it at all in the "Preparation for War" notice.

At this stage, if every village and town can organize militias in an orderly manner, Winters will have nothing more to ask for.

…

Compared with the first two notices, the third notice sounds less urgent.

The third notice has no title and reads:

[Order all villages and towns to select public opinion representatives and prepare to go to Jevaudan to attend the "Complaints and Petitions Meeting". The specific time will be notified later.

The new government hopes to conduct an investigation into the sufferings of the people of Tiefeng County, and the travel expenses, food and accommodation expenses of the public opinion representatives will be provided by the new government.]

The whole article talks about two things, one is to convene representatives to hold a petition and grievance meeting, and the other is to ensure reimbursement of food and accommodation.

When it comes to the Consultative Conference, the common people in Tiefeng County cannot understand it. But when it comes to the "Petition and Grievance Conference", all the old people who were born under the authority of the emperor understand it.

The latter clause sounds ridiculous, but it was strongly suggested by the tobacconist [Old Priskin].

…

The three notices were not long, and the old gentleman finished reading them quickly, and the surrounding townspeople began to chatter about them.

"Read it again! Good old man." Some townspeople who came late cheered: "We are late."

The old gentleman frowned slightly, cleared his throat, and started reading from the beginning again.

The belated townspeople listened carefully. The three notices were short and straightforward, with easy-to-understand words and grammar, even to the point of being "vulgar".

In order to write these three notices, Winters racked his brains. Bud was not around, and he didn't even have a qualified penman around him.

When he had a splitting headache, Winters suddenly had an idea and came up with the ultimate solution:

We found six illiterate old farmers and read the draft notice to them first. If the old farmers didn't understand or heard the ambiguity, they would change it until five of the six could understand it.

For example, the sentence "The scouts of the Teldun tribe of the Hud people came into contact at the border of Tiefeng County" was changed over and over again, and finally it became "The barbarians are coming to kill."

After the old gentleman read it for the second time, someone started asking him to do it again. The old gentleman ignored it, shook his head and left.

The townspeople started talking more intensely.

The farmers are concerned about wheat jointing, and the fishermen and merchants are concerned about the militia - because there is already a militia in Shovel Port, no one cares about the grievances and petitions for the time being.

"Mayor Potal is here!" someone reminded loudly: "Give way."

The crowd made a way, and a tall man with broad shoulders, Dussac, walked up to the notice with a gloomy face.

Dussac Portal is both the mayor of Shovel Port and the acting town official. In other words, in the political system of the New Reclamation Province, he is the actual ruler of Shovel Port.

He does not live in the town, but in the fortress-like "Portal Manor".

Adult Dussac has been drafted regardless of his status. But no one knows what means Mayor Portal used to prevent him from being included in the draft list.

The townspeople held their breath and watched in silence. Mayor Portal walked to the church door and tore down three notices.

Portal stood on the steps, crumpled the three notices into a ball of waste paper, glared and denounced:

"Crushing wheat seedlings? It's all fucking nonsense! That's the rebel leader trying to kill you!"

"The Barbarian is coming? To the west of Shovel Harbor is Shovel Lake! The Barbarian is coming? Come on!"

"Militia? Do we need rebels to control it? We already have a militia in Shovel Port!"

"Fellow folks, let me tell you! Militia? Bullshit! The rebels want to capture you as soldiers!"

"Let's all disperse!"

The crowd left in disbelief.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Mayor Potal immediately called his followers to bring their horses over.
To be continued...