At six o'clock in the evening, it was different from the past. The church in Muxi Town was brightly lit and the chapel was packed. No one sat down. Everyone stood and looked at the huge cross carved from white birch wood in the center of the church, with their hands clasped together.
, praying silently.
After learning about the miserable plight of the farmers in the afternoon, Todd immediately called for their leader, Sassoon, an old farmer who had escaped from the east and could not bear the exorbitant taxes, and ordered him to immediately notify all farmers in Muxi Town.
, each family selects one person to enter the church when the bell rings six times (the bell tower in the Middle Ages rang the bell every three hours, for example, it rang twice, which is about six o'clock in the morning).
Holding the Bible in hand, Todd walked from the side door of the chapel to the pulpit and glanced into the auditorium.
He originally thought that the life in the monastery was already a place of extreme misery in the Middle Ages, but when he saw these farmers with thin cheeks and sunken eye sockets, he realized that the depths of hell would never have a bottom.
A patched piece of torn felt, a felt hat that looks like a torn sock, and linen pants that are so dirty that the original color cannot be seen. These are all the belongings of the farmers. Their hair is wet, and there are water stains on their shoes.
The poor man obviously washed himself in a hurry before coming to the church, but the smell of rotten mud and animal excrement in the air still permeated the whole room, forcing Todd to breathe through his mouth to drive away the odor in front of his nose.
.
The first is the customary daily praise. Todd opened the scripture and said loudly: "Eternal Creator, you make the day and night move, the seasons change, and you are more colorful and less painful..."
Everyone chanted the scriptures devoutly.
After completing this ceremony, he counted and found that there were a total of 33 registered farmers in Muxi Town, but only 32 people were present.
"Why is there one person missing?"
Sassoon grabbed the felt hat in his hand, walked out respectfully, and replied: "A few days ago, a family went to the nearby woods to collect firewood. They didn't have time to come back before the sun went down, and they were dragged away by bandits."
What?!
Todd's eyes widened in surprise.
He was surprised that there were still bandits around Muxi Town, but what shocked him even more was that no one in the faces of these farmers who had been neighbors all day showed the slightest sympathy or sadness for this matter. There were fearful people, but fortunately
There are some, but more people are indifferent and have nothing to do with themselves.
After looking at everyone again, Todd also understood the reason. Many of them had big heads, chicken breasts, hunched backs, bent legs, and enlarged abdomens. This was a symptom of long-term malnutrition. Let me ask, they can't even feed themselves.
, how can you have the energy to care about the life and death of others?
Sighing, he simply put down his Bible and chatted with the farmers about their daily life.
As the topic unfolded, Todd became more and more alarmed.
He had heard about the darkness, ignorance and backwardness of the Middle Ages in the past, but after truly understanding it, he discovered that the real situation was far beyond his imagination.
These farmers drink raw water every day and eat weeds. Their houses are nothing more than thatched huts or shacks made of logs and turf. When you enter the house, there is dirt at your feet, and there are no windows on the roof. Instead, a hole is drilled to let in the smoke.
leak out
Three generations of grandparents lived in a small room, and sometimes animals had to be squeezed in to eat and sleep together. People had sex in front of relatives and friends, metabolized, and met various physiological needs. In the end, they lived and died, and they did not go beyond this square inch.
space.
As for farm tools, don't even think about iron tools. They are simple wooden tools with rough workmanship and wear out quickly during farming. Cattle are not practical for them. They don't know the correct way to control draft animals at all. They just use thick leather ropes.
Tie the plow to the neck of the cow. The end
Later, the leather rope may be continuously tightened during the cattle plowing process, strangling the throat of the animal, cutting off the blood supply to the brain, causing ischemia, brain damage or suffocation to death. Therefore, these farmers prefer to use their home plows when they need to plow the land.
Another kind of "livestock" - women.
Hearing this, Todd thought there was something wrong with his ears. But yes, the farmers here think that it is reasonable and reasonable to use the women in the family, wives or daughters, as cattle.
Turning the topic to the spring harvest failure this time, 29 of the 32 farmers are planting some bean root crops, most of which are not adapted to the alkaline soil of the seaside, resulting in reduced or even no production.
Todd was a little surprised when he heard this, so he asked these farmers why they didn't plant wheat, barley, rye and oats, which have lower requirements on soil and are good for food.
The farmers' explanations also left him speechless for a while.
Because the agricultural products of beans are more valuable than the latter, and they need money to repay the loan.
After Todd learned more about it, he understood the reason.
Unlike those free people who own land and farming tools, these farmers in front of them do not have fixed land. In the past, they could only rely on farm owners or nobles to survive by renting land, farming tools, and seedlings. But a few
A few months ago, in order to attract immigrants, the newly born Muxi Town announced that the conditions for providing free land were so favorable that these farmers took the risk and broke away from their original landowners, joining Muxi Town and becoming free citizens.
But then the problem came. Although Muxi Town provided land, there were no farming tools and seedlings to borrow. These farmers had no choice but to borrow money from merchants. In Todd's view, the kind of annual income provided by merchants
It is simply unscrupulous to charge a borrowing interest rate as high as 33% (the annual interest is 33% of the principal), but the expressions of the farmers make it seem very normal.
In the end, all the seeds bought at a high price rotted in the soil because they did not understand the acid-base principle of the soil.
After asking around, Todd returned to the pulpit with a sigh. Since the establishment of Muxi Town, all affairs have been left to the residents of the town to take care of themselves, while he buried himself in the laboratory playing with flasks.
with Reagent. He believes that everything outdoors is beautiful and people have the ability to take care of themselves
.But he forgot one important thing. This is not the previous life of the 21st century. This is the Middle Ages where knowledge is scarce. People have no way to search online and have few opportunities to learn. They just rely on the little bits passed down from their ancestors.
The experience of surviving in this dark world.
So, what should I do in the future?
If you take care of yourself, the mystery of "Sutherland's Relic" has been solved, and you no longer have to worry about your life. You can rely on the knowledge of your past life to find a place to be happy and carefree; but if you want to help the world... this burden is as heavy as a mountain.
, can you carry it yourself?
The church fell into a dead silence. The priest seemed to be in meditation, without any movement or sound. The farmers looked at each other, uneasy.
Snap!
Todd suddenly slapped the pulpit hard, startling everyone. He stood up and said to Sassoon: "There is one thing I need you to do immediately! Find a literate person and just
Say it’s my request to list the loan amounts of all farmers’ homes!”
After hearing the priest's words, the woman hiding behind the doorpost left the church with a gentle smile.