Evil dragon has a warm heart

Chapter 57 - 57 57 Discussion of Feces Policy

?Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Discussion of Feces Policy Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Discussion of Feces Policy The planning for Lone Wolf Lisbon required a gradual approach.

The agricultural production of the manor didn’t really need him, an outsider, to offer guidance, but that didn’t stop Russell from exercising his initiative.

“After collection, manure can be used to fertilize fields,” he stood by the window on the second floor of the stone house, looking out at the small marketplace separated by a wall, “Mr. Charles, please urge Hans to build a latrine in the marketplace as soon as possible.”

The environment of the small marketplace was poor, primarily due to the serfs relieving themselves wherever they pleased.

Russell had long wanted to address this issue.

“Manure can fertilize? Sir, you must be mistaken,” Charles raised an objection, “Manure will burn the crops.”

Charles had personal experience with this.

He had a rundown courtyard in town with a sour jujube tree, and every time he got drunk, he liked to urinate on the tree.

Over time, the sour jujube tree was burned to death.

“Whether it’s urine or feces, both can burn the crops. It’s said that these contain toxins that can kill not only crops but also flowers and trees,” Charles confidently stated, with Eric nodding silently beside him.

Russell was surprised, “Do you all think that manure burns crops?”

Charles replied, “Of course.”

“Yes,” Eric agreed in a muffled voice.

Considering that Dragon Sleep Continent was a magical world, Russell was not certain his own knowledge was accurate. Therefore, he decided to determine the truth through experimentation.

He then added another question: “Before you used manure to fertilize fields, did you ever ferment it through composting?”

“Composting? Fermentation?” Charles was puzzled, “I know about fermentation, it’s needed for making wine, but… can manure also ferment? What does it ferment into? Sir, where did you hear that manure can ferment?”

In an instant, Russell knew where the problem lay.

The people here were well aware of the dangers of manure but didn’t know that after fermentation and composting, manure could become a natural fertilizer.

Of course.

Whether it truly could be used as fertilizer post-composting still needed to be verified.

Russell said, “Never mind what fermentation is or how to compost for now, Mr. Charles, please have Hans build a latrine quickly, and then require all serfs coming to the marketplace to use the latrine for their needs.”

“That, of course, as you wish,” Charles didn’t understand Russell’s insistence but agreed nevertheless.

“Additionally, every settlement must build latrines… and a regulation must be enacted that all serfs are forbidden from relieving themselves randomly—urine goes in a bucket, feces in a pit… to facilitate the collection of manure.” Russell thought for a moment; policy alone clearly wasn’t sufficient.

On Earth, people from certain places still defecated and urinated outside their toilets in modern times, showing how difficult it was to change hygiene habits.

Therefore, he added, “Mr. Charles, write a notice immediately. From now on, the manor will purchase manure at the price of one copper coin per bucket of urine, two copper coins per bucket of feces, with no limit on quantity, including the manure of cows, sheep, and other livestock.”

“Ah?” Charles’s eyes widened, “Sir, you are…”

“Don’t worry, build a compost heap and a manure lagoon on the leeward side of the manor’s territory and send serfs to turn and aerate it regularly. After a few weeks or months, we’ll use this batch of fermented manure to fertilize the fields and see the results.”

“I’m somewhat lost with what you’re saying, Sir.”

“You don’t need to understand, just do as told.”

“As you wish.”

Although Charles did not fully understand the significance of composting, he knew who paid his salary, so he quickly accepted the command.

“Remember to build the toilets on the leeward side,” Russell pointed to a location outside the window.

The stone house he was in was Charles’s residence in the small marketplace, with two levels. Charles’s family resided in town and were unwilling to come over, so there was only one cook-cum-maid living downstairs, responsible for cleaning, washing, and cooking.

Next door to this stone house, there was another, somewhat larger stone house, which was the residence of the Eric family.

Now both family tutors had moved out of the manor’s guest house.

“Oh right, remember to build it a bit farther from the cinder path down the road; this street is too narrow. I might have to widen it in the future,” Russell continued.

“Understood, Sir.”

“Very good.”

“Building toilets, manure heaps, and cesspools, as well as purchasing manure from the serfs, may cost quite a bit of money.”

“No problem, I have money,” Russell said confidently with a smile. The research funds provided by his grandmother were sufficient to completely transform the estate.

“But I still have to say, Sir, are you really going to spend money to buy manure from the serfs?” Charles really couldn’t fathom, “With one command, the serfs would obediently offer up the manure they produce; there’s no need to spend money.”

Even Eric chimed in, “Everything in the estate belongs to the Lord, including the serfs and their manure.”

This undoubtedly reminded Russell.

As the Lord, there was no reason to spend money buying manure.

It was just like with the serfs raising chickens, ducks, and geese; if the Lord wanted to eat them, he could simply use tax collection as a pretext to make the serfs obediently deliver the poultry — fundamentally, the poultry were the Lord’s, and serfs were merely raising them on his behalf.

It’s the same with farming; come harvest time, most of the yield went to the Lord, and serfs could only keep a portion for subsistence.

“Despite that, my dear teachers, I am a generous Lord who always hopes that the subjects can gain a little more,” Russell chose not to tax the manure, “So let’s distribute it under the guise of a sanitation fee to the serfs.”

“Sanitation fee?”

“Yes, if the serfs are clean and hygienic, as the Lord I am glad and think it is reasonable to give them a few copper coins to share that joy,” he explained.

“That’s indeed reasonable,” Charles quickly spotted a blind spot, “But this might mean that no one wants to use the toilets. The serfs will surely prefer to keep their manure at home to earn a bit of sanitation fee from you.”

“Uh…” Russell blinked, acknowledging the problem.

Luckily he was a Lord amenable to reason. If a policy was flawed, it had to be corrected immediately: “Let’s just build one toilet in the small marketplace then. It’s not necessary to build toilets in each hamlet, but I am planning to order a batch of barrels and pots from the Fluorescent Castle.”

He planned to sell the barrels and pots at a low cost to the serfs for use as urinals and fecal containers.

Otherwise, the serfs would have no vessels for holding manure.

Charles brown-nosed, “Sir, you are very thoughtful; the serfs’ houses truly lack additional containers for urine and feces.”

“My ideas do not always work, so I need Mr. Charles and Mr. Eric to help me find and fix the gaps. Let’s build the manor together,” Russell said with a smile, conscious that a good leader needs his helpers, and besides, this was his first time being a Lord.

Don’t underestimate an estate with just over three thousand people; unless one chooses to do nothing and let the manor develop and produce on its own, there are indeed plenty of things that need attention.

Charles spoke earnestly, “I will draw up a detailed set of regulations for the manor’s hygiene, listing out issues like sanitation management, fertilizing fields with manure, and distributing sanitation fees, and then read them to the village chiefs and serfs’ overseers.”

“That would be very good,” Russell expressed his satisfaction.