The Curved Plow

After finishing their training, the militiamen hurried north to the camp's grasslands, joining the enthusiastic land-clearing efforts. For them, tilling the land was their primary duty, far more familiar than fighting. Ulyan had promised that by the second year of land reclamation, the land would be divided among the households, with each adult male receiving an acre of tax-free land. How much land they ultimately received depended on how much they could clear in the first year.

This promise was unprecedented. In the coming age of feudal lords, the space for self-sustaining farmers was shrinking, and on the noble estates, not even the land itself, let alone anything on it, belonged to the serfs. In the sparsely populated imperial frontier, there were still many self-sustaining farmers. In the economically developed, densely populated southern provinces, the noble estate system had long eradicated self-sustaining farmers, leaving only tenant farmers and serfs.

Leo, feeling bored, accompanied Ulyan to the reclamation site, sitting on a rotting tree stump to watch the laboring peasants. Hundreds of young and strong villagers formed lines, swinging hoes, shovels, and pickaxes to turn over the scorched black soil. The old, weak, and women followed behind, removing rocks and burning the uprooted grass roots. In just one morning, they had already cleared several acres.

The land here was much more suitable for farming than expected, making the task far easier. The villagers were immersed in the work, losing themselves in the process. Leo marveled at the difference. In the original owner's memories, the fields back home were still covered in a foot of snow at this time of year, and even plowed land required pickaxes to break the frozen soil. Though they had only migrated southwest by a thousand miles, the climate was entirely different, like moving from the far north to the temperate zone.

Fertile land and the vigorous labor scenes inspired hope, making people forget their hardships. However, as Leo watched, he realized something was amiss. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "Where are the donkeys? Why aren't you using the donkeys?"

"What donkeys? The donkeys are grazing in Podowa's pasture," came the reply.

"Why aren't you using donkeys to plow the fields?" Leo asked angrily.

This question sparked laughter among the villagers. One mocked, "Ha, letting donkeys plow the fields? Why don't you teach them magic instead?"

Frustrated, Leo turned to Ulyan, "Haven't you ever seen…donkeys used for plowing?"

He wanted to say "plow," but the original owner's memories lacked the word.

Not wanting to engage in a pointless argument, Leo marched back to the camp, cursing under his breath. How could farmers not have plows? It was as absurd as a 21st-century person not having seen a smartphone. Given this primitive production level, Ulyan still dared to lead the villagers into the wilderness to clear land—truly reckless northerners.

Back at the camp, Leo, despite Olivia's objections, rudely grabbed and broke her best spade. He then cut some wrist-thick curved branches, nailed them together, and attached the bent spade head to the bottom of the frame. A simple curved plow was born.

Looking at the crude, simple curved plow, Leo felt a deep sense of accomplishment. In his first week in this world, he had invented the curved plow!

Hoisting the plow, Leo had Olivia lead a donkey to the field, tying the donkey's reins to the plow. He steadied the plow and shouted, "Let's go!"

The donkey stood motionless.

Understanding Leo's intent, Olivia gently tugged the reins, coaxing the donkey forward while Leo guided the plow, pressing the blade into the soil. The ground was so soft, with resistance only from dry grass roots and a few stones, that the donkey moved forward effortlessly, leaving a deep furrow in its wake.

The villagers, engrossed in their work, initially paid little attention to Leo. They doubted he could accomplish anything noteworthy, having never farmed before. But when Leo effortlessly surpassed the sweaty militiamen in minutes, people began to notice his invention. Ulyan, witnessing the whole process, was thrilled, exclaiming, "I've seen this before! It looks so familiar!"

In fact, plows had existed for millennia, even in this world. In the fertile southern provinces of the Atlantis Empire, two-horse and four-horse plows were common, yielding three times the grain of the northern regions. This agricultural prowess had enabled the empire to conquer the eastern coast and drive the beast tribes north to the icy tundra.

But the harsh, barren northern borders were different. Here, lords derived their main income from livestock, wild animal pelts, magical herbs, and rare timber. They had no interest in organizing land reclamation. The black rye and beans collected from their serfs were mainly used to feed their horses. Nobles didn't eat the coarse grains of the north.

Most nobles avoided staying north of the Anzeno River, managing their lands through stewards while living comfortably south of the river. Leo's village was one of the few farming communities on the icy riverbank. Before Ulyan's military service, the village had no draft animals or sufficient iron tools; the wealthiest families only had a few pigs and sheep.

Without enough labor or land, they couldn't sustain their families, relying on the forest's acorns, mushrooms, wild vegetables, and other natural gifts for over a third of their food. Had Ulyan not returned and taken leadership, the villagers, despite knowing the beast tribe scouts' danger, would have faced a silent death like neighboring villages.

In the developed southern estates, these free peasants could have become tenant farmers, but in the north, they faced becoming refugees, starving in the snow. Seeing Leo's demonstration, Ulyan immediately recognized the plow's potential. Though he boasted of his worldly experience, his service had been limited to a border tower and a decade in the Wind God Fortress infantry corps. His knowledge of plows was sparse, a fleeting glimpse on a march.

Under Leo's guidance, Ulyan organized the village's best carpenters to create eighteen simple plows, setting all the camp's donkeys to work in the fields. Leo, satisfied, watched from his tree stump as the villagers tripled their plowing speed. In his mind, he imagined a distant voice proclaiming, "You've unlocked the iron plow and ox-drawn farming techniques. Farmer productivity increased by one! Grain yield increased by one!"