Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

Under the warm sun, Brambleford’s soldiers diligently worked the fields.

The idyllic scene felt like a breath of fresh air, but in the next moment, a shadow fell across Simon’s eyes.

In such a brutal age, to protect this rare peace, he could only use blood and fire to defend it.

This time, the cotton seeds sent by Prince Vaelric filled the holds of five merchant ships. Simon only spent the equivalent of half a cannon on the purchase of these cotton seeds. Besides the cotton, the thirty cannons also cost Prince Vaelric over fifty thousand caps of silver.

The astounding trade surplus of industrial goods in exchange for agricultural products made Simon realize the tremendous profits that industrial goods could bring. This further solidified his resolve to continue flooding the Eldorian Empire with industrial products in exchange for various raw materials.

After keeping some of the seeds for Brambleford, Simon instructed the soldiers to transport the remaining seeds to other slave-run plantations.

At the Official Farm

Together with Benjamin, Simon visited a plot of land outside the official farm, where a long shed was being constructed. The shed was surrounded by brick walls, each creating a four-meter square enclosure.

”This is the Brambleford Army’s pig farm,” Benjamin explained to Simon, his expression more bitter than when they were planting cotton.

After having Brambleford’s soldiers plant crops, the army had now taken on another responsibility: raising pigs.

Baldwin, seeing Benjamin’s demeanor, suddenly burst out laughing. ”My Lord, look at General Benjamin. His face is as long as a horse’s tail. I think he’s imagining how hard his soldiers are working.”

”This is hard,” Benjamin muttered. ”I understand planting crops, but now we have to raise pigs as well. The Eldorian Empire doesn’t have pigs raised by soldiers.”

Simon became serious. ”Old General, you’re thinking about this the wrong way. Do you think filling soldiers’ bellies is enough? We have to let them eat meat. If soldiers eat meat, they’ll have more strength for training. Why are we having the army raise pigs? Simple. The Brambleford Army is not like the usual Eldorian Empire army. Our army has logistical troops. These logistical troops are responsible for raising pigs to feed the soldiers. Otherwise, what’s the point of having logistical troops? We could just draft laborers for war efforts if that were the case.”

Benjamin was at a loss for words after Simon’s barrage of questions.

Now that the Brambleford Army was recruiting soldiers, some were directly assigned to the logistical corps, responsible for the army’s food supplies, procurement, and transportation.

After a brief pause, Simon continued. ”And the Brambleford Army will soon be equipped with flintlock muskets. The Brambleford Army is going down a different path, and this means we must make the army more organized, with proper divisions of labor.”

”Flintlock muskets?” Benjamin exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. He had heard rumors about a new weapon being produced in the armaments workshop.

But since Simon had not told him about it until now, it seemed the timing had finally arrived.

”Yes, a powerful new long-range weapon,” Simon said, explaining the specifics of the musket’s design, its power, and how it would be used.

Benjamin was stunned. ”You mean to say that the sword-and-shield men, archers, and spearmen will be eliminated, and the Brambleford Army will only have musketeers and cavalry?”

Simon nodded slowly. ”That’s right. Once the flintlock muskets are in use, there will be no need for those other units.”

”My Lord, this is absolutely unacceptable!” Benjamin interjected urgently. ”If we abandon close combat and only keep long-range shooting, what if the cavalry breaks through our formation on the grasslands? The remaining soldiers will be slaughtered. You must reconsider.”

Baldwin also shared the same opinion. He frowned, unable to voice his concerns.

When a new technology emerges, it is often met with resistance from old practices. Simon had long since made up his mind and replied. ”I don’t like talking; I prefer action. Once the flintlock muskets are issued to the Brambleford Army, you will understand.”

Benjamin and Baldwin fell silent. Since Simon was so confident, they could only wait for the musket’s deployment.

Having given Benjamin a brief explanation about the flintlock musket, Simon turned back to the topic of the pig farm.

In the Eldorian Empire, there had been no tradition of professional animal husbandry, but now Simon was going to popularize modern agriculture in his domain.

”Master Baldwin, how are the piglets doing?” Simon asked.

”We’ve purchased a thousand piglets from the commoners, along with fifty adult sows and fifty boars. This should be enough for the pig farm.” Baldwin reported.

Simon looked at Benjamin’s subordinate, a camp officer named Nuel, who was in charge of the logistics corps.

”Officer Nuel, these piglets and adult pigs are under your care. Make sure you don’t let them die.” Simon ordered.

In this era, commoners didn’t have experience with large-scale animal husbandry, so Simon took the opportunity to explain modern pig farming techniques to Officer Nuel.

The biggest concern in modern pig farming was swine fever. Once the disease took hold, it could quickly spread throughout the entire pig farm, killing all the pigs, just like avian flu in poultry.

”The pigsty must be cleaned every day. If any pig contracts swine fever, it must be burned and buried immediately...” Simon continued, providing Officer Nuel with detailed guidance.

Nuel nodded repeatedly, quickly grasping the techniques for pig farming. After all, he had experience in farming and raising chickens, ducks, and pigs.

”The manure from the pigsty will be funneled into the nearby fertilizer pit. This will be used as fertilizer for the official farm. We can also raise chickens and ducks next to the pigsty. They’ll feed on the pig manure and help with pest control at the official farm. After all, the official farm is planting cotton, and chickens and ducks don’t eat cotton.” Simon added.

Officer Nuel was dumbfounded by Simon’s entire explanation. If it weren’t for Benjamin calling him ”My Lord!” He would have doubted whether this man was actually Prince Simon, the royal prince, who would be so well-versed in these matters.

Baldwin and Benjamin smiled bitterly on the side.

They had lost all ability to argue. Not only did Simon understand celestial affairs and geography, but now it seemed he was an expert in farming and animal husbandry as well. The depth of his knowledge left them speechless.

With Officer Nuel now well-versed in modern pig farming techniques, Simon could rest easy.

The pig farm was the key to starting Brambleford’s livestock industry. When these logistical soldiers retired, they would return home as skilled pig farmers, and their experience would spread to the common folk.

After spending some time at the official farm, Simon and Baldwin left. On the way, Baldwin remained deep in thought.

Seeing his expression, Simon asked. ”Are you still wondering how I know about pig farming?”