Chapter 1739: Cooperative Progress and Big Moves

Upon hearing this news, Xia Duo could not help but feel a bit conflicted.

On one hand, he was very much looking forward to the Cooperative taking root in Netheril, but on the other hand, he was also very clear that at the current stage, Netheril was not suitable for implementing a cooperative system.

Especially in places outside of Daxia Territory.

This made him somewhat afraid to ask Niya for further news about the Cooperative, but Niya, unaware of his complex state of mind, had already begun to explain:

"Aiwa investigated and found that at least four territories near Seventon have confirmed the establishment of cooperatives. In those four territories, the lords have reorganized the commoners, with about one hundred households as a unit, called a 【One Society】. They should have already started joint autumn harvesting by now!"

"And what about the reaction of the commoners?" Xia Duo asked again.

"There is no further news for the time being, but the content in the Agricultural Book regarding increasing crop yields has received unanimous praise from the lords near Seventon, and it has already begun to be implemented."

Niya's answer did not exceed Xia Duo's expectations. Although those Inner Land lords had obtained the Agricultural Book, they would not necessarily make it public for the commoners to see; in fact, not making it public was the normal choice for most people.

This choice was, in a way, a good thing for Xia Duo. Human hearts are the most fickle; right now, the Agricultural Book might indeed be able to increase crop yields, and the Cooperative might not necessarily be entirely bad.

But once the evil consequences of the Cooperative emerged, the resentment of those displaced farmers might be directed at him.

Next, Xia Duo asked about some details, but Niya did not know how to answer either. After all, everything she knew came from Aiwa's investigation, and the information Aiwa had gathered was still very limited.

"This matter still needs continuous attention. By the way, did Aiwa mention any news about the abnormal climate?"

"No, but I heard that the Seven Towers are brewing a big plan, which might completely resolve the hidden danger of the abnormal climate."

Inadvertently, Niya revealed another piece of news, which greatly surprised Xia Duo. Even he did not know about this, so how did Niya know?

"Where did you hear this news? Is it credible?"

"I have been in contact with Lady Greta. Although she is now far from the core of Giles Tower, there are still some secret relationships that have not been completely severed. I knew you were concerned about this matter, so I helped you ask. It should be quite credible."

I see!

Xia Duo immediately thought of Master Eriwen, whom he had met before. Could it be that the Seven Towers were preparing to support his Ascension to Godhood in the agricultural domain?

Indeed, if there were an Order God of the agricultural domain, at the very least, they could send Priests to every piece of land to ensure the normal growth of crops.

To a certain extent, this could also be considered a complete resolution to the hidden danger of the abnormal climate.

But Xia Duo believed that this matter was not that simple. If it were just an additional agricultural god, it could only be considered passive defense. If the root cause behind the abnormal climate could not be discovered, even if production could be guaranteed for a time, would they have to rely on agricultural god Priests in the future?

Furthermore, this time it was only an abnormal climate, and ordinary people could still have a chance to successfully weather the difficulty if handled properly, but what if next time there were special Spells or diseases directly targeting various crops?

An agricultural god Priest might be able to enrich the soil and increase production, but they would likely not be proficient in Spell confrontation!

Not to mention, if things were directly destroyed, could they even be restored? Even if they could, what would the cost be?

Only by finding the root cause behind the abnormal climate could all potential crises be solved once and for all, including but not limited to the agricultural domain.

Even Xia Duo could see that this abnormal climate from last year to this year was not naturally formed; it was highly likely that there were Elf behind it causing trouble.

If the Seven Towers only knew how to defend passively, it would only embolden the arrogance of the mastermind behind the scenes, and the next time might truly bring an even harsher disaster.

Xia Duo was very interested in the big plan that Niya said the Seven Towers were brewing, but it was limited to interest only; he did not want to participate in it for the time being.

The meager assets of Nan Jing could not withstand turmoil.

In the following days, under Xia Duo's Indication, Aiwa sent back more news about the cooperatives in the territories near Seventon.

For the time being, it was all positive news, such as how much the autumn harvest efficiency had increased compared to previous years, how collective breeding in the cooperatives could better share costs, and so on.

But some bad omens also began to appear. Just as Xia Duo had predicted, some lords were already trying to reclaim land from the commoners.

The Cooperative was more like a large farm. Some lords believed that what a farm needed was not farm owners, but serfs. Of course, there was another very realistic reason why those lords wanted to do this, and that was—

The development of the Kelong Plain required a large amount of manpower, but this manpower could not be conjured out of thin air. After drawing away most of the mobile population, the only option left was to target the free citizens.

So-called "free citizens" were generally farmers with land or craftsmen with skills. Among them, farmers were the easiest to plunder, especially after the appearance of the Cooperative this time, as the existing land did not require that many farmers to complete the plowing.

This gave many lords a great temptation; the population demand to maintain the local area was lower, so the population that could be used for development became greater.

In fact, this was only the Cooperative liberating productivity from the production method. If more efficient production tools appeared, the number of people needed for the same task would be even fewer.

It was a pity that the vision of those lords who planned to "reclaim" land in advance was too short-sighted. Even though Xia Duo had already pointed out the significance of improving production tools in the Agricultural Book, those people were not even willing to wait for that long.

They wouldn't even properly eat what was stuffed into their mouths; Xia Duo could almost imagine that those people probably wouldn't carefully read and practice the Development Guide either.

This was not good news.

If development efficiency was low, the demand for population would be even greater, so how could there be any surplus to engage in light industry?

And without light industry, how could wealth be transferred?

If wealth did not transfer downward, how could a market be cultivated?

It was a pity that Xia Duo found it difficult to interfere in these matters now. The only thing he could probably do was to print more Development Guides and Agricultural Books and send them out!

However, in a sense, the short-sightedness of those Inner Land lords was also a good thing for Xia Duo, as it would make it easier for him to recruit new commoners.

If all the Inner Land lords worked hard to improve productivity, improve production relations, and develop from agriculture toward light industry, then how could he recruit new commoners?

Industry, even if it was just light industry, required a large population base. If Xia Duo were an Inner Land lord, he would absolutely not let a single commoner slip away.

If there were no new territories available for development like the Kelong Plain, the development ceiling of a single lord in the Inner Land was extremely limited; they were surrounded by neighbors, and there was simply no room for expansion.

To develop and grow, one could only carry out industrial upgrading (including Magic Industry), and for industrial upgrading, population was the key.

It was just that Netheril currently did not have a relatively perfect "territorial registration" system, making the flow of population between various territories very easy; basically, as long as one was a free citizen, one could move freely.