Chapter 21: The Basic Law

Although the briefing meetings had been moved to once every three days, given the current pace of development in the territory there was basically nothing to report. After all, there was not even any money in circulation for the time being, and all transactions were carried out with grain. Lord Farra had already pushed every able-bodied person to the limit of productivity; essentially, no one had any leisure time to do anything else.

Therefore the thrice-weekly meetings were soon pushed by Lord Farra to once every seven days, then to once every fifteen days. By the end of May, they simply became a monthly affair. In June, the wheat just sown in that Level 9 field completed a full growth cycle at an astonishing speed… it ripened. Even though they had witnessed many such anomalies, the event still delivered quite a shock to the commoners in the territory, for they had never seen wheat grow so fast.

On this day, Farra, who had been idle for half a month, finally did something substantial. In the name of the Pope, he held a solemn sacrificial ceremony and handed out one egg to every person.

“Goddess above! Pope above!!!”

Standing on the high altar, Lord Farra looked at the neatly kneeling crowd below. He kept his arms extended for a long while, then waved to declare the ceremony over. The first group of refugees recruited into the territory was struck speechless when they saw several thousand people kneel at once. They formed a very deep impression of Lord Farra, and then, because of the wheat miracle, they became believers of the Church of the Goddess of Plenty.

After finishing these matters, Farra returned to his residence and shut himself away again. A few days later, he manually fashioned a thin booklet. After confirming several times that there were no problems, he summoned everyone in the territory and officially promulgated the canon of the Church of the Goddess of Plenty… which was also the territory’s first code of law, The Basic Law. It roughly listed all the rules that had already been tacitly accepted and defined the core doctrines of the church.

At present there were only four core doctrines:

1. Only the Pope may amend the canon.

2. Only the Pope may convey the will of the Goddess.

3. Cherish food.

4. Those who do not work shall not eat.

“From today on, everyone must work nine full hours a day… those who work more earn more, those who work less earn less, and those who do not work earn nothing.”

After announcing this, Farra smoothly added, “Starting today, there will no longer be a fixed daily grain ration.”

The second half of Farra’s statement immediately stirred up a huge commotion, yet it soon subsided again. Not giving a fixed ration did not mean giving nothing. Nine hours a day… although many people had little concept of time, once it was explained as “from sunrise to sunset,” they basically had no further objections. After all, they sometimes had to work well past dark before they could rest… this treatment existed only in Lord Farra’s territory. For slaves who had similar experiences elsewhere, sleeping only four hours a day was commonplace. Oh, no… there was not even any “meal.” Slave labor came with no compensation.

Watching everyone’s reaction, Farra unhurriedly added one more thing: “However, Mas, Yanis, Axi, Reis, and Aza will still receive grain every day, increased to three jin each, while the one hundred members of the Spear Squad will receive two jin per day.”

“!!”

Had there been a sharper person present, he would surely have cried out on the spot, “Wow, blatant favoritism.” Unfortunately, no such clever person was here. Farra had raised the pay for his guard unit and direct subordinates across the board. Everyone immediately showed envy and turned to look at the named individuals. Mas and the others unconsciously straightened their backs. Although they did not know what “honor” meant, at this moment they truly felt it.

From this instant onward, their status and treatment were completely distinct from the ordinary commoners. They answered directly to Lord Farra. Their privileges were granted by him… and they could be revoked by a single thought from him. The one hundred members of the Spear Squad would also cease all production work and become an even more professional army. Because they had surplus grain, they naturally carried an honor bound to their interests. Of course, the extra pay was not taken for free.

After announcing the Basic Law and the related institutional reforms, the meeting ended once more. Since many people were still illiterate, this first-generation code was of limited practical use; it merely clarified certain matters. The key point was that the foundational code was now bound to the religious canon.

Not long after proclaiming the Basic Law, Farra had Yanis lead the one hundred carefully selected young men, spears in hand, to a clearing that had been specially prepared.

“Starting today, I will train you personally. Since you are getting an extra jin of grain, you must bear the weight of that extra jin! Do you understand?”

“Understood!”

“Louder! Have you not eaten? Or have you not eaten enough?!”

“Understood!!!”

“Very good.”

Farra nodded with satisfaction, then began drilling the soldiers himself, combining his prior knowledge with the practical experience he had accumulated during several years of military service. The main focus of his instruction was still Yanis. Farra wanted to teach this youth exactly how to train soldiers and armies, what military discipline should be, and what thoughts and ideals ought to be instilled in the troops.

At first, what Farra taught was rather miscellaneous. Yet after a month, Yanis had basically distilled the core philosophy of this hundred-man unit: “Loyalty to Jago, praise Jago, and follow Jago forever!” Since this was Farra’s own unit, they had to be ready to offer their hearts to him in battle. Farra arranged an extremely strict timetable for the military training, setting almost all standards against what he remembered of the strongest land forces, with a few adjustments suited to this world. After leading them for a month, Farra felt comfortable entrusting the one hundred men to Yanis.

It was not that he was lazy. As Lord, he had many other matters to handle and could not devote all his time and energy to the army.

“Lord, isn’t one hundred men a bit too few?” Yanis asked hesitantly.

“With only one hundred people, I think we cannot guarantee your absolute safety.”

“It’s fine. One hundred men are enough… at least for now. When there are more suitable people in the territory, I will consider adding more manpower.”

Hearing Farra’s reply, Yanis said no more. These one hundred men ate and drank well every day, enjoyed generous treatment, and trained rigorously. When they eventually marched out, each with a bronze sword at his side, Farra was confident he could drag every minor lord in the vicinity out of his castle and give him a beating.