Several weeks had passed when King James left the castle to get a better feel for his subjects. One can become quite isolated from reality when you are surrounded by yes men and sycophants. James really only trusted Nathaniel to tell him the truth. Maybe Bishop Ramos could be relied upon, but that relationship was still being assessed.
A big problem for the kingdom was that it often didn't produce enough food to feed its people. Some of this was because the nobles would only give small plots of land to the farmers in their realm. Most of the land was reserved for the nobles. The farmers would have to toil on the noble's land for a pittance. There was a huge disparity in crop production. Farmers cared about the crops on their own land much more than the noble's land.
The second reason for the lack of bountiful crops was that farmers didn't follow the best practices of others. There was a distinct lack of knowledge about crop nutrition and cultivation throughout the island. When James was a prince, he talked to the farmers when he was training them for the militia. He knew all about the island's agriculture and what worked best.
James took several older farmers with him out to the countryside. They had long retired to let their sons and grandsons do the heavy work on their farms. James would train these men to teach others how to best raise crops on the island. James had no tolerance for famine when it could be avoided.
James set a pitchfork down after scooping a load of manure out of a small pig pen into a wooden wheelbarrow. He got behind the full wheelbarrow and moved it to a large pile of leaves and grass. Then started to unload the manure onto the pile. There were many farmers in this village watching James do this. They look amazed that the King of Cebu has dirtied himself in these efforts today. A boy of twelve threw an armful of leaves on top of the pile behind James.
James looked very pleased with himself. He dusted himself off, then slapped his hands together and turned to the crowd of farmers. "That... is how compost is made. Just turn the pile every few days when it heats up and spread it on top of your soil a month from now. Watch what it does to your crops. You'll be amazed." The crowd of farmers nodded as if they understood. "Any questions?"
One farmer asked, "How do you know so much?"
James was confident in his response. "I just paid attention to what works when I was training the militia for six years. These men here..." James pointed to the group of retired farmers off to the side, "are going to stay a day or two and help you. Pay attention to what they have to say. It will help you become more successful."
Another farmer spoke up, "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we've never seen a king take such an interest in us farmers."
"I know that you each have but a small plot of land of your own. But you spend most of your day on Lord Banoy's fields. I know that your fields are far more productive than his. So, I'm going to have a little chat with Banoy this afternoon. I'll make sure that he triples the size of the land that each of you will get to farm."
"You mean... he's gonna give us more land?" asked the second farmer.
"Exactly!" replied James. "You see, if you are able to make more money selling what you grow, then you're going to spend some of it in town. And the local shops will be happy because they have more business. It benefits everyone."
"Except Lord Banoy..." noted the farmer.
"He's not going to be too happy about this. But I'm the king and he's not. I'm more concerned that the island will have enough food to feed itself."
The crowd nodded as if they understood. Another farmer, a poorly dressed woman, shouted out, "Long live the king!"
YOU ARE READING
1795-YEAR OF THE DRAGONS
Historical Fiction1795 was a pivotal year in the history of the Philippines. The Spanish controlled most of the country and had been colonializing the Philippines for many years. Few islands of any size had not yet capitulated. The largest of these holdouts was C...
