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Chapter 1026: A Peaceful Rural Life

Seeing the others still hesitating, Rochefort held up a fertilizer scoop once more.

"Buy a Flying Cart today and you get this for free! It is incredibly useful!"

In truth, any farmer who bought a cart tomorrow would also receive a scoop, but Rochefort would make a show of being troubled, claiming he was violating company policy and urging the buyer to keep it a secret.

Soon, two more farmers who were relatively well-off stepped forward and expressed their intent to purchase one.

Shortly after, these men loaded their newly purchased honeycomb coal onto the wheelbarrows and, under the envious gazes of the crowd, pushed them home with effortless ease.

That evening, Rochefort stayed at the home of Monsieur Elvigne, a minor local noble.

He had only sold four wheelbarrows today, which was far from enough.

He had mortgaged all his shares in the coal company to become the agent for the Universal Flying Cart in southern Reims.

If he could not sell at least two hundred wheelbarrows a month, he would face a significant loss.

At three in the afternoon, the church bells began to toll.

This usually signified that the couple had exchanged their vows before the altar and received the priest's blessing, completing the first stage of the ceremony.

Sure enough, to the accompaniment of an organ, trumpets, and lutes, a young man of fifteen or sixteen emerged from the church. He was dressed in a crisp new double-breasted coat and ink-blue breeches, leading a sturdy horse by its reins.

The bride atop the horse was around his age, wearing a long white gown and shyly waving to the villagers.

According to local custom, they would process around the village, scattering wheat grains and flower petals along the path for the children to gather. Naturally, if the family was wealthy, they would toss a few coins as well.

As the wedding procession passed Rochefort's stall, the groom's father stepped toward the chubby man and bowed respectfully, appearing somewhat nervous.

"Respected Lord Rochefort, I am from the Leonor family. My son, Dominique, is getting married today. Would we have the honor of your presence at the wedding banquet?"

He had heard about Lord Rochefort from his second son, who had bought honeycomb coal the previous day. If Dominique’s wedding could boast the presence of a noble from Paris, it would be a matter of great prestige.

Rochefort glanced at the wedding party, which numbered at least sixty or seventy people, and immediately nodded with a smile.

"It would be my pleasure, Monsieur Leonor. Please accept my most sincere blessings for the newlyweds. Oh, I imagine there will be many chairs, tables, and wine barrels to move at the feast. I can lend you two Universal Flying Carts for the occasion. I hope they prove helpful."

Leonor waved his hands dismissively. "Oh, that... how could I possibly accept such a thing?"

Without allowing for argument, Rochefort ordered his attendants to deliver three wheelbarrows to the Leonor residence.

At five in the evening, on the open ground in front of the Leonor house, a long, narrow dining area had been created by pushing dozens of tables together, covered with tablecloths of various colors.

Leonor's neighbor arrived, pushing several barrels of wine on a wheelbarrow. As soon as the barrels were placed on the table, hundreds of villagers gathered round, shouting blessings to the couple while filling their cups.

A short while later, the newlyweds returned from their circuit of the village. Dominique Leonor lifted his wife down from the saddle. Neighbors who had come to help immediately began setting out platters of stewed meat, vegetable soup, red sausages, and bread.

Leonor personally led the horse into the stable, muttering as he tied the rope.

"Sophie, old girl, you can have your oats now."

This was not the family's original old mare.

The elder Sophie had died of old age two years ago. This was her daughter, even sturdier than her mother had been in her prime.

In recent years, the village had taken out a loan to purchase a steam-powered water pump, which had vastly improved the irrigation of the fields.

Coupled with the Agricultural Services Consulting Company teaching everyone how to build compost pits and encouraging the use of stone fertilizer, his grain harvest had increased by a full thirty percent.

At the same time, after the tax farmer system was abolished, all sorts of chaotic and arbitrary taxes had vanished.

Now, he only had to pay the basic land tax and agricultural tax collected by the Tax Bureau, along with the church tithe. This amounted to less than half of what he had paid in taxes just a few years prior.

With more income and fewer expenses, his family saw an annual surplus of twenty-five to thirty francs.

As early as the spring before last, he had cleared all his family's debts. He then scraped together enough money to buy back the foal the elder Sophie had birthed from Monsieur Elvigne.

He and his wife felt that the name Sophie had brought luck to their home, so they named the new horse Sophie as well.

The wedding banquet was quite lavish for such a small village. There was an unlimited supply of wine and food, and the villagers were encouraged to eat their fill.

Furthermore, one could tell from the new, all-cotton clothes from Lyon worn by Dominique and his bride that the Leonor family's finances were indeed in good shape.

Rochefort watched with satisfaction as his borrowed wheelbarrows played a vital role, transporting cartloads of dirty dishes back to the house and bringing out fresh barrels of wine.

The advertising effect was better than if he had spent a month shouting at the top of his lungs.

As dusk fell, a bonfire was lit beside the dining tables.

The well-fed villagers began to sing and dance around the fire, while others chatted loudly.

"I heard Monsieur Pleco say that something called potash fertilizer will be delivered next month. It’s supposed to boost the harvest even further."

Pleco was the representative of the Agricultural Services Consulting Company in this village.

"Is that so? Did he mention the price?"

"It seems even cheaper than stone fertilizer, though the quantity is limited..."

A literate farmer chimed in. "I read in the newspaper that it’s being shipped from Germany. A newly opened mine. There should be more in the future."

"Frank, what are you talking about? That is a French mine. What do you mean, Germany?"

"Oh, damn it, I’ve had too much to drink. You're right, it belongs to us now."

"Has anyone heard about the parish bank offering loans to buy a steam mill?"

It was Frank again who spoke. "I know about that. A set costs four thousand five hundred francs. Broken down, each household would have to contribute about thirty francs."

"But milling flour will be much cheaper afterward. We could even make some money milling for the neighboring villages."

"Hah, the other villages will probably buy their own..."

"It's only thirty francs. If we pay it back over ten years, that’s only three francs a year. We used to pay fifteen francs a year just for the milling tax."

"My family used to pay eighteen..."

The Leonor family's wine was not exactly high quality—at least not by Rochefort's standards—but in this lively and festive atmosphere, he still found himself drinking until he felt a bit lightheaded.

The following day, sales of his Universal Flying Cart did indeed begin to climb. All the villagers who had attended the banquet had seen for themselves how useful the contraption was.

Four days later, Rochefort prepared to leave Meition Village with a sales record of thirty-nine wheelbarrows.

As his carriage passed by the Leonor home, his attention was caught by the sound of a heated argument coming from within...