Gao Wen's sudden question made Norris a little dull. He was already ready to be scolded, but he didn't expect that he would face such a question - should he answer yes or no? Which one violates the law?

After thinking for a long time, the old farmer decided to admit it honestly, because he knew that he could read and write, and once the lord went to find someone else to ask the facts, he would really break the law.

"Yes... Master," Norris said nervously, holding the button on his chest with his hands, "I've learned to read and write."

Gao Wen raised his eyebrows and thought to himself that his judgment was indeed correct.

Although Norris didn't write a single word just now and was just sketching, many problems can be judged by the posture of the other party when he picked up the pen: whether the person who reads and writes feels completely different when holding the pen. In this world that is almost illiterate, he has seen how those who are illiterate grasp the pen and how they draw lines on paper in a clumsy way. The farmer's pen holding posture in front of him is obviously very standard.

Even Hedy looked at Norris with some surprise, and it seemed that she had just discovered this fact.

"Don't worry, knowing how to write does not violate the law, and teaching others to read and write is not illegal," Gao Wen realized that his sudden questioning might have scared the honest farmer, so he said in a gentle tone, "Who taught you how to read and write?"

After receiving the lord's promise, Norris felt a little relieved. He rubbed his hands and showed a slightly embarrassed smile: "Lord, don't be afraid of you laughing at me when I told you... I almost entered the church and became a priest serving the goddess of harvest. I learned the ability to read and write with a teacher at that time..."

The son of a farmer almost entered the church and became a priest?

Such a wonderful experience made Gowen very interested, so under his questioning, the story of farmer Norris finally became known.

The other party was indeed born in a farmer's house and was a free man who lived in Cecil's leadership for generations. Although his family had a few acres of thin fields, he lived on the line of food and clothing like most civilians in this era. Originally, his life would be tied to the land for the rest of his life, busy between seedlings and ditches, and the only way for him to deal with the high priests and churches was to go to the church in the town every once in a while to pray, or to receive a mission when the pastors came to the fields in the countryside - but at the age of eight, an opportunity came to Norris and his parents.

A priest from the Holy Spirit Plain who traveled and preached, came to Cecil and temporarily lived in the village where Norris lived. For farmers, it was very rare and lucky for the priests who fertilized the Three Gods to pass by. So everyone in the village immediately raised money and, according to the rules of the Three Gods, the elders in the village took a few children to "promise" to the priests so that the priests would bless the prairie land in the village.

Then the priest looked at the eight-year-old Norris and said, "It is blessed to be with the land, and he bears the grace of the goddess of harvest."

Because of this sentence, after the priest left, Norris' parents sold almost all the valuable property in their homes, and the old people in the village also tried to raise some money. They went together to ask the knights in the manor and asked for a pass, and finally sent Norris to the church of the Mother Earth in Tanzan town, making him a "slave apprentice". Although the Three Gods of Blessing are three sects with independent inheritance, they also have particularly close connections. As the main god of the Three Gods of Blessing, the Goddess of Harvest and the Goddess of Spring are usually worshipped in the temple at the same time. Moreover, the candidates of the three Goddess of the Three Goddess generally receive the same education before receiving formal blessings. After completing the education, they choose which god to convert to according to their respective "spiritual talents". Therefore, if the church of the Goddess of Harvest is not found around, sending Norris to the temple of the Mother Earth was his parents' only choice at that time.

Norris studied in the temple for five years and then obtained recognition results from the previous church:

"This apprentice does not possess the spiritual talent that enriches the divine system."

Until today, Norris still remembers how happy the villagers were at the beginning after the letter with this sentence was sent to the village - because they were illiterate at all, and the messenger who delivered the letter was drunk and did not tell the villagers and Norris' parents what was written.

It was not until Norris returned to the village with his bedding luggage that everyone knew that the letter was not a good news sent by the church.

Norris told his story quietly. His face that had climbed up to his wrinkles could not see any sadness and joy. There was only a calmness in his deep eye sockets, as if those things were indeed gone and had nothing to do with him anymore: "In the following years, life was very difficult. We had not paid back the debts we owe, and our family had long been empty. My father had not survived the winter of that year, but he still had to live his life, and he had to pay back the money he owed everyone.

"So my mother took me and my younger brother and sister to the Viscount's castle. Oh, Viscount Cecil was the father of Miss Rebecca. We went to kowtow to the Viscount, saying that life was really impossible. Master Viscount was kind and exempted the land tax we had to pay, and lent us seeds and half a bag of food. By relying on those seeds and food, plus the wild vegetables that were particularly good at that time, we survived.

"And then, I farmed steadily and helped people with miscellaneous work. I did two or three people alone, and I also recognized my words. When a merchant in the village came, I would help everyone calculate the weight so that I could exchange a few breads. In a few years, we would pay back the debts we owe, and we would pay the grain and grain of Master Viscount..."

Norris slowly raised his head with pride on his face: "The year my mother died, our whole family ate a meal of meat."

The story of farmer Norris ended, Gowen just frowned, but Hetty couldn't help but press his chest: "I...I never knew that such a thing happened in the territory...We have been trying our best to give alms..."

"Alms can't save anyone, because that can't solve the problem, and this kind of thing happens every day, just can't be seen in the castle," Gao Wen shook his head, then looked at Norris curiously, "I just noticed your gesture... Do you still believe in the goddess of harvest?"

"Believe it, why don't you believe it?" The wrinkles on Norris's face were stacked. "The Goddess of Harvest protects all the fields in the world. Is the harvest good or not the family's life or death. Who doesn't believe in the Goddess of Harvest?"

Gao Wen looked at the other party quietly: "Even if you have suffered so much because of this faith?"

Norris was silent for a moment and lowered his head: "Master, that's because I'm not lucky, how can I blame the gods? And compared to others, I have learned some things and recognized words - although it's useless to know words for us."

"It's useless to recognize words," Gao Wen looked at the farmer seriously. "Norris, your farming skills should be good, right?"

Speaking of this, Norrist suddenly became even more proud: "Master, I dare not say anything else when you ask, but when it comes to farming, my skills are excellent - how could I take such a difficult life?"

Gao Wen asked again: "You know words and numbers, and you have received education from the church, so I asked Hetty to read out the new rules to you and the forms I designed to record the workload. You should be able to understand them easily, right? If you were asked to fill out the forms and calculate the land and output, could you do it?"

This time, Norris nodded first, then hesitated and asked: "Master, are you going to let me be a supervisor?"

Over the past period of time, since Gao Wen implemented a labor system that required counting and evaluation, the supervisor who used to only wield a whip but could not read a single word had no use. The supervisors in the territory were all selected family warriors and even Hetty himself (some of the family warriors are knight attendants, at least a few numbers, and can write some simple words). Therefore, when Norris heard Gao Wen's problem, he couldn't help but think of this aspect.

"No, it's not just supervisors. In fact, if you can do it, I plan to let you manage the entire land reclamation, or even the later grain production work," Gao Wen said. "Of course, it's impossible to give you such great power at once, nor can you do it at will. I will let Hetty 'asses' you and tell you what you should do at any time."

The expression on Norris's face suddenly changed: "Old... Master! I don't understand very much... Are you asking me to be your butler? But the butler doesn't just care about food..."

"This is a position, but not a housekeeper," Gao Wen laughed. "If you have to say something, just call it... the agricultural supervisor. And I want to tell you first that this position is different from any position in the previous aristocratic territory. You cannot pass it on generations as a title, unless your child has enough talent - it is not valid for life. If you do not do it well, or you use the convenience of your position to violate Cecil's law, you will be removed and punished. From now on, many positions I have set up on this land will be like this - do you understand?"

If Gao Wen did not warn so many restrictions, perhaps Norris would not dare to accept this "good luck from heaven" in panic - because the good luck from heaven was really like the time when the priest came to the village when he was eight years old and said that he could "benefit the gods." But with Gao Wen's warning, he thought seriously and thought that this should be true.

An ordinary poor man would not think like him, but Norris would, because he was educated, even if this education almost cost him his life, he learned "logic" from this education.

So after some thought, the old-looking farmer nodded vigorously: "Master, if you trust me... Norris will take care of every piece of field you handed over to me, and every grain of food that grew on the land!"
Chapter completed!