Lin Tian asked, "What rumors?"
Mary replied, "It's said that when there's a shortage of food, you human nobles will dress up as horse bandits and go around snatching the food."
"Nobles..." Lin Tian was actually not surprised.
"Lord! Oh no, a lot of people did not turn up today!" shouted a clerk as he ran over.
Lin Tian asked, "What happened?"
The clerk said, "There is a rumor that the plague of locusts is coming from the Beastmen Kingdom, so they all went back to collect food."
"The locust plague news has already spread? Let's go and take a look."
When Lin Tian brought the two cat-eared ladies to the construction site, he found that the number of people had decreased by several hundred. The majority of the people who were still working were the residents of Lin Tian's tribe.
Although his tribe had around 2,000 people, excluding the older and younger ones, the labor force was only around 700 people.
"Lord, the locust plague is about to arrive. They're all very worried that once the locust plague arrives, they won't have enough food to survive the winter. Thus, all of them went to snatch food."
Another clerk walked over and reported the wishes of the tribesmen.
Diana said, "The food hasn't matured yet, so it won't be of much use even if we harvest it. Instead, as long as we work here, the Lord will be responsible for our food supply. What's there to worry about?"
The clerk said, "Yes, but they are worried that when the plague of locusts arrives, even the Lord won't have enough food. After all, winter is too long."
Many residents gradually gathered around. Lin Tian said, "Call everyone over."
"Yes, Lord." The clerk went to call for people.
Soon, everyone came over. Lin Tian looked at them and said, "My food is indeed limited, but as long as you continue to work, I can guarantee your survival through this winter.
"All my people will not starve to death!"
Diana immediately said, "I believe in our Lord!"
"I also believe in our Lord!" said one of the literate people.
Soon, more people expressed their views. When they thought of the series of changes that happened in the tribe after Lin Tian became the Lord, as well as the rare items that Lin Tian usually brought out, their confidence increased.
Lin Tian said, "The grains aren't ripe yet, so there's not much use in harvesting it. The most important thing now is to build a new city. When the horse bandits arrive, we can rely on the city to fight them!"
"Yes, Lord!" Diana was the first to respond. The other residents also agreed. Thus, Lin Tian's tribe survived this small storm.
Actually, if they were to harvest the grains in advance, they would be able to obtain half of the output. However, what Lin Tian valued the most was the construction of the city, so he could only give up on the grains. Otherwise, it would take at least ten days to harvest the grains. During this period of time, the construction of the city would be greatly delayed.
Lin Tian sent the clerk to the other tribes to persuade those who were going to snatch food.
The next day, the clerk came to report that most of the people had no choice because the nobles in their tribes demanded that they must collect grains, otherwise they would be driven out, or even confiscate the grains they had previously collected. Under this policy, most people were unwilling to return.
In this world, the land belonged to the nobles. Basically, all the nobles would hand over a portion of the land to their own people under a contract and would collect taxes from them. In other words, if those people did not harvest the grains, the nobles would suffer heavy losses. That was why they issued such a policy.
Moreover, this world had experienced many locust plagues. Once the locust plagues started, no one would be spared. Those people were not residents of Lin Tian's tribe, so they did not have much trust in him. Therefore, rushing the harvest was the most important thing to them.
Lin Tian looked at the construction site that had a huge decrease in workers and thought of a solution. Suddenly, Mary said, "Master, Wendy is here!"
Fox-eared lady? Lin Tian's heart skipped a beat.
When they returned to the castle, Wendy was already waiting there. Although she could easily sneak into the castle, she had a favor to ask this time, so she waited outside obediently.
Lin Tian approached her and realized that she looked very tired.
Mary asked, "Wendy, what happened?"
Wendy looked at Mary, then at Lin Tian, and bowed to Lin Tian. "Lord Lin Tian, I came here this time to ask for your help."
Lin Tian let her in first, and then the three of them entered the hall together.
After listening to Wendy's story, Mary said in surprise, "Your tribe's food was stolen by the kobolds?"
Wendy looked distressed. "Yes. The kobolds are too annoying. The first time they attacked, I killed a lot of them, and then they ran away. However, during their second attack, they created a diversion and lured me out first. The other kobolds took the food."
Lin Tian listened to Wendy's story in silence. In fact, the story was very simple. Seven days ago, the fox-eared lady returned to her tribe. Her tribe was very small, with only 1,000 foxes.
The fox tribe was one of the more hardworking tribes. It was different from the beastmen who only knew how to feed on the produce of the forest and to plunder other tribes from time to time. They were willing to farm and raise animals.
When Wendy returned, the fox tribe had already begun to harvest food, but a kobold tribe had their eyes on her tribe. The kobold tribe had over 3,000 kobolds, and they were very strong.
At first, they wanted to plunder the grains, but the foxmen relied on their stronghold, and with Wendy's strength, they defended their stronghold and repelled the kobolds. Though later, the kobolds first lured Wendy away, then rushed into Wendy's tribe and stole all the grains.
Without food, Wendy's tribe would not be able to survive the winter. That was why Wendy came to ask for help from Lin Tian. Lin Tian was the only person she could ask for help from. Although her and Mary's teacher had a high status in the imperial city, her teacher would not help her tribe, much less the king of the Beastmen Kingdom.
Once the plague of locusts occurred, food was also a concern for the king of the Beastmen Kingdom. After all, the plague of locusts was closely followed by winter. At this time, who would have the time to care about a small tribe of 1,000 people?
Wendy explained everything and said solemnly, "Lord Lin Tian, as long as you are willing to help us, Wendy is willing to be like Jenny and serve you for life in the future."
This was the only bargaining chip Wendy could think of. She was different from Mary and Jenny. The cat-eared lady and the rest did not have any relatives. The tribe did not protect Jenny when they retreated, so the two of them did not care about their tribe at all. However, Mary's parents and relatives were all in the tribe, so she could not let go of her tribe.
Lin Tian thought for a moment and said, "I can help you, but on one condition."