Chapter 589 Prophecy
Faced with the reality of rapidly decreasing land, they can only choose to accept it sadly. O'Connell told them to be patient, but all they got was an uncomplied law and increasingly frenzied plunder from the landowners.
At present, Franz has no very effective solution. It seems that the only way is for the Irish to switch to other crops to reduce losses.
However, this approach is obviously not recognized by the local people. After all, not everyone has enough courage to believe those predictions without warning.
In the final analysis, although farmers are superstitious, they often prefer to believe their own experience rather than the words of these outsiders, even if they are sanctified under the cloak of religion.
And because of the entrustment of the "Sage from Heaven", most of the empire's priests did not adopt a policy of cajoling. On the contrary, they signed an agreement with the peasants, but unfortunately only a few were willing to accept it.
Of course, the content of the agreement is quite beneficial to the bottom party. After all, Franz has no intention of profiting from it.
On the contrary, the priests who used the name of religion and prophecy were very successful, and they replaced potatoes with barley with just a few scares.
These people combined the prophecies of the Doomsday Ark Society (a cult) with the late potato blight that appeared two years ago and British conspiracy theories to come up with a new prophecy.
[It’s almost like a group of evil British people are developing an evil curse that can erode the soil. Only planting barley can drive out the evil. 】
As a result, a new organization appeared in Ireland, the Barley Society, and an unlucky Austrian priest was recommended by the locals to become its spiritual leader.
Superstition defeated science and reason in this way, leaving Franz speechless for a while, but even if farmers all over Ireland followed suit and switched to barley, the food they produced might not even be enough for food and clothing. After all, the land in their hands was too large. not enough.
The imperial priests only stocked up enough food in Ireland to get them through the first year. The best way was to make potatoes their staple food again, which was to eliminate the source of the famine - potato late blight.
In fact, due to Franz's instructions, these servants of God established some experimental bases on the island of Ireland and produced several pesticides of this era. Of course, there was also Bordeaux mixture used in later generations, but I don't know how effective it was.
At the same time, the priests and stewards sent by Austria were also describing a beautiful country and new lands to the Irish.
If there are a small number of immigrants, the empire's overseas colonies can absorb them, but if the number is too large, then issues of integration and security have to be considered. After all, Britain is very good at provoking internal conflicts in other countries, and its colonists are out of control. Famous for being extremely ferocious.
Of course, diverting trouble eastward is also an option, such as encouraging the Irish to colonize southern Argentina, which was still Indian land at this time, or sending them to the Congo to let them fight the local indigenous people.
But after those Irish achievements, it was unclear whether Austria had a handle on their influence.
Even if it succeeds, there is a high probability that this method is used to make wedding dresses for the British, so sending them to Hungary or lands such as Dalmatia and California seems to be more in the interests of the empire.
Island of Ireland, Queens Village.
Lightning and thunder accompanied by rain and snow, the weather was really terrible! Scathach Jennings closed the two wooden windows tightly, but the cold rain still seeped in, which made her mood worse.
The so-called windows are just two pieces of wood, because most people can't afford glass.
I don’t know if it was because he was punishing his brothers and sisters for secretly drinking wine. Father Cloven suddenly declared that the end of the world was coming and asked everyone to stop planting potatoes and plant barley instead.
Father Hans then calls his colleague crazy, but the former also advises everyone to stop growing potatoes because he has discovered a new way to turn one kilogram of barley into three kilograms of food.
It's just that Hans and his assistant Siegfried didn't bake the bread with barley flour, but steamed it.
That kind of round bread, with a small piece of meat in the middle for decoration, my God! It seems so blasphemous! Like all in all the men and boys were very happy, but there was strong opposition from the women of the village.
Although the priests were driven out by everyone, their sudden changes still made people in the village panic.
The father felt that the priests must have received some revelation, while the mother only felt that the former wanted to touch the big, round bread. After all, the latter's malnutrition and old age had made his physical condition no longer what it was before.
After hearing the conversation between the parents, Scathach's sister Irene ran into her arms and said with an arch.
"There's nothing."
Scathach reacted for a while before pinching Irene's face and saying.
"You little guy is itchy, aren't you!?"
As the eldest brother, Patrit brought back a new friend, but to the disappointment of the family, it was another boy.
The family booed in disappointment, leaving Patrit angry and embarrassed.
"Patrit, you are already a mature adult. You should think more about your life-long affairs."
Scathach Jennings imitated his father and patted him meaningfully.
This time it was Scathach who was pinched in the face.
"All the girls here are getting married in exchange for money! You guys are still cheating at home all day long to get food and drinks."
When he came to visit for the first time, Wynn seemed a little embarrassed. His body was thin and his face was dark. It was obvious at a glance that he was suffering from malnutrition.
Wynn's parents were exiled to New Zealand for theft and vagrancy. Fortunately, a distant uncle was willing to adopt him, saving him from the same fate as his biological parents.
But perhaps it was a trick from God. His uncle, who had always been in good health, suddenly died of illness. Then he encountered a disaster that caused him to lose the land he received from his uncle.
Fortunately, the comrades of Young Ireland helped him find a way to hide in Patrit's house.
To be honest, Wynn was fascinated by Scathach the first time they met. His innocent appearance, bright smile, and naughty personality all attracted him.
But in the eyes of Scathach Jennings, he looked completely different, a dark-looking, silly-looking, weird guy who hung out with Patritt and liked to stare at people.
Scathach: "Is this your friend? Why doesn't he speak?"
Patrit pressed his sister's head: "Girl, please be nice. His uncle just passed away."
"Pete just passed away! Why don't you ask him to be polite to me?"
"Pete is a pig! You said it was ugly and smelly all day long, and you ate more than anyone else that day!"
Patrit was speechless for his sister, but Scathach still spoke persistently.
"My poor Pete!"
But no matter how noisy the Jennings family was, Wynn never said a word to anyone.
However, Patrit's parents still received the child warmly. After all, these like-minded friends were more important to Patrit at this time than his family.
Although the parents felt very angry, they still chose to be tolerant. However, Wynn was not grateful because the place where he slept was exactly Pete's nest.