17 Journey Through the Middle Ages 017

After the inspection and site selection, Louisa stayed at Swan Manor for a few more days, considering it a kind of "country retreat." Perhaps the aristocracy of the time found rural manor life dull, and city dwellers looked down on the countryside as ignorant and uncivilized. But to Louisa, court life and manor life were not much different—they were both tedious.

Court life might have slightly better living conditions, but manor life was more leisurely and the environment cleaner (the population density in the court was too high, and given the hygiene standards and awareness of the time, the sanitary conditions were hardly worth contemplating).

A few days later, Louisa left. The next time she would visit Swan Manor would be at the end of autumn, when the sugar beets were ready for harvest.

At that time, the manor’s peasants discovered another advantage of planting sugar beets: their busy season was slightly offset from that of grain. Although there was spring plowing and autumn harvesting, the timing was subtly staggered by about a step ahead or behind the grain planting and harvesting. When the lord’s demesne also grew grain, this overlap was a major headache.

The manor steward had to ensure production on the lord’s demesne, which inevitably involved large-scale labor dispatches, but the serfs cared about their own plots. Even if compelled by the steward’s authority to work on the demesne when the time came, they conserved energy to use later on their own land—a practice colloquially known as “slacking off.” This was a classic example of “policies from above, countermeasures from below.”

“Is this the workshop?” Louisa surveyed the sugar workshop built on the edge of the wasteland.

The building itself was ordinary, but for fire prevention—it required a lot of fire for boiling sugar—it was constructed entirely of brick and stone. Tall walls surrounded it to prevent outsiders from peeking in. In the future, those who regularly worked here would be the manor’s hired farmhands, along with those who already understood sugar making.

Hired farmhands were a type of serf but generally did not have their own plots. Besides the vegetable gardens behind their cottages, they mainly worked on the lord’s demesne. Since the lord’s demesne was vast, it couldn’t be farmed solely by other serfs’ labor; a basic workforce was necessary.

Hired farmhands were more personally bound to the lord, with a heavier “slave” attribute. They rarely interacted with other free or serf farmers on the manor. From a confidentiality perspective, using hired farmhands was indeed preferable. The walls around the workshop also served to prevent others on the manor from spying and spreading the sugar-making secrets.

Of course, this only delayed the leakage of secrets. Louisa was well aware that such a unique business could not last long.

Entering through the sole large gate of the sugar workshop, Louisa saw a large pond dug in the open space ahead. Both ends of the pond connected to a river flowing through the manor, so the water was fresh. When the sugar beets were harvested, they would first be placed in the pond to wash off the dirt, then transported to a large stone slab to be crushed into a pulp.

This large stone slab was modeled entirely on apple cider-making equipment—a single piece of stone carved to the size of a small pavilion. When operated, it would be powered by oxen or horses pulling a shaft that drove a stone roller, crushing the sugar beets into a pulp in a circular motion. A canopy was built above the apparatus to allow operation even in rain.

Besides this, inside the walls were only four rows of buildings. These buildings seemed not designed for warmth—windows were large openings without glass, but that was unnecessary since the sugar-making season involved the constant burning of stoves, keeping workers warm. By the time winter truly arrived, the work was likely finished, as this was seasonal labor.

Louisa entered the first row of buildings and found a “press” right inside the door, also modeled after the cider press but slightly improved with modern insight. For example, the stress-bearing parts were made of harder metal components, raising costs but greatly improving performance.

Don’t underestimate this improvement—it allowed the beet pulp to be pressed drier, extracting much more beet juice and speeding up the process.

This row of buildings was an open hall, with a clear line of sight from the press to the opposite side, where a row of nine stoves stood. Compared to the smaller stoves Louisa had previously had built in the castle courtyard, these were much larger, capable of boiling more sugar at once. Those who had tried sugar-making in the castle had since switched to using these larger stoves during secret productions.

At the innermost section was the “granulation” area, with a large workbench for stirring and rubbing the sugar. It was spacious enough for a group of workers to operate simultaneously. Nearby was the barrel-filling site, where the finished sugar could be packed into small wooden barrels, temporarily stacked aside until specialists came to transport them.

The other three rows of buildings were essentially the same. Behind them was open space reserved for future expansion of the sugar workshop, though for now it was filled with firewood for boiling sugar.

Louisa quickly finished inspecting the simple sugar workshop. The next day, workers experienced in sugar-making arrived to become the backbone of the operation. They would live at Swan Manor for a long time, though with somewhat more freedom than in the previous year.

Now that the sugar workshop was running and hired farmhands were involved, imprisoning them was pointless. They could live at the manor just like the hired farmhands.

As the sugar beet harvest began, the beets were transported in a steady stream to the workshop. There were so many that they were piled along the walls, covered with straw mats. Initially, the workshop’s efficiency was low—there were too few experienced core workers, so they led groups of hired farmhands.

Only one row of buildings was operational at first. As only some hired farmhands had learned the craft, they could form a second group, and new farmhands would be trained and join in.

When the workshop’s chimneys were constantly smoking, anyone nearby could smell the rich, sweet aroma. At first, the other manor residents didn’t know what was being produced—few peasants could afford “refined sugar.” Even if they had glimpsed it at the market, the scent of boiling sugar was far more intensely sweet.

“...Miss Louisa, the auditor has arrived!” A maid came into the manor villa while Louisa was gazing toward the sugar workshop. She whispered something to Lady Hugo, who then approached to report.

From the manor villa, the sugar workshop was barely visible through the woods—only the prominent smoke was noticeable. As for the scent, no matter how sweet, it had limits. Yet Louisa thought she caught a faint aroma of cane sugar, reminiscent of the traditional black sugar she had ordered online in her past life.

“The auditor? Right, the autumn harvest is over; it’s time for them to come,” Louisa responded immediately upon hearing the word.

After the autumn harvest, the year’s yield was basically clear. So after a brief rest, manor farmers tackled the relatively lighter autumn plowing while, under the steward’s arrangement, transporting the surplus from the lord’s demesne to town markets for sale—also a task assigned to serf labor.

Meanwhile, the manor management team, led by the steward, faced the busiest time of the year: the auditor’s inspection.

Auditors were appointed by the lord and inspected the manor after the autumn harvest. Swan Manor’s proximity meant the auditor arrived early.

Each year, the auditor was lodged in the manor villa—not in the best room, which was reserved for the lord (currently Louisa’s quarters). Even if the lord was absent, the best rooms were kept for them.

“The steward wants to ask if Miss Louisa would allow the auditor to stay in the manor house,” Lady Hugo said softly.

In the West, unlike ancient China, there was no strict segregation of the sexes in residences (even though women were expected to remain chaste). Many small castles lacked spare rooms, so guests dined in the great hall and slept there as well. The lord’s family also lived in the great hall, often the warmest and most comfortable place, reflecting customary practice.

Thus, theoretically, the auditor could stay in the manor villa. But that was just theory. Even without gender segregation, the social hierarchy was clear. If nobles disliked disturbance, they might rent an entire inn for themselves, leaving no room for others.

“Oh, never mind. Let the steward find another room for the auditor,” Louisa said after a moment’s thought.

This was not out of vanity or a desire to occupy the entire mansion alone with her retinue, but for her own safety. It is hard for those not living in this era to imagine that even noblewomen were not guaranteed complete safety in their own fathers’ castles. The concept of “private space” did not exist; everyone lived together in the great hall, as proof.

Even in very beautiful castles, private bedrooms were rare—usually just a small adjacent room for the lady of the manor. Minor lord children might sleep in the attic (especially daughters), but the attic was open and accessible to others.

Louisa’s room in the Brudo court was called a room but was more of a semi-public space—no door, only an open doorway, with maids and attendants coming and going, without modern notions of privacy.

At such times, if a noble knight of status intruded upon a noblewoman’s resting place with ill intent, the outcome depended entirely on the lord’s attitude. If displeased, the lord might punish the knight; if indifferent, nothing might follow—even if the woman was his daughter or sister.

The only exception was the lord’s wife, as no lord wished to be cuckolded.

Louisa did not want to gamble on whether the auditor had such intentions or the ability to “offend” her, so she declined.

Thus, matters stood as they were.