Lord Harland

Richard looks very young. The young man is talented and gifted, and his thoughts are reflected on his face.

In fact, Richard has experienced two lives, and his mental age is over fifty years old. He usually keeps his emotions and anger indistinct.

In recent years, he has been farming in the territory and has few interactions with outsiders.

Outsiders don't understand his character at all.

Seeing that he couldn't lower the price, Savile finally nodded and agreed to pay a sum of money in three days.

Jerram sent people to carry the first down payment and came to Vicksburg.

The first down payment was twelve thousand gold coins.

After the money was received, Richard immediately paid pensions to the casualties of the Sixth Squadron.

The soldiers who participated in the battle were all rewarded with a gold coin, and even the civilians who followed received fifty kilograms of grain.

The Grant Kingdom gold coin is about fifty grams each. In addition to gold, some magic crystal powder is also incorporated into the gold coin.

At normal market prices, the price of gold is half that of gold coins.

In the Grant Kingdom, only the royal family has the right to mint gold coins.

No matter how big a noble he is, as long as he dares to mint gold coins privately, the royal family will definitely send troops to attack him.

It is clearly recorded in the Grant Kingdom code that the right to mint money is equivalent to royal power.

Duke-level nobles can establish mints in their territories to mint silver and copper coins, but they cannot mint gold coins.

Earls and marquises could mint copper coins, but not silver or gold coins.

In terms of coinage power, there was a clear hierarchy among the nobles.

Unless the system can be broken, even the great nobles will not dare to cross the line and challenge the royal power.

Richard received the first ransom and allowed Savile to meet Howard.

After hearing that Jerram offered 30,000 gold coins to ransom him, Howard directly swore an oath and was willing to be loyal to Jerram.

As for what he really thinks, who knows?

Anyway, through observation, Richard discovered that this man was quite wealthy, and he probably figured out the cause and effect, so he was deliberately captured in the battle.

As long as Howard is captured, the Holland family must pay a ransom to rescue him, especially Jerram. This matter is closely related to his future.

If Howard had the will to die in that battle, Richard and the others might not be able to capture him alive.

Shortly after the first payment was delivered, the second payment of eight thousand gold coins arrived.

This time, Butler Savile told Richard that the last payment needed to be raised.

It would take at least until after the autumn harvest for Archon Jerram to receive a final payment before he could pay it off.

"Jerram has a monopoly on the salt trade in Gedda Province, and the price of salt is nine times higher than that of the Duke of Jonathan. With a population of 1.2 million in Gedda Province supporting this borer, can't he still get 30,000 gold coins in cash?"

Seeing Richard making sarcastic remarks, he even cursed and insulted his master. Savile was still neither humble nor overbearing, and calmly explained: "Baron Richard, you don't think that my master Jerram alone can monopolize the salt trade of a province.

There are also many important figures in the royal capital who share in the profits from this business. Mr. Richard should carefully weigh the amount and not sell the salt to other territories. "

Richard knew in his heart that Jerram used the hugely profitable salt monopoly income to create an interest group for Prince Felix to support him.

This interest group is mainly composed of nobles of the royal capital, many of whom are branches of the royal family.

Although the political influence is not particularly large, the total cannot be underestimated.

With more people, this interest group will be quite well-informed.

The huge profits from salt in Geda Province are a very important source of income for Prince Felix.

Richard's purchase of salt from outside has actually come into contact with this interest group.

It's just that Richard held Jerram's hand so they didn't dare to act rashly.

There is a conflict of interest with Prince Felix, the man behind Jerram, which is politically very detrimental to the Haaland family.

Especially when someone is promoting titles and acquiring territory, if someone causes trouble in the capital, it will be difficult to guarantee the interests of the Harland family.

If Richard continues to buy salt from Jonathan’s territory and sell it in Gedda Province.

The conflict of interests between the two parties will also become more serious.

Although the Harland family is not weak, it may not be able to withstand the attack of this interest group.

Even Viscount Roman, the most powerful man in Geda Province, chose to give in to this interest group.

The power of the Harland family is less than one-third of Viscount Romen, and Richard will certainly not compete with this interest group for food.

Since Jerram could no longer afford the money, Howard was imprisoned in a cell. Not only did he need professionals to take care of him, he also needed to provide him with exquisite food every day. Raising someone for nothing is no longer of any use to the Haaland family.

Richard was going to ask Jerram to write an IOU and then let him go.

After receiving the IOU, Richard immediately fulfilled the agreement and let Howard go.

Nobles signed contracts with each other, and most of the time they could be enforced.

If you want to develop in a region for a long time, credibility is actually very important.

Although the capricious nobles can gain short-term benefits, in the long run, they lose their credibility and actually lose their foundation.

Richard is not afraid of Jerram defaulting on his debt now.

As long as Jerram defaults on his account, Richard can take the opportunity to make this matter bigger. Jerram finally suppressed the matter in Gedda Province. As long as he still has money in his hand, he will never let himself be involved in a scandal. .

Besides, Richard was very happy to get the windfall of 20,000 gold coins.

Even if you get the gold coins, hiding them in the cellar will be of no use to the development of your territory.

Only by spending the gold coins and converting them into various resources to invest in the construction of the territory can the Harland family's heritage be enhanced.

Now the Harland family has three territories, and the biggest weakness is the lack of people.

In recent years, through purchasing slaves, integrating refugees, rescuing slaves captured by orcs, making money from dead people, etc., the total population of the three territories has only reached 20,000.

In addition, there are currently more than two thousand orc slaves in the territory, which are not included in the household registration statistics.

Come tomorrow spring, the first slaves will become freedmen.

Once indentured servants became freedmen, the oppression of the territory on them would be reduced.

Freemen cultivated farmland and received only 30% tax.

Collect food from indentured servants and just leave rations for them.

But in the long run, only the free people will have the consumption power. Only when there are more free people can there be a market. Only with the market can productivity be improved.

Even if the short-term benefits are reduced, Richard will still implement the indentured servant law and slowly transform serfs into free citizens.

With these 20,000 gold coins, Richard planned to buy people.

Twenty thousand gold coins in Grant Kingdom can buy about four thousand people.

Such a large quantity can only be provided by Nolan's slave market.

Richard had just offended the interest group behind Jerram, who were extremely powerful in Nolan.

When going to Nolan at this time, you still need to be on guard against these people at all times.

Being watched secretly by many people, he could get into trouble at any time.

In the three provinces of Northern Xinjiang controlled by the royal family, the slave market is located in Heihe Fort.

This slave market was relatively small, with less than a thousand slaves in total.

Moreover, there are many people involved in the slave market, and as the provincial governor, Jerram must have a part in it.

If Jerram takes the opportunity to arrange spies to mix among the slaves, leading to the leakage of advanced technology in Harland territory, the gain will outweigh the loss.

Therefore, Richard did not plan to buy slaves in the Grant Kingdom this time. Instead, he chose to go to the neighboring Grand Duchy of Stanik to avoid the eyes of others.

Before preparing to leave, Richard was a little worried about the territory and had a talk with Hayden in person.

"Jerram paid the ransom, and we have let Howard go. I am going to use the money to buy the population. Neither the Royal Capital nor Black River City is suitable to go. I am afraid I will have to travel far this time. Others in the territory are fine, counter-espionage Work is the top priority.

In particular, brick kilns, steel plants, breweries, brown sugar tree plantations, and Zitoufeng breeding farms must be patrolled by soldiers, and the arranged garrisons cannot be easily mobilized.

Any stranger who appears in the above-mentioned places must be arrested immediately and sent to the mine for mining. You manage your own intelligence work, and you must always be vigilant about this kind of thing, and you must not relax mentally. "

After explaining to Hayden, Richard talked with Sophia and asked her to manage the spring plowing work on his behalf.

William, Bernie, and Ron are still in the army, Richard and Soros are preparing to go out, and Powell is staring at the construction of Sophia Castle. The decision-making in the territory can only be made by his wife.