Lord Harland

Richard came to the villages near the Im River and found that except for a few families, most of the free people could only live in underground houses.

These freedmen had very few possessions, no cotton bedding, and slept in simple haystacks. They wore tattered clothes, with basically no patches on them, and the cloth was severely damaged and could barely cover their bodies. The tools at home are extremely rare, with only some pottery and a few iron farm tools. The food they eat is wheat bran, sweet potatoes, and occasionally some wild vegetables. The food is no better than pigs.

Richard had read statistics compiled by the tax department. Freedmen who had just been pardoned in the first year were often very poor. Especially before the summer grain harvest, their living standards were not as good as when they were serfs.

After all, as a serf, the lord provides food and clothing, and you don't need to worry about the working tools.

But after becoming a free citizen, the territory only provided relief food after dividing the fields. Most of the relief food was coarse grains, which was very difficult to swallow. Each person received a loan of three silver coins, and could only borrow part of the farm tools and grain for food and drink. You have to figure it out yourself.

Especially when settling in remote areas, all kinds of supplies cannot be transported, and prices are high, making life even worse.

Although Imburg is considered a remote area, it is a county town after all, and supplies can be replenished from Salt Lake Fort through water transportation.

Salt Lake Fort has been developed for many years. Although it is not self-sufficient due to natural conditions, it is a prosperous county due to the mining of salt lake minerals. Although the transported materials are a little more expensive, they can be supplemented to some extent.

This year, the territory has established more than twenty settlements on both sides of the Im River, and each settlement has to arrange for a dozen retired and disabled veterans. These talents are the basic core of the Haaland territory's rule over this area.

The resettlement conditions for these retired and disabled veterans were very good. They all built brick and stone houses on the territory, and each household was allocated 200 acres of farmland. Richard also specially approved a note, issued them armor, and bows and crossbows, and formed a three-hundred-acre People's militia brigade, responsible for suppressing rebellion.

These people are already considered to be the knights of Harland.

In fact, not only were the people in this area dissatisfied, Richard was also worried about them, and soldiers rarely recruited from this group of indentured slaves.

Even if there is a gap in people's hearts, Richard is still confident to integrate them into Harland's territory. After all, compared to the lords of neighboring countries, the policies and laws of the Harland Territory are more civilized. The residents also have better living conditions and a smoother path for advancement.

Even if the hearts of the first generation are unstable, by the second and third generations, their descendants will eventually be proud to be Haalanders.

After entering the village, Richard specifically inquired about the information, selected a family with aristocratic blood, entered the den, and easily adapted to the narrow and dirty environment. Seeing that the lord was not too dirty and was willing to be a guest at his home, the male host suddenly felt anxious and a complicated expression flashed across his face.

I saw that the male host was very tall and burly, vaguely exuding a special aura, as if the power of fighting spirit was rotating in his body.

"Are you a professional?"

"Reporting to the Duke, I am a second-level warrior."

"May I have your name?"

"Dear Sir, my name is Gulov Farias."

Hearing this name, Richard immediately thought of a familiar person.

"Who are you, Baron Farias, near Nero's castle?"

Seeing Richard asking questions, Gurov was suddenly shocked. He never expected that Richard would react so quickly. He could only say in panic: "I am a member of the Baron Farias family. I passed the political review. I didn't Any crime.”

Back then, Richard captured many aristocratic people in the Grand Duchy of Stanik, and suppressed some of them who were too angry and had blood debts.

The remaining member of the aristocracy, Richard, did not choose to be implicated. After all, Richard's outlook on life was different from that of the aristocrats of the Dawn Plane, and he was more civilized and tolerant than the indigenous lords.

Seeing Gulov lowering his head tremblingly, Richard said calmly: "Don't worry about this, as long as there is no crime, the territory will treat you all equally.

You have mastered all kinds of knowledge and can practice the breathing techniques passed down from your family, so you can easily stand out from the common people. As long as you serve the territory wholeheartedly, you have a great chance of restoring the glory of your ancestors and being promoted to the top of the territory.

Moreover, when Farias was alive, he was not a brave and fighting man. He insulted the honor of the nobles by escaping on the battlefield, and any upright nobleman would despise his conduct.

Even Nero and Solawan, with more than 10,000 troops, cannot defeat the Harland Territory. You only have noble blood. If you dare to openly oppose the rule of the lord, it is like hitting an egg with a stone. "

Hearing Richard's clear promise, Gulov finally breathed a sigh of relief and sighed: "The Lord is such a kind man!"

In fact, Gurov's bloodline is far away from the main line of Baron Farias, but in Baron Farias, his family still has a very good living standard. In the barony, Gulov has 260 acres of cultivated land. The eldest son and younger brother are both professional officers and have relatively generous salaries.

There is also a bakery he runs in Farias Castle, with an annual income of more than one hundred gold coins. Because of his noble blood and Gulov's good business skills, he is already in the upper class in the territory.

But the war destroyed everything in Gurov's life. His younger brother disappeared on the battlefield, and his eldest son was killed in the battle to defend Nero's castle. Even Gurov's patron, Baron Farias, did not survive.

Overnight, Gulov became a serf. After four and a half years of hard work, he became a free man because of the special policies of Leader Harland.

Most of the free citizens of the Grand Duchy of Stanik have complete families.

The same was true for Gulov. When he was first captured, he not only had his wife but also a slave girl and a lover. However, when disaster struck, they both left. After becoming indentured slaves in Harland, Gurov's female slaves and lovers left him one after another. Now only his wife and three children are left by his side.

In the first half of his life, Gulov did not have a deep understanding of power. Although he had good talent, his personality was a bit lazy and he was afraid of the heavy. Coupled with the limited development space and high living standards, Gurov was not willing to improve on the breathing method. In Kung Fu, at the age of forty, he is only a high-level warrior student. On the contrary, his younger brother is already a fourth-level warrior, and his eldest son has also been successfully promoted to a professional.

After encountering a big change, Gurov took time to practice breathing techniques every day. Although he could not afford medicine and lacked nutrition, he broke through two realms in five years and became a second-level warrior.

According to common sense, professionals have a relatively good income level. Even if they do not receive official services for Harland, they can get a salary by joining a mercenary group or a demon hunting team.

The main reason why Gulov is particularly poor is that he cannot live without his family. His youngest son was just born this year, and his three children are waiting to be fed. His wife is unable to cultivate the farmland she was assigned.

In a wasteland area like the Im River Valley, the situation is not very stable. If Gulov leaves an orphan and a widower, even if he can send money back, his wife and children may not be able to survive.

"How is your harvest this year?"

Hearing Richard ask about the harvest, Gulov finally showed a smile on his face: "Thanks to the blessing of the Goddess of Dawn, the Im River Basin has a good harvest. I cultivated thirty-six acres of spring wheat this year, because it was to open up wasteland. In the first year, the average annual output was only 126 kilograms. Half of the grain was sold for two gold coins, one silver coin, and six copper coins. After paying taxes, there were still ten silver coins and six copper coins left. There are still 2,200 kilograms of grain left."

After listening to Gulov's story, Richard nodded and said: "The food is barely enough to eat, but this little money is not very easy to survive the winter. A cotton-padded coat for the five of your family would cost eight silver coins, and the remaining money cannot be used to buy it." Fuel for the winter, and this kind of underground nest is not suitable for long-term living, so the living environment needs to be improved as soon as possible.

The territory has special loans specifically for freedmen, charging an interest rate of 20% per year. If you really can't survive, you can apply for a loan. "

Richard knew in his heart that the area opened up this year was considered the poorest area in the territory. Unlike Nelson and Graveson, there are no ready-made houses here and it is cultivated land. In the first year of land reclamation, the output was relatively low, and heavy taxes had to be borne. The accumulation of wealth was very slow.

At the normal pace of development, it would take about ten years to build a brick house. After living in a crude environment for a long time, the first freedmen would probably be riddled with ailments by then.

It is impossible for the Harland Territory to give up taxation. The territory's expenses are very large now. Although there was a surplus last year, this year they made a lot of money from hunting Warcraft. However, the territory's defense pressure is still very high. This year, the army will be expanded by 6,000 people, and next year it will face another orc invasion. Therefore, the territory can only use part of the money to issue loans and cannot reduce taxes.

"Now that the summer harvest is complete, I plan to sow some grass seeds in the cultivated land. I can also cut a batch of grass before winter, and I should be able to get some money. The fuel problem is not a big deal. I plan to go to the mountains on both sides of the river valley to cut wood. Not only can you collect fuel, but you can also sell some of it at a low price.

If life is tight this year, it will be looser next year. If you borrow a debt, you will have to pay interest next year, which is not cost-effective in the long run. "

Gurov is a professional, and his strength far exceeds that of ordinary people. He alone is equivalent to two or three strong laborers. Even though his wife has just given birth, the children cannot help, and the life is a little better than that of ordinary free people's families.

Richard came out of Gulov's house and walked around the village again, visiting several ordinary homes. Seeing that the village office officials had received the news, Richard went directly to the village office with two guards.

"You are all veterans, many of you have medals, and you have made military exploits. When you get to the local level, I hope you will not let your honor be shamed, and be a person with a sense of justice and compassion. Don't be corrupt or derelict in your duties. , let alone oppress the people.

I will come here again after winter this year to see who has a grievance?

The words have been notified, so please do your best. If something happens, even if your old officer comes to me to plead for mercy, my punishment will be more severe. It is not easy for everyone to have a good life. I hope you can cherish it all. Be a noble person, a person with a sense of honor. "

After Richard finished his lecture at the village hall, he went to the homes of these veterans.

Compared with new freedmen, the family conditions of veterans and village cadres are much better.

The territory has been planning to develop this area since last year. It mobilized indentured servants to do a lot of preparatory work, transported a lot of materials, and a small number of brick houses have been built.

This year, a new brick kiln was built near Imburg, which greatly increased brick production. Although it is not self-sufficient due to the large amount of work, it also reduced a large part of the transportation tasks.

When the transportation volume of building materials is reduced, the transportation volume of other materials can be increased. The supply of materials has increased, and prices can also be reduced by a few points.

In addition, limestone was discovered near the North Boundary Fort and a cement plant was under construction.

With the large-scale use of steam engines in Harland Territory, steam crushers have been successfully manufactured. Due to the large-scale planting of red rubber grass, Harland Territory has suitable rubber products. Using steam engines as power, red rubber grass products are transported Conveyor technology represented by belts is widely used in factories.

The steam ball grinding machine was also manufactured and used for the first time in cement kilns.

Although the large chimney of the kiln was very polluting and had no dust collection equipment or waste gas recovery and treatment equipment. In the previous life, it was an extremely backward and obsolete production capacity. However, in the Dawn Plane and in the Harland Territory, steam machinery was used in large quantities for the first time. Cement production in progress.

Once this cement plant is put into operation, it can produce 8,000 tons of cement per year, which is more than the total output of the eleven cement kilns in the Harland territory, which greatly alleviates the dilemma of insufficient cement production in the territory.

The new cement plant has innovated the technology and improved the ingredients, and the performance of the cement has also been improved.

If it hadn't been for the discovery of a large open-pit limestone mine near the North Border Fort, this new type of cement plant with very large investment would never have been built in the desolate border town.

Once the cement plant is put into operation, the industrial output value of North Boundary Fort will increase significantly, and the fiscal revenue will also increase a lot. Driven by the Beijiebao Cement Plant, the economic growth of Yim County can also be maintained at a high level.

After the summer harvest was completed, Richard inspected the Im River Basin for more than twenty days. He did not return to Fort William until the tax collection was completed and the new grain was put into storage.

In the past twenty days, Richard went deep into the grassroots many times, resolved many conflicts, and publicly punished seven or eight corrupt officials who harmed the people, winning over a wave of hearts in the area.

In fact, some of the people brought back from Stanik back then have been integrated into the territory. These people are the captured soldiers.

When absorbing captured soldiers, in order to eliminate the influence of Stanik nobles, Richard removed a large number of officers and soldiers with noble blood from the military camp. The remaining captive soldiers were basically citizens and serfs.

This group of soldiers has been in Harland Territory for five years, and some of them have been killed, injured, or retired over the years. Many people have made military exploits and have successfully integrated into the territory. The most developed ones have been promoted to deputy captains and will soon become the upper echelons of Harland's army.

The population of this part of the country is not large, and the total number exceeds 50,000. Unlike their compatriots, they have already returned to Haaland.