Lord Harland

Although he and Richard have not seen each other for more than ten years, the appearance of Richard when he was young will always be etched in Odaye's mind. As the most important person in his life, Odaye's life can be said to have changed because of Richard.

If Odaye had not been purchased by Richard in the slave market and joined the Harland Territory, no matter how talented Odaye was, he would not have been able to regain his freedom in life and achieve a class jump. Just like the slaves of all living beings, they can only fall into the dust and can never change their destiny.

There is extraordinary power in the Dawn Plane, and nobles can easily suppress ordinary people by relying on their extraordinary power.

In order to prevent the lower class from mastering extraordinary power and competing with the upper class nobles, almost all nobles have voluntarily blocked extraordinary knowledge, making it very difficult to cross classes in this world, with almost no upward paths for people at the bottom.

Countries such as Grant and Lane, which are facing the front lines of the orc invasion, face life-and-death threats. In order to resist the orcs, they will allow some classes to move, open up some extraordinary resources, and give full play to the subjective initiative of free people and serfs.

Only on the northern front line could Richard make reforms that slowly liberated the serfs. If he were in a stable and safe territory, no one would agree with his approach.

After all, the orcs were a formidable enemy, and Richard's pardon of the serfs also greatly increased the cohesion of Harland's army. After the most difficult years, the policy also gained consistency.

It is also a blessing for Odaye to join Harland and catch up with the turbulent era.

Odaye is very attached to the land of Harland. He has realized the value of life and made a class jump in this land. He has also been injured and shed blood for this land. The status of Harland in his heart has far surpassed that of his hometown, and he is willing to continue to be injured, bleed, and sacrifice to protect this land.

As the owner of this land, Richard also received Odaye's heartfelt respect. Although he hasn't seen Richard for many years, because he used the water of life, he has become much younger, almost the same as he was more than ten years ago.

When he saw Richard and Phillip, he recognized them instantly. Odaye stepped forward quickly, saluted Richard with a military salute, and said in a somewhat excited voice: "Dear Duke, I am very happy to see you."

Richard patted Odaye on the shoulder, with a smile on his face, and said with appreciation: "Even in my ears, I heard that you have made a lot of money in the past few years, and your ostentation is bigger than that of the nobles. Although What you earn is legal property, but you cannot do illegal things just to make money.

What I just heard from you is that you are somewhat dissatisfied with the territory's restriction on the use of slave workers by private enterprises. I can understand your motives in order to reduce costs.

But for the long-term industrial development of the territory, to cultivate the market, and to make the territory competitive, we must change the political status and living conditions of slaves and maintain a certain degree of class circulation. Providing opportunities for those with ability and talent at the bottom to advance is the key reason why we can develop and grow.

The slave class will eventually disappear in the Harland Territory. The territory will not allow the legalization of the slave trade. When you make commercial profits, you must also have a sense of social responsibility and a bottom line. After all, you were also born as a slave, so you should sympathize with the people at the bottom instead of finding ways to exploit and suppress them. "

Odaye represents the emerging capitalist class led by Harland. Compared with slave owners, capitalists are certainly more advanced.

With the development of industrial scale, the capitalist class must have higher pursuits economically and politically. When the voice gets louder, Richard will also prepare to establish the House of Commons, select magicians, professionals, and influential businessmen as members, and transfer some power to them to make the political institutions of Harland more stable. More vitality.

Of course, Richard's ideas have not been communicated to the cabinet members yet, and he has only discussed some with Sophia. We need to wait for an opportunity before making the final decision. Of course, if businessmen want to gain some power, they must fight for themselves. Expecting alms from the upper-class nobles is tantamount to a mirror, and even if Richard has this intention, it is still a piece of paper. Only when the situation reaches a certain level can compromise be successful.

Hearing the criticism in Richard's voice, Odaye's face suddenly turned pale, as if frost had hit an eggplant, and his mood was a little low.

As the first capitalist to make a fortune under Harland, Daye can be regarded as a new class supported and established by Richard.

Although the capitalist class is still just a vine wrapped around the nobles, Richard sincerely hopes that they can develop and play a greater role. But because of the extraordinary power in the Dawn Plane, capital will never play a decisive role like it did in previous lives.

Richard knew in his heart that when capital appears, it will inevitably pursue profits. This is the instinct of capital. As the ruler of a territory, capital must be used but also restricted, and must not be let go.

Richard talked with Odaye for a quarter of an hour and expressed his support for his decision to relocate the factory. The Fort William area of ​​the capital was indeed not very suitable for being an industrial center.

If you want to develop industry, Pulilan in the north of the Eagle Mountains and Heihebao in the south of the Eagle Mountains have significantly better regional conditions. These two cities have vast and flat terrain. They are nearby fertile grain-producing areas and have developed water transportation. . The most critical thing is the mineral resources in the Eagle Mountains, which are very close to the two places and can provide abundant nutrients for the development of industry.

Now that Harland has developed steam locomotive technology, the mileage of railways is increasing every year, and it is becoming easier and easier to transport minerals from the Eagle Mountains.

Fort William, Snow Crystal Lake, Swamp Basin, and Lothar Basin are more suitable as administrative centers, magical civilization research centers, and centers for cultivating extraordinary people.

A few years ago, Richard planned to move the capital to the Losar Basin. As the situation developed and swallowed up the two duchies of Edward and Fox, and the three provinces of northern Xinjiang, Richard gradually gave up on this decision.

After leaving Odaye's factory, Richard took Philip for a walk on Fort William Street.

Nowadays, Fort William is one of the largest cities in the Grant Kingdom. Although the castle is a mountain city, Fort William has developed into the commercial center of Harland Territory due to the commodity fairs held over the years.

In the valley south of the castle, various buildings are densely packed and built against the mountains. These buildings have stretched for six or seven kilometers, and many houses have been built on the mountainside on both sides of the valley.

The main street was full of people, and it was more prosperous than the Black River Fort where Richard lived when he was young.

This castle was built by Richard hand in hand when he was young. At that time, he also drew and planned the castle himself, and sometimes participated in the labor himself.

Suddenly twenty years have passed, and Richard suddenly felt a little emotional, time flies so fast! In the blink of an eye, children almost grow up to be adults.

After spending the afternoon in Fort William, Richard took Philip back to the mansion. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall and said to Philip: "Philip, it's time to do your homework."

As the son of a Duke, Philip has a very tight schedule every day. For safety reasons, Philip has now dropped out of school. He now needs six hours of home education and four hours of warrior training every day. Almost from the time I wake up in the morning to the time I fall asleep at night, there is not much free time.

Richard took him out for a walk, which was also a pleasant memory and relaxation for Philip.

Under normal circumstances, Philip studied for ten days in a row and had only one day off, but the training of warrior breathing techniques and skills could not stop for a day.

Philip did not inherit the magical talent of Richard and Sophia, but because he lived in a noble family since he was a child, he was well-nourished. Both Richard and Sophia had thin knight blood, but Philip took three bloodline enlightenment potions, but none of them succeeded in enlightenment. Unable to become a magician and a knight, Philip could only follow the path of his ancestors and start practicing the warrior breathing method.

However, compared to his ancestors William and his father Richard, Philip's innate conditions are countless times better. He does not need to be like his grandfather William who risked his life because he chose the wrong breathing method, nor is he like his father Richard who joined the Mad Lions to be controlled by others in order to learn further breathing methods.

Now Harland has mastered the legendary second-level fire breathing method, which is very compatible with Philip. When he was young, Philip took several precious medicines and laid the foundation in advance. Although he is young now, his physical fitness is no less than that of an adult.

After hearing Richard's instructions, Phillip reluctantly began to practice breathing techniques. After all, he is still relatively young, not as mature and smart as his sister, and does not yet understand his parents' painstaking efforts.

Because he had just started, Philip could only practice breathing for one hour a day. The remaining three hours were mainly spent practicing archery, fighting, riding and other combat skills.

Phillip tried to adjust his breathing. With every breath, his body was adapting and absorbing the magic energy. During this process, his body would feel severe stinging pain. Children are not strong enough and most of them have difficulty supporting them.

In fact, the same is true for meditation. When you first start meditating, you will feel mentally tired and your soul will be in severe pain. Only after you endure this process and your body adapts, this pain will be alleviated.

In Philip's young heart, he has never understood why his parents and sister tortured him. Now every day of his life is like a year, and his spirit seems to be going crazy.

His mind was not on practicing the breathing method, so he was naturally distracted. Practicing breathing methods is very dangerous, so you must be cautious at all times, and your thoughts must fluctuate with your breathing.

Just as his mind began to wander, Phillip felt a sharp pain in his chest, his eyes suddenly turned red, he roared and spit out a mouthful of blood, and then passed out.

Seeing that Philip had an accident while practicing breathing techniques, Richard hurriedly released the healing technique on him and notified his mother.

After Sophia rushed over, she suddenly had a headache when she saw Phillip.

The two people were very knowledgeable, and they discovered at a glance that the main reason why Phillip had problems practicing breathing techniques was because he was careless.

Soldiers who were born as serfs all had a strong desire to change their destiny. Although they had incomplete writing and some of the content of the breathing method was somewhat unclear, they were often very serious and focused in practicing the breathing method.

As your knowledge gradually improves and your understanding of breathing methods becomes deeper, you can easily get started.

On the contrary, many nobles like Philip, who have superior living conditions, have little determination on the extraordinary path.

Precisely because nobles degenerate quickly, from the Holy Glory Empire to the Grant Kingdom, decrees have been issued stating that only those who have been promoted to the profession can ascend to the nobility.

Even in order to encourage internal metabolism among the nobles, they allowed fighting among the nobles. Like raising a poisonous worm, a powerful heir is selected through brutal competition.

Both Richard and Sophia have seen this kind of struggle over inheritance countless times, whether it was the process of King Roger's ascension to the throne of the Grant royal family, or the bloody fight for inheritance by the lower barons. They had seen it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears.

If Philip wants to secure his position as lord, he not only needs the support of his parents, he also needs to have a certain amount of power, and he must not be a stupid or fatuous person.

Seeing that Phillip's breath was gradually stabilizing, Richard said with a hint of tiredness on his face: "Phillip's mind is not yet mature, so why not wait a few more years to start practicing breathing techniques."

After hearing this, Sophia quickly shook her head and said, "If we wait a few more years, he may become even more mediocre."

"As parents, maybe we should accept Philip's mediocrity. The vast majority of people in this world are mediocre, and geniuses will always be in the minority. As our child, maybe we should make him happy and give him more care. , let him live a mediocre life."

After hearing what Richard said, Sophia's expression changed and her expression suddenly became dazed.

"Are you thinking of replacing someone again? I will never agree to this."

Seeing Sophia's great reaction, Richard quickly swore and swore: "I definitely have no such plan. What I want to say is that with us taking care of him, Philip does not need to be very smart, farsighted, or brave to charge into battle. We have a long life, and Philip will definitely be ahead of us. He can be a mediocre person. Being a mediocre person is actually a kind of luck."

"But if Philip behaves mediocrely, how can he get the support of all strata in the territory, and how can he compete with his younger siblings? Undine's child will be born next year. This child's mother's family is so powerful. His grandmother is a legend, and his uncle There is also a great chance of being promoted to a legend, and the power of mother is also very powerful. How do you want me to feel reassured?"

Although Sophia did not rebuke directly, she hit Richard's weakness. Although he always thought of things in a good direction, if something happened to him at this time, the Stowe family would compete with the Sutton family for inheritance rights. Sophie Ya and her children may not be able to save their lives.

Humans are different from elves. Elves usually discriminate against half-elves. It is difficult for an elf tribe to make a half-elf their heir. However, in the human kingdom, the social atmosphere does not discriminate against half-elves. Many nobles in the Holy Glory Empire have elven blood.

"But the way Philip is now, the harder we push him, the more rebellious he may become, and the result may be that he goes in the opposite direction, which may not be a good thing for the child."

"If we were ordinary people, I could live an ordinary life and accept the mediocrity of my children. But you are a duke, and you will be a grand duke and a king in the future. Philip, as your son, must not be mediocre. If the king's heir Mediocrity is a disaster for the country. Even if I drive him crazy or to death, I will never let him become a mediocre person."

Hearing Sophia's categorical words, Richard was even a little frightened. At this time, Sophia was far more powerful and cruel than Richard.