Lord Harland

As of this year, the number of freedmen has far exceeded that of indentured servants. Starting this year, taxes have become the bulk of the territory's fiscal revenue.

There are more than 7 million free people, and they can receive 2.4 million gold coins a year from land taxes alone. Add in customs duties, commercial taxes, real estate taxes, special commodity taxes, etc., and the tax revenue alone was 300 gold coins last year. More than half a million.

According to statistics from the financial department, the tax revenue of Harland Territory last year totaled 5.93 million gold coins, of which the tax revenue accounted for 59%. With the substantial increase in tax revenue, Harland Territory has increased its exposure to the external market. Dependence has weakened a lot.

In the past two years, the three kingdoms of Delong, East Coast, and Lane have tried their best to suppress the economic development of Harland and strengthened their efforts to combat smuggling. It has become very difficult for Harland to sell its flagship products to foreign countries.

Nowadays, daily commodities such as high-quality liquor, brown sugar, elf black tea, soap, soap, and glass products have been driven out of the Three Kingdoms market. Even smuggling channels have been severely cracked down by the authorities, and the powerful people who cooperated are no longer willing to do it.

The external market has suffered a major blow, and Haaland's commercial income has decreased somewhat.

External market demand has weakened, and Haaland's territory relies more on the domestic demand market. With the surge in the number of free citizens, the domestic demand market has been greatly expanded, and the Harland Territory has a stronger tax source.

With the growth of the economy, the domestic demand market has slowly expanded, and external market demand has been relegated to a secondary aspect.

In late January, Harland led another class of freshmen to enroll. This year, the number of freshmen enrolled exceeded 50,000, and the number of students entering the Magic Academy reached 500.

Including these 500 new people, the Harland Master Mage Association will have 2,100 people. The scale of 2,100 people is already close to the level of the Kingdom of Lane. However, the number of official magicians is greater in the Lion Kingdom than in the Harland Kingdom.

As of January this year, there are 454 official magicians in the Harland Territory. In addition to the 300 magicians controlled by the royal family and the small amount of magic power possessed by the great nobles, the number of magicians in the Grant Kingdom has exceeded 900, roughly. Equivalent to half the level of the United Kingdom on the East Coast.

Soon after the freshmen enrolled, the time suddenly came to March.

March is the season for spring plowing, but in the Puliland area, spring plowing may have to wait until April.

After entering the Bolton Forest to the north, the grass and trees will not sprout until early May. If you want to do spring plowing, you have to wait until May.

In Bolton Forest, there is usually heavy snowfall in early October, and the vegetation will wither in late September, leaving a very short period for plant growth.

Near this area, winter often lasts for six or seven months, spring and autumn are very short, only about thirty days, and the average temperature is above 20 degrees for less than three months a year.

In this kind of climate, it is impossible to grow wheat at all, and can only grow crops with short growth cycles, such as oats and potatoes. Due to the lower temperature, the yield is lower than in the Puliland area.

Moreover, due to the irregular snowfall time, snow disasters in this area are very frequent and food production is unstable. The area north of Bolton Forest is not suitable for human survival and reproduction before industry has developed to a certain extent and food production is large-scale.

Fortunately, the population of Harland Territory settled in Bolton Forest is not large, there are only more than 400 elves of the Morningglow tribe.

Because the Mystery Lock is protected by a constant temperature formation, the elves are relatively comfortable living in the Mystery Lock.

Misuo covers an area of ​​about ten square kilometers and has a population of less than 500. It is not overcrowded, and some bread trees can be planted in the open space in the middle.

Moreover, Richard, Undine, and Sophia all have large-capacity space equipment. Once a year, they can bring hundreds of cubic meters of supplies, which can make more than 400 elves live very comfortably.

The elves do not need to worry about food and supplies. Their only task is to mobilize soldiers to serve Harland in the war.

One day in mid-March, the weather outside the window was very dark, and drizzle fell on the ground. A rain during the spring plowing period was undoubtedly a timely help.

Richard practiced breathing techniques early in the morning, had just handled government affairs for two hours, and was about to have lunch when a special urgent message was sent to the Duke's Palace.

When he opened the letter and read it, even Richard, who was relatively wealthy in the city, changed his expression. It turns out that the special envoy of the Holy Radiance Empire has already taken a magic ship and docked at the Morning Glory Castle at the mouth of the Black River.

Although it is traveling upstream, it cannot use sails or steam engines to provide power. Relying on the power of magic crystals, the magic ship can travel two to three hundred kilometers a day. However, a large magic ship sailing at full speed needs to burn 300 magic crystals every day, which can be converted into more than 3,000 gold coins. Even the Holy Radiance Empire magic ship relies on sails most of the time.

Harland led the magic ship and installed a steam boiler, which burned coal most of the time.

After seeing the Holy Radiance Empire's magic ship, the Morning Glory Castle garrison immediately dispatched griffons to deliver the message. If we rely on griffins to deliver letters, it will be faster than even the eight-hundred-mile express trip.

After receiving the news of the Holy Radiance Empire's mission, Richard thought to himself: "It is rumored that the Holy Radiance Empire's intelligence network is spread all over the plane of dawn, and even the elves of the Eastern Continent and the dwarves of the Western Continent have spies planted.

Although the Holy Radiance Empire cannot control everything and it is difficult to project its tentacles to the Eagle Mountains and the northern prairie, the Holy Radiance Empire is still the most powerful force in the plane of dawn. This country sends envoys to Harland to conquer remote areas like Harland. , there must be a purpose, and it is likely to cause trouble for Haaland's tie. "

After receiving the letter from the Holy Radiance Empire, Richard immediately dispatched a flying dragon to quickly notify Sylph and Sutton to go to Fort William for discussions.

In addition to Silver and Sutton, Richard also notified the Third Army Commander Jennings, the Second Army Commander Soros, the Fifth Army Commander Grumang, and Prime Minister Rogge in the cabinet. In less than a day, Minister of Intelligence Vitas and Second Uncle Powell arrived at the Duke's Palace on a flying dragon.

The core of Harland's territory almost gathered at the Duke's Palace. Father William, third uncle Bernie, and Commander Wilde of the Fourth Army Corps were too far away and had no time to notify them, so they had no choice but to tell them the results.

In addition to the core members of the territory, Richard, Sophia, Undine, Margaret, and Philip all participated in the secret meeting. The second son Rex was too young and did not show up.

Seeing that all the important people had arrived, Richard showed everyone the urgent information and said straight to the point: "The envoys of the Holy Radiance Empire have entered the mouth of the Black River. It has been about two days now. According to the speed of the magic ship, , I’m afraid the special envoy is not far from Black River Fort.”

As soon as Richard finished speaking, the postman from Eastbourne Castle rode a fast horse and arrived at Fort William in advance by changing horses continuously, and delivered a letter from Reynolds, the governor of Eastbourne.

Reynold is in his mid-thirties and is considered to be the first batch of primary school graduates in Harland. After graduating from elementary school, he has been serving Harland for fifteen or sixteen years.

In fifteen or sixteen years, he climbed from a low-level civil servant to the position of county governor. Reynold's ability must be extraordinary.

There is not much energy behind this person. The reason why he can be promoted quickly is entirely due to his shrewdness and ability. This person is naturally friendly and good at speaking and negotiating. He is very good at easing and compromising conflicts between all parties. He is naturally proficient in reconciliation. He reconciles both parties every time. Any conflict can satisfy both parties.

This ability is most suitable for being an official.

Because Reynold had this ability, he quickly stood out among grassroots civil servants and was appreciated by senior officials. When he was in his twenties, he gained Rogge's attention and was promoted to Rogge's assistant. He served Rogge for three or four years.

Although Reynold was still relatively young, Rogge had already proposed to Richard that he be promoted to be the consul of the newly created province of Pryland.

The Provincial Consul of Haaland is the highest-ranking civil servant. In recent years, it has become more important than the Cabinet Minister. He is a real frontier official, with high authority and monopoly power. There are almost no candidates who can serve as Provincial Consul. They are all veteran officials like Powell, Rogge, Hayden, Burleyn, and Rooney.

It is actually no small matter that Rednour can be nominated. His future is already ahead of that of most cabinet ministers.

The reason why Rogge solemnly recommended Reynold was probably to choose a successor for himself. It seems that his impression of cabinet members and provincial officials is very average.

Most of the high-ranking civil servants under Harland's leadership are indeed people who have achieved success because of their talents. Their abilities are not outstanding, but they have occupied their positions early, received sufficient experience, and kept up with the great development of the territory. Among these people, Rogge was better. He established a foothold in Nolan on his own and served as a civil servant.

Rednor indeed has a great perspective on the overall situation. Even though the Holy Radiant Empire has a great reputation, Rednor still withstood the pressure and detained the Holy Radiant Empire's magic ship for a period of time, and then invited the Holy Radiant Empire's special envoy to visit East County. a few days.

Rednour held back the special envoy, so that Richard and others had time to discuss in advance and make some plans to prevent the special envoy from suddenly coming to Harland's territory and catching Richard by surprise.

Although the Holy Radiant Empire is very far away from the Harland Territory, it seems that it cannot reach here for the time being. But after all, it is the largest force in the Dawn Plane. At this time, compared with the Holy Radiance Empire, the Harland Territory is just a strong ant. Conflicts between the two sides should be avoided as much as possible.

If Richard is given another twenty years, when the Harland territory develops, Richard and Sophia will be promoted to legends one after another, swallow up the territories of several nearby countries, eliminate the orcs in the grassland governorate, and master one or two alien planes. Richard has enough confidence to fight against the Holy Radiance Empire, just like the Magic Kingdom in the southwest, giving the Holy Radiance Empire a look.

"Rednour delayed the special envoy and bought us time without letting the Holy Glory Empire be caught off guard. Let's talk about it and see what the Holy Glory Empire's plan is?"

Seeing that everyone was silent and seemed to be still considering their words, Rogge was the first to express his opinion.

"The Holy Glory Empire is very well-informed and has planted spies in almost all kingdoms. The rapid development of our Harland leader in the past twenty years may not be hidden from the eyes of the Holy Glory Empire.

This time the special envoy came, probably for this reason, and the tasks he brought may suppress the development of Harland's leadership.

As the largest force in the Dawn Plane, the Holy Radiance Empire has always disliked accepting challenges. In the past thousand years, the strength of the elves has been recovering, and the orcs have been plundering northward. The Southwest Magic Kingdom has long been freed from the restrictions of the Holy Radiance Empire by relying on the God of Truth. The eastern part of our central continent has always been the back garden of the Holy Radiance Empire. .

There are seventeen kingdoms and grand duchies in the eastern part of the mid-continent, plus six kingdoms in the north and four kingdoms in the south, a total of twenty-six kingdoms and grand duchies. They have been attacking each other for thousands of years. No matter which one develops and grows, it will definitely attract the Holy Glorious Empire. interference. In the past ten years, the Grant Kingdom and our Harland Territory have seemed too strong. "

After listening to Rogge's analysis, Intelligence Minister Vitas nodded and said: "The Prime Minister said it well. In addition to this reason, I think there may be factors such as magic civilization and industrial technology. Twenty years ago, I personally presided over He became the spy of Viscount Cisse and stole Harland's distilled liquor brewing technology.

Today, Harland's products are exported to several nearby countries, and there is still an uproar outside to spread steam machinery and railway train technology. Moreover, we can launch many wars in a row and never worry about the magic crystal reserves. Over the years, we have continued to acquire discarded magic crystals. The magic crystal charging technology was also vaguely leaked.

Magic crystal charging technology is the core of the development of our territory and the most important technology. Once the Holy Radiance Empire makes a request for exchange, will we reject it or accept it? "

Both of them spoke well and revealed part of everyone's doubts. After listening to Rogge and Vitus's statements, Zhannings also stood up and said: "There may be another reason. The Holy Glory Empire may want to dismember it. Divide the Grant Kingdom and bring the crown to the lord's head.

Once we break away from the Grant Kingdom, even if we cooperate closely with each other, we will not be as inseparable as we are now. King Anton of the Delon Kingdom is very capable and is very good at sowing discord and stirring up trouble. Once there is a rift between us and the Grant royal family, the situation in the surrounding countries will be stable. "

Jennings' words spoke to Soros's heart.

"Although the Holy Radiance Empire's intelligence system is complex, it needs to monitor all aspects of the Dawn Plane. They may not have many members in the Grant Kingdom?

Moreover, the territory has been developing rapidly. In fact, it has only been in the past five or six years. Ten years ago, Richard had not been promoted to Duke, and it is estimated that he will not be able to enter the Holy Radiant Empire's watch list.

The intelligence department of Harland Territory is very powerful. We generally do not use people with unknown backgrounds in key units. Even if the Holy Radiance Empire planted spies in the territory, they are probably still in the indentured servant class and cannot have access to any intelligence.

The Holy Radiant Empire is very far away from us and probably doesn’t understand our situation at all. Moreover, the biggest enemy of the Holy Radiant Empire is the orcs, and secondly there is the problem of elves. The magicians in the southwest region also disobey the management of the Holy Radiant Empire and contain many forces of the Holy Radiant Empire. The Holy Radiance Empire also needs to deploy troops to operate and suppress the alien plane.

Even if we offend this big empire, they won't be able to exert much power. If the Holy Radiant Empire wants to suppress us, I have only one way, which is to fight with them and kill them directly. After overthrowing the Holy Glorious Empire, we will face a different situation. "

Hearing these very encouraging words, Richard clapped vigorously and said: "Although uncle is old, his courage is still more courageous than young people. The development of the territory has always put me first, and we will never let the Holy Glory Empire interfere. , tie our hands and feet and restrict our development.

But in some small matters, we should not let others take the blame. We should try our best to support the messenger and not cause trouble for the territory. "