Chapter 185 Comradeship

After hunting the Megalodon, Richard gave a bounty to the members of the demon hunting team. Although the amount was not much, it was equivalent to a year's salary. Thirty or so demon hunting team members were given a total of 500 gold coins.

After receiving the bounty, Sura invited old friends such as Jennings and Julian to dinner.

They were all the first batch of slaves, and this year is the seventh year since they joined the Harland Territory.

Of the three hundred comrades who joined the army together, more than one-third have died in battle, and more than one-third are disabled. In addition to some retired active service, there are only a dozen people left who are still working in the army.

These dozen people have different talents. Some have developed well and have been promoted to the third level, while others have developed generally and are still middle-level warrior students.

Sura led everyone into a restaurant. Jennings looked at the restaurant's sign and asked in a rather strange way: "When did Fort William open a restaurant?"

In the past six months, Jennings has been leading troops outside. After returning to Fort William, he actually felt a sense of strangeness.

Some commercial activities have appeared on the streets of Fort William.

You should know that before the orcs invaded last year, Fort William was still a military fortress, and it was also managed militaristically, with no business personnel at all.

"Jennings, you have been outside for too long. The changes in the territory are very fast now."

Sura smiled, asked a few people to sit down, called out the owner of the restaurant, pointed at the owner and asked Jennings: "Do you still remember him?"

The owner of the restaurant looked to be in his forties, very capable, and had a military style. Jennings felt a little familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

"Forgot, it's Big Head Odaye."

"Odaye, you have changed too much. We haven't seen each other for four or five years, right? I'm very sorry that I didn't recognize you."

Odaye was once a comrade-in-arms of Jennings and Sura in a squadron. He was in a small team with Sura, slept in the same tent, and ate from the same pot.

Unfortunately, his physical talent was very average and he couldn't withstand the high-intensity training of the army.

Not only did his breathing method progress very slowly, but he also vomited blood and injured his internal organs during a training session.

In the end, Odaye was considered unfit for combat, and he received a part of the subsidy and retired from the first squadron.

Odaye was injured in training, and although he did not make any military achievements, he was restored to freeman status in advance.

In recent years, he has been working in a tailor shop.

After several years of recuperation, Odaye's body has finally recovered a lot.

After the war, Odaye met his good friend Sura in Fort William.

After not seeing each other for several years, the two people's situations are already very different.

Today, Sura is the captain of the squadron, with a monthly salary of three gold coins, plus various rewards and allowances, and an annual income of more than 40 gold coins.

Not only is the income high, but the status is also high, achieving class transition and entering the middle and upper class of the territory.

Although Odaye became a freeman a few years earlier and saved a little money, his status has been very different from Sura.

Because of the relationship of being from the same hometown, Odaye took good care of Sura.

In the slave market and in the army, he helped him like an elder brother. At that time, their relationship was like that of relatives.

After Odaye was discharged from the First Squadron, he could not accept the reality and did not contact his former comrades. He worked in the clothing factory while recovering from illness.

When he met his old friend again, Odaye suddenly felt ashamed.

He was about to pretend that he did not know him, but was stopped by Sura.

After learning about Odaye's recent situation, Sura lent him 100 gold coins and funded him to open a large restaurant.

Sura worked in the army for seven years and regained his status as a freeman four years ago. He did not get married. After becoming a professional officer, his income increased greatly. In a few years, he saved more than 100 gold coins after several meritorious services and awards.

Being able to lend 90% of his property to his friends at one time, Sura was undoubtedly a person who valued feelings more than money.

Odaye was not only a fellow comrade of Sura, but also had a special relationship with Jennings.

When Jennings was suffering from the plague, it happened to be Odaye who brought him food before being treated by Richard.

At that time, Sulla also suffered from the plague. In order to take care of this little fellow countryman, Odaye took the initiative to ask to deliver food to the sick slaves.

Because he was responsible for delivering food to slaves with the plague, Odaye was soon infected.

They were bought by Richard together, and joined the Harland Territory after surviving.

Because of this relationship, Jennings was particularly excited to see Odaye.

"I remember that you are not very good at cooking, how can you open a restaurant?"

"Time can change everything. Seven years have changed Jennings and Odaye."

Seeing that Jennings was still willing to associate with a lowly person like him, Odaye felt his sincerity. He patted Jennings on the shoulder and made a joke.

"It was the respected lord, Viscount Richard, who changed everything for us."

Because Richard changed the fate of Jennings' family, he was very loyal to Richard, which could also be shown in his daily chats.

If an unfamiliar person met Jennings, he would definitely think that he was a person who was good at flattery.

"We should be grateful to Lord Richard. Without him, we wouldn't have the wonderful life we ​​have now. I'm a restaurant owner, so I don't need to pick up the kitchen knife to cook. Our restaurant employs three contract servants, and one of them is a very good chef."

"Aren't the contract servants in the territory always managed directly by the government?"

"The legal provisions have changed since last winter. Now the contract slaves are divided into official slaves and private slaves. Official slaves are slaves directly managed by the government, and private slaves are slaves purchased by free people from the outside. As we all know, official slaves sign a five-year contract, and private slaves can sign a ten-year contract."

After this year's Goddess's Birthday Festival, in the year 3259, there are already 14,000 free people in the Harland Territory.

Most of the free people in the territory are the families of soldiers who died, were disabled, or made meritorious service. There are more than 8,000 of them.

As long as you join the army, the threshold to become a free person with your family is not high. As long as you have fought a few battles and cut off the heads of orcs, you can basically make military merits.

More than 90% of the 1,600 veterans in the territory are meritorious personnel.

In addition to the families of soldiers, most of the free people are slaves who came in the first two years. In addition, those who have made contributions to the development of the territory and have been recognized and commended by Richard will also become free people in advance.

Fourteen thousand free people have saved some money now because of the low tax policy formulated by Richard.

Many smart people have already started business activities.

To engage in business activities, it is natural to hire people.

However, the contract slaves in the territory are controlled by the government, and hiring free people cannot afford too high a price.

The earliest batch of merchants in the territory were all smart people. They found Chief Justice Otto, hoping to amend the law and open a loophole to allow them to buy slaves from the outside world.

Otto thought for a while, agreed to the merchant's request, and decided to talk to Richard.

Although it is easier for spies to sneak in by opening the loophole for private purchase of slaves, it is also of great benefit to the development of the territory.

Because of the large number of troops, Richard can no longer afford to continue to buy slaves.

If you want to continue to increase the population size, you need to rely on the power of the people.

Many of the private merchants are family members of officers, and they have accumulated a lot of money.

If this money is hidden in the cellar, it will only cause deflation and will not benefit the territory's economy. If it is used to buy slaves, it will increase the strength of the territory.

With a larger population, the market will become larger and the economy will develop.

The power of a territory does not lie in how much gold and silver the lord has, but in how many supplies, population, weapons, and extraordinary powers the territory has.