Chapter 227: Resettlement of Immigrants

The temperature in the northern Xinjiang region began to drop in October, and the territory's coal mining task became heavier.

Because more than a dozen workers were added this year, the output of the coal mine has continued to rise, and 26,000 tons have been mined so far. According to the coal mine's estimate, the output of the coal mine this year will reach 32,000 tons.

There are already more than 300 workers in the coal mine. If all of them go down to dig coal, the annual output of the coal mine will exceed 200,000 tons.

Unfortunately, the territory does not have such a large market, so there is naturally no need to explode production capacity.

However, for future development, Richard does need to train a group of coal miners, especially technical workers, and overstaffing is more serious.

Now there are more than 300 coal miners, who take turns to go down the mine. There are more than 60 miners in each shift, and the rest are responsible for infrastructure construction outside the mine.

The infrastructure of the coal mine will be completed this year, and there will be no need to increase workers next year. According to market demand, the output of the coal mine will also surge, reaching 60,000 tons.

The territory needs more than 20,000 tons of industrial coal a year.

In various kilns, coal has not yet completely replaced charcoal. If coal replaces charcoal, the production capacity of 60,000 tons of coal is estimated to be insufficient.

Starting next year, Richard will enact a decree to prohibit the arbitrary felling of trees.

The Haland Territory is a mountainous territory. If the forest is severely damaged and soil erosion is caused, it will become very difficult to manage.

This winter, 20,000 indentured slaves will be converted into freemen in the Haland Territory.

Including meritorious soldiers and the families of fallen soldiers, the number of freemen will reach 50,000 when the population is counted at the end of the year, although the new freemen have not yet been allocated land and do not need to pay taxes this year.

However, the tax source will expand a lot next year, and the field tax will increase to 12,500 gold coins by the end of the year. This money is already a lot of money.

According to the military pay level of the Haland Territory army, the field tax income can support 800 officers and soldiers.

By next year, the income from field taxes will be second only to official field planting, steel, and wool spinning, and its contribution to the territory's finances will also increase greatly.

Because Richard continuously transformed serfs into freemen, after nine years, Richard kept fulfilling his promises, and the serfs had a higher enthusiasm for production.

The indentured servants seemed to see the dawn of being promoted to freemen, and they worked hard one by one. The scene of supervisors whipping serfs to work has disappeared in the Harland Territory.

Richard established a work task subcontracting model among the indentured servants. In this model, it is enough to check the progress of the work, and there is no need for supervisors.

There are supervisors in the Harland Territory, of course, but the supervisors are basically in the mines, supervising the work of orc prisoners and criminals in the territory.

In the Harland Territory, as long as you become a freeman and work a little harder, you can basically solve the problem of food and clothing in the third year, and occasionally consume some slightly more expensive goods such as brown sugar, white wine, pork, etc.

Richard does not think that serfs are stupid people. Except for a few geniuses, the IQ of serfs is no different from that of nobles.

Although serfs are uneducated, it does not mean that they have no thoughts.

On the contrary, most of the serfs are very realistic. As long as they see hope, they will burst out with very strong enthusiasm.

After the magic alchemy furnace was built and a small amount of alloy was produced, the efficiency of mining was also improved.

After the alloy rolling bearings were used, the speed of the mine cart was much faster, and the track of the mine was replaced with a wooden track with a layer of manganese-iron alloy nailed on the outside.

The conditions of the mine were improved a lot, and the casualties of the orcs were gradually reduced.

The orcs are an intelligent race, although there is a serious racial competition between orcs and humans. Richard did not have the idea of ​​genocide, and his character was not so extreme and cruel.

The treatment of orc prisoners of war has been improved a little, and the strength of resistance has also been reduced.

The current Harland territory has an annual income of more than 100,000 gold coins. However, part of the gold coins exist in the form of food, woolen cloth, brown sugar, white wine, steel and other materials.

The income of 100,000 gold coins is close to the earldom in the south.

The earl family in the south has an annual income of between 100,000 and 200,000 gold coins, which can support about 5,000 to 10,000 regular troops.

The annual income of the Marquis family in the east exceeds 300,000.

The income of the Duke family in the northwest varies. The income of Duke Jonathan's territory exceeds 1.5 million, and the treatment of soldiers is no less than that of the central regular army such as the Northern Legion.

The Duke of Guise's territory has an annual income of less than 600,000, including the income from catching slaves.

The gap between the dukes' families is very large, and the strength of the territories is not much comparable.

The annual income of the Grant royal family is as high as 6 million gold coins, but the royal family needs to support seven main legions of about 160,000 regular soldiers, in addition to six second-line legions, adding up to more than 100,000 people. The military expenditure exceeds 4 million gold coins, plus local expenditures, there is almost no fiscal surplus.

King Roger, like Richard, still has a headache for military expenses every day.

After entering October, a large number of people poured into the territory. In order to settle these people and avoid freezing and starving too many people due to bureaucracy, Richard began a two-month patrol.

Richard did not choose a fixed place to inspect, and would not notify local officials. He would go directly into villages, construction sites, logging camps, mines, and factories with a few personal soldiers.

This practice of directly contacting the lowest-level civilians gave the bureaucrats in the territory a headache.

Although many bureaucrats persuaded Richard with security issues, including Richard's elder brother-in-law Rogge, Rogge blushed in the face of Richard's piercing eyes. He himself did not believe that anyone could assassinate Richard.

This autumn, Richard was promoted to a fifth-level warrior, and his physical attributes were improved again, with his strength reaching 18 points. He, who is a dual-cultivator of magic and martial arts, has very few shortcomings in combat. Even a ninth-level melee fighter is not Richard's opponent in a single fight.

A ninth-level magician is not absolutely sure of winning.

To threaten Richard's safety, a legendary assassin must be dispatched. Such a high-end assassin would certainly not choose to assassinate a small viscount.

Since Richard could not be prevented from contacting the grassroots, the bureaucrats' means of deceiving the superiors and the subordinates were difficult to use. In addition, Richard had absolute power over the territory, and a word could decide life and death.

As long as he was staring at something, the bureaucrats did not dare to fool around easily.

During the founding period, the administration was relatively clear, because the founding monarch had deterrence.

There are extraordinary powers in the Dawn Plane, and the authority of the lord depends partly on his own strength and partly on the gathering of people.

Faced with a lord like Richard who is strong and has prestige in the territory, the bureaucrats can only do their best to do the things they are told to do in order to keep their positions.

However, as the territory becomes larger and larger, it is gradually becoming more and more difficult for Richard to manage, inspect, and intimidate the bureaucrats.

The population of the territory has exceeded 200,000. Although there is no industry, the difficulty of management has far exceeded that of a township.

The area of ​​the territory has reached more than 18,000 square kilometers, which is a few points larger than a prefecture-level city.

As more and more messy things happen, although Richard has selected many assistants to share a lot of work for himself, he still feels more and more busy and gradually becomes a little overwhelmed.

By the autumn of this year, because there were too many government affairs, it even affected his own practice of breathing.

For the nobles of the Dawn Plane, their own strength is the top priority. Only when the lord has strong strength can he have prestige in the army.

Only by mastering the military spirit of the violent organs can you have the ability to overturn the table at any time and have a deterrent effect on the bureaucrats. For a noble, managing the territory is not a particularly important thing. You can recruit civil servants and replace them if you don't like them.

"Next year's government affairs should be let go of a large part. Entrust part of the government affairs to my brother-in-law Roger. I wonder if he can do it?"

In recent years, Richard has divided out part of the government affairs. Agriculture was handed over to Tang En, hospitals, sanitation, and epidemic prevention were handed over to Adrian, construction work was handed over to his second uncle Powell, and intelligence work was handed over to Hayden.

Richard is mainly responsible for the army and the overall financial coordination, and is also responsible for the resettlement of immigrants.

Even so, he still feels that the burden of government affairs is a bit heavy.

Richard walked on the streets of Fort William with a few followers, observing the flow of people on the street.

Fort William was the first territory developed in the Harland territory, and almost all the villagers nearby became free people. In addition, there are a large number of garrisons in Fort William, and the families of the garrisons basically live near Fort William.

According to statistics from government bureaucrats, there are already 15,000 freemen near Fort William.

15,000 freemen have formed a relatively small consumer market.

Especially the families of soldiers, who not only have high incomes, but are also particularly willing to spend.

Thousands of soldiers live in Fort William, and the annual consumer market of Fort William has exceeded 20,000 gold coins. There are all kinds of shops on both sides of the street, and walking on the street is no longer so deserted.

Richard looked at the time and found that it was time for dinner, so he took a few soldiers to a larger restaurant.

This restaurant was opened by Odaye. By this year, there were seven or eight restaurants on the streets of Fort William, but the largest one was the one jointly opened by Odaye and Sura.

Sura and Odaye raised sheep in the countryside, and the restaurant had sufficient meat supply. If there were any banquets in the territory, they were basically held in this restaurant.

After entering the store, Richard found that there were relatively few people eating, and most of them were officers and soldiers of the territory.

Seeing Richard coming in, the officers and soldiers were a little surprised, and they stood up one after another, ready to salute Richard.

Every year, Richard spends a lot of time in the barracks. Many soldiers know him. Many veterans have talked with Richard many times and have a little friendship with him.

"Everyone, sit down and eat first. Are you all on leave today?"

"Yes, sir."

"Don't be too reserved. I won't eat people." Richard joked with the soldiers and the atmosphere instantly relaxed.

Richard ordered half a roasted lamb. When the dish was served, he suddenly called Odaye and asked, "You look familiar. Are you also a veteran of the first squadron? What's your name?"

After hearing Richard's words, Odaye was very excited. A small person like him never thought that he could be remembered by Master Richard.

"Master Richard, my name is Odaye, and I am indeed a soldier of the first squadron."

After becoming a magician, Richard's memory is very good. Although he hasn't seen him for six or seven years, he still remembers this person.

"I remember that you and Sura are from the same hometown, and you saved Jennings' life."

"Master Richard, this restaurant was invested and opened by Sura. If it weren't for the introduction of Sura and Jennings, there wouldn't be so many people eating in the restaurant."

"How is your business this year? How many gold coins can you earn every year? How many years can you recover the cost?"

"This year's business is better than last year. So far, we have earned 23 gold coins. Winter business is better than summer business. By the end of this year, we should have a profit of 30 gold coins. Sura invested a lot of money, and it will take four or five years to recover the cost."

Hearing that Odaye's business was good, Richard said happily: "How much tax can you pay for the profit of 30 gold coins?"

"I have three stores here, and each store pays one gold coin in tax per year."

"Although you have retired from the army, you are still a glorious soldier of the first squadron. You must operate with integrity and pay taxes on time. With taxes, we can pay soldiers and the territory can be stable. If someone bullies you, you must take the initiative to write to the lord's house. I am your old superior and will make the decision for you."

After leaving the Odaye Hotel, Richard looked at the increasingly prosperous streets of Fort William, and his heart became more and more happy.

For a period of time in the following period, Richard went to the coal mine and the villages and towns of Graveson.

In recent years, immigrants have basically been settled in villages near Graveson.

Twenty-three large-scale villages and towns will be built near Graveson to accommodate about 40,000 people.

Since August, the Harland Territory has transported various construction materials on a large scale, mobilized tens of thousands of construction troops, and started to build roads, houses and other infrastructure.

When the freezing came in October, most of the villages had been built.

Because the houses were newly built and particularly humid, in order to avoid freezing to death in winter, Richard drew a large amount of coal from the coal mine and distributed it to each household.

The serfs of the Sisse family heard Richard's promise to become free people in five years, and did not choose to make trouble. They were smoothly integrated into the Harland Territory.

After the immigrants were settled, it was already November.

After the war ended this year, Richard began to expand the army again because of the increase in population.

The first to expand were scouts.

After this autumn, Morgan advanced to become a third-level knight.

Morgan is four years older than Richard and has outstanding talent.

At the age of less than 30, he has the combat power of a mid-level professional, and his progress in cultivation has caught up with Roland, William and other people with outstanding talents.

There are now two squadrons of scouts in the Harland Territory, with a total of more than 300 people.

However, in the war with the orcs, Richard found that the number of scouts was far from enough. Every time he fought with the orcs, the intelligence was almost unilaterally transparent to the orcs.

Because the orcs have aerial scouts, even if the reconnaissance squadron is expanded, it is still difficult to defeat the harpy.