Chapter 230: Promoted to Level 5 Warrior
In recent years, with his hard work, Richard's breathing method has finally reached the eighth level and he has been promoted to a fifth-level warrior.
When the warrior level is raised to the fifth level, his physical fitness is improved again, and his strength has reached eighteen points. When the warrior level is raised to the sixth level, the strength attribute will exceed twenty points, and then he can awaken a talent for physical attributes.
When William's strength exceeded twenty points, he awakened a very excellent talent, the Heart of Rage. Whenever he was angry, his physical fitness would be greatly improved.
Although this talent is not as perverted as the Hulk, it can improve physical fitness without limit.
When this talent is activated, William's strength will increase by about half, and the destructive power will become very amazing.
Although the time for the Heart of Rage to be activated is short, there are no side effects.
In addition to combat skills and combat experience, the warrior profession's own talents also determine the strength of a warrior. Awakening excellent talents can defeat the enemy in battle.
I don't know what kind of talent Richard will awaken when his strength breaks through twenty points?
There is no rule at all for the activation of talents, and it is almost impossible to inherit.
For this, Richard can only leave it to fate.
A few days before the Goddess's Birthday, Richard finally had a few days of free time to accompany Margaret.
The father and daughter walked on the street, looking at the street scenes around.
There was already some commercial atmosphere on the streets of Fort William. Richard found taverns, barber shops, gold and silver jewelry stores, grocery stores, grain stores, etc.
Half of them were officially opened stores, such as grain stores, grocery stores, taverns, etc.
Richard entered the grocery store and found that there were already relatively rich goods in the store. In addition to brown sugar, woolen cloth, iron farm tools, and bulk liquor, the grocery store also had honey, canned fruit, high-end liquor and other slightly more luxurious goods.
As soon as Richard entered the grocery store, he alarmed the shop assistants and guests in the store.
Most of the residents in Fort William have seen Richard.
In addition to the families of soldiers, the earliest batch of contract servants settled here. Many people have participated in the construction of Fort William and have personally come into contact with Richard.
He and Margaret appeared on the street and immediately caused a sensation.
"Is it Master Richard?"
"Yes, I have seen Master Richard with my own eyes, I can't be wrong."
"I have worked with Master Richard, we lived in adjacent tents, nine years have passed, I wonder if Master Richard will remember me?"
The clerk and the customer whispered, looking at Richard and his daughter with eager eyes.
They wanted to go forward and say a few words to Richard, but the current situation of the clear hierarchy between nobles and ordinary people in the Dawn Plane made them very hesitant and dared not show their enthusiasm.
"Is it Peter? We haven't seen each other for almost ten years. The young man Peter is now a middle-aged man."
Richard glanced and suddenly found an acquaintance.
Peter was one of the earliest contract slaves in the territory. He was bought by Richard because he was infected with the plague and followed Richard to the Harland territory.
He was one of the earliest stonemasons in the territory. In the early days of the construction of Fort William, he commanded a dozen workers. At that time, the tent he lived in was very close to Richard.
Richard's role at that time was equivalent to the boss, project manager and part-time chief engineer of the William Castle construction project.
At that time, he was with the workers every day, often in contact with the grassroots, and had a lot of communication every day.
At that time, Peter was only in his twenties and looked very young.
Now nine years have passed, and the working people are aging much faster than the nobles. Peter has changed a lot and has become a middle-aged man with rough skin.
Because of his strong mental power, Richard's memory is much better than that of ordinary people. Even if he had contact ten years ago, he recognized the old acquaintance at a glance.
"Yes, Master Richard, I am Peter the stonemason. I didn't expect that you still remember me after so many years."
Peter's ability is average. He is one of the earliest craftsmen in the territory. Although he became a freeman very early, his class did not achieve a leap.
Until now, Peter is still a farmer. In his spare time, he will come to William Castle to do odd jobs to supplement his family income.
"How have you been doing in recent years?"
"Life is good. I am now the father of four children. My wife and children are well fed and clothed. They are free people from birth. Only with the blessing of the goddess of fate can they be born in the Haland territory."
According to statistics from officials, the free people in the Haland territory have solved the problem of food and clothing.
Because there is more arable land per capita, the territory also has mineral resources such as coal, and the production of woolen cloth, the first generation of free people who have just been allocated land should not be too poor.
But after the second and third generations, there is not so much arable land in the Haland territory. As the per capita land resources decrease, the farmers will fall into poverty again.
The living conditions of five mu of land per capita and one mu of land per capita are completely different.
The life of five mu of land per capita is relatively rich, and the per capita one mu of land will inevitably fall into poverty and hunger.
To improve this situation, the first is to expand the territory and reclaim farmland, and the second is to control the growth of population.
The Haland territory is vast and sparsely populated. In the past hundred years, it should still be an environment with few people and more land.
As for what to do with the increase in population in the future? It can only be passed on to the next generation.
Richard came over, shook hands with Peter, and asked, "Does your child go to school?"
"No, Master Richard."
"Why don't you let the children receive an education? Only when the children receive an education can they change their fate."
"The tuition fee of six silver coins a year is too expensive. It is difficult for a family like ours to afford it. When the children grow up, if they are in good health, I want them to join the army. If they are not in good health, they can follow me to be stonemasons. Learning a craft can also support the family."
Richard chatted with Peter for a few words, and finally shook hands and said, "I'm going back, Peter, happy birthday to the goddess, and good luck to you!"
Richard saw that more and more people were outside the store. In order to avoid a stampede, Richard picked up Margaret, greeted the people in the store, and then returned to the mansion.
Richard has a high prestige in the Harland Territory. Ordinary people want to see the lord, and they will have bragging capital when they go back.
"The status has been improved, and going out is troublesome."
Richard and Sophia complained for a few words, and then began to look at the report submitted by the territory officials.
With the graduation of the first batch of students from Riverbank Primary School, there are more than a hundred people in the Harland Territory who are proficient in writing and basic mathematics.
These people became staff officers, teachers, and grassroots bureaucrats. With their joining, the written reports required by Richard could finally be implemented.
Through these written materials, Richard could have some grasp of the basic situation of the Harland Territory. However, the things on the reports cannot be completely trusted. We must guard against the irresponsible writing and fooling of bureaucrats.
The bureaucrats are irresponsible, which is a very high probability. In order to see the real situation from the reports, Richard needs to strengthen supervision, constantly check, and frequently contact the grassroots.
Now that there are more people who can read, the demand for paper will increase.
The price of parchment is very expensive and is not suitable for the popularization of knowledge.
Many years ago, Richard asked craftsmen to study papermaking, and now the technology of using plant fibers to make paper has been successfully studied.
By making paper with various plant fibers, craftsmen in the Harland Territory found that the quality of paper made from bark and Tengpi is better.
Now in the Harland Territory, paper has begun to circulate on a small scale.
Not only the City Hall, Riverbank Primary School, and the Harland Army distribute paper, but also the official grocery stores in Fort William, Fort Sophia, and Fort Depot sell paper. In order to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge, Richard did not intend to make a profit from paper.
Today, the paper market in Harland Territory has exceeded the scale of more than 100 gold coins.
In order to avoid irritating the nerves of nearby nobles, Richard did not sell paper on a large scale. However, the circulation of low-priced paper still promoted the spread of knowledge.
With the spread of knowledge, the literacy rate will increase, the quality of the population will improve, and in the long run, it will greatly promote the development of Harland Territory.
Because of the policy of dividing land and light tax formulated by Richard, the free people in Harland Territory are relatively wealthy and have a high consumption capacity, almost comparable to the families of the city defense army.
The brown sugar, white wine, steel products, and woolen cloth clothes produced in Harland Territory have been popularized to the free people because the price at the place of origin is not very high.
According to the statistics seen by Richard, the free people consume an average of one kilogram of brown sugar per year.
In the Harland Territory, the price of brown sugar has fallen to twelve copper coins per kilogram. When brown sugar was first produced, the price was almost the same as honey, almost one silver coin per kilogram.
In just a few years, the price of brown sugar in the Harland Territory has fallen by 60%.
As the output of brown sugar increases, Richard believes that there is still room for decline.
Because of the impact of brown sugar in the Harland Territory, the price of honey in the northern border area has also dropped a lot. Brown sugar has replaced honey in the northern border area.
This year, the output of brown sugar in the territory exceeded 100 tons, and hundreds of tons of brown sugar entered the market. Such a strong impact has made brown sugar no longer a luxury.
The three provinces and four duchies in the northern region of the Grant Kingdom have a total population of more than 1,000 people.
But the vast majority of the population are serfs and have no consumption capacity.
The population that really has consumption capacity, in addition to nobles, religious people, professional officers, main legion soldiers, plus a small number of businessmen and high-level technicians, is some opera singers, Warcraft hunters and high-level mercenaries.
All the consumers in the northern region add up to no more than 300,000 people.
The brown sugar produced in the Haland territory is close to one kilogram per person on average.
According to the annual consumption of one kilogram per freeman in the Haland territory, when the territory produces 300 tons of brown sugar per year, the market will be saturated.
At that time, in addition to expanding the market outside, the only way is to continue to lower prices and let the market sink.
To expand the market to the south, we must face the competition of honey.
In the southern province of Selldorf, the province of Iliano, the Duke of Guise, and the Duke of Duran all have a large population raising bees.
Brown sugar, a specialty of the northern border, is difficult to enter the southern sphere of influence through formal channels for sale.
There is no free trade in the Kingdom of Grant, and every lord hates the outflow of gold coins. Unless you can fight a war and overthrow the rule of others, you can let brown sugar enter the sphere of influence of others to sell and make a profit.
Even if some brown sugar is sold through smuggling, under the brutal crackdown of official forces, the high cost may not bring much profit.
Moreover, in the honey-producing areas, the retail price of honey is only 15 copper coins per kilogram.
Even if the brown sugar from Harland Territory is transported to the south, it may not be able to compete with the honey in the south at the current price.
On the contrary, the market of Nolan can be fought for in the future. There are no lords who raise bees in large numbers near Nolan, and their own interests are not involved, so the resistance is not particularly great.
However, if you want to enter the Nolan market, you must have the status of a great noble, and you must also deal with some influential people in Nolan.
Otherwise, your business will soon be swallowed up by others.
The influence of the Harland family is only somewhat useful in the northern border, and even only very useful in the Geda Province. The deterrent power in Gascoigne and Rah Province is a little worse. When he went to the territories of other dukes, Richard had to bow his head.
In the dukes of Jonathan, Fox and other dukes, Richard was engaged in wholesale business. This year, the wholesale price of brown sugar has dropped to twelve copper coins per kilogram.
With the wholesale price lowered, Richard does not need to bear the responsibility of transportation. After the brown sugar is squeezed, it is directly sent to the Black River Fort market, and then sold to several chambers of commerce controlled by the dukes at wholesale prices.
The markets directly operated by the Harland territory are only in the three northern provinces.
The retail price of brown sugar in the three northern provinces has also been reduced to 15 copper coins per kilogram in the shops controlled by the Harland family, which is almost half of the price a few years ago.
Because the price reduction this year is more serious, although the market has been competed for, the revenue of brown sugar has not increased too much, and it has only brought a profit of 4,000 gold coins.
On the contrary, the price of white wine has been very stable.
The lords have divided the market, and the market that the Harland family can control now is only the Black River County.
If you want to increase the revenue of white wine, you can only expand the consumer group.
The selling price of steel products has also fallen by 60% because the steel production in the Harland territory has continued to rise.
Now the Harland territory controls two iron mines, and the monthly steel production exceeds 70 tons.
At the current rate, the steel production next year may exceed 1,000 tons.
A thousand tons of steel production, with a population of 200,000, is only 5 kilograms per person on average.
Moreover, Richard has to take out half of the steel for sale. The wholesale price of Richard's steel is already 28 gold coins per ton, which is an average of 10 copper coins per kilogram.
It can be said that the price of steel products in the area near Harland Territory has dropped by 60 to 70 percent. The current market retail price of iron materials of average quality has dropped to 12 copper coins per kilogram.
Prices are constantly falling, and the income of free people is increasing. As the living standards improve, spiritual needs are also increasing.
Now in William Castle, there are even drama and opera actors, and there are often music performances.