Chapter 242 Copper Mine
Over the past year or so, through the attribute panel, Richard knew that his meditation experience had increased by 50,000, and there was only 10,000 experience left to advance to the sixth ring.
Step by step, it would take more than ten years for Richard to increase his meditation experience by 50,000.
But once a major magic research is completed, the feedback from meditation will increase several times, dozens of times, or even dozens of times.
The more important the research results, the better the feedback from meditation and the longer it will last.
Magic crystal charging technology is the cornerstone of the advancement of magic civilization.
If this technology is made public, magic crystals will become a special energy source that can be reused.
Richard's status among magicians will be raised to the level of Newton and Einstein, and its importance is no less than the earth's conquest of controlled nuclear fusion.
Completing this research has brought great benefits to Richard, and the feedback from meditation is very good, and it has lasted for a year.
Recently, although the feedback has been a little less, according to Richard's previous experience, it should last for another half a year.
In the past two or three months, Richard can increase his meditation experience by three to four thousand every month.
Within half a year, Richard will definitely be promoted to the sixth ring.
After entering June, the territory made another great discovery.
Mineral exploration personnel discovered a copper mine fifteen kilometers southeast of the prosperous castle.
Copper is a precious metal resource in the Dawn Plane, and copper coins can be used as currency.
Although copper coins are the lowest value currency, they have the largest circulation. The currency in Harland is in short supply, and copper coins are the most lacking.
In addition, copper is a metal with a wide range of uses and is an indispensable resource for industrial development.
After discovering the copper mine, Richard couldn't wait to visit the mine.
The copper mine is only three kilometers away from the Black River. The Black River turns near the copper mine from the northeast of Graveson Castle, passes through Viscount Nelson's territory, Rah Province, and enters the Duke of Jonathan's territory.
The copper mine is located near the Black River, and transportation is very convenient.
The only trouble is that the copper mine is only six or seven kilometers away from Viscount Nelson's territory. Richard estimates that part of the ore veins extend to Viscount Nelson's territory.
The copper mine is located at the border between the Harland family's territory and Viscount Nelson's territory, and also the border between the Geda Province and the Rah Province.
A mineral vein belongs to two provinces, and there is a mineral dispute, which is a bit troublesome to deal with.
Despite the mineral dispute and the trouble in the future, Richard immediately decided to develop the copper mine.
The Harland family is much stronger than the Nelson family. Now the Harland family has six infantry battalions, a cavalry reconnaissance battalion, a Warcraft cavalry battalion, plus headquarters guards, staff, and logistics personnel, the main force is close to 7,000.
In addition, the Harland territory has also trained auxiliary soldiers to operate catapults, and more than a dozen auxiliary squadrons add up to 2,000.
In addition, the territory's armed forces also include intelligence, escort, water police, and security personnel, adding up to 3,000.
In a state of war, without the need for the next mobilization, the Harland territory can organize 12,000 soldiers. It is precisely because of such a strong strength that King Roger is willing to compromise with the Harland family.
If Richard was just a small baron, how could he resist the pressure from the capital? He was like fish on a chopping board.
When Roger and Martins were promoted to hereditary earls, they had far less power than the Harland family. The strength of the Harland family was equivalent to that of a weaker southern earl.
The Nelson family only had eight squadrons of main soldiers, with a total of about 1,200 people, and their army was not as good at fighting as the soldiers of the Harland territory. Even the second-line armed personnel could only gather 3,000 soldiers at most.
The Harland territory had Warcraft cavalry, a mage regiment, elite enchanted armor infantry, and special magic equipment alchemical bombs.
Although Richard and Nelson were both viscounts, the difference in combat effectiveness between the two sides was more than ten times, and they were not heavyweight opponents at all.
In terms of population, the population of the Harland territory is now 240,000, while the population of Viscount Nelson is only 80,000, and the gap is more than three times.
Generally speaking, according to the unspoken rules of the Dawn Plane, the Nelson family did not dare to compete directly with the Harland family for the copper mine.
If the two families were torn apart, Richard would have soldiers disguised as bandits, go to the Nelson family to cause trouble, rob people, rob merchants, and kill people mining copper.
After several times, the Nelson family would inevitably be unable to withstand the consumption and could only swallow this breath. Unless the Nelson family obtains the support of other nobles and deals a heavy blow to the Harland family, the Harland family can compromise and have the strength to compete with the Harland family for the copper mine.
The nobles of the Dawn Plane are often so simple and crude when competing for interests. Unless you have enough power, others will respect your interests and compromise with you.
It was July, and large tracts of cotton fields began to mature. As the cotton picking season approached, the Harland Territory mobilized thousands of contract slaves to start picking cotton.
At the beginning of this spring, at Richard's request, the agricultural department began to plant cotton in large quantities, adding up to 16,000 acres of cotton fields.
The cotton plant has been spread to the Grant Kingdom for thousands of years.
During the Venus Kingdom period, cotton was planted in the south, and there was a primitive cotton spinning industry.
During the Grant Kingdom period, cotton cultivation spread to the west and north. Ye Yan
In the beginning, because the climate in the northern border was cold and the winter was long, cotton was not suitable for the climate in the northern border, and the yield was very low.
However, the high-priced cotton cloth transported from the south made the nobles in the northern border hate it.
In order to not be controlled by the nobles in the southern border and have bargaining power, the nobles in the north have endured extremely low yields, and even occasionally had no harvest in a year, and have been planting cotton for hundreds of years.
By continuously selecting and breeding good varieties, they have actually cultivated cold-resistant cotton seeds.
Even though the yield is not as good as in the south, after continuous planting and domestication by the nobles in the northern border, a primitive cotton spinning industry has been cultivated.
There have always been cotton test fields in the Harland territory. However, because the yield is low and the economic value is not as good as growing grain, it has not been promoted.
Since last year, with the improvement of living standards, the free people in the territory have developed the habit of buying a large amount of cotton to make underwear.
Because the textile technology is low, the woolen cloth is hard and itchy when worn close to the body, so it is suitable for making coats.
When I was a serf before, I only had a linen dress on my body. In winter, I could only hide in the barracks and burn kangs to keep warm.
Every winter is very difficult, and many weak people die in the long winter. Later, with the development of the territory's economy, Richard issued woolen clothes, sweaters and trousers to the contract slaves. Although it is very warm, it is not comfortable to wear.
After becoming a freeman, I gradually saved some money, and of course I had the need to buy cotton cloth to improve my living conditions.
With market demand, Richard had to consider planting cotton.
The cotton production in the northern border area is only 100 kilograms, while the cotton production in the southern region is about 200 kilograms per mu.
Sixteen thousand mu of cotton fields can produce about 800 tons of cotton, averaging about 6.5 kilograms of cotton per person. Contract slaves cannot afford cotton and cotton cloth for the time being, and 800 tons of cotton are enough for the territory. With the increase of freemen, Richard will slowly increase the cotton planting area and increase cotton production.
This winter, Richard plans to distribute a large number of cotton clothes and quilts to soldiers to replace blankets. Tomorrow spring, the cotton planting area will expand to 20,000 mu.
Eight hundred tons of cotton will be consumed half for military supplies, and the remaining 400 tons will be sold to the people.
In the south of the Grant Kingdom, the price of cotton is very cheap, about one copper coin per kilogram, which is only three times more expensive than grain. Even though cotton planting is very labor-intensive, its economic value far exceeds that of grain planting. Besides, women in the southern region can spin cotton and weave cloth for money.
For this reason, cotton planting is very common in the southern region of the Grant Kingdom.
Because a large amount of cotton and grapes are planted, and beekeeping is also taken into account, although the land in the south is fertile, the grain production is somewhat short.
Although the northern region is the front line and often breaks out with the orcs, it is the most important granary in the Grant Kingdom because of the small population and large land.
Every year, the Grant Kingdom needs to mobilize grain from the three northern provinces to Nolan.
Because the cotton production in the northern border is low and the climate is cold, the demand for cotton is high, and the price of one kilogram of cotton is about three copper coins.
In the years when cotton production in the northern border decreases, cotton in the south often takes the opportunity to increase in price, and the retail price will reach six to eight copper coins per kilogram.
Generally speaking, a family of six needs about 100 kilograms of cotton to buy a set of cotton clothes and bedding, which costs between ten and fourteen silver coins.
A dozen silver coins are already a lot of money for ordinary people.
Therefore, the free people in the northern border often have to wear a cotton coat for many years.
As for ordinary serfs, it is impossible for them to wear cotton coats.
After picking cotton, Richard came to the Grant Mage Association to watch the magic hot air balloon made by Annie.
The magicians of the Dawn Plane Kingship Era observed thermal expansion and contraction more than two thousand years ago, and discovered the phenomenon that cold air descends and hot air rises.
Ancient magicians believed that the water element was heavier and smaller than the fire element, and explained this phenomenon vaguely.
Richard proposed the particle theory, believing that the movement of particles in an object will change with temperature. When the temperature rises, the vibration amplitude of the particles increases, causing the object to expand. But when the temperature drops, the vibration amplitude of the particles will decrease, causing the object to shrink.
With the guidance of particle theory, there is a scientific basis for making magic hot air balloons.
To make a hot air balloon, many difficulties need to be solved. The first is the problem of air heating, which is actually the problem of fuel.
To make a hot air balloon, you need a fuel that burns for a long time and is not too heavy. Coal and wood are definitely not suitable. If it were on Earth in the previous life, it would be particularly difficult to solve this problem. You need to wait until industrialization begins and liquefied gas is produced before you can have a suitable fuel.
But in the Dawn Plane, with the help of magic, it is very simple to solve this problem.
As long as you engrave magic runes, make a magic flame lamp, and consume the magic power stored in the magic crystal, you can burn continuously and heat the air.
Solving the problem of air heating is equivalent to solving most of the troubles.
The air bag can be made of canvas and fine cotton cloth, and the sewing should be more delicate to prevent the air bag from leaking.
Through experiments, Richard has already calculated the gravity acceleration, atmospheric pressure and other conventional physics data of the Dawn Plane, and found that it is very close to the earth.
With these data, the shape and structure of the air bag can be calculated through aerodynamics to obtain the optimal solution. After several months, with Richard's help in calculations, the problem of the shape of the air bag has been solved.
With the continuous deepening of the understanding of magic, the Haland Territory relies more and more on mathematics.
A good magician must be proficient in mathematics.
In recent years, Sophia and Wendy have exhausted all the mathematical knowledge Richard learned in college. Annie and Butler's mathematical level has also caught up with Richard and the other two. They have learned calculus, spatial geometry and other subjects, and have improved to the level of ordinary college students in their previous lives.
Mathematics is a subject that requires talent very much. In mathematical research, the brain of a genius can be equivalent to that of 10,000 or 1 million ordinary researchers. This is a subject that relies extremely on talent to develop.
In preparation, Richard has established a mathematics research institute and selected mathematical researchers from two elementary schools.
Some people have excellent mathematical talent and can learn all the knowledge before college in three to five years. Now there are two thirteen or fourteen-year-old children in the mathematics research institute, and their mathematical level is close to that of Richard and others.
Although these two children have low elemental affinity, weak mental strength, and no magical talent, their logical thinking ability, sensitivity to numbers, and imagination are all better than ordinary people. They are undoubtedly people with mathematical talent and are trained by Richard as preparatory mathematicians.
For people with mathematical talent, even if they have no other abilities, Richard will still give them a salary higher than that of ordinary people and a higher social status, so that they can study mathematics without distraction.
Even if there are magic particles in the Dawn Plane, and the rules of physics and chemistry have changed, mathematics is still the foundation of science.
Only when the level of mathematics is improved can the level of civilization develop.
The current level of mathematics in the Dawn Plane is quite different from that of the Earth in the previous life. What is missing is genius mathematicians such as Newton, Gauss, Euler, Poincare, Riemann, and Turing.
Magicians in the King's Era pay more attention to the research of magic technology and do not pay too much attention to mathematics.
The major kingdoms of mankind always pay the most attention to extraordinary power, the application of magic power, and the development of industrial technology, and do not pay attention to the most basic mathematics.
Richard has been in the Dawn Plane for more than ten years, and he has never heard of a well-known mathematician. The history of this plane is tens of thousands of years, and civilization has been interrupted. Since the King's Era, mathematics has not developed systematically.
Compared with other nobles, Richard should be the lord who pays the most attention to mathematics. Although his power is still weak, he has established a mathematics institute to train talented mathematicians.
The staff of the mathematics institute not only study pure numbers, but also help solve some applied problems, including but not limited to magic structure optimization, trajectory calculation, and aerodynamic calculation.
Although it was established not long ago and has not achieved much, its role has been very critical.