Chapter 259 Year-End Summary

December is the time for the territory to count accounts.

This year, by selling excess grain, the Harland Territory received 30,000 gold coins and 6,000 slaves.

Of these, 20,000 gold coins are taxes, and the remaining 10,000 gold coins and 6,000 slaves are the surplus of official grain.

Nowadays, the biggest income of the Harland Territory is actually cultivating official fields.

After all, there are hundreds of thousands of contract slaves cultivating official fields, and the labor of hundreds of thousands of contract slaves is exploited, which is of course very profitable. Through this income, the Harland Territory not only feeds a large number of surging population, but also has a net income of tens of thousands of gold coins each year.

However, most of the gold coins in this income were exchanged by Richard for slaves. The population of the territory has increased so rapidly, and the income from official grain is the most critical.

This year is slightly better, accumulating 10,000 gold coins in cash. In the past few days, the Harland Territory has invested a lot of gold coins every year to buy slaves.

Even if the lords of the Dawn Plane have money in their hands, they basically use it for luxurious enjoyment, and almost no lord can do this.

It is very risky to operate a territory in the northern border. Once the castle is breached by the orcs, decades of accumulation will be destroyed.

Normal nobles will choose to diversify their investments. When they make money, they often buy farms and land near Nolan. For example, Richard's father-in-law, Baron Stoppa, arranged for his sons to go to the south and bought a large number of properties for them.

Baron Stoppa is just a relatively weak border baron. Almost all nobles above the viscount want to trade with the royal family, marry with southern nobles, and develop to the south through various means.

There are also some misers who hide their money in the cellar even if they have it, and will not use it to buy slaves to reclaim wasteland.

The second income of the territory is steel trade. This year, the war with the orcs caused a great loss of equipment in the northern border area, and the demand for steel is very strong.

Whether it is the Grizzlies or the nobles' private army, they have suffered heavy losses, and a large amount of steel is needed to replenish weapons and armor.

Compared with several nearby lords that produce steel, the iron products of Harland Territory are of good quality and low price. It has won a large order for the Grizzlies to replenish their armaments. Together with the weapon orders of other nearby lords, it has produced tens of thousands of armors, tens of thousands of spear heads and long swords at one time.

Not counting orders for civilian iron products, this year's military equipment orders alone require thousands of tons of steel.

Although the territory's steel production has reached 2,400 tons this year, there is still a shortage of supply, and the price of steel has also risen a bit.

The net profit of steel trade has reached 36,000 gold coins, reaching a historical peak.

If there is no war next year, there will be a surplus of steel production capacity, and profits will fall. According to the steel department's estimate, it will fall below 30,000.

The textile business market is still increasing. This year's profit is second only to steel, with a net profit of 33,000 gold coins.

The textile industry market has not yet reached saturation, and it will continue to increase steadily next year, and may exceed steel revenue.

This year, the scale of sheep breeding continues to expand. The sheep tribe directly controlled by the territory has 1.6 million sheep in stock and 500,000 sheep sold.

Because the market in Harland Territory is seriously oversupplied, Richard can only drive the sheep to Black River Fort for sale.

In order to sell mutton, Richard also built a sheep trading market outside Black River Fort, stored a large amount of fodder, purchased more than 3,000 acres of land, and invested about 16,000 gold coins.

Richard consumed 100,000 sheep to supply the army and distribute welfare. This year, through this trading market, Harland Territory sold 400,000 sheep, bringing in 50,000 gold coins.

The consumer population near Black River Fort mainly relies on the families of soldiers of the Northern Legion, which add up to about 100,000.

In a year, at most 400,000 sheep are consumed.

Serfs, who make up the majority of the population, cannot afford to consume mutton even if Richard cuts the price three times. Because serfs have no savings, everything they have belongs to the lord.

Starting next year, the Harland Territory will not expand the sheep population, and the annual output of sheep will exceed three million.

The Black River Fort consumer market plus the Harland Territory consumer market can only absorb 800,000 sheep.

Richard still needs to find a way to sell the remaining two million sheep.

In addition to food, steel, wool spinning and mutton are now the three most profitable industries in the Harland Territory.

There are more than 90,000 free people in the Harland Territory now. The income from land tax is 23,000 gold coins, plus property tax, house installment purchase, and business tax income, totaling 29,600 gold coins. Taxes have become an important income for the territory.

The output of brown sugar reached 850 tons this year. Because of the invasion of orcs, many main legion soldiers died. The main legion soldiers are the most important consumer group in the northern border, and the sales of brown sugar in the northern border area have also dropped a lot. For the first time in history, there was an oversupply situation.

The sales of brown sugar in Black River Fort, Flame Fort, and Grizzly Fort have dropped a lot, especially in Grizzly Fort, where sales have dropped by more than half.

Fortunately, Richard opened up a new channel, and he could sell 300 tons of brown sugar through the Church of the Goddess of Fortune. In addition, Richard became an earl in the fall and sold more than 100 tons of brown sugar to Nolan, so he sold all the brown sugar before December.

Because the production increased rapidly, the selling price of brown sugar continued to fall. The retail price in Harland Territory had dropped to eight copper coins per kilogram, and the wholesale price to the Church of Fortune dropped to seven copper coins per kilogram.

Even if it was sold to Nolan, the retail price of brown sugar was only fifteen copper coins per kilogram, which was about one-third cheaper than the honey transported from the south to Nolan.

The price of honey in Nolan is about 22 copper coins per kilogram. In order to compete with the brown sugar produced in Harland, the retail price of honey in Nolan has been reduced by 13%. Now the price has been reduced to about 19 copper coins per kilogram, but it still cannot regain the market.

In addition to free traders, the main consumer groups in Nolan are the families of the soldiers of the Royal Guard. These low-end consumers are very sensitive to prices.

The cost of raising bees is not low, and it is difficult to compete with the brown sugar produced in Harland. By next year, the honey market in Nolan will be largely taken away by brown sugar.

Now Richard sells brown sugar to Nolan, and there is still a price reduction space of four copper coins after deducting freight and taxes.

When the production of brown sugar continues to rise, the price can be further reduced to sink the market. Raising bees is very labor-intensive and it is particularly troublesome to catch up with the flowering period, so there is no much room for price reduction.

Because brown sugar is pouring into the Nolan market, it can be predicted that beekeepers will usher in a wave of unemployment in the future, and there may be some chaos in the areas where bees are raised.

Although the price of brown sugar has dropped a bit this year, the net income from the brown sugar trade has increased a lot, climbing to 18,000 gold coins.

Next year, the brown sugar production in Harland Territory will reach 1,400 tons, and the selling price will still be slightly lower, and the profit will exceed 30,000 gold coins. After more than ten years of expansion and market cultivation, the brown sugar industry has finally developed into an important source of income for Harland Territory.

This year, affected by the war of orc invasion, there is almost no income from hunting monsters.

In the autumn and winter seasons, after repelling the orc army, the territory's demon hunting team entered the Eagle Mountains several times, and only once successfully hunted three wind wolves. In addition to the bounty for the demon hunting team members, the territory's income is only 6,000.

Last year, because of the successful capture of a group of lion ducks and the capture of the iron-horned horse king, the cash income from hunting monsters exceeded 70,000, and the additional income exceeded 300,000. This year's income is only 6,000.

Hunting monsters is not only risky, but also has poor income stability. It needs to rely on luck and has never been the focus of Richard's business.

The income from magic crystal charging was also affected by the war and dropped slightly to only about 10,000.

Limited by the number of magic wells, if the charging efficiency cannot continue to improve, this income will not increase.

The profit of the wine business has increased a lot. Due to the expansion of the territory's own market, the new channels of the Goddess of Wealth Church, and the entry into the Nolan market, the income of the wine business has skyrocketed to 14,000. This income almost reached the peak of the wine business.

In the Grant Kingdom, the distilled grain wine in the northern border has completely defeated the wine in the south.

Now the wine production has dropped sharply, and the price has increased a lot. It only serves the high-end market and serves the aristocracy.

In fact, for any commodity, the most profitable is always mass merchandise, and luxury brands are not very profitable.

In recent years, white wine and brown sugar have eaten up a lot of the profits of red wine and honey in the south, and the income of the southern earl has decreased a lot.

If the Harland family was not strong, the territory was located on the front line of the northern border, and the strategic position was very important, and the southern earl had just been involved in the rebellion and his strength had declined to varying degrees, I am afraid that the southern earl would cause a lot of trouble for the Harland family. Because of the commercial competition between the two sides, it might be a cruel civil war.

Now, due to various coincidences, they have not torn their faces.

However, with the entry of white wine and brown sugar into the Norland market, the Harland territory continued to infringe on the interests of the southern earl. It is estimated that conflicts will soon break out and cause civil unrest.

As the little queen bee grows up, the income from hemostatic ointment has doubled to 10,000 gold coins.

In the northern border, hemostatic ointment is a strategic resource and is still in short supply. The income from burn ointment is also very good, exceeding 2,000 gold coins.

Through the reputation created by hemostatic ointment, other medicines in the Harland territory have also been sold. This year, the territory has made a total profit of 13,000 gold coins through the sale of medicines.

This year, the territory's four-wheeled carriage manufacturing industry has also ushered in rapid development. This year, through the relationship between William and Bernie, the Harland Territory has obtained some military transportation orders.

Through the war test, the transportation efficiency of the four-wheeled carriages in the Harland Territory is very high.

Such performance has been seen by many people, and many new orders have been added after the war.

The four-wheeled carriages are popular, and many nobles have imitated the four-wheeled carriages, but because of the key materials, such as rolling bearings and wheel hub brackets, the quality is far inferior to the original goods produced by the Harland Territory.

Although the counterfeit goods have affected some sales, the quality of the counterfeit goods is not up to standard. The profit of the territory has reached 10,000 by selling four-wheeled carriages and rolling bearings.

Now in the market, there are even counterfeit goods that pretend to be the four-wheeled carriages of the Harland Territory, which seriously affects the brand value of the four-wheeled carriages of the Harland Territory, which makes Gavin particularly upset.

Gavin is Richard's cousin, responsible for the four-wheeled carriage business and supervises the transportation industry of the territory. Gavin was going to send people to conduct a secret investigation to find the four-wheeled carriage factory that produced counterfeit and shoddy goods, and then dispatch troops to wipe them out and demand a high fine from the nobles who provided protection. Otherwise, Earl Harland would send people to trouble them.

However, there were countless counterfeit manufacturers that produced counterfeit goods, and some even had great nobles as their backers. Facing the serious local protectionism in the Dawn Plane, it was very difficult to crack down on counterfeit goods. Even if Richard became an earl, he still couldn't change this.

Although there were many counterfeit goods, the profit from the sale of four-wheeled carriages still soared this year.

The profit of the transportation business also exceeded 8,000. The business that Gavin is in charge of has a profit of up to 18,000 gold coins this year, which is already very considerable.

This year, the territory's coal production exceeded 40,000 tons, sales reached 34,000 tons, and the net profit was close to 10,000 gold coins.

The income from miscellaneous items such as bricks, cement, glass, and fruits was higher than last year, totaling 11,000 gold coins.

The fastest growing business is the rose perfume business. Even though the price is higher, because it has entered new markets such as Light Castle, Flame Castle, Grizzly Castle, Duke of Jonathan, and Duke of Edward, it has almost increased five times compared to last year, and the profit has exceeded 5,000 gold coins.

Now most of the noble ladies and young ladies in the northern border like to use rose perfume. This industry has no competitors for the time being and is quite profitable.

Next year, Richard can also sell it to the royal capital Nolan, and through the channel of the Goddess of Wealth Church, it can be sold to the Grand Duchy of Stannic, and the profit of the perfume business will reach 10,000.

The cash income of the territory this year is 264,000 gold coins. Compared with last year, it is 3,000 gold coins less.

Apart from the income from demon hunting, the territory's income from various sources has increased by 60,000 gold coins compared to last year. Richard did not attach much importance to the income from demon hunting. Through this year's income, Richard knew that the territory had laid a more solid foundation this year compared to last year. Both industry and agriculture have increased by more than 10%, and are still developing rapidly.

Especially in animal husbandry, after seven or eight years of accumulation, the number of sheep raised in Harland Territory has increased from 100,000 to 3 million. The number of sheep directly controlled by the territory reached 1.8 million by the end of the year. Including the sheep raised by free families, the number of sheep in the territory has exceeded 2 million, which is close to the carrying limit of the territory.

Now that animal husbandry has passed the accumulation stage, if there is no way to export, Harland Territory will have more than 2 million sheep next year, and the terrible situation of mutton being cheaper than grain will occur.

Although there is a cash income of 264,000 gold coins this year, the territory has also increased a lot of expenditures.

More than 6,000 veterans have an annual salary of 60,000 gold coins. More than 10,000 soldiers consume about 30,000 gold coins in food, cloth, meat and other miscellaneous materials every year.

In addition, the armor, weapons, vehicles and pack animals required to expand the army by 4,000 are also a considerable expense, about 32,000 gold coins. The pensions for the dead and disabled soldiers will cost more than 8,000 gold coins a year.

The salaries of the territory bureaucrats need to be spent 15,000 gold coins, and the investment in education and medical care adds up to about 5,000 gold coins.

In magic research, the territory has invested more than 20,000 gold coins this year.

Adding some small miscellaneous expenses, the total expenditure this year is about 170,000 gold coins.

The fiscal surplus of 94,000 gold coins, of course, Richard will not store it in the treasury.

The treasury of the Harland territory already has a reserve of 20,000 gold coins. Richard is going to use the remaining 90,000 gold coins this year to expand the army.

He first bought 120 iron-horned horses from Duke Edward, expanding the number of Warcraft cavalry to 300.

Then he bought 1,600 bottles of Tenghui potion from Duke Jonathan and the Grant royal family. With the remaining gold coins, Richard planned to buy some precious super-magic metals to make some magic equipment, medium and high-level enchanted weapons, strengthen the power of magicians, and provide protection for the middle and high-level officers in the territory.

After becoming an earl, Richard also began to recruit talents. Some unappreciated noble branches and weaker wild magicians also rushed to the Harland territory, swore allegiance to Richard, and began to serve the Harland family.

However, Richard could not fully trust these foreign professionals and would not put them in an important position.

Especially in confidential places, strict review is required before access is granted.

If you want to recruit professional talents, you must first become a great noble, have a certain degree of fame, and be able to provide people with a step to cross the class, so that some talents will come to you.

When you arrive at the Dawn Plane, you will learn both literary and martial arts, and the relationship between goods and the imperial family will remain the eternal truth. The first choice for outstanding talents will always be to take the civil service exam and serve the government.

Now that Richard has become an earl, he finally has a platform. The attraction of great nobles to talents far exceeds that of small nobles.

Less than half a year after Richard was promoted to earl, more than 60 professionals came to him, including two first-ring magicians, one second-ring magician, and one third-ring magician. More than 100 descendants of nobles who are proficient in writing and grammar have come to him.

Richard had to spend favors and pay high prices to hire several elementary school teachers. Now that he has a reputation, it is not so difficult to recruit talents.

With these talents coming to him, Richard decided to increase investment in education and medical care starting next year. After the spring, he plans to open a third elementary school, and the annual tuition for students will be reduced to two silver coins, which will further benefit lower-class families. In addition, Richard is also planning to open a middle school in Fort William to cultivate higher-quality talents.

In addition to investment in education, Richard is also planning to build a second hospital in Fort Wick.

The area around Fort Wick has been successfully developed. The population of the two baronies of Stopa and Dirham has exceeded 100,000. In terms of population density, this area is slightly higher than that near Fort William. However, the number of freemen in these two territories is relatively small, and the main industry is agriculture. The economic contribution to the territory is not very large. In terms of policy, it is not as important as the Swamp Basin, let alone comparable to Fort William.

After years of development, Fort William Hospital has trained enough medical staff. This time, Richard decided to build a second hospital in the southern region in order to balance the policy a little.