Chapter 347 Xia Shou Inspection 2

Richard came to the village near the Imu River and found that except for a few families, most of the free people could only live in the dugout.

These free people had very few belongings, no cotton bedding, and slept in simple haystacks. They wore tattered clothes, with basically no patches on their clothes, and the cloth was seriously damaged and could only barely cover their bodies. The tools in the house were particularly scarce, with only some pottery and a small amount of iron farm tools. They also ate wheat bran, sweet potatoes, and occasionally some wild vegetables. The food was not much better than that of pigs.

Richard had seen the statistics made by the tax department. The free people who had just been pardoned in the first year were often very poor, especially before the summer grain was harvested, and their living standards were not as good as when they were serfs.

After all, the food and clothing of serfs were provided by the lord, and they did not need to worry about their own tools.

However, after becoming a free man, the territory only provided relief food after the land was divided. Most of the relief food was coarse grain, which was very difficult to swallow. The loan was three silver coins per person, and only part of the farm tools and grain could be borrowed on credit. They had to find ways to eat, drink, defecate and urinate by themselves.

Especially when settling in remote areas, all kinds of materials cannot be transported up, prices are high, and life is even worse.

Although Imburg is also a remote area, it is a county town after all, and supplies can be replenished from Salt Lake Fort by water transport.

Salt Lake Fort has been developed for many years. Although it cannot be self-sufficient due to natural conditions, it is a prosperous county town because of the mining of salt lake minerals. Although the transported materials are a bit more expensive, they can be replenished to some extent.

This year, the territory has established more than 20 settlements on both sides of the Im River. Each settlement must arrange more than a dozen retired and disabled veterans. These talents are the basic core of Harland's rule over this area.

The resettlement conditions for these retired and disabled veterans are very good. All brick and stone houses were built by the territory, and each household was allocated 200 acres of land. Richard also specially approved a note to distribute iron armor and crossbows to them, and formed a militia brigade of 300 people to take the responsibility of suppressing the rebellion.

These people are already considered the knight class of Harland.

In fact, not only are the people in this area dissatisfied, but Richard is also worried about them, and soldiers are rarely recruited from this group of contract slaves.

Even if there is a gap in the hearts of the people, Richard is still confident that he can integrate them into the Harland Territory. After all, compared with the lords of the surrounding countries, the policies and laws of the Harland Territory are more civilized. The people of the territory also have better living conditions and a smoother upward channel.

Even if the first generation is not stable, in the second and third generations, their descendants will eventually be proud to be Harland people.

After entering the village, Richard deliberately inquired about the information, selected a family with noble blood, entered the dugout, and easily adapted to the narrow and dirty environment. Seeing that the lord was willing to visit his home without being disgusted by the dirt, the male host's heart was suddenly up and down, and a complex expression flashed across his face.

Seeing that the male host was very burly, he faintly exuded a special momentum, as if there was a fighting force turning in his body.

"Are you a professional?"

"Reporting to the Duke, I am a second-level warrior."

"What's your name?"

"Respected sir, my name is Gulov Farias."

Hearing this name, Richard immediately thought of a familiar person.

"Baron Farias near Nero Castle, who are you?"

Seeing Richard asking, Gulov was immediately shocked. He never expected Richard to react so quickly. He could only panic and said: "I am a member of the Baron Farias family. I have passed the political review and have no crimes."

Back then, Richard captured many nobles in the Grand Duchy of Stannic, and suppressed some of them who were too angry and had blood debts.

Richard did not choose to implicate the remaining nobles. After all, Richard's values ​​were different from those of the nobles in the Dawn Plane, and he was more civilized and tolerant than the native lords.

Seeing Gulov lower his head in fear, Richard said calmly: "Please rest assured about this. As long as you have not committed any crime, the territory will treat you equally.

You have mastered various knowledge, and you can practice the breathing method passed down from your family. It is easy to stand out from the civilians. As long as you serve the territory wholeheartedly, you have a great chance to restore the glory of your ancestors and be promoted to the top of the territory.

Besides, when Farias was alive, he was not a brave and good fighter. He fled on the battlefield and insulted the honor of the nobles. Any upright noble would despise him.

Nero and Solawan could not defeat Harland with more than 10,000 troops. You just have noble blood. If you dare to openly oppose the lord's rule, it is tantamount to hitting eggs with stones."

Hearing Richard's clear promise, Gulov finally breathed a sigh of relief and sighed: "The lord is really a kind person!"

In fact, Gulov's bloodline is far away from the main bloodline of Baron Farias, but in the territory of Baron Farias, his family still has a very good living standard. In the baron's territory, Gulov had 260 acres of arable land. His eldest son and younger brother were both professional officers with relatively generous salaries.

He also opened a bakery in Farias Castle, with an annual income of more than 100 gold coins. Because of his noble blood and Gulov's good management, he was already a member of the upper class in the territory.

But the war destroyed everything Gulov had. His younger brother disappeared on the battlefield, and his eldest son died in the battle to defend Nero Castle. Even Gulov's patron, Baron Farias, did not save his life.

Overnight, Gulov became a serf. After four and a half years of hard work, he became a freeman because of the special policy of Harland.

Most of the freemen in the Grand Duchy of Stannik have complete families.

The same is true for Gulov. When he was first captured, he had not only a wife but also a female slave and a lover. However, when disaster strikes, everyone flees. After becoming a contracted servant of Harland, Gulov's female slaves and lovers left him one after another. Now only his wife and three children are left with him.

Gulov did not have a deep understanding of strength in the first half of his life. Although he has good talent, his personality is a bit lazy and he is afraid of heavy work. In addition to limited development space and high living standards, Gulov is not willing to work hard on breathing. At the age of 40, he is only a high-level warrior student. On the contrary, his younger brother is already a fourth-level warrior, and his eldest son has also been promoted to a professional successfully.

After encountering a big change, Gulov took time out every day to practice breathing. Although he could not afford potions and lacked nutrition, he broke through two realms in five years and became a second-level warrior.

According to common sense, professionals have a good income level. Even if they do not serve the official service of Harland, they can get a salary by joining the mercenary group or the demon hunting team.

The main reason why Gulov is particularly poor is that he cannot leave his family. His youngest son was just born this year, and his three children are hungry. His wife is not able to cultivate the farmland she was allocated.

In the reclaimed area of ​​the Im River Valley, the situation is not very stable. If Gulov leaves behind an orphan and a widow, even if he can send money back, his wife and children may not be able to survive.

"How is your harvest this year?"

When Richard asked about the harvest, Gulov finally smiled: "Thanks to the blessing of the goddess of dawn, the Im River Basin has a good harvest. I cultivated 36 acres of spring wheat this year. Because it is the first year of land reclamation, the annual output is only 126 kilograms on average. Half of the grain was sold for two gold coins, one silver coin, and six copper coins. After paying taxes, there are still ten silver coins, six copper coins, and 2,200 kilograms of grain left."

After listening to Gulov's story, Richard nodded and said: "The food is barely enough to eat, but this amount of money is not good for winter. It takes eight silver coins for five people in your family to change a set of cotton clothes, and the remaining money cannot buy winter fuel. Besides, this kind of dugout is not suitable for long-term living, and the living environment needs to be improved as soon as possible.

The territory has special loans specifically provided for free people, charging 20% ​​interest every year. If you really can't make ends meet, you can apply for a loan."

Richard knew that the area reclaimed this year was the poorest area in the territory. Unlike Nelson and Graveson, there are no ready-made houses here, and the cultivated land is reclaimed. The output in the first year of reclamation is relatively low, and it is also necessary to bear heavy taxes, and the accumulation of wealth is very slow.

According to the normal development speed, it takes about ten years to build a brick house. Living in a simple environment for a long time, the first batch of free people will probably be sick by then.

It is impossible for Harland to give up taxation. Now the territory’s expenses are very large. Although there was a surplus last year, this year hunting monsters has made a lot of money. However, the defense pressure of the territory is still very large. This year, the army will be expanded by 6,000 people, and next year it will face the invasion of orcs. Therefore, the territory can only take out part of the money to issue loans, and cannot reduce taxes.

"Now that the summer harvest is over, I plan to sow some grass seeds on the farmland. I can also cut a batch of grass before winter, which should be able to exchange for some money. The fuel problem is not a big deal. I plan to go to the mountains on both sides of the river valley to cut wood. Not only can I collect fuel, but I can also sell some of it at a low price.

If you live a tight life this year, you will have an easy life next year. If you borrow money, you will have to pay interest next year, which is not cost-effective in the long run."

Gulov is a professional, and his strength is far beyond that of ordinary people. He is equivalent to two or three strong laborers. Although his wife has just given birth and the children can't help, his life is better than that of ordinary free families.

Richard came out of Gulov's house and walked around the village again. He went to several ordinary families. Seeing that the cadres of the village office had received the news, Richard went directly to the village office with two guards.

"You are all veterans, many of you have medals and have made military achievements. When you get to the local area, I hope you will not let your honor be tarnished, and be a person with a sense of justice and compassion. Don't be corrupt or abuse your power, and don't oppress the people.

I will come here again after winter this year to see who has been wronged?

The message has been notified, everyone should do it for the sake of good. When something happens, even if your old superior asks me for mercy, my punishment will be more severe. It is not easy for everyone to have a good life. I hope you can cherish it. Be a noble person and a person with a sense of honor."

Richard finished his speech at the village office and then went to the families of these veterans.

Compared with the newly freed people, the family conditions of veterans and village cadres are much better.

Since last year, the territory has planned to develop this area, mobilized contract slaves to do a lot of preliminary preparations, transported a lot of materials, and a small number of brick and tile houses have been built.

This year, a new brick kiln was built near Imburg, and the output of bricks increased greatly. Although it is not self-sufficient due to the large amount of work, it has also reduced a large part of the transportation tasks.

If the transportation volume of construction materials is reduced, the transportation volume of other materials can be increased. With the increase in material supply, prices can also be reduced.

In addition, limestone has been discovered near Beijiebao, and a cement plant is also under construction.

With the large-scale use of steam engines in Harland Territory, steam crushers have long been successfully manufactured. Because of the large-scale planting of red rubber grass, Harland Territory has suitable rubber products. The conveying technology represented by the steam engine and the red rubber grass product conveyor belt is widely used in factories.

Steam ball mills were also manufactured and used in cement kilns for the first time.

Although the large chimneys of the kilns are very polluting, there are no dust collection equipment and waste gas recovery and treatment equipment. In the previous life, it was an extremely backward and obsolete production capacity. However, in the Dawn Plane, in Harland Territory, steam machinery was used in cement production for the first time.

Once this cement plant is put into production, it can produce 8,000 tons of cement per year, which exceeds the total output of eleven cement kilns in Harland Territory, greatly alleviating the dilemma of insufficient cement production in the territory.

The new cement plant has improved the performance of cement because of the innovation of technology and improved ingredients.

If it were not for the discovery of a large open-pit limestone mine near the North Boundary Fort, this new type of cement plant with a very large investment would not have been built in a desolate border town.

Once the cement plant is put into production, the industrial output value of Beijiebao will increase greatly, and the fiscal revenue will also increase a lot. Driven by Beijiebao Cement Plant, the economic growth of Yimu County can also maintain a high level.

After the summer harvest, Richard inspected the Yimu River Basin for more than 20 days, and did not return to Williamburg until the tax grain collection was completed and the new grain was stored.

During these more than 20 days, Richard went deep into the grassroots many times, dealt with a lot of contradictions, publicly punished seven or eight corrupt and cruel bureaucrats, and won a wave of people's hearts in this area.

In fact, some of the people brought back from Stanik that year have been integrated into the territory. These people are the captured captives.

When absorbing the captives, in order to eliminate the influence of Stanik nobles, Richard removed a large number of officers and soldiers with aristocratic blood from the barracks. The remaining captives are basically citizens and serfs.

This group of soldiers has been in Harland for five years, and some of them have died, injured, and retired over the years. Many people have made military achievements and have successfully integrated into the territory. The best ones have been promoted to deputy captains and are about to become the upper echelons of the Haaland army.

This part of the population is not small, with a total number of more than 50,000. Unlike their fellow countrymen, they have already returned to the Haaland territory.