Chapter 360 Vouchers and Banking
Although there was no large-scale war this year, the steel production in Harland Territory is still very rapid. According to the economic data at the end of the year, the territory has built more than 20 small blast furnaces, with steel production exceeding 18,000 tons and iron production exceeding 30,000 tons.
Although the price of iron is still falling, it has fallen to four copper coins per kilogram in the market, and an ordinary worker can buy one kilogram of crude steel in one day's work.
Because of the development of Harland Territory for more than ten years, the price of steel has dropped to one-ninth of the level of other kingdoms.
The cost of steel products has been continuously reduced, which has greatly impacted the original market in Northern Xinjiang.
For example, Baron Franklin, Harland Territory's steel product competitor in the early years, has given up mining iron ore.
Because at the current market price, Baron Franklin will lose money for every kilogram of steel produced.
Even the iron ore of Edward, Jonathan, and Fox family is reducing its production capacity every year. Because of the production cost, their steel products can't compete with Harland Territory at all.
The price of steel products in the south of Grant Kingdom has also dropped to twelve copper coins per kilogram.
It can be said that the surge in steel production capacity in Harland Territory has greatly strengthened commodity competition and improved the living standards of the country's free people.
The increasingly large steel market has brought Richard a profit of 200,000 gold coins. Although the price of steel has dropped by a quarter this year, the profit has increased slightly compared to last year due to the expansion of production capacity.
The scale of the brown sugar sales market is still expanding. This year, the output of brown sugar in Harland Territory has increased to 7,600 tons, and the domestic demand market in the territory alone has consumed 3,500 tons.
In addition, the military supply of brown sugar is about 600 tons, and the market in the three provinces of the northern border has sold about 400 tons.
The three dukes of Jonathan, Fox, and Edward sold 600 tons, the Nolan market sold 500 tons, and the Stannic market expanded very rapidly this year, wholesale 1,300 tons a year.
The remaining 700 tons of production capacity was basically wholesaled to the Kingdom of Delong through smuggling channels.
After the Grizzlies went south, the Harland family expanded their network to the southern provinces. The smuggling channel to the Kingdom of Delong was opened this year. Relying on this channel, the Duke of Harland dumped many overcapacity products at low prices.
Although the production of brown sugar increased by 52% this year, the price was rarely reduced, and the profit also increased to 90,000 gold coins.
In addition to agriculture, animal husbandry, flour industry, steel industry, and brown sugar industry, the territory's major income this year also includes real estate business, hunting monsters, military trade and coin minting income.
This year, the real estate industry has ushered in a new outbreak point.
Nearly 260,000 free people have been added, and the demand for building houses is extremely strong. In addition to the flour manufacturing industry, the real estate industry has developed at the most amazing speed.
Not only are state-owned construction companies expanding their scale, but many private construction companies have also been established. Many brick kilns and lime kilns have been newly built, and wood processing plants have also increased their felling targets and started to explode their production capacity.
According to sampling statistics from government departments, more than 20,000 brick and tile houses and more than 40,000 wooden houses were built in the Harland territory last year. In addition, the government also built many large projects.
The real estate and construction industry sector contributed 100,000 gold coins in profit to the Haland Territory Government.
100,000 gold coins in profit has ranked among the top contributions to the territory's finances, and the real estate industry's influence on the Haland Territory's economy has become increasingly important.
Hunting monsters has brought millions of gold coins to the territory this year, but these resources have been invested in military construction, and have not increased cash income. On the contrary, because of the purchase of materials, more than 200,000 gold coins have been lost, but the combat effectiveness and foundation of the Haland Territory Army have been enhanced.
The casualty rate of elite soldiers wearing sub-dragon skin armor will be greatly reduced.
In the battle with the undead a few days ago, no one in the first squadron died in battle, and there were only six lightly and seriously injured. The excellent enchanted armor is the most important reason for the low casualties.
This year, the arms trade has increased very quickly. As more and more alchemists are trained, the military production capacity of Harland has increased. This year, 6,000 alchemical bombs, 800 scorching ray guns, and 3,000 pieces of armor have been sold. In addition to some orders with low profits, the military trade has brought 90,000 gold coins to the territory this year.
The income from minting coins is still very stable. The minting of copper and silver coins, plus the mining of magic crystals, has brought a total profit of 103,000 gold coins to the Harland territory.
Because the economic development of the Harland territory is very fast, new products are put into production every few years, and the problem of currency shortage is very serious. Even if 90,000 gold coins of metal currency are minted every year, it is still not enough for the market.
According to Richard's observation, the Harland territory has been in a slow deflation.
Some poor villages have even seen the emergence of a barter market. According to the actual situation of the Harland territory, paper currency should have been promoted.
If you want to promote paper currency, there is still a certain technical difficulty. At least the anti-counterfeiting problem is imminent. After solving the currency anti-counterfeiting problem, there are still some institutional problems.
After all, the Harland Territory belongs to the Kingdom of Grant and does not have complete coinage rights. It is not easy to issue paper currency and convince the Grant royal family.
Unable to issue paper currency, Richard can only find a way to print some vouchers and distribute them to soldiers and civil servants as salaries to alleviate the shortage of metal currency.
These vouchers can be used to purchase supplies at the official general store in the territory, and can also be used to offset taxes.
This year, under Richard's personal planning, Harland Territory printed 120,000 gold coin vouchers three times and distributed them to military officers and civil servants.
Because it was the first year, everyone had no confidence in this metal currency substitute, and immediately went to the store to buy various goods after receiving the vouchers.
The vouchers issued this year were basically not circulated, which was equivalent to Richard using physical goods instead of metal currency to pay salaries to officers and soldiers. Even if the soldiers bought some goods that were not urgently needed, they did not have too many complaints. After all, it is indeed a bit difficult for soldiers with low cultural levels to understand the means of financial harvesting.
As long as Harland Territory persists, vouchers can also form a special government credit currency, and the scope of use will gradually expand from Harland Territory to the northern border area.
At that time, just printing a little money can be exchanged for various resources and goods from the northern border area.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to cherish the government's credit, and the amount of printing vouchers must be carefully calculated to cooperate with the development and improvement of productivity.
Once the currency is over-issued and the government's credibility is destroyed, paper currency will soon become worthless and the market will lose confidence.
In order to promote vouchers and establish a financial sector, in March this year, a bank was established in the Haaland Territory, named Duke Bank, and more than a dozen branches were opened.
This bank is a resident savings bank. Although the interest on savings is very low, the interest rate for fixed deposits is only 0.7% per year, and there is no interest at all for demand deposits. However, many residents still deposit a large amount of money in the bank vault.
Especially urban residents, who are quite enthusiastic about saving money.
The main reason why urban residents are willing to deposit money in banks is for the safety of funds.
After all, hiding gold coins at home also requires careful guarding against thieves, rats, bear children, etc. After depositing them in the bank, you can withdraw money with your household registration certificate and passbook.
If you lose your passbook, you can also apply for a replacement with your household registration information.
Secondly, the common people have strong confidence in the Haaland territory. In other territories, the citizens do not trust the lords and nobles, and the officials have no credibility, so they will naturally not deposit money in the nobles' vaults.
The Duke's Bank has been in operation for only one year, and it has absorbed nearly 1.6 million gold coins in deposits. These deposits are mainly contributed by the citizens, and the farmers in the countryside prefer to keep their coins in the cellar.
Depositing money in the bank today means that money has begun to flow. Money flows in the territory, passes through the hands of different people, and brings profits to all aspects, which means that the economy is running well.
After more than ten years of development, the Haaland territory has shown obvious urban and rural differences.
At the beginning, the territory was established in the wilderness, and there was almost no difference between urban and rural areas.
The urban population, like the rural population, mainly makes a living by farming.
With the development of the territory's economy, there are gradually industries and service industries. Some smart people contract out farmland and invest in more profitable industries, and then buy houses in the city and settle in the city.
More than a decade has passed, and now the urban residents in the Haaland territory are generally richer than farmers and have a higher standard of living.
More than 85% of the deposit of 1.6 million gold coins was contributed by urban residents, while the total number of residents in the more than 20 castles in Harland's territory was less than 300,000.
The deposits of the Duke's Bank were also prosperous, but the loan business was developing very slowly.
The loan interest rate was much higher than the deposit interest rate. Eight percent of the loan interest had to be paid a year. As long as they could survive, most urban residents would basically not choose to take out loans.
Some street urchins who ate, drank, whored and gambled did not dare to go to the official government to borrow money. After all, if they could not pay back the loan, they would go to jail. The treatment of labor reform prisoners was much worse than that of contract slaves, and the work they had to undertake was also more dangerous.
These small hooligans on the market did not dare to provoke government departments at all.
Those who borrowed from the Duke's Bank were mainly rich people like Odaye, the first generation of capitalists. They had rich assets, great courage, and a relatively high reputation in the bank. They were willing to pay a certain interest cost for loans to expand production and earn more profits.
Because of the opening of the bank, the flow of money was faster, reducing the cost of private lending and financing, and the market became more active, and the flour processing capacity exploded extremely violently.
With the increase in production capacity, the cost of flour processing has also been reduced.
With the large increase in freemen, the production capacity of cloth textiles has increased rapidly this year. Although the production capacity of woolen cloth is limited by the supply of raw materials, the production capacity has increased by 12%, and the production capacity of cotton cloth has almost doubled.
This year, the farmland planted with cotton has exceeded 500,000 acres. The caravans of the Harland Territory have also imported a large amount of cotton from the outside world. The total profit submitted by the textile department this year is 60,000 gold coins.
In addition, there is the magic crystal charging business, which brought 30,000 profits to the territory this year. However, this part of the profit is reflected in the magic crystal. The Harland Territory cannot sell magic crystals, but can only increase the territory's foundation.
With the successful research of the magic steam engine, the annual consumption of magic crystals in the Harland Territory's industrial projects has exceeded 1,000. The output of the magic crystal mine in the Losa Basin is only more than 1,000 a year, which is just enough to consume and there is almost no surplus.
The 3,000 magic crystals charged each year must also be used for military supplies.
Once a war breaks out, the consumption of various materials will be astronomical. Although the Harland territory has a reserve of 10,000 magic crystals, it may not be enough to fight a few large-scale battles.
Because of the contract signed with the multinational chamber of commerce, the market for porcelain has shrunk slightly this year, with a net profit of only 24,000.
The profits of soap and perfumed soap have approached 50,000 due to the increase in production capacity.
The climate in the northern border is cold, and high-proof liquor is a necessity for outdoor life. With the increase in the consumer population, the liquor business has also ushered in a major development, with a profit of 45,000 this year alone.
The income from medicines is also steadily increasing. The flagship product is still hemostatic ointment. The Harland Territory has cultivated three purple-headed peak kings and formed three large bee colonies.
In order to avoid bee colonies competing for territory, three purple-headed beehives are placed in different cities. These three purple-headed beehives can bring a profit of 35,000 gold coins to the Harland Territory.
In addition to hemostatic ointment, the Harland Territory can also produce many new medicines, such as burn ointment, internal injury treatment potion, painkiller pills, marching powder, anesthetics, antidiarrheal drugs, etc.
Especially the painkiller pills, which are another blockbuster. Last year, 220,000 bottles were sold, and this year, 400,000 bottles were sold, bringing a profit of 16,000 gold coins to the territory.
Adding up all kinds of miscellaneous income, the sales of medicines brought a profit of 74,000 gold coins to the Harland Territory.
The coal production in the Harland Territory is also steadily increasing, especially the coal mines in the eastern part of the Losa Basin. The second mine was put into production this year, using steam conveyors and steel drum coal mining machines, and the production capacity was increased to 50,000 tons.
After the production capacity of the coal mine near Williamburg was increased to 200,000 tons, it has been relatively stable in the past two years. Due to the limitations of the ore layer, it is difficult to increase it with the existing mining technology.
This year, the total coal production is 250,000 tons, and only more than 100 coal miners have been added. The coal department has brought a net profit of 60,000 gold coins to the Harland Territory this year.
The transportation industry is relatively stable. This year, the Harland Territory mainly develops river transportation. Because a lot of new ships have been invested, the cash income is very small, and the profits are invested in the expansion scale.
The rest are some small industries, such as dyed cloth. Because they have to compete with the royal family, Richard does not want to offend the royal family. The market scale has not expanded much, and there is no price reduction to engage in vicious competition. Although the market prospects are very good, the Harland Territory has temporarily suppressed its appetite and has not made much profit.
The dyed cloth business has increased some profits this year compared with last year, mainly relying on tapping the internal market, and has made a total profit of 15,000 gold coins.
The perfume industry has very stable income. This kind of luxury only serves a specific group of people. Once it has a high level and occupies the market, the income can often last for many years and is very stable. This year, it also made a profit of 10,000 gold coins.
This industry has also driven the economic development of the City of Flowers and greatly improved the living standards of thousands of free people.
Because the literacy rate is getting higher and higher, there are more and more schools, and the number of students in school has exceeded 20,000. The scale of the papermaking business is also increasing rapidly, and this year's profit has exceeded 10,000 for the first time.
This industry will also have extremely high development prospects, and the profit will exceed 100,000 gold coins in another 20 years.
The flame spiders also expanded their population. Anne has contracted the flame spider queen for eleven years and cultivated the flame spider queen into a third-level magic creature. However, the flame spider queen's potential has been exhausted. Unless extremely precious magic resources are used, the shackles of blood can be broken.
In eleven years, the flame spiders have expanded their population to more than one hundred. The spider silk that can be produced each year exceeds sixty kilograms, which can be woven into twenty wizard robes, and can generate six thousand gold coins for the territory.
The fruit industry, fresh fish business and other miscellaneous incomes can also bring ten thousand gold coins to the Harland territory.
In total, the Harland territory collected a total of 1.545 million gold coins in cash this year, an increase of 382,000 gold coins over last year's fiscal revenue.
Excluding the income from demon hunting, the fiscal revenue of the Harland territory this year increased by 32%, and it is still soaring.