Chapter 417 Railway Construction

As the territory's economy becomes more and more prosperous, the salaries of soldiers in the army are also gradually increasing. Soldiers in the main legion have experienced three rounds of salary increases. Now the salary of soldiers in Harland is roughly the same as that of the Grant royal family. The monthly salary of ordinary soldiers is about ten silver coins. With the service years, combat skills are also improved.

If a soldier improves his archery skills to the fourth level, even if he has not been promoted to a professional, he will get an additional combat skill subsidy of six silver coins, which will greatly increase his income.

In addition, soldiers in the Harland army also have some in-kind subsidies, such as one set of cotton clothes and three sets of single clothes per year. During major festivals, mutton, white wine, soap, brown sugar and other commodities will be distributed. There are also pensions for the dead and disabled in battle. In fact, the treatment is a few points higher than that of the central imperial guards of the Kingdom of Grant.

The treatment of soldiers in the major dukedoms is 30% lower than that of Harland.

The economic income of the marquisate and earldom is even lower. The treatment of the main legion is only a few points better than that of the auxiliary soldiers in Harland. The auxiliary soldiers of the general earldom are completely captured serfs.

The difference in military pay and treatment can greatly affect combat effectiveness. Generally, the royal central guards are better than the duke's army, and the duke's army is better than the regular army of the marquis and earl.

As for the viscount and baron families, the army is relatively small, the aristocratic background is different, and the strength of the army fluctuates greatly. Some baron's army seems to be small in number, but the combat effectiveness is very strong. For example, the former Harden Baron has a well-organized Warcraft cavalry. Some baron's army seems to be large in number, but in fact, they have just been conferred the title, and their subordinates are all serfs, and their combat effectiveness is very sparse.

After incorporating 20,000 soldiers from the East Coast United Kingdom, the remaining 40,000 captives were all converted into contract servants.

After half a year, the soldiers of Harland have let out this breath, and Richard will not continue to abuse them. After serving Harland for five years, they will obtain the status of freemen.

This incorporation has greatly expanded the Harland Mage Association.

As of March this year, the number of formal members of the Harland Mage Association has exceeded 200, plus 67 new mages, the number of Harland mages has reached 271. Almost catching up with the level of the Grant Royal Family, the Grant Royal Family Mage Association has only about 300 formal members.

Mages are also upper class in the East Coast United Kingdom, where they have friends and family.

Richard thought to himself that it would be difficult to get them to join Harland County sincerely. After all, magicians are fundamentally different from serf soldiers with nothing.

In order to make the captured magicians serve Harland County, Richard asked them to sign a ten-year service contract. After the contract is completed, they will be free again.

During the contract service period, Harland County will pay them according to their level, and the salary is about one-third of the normal magician level. Richard will also open up some insensitive extraordinary knowledge. As long as they earn contributions, they can exchange them for learning and improve their knowledge level.

This is a routine operation in the Dawn Plane. If the defeated prisoners cannot pay the ransom, they can only serve as contract slaves. Lost, Wilde, and Driffin in Harland are all slave soldiers.

The ten-year contract is not too long or too short, and Richard pays them salaries, which is already a good treatment.

Richard actually uses these sixty-seven magicians as coolies and puts them all into the legion mage support team.

Now Harland has four regular legions, and the mage support team of each legion has also expanded to thirty people.

The mage support team of thirty people has far exceeded the normal level of the Grant Kingdom.

The central legion of the Grant royal family has only twelve mage teams. Most of the domestic dukes, earls and other nobles do not even have mage support teams. The few magicians only serve the noble courts.

A legion with thirty magicians has already caught up with the level of the East Coast United Kingdom. In the Dawn Plane, it is considered upper-middle class.

Among the kingdoms in the Dawn Plane, the strongest mages are the West Coast Magic Kingdoms, such as the Markholm Magic Kingdom, the Celtic United Kingdom, the Storm Strait Kingdom, the Palmela Ice and Snow Kingdom, etc., with a legion of 300 mages.

A 300-man mage regiment can play a decisive role on a medium-sized battlefield. Its combat effectiveness can compete with 2,000 Warcraft Cavalry.

The mages of the Holy Glorious Empire are also not weak. A legion often includes 60 to 100 mage regiments, as well as different extraordinary arms. For example, Lion Cavalry, all-professional heavy infantry, Warcraft Cavalry, etc. Generally speaking, a regular legion of the Holy Glorious Empire has about 6,000 professionals. The proportion of professionals in the army exceeds that of Harland Territory.

A regular legion of Harland Territory has only about 3,000 professionals. The Warcraft Cavalry Battalion is under the command of the headquarters and has not been incorporated into the main legion for the time being. Including the Warcraft Cavalry, Harland's legion has only about 3,000 professionals. Only the First Legion has the largest number of professionals. It has formed the First Battalion of all professionals, with nearly 5,000 professionals.

If only one legion is taken out, although Harland's army has an advantage in equipment, it is estimated that it is no match for the Holy Glorious Empire. If all 80,000 troops are deployed to fight a large-scale melee, both sides have advantages and the outcome is unclear.

Last spring, Harland had already begun planning to build the railway from Malte to Flying Eagle Castle. Now, a year has passed, the section from Malte Castle to Graveson has been opened to traffic, and more than 50 kilometers have been built from Flying Eagle Castle to the west.

Construction on both sides of the east and west is progressing at the same time. Now, about 120 kilometers of the road have been completed. This section of the railway is located on the plain on the north bank of the Black River. According to the plan of the railway department, even if the population does not increase, it will be fully completed in September this year.

As of March this year, the railway built by Harland has reached 380 kilometers. If statistics are counted at the end of the year, it will exceed 500 kilometers.

In the years since Harland manufactured steam locomotives, the railway department has invested more and more every year. Although the economic benefits of operating railways are very general, with an investment of 700,000 to 800,000 gold coins, there is not much profit, but the successful construction of the railway has greatly improved the comprehensive national strength of Harland.

The railway is not only an economic artery that runs through the east, west, south and north, but can also be used for disaster relief and mobilization of troops, which plays a very important role in maintaining rule.

This year, Harland plans to build two railways, one from the No. 10 military station to the No. 3 military station. This section of the railway is located on the northern plains of the Eagle Mountains, about 110 kilometers away.

The second railway is the section from Malte Castle to Black River Fort, about 50 kilometers away.

Although the transportation cost from Malte Castle to Black River Fort is lower than that of railway, the climate in the Black River Basin is relatively cold, and the river will freeze in winter.

After the completion of this railway, the transportation efficiency in winter has greatly increased.

Because the Powell River has a small amount of water and cannot be transported by large ships, this railway is very necessary to build.

This railway is relatively short and is in plains along the way. It may be opened to traffic earlier than the section from Malte to Eagle Fort. According to the plan of the railway department, it will be completed in July this year.

In late March, Richard took time to visit Philip. Nearly a month of hard life has been a great exercise for Philip. Seeing that Philip's mood has gradually stabilized, Richard put aside his worries, accompanied Philip for two days, accepted labor with him, and then went directly to Graveson.

Now Richard's cousin Gavin serves as a cabinet minister and concurrently as Minister of Transportation, responsible for managing railway projects.

Since last year, the railway department has been lobbying Richard to break away from the Ministry of Transportation and become an independent new department.

Gavin is a veteran of the Ministry of Transportation and an important figure in the Harland family. He has always been very disgusted with the voices of rebellion in the railway department. However, as the railway mileage becomes longer and longer, the investment becomes larger and larger, and the influence becomes higher and higher, Gavin's opposition becomes weaker and weaker. Now everyone with a discerning eye can see that the independence of the railway department is inevitable.

Today, in the railway department of Harland, three people have the loudest voices and the highest authority.

The first one is called Bonova. He is the first heir to the title of Lost and a second-ring magician. Although his magic qualifications are very ordinary, Bonova is very talented in manufacturing machinery.

The first steam locomotive was successfully built under his auspices. Although Richard also gave a lot of opinions during the development of the locomotive, Bonova's contribution to the manufacture of the steam locomotive accounted for more than 60%. It can be said that he is a genius mechanic with very strong creativity.

Unfortunately, he did not make much progress in the research of magic, so his magic level is also at a low level.

Bonova is already 30 years old and has served as the chief engineer of the railway department. He successfully designed two steam locomotives, Dragon I and Dragon II. In just a few years, he has made an improvement to the steam locomotive, increased the power of the steam locomotive, reduced the failure rate, and made great contributions to the railway department.

The second person is named Constantine. He joined Harland Territory 18 years ago and was soon selected as a civil servant. Later, he has been in the transportation department. This person is very capable and has always been an important assistant to Gavin. He has contributed to the promotion of four-wheeled carriages in Harland Territory and has been promoted to the middle level of the civil service system.

Four years ago, steam locomotives came out of nowhere, and Constantine was sent to the railway department by Gavin to be responsible for management. As the influence of the railway department grew, Constantine also became a landmark cadre of this system. The railway department became an independent ministry, which was actually mainly promoted by him.

After all, no one wants to be someone else's assistant. If the Ministry of Railways is established, Constantine will definitely become the minister. As the railway department develops, the authority will be heavier than the Ministry of Transportation.

Constantine has no choice but to be careful.

The third person is named Clement. He joined the army in his early years, but his talent was very ordinary. He retired four years later and transferred to the civil service system. Clement has strong management ability and has been responsible for various projects of various sizes in the territory. He worked in the contract slave management department and gradually rose to the middle level.

Since the construction of the first railway in Harland Territory, Clement has been responsible for on-site construction work, building the section from Fort William to Fort Station. He once personally directed the laying of explosives and the excavation of mountains and tunnels.

The above three people are now the three horses and management core of the railway department in Harland Territory.

Richard went to Graveson without notifying the officials below. He always went to the grassroots inspection with a light car and a small group.

After Richard arrived in Graveson, the weather suddenly changed. Soon it started to rain heavily, and Clement had to order the work to stop first.

Richard stepped on the muddy water and came directly to the sheds where the contract slaves rested and slept. These sheds were made of woolen cloth and were not very waterproof.

Soon a lot of rainwater penetrated into the tents.

Seeing this scene, Richard frowned secretly, but he also knew that railway construction was a very hard job. Living, heating, water, and living all had to move with the railway line. Even in the past when materials were abundant, the living conditions of road workers were not very good, and they often had to live in tents.

It's just that there were waterproof and windproof materials in the past, and the quality of the tents was very good, and they would not leak rain or wind.

The real conditions are like this, and we can't blame the people below too much.

Richard saw that the indentured servants who built the railway put on waterproof hats and looked at Richard and others at a loss.

Richard glanced at the tent and found some coal blocks in the tent, and an iron stove was installed, which seemed to be used for heating by the indentured servants. Seeing this scene, Richard felt a little better.

"How have you been living recently?" Seeing Richard asking in the northern Xinjiang dialect, the indentured servants in the tent looked confused.

The indentured servants who built the railway were mainly from the East Coast United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Delong, and the local indentured servants in the northern border. They were mainly responsible for land reclamation and farming tasks, which were relatively easier than slaves working in the wild.

Richard asked again in the language of the Kingdom of Delong soon, and the indentured servants in the tent began to answer questions tremblingly.

"Our life is still acceptable. We can eat enough every day, and there are black stones to burn in winter. Although the north is much colder than our hometown, it is not freezing to death. Our work is very hard and we are often whipped by supervisors, but if we are injured, there are also distinguished magicians to treat us.

I heard from the preaching specialist that as long as we work for five years, we can restore our status as free people, and each person will be allocated six acres of land. Dear nobleman, is this a lie to us?"

Before Richard answered, Clement ran into the tent in the heavy rain. He had very sharp ears. He heard the question from the indentured servant outside the tent and immediately answered loudly: "We in Harland have been pardoning indentured servants for 20 years. We have formulated strict laws and engraved them on the walls of Fort William. What special ability do you have, Palos, that can make the great Duke change the law?

I know you are a little confused, which is also the normal thought of ordinary people. But we can't use our dirty thoughts to guess the great Duke. I was also a contracted servant and joined Harland eighteen years ago. Soon after, I joined the army and killed orcs on the battlefield and made meritorious deeds to become a free man.

In just eighteen years, although I did not make meritorious contributions and was promoted to hereditary Baron, but was valued by the Duke, could command tens of thousands of contract slaves to work and receive a salary of eight gold coins per month.

My children also entered the Dragon Canyon Knight Academy, learned the breathing method, laid a good foundation since childhood, and charged towards the hereditary noble status.

My own experience can tell you that as long as you work hard in the Harland Territory and serve the lord, your future is not only a free man, but also a noble lord?

Here you can realize your dream through personal struggle, which we call the Harland Dream. You are undoubtedly very lucky to be able to enter the Harland Territory. "

After drinking a bowl of chicken soup, it received thunderous applause in an instant.