Chapter 428 Annual Summary
The price that Richard proposed was too high, almost beyond Parsons' authority.
As an envoy, although Parsons was eloquent and elegant, he did not have the power to decide on the real big things.
Seeing that Richard was determined to get a large amount of extraordinary resources from the Kingdom of Sith, he was willing to release the prisoners and the magic ship.
Facing Parsons' implicit threat, Richard acted indifferent, with a playful look as if he was watching a joke.
The Dukedom of Harland is far away from the Kingdom of Sith, and the Kingdom of Sith poses almost no threat to the Dukedom of Harland in a short period of time. Since it is impossible to threaten the opponent in reality, the Kingdom of Sith can only take out real money to redeem the magic ship.
However, if Harland takes this extraordinary resource, it is equivalent to offending a human kingdom in the long run.
In the years since the rise of the Harland family, it has offended the Kingdom of Delong, the United Kingdom of the East Coast, the Kingdom of Ryan, and the Kingdom of Stark. This time, it offended the Kingdom of Sith, which can be said to have enemies everywhere and the surrounding situation is very bad. If the relationship with the territorial states is not good, it will be very difficult for Harland products to expand the market to the surrounding areas.
Richard also wants to maintain the external situation, but as long as Harland Territory continues to develop rapidly, it will be a threat to the surrounding countries, and the two sides will inevitably have conflicts due to various interests. Unless it can grow and become a major force like the Holy Glorious Empire and the Southwestern Magic Kingdoms, the external situation can be better.
After Parson returned to the hotel, he thought carefully and decided to write a letter to King Anthony. In his heart, he was inclined to agree to the conditions of Duke Harland.
"Based on the captured officers and soldiers, plus the redeemed large magic ships, we can quickly form combat effectiveness. I will write to King Anthony and persuade him to agree to the conditions of Duke Harland. Interactions between countries should be based on interests first, and should not be mixed with personal grudges. As long as our Kingdom of Sith can continue to prosper, we can always wait for the day of revenge."
Although Richard's asking price is very high, it is roughly the same as building a new large magic ship, but the new magic ship needs to queue up in the Holy Halo Empire, and the Kingdom of Sith needs to smooth relations and get favors. Moreover, Richard also agreed to Parson's request that as long as the money was paid, the captured Yunhai Slave Corps soldiers would be released.
In the battle a few months ago, Richard led Harland's soldiers to fight two battles and captured more than 400 people from the Kingdom of Sith, including two high-level professionals, 50 mid-level professionals, and more than 300 beginners. If these people pay the ransom according to the rules, they will have to pay about 200,000 gold coins. However, if you want to train a professional army of 400 people, the investment in personnel alone will cost at least 500,000 gold coins.
This is equivalent to the Kingdom of Sith paying 500,000 gold coins of extraordinary resources to redeem the magic ship and captured officers and soldiers worth one million gold coins.
Parson's letter was delivered to the City of Belaid in the Kingdom of Sith through the Lion Knight at a speed of 500 kilometers per day, which took three and a half days. After discussing with the court ministers, King Anthony finally decided to agree to Richard's request and exchange people with extraordinary resources worth 500,000 gold coins.
Because the Kingdom of Sith is highly centralized, in late November, a small magic ship loaded with super magic metal sailed to the mouth of the Black River.
In late November, the temperature in the northern border area was already very cold, and at night it was often as low as minus ten degrees Celsius. The middle and lower reaches of the Black River began to freeze, and this batch of extraordinary resources could only be transported to Harland Territory by manpower.
When the two parties completed the transaction, it was already early December.
December is the busiest time of the year for Harland Territory. Not only will the Goddess’ Birthday Festival be celebrated at the end of the month, but civil servants in the territory will also have to check their accounts at the end of the year and submit statistical reports to the higher authorities.
Harland Territory has formed this tradition for more than 20 years. Although the territory has become very large now, various statistical figures are difficult to be accurate, but with a general data, Richard can also have a general understanding of the development of the territory.
In late December, various statistical reports were delivered to Richard. From these thick statistical reports, Richard knew that Harland Territory already had 2.4 million free people and 4.85 million indentured slaves. The total population directly controlled by the territory has increased by 450,000 this year, and has reached 7.25 million. The 40 or so vassals under his command have a total of 620,000 people.
2.4 million freemen, and 15 million acres of arable land have been allocated. It accounts for about a quarter of the territory. Although many places suffered from floods this year, Richard reduced some agricultural taxes and still collected 480,000 gold coins of land tax. In addition to commercial taxes, tariffs, real estate taxes and other income, the tax revenue of Harland this year is a total of 790,000 gold coins.
790,000 gold coins of tax revenue is roughly equivalent to about 80% of the income level of a dukedom. If Harland converts all serfs into freemen, Richard estimates that the land tax plus other taxes, even if the current light tax policy is maintained, can collect 3 million gold coins of tax revenue a year. If there is no large-scale military expansion, 3 million is enough to maintain the fiscal balance of the territory.
Moreover, since the development of Harland, tax revenue is not the largest fiscal revenue. The territory can develop and maintain mainly relying on the profits handed over by state-owned enterprises.
Today, there are 2.4 million free citizens in the territory, and the market size has reached a considerable level. Coupled with the strong demand for building railways, the steel production in Harland has been surging in the past two years. According to statistics from three steel mills this year, the steel production in Harland has increased to 125,000 tons, and the output of pig iron is also 60,000 tons.
The total steel production exceeds 185,000 tons. As long as the railway is still under construction, the steel production will continue to increase.
185,000 tons of steel, about 25,000 tons of which are exported. Now almost all the nobles of Grant Kingdom buy steel ingots from Harland Territory. Harland Territory's large-scale production of steel directly defeated Grant Kingdom's manual iron smelting. Even if it is transported hundreds of kilometers, Harland Territory's steel products are cheaper and of better quality. No matter who the nearby lords are, as long as they produce steel, every one will lose money.
Now the price of steel products in Harland Territory has dropped to one copper coin per kilogram. Ordinary strong laborers can buy four kilograms of steel products in one day's work.
Compared with 20 years ago, the price of steel has dropped by 30 times, and the quality has greatly improved. The types of steel products have also increased a lot. Iron pots and iron basins have become daily consumer goods in Harland Territory.
Because of the popularity of iron pots, even the cooking methods of food have changed. Grilled meat on iron plates and stir-fried dishes in iron pots have appeared in restaurants in Harland Territory.
The substantial price reduction of basic materials such as steel has undoubtedly greatly reduced the cost of living and improved the living standards of ordinary people. The quality of life of the free people in Harland has far exceeded that of the citizens of Nolan.
Although the price of iron continues to fall, the steel department still handed in a profit of 400,000 gold coins this year because of the increase in production capacity.
Nowadays, the price of steel has dropped a lot. If it were not for the use of a large number of contract slaves, there would not be much labor cost, and the overall profit of the steel department would be only 50%, not counting the cost of the iron ore land. Richard has communicated with managers of the steel, economic planning, and commercial departments many times and decided not to continue to reduce the price and dump steel products.
Although the scale of the agricultural department is larger, there is not much surplus this year because of the large-scale floods in summer and autumn. The surplus grain in the grain system treasury is less than 2 million tons.
Although 2 million tons of grain is a lot, Harland needs to feed 5 million contract slaves, and consumes at least 1 million tons a year. In addition, 300,000 tons of grain must be used as seed grain, plus the grain needed for brewing and food processing, the surplus grain this year is only 300,000 to 400,000 tons.
Although 300,000 to 400,000 tons of food is not a small amount, it can only feed the nearly 8 million people in Harland Territory for one and a half months at most. This amount of food cannot be used easily.
This year is the first year of the merger of the territory. In addition, part of the cultivated land suffered a major disaster. The food system is still accumulating and has not played a role in improving the territory's finances.
The animal husbandry industry is developing rapidly. Because the number of free people has increased, the scale of the domestic demand market has greatly increased. Now the number of sheep in the official ranch has exceeded 4 million, and the number of sheep slaughtered this year has reached 3.8 million. Because the official ranch in Harland Territory uses a large number of sheep-bodied prisoners of war, the labor cost is very low.
In addition to supplying the army, this year it actually handed in a profit of 300,000 gold coins.
The income of Xuejing Lake is still very stable. In addition to hunting monsters, a total of 25,000 bottles of Tenghui potion were refined last year, 20,000 bottles were consumed internally, and 1,400 professional people were added.
At the current development speed of Harland Territory, if an army of all professionals is formed, 1,000 people can be added a year.
Now the First Infantry Battalion has become an all-professional army, with a total of 1,500 soldiers. The special squadron has expanded to 100 soldiers, plus 100 lion knights, 50 wyvern knights, 500 demon hunters, 300 elven archers, and 150 magicians. The all-professional army of Harland has nearly 3,000 people.
Although the Warcraft Cavalry is not an all-professional army, it is also very powerful because of the Warcraft horses. Harland now has 3,300 Warcraft Cavalry, and the most elite extraordinary troops have 6,000 people.
In addition to the nine squadrons of artillery units, magic airships, and magic hot air balloon units, which can also play a decisive role in the battle, the essence of Harland’s army is actually more than 10,000 people.
Because the territory’s finances are insufficient this year, 4,000 bottles of Tenghui potion were exchanged for 100,000 gold coins in cash and 20,000 gold coins of food, cotton and other commodities.
Twenty-five bottles of Styx Potion were auctioned this year, one of which was exchanged for four bottles of Life Evolution Potion. The twenty-four bottles of Styx Potion earned a profit of 120,000 gold coins.
Because the number of free people increased, the domestic demand market expanded rapidly, and the flour processing industry was still developing at a high speed. Although private capital continued to enter this industry, the state-owned flour processing factory still handed over 250,000 gold coins to the territory this year.
The production capacity of brown sugar is still increasing with the increase of the domestic demand market. Because of the policy of liberating contract slaves in Harland Territory, this industry still has a very great development prospect.
After twenty years of development, some nobles have stolen the brown sugar tree species, but now Harland Territory has developed to such a scale and is so powerful that the small and medium-sized nobles who stole the brown sugar tree species dare not plant them in large quantities, which will infringe on the economic interests of Harland Territory.
Whether it is the Dawn Plane or the Grant Kingdom, it is not a place where reason is used. The law of the jungle is the basic rule of the world. Small nobles dare not touch the interests of the big nobles, nor dare to easily enter the industries controlled by the big nobles.
If you want to challenge the great nobles, you must have enough power to check and balance them.
Now the brown sugar market in Grant Kingdom has been monopolized by Harland. The honey industry of the southern nobles has been defeated by brown sugar. A large number of beekeeping freemen have gone bankrupt, and the southern earls have given up this industry. The earls can't stand it in their own territories, let alone the viscounts and barons.
Anyone who dares to enter this industry may face not only commercial competition, but also military and political competition.
Moreover, Harland has been in the brown sugar industry for 20 years, and the scale is extremely amazing. Other nobles in Grant Kingdom can't compete with Harland at all.
Because of the expansion of a large number of territories, the overall population has swallowed up 16 million, and more than one million freemen have been added. Both the export market and the domestic demand market have expanded a lot. The brown sugar department has actually handed in a profit of 280,000 gold coins this year.
With a large increase in population, the number of freemen has increased by 900,000 in just two years. The real estate industry in Harland is of course developing rapidly. This year, the territory has made a profit of 200,000 gold coins from selling houses. The rent received by the territory this year is also 120,000 gold coins. The real estate business brought 320,000 gold coins in profit to Harland Territory this year.
This year, the arms trade income was very high, bringing the territory a profit of more than one million gold coins. The sale of 400 sets of magic hot air balloons alone brought a profit of 1.2 million gold coins, but most of the profits from arms sales were exchanged for population. Harland Territory increased nearly 200,000 people through arms sales this year, and the cash income was not much, and the mess added up to only 200,000 gold coins in cash.
The minting department made a lot of profit this year because the economic development speed was extremely fast. Harland Territory minted nearly 190,000 gold coins last year and printed 200,000 vouchers.
After years of accumulation, vouchers have been circulated in Harland Territory, and the total amount has exceeded 400,000 gold coins. Richard's idea of exchanging materials for printing bills has been partially realized.
The minting department brought 350,000 gold coins in profit to Harland Territory this year.
The Duke Bank of Harland Territory has also developed well in the past two years, and this year it has handed in a profit of 100,000 gold coins.
The cotton spinning industry has also developed well. Although there are small nobles and free people participating in the competition in this industry, due to the increase in population and the expansion of the domestic demand market, the official textile factory in Harland still handed in 140,000 gold coins in profit this year.
The soap and soap departments performed very well this year, handing in 150,000 gold coins in profit.
The pharmaceutical department has also developed very well. Now Harland has cultivated six purple-headed peak nests, and the production of hemostatic ointment has greatly increased. Not only can it supply the Harland army for free, but it can also supply part of the royal family at a low price. The part sold on the market can provide Harland with 80,000 gold coins in profit.
In addition to the two heavy bombs of painkillers and anthelmintics, the three fist products can bring 190,000 gold coins in profit to Harland, plus more than 20 other medicines, this year it handed in 260,000 gold coins in profit.
With the successful development of the Burren coal mine, the coal output of Harland exceeded 900,000 tons this year. Although the coal mine department has invested a lot, it still handed in 200,000 gold coins in profit this year.
The income of the wine industry is also very good. Although there are many competitive products in the market due to the diffusion of technology, the white wine, red wine and fruit wine have handed in a total profit of 160,000 gold coins this year.
The rest are basically some small-scale industries, such as brick kilns, lime kilns, glass kilns, wood processing plants, lumberyards, fresh fruit industry, and papermaking industry. These industries, big and small, have handed in a profit of 450,000 gold coins for the territory.
After conquering the ogre tribe, about 300,000 gold coins in cash were seized. One-third of this gold was distributed by Richard to reward soldiers, and the remaining one-third was deposited in the treasury.
In total, plus the income from materials, the fiscal revenue of Harland Territory this year has exceeded 7 million, and the cash income is as high as 4.77 million gold coins, which is almost equivalent to 90% of the royal family's income.
Swallowing hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land, adding millions of contract slaves and 900,000 free people, the fiscal revenue of Harland Territory has increased by 60% again. By next year, as long as there is no major disaster, it will inevitably be close to the level of Grant Royal Family.