Chapter 450 Special Envoy Arrives

As of this year, the number of freedmen has far exceeded that of indentured servants. Starting this year, taxation has become the bulk of the territory's fiscal revenue.

There are more than 7 million free people, and they can receive 2.4 million gold coins a year from land taxes alone. Add in customs duties, commercial taxes, real estate taxes, special commodity taxes, etc., and the tax revenue alone was 300 gold coins last year. More than half a million.

According to statistics from the financial department, the tax revenue of Harland Territory last year totaled 5.93 million gold coins, of which the tax revenue accounted for 59%. With the substantial increase in tax revenue, Harland Territory has increased its exposure to the external market. Dependence has weakened a lot.

In the past two years, the three kingdoms of Delong, East Coast, and Lane have tried their best to suppress the economic development of Harland and strengthened their efforts to combat smuggling. It has become very difficult for Harland to sell its flagship products to foreign countries.

Nowadays, daily commodities such as high-quality liquor, brown sugar, elf black tea, soap, soap, glass products, etc. have all been driven out of the Three Kingdoms market. Even the smuggling channels have been severely cracked down by the authorities, and the powerful people who cooperated are no longer willing to do it.

The external market has suffered a major blow, and Haaland's commercial income has decreased somewhat.

External market demand has weakened, and Haaland's territory relies more on the domestic demand market. With the surge in the number of free citizens, the domestic demand market has been greatly expanded, and the Harland Territory has a stronger tax source.

With the growth of the economy, the domestic demand market has slowly expanded, and external market demand has been relegated to a secondary aspect.

In late January, Harland led another class of freshmen to enroll. This year, the number of freshmen enrolled exceeded 50,000, and the number of students entering the Magic Academy reached 500.

Including these 500 new people, the Harland Master Mage Association will have 2,100 people. The scale of 2,100 people is already close to the level of the Kingdom of Lane. However, the number of official magicians is greater in the Lion Kingdom than in the Harland Kingdom.

As of January this year, there are 454 official magicians in the Harland Territory. In addition to the 300 magicians controlled by the royal family and the small amount of magic power possessed by the great nobles, the number of magicians in the Grant Kingdom has exceeded 900, roughly. Equivalent to half the level of the United Kingdom on the East Coast.

Soon after the freshmen enrolled, the time suddenly came to March.

March is the season for spring plowing, but in the Puliland area, spring plowing may have to wait until April.

After entering the Bolton Forest to the north, the grass and trees will not sprout until early May. If you want to do spring plowing, you have to wait until May.

In Bolton Forest, there is usually heavy snowfall in early October, and the vegetation will wither in late September, leaving a very short period for plant growth.

Near this area, winter often lasts for six or seven months, spring and autumn are very short, only about thirty days, and the average temperature is above 20 degrees for less than three months a year.

In this kind of climate, it is impossible to grow wheat at all, and can only grow crops with short growth cycles, such as oats and potatoes. Due to the lower temperature, the yield is lower than in the Puliland area.

Moreover, due to the irregular snowfall time, snow disasters in this area are very frequent and food production is unstable. The area north of Bolton Forest is not suitable for human survival and reproduction before industry has developed to a certain extent and food production is large-scale.

Fortunately, the population of Harland Territory settled in Bolton Forest is not large, there are only more than 400 elves of the Morningglow tribe.

Because the Mystery Lock is protected by a constant temperature formation, the elves are relatively comfortable living in the Mystery Lock.

Misuo covers an area of ​​about ten square kilometers and has a population of less than 500. It is not overcrowded, and some breadfruit trees can be planted in the open space in the middle.

Moreover, Richard, Undine, and Sophia all have large-capacity space equipment. Once a year, they can bring hundreds of cubic meters of supplies, which can make more than 400 elves live very comfortably.

The elves do not need to worry about food and supplies. Their only task is to mobilize soldiers to serve Harland in the war.

One day in mid-March, the weather outside the window was very dark, and drizzle fell on the ground. A rain during the spring plowing period was undoubtedly a timely help.

Richard practiced breathing techniques early in the morning, had just handled government affairs for two hours, and was about to have lunch when a special urgent message was sent to the Duke's Palace.

When he opened the letter and read it, even Richard, who was relatively wealthy in the city, changed his expression. It turns out that the special envoy of the Holy Radiance Empire has taken a magic ship and docked at Morning Glory Castle at the mouth of the Black River.

Although it is traveling upstream, it cannot use sails or steam engines to provide power. Relying on the power of magic crystals, the magic ship can travel two to three hundred kilometers a day. However, a large magic ship sailing at full speed needs to burn 300 magic crystals every day, which can be converted into more than 3,000 gold coins. Even the Holy Radiance Empire magic ship relies on sails most of the time.

Harland led the magic ship and installed a steam boiler, which burned coal most of the time.

After seeing the Holy Radiance Empire magic ship, the Morning Glory Castle garrison immediately dispatched griffins to deliver the message. If we rely on griffins to deliver letters, it will be faster than even the eight-hundred-mile express trip.

After receiving the news of the Holy Radiance Empire's mission, Richard thought to himself: "It is rumored that the Holy Radiance Empire's intelligence network is spread all over the plane of dawn, and even the elves of the Eastern Continent and the dwarves of the Western Continent have spies planted.

Although the Holy Radiance Empire cannot control everything and it is difficult to project its tentacles to the Eagle Mountains and the northern prairie, the Holy Radiance Empire is still the most powerful force in the Dawn Plane. This country sends envoys to Harland to conquer remote areas like Harland. , there must be a purpose, and it is likely to cause trouble for Haaland's tie. "

After receiving the letter from the Holy Radiance Empire, Richard immediately dispatched a flying dragon to quickly notify Sylph and Sutton to go to Fort William for discussions.

In addition to Sylph and Sutton, Richard also notified the commander of the Third Legion, Jennings, the commander of the Second Legion, Soros, the commander of the Fifth Legion, Grumman, as well as Prime Minister Rogge, Intelligence Minister Vitas, and second uncle Powell in the cabinet. In less than a day, everyone arrived at the Duke's Mansion on a wyvern.

Almost all the core members of Harland Territory gathered at the Duke's Mansion. Father William, third uncle Bernie, and the commander of the Fourth Legion, Wilde, were too far away to notify them in time, so they could only tell them the result.

In addition to the core members of the territory, Richard, Sophia, Undine, Margaret, and Philip all participated in the secret meeting. The second son Rex was too young to show up.

Seeing that all the important people had arrived, Richard showed everyone the urgent intelligence and said straight to the point: "The envoy of the Holy Glorious Empire has entered the mouth of the Black River. Now about two days have passed. According to the speed of the magic ship, the envoy is probably not far from the Black River Castle."

As soon as Richard finished speaking, the postman of East Castle rode a fast horse and rushed to William Castle in advance by changing horses continuously, and delivered a letter from Reynold, the governor of East County.

Reynold was thirty-five or thirty-six years old. He was considered the first batch of elementary school graduates in Harland County. After graduating from elementary school, he had served Harland County for fifteen or sixteen years.

In fifteen or sixteen years, he climbed from a grassroots civil servant to the position of county governor. Reynold's ability must be extraordinary.

This person does not have much energy behind him. The reason why he can be promoted quickly is entirely due to his shrewdness and strength. This person is naturally friendly, good at speaking and negotiating, very good at easing and compromising the contradictions between the parties, and is naturally proficient in making peace. Every time he reconciles the contradictions between the two sides, he can satisfy both parties.

This ability is most suitable for being an official.

Because Reynold had this ability, he quickly stood out among grassroots civil servants and was appreciated by the top leaders. He was valued by Roger in his twenties and was promoted to Roger's assistant. He served Roger for three or four years.

Although Reynold was still relatively young, Roger had proposed to Richard to promote him to the newly established governor of Prilan Province.

The governor of the Harland Province is the highest position among civil servants. In recent years, it is more important than the cabinet minister. He is a real frontier official with high power and monopoly. The candidates who can serve as the governor of the province are almost all veteran officials such as Powell, Roger, Hayden, Berrien, and Rooney.

Reynold's nomination is actually very important. His future is ahead of most cabinet ministers.

The reason why Roger solemnly recommended Reynold was probably to select a successor for himself. It seems that his impression of cabinet members and provincial officials should be very ordinary.

Most of the high-ranking civil servants in Harland Territory are indeed people who succeed because of their ability. Their abilities are not outstanding, but they have occupied their positions early, have received sufficient experience, and have kept up with the great development of the territory. Among these people, only Rogge is better. He has established a firm foothold in Nolan on his own and served as a civil servant.

Redno really has a big picture. Although the Holy Glorious Empire is very famous, Redno still withstood the pressure, detained the Holy Glorious Empire magic ship for a period of time, and then invited the Holy Glorious Empire envoy to visit East County for a few days.

Redno held the envoy back, so Richard and others had time to discuss in advance and make some contingency plans to prevent the envoy from suddenly coming to Harland Territory and catching Richard off guard.

Although the Holy Glorious Empire is very far away from Harland Territory, it cannot reach here for the time being. But after all, it is the largest force in the Dawn Plane. During this period of time, Harland Territory is just a strong ant compared to the Holy Glorious Empire, and conflicts between the two sides should be avoided as much as possible.

If Richard is given another twenty years, when Harland Territory develops, Richard and Sophia are promoted to legends, and they swallow up the territories of several nearby countries, eliminate the orcs in the grassland governor's district, and control one or two different planes, Richard will have enough confidence to fight against the Holy Glorious Empire, just like the magic kingdom in the southwest, and give the Holy Glorious Empire a bad face.

"Rednor delayed the special envoy and bought us time, so that the Holy Glorious Empire was not caught off guard. Let's talk about it and see what the Holy Glorious Empire is planning?"

Seeing that everyone was silent and seemed to be still considering their words, Rogge was the first to express his opinion.

"The Holy Glorious Empire is well-informed and has placed spies in almost all kingdoms. The rapid development of our Harland Territory in the past twenty years may not be hidden from the eyes of the Holy Glorious Empire.

The envoy's visit this time may have this reason, and the mission he brought may suppress the development of Harland Territory.

As the largest force in the Dawn Plane, the Holy Glorious Empire has always been reluctant to accept challenges. In the past thousand years, the strength of the elves has been recovering, and the orcs have been plundering northward. The Southwest Magic Kingdom has relied on the God of Truth and has long been free from the restrictions of the Holy Glorious Empire. Our eastern part of the Central Continent has always been the back garden of the Holy Glorious Empire.

The seventeen kingdoms and grand duchies in the eastern part of the Central Continent, plus the six kingdoms in the north and the four kingdoms in the south, a total of twenty-six kingdoms and grand duchies, have been attacking each other for thousands of years. No matter which one develops and grows, it will definitely attract the interference of the Holy Glorious Empire. In the past ten years, the Grant Kingdom and our Harland Territory seem to be too strong."

After listening to Rogge's analysis, Intelligence Minister Vitas nodded and said, "The Prime Minister is right. In addition to this reason, I think there may be factors of magic civilization and industrial technology. Twenty years ago, I personally presided over the spy of Viscount Sisse and stole the distilled liquor brewing technology of Harland Territory.

Now Harland Territory's products are exported to several nearby countries, and the outside world is still spreading the steam machinery and railway train technology. Moreover, we can launch many wars in succession and never worry about the reserves of magic crystals. Over the years, we have continuously purchased abandoned magic crystals, and the magic crystal charging technology has also been vaguely leaked.

Magic crystal charging technology is the core of the development of our territory and the most important technology. Once the Holy Glory The Empire has proposed an exchange request. Should we refuse or accept it? "

Both of them spoke well and expressed some of the doubts of the crowd. After listening to Roger and Vitas, Jennings also stood up and said, "There may be another reason. The Holy Glorious Empire may want to dismember and split the Kingdom of Grant and bring the crown to the head of the lord.

Once we break away from the Kingdom of Grant, even if we cooperate closely with each other, we will not be as inseparable as we are now. King Anton of the Kingdom of Delong is capable and is very good at sowing discord and making trouble. Once there is a rift between us and the Grant royal family, the situation in the surrounding countries will be stable. "

Jennings' words touched Soros' heart.

"Although the intelligence system of the Holy Glorious Empire is complex, it needs to monitor all aspects of the Dawn Plane. They may not have many members in the Grant Kingdom?

Besides, the territory has developed rapidly, in fact, it has only been in the last five or six years. Ten years ago, Richard had not yet been promoted to Duke, and it is estimated that he could not be included in the Holy Glorious Empire's attention list.

The intelligence department of the Harland Territory is quite powerful. We generally do not use people with unknown backgrounds in key units. Even if the Holy Glorious Empire has planted spies in the territory, they are probably still in the contract slave class and cannot access any intelligence.

The Holy Glorious Empire is very far away from us, and it is estimated that they have no idea about our situation. Besides, the biggest enemy of the Holy Glorious Empire is the orcs, and then there is the trouble of the elves. The magicians in the southwest also do not obey the management of the Holy Glorious Empire, which is involved. The Holy Glorious Empire has suppressed a lot of power. The Holy Glorious Empire has to draw troops to operate and suppress the alternate plane.

Even if we offend this old empire, they can't draw much power. If the Holy Glorious Empire wants to suppress us, I have only one way, that is to fight them and overthrow them directly. After overthrowing the Holy Glorious Empire, we will usher in a different situation. "

Hearing these very encouraging words, Richard clapped his hands and said: "Although my uncle is old, his courage is still stronger than that of young people. The development of the territory has always been based on me. We will never let the interference of the Holy Glorious Empire tie our hands and feet and restrict our development.

But in some small matters, we should not give people a handle, try to hold the envoy, and don't cause trouble for the territory. "