In October, the northern Xinjiang region began to cool down, and the task of coal mining in the territory increased.

Thanks to the addition of more than a dozen workers this year, the output of the coal mine has continued to climb, and now 26,000 tons have been mined. According to coal mine estimates, the output of coal mines will reach 32,000 tons this year.

Today, there are more than 300 workers in the mine, and if all of them go down to dig coal, the annual output of the mine will exceed 200,000 tons.

It's a pity that the territory doesn't have such a big market, so naturally there is no need to explode production capacity.

However, for the sake of future development, Richard really needs to train a group of coal miners, especially skilled workers, and the overstaffing is relatively serious.

At present, more than 300 coal miners have adopted the system of going down the mine in shifts. There are more than 60 miners in each shift, and the rest are in charge of infrastructure construction outside the mine.

The infrastructure of the coal mine will be completed this year, and there will be no need for additional workers next year, and according to the market demand, the output of the coal mine will also skyrocket, which will reach 60,000 tons.

More than 20,000 tons of industrial coal are needed a year in the territory.

On various kilns, coal has not yet fully replaced charcoal. If the replacement of charcoal by coal is completed, the production capacity of 60,000 tons of coal is estimated to be insufficient.

Starting next year, Richard will enact decrees prohibiting the indiscriminate felling of trees.

Haaland's territory is a mountainous territory, and if the forest is severely damaged and causes soil erosion, it will become very difficult to manage.

This winter, 20,000 indentured slaves will be converted into freedmen in Haaland's territory.

Counting the meritorious servicemen and the families of the fallen soldiers, by the end of the year, the number of freedmen will reach 50,000, although the new freedmen have not yet divided their land and will not need to pay taxes this year.

However, next year's tax source will be expanded considerably, and by the end of the year, the land tax will increase to 12,500 gold coins, which is already a lot of money.

According to the salary level of the army in Haaland's territory, the income from the field tax can support 800 officers and soldiers.

By next year, the revenue of the land tax will be second only to the official land planting, iron and steel, and wool spinning, and the contribution to the territorial finance will also increase significantly.

Because Richard continued to convert serfs into free people, after nine years, Richard continued to fulfill his promises, and the serfs had a high enthusiasm for production.

The indentured slaves seemed to see the dawn of their promotion to the freemen, and they all worked in full swing. The need for overseers to whip and urge serfs to work has become extinct in Haaland's domain.

Richard developed a subcontracting model for work tasks in the indentured servants, in which only the progress of the work was checked, and there was no need for supervision.

Of course, there are overseers in the Haaland territory, but the overseers are basically in the mines, supervising the work of orc prisoners of war and territorial criminals.

In Haaland's territory, as long as you become a free citizen and work a little harder, you can basically solve the problem of food and clothing in the third year, and occasionally you can consume some slightly more expensive goods such as brown sugar, liquor, and pork.

Richard did not consider serfs to be stupid people, and with the exception of a few geniuses, serfs had IQs that were no different from those of the aristocracy.

Although serfs were not educated, it did not mean that they did not have ideas.

On the contrary, the vast majority of serfs were very realistic, and as long as they were given hope, they would burst out with very strong enthusiasm.

After the construction of the Magic Alchemy Furnace and the production of a small amount of alloys, the efficiency of mining has also increased.

With the use of alloy rolling bearings, the minecart was much faster, and the track of the mine was replaced with a layer of manganese iron alloy nailed to the outside of the wooden track.

The conditions in the mines have improved a lot, and the orc casualties have gradually decreased.

Orcs are an intelligent race, although orcs have serious racial rivalry with humans. Richard had no idea of genocide, and his character was not so extreme and so ruthless.

Orc prisoners of war were treated a little better, and resistance was lessened.

The current Haaland Territory has an annual income of more than 100,000 gold coins. It's just that some of the gold coins exist in the form of grain, woollen cloth, brown sugar, liquor, steel and other materials.

The income of 100,000 gold coins is already close to that of the southern counties.

The Earl family in the south, with an annual income of between 100,000 and 200,000 gold coins, can support about 5,000 to 10,000 regular troops.

The marquis family in the east earns more than 300,000 yuan a year.

The Duke's family in the northwest has different revenues, and the income of the Duke of Jonathan is more than one and a half million, and the treatment of soldiers is no less than that of a central regular army like the Northern Legion.

The Duke of Guise counted the income from slave hunting, and the annual income of the territory was less than 600,000.

The gap between the ducal families is very large, and the strength of the territories is not much comparable.

The annual income of the Grant royal family is as high as 6 million gold coins, but the royal family needs to support seven main legions of about 160,000 regular troops, in addition to six second-tier legions, adding up to more than 100,000 people. Military expenditures amounted to more than four million gold coins, and with local expenditures, there was hardly much fiscal surplus.

King Roger, like Richard, still has to worry about military spending every day.

In October, a large number of people poured into the territory, and in order to settle these people and avoid too many people freezing to death due to bureaucracy, Richard began a two-month patrol.

The places Richard chose to inspect were not fixed, did not notify the local officials, and took a few personal soldiers directly into villages, construction sites, lumber yards, mines, and factories.

This direct contact with the lowest level of civilians was a headache for the bureaucrats of the territory.

Although many bureaucrats used security concerns to persuade Richard, including Richard's uncle Rogge, Rogge's own face turned red in the face of Richard's dazzling eyes. He himself did not believe that anyone could assassinate Richard.

This fall, Richard was promoted to a fifth-order warrior, and his physical attributes were improved again, and his strength reached eighteen points. A person like him who cultivates both magic and martial arts has very few shortcomings in battle, even if he is a ninth-order melee fighter, he is not Richard's opponent in a solo fight.

Magicians of the ninth order do not have absolute certainty of victory.

If you want to threaten Richard's safety, you must have a legendary-level assassin to dispatch, and such a high-end assassin will certainly not choose to assassinate a small viscount.

Since Richard could not be prevented from reaching the grassroots, it was difficult for the bureaucrats to use the means of deceiving their superiors and subordinates, and Richard had the absolute right to the territory, and a word could decide life and death.

As long as he stares at something, the bureaucrats don't dare to fool him easily.

During the founding period, the rule of officials was relatively clear, because the founding king had a deterrent effect.

There is a transcendent power in the Dawn plane, and the authority of the lord depends partly on his own greatness and partly on the gathering.

In the face of a lord like Richard, who is strong in his own strength and has prestige in the territory, the bureaucrats can only do their best to do what they have been told if they want to keep their positions.

However, as the territory became larger and larger, relying solely on Richard's management, patrols, and deterrence of bureaucrats was gradually inadequate.

The population of the territory is already more than 200,000, and although there is no industry, it is far more difficult to manage than a township.

The territory covers an area of more than 18,000 square kilometers, which is a few points larger than that of a prefecture-level city.

As the mess grew, Richard felt busier and busier, even though he had chosen a lot of assistants and shared a lot of work for himself.

In the autumn of this year, because there were too many government affairs, it even affected my own cultivation of the breathing method.

The nobles of the Dawn plane, their own strength is the top priority, and only if the lord has strong strength, he will have prestige in the army.

Only when we have the military will of the violent organs can we have the ability to lift the table at any time and deter the bureaucracy. For a nobleman, managing a domain is not a particularly important thing. You can recruit civil officials, and if you don't like them, you can replace them.

"Next year's government affairs should be let go of a large part. Entrusting part of the government affairs to the eldest brother Rog, I wonder if he can do it? ”

In recent years, Richard has divided some of his government affairs. The agricultural side was handed over to Donne, the hospital, sanitation, and epidemic prevention work was handed over to Adrian, the construction work was handed over to the second uncle Powell, and the intelligence work was handed over to Hayden.

Richard was in charge of the military and finances, as well as the resettlement of immigrants.

Even so, he still felt that the burden of government affairs was a bit heavy.

Richard walked the streets of Fort William with a few entourage, observing the flow of people on the streets.

Fort William was the first developed territory in Haraland's territory, and almost all the nearby villagers became freedmen. In addition, there was a large garrison in Fort William, and the families of the garrison basically lived near Fort William.

According to the bureaucrats of the government department, there were already fifteen thousand freedmen near Fort William.

Fifteen thousand freedmen have formed a small consumer market.

Soldiers' families, in particular, not only have high incomes, but are also particularly willing to spend.

Thousands of soldiers lived in Fort William, and the annual consumer market for Fort William was already more than 20,000 gold coins. There are all kinds of shops on both sides of the street, and it is not so deserted to walk on the street.

Richard checked the time and saw that it was already time for dinner, and walked with a few soldiers to a larger restaurant.

This restaurant is owned by Odaye. By this year, there were seven or eight restaurants on the streets of Fort William, but the largest was the one owned by Odaye and Sula.

Sula and Odaye raise sheep in the countryside, and the restaurant has an ample supply of meat, and if there is a treat or something like a treat in the territory, it is basically held in this hotel.

After entering the store, Richard found that there were relatively few people eating, and most of them were officers and soldiers of the territory.

Seeing Richard coming in, the officers and soldiers were immediately a little surprised, and they stood up one after another, ready to salute Richard.

Every year, Richard spends a lot of time in the barracks, many soldiers know him, and many veterans have talked to Richard many times, so they can get a little friendship.

"Everyone sit, eat first. Are you all on vacation today? ”

"Yes, sir."

"Don't be too restrained, I won't eat people." Richard made a few jokes with the soldiers, and the atmosphere instantly lightened a little.

Richard ordered half a roast lamb, and when it was time to serve the food, he suddenly stopped Odaye and asked, "I see that you are a little familiar, you are also a veteran of the first squadron, what is your name." ”

Listening to Richard's words, Odaye was immediately very excited, a little person like him never expected to make Master Richard remember it in his heart.

"Master Richard, my name is Odaye, and I am indeed a soldier of the First Squadron."

After becoming a magician, Richard had a very good memory, and even though he hadn't met for six or seven years, he remembered the man.

"I remember that Ling and Sulla were fellow villagers and had saved Jennings' life."

"Mr. Richard, this restaurant was invested and opened by Sula, if it weren't for the introduction of Sulla and Jennings, there wouldn't be so many people eating in the restaurant."

"Is your business good this year, how much gold can you earn every year, and how many years can you recoup your costs?"

"This year's business is better than last year's, so far we have earned twenty-three gold coins, and the winter business is better than the summer, and there should be a profit of thirty gold coins at the end of this year. Sulla invested a lot of money, and it took four or five years to pay for itself. ”

Hearing that Odaye's business was good, Richard said happily: "How much tax can you pay for the profit of thirty gold coins?" ”

"I'm here for three stores, and each store pays a tax of one gold coin a year."

"Even though you have retired from the army, you are still a glorious soldier of the 1st Squadron. We must operate with integrity and pay taxes on time. With taxes, we can pay our soldiers and our territory can be stable. If someone bullies you, take the initiative to write a letter to the Lord's Mansion, I am your old prefect, and I will call the shots for you. ”

Leaving the Odayal Hotel, Richard looked at the increasingly prosperous streets of Fort William, and his heart became more and more happy.

For the next time, Richard went to the coal mines and the villages and towns of Graveson.

In recent years, the migrants have largely settled in villages near Graveson.

Twenty-three larger towns and villages will be established near Graveson, housing about 40,000 people.

Since August, the Haaland territory has been transporting various building materials on a large scale, mobilizing tens of thousands of construction troops, and starting to build infrastructure such as roads and houses.

By the time of the freeze in October, most of the villages had already been built.

Because the houses were newly built and very damp, in order to prevent people from freezing to death in winter, Richard took a large amount of coal from the coal mine and distributed it to each household.

The serfs of the Cisse family heard Richard's promise and became a freeman five years later, and did not choose to make trouble, and smoothly integrated into the Harland territory.

After settling the migrants, the time is already in November.

After the end of the war this year, as the population increased, Richard began to expand his army again.

The first to be expanded was the Scouts.

After this fall, Morgan advanced to the rank of third-order knight.

Morgan was four years older than Richard and was quite talented.

At the age of less than thirty years old, with the combat power of a middle-level professional, the progress of cultivation has caught up with Roland, William and other people with more outstanding talents.

There are now two squadrons of scouts in Haaland's territory, adding up to more than three hundred.

But during the war with the orcs, Richard found that the number of scouts was far from enough. Every time you engage an orc, the information is almost unilaterally transparent to the orcs.

Because the orcs have aerial scouts, even if the reconnaissance squadron is expanded, it is still difficult to beat the harpies.

(End of chapter)