Entering March, the Haaland family ushered in good news, and William's strength went further and was promoted to the ninth order. Although the strength of the warrior is quite different from that of the knight, the ninth-order warrior can already be compared to the eighth-order golden knight.

The strength of a deputy legion has been raised to the ninth rank, and he has made many military achievements, and he is already qualified to go one step further and serve as the commander of the main legion. For ordinary second-tier legions, seventh-order warriors can be qualified as legion commanders, and even fourth- and fifth-order noble knights have served as second-tier legion captains. but

It is the eight main legions directly under the central government, and the requirements for serving as the commander of the legion are very high, and they must be eighth-order golden knights, and ninth-order warriors are qualified to fill the position. If the strength is insufficient, it will not be able to suppress the arrogant generals below at all, and it will not be able to convince the public.

Three of the captains of the eight main legions of the Grant Kingdom are ninth-order epic knights, three are eighth-order golden knights, and the captains of the grizzly legion are temporarily vacant, and only one is a ninth-order warrior. This kind of important position is basically filled by powerful noble knights.

Of course, although the strength of the warrior is a little weaker, as long as the command ability is strong and is valued by Nolan's upper echelons, he still has the opportunity to serve as the commander of the main legion.

Donny Martins, the Meritorious Captain of the Northern Legion, is a ninth-order warrior who once inflicted heavy losses on orcs, led his team to kill legendary boar men, and earned a reputation as a pig hunter.

Although Count Martins died in battle, he was the founder of a family of counts, and his reputation in the Kingdom of Grant was no less than that of Richard, and he had a very high reputation.

More than ten years ago, the Earl of Martins also planned to let his granddaughter marry Richard.

Although William was promoted to a ninth-order warrior, it was impossible for him to squeeze out the legion leader Rabe and take over as the commander of the Northern Legion. Rabe, like William, is an old man of the Northern Legion, one of them was the captain of the Sixth Brigade and the other was the captain of the Cavalry Brigade, and in terms of the prestige of the Northern Legion, Rabe is a few points stronger than William.

In the past ten years, the Northern Legion has had four commanders, Martins and Zachary have made great achievements, and Stein is unable to take on heavy responsibilities because of his lack of ability. Although Rabe's command talent is not as good as that of Martins and Zachary, he is also a qualified commander of the main legion, which is valued by King Roger.

In addition, Rab has advanced to a ninth-order epic knight, is very good at charging into battle, and is an excellent offensive general.

Rabe is three years younger than William, and his strength and prestige are a few points higher than him. With him in the way, William's army in the north could not have developed at all.

After advancing to the ninth rank of warriors, William wrote a letter to Marquis Allen, hoping that the marquis would recommend William in front of the king and find an opportunity to transfer.

Of the eight main legions of the Grant Kingdom, four are the Royal Praetorian Guard.

Although the Royal Praetorian Guard is better equipped, its real combat effectiveness is a little weaker than that of the Frontier Legion, which has been facing orc invasions for many years. Among the Praetorian Guards, there is a set of unspoken rules secretly, and people with the blood of the Grant family are more likely to climb to the top.

The commanders of the Royal Praetorian Guard are basically selected from within the system, and they will not transfer people from the outside at all.

Moreover, William, a high-minded and arrogant person, still wants to continue to accumulate merits, and does not want to join the royal capital Praetorian Guard at all.

Each of the four central provinces in the north has a main army. The Iron Lion Legion in Grotta Province was formed by an expanded coalition of nobles under the command of Zachary, and this legion has been in the war for many years, and its combat effectiveness has steadily increased over the years. He had been under the command of Zachary since the time of the Atonement Legion, and Zachary had extremely high prestige in this legion, and it was impossible for William to squeeze out the old commander and go to the Iron Lion Legion to take over.

Even if King Roger didn't like Zachary, he didn't dare to risk substitutions.

The Iron Lion Legion, a legion that rolled over in the midst of the war, is likely to be commanded by a stranger who takes over the command.

King Roger has been a front-line commander for many years, and he understands the military spirit very well, compared to King Charles, Roger is also a person who takes the overall situation into account and knows how to compromise.

The Wild Lion Legion participated in the rebellion that year, and the chain of command underwent a major change, and the legion commander was trusted by King Roger, so it was naturally impossible to change people.

Only the Grizzly Legion was severely injured by the orcs two years ago, and the Legion Leader was seriously injured, and after recuperating for a while, he could no longer take responsibility. He had already resigned two months ago, and the corps commander was temporarily vacant.

The political status of the commander of the main army is very high, and it is also a big fat gap. Several qualified aristocratic officers, as well as the two deputy commanders of the Royal Praetorian Guard, all wanted to transfer people and asked people to operate in Nolan.

The Grizzlies are on the front lines, and the pressure on the defense is very heavy.

Duke Jonathan transferred two legions into the Grand Duchy of Starnik, despite the expansion of the Iron Lion Legion, the Legion of the Harland Territory was expanded, and the number of troops on the northern front of the Kingdom of Grant was reduced by 20,000.

If you don't have enough experience in warfare and don't have the art of commanding, even if you are very strong, you can't assume the responsibility of the commander of the main legion.

Several of Nolan's candidates don't have much experience in war. King Roger's opinion was to transfer people from among the experienced officers in the northern frontier.

William came this far, of course, not wanting to command the second-line legion, and after getting the recommendation of Marquis Allen, he was approved by King Roger.

By late March, William had received an invitation from King Roger to report to Nolan. After a long conversation with William, King Roger finally made up his mind to promote William to the rank of commander of the Grizzly Legion.

William was transferred to the Grizzlies, and the influence of the Haaland family increased again.

Although the Haaland family has developed rapidly, it does not have much background, and its strength is not comparable to that of several duke families, and it will not suffer from the jealousy of the Grant royal family.

With Jonathan, York, Edward and other duke families in front, the external environment of the Haaland family is very stable.

Because of the tense war in the north, King Roger even wanted to continue to support the Harland family and share the pressure in the north.

After the expansion of a central army, the investment in military spending increased by about 400,000 gold coins, and the financial pressure was a headache for the Grant royal family.

If the Haaland family can play a greater role, the Grant royal family can reduce the military spending in northern Xinjiang, and it will be easy.

After William was transferred to the Grizzlies as captain, the Haaland family's influence in the province of Lah increased dramatically. The commander of the main army is the number one person in the province, and the consuls of the lower provinces in the state of war must listen to William's military orders.

March is the season of spring ploughing, and after entering the 3266 year of the Dawn calendar, Haaland's territory has been busy with two major events, army expansion and spring ploughing.

By the end of March, the recruitment task had been completed, and the recruits were busy training. The fourth Magic Beast Cavalry Squadron has also been formed, and the second Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron is still being formed.

The territory has increased by about 250,000 people last year, with an additional 250,000 mouths, and the food in Haaland's territory is no longer enough.

This year's grain output must be increased, and the best way to increase grain output is to expand the cultivated area, and the task of clearing land is imperative.

Compared with the rest of the Grant Kingdom, the agricultural development of the Harland Territory was more advanced, and Richard invented the zigzag plow, which improved the efficiency of the plough. The use of the composting method has also increased the yield of grain. In addition, several reservoirs have been built in the territory to ensure the stability of the irrigation system and increase the ability of the Haaland territory to withstand the risk of floods and droughts.

In addition to the development of Graveson and Marsh Basin, the focus area of this year's spring plowing is the vicinity of Salt Lake Fort and Norman Castle.

In the work of immigration, the construction of infrastructure is the top priority. There is enough labor in Haaland's territory, and spring ploughing can go hand in hand with the construction of houses and roads.

After entering March, a large number of bricks, cement, glass, steel and other building materials were transported to the vicinity of Salt Lake Fort and Norman Fort. Richard not only had to build barracks dormitories for the indentured slaves, but also had to renovate and expand the two castles.

In order to support the construction of the two counties, Richard transferred many people from the original old factories and mines to build brick kilns, lime kilns, glass kilns and so on in Norman County.

The Fort Salt Lake area has been in development for three years, and now the main road from Blossom Castle to Fort Salt Lake has been built. The roads were built, Richard brought in enough labor, and the development of salt lake minerals increased by leaps and bounds.

Now the Haaland territory can not only produce large quantities of table salt, but also natural potash fertilizer every year. Without increasing the number of manpower, more than 5,000 tons of potash fertilizer will be produced this year.

5,000 tons of potash fertilizer will benefit hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, and there is a large amount of natural chemical fertilizer.

Nowadays, the labor force is abundant, and there is no need for the army to participate in the spring ploughing.

From early March to early April, about 400,000 acres of land were cultivated in Haaland's territory in one month, and now there are more than 2 million acres of farmland in Haaland's territory, and this year's grain output will usher in a great increase.

As soon as spring plowing ended, a strange epidemic suddenly appeared in the northern Xinjiang region.

The deceased, who was first found at Villa Castle, had patches of black spots on his body, teeth had fallen out, and a large amount of black internal organs had been coughed up from the corners of his mouth. In just a few days, more than 100 people died at Villa Castle.

Panic spreads instantly, and the inhabitants of the castle scatter for their lives.

Villa Castle is the second largest castle in the Duke of Edward, with over 80,000 inhabitants. These 80,000 people moved around, so that the epidemic instantly expanded to the entire northern Xinjiang.

In order to escape the plague, countless indentured slaves fled their homeland and entered the Eagle Mountains to become outcasts.

Although there are some pastors in major cities who can treat epidemics, a small number of pastors are a drop in the bucket compared to the huge number of sick people.

Entering mid-April, the first cases appeared in Haaland territory.

Upon receiving the information, Richard immediately issued a strict lockdown order.

The doctors of the Harland Territory have mobilized the backbone forces and stationed them in the epidemic area, and the Territory Mage Tower has also mobilized forces to organize a magic healing team to be on standby at any time.

After the first case appeared, the epidemic spread very quickly, and in just a few days, more than a few hundred patients were infected with the plague, some of whom were even doctors who came into contact with the plague, soldiers who established a blockade.

Nine days after the first case appeared, the first patient died in Haaland territory.

In the face of a sudden crisis, Adrian, the top leader of Haaland's medical system, withstood the test. He personally performed an autopsy on the deceased and used a microscope to find a sample of bacteria in the fluid in the deceased's lungs.

Through a microscope, Adrian found several bizarre bacterial creatures swimming in the fluid. After further research, the Harland Territory Doctor discovered that the bacterium was actually highly resistant to magic.

This discovery almost proves that the plague was created by necromancers.

After discovering the problem, Richard immediately arranged for Audrey to ride a lion to pass the news to Nolan, and informed the pastor of the Dawn Church to be careful.

After the Dawn Church received the news, Archbishop Senna Walton personally arranged for two high-ranking priests to be stationed in the Duke of Edward to investigate the cause of the plague.

While the Dawn Church was tracking down the clues, the first wave of the epidemic ushered in the Haaland territory.

Because of the effective closure and control of Haaland's territory, although the first wave of the epidemic was menacing, infecting more than 1,200 people in just seven or eight days, the medical treatment capacity of Haaland's territory is very strong, and many mages have learned plague healing techniques, and their magic healing ability is very strong. In the first round of the pandemic, only nine people died in Haaland's territory.

Although the first wave of the epidemic was blocked, Richard still did not dare to relax the lockdown.

Now that the epidemic is very serious, all the gathering places hate outsiders very much, and as the noble lords and local bureaucrats become more and more strict with the outsiders, the population is gradually afraid to move.

After the population stopped moving, the ability of the epidemic to spread gradually weakened, and after several iterations of the magic bacteria, the ability to cause disease became weaker and weaker, and after June, the wave of plague had come to an end.

After the first wave of the epidemic ended, restrictions were lifted in Haaland's territory, and Richard sent a demon hunting team into the Eagle Mountains to collect the displaced people who had fled into the mountains.

In just one month, Haaland's territory has absorbed 43,000 people.

Despite Richard's strict quarantine regime, a large number of people poured into Haaland's territory, bringing about a second wave of the pandemic.

This time, more than 3,000 people were infected with the plague.

Fortunately, the lethality of the germ has decreased considerably, and with the effective treatment in Haaland's territory, the number of deaths in the second wave of the epidemic is even smaller, only three.

After the autumn, the third wave of the epidemic in the Haaland territory ushered in, this time the plague was menacing, infecting more than 20,000 people, and even appeared in the territory with a multi-point spread, almost crushing the isolation policy of the Haaland territory and penetrating the medical system.

In the most serious days, Richard, Sophia, Wendy and other intermediate magicians took action in person, and they had to consume a lot of magic power every day to release spells and treat patients, and they were busy for more than 20 days before they passed the peak of the epidemic.

This year's plague killed more than 60,000 people and caused hundreds of thousands of displaced people in northern Xinjiang.

The plague has caused more damage to the northern region than the orc invasion. It is precisely because of the continuous plagues and wars that although the fertility rate of the population in northern Xinjiang is high, the population has not increased for so many years.

(End of chapter)