On the night of the harvest festival, in a humble square, Haaland led the opera troupe to begin their performance.

There are no curtains, no speeches, just a wooden board separating the front and back of the house.

Catherine appeared on the humble stage for the first time, and looked at the crowd of audiences, and her mood was a little nervous and excited. She is a veteran actor with two years of acting experience and the most popular female star in Fort William.

This nervous feeling Catherine had only felt when she first appeared on stage. Catherine is a person with a big heart, and the bigger the scene, the more passionate her performance becomes.

She looked around and saw that there were many orcs in the audience.

Although Richard sold 40,000 orc prisoners of war, there were still about 40,000 orcs living in the Lothar Basin. The remaining 40,000 orc slaves were docile, and most of them were sheep-like.

The intermingling of humans and orcs is also a special scenery in the Lothar Basin.

"The story takes place in a village near Fort William, where Sam is sold by a slave trader to Harland ......."

As the narration sounds, the background of the opera begins.

Today's opera, called "Life is Beautiful," tells the story of a man named Sam who is captured by slave traders and sold to the Haaland Collar. Five years after Haaland became an indentured servitude, Sam became a freeman, got a land, started a new family, earned a lot of gold with his hardworking hands, and got a new lease of life.

The main highlight of this opera is on the male lead, and Catherine plays Sam's wife, Irene.

There are not many scenes in this play, and as the narration sounds, Catherine slowly walks to the stage. She was dressed in a dirty gray robe, her hair was messily coiled on top of her head, and her face was covered with black ash, and she looked more like a woman from a poor family.

Although this play is a new play, after two days of rehearsals, Catherine has memorized the entire plot process.

In this era of lack of entertainment, the form of opera performance is very novel, it is easy to attract a large number of audiences, and the performance has just begun, and it has caused a sensation.

Stewwin stood under the humble stands, watching the show with relish, his eyes fixed on Catherine.

A middle-aged officer looked around, and when he saw Stewin, he pushed through the crowd and slapped Stewin on the shoulder.

"Dude, I heard from the logistics department that you came to the Lothar Basin, we haven't seen each other for five years, how are you doing?"

The person who spoke was Norman, the captain of the third brigade led by Haaland, he is the nephew of Soros and has been promoted to a sixth-order warrior, and he and Stewin are old comrades-in-arms and have a very deep friendship.

Stewyn was born as a serf in Northern Xinjiang, and became a serf soldier of Baron Barton when he was young, and was later bought by Soros and joined Soros's mercenary group, and with the mercenary group merged into the Harland Territory, Stewyn also became a veteran of the third squadron.

With this relationship, Stewin naturally had a close relationship with the officers who came out of the old 3rd Squadron.

"That's it, after retiring from the army, although I made a lot of money, my life seems to have lost its direction, and I can't lift my spirits in anything."

Hearing Stewyn say this, Norman shook his head and said: "You can't be in such a mental state, I think you lack family life, you can't adapt after leaving the barracks, you should find a woman you like to marry." ”

Stewyn stared at Catherine on the stage and said thoughtfully, "Maybe you're right. What do you think of the girl on stage? ”

"The conditions are very superior, I heard that you are a star in Fort William, but you are old enough to be a father to others."

"But I like her, and after the show, I'll propose to her."

Seeing that Stewyn's face was resolute, Norman grabbed his arm as if he were a madman, and said, "Listen to me, you will frighten the little girl like this." Talking about girlfriend getting married is not an easy thing to do. You need to approach her first, attract her with your strengths, and arouse her curiosity about you to have a chance of success.

It's like when we fight a campaign, we work on reconnaissance first. After the reconnaissance is completed, it is necessary to decisively invest troops in the battle, and at this time we must not hesitate to be brave. If you listen to me, I guarantee you can get this woman. ”

Even while the two were chattering, an envoy from Nolan rushed to the Lothar Basin.

It has been two months since Richard killed the dragon-veined kobolds, and the orcs have already withdrawn from all their troops, and the Grant royal family has begun to reward the heroes.

This year, the Grant royal family will divide into four fiefdoms, one county, three baronesies, and two noble titles will be promoted, including the promotion of Earl Haaland to duke.

The birth of a duke will greatly affect the power structure and even the stability of the power of the Grant Kingdom.

According to King Roger's heart, he did not want a new duke to be born. But Richard has made real achievements, and it is impossible not to be promoted to the knighthood.

If the Haaland family is suppressed, it means that the aristocratic promotion system loses its authority.

The system of rewards and promotions for nobles was the foundation of the kingdom of Grant.

It is by relying on this system that we can attract generations of outstanding talents to serve the Kingdom of Grant. The nobles and nobles fought together to stop the orcs from invading again and again. Relying on the eight main legions of the Grant family alone could not stop the orc army at all.

If this system is broken, it will not only become enemies with the Haaland family, but also affect the stability of the situation in northern Xinjiang.

Through this battle, King Roger has already understood that the Haraland family is already full-fledged, and even if he does not promote Richard to the title, he will not be able to stop the expansion of this family.

If you come forward to suppress yourself, you can only suppress it in name, but in fact you are a villain in vain.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, King Roger decided to adhere to the noble title reward system, promote Richard to the title, and reward him with a new county. Anyway, most of the Harland family in the fiefdom are barren mountains and mountains, and the Grant family only pays in name and does not need to invest much principal.

In this year's battle, not only did Richard gain a lot and was about to be promoted to duke, but William also accumulated enough exploits to obtain a second barony.

If it weren't for the fact that a lot of merit was consumed in order to exchange for the breathing method, William would have had enough merit to obtain the third territory and be promoted to viscount.

William's first domain, now the core of Haaland's domain, was in fact controlled by Richard although it nominally belonged to William and had not yet been incorporated into the county of Haaland.

Even if William gave this territory to other heirs, he would not have any right to speak, but would be the bane of his life. Richard's brothers, such as Ron and Hayden, could not have allowed the soldiers of Fort William to obey orders.

Once they are caught in the battle for inheritance, there is a disparity in power, and Ron and the others have no chance of winning.

In this area near Fort William, Richard will not give it to others at all, and whoever dares to fight the idea of this territory, even if it is his own brother Richard, will be ruthless. Once the nobles are involved in the struggle for territory and inheritance, it is often very bloody.

The people of the Haaland family also have a tacit understanding in their hearts, and this territory will be inherited by Richard.

Today, the Haaland family has three hereditary nobles, William and Bernie in addition to Richard. Bernie's fief was inherited by his second son, Gavin, and William's second fiefdom would establish a new heir.

In fact, when the Haaland family held a banquet the year before last, William discussed this matter with Richard, Bernie and others.

According to William's opinion, if a new fief is obtained, Ron and Hayden will inherit it in turn according to the order of succession, and this time William will be given a new fiefdom, which will be handed over to Ron to manage.

William's new fief was near the former Harden Castle, adjacent to the Duchy of Haraland. The northern part of this territory is the last mountain beam of the Eagle Mountains, and the southern part is the impact plain of the Kaiya River, a tributary of the Black River, and the territory area is not very large, only 930 square kilometers, but the flat land area is very large, only 30% of the territory is mountainous, and there is a river passing through it, and the agricultural endowment is much better than that near Fort William.

According to the introduction of the explorers, this territory can reclaim 300,000 acres of paddy fields and feed 200,000 people.

Before the arrival of the Norlan envoy, the territory had been bounded, and Ron had retired from the Lion Legion and started to run the territory.

Ron's talent is very average, he has served in the Wild Lion Legion for twenty years, he has not yet been promoted to the fourth rank, and his position is only squadron leader, and he has only accumulated one great merit in his life, four medium merits.

Before retiring, Ron exchanged all these feats for potions, which he intended to use to train his son Kane.

Ron's eldest son, Kane, is nineteen years old, a Haaland child who may have inherited William's genes, and has become a professional at a young age, now serving as a deputy squadron leader for the Grizzlies.

Ron had lived near Flame Castle for twenty years, and although he had not been very successful in the first half of his life, he was also a descendant of a great nobleman, and his conditions were far beyond that of ordinary people.

In the past twenty years, Ron has also made a lot of contacts in the Berserk Lion Army, and with the care of his third uncle Bernie, he is already the head snake within the Lion Legion, and he has barely taken root in this legion.

When Ron went to the territory, Richard took out five thousand gold coins from the vault, which was considered to be his starting capital. In addition to the 5,000 gold coins supported by Richard, Ron served as an officer in the Lion Legion for twenty years, and also represented a part of Haaland's merchandise, saving about 3,000 gold coins of property, and William also subsidized a part, and he had about 10,000 gold coins in cash.

Ron had served in the Lion Legion for twenty years, and he had a number of retired soldiers around him. This time he ran the territory and recruited one hundred and twenty people at once. With these 120 people as the core, plus more than 300 serfs, Ron quickly pulled up 500 soldiers.

Ron's start is already a few points better than Richard's, at least he doesn't have to bear debts, and the location of the territory is also very good, not only can he get the support of Haraland's leader, but it is also very close to Flame Castle.

Baronies were easy to demarcate, but Richard's new realm was more troublesome.

The territory that Richard wanted most was the Viscounty of Nelson.

Because of Soros's deliberate release of water, the Orc Gatling captured Fellin Castle, and the Nelson family suffered heavy losses again. In less than ten years, the castle fell twice, and the tribesmen were slaughtered by the orcs.

With the Haaland family, a neighbor with ulterior motives, the Nelson family simply can't turn over.

Of course, the Nelson family has smart people, and after seeing this clearly, of course, they are not willing to continue to run the territory, but are ready to talk to the Haaland family and ask for a large sum of money.

It's just that Richard thinks that they have opened their mouths and have not answered. Anyway, the Viscount of Nelson is surrounded on three sides by the Harland family, and it can't escape Richard's palm at all.

In the end, the Nelson family couldn't hold their breath and agreed to sell the territory for 20,000 gold coins, which had been approved by the Noble Council, and the Speaker of the Noble Council, Marquis Allen, had also approved.

The Viscounty of Nelson is about 6,000 square kilometers, and because it has been invaded by orcs twice, there are hardly many freedmen left. The serfs in the territory were also sold off by the Nelson family.

After taking the Viscount of Nelson, the territory assigned to Richard was basically barren mountains and mountains. The northern territory of Salt Lake County, the western part of Grotta County, and a large area of land between Fort Gundo and the Lothar Basin were divided among the new Dukedom of Harland.

Combined, the miscellaneous territories cover an area of about 38,000 square kilometers, which is a few points larger than the territory divided in the previous two divisions.

Including the new territory, the Dukedom of Haaland has a total of 93,000 square kilometers, second only to the three dukedoms of Jonathan, York, and Edward in terms of area. The Dukedom of Beeggies, Dukedom of Fox, and Dukedom of Lorrain are a few points larger, roughly the same size as the Dukedom of Duran.

In the new territory, except for the Viscounty of Nelson and the Lothar Basin, the rest are basically lofty mountains, if no mineral veins can be found, only the two sides of the Tani Valley, which have agricultural development value.

After many years of operation by the Kobold Principality, the Lothar Basin is already a mature territory, and the basin is densely populated and rich in products. A small magic crystal mine has also been found nearby, which can dig up about 1,000 or hundreds of magic crystals every year.

Although there are not many people in the Viscounty of Nelson, it is also a territory that has been in operation for many years, and this territory has built castles, dug wells, and cultivated farmland, and as long as enough manpower is invested in development, it is not difficult to resume production. With a small investment of resources, the Haaland family can be profitable.

Despite the delay in spring ploughing, after obtaining this territory, Richard immediately bought 20,000 serfs and emigrated to this area.

Nolan's envoy was still Richard's old acquaintance, Maurice Allen, and he personally rushed to the Lothar Basin, not only to knight Richard, but also to communicate with the Haraland family.

The first thing is the breeding of the griffin. Because the Haaland family and the Grant royal family divided the lion population, the two lion bird populations were smaller and could only borrow from each other. Last year, it was the Grant royal family's lion herd that came to Haaland to breed, and this year it was Haaland's turn to lead the lion herd to Nolan for breeding.

The second thing, King Roger wants the Harland family to take more responsibility in the northern frontier, first of all, to block the two canyons of Pratos and Tani, and secondly, he wants Richard to garrison the Iron Lion Castle and cooperate with the Wild Lion Legion to lock the upper reaches of the Kaia River from the south and north to prevent the Orcs from invading from this direction.

(End of chapter)