Today, the financial income of Haaland's territory is equivalent to 28% of the royal family's income, exceeding the Duke of Jonathan, but it is not as good as the Grand Duchy of Starnik.

Although the benefits are large, the expenses are also increasing rapidly.

This year, there are 41,000 soldiers with citizenship rights in the regular army of Haaland's territory, and only 9,000 indentured slave soldiers remain in the regular army, and with the subsidies and salaries of more than 30,000 second-line troops, the expenditure on military salaries has increased to 600,000 gold coins, an increase of 50 percent compared with last year, and military salaries alone account for 38.9 percent of the fiscal revenue.

In addition, the pension received by the disabled and killed families also cost 34,000 gold coins.

Logistics expenditure is also an important expense, Haland's territory has a total of 50,000 regular troops, 30,000 second-line auxiliaries, a year to spend on raising the army will consume 130,000 gold coins, plus the cost of supplementary equipment, in total, this year's military expenditure is as high as 810,000 gold coins, accounting for 52.4 percent of the fiscal revenue, a slight increase over last year.

This year, more than 800 civil servants have been recruited in the Haaland Territory, and in addition to the new financial management department, it has mainly been enriched into the central systems, and counting the new recruits this year, there are nearly 9,000 civil servants in the Haaland Territory.

Of these 9,000 civil servants, more than 6,000 have gone to elementary school, can write official documents proficiently, understand simple mathematical knowledge, and their quality is already considered a high level in the Dawn plane.

The salary of 9,000 civil servants is 80,000 gold coins a year, plus various subsidies and benefits issued by the government, which consumes 96,000 gold coins.

Although Richard tried his best to suppress government spending, government spending always caught up with the level of fiscal revenue, accounting for about 6% of fiscal revenue.

Although the income is already comparable to that of ordinary soldiers, in the environment of the Dawn Plane, the social status of civil servants is not as good as that of professional soldiers.

The social energy of the two sides is also not comparable, and when the conflict breaks out on both sides, the top leaders of Richard and other territories will also favor the soldiers of the army.

This year, three new primary schools and one secondary school were built in Haaland's territory. Today, there are 16 primary schools and four middle schools in Haaland's territory, with more than 24,000 students, and about 20,000 gold coins have been spent on education this year.

The medical department has built three new hospitals, and a total of 30,000 gold coins have been invested in the maintenance costs, and 50,000 gold coins have been spent on education and medical care this year, which is still at a low level.

The investment in scientific research is still expanding, and this year the research institutes have received 45,000 scientific research funds, and the research funds of the Harland Mage Association have increased dramatically, reaching the level of 52,000 gold coins.

The research funding, combined with the salaries of researchers, has reached a huge amount of 105,000 gold coins, which is a few points higher than the scientific research funding of some large organizations in the Magic Kingdom of Makholm.

The proportion of scientific research funds in fiscal revenue has also increased to 6.8 percent, which is already a very high level in the major aristocratic territories.

Over the years, Richard has invested more than 300,000 yuan in research funds from research institutes and mage associations.

All things considered, this year's expenditure is as high as 1,065,000 gold coins, with a balance of 480,000 gold coins.

Although 600,000 gold coins were accumulated last year, the auction cost more than 200,000 yuan, and it cost more than 100,000 yuan to make steel golems to buy high-grade materials, and only 200,000 gold coins were left in last year's accumulation.

At the end of the year, the treasury of Haaland's territory counted 690,000 gold coins. This money should not be used lightly, but should be used as funds for next year's war, and if necessary, it should be used to reward merit.

This year, the transportation department built 60 new transport ships, and Richard also transformed the 3,000 security forces into a naval force.

This naval army usually does some commercial transportation tasks, and has to survey the river channels and hydrology of the Heihe River Basin. Provide intelligence to the territorial staff and prepare for the use of troops in the Black River Valley

The target of the naval army is not the orcs, and the orcs in the northern region of the Eagle Mountains do not need a naval army to fight the orcs.

The reason why Richard built the navy was to guard against the Grant royal family and several other dukedoms.

With this naval army, Richard could quickly mobilize 10,000 elite soldiers at a critical moment to storm the important castles in the Black River Valley. If these transports were to be added to steam paddle wheels, the maneuverability of the navy would be greatly increased.

Of course, Richard will not openly build a naval army and upset the regional balance. This army still operates under the name of a water transport company.

After the annual budget and final accounts are formulated, the birthday of the goddess of dawn is approaching.

Every year on the birthday of the goddess of dawn, the Haaland family will hold a banquet to invite relatives to reunite and connect with each other.

In the past, banquets were held at Blackriver Castle, and William and Lady Ola were the hostesses. Now William and Lady Offa have gone south to develop, the banquet has been moved to Fort William, and Sophia has become the hostess.

Since marrying Richard, Sophia's life has been very comfortable. She did not live with her mother-in-law for a single day, and there was no struggle in Richard's court.

Originally, Sophia should have been worried about holding a family banquet, but unlike Lady Ola, she didn't like to socialize, and she was not good at managing this kind of thing, and all the big and small things at the banquet were handed over to a court maid. It's very simple and doesn't cost much money.

After Richard became the master of the family, he expanded the scale of the Christmas banquet and invited people from the in-law family such as Stoo and Dark.

Nowadays, the aristocrats who can come to the Christmas dinner are hundreds of people, large and small. There are already many nobles who have inherited the title, including Morgan, Ron, Kent, George and others.

In particular, George's inherited territory is in the south, and he has to start his journey in mid-November every year, come to the territory to participate in the Christmas dinner and stay for a while to connect with relatives, and it is already late February after returning to the southern territory.

The reason why George worked so hard was not because of how deep his feelings were with Richard, nor how much he missed his relatives, after all, he didn't grow up together, and although he had some feelings, they were actually not very deep.

George's reluctance to cut ties with the North was mainly due to practical needs, and he ran his territory in the South, in fact, relying on Richard's older brother for support.

Without the powerful Duke of Haaland, a small border lord like George may not be able to sit firmly.

A little bit of resources from Richard here would be a great help to George. For example, the 600 alchemy bombs provided by Richard helped George hold his territory and win several key wars.

In addition, George had conflicts with other neighboring nobles, and the consuls of the same province had conflicts and offended the upper echelons of the local garrison, and Richard was able to mediate these problems and contradictions for him. Go to the noble council to quarrel, and the ability of a duke's representative is far greater than that of the baron himself.

In addition, the banquet was attended by Bernie, Soros, Vito, Wendy and other early military nobles, who had greater influence and were considered to be the most important people in the territory.

After more than ten years of expansion, the construction of Fort William has long been different from the original plan.

Because Haaland's territory is developing faster and faster, and the territory area is getting larger and larger, the old city is gradually losing its defensive role.

Today, the new town is mainly developing to the south, occupying five or six square kilometers of alluvial plains of river valleys, and more than 100,000 people live around Fort William.

The eastern, middle, and western cities were completely reduced to the residences of high-ranking officials and nobles and various departments directly under the central government.

The western part of the XC area also built the Mage Tower, and the magicians built beautiful houses, villas, and villas near the mage tower, scattered in the mountains of the XC area.

Richard's mansion was also expanded several times, and although it was built with four floors, it still looked a little shabby for a duke, and the interior space was not enough.

After all, in a duke's court, there are hundreds of people serving up and down, and there are also personal guards, and the area is not enough if it is small.

Three years ago, Richard had relocated the site to build a seven-storey duke's palace, which would be located on a hilltop northwest of the city walls.

For three years, the construction workers of the Haaland Territory have carved out a huge flat area on the top of the mountain, and the magicians have used integrated technology to transform large amounts of dirt into solid stone.

Then, with the help of a magician, the new ducal palace was successfully built.

This year's Christmas dinner was held in the banquet hall of the New Duke's Palace.

In the new Duke's Mansion, a large number of magic arrays are used, and the core nodes of these magic arrays are stored with magic crystals, if the enemy hits here, you can rely on the magic array to resist for a period of time, and then escape into the mage tower of the swamp basin through the short-distance teleportation array.

There is also a hidden secret passage dug in the Duke's mansion, through which you can enter the southern city, and when you have to, you can also use the secret passage to escape.

This secret passage was made by Richard, Sophia, Wendy and other core members of the Harland family, who used their spare time to dig with the power of spells, except for a few cronies, people outside did not know.

The mansion is heated by steam pipes, and even in the cold of winter, it still makes people feel warm like spring.

The banquet hall of the Duke's Palace was brightly lit and gas-lit, and the Haaland family mingled here, many of whom stood by the windows to enjoy the snowy winter night.

The long table in the middle of the hall was filled with sumptuous food, and the maids shuttled to fetch it, delivering cups of white wine and fruit wine to the guests who needed it.

There is also a band playing in the corner, which seems to be at a certain level, and there are beautiful actresses from the opera troupe, who perform explicit dances hard, trying to attract nobles, even if they are lovers of nobles, they can also drive the family to achieve a jump in class.

Richard clapped his hands, attracted everyone's attention, and said directly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the most fundamental reason why we can enjoy food and beautiful scenery here is that Haaland's territory has developed steadily. Because we are the ruling class of Haaland's territory, the master of this land.

We have enjoyed everything we can enjoy, including power, money and beauty, so we should be brave enough to take responsibility and have a sense of ownership.

Therefore, no matter who destroys the development of the territory, he is our enemy, even if he is our relative.

To maintain the development of the territory, we have to fight against external and internal enemies, and it is very easy to identify external enemies, but it is difficult to find out internal enemies.

So I want you to think, who are our friends and who are our enemies?

I hope you can give me an answer at next year's Christmas dinner. ”

Richard's speech was as simple as ever, he was still the strong-willed person, but after hearing his speech, many people had mixed feelings in their hearts, and some people felt not very happy, thinking that Richard was too unreminiscent of the old feelings.

But no matter what they think, as long as Richard is in charge, as long as the soldiers are willing to obey his orders, whether they are family members or in-laws, they must follow his baton. No matter who violates the rules and decrees set by Richard, he will not be merciful in dealing with them.

To manage a country or a territory, the first thing that should be managed is the family. Only by managing the family well can we have the confidence to manage other high-level leaders, and if the high-level management is good, the territory will be fair, and with a fair atmosphere, the cohesion of the territory can be improved, the cohesion can be improved, and the soldier's will to fight can be guaranteed.

In recent years, the Haaland family has not found anyone with outstanding talent, William has the best talent in the previous generation, and has been promoted to a ninth-order warrior, but his potential has been exhausted, and there is no possibility of becoming a legend.

Third Uncle Bernie has a good talent and was promoted to a seventh-order professional two years ago, but his age is close to fifty years old, and he also has no hope of advancing to the legendary realm.

Although the second uncle Powell has an extraordinary sense of smell, his cultivation talent is very ordinary, and his professional rank has not been promoted since he retired from the army, and he has been transformed into a civilian in Haaland's territory.

In Richard's generation, except for Richard and Wendy's siblings, the talents of the others are also very average, and most of them are in their thirties at the second and third levels. Ron was in his forties and had just barely been promoted to the fourth rank, and Adrian was a little better than the others, having been promoted to the rank of Three-Ring Magician a year ago.

On the contrary, it is a distant branch of the Haaland family, and Anne and Knorr have both been promoted to the middle rank.

Anne had just turned thirty years old and was already a four-ring magician, and Noel was in her forties, and the warrior level was already at the sixth order, and her advanced speed was almost comparable to William's.

Although the members of the Haaland family generation are mediocre, there are some outstanding people in their marriage.

Richard's cousin-in-law, Jennings, who has been promoted to a seventh-order warrior in his early thirties, has a lot of hope of breaking through the legendary realm.

The children of Uncle Soros are generally talented, Morgan is already a fifth-order knight, and his cousin Audrey is even more talented, and she is also a fifth-order at a young age.

The young people of the Stowe family are generally very average in talent, Rogge and Alto are both civil officials, not even professionals, and Sophia's other brothers and sisters all died in the war.

The members of the Stowe branch are generally better than those of Rogge and Alto. Vito was promoted to a hereditary baron, and his own professional rank had reached the seventh rank, but he was older than William, so naturally he could not become Margaret and Philip's assistant.

The Stowe family, the mother family, can provide very ordinary help to the children.

On the contrary, Richard's eldest daughter, Margaret, is extremely talented, and at the age of twelve, she has completed an eight-year secondary school.

Margaret's magic level is also developing steadily, and a few days before the goddess's birthday, she actually broke through the realm, and the twelve-year-old one-ring magician has a higher talent than Sophia.

After becoming a professional, Margaret already had the right to inherit.

But Richard didn't want to announce the news to the public, so as to avoid the kid inviting the conspiracy of his opponents.

Margaret, a talented seedling, can be called a legendary seed.

Before the genius grows, it is actually very fragile.

Once Margaret is attacked for revealing her talent and encounters an accident, it will bring Richard and Sophia regrets that they will never let go.

Even the Grant royal family and the Jonathan family, who have close ties with the Haaland family, may not want Margaret to grow up in their hearts.

So protecting Margaret is already an important job for Richard and Sophia, and after Margaret graduates, Sophia decides to let her daughter participate in her own magical research and keep her safe under her nose.

This winter, Margaret has already studied high school, and she has also taken advanced mathematics, because there is no university in Haland's territory, and now Margaret has no school to study, and her main focus is on the field of magic.

(End of chapter)