Lord Harland

The years of orc invasion wars have caused almost every family in the border areas to wear mourning and everyone bleeds.

After the end of the pioneering war a hundred years ago, the population of Northern Xinjiang also grew very slowly. In order to defend against the orcs, the Grant Kingdom promotes new nobles every three years to support the military aristocracy. Then relying on the slave market trade and constantly transporting slaves to the front line in northern Xinjiang, only then can they withstand long-term blood loss.

After repelling the orcs, the Grant Kingdom once again began to reward merit and punishment.

King Roger personally signed an edict to punish incompetent officials and promote some officers to hereditary nobles.

This time the orcs invaded, King Roger granted a viscounty and six baronies.

The intensity of the rewards was slightly greater than in previous wars.

However, among the nobles in northern Xinjiang, four baron families gave up their hereditary territories and fell into professional families. In fact, the newly added noble territories include only one viscount and two barons.

In fact, after each orc invasion war, a few more territories were added to the northern border covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. The expansion of the Grant Kingdom was very slow.

In recent years, only the three families of Harland, Martins, and Jonathan have expanded their territories slightly more.

The Harland family has gained the most from this year's war.

After the war, Richard accumulated enough military exploits and was awarded the second viscounty.

Richard received a reward of more than 30,000 gold coins in exchange for the meritorious deeds of his officers and soldiers.

Because he didn't have that much cash, Richard could only issue some paper bonds, which could be exchanged for various materials produced in the territory.

Richard had a high prestige among the officers and soldiers, so he could convince the officers and soldiers that the piece of paper he gave could be worth a lot of money.

After receiving the paper bonds, the officers and soldiers immediately exchanged them for various supplies. It seemed that neither the soldiers nor the officers had much trust in this kind of paper bonds. They seemed to hate them deeply and immediately spent them all.

In fact, Richard's issuance of paper bonds was actually a specific type of paper currency, which had violated the Grant royal family's coinage rights.

It's just that the number of paper bonds he issued was small, the duration was relatively short, and there was almost no circulation, so it was considered a side effect. If the royal family knew that he distributed currency, they might cause trouble for him.

The reason why Richard took the risk and issued paper bonds was actually for the purpose of issuing banknotes in the future.

If you want the local people to accept banknotes, you must prepare in advance. The issuance of paper bonds is a rehearsal.

Slowly, through several rehearsals, the soldiers were made aware that pieces of paper could be exchanged for various supplies. When banknotes could be issued, opposition voices would be smaller.

When distributing military pay to soldiers, paper currency bonds can be used.

In this way, the territory can save a lot of gold coins, which can be used to import various materials, and the development speed will be faster.

After the reward was completed, the demarcation of the new territory had begun. According to the gossip that William had heard, the Grant Kingdom hoped to allocate more than 6,000 square kilometers of land in the eastern part of the Harland territory to the Harland family.

In this way, Graveson Castle is located behind Harland's territory, which is relatively safer.

But the next time the orcs invade, Harland Territory will bear more important responsibilities.

Although the territory of 6,000 square kilometers is large, the land is not fertile and is basically mountainous terrain. If the fiefdom is chosen here, the Haaland family will be responsible for the defense of two mountain passes, and the pressure will become very heavy.

Not only did the new territory not bring development to the Haaland family, it would instead become a considerable burden.

Now the Haaland family is the highest-ranking noble in the province of Geda. It has a large number of voting rights in the noble assembly and has the ability to bargain with the royal capital.

According to Richard's opinion, try to expand the family territory to the north, and it is best to capture the swamp basin where the undead wizard hides.

Not only does that swamp basin have a half-built mage tower, but when the basin is developed, it can cultivate 26,000 hectares of paddy fields and feed more than 200,000 people.

This basin of several hundred square kilometers will become the basis of the Harland family's dominance.

By then, with this basin as the center and occupying a large area of ​​land in the southern and central parts of the Eagle Mountains, it would be enough to develop a powerful mountain duchy.

Richard's opinion was recognized by William. Today, Richard's prestige in the Harland family has surpassed William's and he has become the real head of the Harland family.

Although William is the father, he must follow Richard's baton at this time.

William kept looking for connections to intercede. In order to divide the new territory, he even took a long leave and went to the royal capital to state his interests in the noble council.

"Members of Congress, before talking about the division of the Haaland family's territory, I would like to talk about my old chief, Count Martins.

Although Count Martins has died in battle, he is worthy of his status as a famous general. I have followed him for more than ten years and know his abilities. In the Northern Army, we have fought many victorious wars, even glorious wars.

According to the information I have, Count Martins is the most capable commander after the establishment of the Northern Army, followed by the unlucky Zachary. Of course, Zachary’s matter involves the political turmoil in the royal capital, so I won’t talk about it for now.

Why did the Count of Martins fall? It was the royal capital that put an overwhelming burden on him, hoping that the Earl of Martins would become a shield for the Gascoigne Province and the northern part of the Dukedom of Edward.

The Martins family has a weak background and cannot shoulder this important task. As everyone has seen, in just six years, the Martins family gave up the inherited territory, and a great noble of our Grant Kingdom became a laughing stock.

Do we, as hereditary nobles, have any glory in this matter? As a noble councilor who divided the territory for Count Martins, do you have any responsibility?

When you divide territories, do you always consider how to get rid of the burden? Without considering whether we can afford it?

If the noble council and the royal family must put such a heavy burden on the Harland family, I declare here that I will exchange my merits for cultivation potions and give up this viscounty territory.

This land may need a more capable family to take responsibility. "

William's speech can be said to be powerful, and these words surprised the members of the Parliament of Nobles.

Military knighthood is the foundation of the Grant Kingdom. Once William gives up the granted land, this tradition will undoubtedly be destroyed.

Moreover, the Harland family exchanging thirty great skills for various training resources will also unbalance the training resources of the Grant Kingdom. There may be a shortage of medicines by then, which is also a big deal for the Grant Kingdom.

After discovering that the Harland family reacted so violently, the top leaders of the Noble Council immediately held urgent consultations with King Roger.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Nobles is the Marquis of Allen.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Nobles has always been held by the four eastern Marquises in rotation.

The four eastern marquises are close associates of the royal family, and many family members are married to members of the royal family.

Because of the relationship with the royal family, the Marquis of the East no longer needs to take political sides. No matter which king comes to power, they must be used.

Compared with the duke family in the north, the earl family in the south, and the marquis in the east, they are very obedient and very cooperative with the policies issued by the royal family. In the war in northern Xinjiang, they have always taken the initiative to provide people and money to share the responsibilities for the Grant Kingdom.

King Roger's wife is the sister of Marquis Ellen.

With this relationship, Marquis Allen can replace Marquis Vicia and become the new Speaker of the Noble Council.

Marquis Allen does not need to inform King Roger when he enters the palace.

As one of the few privileged people in the Grant Kingdom, Marquis Allen came to the palace and said straight to the point: "Your Majesty, there are two things you need to decide now. The first Harland family is not satisfied with the new fiefdom and threatens to Give up this territory and exchange your merits for cultivation potions.

The second thing is that the Martins family has already written an application to give up the inheritance of the earldom. "

"A big noble giving up the inheritance of the territory will damage the face of the kingdom and will also be a serious blow to our political system. The most critical issue now is that the Earl Martins family is incapable of running the territory?

I don't think so. My brother Charlie was a little too mean to Martins back then. On my opinion, I immediately allocated a special fund of 300,000 gold coins from the royal treasury, loaned it to the Earldom of Martins, and used the fiscal revenue of the Earldom as collateral for the loan, and then let the Redeemer Legion be stationed in the Earldom of Martins for a long time. Assist the army of the Earl of Martins to maintain the situation.

Tell the Martins family to have faith in the Grant Kingdom. Although it may be more difficult in recent years, once the territory is developed and controls 60,000 square kilometers of land, the Martins family will be stronger than the Marquis in the east. "

Marquis Allen continued to ask: "What should we do about the Harland family?"

"We only burden the Harland family with no meat, and of course they are not satisfied. Since the Harland family wants the swamp basin in the north, we will grant it to them this time. In addition, Graveson Castle, including More than a thousand square kilometers of nearby land can also be sealed to them.

But the Haaland family must take responsibility. You told William that if a war breaks out, the Gedda Province will definitely give them reinforcements, and they must hold on to the two passages. If they want to become the great nobles of the kingdom, they must contribute to the stability of the kingdom. "

"We have placed this heavy burden on the Haaland family. Can the Haaland family bear it?"

King Roger thought for a moment, nodded and said: "I think it is feasible. Richard's fighting ability is not small, no worse than Martins and Zachary.

Compared with traditional nobles, Richard is also good at business. The Harland family has developed rapidly in the past ten years. He has the ability to make the Harland family a shield in the northern part of Geda Province.

If the Harland family holds the two passages in Geda Province, we can also promote Richard to earl. There is a great nobleman in the northern part of Gedda Province, which is a good thing for the kingdom. "

After consulting with King Roger, the Marquis of Allen gave new conditions to William.

William got the new conditions given by King Roger and communicated with Richard. Looking at the fiefdom given by Roger, Richard sighed and said: "It seems that we can't use this shield properly anymore."

William smiled and said: "I think it's better to accept it as soon as it's good. Our family's impression on the royal capital is not very good. Many nobles in the royal capital think that the Harland family is not very obedient. Your character is too unruly. Not easy to get along with.”

"Since my father also approved it, I think that's it. After all the trouble, I finally gave him some sweet dates."

After demarcating the boundaries, the Harland family's territory increased by more than 8,000 square kilometers. The total area is 18,600 square kilometers, which is roughly equivalent to the area of ​​a city in the previous life.

But there are less than 150,000 people in the nearly 20,000 square kilometers of land.

Large areas of land are undeveloped. From a high altitude, the Harland territory is still a virgin forest, with only a few areas inhabited.

Population is the foundation of a territory. Without population, no matter how large a territory is, it cannot be considered strong.

In this year's orc invasion war, Richard rescued 20,000 people.

Richard was relatively more trusting of the people rescued from the orcs and settled them near Graveson Castle.

Graveson Castle is a military fortress. Because it is close to the front line, there are not many people nearby. Only civilians cutting firewood, logging, and hunting will appear nearby.

After this land was sealed to Richard, the forest resources also became Richard's property. Richard set up checkpoints on the road to prohibit free people and serfs near Heihe Fort from entering Harland's territory.

After the land was divided into the Harland family, the Graveson Castle garrison withdrew to Black River Castle, and Richard stationed the Fourth Brigade in Graveson Castle.

In order to defend the mountain road north of Graveson, Richard chose to build a city 35 kilometers north of Graveson Castle to block the front of Graveson Castle.

The new castle was built on a gentle mountainside. As long as there were troops stationed on the mountainside, the valley could be locked.

Through water transportation, the Harland territory can transport a large amount of supplies to Graveson Castle, and then rely on horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts to transport them to the vicinity of the new castle.

There are large areas of wild roses near the new castle, which was named Flower Castle by Richard.

In addition to the flower castle, Richard is also planning to build a castle near the mage tower in the swamp basin to serve as an advance base for the development of the swamp basin.

After the war, Haddon Castle also publicly changed its name. Because the Redemptor Legion won the battle at Haddon Castle, the castle was named the City of Redemption. However, Zachary and other officers and soldiers were not satisfied with the name and wrote to the Noble Council. After writing a letter of protest, the castle was eventually renamed Iron Lion Castle.

Because Zachary fought well in this battle, King Roger promised to give the Redemptor Army commanded by Zachary a subsidy of 20,000 gold coins every year.

With this subsidy, the pressure on the hereditary nobles burdened with establishing the Redeemer Legion will be reduced by one-third.

King Roger also promised the three Redemptor Legions that as long as they fought well in the war, Nolan would increase investment in the Redemptor Legions. When will all the finances of the Redemptor Legions be invested by the central government? What if the political team failed? The hereditary nobles will completely atone for their crimes, and the Atonement Legion will be reorganized into the Central Legion.