Lord Harland

After the demarcation was completed, 30,000 square kilometers of land north of the Vera Mountains and west of the Gascoyne Province were merged into the Harland Territory. Counting this part of the territory, the area of ​​the Harland Territory has exceeded 300,000 square kilometers. , roughly equivalent to half the level of the Grand Duchy of Stanik.

However, there are no big nobles in the Harland territory. The total territory of the vassals is less than 30,000 square kilometers. Richard actually controls more territory than the Jonathan family. The population controlled by the Harland Territory is slightly larger than that of the Stanik royal family. However, the Jonathan family, plus the Dukedom of Grant Kingdom, controlled a population of approximately 4.3 million, far exceeding the Harland Territory.

After the new territory was demarcated, Richard established Palani County, which covers an area of ​​more than 30,000 square kilometers and has a total population of more than 200,000.

These 200,000 people are all indentured slaves who have joined the territory this year. Ninety-nine percent of them are real refugees from the Duke of Edward.

In order to feed these 200,000 people, Leader Harland needs to invest a lot of money.

Fortunately, this land is already a mature territory. The farmland has been cultivated for hundreds of years and has been cultivated by people. If Richard invests here, he will not lose money in the first year.

The territory set aside by the Edward family included an important castle, Palany Castle.

This castle is a very important castle in the upper reaches of the Black River. In this castle, the Edward family and the Harland family also had a conflict due to the crossing of slaves.

Now less than ten years have passed, but things have changed. The then Duke Edward has died in the court, and Sheriff Harris has become the new Duke Edward.

Palany Castle, the jewel of the Edwardian family, is also embedded in the crown of the Harland family.

Ten years have passed, and the strength of the two northern Xinjiang nobles has become so clear that they are almost no longer comparable.

Counting the newly established Palani County this year, Harland Territory already includes East Grotta County, West Grotta County, Harland County, Los Angeles Basin County, Salt Lake County, Southern Eagle Mountain County, and Martins County. There are ten counties including Palani County, Snow Mountain County, and Western Deep Forest County.

The ten counties together govern more than thirty counties. As of late June, the total population was close to 2.8 million.

After the territory was demarcated, Richard began to mobilize a large amount of grain from the Harland Territory to help the development of the new territory.

Due to the war this year, most of the land in the Dukedom of Edward was delayed in spring plowing. By mid-June, after the demarcation was completed, the Dukedom of Edward was already dry.

Although the business of Palani Castle is prosperous, spring plowing was also delayed this year. Richard settled in the new territory with a population of 200,000, and there was also a shortage of food.

Palani County is not far from the core territory of Harland Territory. Food can be transferred from the former Barony of Harden, which is about less than a hundred kilometers away. For the shortfall, he purchased grain from the nobles of Gascoigne Province. Richard spent 60,000 gold coins and purchased 30,000 tons of grain to stabilize the situation in Palani County.

Since February this year, Leader Harland has continued to increase investment in railways. By June, there were more than 30,000 indentured servants building the railways.

More than 30,000 people built the railway, and the scene was full of enthusiasm and momentum.

After five months of hard work, more than 80 kilometers of railway lines have been built. A few days ago, the section from Malte Castle to Philippe Castle was opened to traffic. After this section of railway is opened to traffic, it will be more convenient to mobilize supplies from Harland to Palani Castle.

This section of the railway is located in a plain area. As long as the materials can be supplied, the railway construction project is relatively simple. However, turning northwest from Philip Castle, we are about to enter the Eagle Mountains. Although the terrain in the Kaia River Valley is relatively gentle, the construction of the next 80 kilometers of railway will be much more difficult, and it may not be possible to complete it this year.

Philip Castle is the original Castle of Baron Haddon. More than ten years ago, Baron Harden participated in the Venus family rebellion and was expelled from the Grant family.

Because Zakli led the Iron Lion Legion to station in the Barony of Harden, the castle was named Iron Lion Castle.

A few years later, the Barony of Haddon was merged into the Harland Territory. Zachary led his troops to move to the Grotta Province and built a new Iron Lion Castle. In order to avoid duplication of names, Richard renamed the original Baron Haddon Castle to Philip Castle two years ago.

After the section from Malte Castle to Philippe Castle was opened to traffic, the length of the Harland Railway has exceeded 220 kilometers.

This new thing, the railway, has been around for less than three years and is still developing rapidly.

In June this year, the surveying and mapping work on the section from Malte Castle to Eagle Castle was completed and construction is about to begin. This section of railway is about 170 kilometers long, and covers the Heihe Plain area along the way. It is planned to be opened to traffic in September next year. When the section from Flying Eagle Castle to Malte Castle is opened to traffic and connected to the grid, the length of the Haaland Land Railway may be close to 500 kilometers. , connecting the east and west of the territory, will greatly promote the economic development of the territory.

At that time, goods from West Grotta County can be transported to Martins County in one day, which is very convenient and easy.

This year, the Dukedom of Edward and Fox suffered from military disasters and food shortages, but the Harland Territory ushered in a good harvest.

In the past two years, Harland Territory has been very aggressive in land reclamation. In just two years, nearly 7 million acres of farmland have been reclaimed.

Together with the 7 million acres of new farmland, Harland Territory already has 18 million acres of farmland.

Eighteen million acres of farmland, more than half of which was given to freedmen. In the past two years, the population of Halland Territory has increased by one million, of which 700,000 freedmen have been added. The 700,000 free people, plus the fallow fields, were allotted 4.2 million acres of cultivated land at one time.

Overall, the freedmen held more than 10 million acres of cultivated land, and the government controlled about 8 million acres of official land.

June is the summer harvest season. Lord Harland mainly grows wheat, oats, soybeans, and potatoes. The grain yield of the summer harvest is higher than that of the autumn harvest. This year's grain output is much higher than last year. After all, about three million acres of land is in its second year of reclamation, and water conservancy facilities are also more complete. Production has increased significantly.

Moreover, potassium fertilizer production is increasing steadily. Three million acres of land can be fertilized a year. The increase in chemical fertilizer production will greatly improve agricultural production. According to rough statistics from the agricultural department, the summer harvest output should exceed 750,000 tons, enough for Harland to feed 2.8 million people for a year.

The population of Harland has increased too rapidly in the past two years. Although a large amount of grain has been imported, there is not much grain in the treasury.

As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, don't panic in your heart. The summer harvest has ushered in a bumper harvest. Richard finally felt a little more relaxed.

Shortly after the harvest, good news came again from the territory. Members of the demon hunting team led by Harland once again discovered a griffon nest in the west of Martins Castle.

Although there are griffons in the Eagle Mountains, they are relatively rare on a daily basis, especially in the eastern area of ​​the Eagle Mountains. Because there are a large number of wyverns active, the environment is not suitable for griffons to breed.

Both wyverns and griffons have a strong sense of territory. They will plan ahead and kill their competitors in advance. In areas where there are often dragon lairs, griffons must choose to migrate, otherwise they will be targeted by the dragon. Up, hunting.

All the griffon nests in the central area of ​​the Eagle Mountains were swept away by the Harland Territory. This group of griffons made an outstanding contribution to the development of the Harland Territory.

There are also griffin nests in the western region of the Eagle Mountains. Although there are legendary ogres in the western region, the ogres cannot fly, so it is difficult to hunt griffins and there is no competition with the griffons.

There are no natural enemies of griffons in this area, and the griffon nest is also very large. After discovering the gryphon's nest, the members of the demon hunting team did not act rashly, but immediately returned to the territory to report the news.

Now that Harland has led a strong army, it is no longer necessary for the lords such as Richard and Sophia to go into battle in person to capture the griffon.

The elf mage Eve has just been promoted to the seventh level. She, along with Wendy and a group of twenty mages, serve as the backbone of the capture of the gryphon.

Richard's cousin Audrey led the lion cavalry as backup, the demon hunter squadron, and the special squadron acted together with the magicians to help them and work as coolies.

The mages used the red blood grass as a trap and successfully caught more than twenty griffons in one catch.

Compared to griffons, humans are significantly smarter in IQ.

Including this nest of griffons, the number of griffons in Harland's collar has exceeded one hundred. But there are only seven teams of adult griffons that can be ridden, totaling eighty-one.

According to the reproduction rate of griffons, it will take about three years for Harland to increase the number of adult griffons to one hundred.

The cost of forming a griffon cavalry is very high, because griffons need to eat the meat of monsters every once in a while, otherwise their bodies will become sluggish. This is the nature of high-level monsters. Whether they are bipedal dragons or griffons, they all like to be in places with abundant magic power. The place and diet must also provide a certain amount of monster meat.

If there is really no Warcraft meat, you can grind the magic crystal into powder and prepare a special potion for the griffon to eat instead of Warcraft meat.

But the cost of raising high-level monsters with magic crystals is too high.

A griffon consumes about thirty standard magic crystals every year, which is equivalent to the cost of raising three hundred gold coins. The flying dragon consumes even more money, consuming hundreds of standard magic crystals a year and costing up to a thousand gold coins.

Even for a regional power like the Lion Kingdom, the number of gryphon cavalry is limited to 300.

The consumption of three hundred lion knights in one year is roughly equivalent to more than half of the main army. The cost of maintaining one lion knight is roughly equivalent to fifty infantry.

On the frontal battlefield, a gryphon cavalry is far from the opponent of fifty elite infantry. However, the Griffin Knights can perform reconnaissance missions, and their actual role is far greater than that of fifty infantrymen.

When it comes to the battlefield, you still have to use your own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

The reason why the Lion Kingdom maintains 300 gryphon cavalry is because 300 gryphon cavalry are enough for reconnaissance missions.

Whether fighting orcs or suppressing nearby enemies, three hundred warcraft cavalry are enough to run rampant.

Because the Harland Territory controls the Eagle Mountains region, which is rich in Warcraft resources, the number of griffons and wyverns in the territory was relatively small in the past few years. The supply of Warcraft meat is abundant, and no additional consumption of magic crystals is required.

Nowadays, the number of wyverns and griffons has increased. Harland has led the development of Snow Crystal Lake two years ago. Twenty thousand snow crystal fish can be caught through Snow Crystal Lake every year. Together with other monster meat production, it can be supplied. Hundreds of wyverns and four hundred griffons were eaten.

In fact, even raising Warcraft Cavalry also requires high expenditure. Just one iron horned horse consumes up to thirty kilograms of food every day. More than 10,000 kilograms of grain are consumed every year, which is roughly equivalent to the cost of ten gold coins.

In addition, every once in a while, the iron horned horse needs to be fed some low-level magic plants. Magic plants are more expensive than food. One iron horned horse consumes about thirty gold coins a year.

Thirty gold coins a year is already a high-income group in the Haaland territory. Small businessmen, grassroots officers, and civil servants in the territory do not have such high income levels at all.

Ordinary high-income people simply cannot afford to raise a Warcraft war horse. Even the captain class of the army, whose annual military salary is about one hundred gold coins, can hardly afford the cost of raising a Warcraft war horse. Unless you really like Warcraft war horses, you will buy one to ride on.

Those who can feed the Warcraft horses are the rich and wealthy aristocracy.

The vast majority of hereditary barons will buy ten or eight horses and use them to rush into battle at critical moments on the battlefield. A big noble like Duke Harland, coupled with the Warcraft breeding base, supports 3,500 Warcraft horses, which consumes up to 100,000 gold coins in a year.

Last year, Haaland's military expenses were as high as 1.76 million gold coins, which was equivalent to 60% of the level of the Grant royal family.

In June of this year, good news continued to come from the Harland Territory. First, silver mines were discovered in Western Forest County.

Because the Harland Territory does not have complete minting rights, to the Harland Territory, the value of silver mines is higher than that of gold mines.

The discovery of new silver mines will allow the Harland Territory to mint more silver coins, which will greatly alleviate the deflation in the territory.

After all, in daily life, silver coins and copper coins are the most used. Nobles and big businessmen who use gold coins to pay are relatively rare in society and are rarely circulated in fact.

According to reports from the silver mining department, at least nine tons of silver can be mined this year, and the profit from casting silver coins can be converted into about 15,000 gold coins.

The output of the silver mine can double next year, bringing profits to the mint department of more than 40,000 yuan. In the next year, the amount of silver mined mining will increase, and more than 800,000 silver coins can be minted, which will translate into a profit of more than 60,000 gold coins.

According to rough estimates, this silver mine can be mined for more than twenty years and is worth more than one million gold coins.

Next, an exploration team member named Hart discovered an iron mine in Martins County. The reserves of this iron mine are much larger than those of Iron Mountain Castle. According to rough estimates, the reserves are close to one billion tons.

Such a huge reserve is enough for Harland to use for dozens or hundreds of years.

This mine is also accompanied by various rare earth resources, and there are also a small amount of magic crystals in the veins.

After receiving the news, Richard personally went to the Hart Iron Mine, mobilized more than 60,000 people, and launched a large-scale iron ore construction campaign. He hoped that this giant iron mine could be successfully put into operation next year.

An open-pit coal mine was discovered in the north of the No. 3 Military Station. This coal mine also has very large reserves, and its mining cost is lower than that of mountainous coal mines such as Tulum and Kasan.

In order to commend the exploration team leader Boren who discovered the coal mine, Richard named the coal mine Boren Coal Mine. With the discovery of the Burren coal mines, the establishment of a county near Castle No. 3 was very close.

After the war, Richard began another round of awards and honors.

The first was the Sutton family. Because the elf warriors worked together and Sylph was promoted to legend, they obtained the second viscounty territory in a short period of time.

The Sutton territory is full of desolate forests, and the territory is very large. The combined area of ​​the two viscounties exceeds 13,000 square kilometers. According to the current development rate, the Sutton family will soon be promoted to the earl class.

Unfortunately, the Sutton family has a small number of people, and the elves are relatively closed-minded. Although the territory is large, the economy has not developed much. Only two to three thousand indentured servants were responsible for some construction tasks, and there were few activities.

In addition to Sutton, the lucky Driffin was also directly knighted this time.

In the battle with the orcs, Driffin led the two-legged flying dragon cavalry and caught up with the ninth-level orc army commander. They got the head in a surprise attack. There were six people participating in this battle, among which Driffin played the final word. After being assigned five major merits, plus the accumulated merits, he was directly promoted to a hereditary baron in Harland.

Drifen was originally a hereditary baron of the Kingdom of Delon. Unfortunately, he lost his territory due to the war and was once reduced to an indentured servant. Four years after joining the Harland Territory, Drifen successfully restored his family business.

Wilde, who is stronger, is not as lucky. In addition, he exchanged his merits for precious potions. Now he has only accumulated two great merits and is still far away from becoming a knight.

The Barony of Driffin is located in the east of the No. 2 Military Station, bordering the territory of the Sutton family. It covers an area of ​​1,300 square kilometers, which is three times larger than the territory of the Kingdom of Delon.

Running a territory requires a lot of money. The Drifen family was defeated and it has been difficult to save money in recent years. He had no choice but to marry Pirano, the owner of a flour mill, and married Pirano's pudgy daughter in exchange for a dowry of five thousand gold coins. , obtained the initial resources for developing the territory.