The world’s use of energy is still quite primitive.
People in this world are not yet familiar with how to utilize natural gas.
Iron is already in widespread use, though the smelting technology isn’t very advanced.
The territory allocated to Richard by the king was actually quite favorable for him.
Of course, the iron-rich mountain range wasn’t included in the initial allocation. That’s why Richard pretended to be displeased and asked for that mountain range as well.
Richard thought that the king would likely agree.
After all, the Northeast Province is viewed by the king as a defensive buffer against the Beast Kingdom—a desolate place where “not even a bird would poop.”
The king’s method of division wasn’t surprising to Richard.
Don’t think of the king as a benevolent figure. Even the most inadequate king is still a born politician.
If Richard demanded more than half of the Northeast, the king would certainly be somewhat reluctant.
After all, the output from noble territories is tax-free.
Richard had anticipated this and expected the king to allocate areas with fewer inhabitants to him.
This way, the king could also silence other nobles, avoiding their complaints, especially those whose territories were smaller than Richard’s despite their higher ranks.
Richard wondered if the king would regret the allocation when he discovered the resources it contained, as some viewers suggested.
Richard’s guess was correct. On the third day, Count Zane arrived enthusiastically.
“Young friend, as expected, the king agreed. Here’s the land grant signed by the king!”
Count Zane handed the land grant to Richard.
The king, seemingly eager to avoid any possible change of heart from Richard, had signed the grant promptly.
“This land grant, signed by the king and several ministers, is now officially in effect. These territories now belong to you! After the war, when you go to the capital to receive the king’s formal title, you can also collect the official land deeds. The deeds are quite weighty and significant, so they’re not safe to transport by pigeon.”
Count Zane handed over the land grant.
Richard received it.
With this document, even though the formal land deeds hadn’t been received yet, Richard had no fear of the king reneging.
【Congratulations to the anchor for successfully securing 60,000 square kilometers of territory!】
【Congratulations!】
【Greetings from the people of Yue City!】
【Ha ha, looking forward to seeing the king’s reaction when he finds out about the iron mine and natural gas.】
【So envious. I also want to sleep on 60,000 square kilometers of land every day.】
In the live chat, viewers sent their congratulations as soon as the land grant was received.
Some were merely offering verbal congratulations, while others were more practical and began making donations.
Many viewers, having followed Richard for months, were now deeply invested in his success. They felt as happy with his achievements as they would with their own.
After receiving the land grant, Richard prepared to leave the Stone Fort City.
Although Count Zane’s manor was large, it couldn’t compare to the comfort of Richard’s own castle.
Aside from lacking modern amenities like running water and hot water heaters, there was no electricity.
Of course, Count Zane was quite generous, providing a large number of candles for Richard’s use every day.
Richard’s new territory was a long strip about 500 kilometers long and nearly 100 kilometers wide.
The southern end of the territory was still over 100 kilometers from Stone Fort City.
Richard decided to first build a road to the southern end of the territory and then construct a road running east to west.
The iron mine and natural gas were conveniently located on the west and east sides, respectively.
Richard planned to start with the iron mine before moving on to exploit the natural gas.
The extraction of iron ore is not very technically demanding, and mining hematite isn’t particularly difficult either.
Of course, these tasks will be done step by step.
Richard’s short-term plan remains focused on road construction and land reclamation.
It is now approaching October.
During this time, Richard planned to plant a large quantity of potatoes.
This way, by January or February at the latest, he will be able to harvest on a large scale.
The yield of potatoes is quite impressive. Even in sandy soil, it is possible to harvest several thousand pounds per acre.
On better land and with better varieties, yields can reach up to ten thousand pounds per acre.
That’s five tons per acre!
An acre is roughly 666 square meters, which can be thought of as a square with sides between 25 and 26 meters.
One square kilometer is approximately equivalent to 1,500 acres.
Even if an acre yields just 2,000 pounds (one ton) of potatoes, one square kilometer of farmland can produce 1,500 tons of potatoes.
Richard’s territory now spans 60,000 square kilometers.
Of course, not all of this area will be used for growing potatoes; a significant portion will need to remain as forestland.
Additionally, the manpower is limited. Even if tens of thousands of workers were deployed, it wouldn’t be possible to fully reclaim all the land.
But even if only one percent of the land is used for potatoes, the yield could still reach at least 900,000 tons!
And it could even exceed one million tons!
Such a large quantity of potatoes would not only solve the food problem in Richard’s territory but also generate substantial gold by selling them.
Of course, buying potatoes online and reselling them could also yield several times the profit.
However, now that Richard has acquired half of the Northeast region, the upcoming large-scale reclamation and construction will require a lot of additional funds. So, it’s best to solve the food problem on his own.
In addition to potatoes, Richard also planned to build a large number of vegetable greenhouses.
Vegetables have a short maturation period; many can be ready in a few months. For instance, bok choy can be harvested in just ten days, and other vegetables might take up to two months. These greenhouses will provide a variety of vegetables.
Currently, the entire kingdom is facing a food shortage, and by spring, the kingdom’s food supplies might be nearly depleted. Richard can use this surplus to earn a lot of gold.
After receiving the land grant, Richard said goodbye to Count Zane.
Count Zane admired Richard greatly and considered him a close friend. He felt a bit reluctant to see Richard leave.
Additionally, Count Zane was quite interested in the marvelous things in Richard’s city.
He hoped Richard could help turn Stone Fort City into something like the Florencia City.
However, Count Zane understood that transforming Stone Fort City into a grand city like Florencia City would require a lot of gold.
Currently, after the upheaval caused by the uprising, Stone Fort City and his territory are in disrepair, and what’s most needed right now is food, so he couldn’t spare that much gold.
“Young friend, the food in Stone Fort City was badly damaged by the uprising. I heard that you have a large supply of food. I will send people to buy some from you later. I hope you can sell more to me.”
Count Zane said as he saw Richard off.
Richard nodded, “Sure.”
Selling food was no problem.
After bidding farewell to Count Zane, Richard and a thousand people began their return journey.
The other legions had already left with the prisoners.
The return trip was much quicker.
Previously, the main force took four days to travel 12 hours a day. But the 200-kilometer journey now only took just over four hours.
The terrain here is relatively flat, with mountainous regions located in the western part of the Northeast Province. The eastern part consists of marshes.
“The lord is back!”
“The lord has returned!”
“I heard the lord has become a count!”
“Wow, a count! It’s amazing!”
When Richard returned to the Florencia City, the entire city’s residents came out to welcome him.
The grand scene made the live chat viewers envious.
【When will I ever be welcomed by tens of thousands of people like this?】
【First, you need to have a city.】
【No need. Just go back and sleep, dream a little.】
【With the anchor’s prestige, it’s unbeatable.】
“Master, here are all the accounts for this period.”
After Richard returned to the city, Mia brought a large pile of ledgers to report on the financial situation during this time.
Richard took a quick look.
Mia’s financial statements were not modern in the conventional sense. However, they were quite systematic.
During this period, Richard had paid out a significant amount in salaries.
The expenses for the army and workers amounted to seven or eight gold coins per day on average.
There was no choice; Richard had a lot of people to support—7,000 or 8,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of workers.
Additionally, the cost of food was also a major expense. Many people were still receiving food.
However, the daily income of gold coins was also substantial. In fact, the income exceeded the expenses.
The reason for this is quite simple.
Those twenty or so nobles had previously been spending lavishly in Richard’s territory.
If it weren’t for these nobles, the external grain trade would have come to a near halt during this period. Even though the residents of Richard’s territory were consuming a lot every day, it would still result in a deficit.
Residents in the territory were paid wages by Richard, and they would spend their money on goods provided by Richard. However, some residents would still choose to save their money.
Money circulates within the territory, and Richard couldn’t recover all the wages he had issued.
But these twenty or so nobles were outsiders. During this period, the earnings in Richard’s territory came from these nobles and other wealthy merchants.
This highlights the importance of trade.
Playing a single-player game isn’t viable due to the limited population in the territory. Finding ways to earn money from outside is crucial.
After reviewing, Richard found no issues.
He then met with Fred to understand the current status of the city’s operations.
“Congratulations, lord, on becoming a count!” Fred said upon seeing Richard.
Richard responded, “How is the population in the territory? Are there any refugees wanting to return home?”
Fred replied, “Few refugees wish to return. Their homes have been mostly pillaged by the uprising forces. In your city, they have their needs met, receive wages, and enjoy various conveniences of life.”
“As for the population, there are now 100,000 people in the Florencia City. Additionally, I have sent cavalry and clerks to search for other refugees throughout the territory and gather them.”
Richard handed Fred a map and said, “From now on, this land is all my territory. There are a few small towns in the west. Send people to take control and recruit workers there. Also, send clerks to other cities to recruit workers. The pay will be 200 copper coins per month, with one meal provided.”
Fred’s eyes widened in surprise. He was unaware of the agreement between Richard and Count Zane.
He only knew that Richard had become a count but was surprised by the extent of the territory.
He was taken aback but quickly composed himself and said, “Yes, lord. But how many workers do you need?”
Richard replied calmly, “Recruit as many as possible.”
Fred understood.
Starting the next day, a massive construction effort began in Richard’s territory.
The iron mine had not yet been exploited. Instead, Richard focused on road construction and land reclamation first!
Richard didn’t plan to follow the strategies of other nobles.
Typically, other nobles would lease parts of their territory’s land to the residents and then collect half of the taxes.
Additionally, transactions within the territory would be taxed at a high rate, at least 30%.
Taxes were quite daunting.
However, Richard did not plan to do this.
He intended to employ all the residents in his territory.
Richard would only need to pay their wages.
To prevent laziness, he also deployed many people to supervise and set daily task targets.
For example, the girl Ellie was one of Richard’s appointed supervisors.
Now that Richard had become a count, he could appoint numerous officials in his territory.
Fred remained the city administrator, as Richard trusted him for the job.
Richard would also appoint civil officials, agricultural officers, and law enforcement officers, among others.
He planned to establish a comprehensive system to efficiently manage the entire territory.
Given the vast size of the territory now, it was far from comparable to the few hundred square kilometers it used to be.
“Master, it’s really bustling!”
Starting that day, Richard’s territory was alive with activity.
On a piece of flat land selected by Richard, a large number of people were cultivating the land, dividing it into rows, and then planting potatoes.
On the other side, the potatoes Richard had planted in greenhouses were already being harvested.
Daisy, the bunny girl, was appointed as the agricultural supervisor, guiding the planting of potatoes every day.
Meanwhile, the road construction team was also quite large.
Tens of thousands of prisoners, working with Minotaurs, made rapid progress on the roads, completing several kilometers each day. At this rate, the road would reach the edge of Richard’s territory in less than a month.
Richard’s recruitment teams also achieved significant results.
Upon hearing about the opportunity to work in Richard’s territory with a monthly wage of 200 copper coins and a meal, a large number of people flocked to the area.
This was especially true for the residents of Stone Fort City.
Count Zane quickly discovered that within just a few days, more than half of Stone Fort City’s population had left.