Lord Harland.

In the spring of next year, the first batch of indentured slaves will resume their status as freedmen.

In order to deal with the shock, Li Cha decided to call the managers of the civil affairs system to hold a meeting.

The meeting focused on several aspects, including next year's financial budget and this year's financial summary.

Participants in the meeting included members of the Haaland family such as Richard, Sophia, Powell, Wendy, Adrian, and Twain, as well as Gibson, Rooney, Bobby, Thomas Weber, Tony, Bernard, and Ihaki You and other territorial civil servants.

Gibson was the great steward of the Harland family and William's cousin. After the Harland family became prosperous, Gibson took his relatives to join William.

These distant branches of the Harland family basically settled in Black River Fort with William.Or run a small business under the protection of the Harland family, or participate in the management of Mrs. Ola's property.

Richard pointed at Gibson and indicated that he would start the explanation first.

In recent years, Mrs. Ola's business in Black River Fort was basically in charge of Gibson and Liliana.

Gibson opened an account book, coughed slightly, and said: "By October this year, the hotel's income will be average, excluding expenses, it will earn sixty gold coins. The income from rent will be less this year, adding up to thirty-six gold coins."

Ninety-six gold coins is certainly a huge amount of money for ordinary people, and it requires a person to work for twenty-five years. But for the Haaland family, it is better than nothing. Now the family's annual expenses, even if some savings are made, are more than 200 gold coins.

"The income of the taverns is very good. The net profit of the six taverns has reached gold coins."

Hearing that there was a net profit of five hundred gold coins, Richard nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Can we open the tavern to places like Wright Castle and Flame Castle?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult. We don't have enough strength in these two places to deal with all kinds of troubles."

Richard knew in his heart that the Harland family's main relationships were with Black River Fort.

Both his father and third uncle were officers in the Northern Army, and they had great influence in Black River Fort. The competitors of the tavern naturally did not dare to cause trouble.

Even though the six taverns are doing a prosperous business, the profits are considerable. Relying on the reputation of William and Bernie, they can easily block the coveting and prying eyes of all kinds of monsters and monsters.

Originally, the Harland family had connections in Fort Black River and Fort Grizzly, but Roland and Soros did not develop smoothly in the Wild Lion and Grizzly Bear Legions. For the benefit of a few hundred gold coins, the past friendship may not be able to solve the trouble.

Even if those local snakes don't kill people, if they throw a few venomous snakes into the tavern every day and cause trouble for you, the tavern will not be able to operate.

At that time, only dark means can be used.

Behind the competitors are nobles, and their strength is not weak. Li Cha thinks it is uneconomical to spend the power of the family in such a place.

The Harland Territory develops rapidly in new industries every year, and can fully use its strength to develop new markets.

It is far easier to obtain profits in the incremental market than in the stock market.

In addition to taverns, hotels, and rental businesses, Mrs. Olla also runs a bakery, a clothing store, and a shoe store in Black River Fort.

These small businesses may seem inconspicuous, but their combined income is quite considerable.

Because the people hired were all serfs, the cost was very low. As long as they were given food, the work could be done.

The lower the labor cost, the lower the price, and the business is often very good, adding up to two hundred gold coins in net income.

Coupled with William and Bernie's generous salaries, Black River Fort's net income exceeded one thousand gold coins.

The expenses of the two were about gold coins last year. Even if it was more this year, the income would be considerable.

Hearing the profits of Black River Fort, Richard felt confident. I feel that Mrs. Ola should have saved some money in recent years, and this money can be borrowed first.

"How about the income of brown sugar?"

Ihaqir, who is responsible for managing the Brown Sugar Industrial Park, does not need to look at the books. These data have already been recorded in his heart.

"The output of brown sugar this year is 3.3 tons, with an output value of 275 gold coins. Nine hundred kilograms of brown sugar were consumed for the distribution of benefits in the territory, and the gold coin income was only 200. The brown sugar industry is developing very fast. Next year, the output will exceed six tons, and the output value will reach gold."

Li Cha knows that although the brown sugar industry has great development prospects, it will not be able to earn a lot of gold coins in a short period of time.

Five hundred gold coins is not a small gain for a baron.

Three thousand acres of paddy fields need to be cultivated and a heavy tax of 70% is levied in order to obtain this money.

It is equivalent to a serf village with thousands of people, the tax collected for one year.

Although a barony in northern Xinjiang relies on growing food, it can still receive thousands of gold coins.

However, the baron needs to purchase weapons and equipment and pay his soldiers. The annual cost of raising a squadron is about one thousand gold coins.

In order to protect the security of the territory, the lords in the northern border area have to pay more for raising troops.

Usually a squadron costs gold coins per year.

In the event of a war, military spending will increase.

In addition to military expenses, the lords also have to enjoy, socialize, cultivate relationships, give gifts, plus purchase medicines and resources for their own cultivation, so they can't save much money at all.

"What about the income of the brick kiln factory?" Li Cha turned his head and asked Rooney, the director of the brick kiln factory.

"The brick kiln factory has received very few external orders this year. Only Baron Dirham ordered some city bricks to repair the damaged city walls. The total amount is only one hundred and twenty gold coins. As for the bricks used within the territory, they are not counted this year."

"Next year, many of your workers should become free citizens, right?"

"Yes, most of the brick kiln workers are the first batch of indentured slaves, and the contract will be full next year."

"The worker's appointment is full, what are your plans?"

"I'm going to convert it into an employment contract and give them wages."

"Has the wages been fixed?"

"The current plan is to calculate on a daily basis, four copper coins per day."

"Working thirty days a month, the salary is only four silver coins, which is a bit low. The labor intensity in the brick kiln factory is very high, I think we should increase it a little."

Hearing Li Cha's opinion, Rooney felt a little disapproving.

"Lord, you are too kind. The workers in the brick kiln factory have been divided into land. Each person is allocated an average of five acres of farmland. A family of six has thirty acres of land. The tax revenue from the territory is only 30%. These people rely on land income. After paying taxes and excluding food rations, the annual net income is about two gold coins. You can also make money in the brick kiln during the off-season.

As long as they become freedmen, their living standards will immediately improve, far exceeding those of the citizens of Black River Fort. What are they dissatisfied with?

Human desires have no bottom line. I should persuade the lord that the salary cannot be increased. "