Lord Harland.

This year's financial expenditure is relatively small and there is a large surplus. Next year, Richard is planning to expand the army by 4,000 to expand the number of soldiers in Harland Territory to 20,000.

Now that the area of ​​Haaland's territory has doubled, he needs to defend more than 400 kilometers of defense line from east to west.

The defensive pressure has become extremely high. Next year, Li Cha not only plans to expand the army, but also plans to strengthen the construction of auxiliary troops and give them more subsidies.

In Harland's territory, the training of auxiliary soldiers has been very tight. Except for the lack of breathing techniques, the training subjects of more than a dozen auxiliary squadrons are almost the same as those of the regular army.

In previous battles, the auxiliary soldiers suffered relatively small casualties, and many of them were veterans with more than five years of military experience. In defensive operations, auxiliary soldiers can also play a big role.

Because many soldiers have made military exploits this year and become free citizens, next year there will be more than 8,000 soldiers receiving military pay, and the expenditure on military pay will increase by 20,000 gold coins.

According to Richard's estimation, next year's military investment is likely to increase to 300,000 gold coins. If revenue cannot be increased next year, the territory will run a fiscal deficit.

The monetary policy of the Harland Territory is close to the gold standard system, and all metal currencies are in circulation. Once there is a fiscal deficit, the problem will become very serious.

However, there will be new income in the Haaland territory next year, the first of which is coinage income.

Since the beginning of this year, the Graveson County Copper Mine has been completed, and copper ingots were smelted in September.After the copper ingots were successfully smelted, they were sent to the mint, and the first batch of copper coins were minted in late September.It's just that this batch of copper coins is of low quality and has not circulated in the market.

In the next few months, the mint has been improving the technology. In December, the copper coins made by the mint were finally approved by Richard and gradually circulated in the territory.

Copper is a precious metal that can be used to mint coins, and the deflation problem in the territory of Harland is very serious.Next year's coinage income will bring at least tens of thousands of gold coins.

Secondly, Richard is going to sell alchemy bombs. The alchemy bombs in Harland's territory are less powerful than those made by the Heart of Elements, but the cost is very low.

Now there are enough magicians in Harland's territory, and there is no shortage of materials for making alchemy bombs. The problem of confidentiality has been solved, and alchemy bombs can be manufactured on a large scale.Even if an alchemy bomb sells for ten gold coins, it is still a huge profit business, and the profit from selling thousands of pieces is very considerable.

After the financial meeting was over, the goddess's birthday soon came, and the Harland family held an annual family banquet.

Because Richard dealt with Tang En harshly, the atmosphere at this year's family dinner was very solemn. His third uncle Bernie did not come back, and his father William was not happy either and looked gloomy. When other family members saw Richard, they all remained silent, as if a mouse had seen a cat.

Just after the goddess's birthday, King Roger's special envoy, Marquis Allen, came to Northern Xinjiang. Marquis Allen sent a letter to Richard. After inspecting the four provinces in northern Xinjiang, he was going to come to the Earl of Harland to talk to Richard.

Last year, the royal family established a new province, Grotta Province, in northern Xinjiang. Although this province is a new province, the Jonathan family has developed it for many years, built sixteen castles, and cultivated as much as five million acres of farmland. Its foundation is better than that of the Gascoigne province. There are more than 600,000 serfs settled in the Grotta Province.

Grotta Province has a good foundation, and the Grant royal family does not need to invest too many resources to run it.

Marquis Allen is the chairman of the noble council. He has an extraordinary political status in the royal capital of Nolan, and he can be regarded as one of the top figures in real power.After he inspected the northern border, he came to Harland's territory, and Li Cha had to greet him in person.

After Li Cha became a hereditary nobleman, he seldom went to the capital and did not mix in the noble circle.Although the Marquis of Allen is the chairman of the noble council, it was the first time that Richard met him.On the contrary, it was Richard's father, William, who had gone to Nolan to clear up the relationship, dealt with the Marquis of Allen, and met several times.

"Dear Count Harland, I took the liberty to come to your door. In addition to discussing some business matters with you, the most important thing is to discuss the alchemy bomb."

In the intervention war last year, Li Cha used a large number of alchemy bombs in the war.There must be personnel placed by the royal family in the Allied Forces of the Three Provinces. After a little analysis, it is clear that the Harland family must have produced alchemy bombs on a large scale.Otherwise, Richard dropped more than alchemy bombs last year. According to the normal purchase price, it would be enough to bankrupt the Harland family.

Now that Duke Jonathan has seen this, Nolan is not lacking in smart people, and the Grant royal family quickly discovered it.

"The manufacturing cost of alchemy bombs in Harland territory is indeed relatively low. If produced on a large scale, the cost will not exceed two gold coins, and the power is only slightly lower than that of explosive arrows. Soldiers who use alchemy bombs only need a short period of training to be able to use them. It plays an important role in the development and growth of the Harland family. The secret weapon of the alchemy bomb is also very crucial.

Of course Roger Kingdom is my allegiance to the lord, and since he proposed it, I am of course willing to exchange it, but I also have a few conditions here. "

Seeing that Li Cha was relieved and had the idea of ​​exchanging, Marquis Allen heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that it would not be difficult to complete the task.

After the deal between Duke Jonathan and Richard in July last year, the Jonathan family had produced many alchemy bombs in October.The Grant royal family was well-informed, and intelligence personnel were placed inside the Jonathan family.After realizing that the Jonathan family army was equipped with alchemy bombs on a large scale, they immediately analyzed that the two families, Jonathan and Harland, had completed the exchange of interests.

After taking over the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the strength of the Jonathan family has expanded a lot. Even though their energy has been dispersed, the threat to the Grant royal family has been reduced, and it is still the focus of the royal family. However, the special reality requires the great nobles of the Grant Kingdom to cooperate in order to maintain the situation surrounded by wolves.

Before the Marquis of Allen entered the northern border to inspect, King Roger had already issued a secret order to him. He must obtain the method of making alchemy bombs. In terms of military technology, the two families of Harland and Jonathan should not be pulled too far.

In recent years, the strength of the Harland family has expanded extremely rapidly, especially its military strength, which is second only to a few dukes.For such important aristocrats, if the royal family wants to benefit from them, they can only choose to exchange and compromise.

"Earl Richard, of course you can put forward conditions. As long as they can be met, I can agree on behalf of the king." Finding that Richard was willing to negotiate, Marquis Allen immediately understood that it would not be difficult to complete the task.

"First of all, the royal family cannot spread the alchemy bomb manufacturing technology. Secondly, it cannot compete with the Haaland territory to sell alchemy bombs. Thirdly, I hope to exchange 600 square kilometers of land to connect the two territories. In addition, eight trades are required. One hundred Tenghui potions, one hundred enchanted armors, one hundred iron horned horses, one hundred enchanted crossbows, sixty explosive arrows, and the complete Barbarian Breathing Technique was traded.

There are also additional conditions. The royal family needs to give Harland two hundred Tenghui potions every year for thirty years. "

Although Li Cha had many requests, they only amounted to hundreds of thousands of gold coins. The Grant royal family did not lack such conventional resources.After all, the Grant family controlled a kingdom with several million annual revenues.

After hearing Richard's transaction request, Marquis Allen agreed to his transaction conditions on the spot.

In fact, even if Richard trades the royal seal, Roger Kingdom will meet his conditions.

In the long run, the royal seal is more valuable, but in the short term, the Harland family urgently needs a war resource.

After weighing the pros and cons, Richard finally chose short-term interests and traded a batch of war resources that could quickly increase the strength of the army.

Marquis Allen had very high authority and immediately allocated a group of resources from the four provinces of northern Xinjiang. He also drew up a royal power contract and signed his name. However, for the contract to be legally binding, King Roger needed to personally sign it to fulfill the treaty.

In late January, the two parties completed the exchange.

In the next month, after taking 800 Tenghui potions, the soldiers of Harland Territory accumulated accumulated experience and were successfully promoted to more than 60 professional officers.

With the arrival of the enchanted armor and the iron horned horse, Richard once again expanded the number of Warcraft cavalry, formed a fourth Warcraft cavalry squadron, and by the way expanded the strength of the reconnaissance cavalry.

Now Harland Territory has trained four monster cavalry squadrons, and there are also eighty monster cavalry in the scout cavalry.There are close to monster cavalry, which are stronger than the Northern Legion's monster cavalry brigade. They can already be organized into a monster cavalry regiment in a war.

To form the Warcraft Cavalry, the soldiers are carefully selected from veterans, because they are all elite veterans and do not require basic training. The time to form combat effectiveness is shorter than recruiting new soldiers.

After entering March, the recruitment of recruits has been completed, and the soldiers began their recruit training.Normally, recruits need to train for a year before being mixed with veterans.

After recruiting new recruits, the number of troops in Harland's territory has exceeded .

Although there are 20,000 soldiers, the defense line of Harland Territory is 400 kilometers long, and seven or eight border castles need to be defended. The orcs have a strength advantage, and it is impossible to fight a decisive battle with Harland Territory. Instead, they will choose to divide their forces and break through Harland Territory. The defense line of Rand territory.

Every castle must not be lost. Once the front-line castle is lost, the rear will be plagued by orcs and plundered.The family background in Harland's territory is not strong, so if a battle fails, it will take many years to recover.

The seven castles on the front line must be stationed with elite soldiers and strong generals. The southern foot county of the Eagle Mountain Range focuses on the defense of Flame Fort, Lightning Fort, Military Station Fort, and Salt Lake Fort.In addition, the Pratos Canyon also needs the support of Harland's territory, and the nearby Sophia Fort is also considered the front line.

The South Foot County of the Eagle Mountain Range is the core of Harland's territory, and it is also the focus of the territory's management. This county will station seven infantry brigades, one monster cavalry brigade, half a reconnaissance brigade, one magic hot air balloon squadron, plus logistics , military law and other headquarters personnel, with a total strength of .

There are two mage towers in the swamp basin, and a brigade of troops can stabilize the situation. The mage towers in Harland's territory are basically stationed here.The military depot is not far from the headquarters Fort William, and only one brigade is required to garrison.Outside the isolated territory of Salt Lake Fort, this area is basically desolate and far away from the core territory. Two brigades of troops are needed to hold out for a long time.

There are three remaining infantry brigades, a monster cavalry brigade, half a scout cavalry brigade, a magic hot air balloon squadron, and logistics and military law personnel are all stationed in Fort William. These soldiers add up to more than .

The eastern county of the Grotta River was less populated. After the handover of the territory, Duke Jonathan had withdrawn his soldiers. Richard sent four infantry brigades, half a cavalry reconnaissance brigade, and a magic hot air balloon squadron. The total strength was about .

The canyon castle is located at the forefront of the county in the east of the Grotta River, and it is also the focus of the county's defense. One and a half infantry squadrons, two cavalry squadrons will be stationed here, and the magic hot air balloon squadron will basically be stationed here, with a total strength of nearly .

The riverside castle in the east cannot be ignored either. The orcs once passed through here and broke through the defense line laid by King Roger.The garrison here also has a brigade of infantry, a squadron of scout cavalry, and nearly two thousand defenders.

The king's castle, the capital of the eastern county of the Grota River, has only one and a half brigades and two scout cavalry squadrons in the garrison, which is slightly stronger than the riverside castle.

Because the new recruits have not yet completed their training and each unit is not fully staffed, the actual number of troops stationed is smaller.

After the Birthday of the Goddess, the army in Harland Territory began to mobilize on a large scale, and Richard also began to replenish ordnance for the county east of the Grotta River. Heavy trebuchets, alchemy bombs, steel armors, and enchanted armors are continuously transported to the front lines such as canyon castles and riverside castles.

Because of the long distance, in order to facilitate overall command, Richard had to appoint an army commander to coordinate and command the 7,000 soldiers in the eastern county of Grotta River.

Among the officers in the territory of Harland, Soros was actually the only one who had prestige and the ability to command soldiers.

Even though Soros likes to command the Warcraft cavalry to charge into battle, now he is the only one who can take responsibility, so he can only reluctantly accept the task and serve as the supreme commander of the eastern county of Grotta River.

Lost, the captain of the second brigade, and Jennings, the captain of the sixth brigade, served as deputy captains respectively.In recent years, the strength of Lost and Jennings has improved a little.

Lost was promoted to a fourth-level knight, and Jennings was promoted to a fifth-level warrior later that year. Zhan Nings is one year younger than Richard. He was promoted to a fifth-level warrior when he was less than thirty years old. His talent is better than Richard's.

Through the prompt on the attribute panel, Li Cha knew that his fighter level was not far from advanced. According to the current speed of cultivation, he should be able to be promoted to the sixth-level fighter in June in another four months.

Richard has been a fifth-level warrior for four years and three months, and his warrior talent is almost as good as that of his father William. Richard's luck was much better than William's. When he was young, William was already a high-ranking officer of the Northern Army. He had laid a stronger foundation since childhood and had not gone through detours, making it easier to climb up.

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