After hunting the giant tooth tiger, Richard distributed a bounty to the members of the demon hunting team. Although the amount was not large, it was equivalent to a year's salary. The thirty demon hunting team members received a total of five hundred gold coins.
After receiving the reward, Sulla invited Jennings, Julian and other old friends to dinner.
They are all the first batch of slaves, and this year is already the seventh year they have joined the Harland territory.
Of the 300 comrades who joined the army back then, more than one-third have been killed in battle, and more than one-third have been disabled. Including some who have retired from active service and are still in the army today, there are only a dozen left.
These dozen or so people have different talents. Some have developed well and have been promoted to the third level. Some have average development and are still middle-level warrior students.
Sulla led everyone into a restaurant. Zhan Nings looked at the hotel's sign and asked strangely: "When did Fort William open a restaurant?"
In the past half year, Jennings has been leading troops outside. After returning to Fort William, he felt strange.
There were actually some commercial activities on the streets of Fort William.
You must know that before the orcs invaded last year, Fort William was still a military fortress, and it was under military management, with no business personnel at all.
"Zhannings, you have stayed outside for too long. The territory is changing very quickly now."
Su La smiled, asked a few people to sit down, called the owner of the restaurant out, pointed to the owner and asked Zhannings: "Do you still remember him?"
The hotel owner looked to be in his forties, very capable, and had a military style. It made Zhannings feel familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
"Forgot it, it's Big Head Odaye."
"Odaye, you have changed so much. We haven't seen each other for four or five years, right? I'm very sorry, I didn't recognize you."
Odaye was once a comrade of Jennings, a squadron of Sulla. He and Sulla were in the same squad, sleeping in the same tent and eating from the same pot.
It's a pity that his physical talent is very average and he cannot withstand the high-intensity training of the army.
Not only did the breathing technique progress very slowly, but during one training session, I even vomited blood and injured my internal organs.
In the end, Odaye was deemed to be unfit for combat, so he received a partial subsidy and retired from the No. 1 Squadron.
Odaye was injured during training, and although he did not make any military exploits, he was restored to his status as a free citizen in advance.
In recent years, I have been working in a tailor shop.
After several years of training, Odaye's body finally recovered a lot.
After the war, Odaye met his good friend Sulla in Fort William.
They haven't seen each other for several years, and their situations are completely different.
Today, Sulla is already a squadron leader, with a monthly salary of three gold coins, plus various rewards and allowances, and his annual income exceeds forty gold coins.
Not only the income is high, but the status is also high, achieving a class jump and entering the middle and upper classes of the territory.
Although Odaye became a free citizen a few years in advance and saved a little money, compared with Sulla, his status was already very different.
Back then, Odaye took good care of Sula because of his relationship with his fellow villager.
In the slave market and in the army, he helped him like an elder brother. At that time, their relationship was like family.
After Odaye retired from the 1st Squadron, he couldn't accept the reality, so he didn't contact his former comrades. He did some work within his ability in the quilt factory while recuperating from his illness.
Seeing his old friend again, Odaye suddenly felt ashamed.
He was just about to pretend that he didn't know him, but was stopped by Su La.
Knowing Odaye's current situation, Sulla also lent him 100 gold coins to help him open a large hotel.
Sulla served in the army for seven years and regained his status as a free citizen four years ago. He remained unmarried, and his income greatly increased after becoming a professional officer. In a few years, he saved more than a hundred gold coins after receiving several meritorious awards.
Being able to lend 90% of his property to his friends at one time, Sulla is undoubtedly a person who does not value money but values feelings.
Odaye was not only a fellow comrade-in-arms with Sulla, but also had a special relationship with Jennings.
Back then, Jennings was suffering from the plague, and before he was treated by Richard, the person who delivered him food happened to be Odaye.
At that time, Sulla was also suffering from the plague. In order to take care of this little fellow villager, Odaye took the initiative to send meals to the sick slaves.
Because he was responsible for delivering meals to slaves suffering from the plague, Odaye quickly became infected.
They were bought together by Richard, and after surviving, they joined the Harland Territory.
Because of this relationship, Jennings felt particularly excited to see Odaye.
"I remember if you don't know how to cook, how can you open a restaurant?"
"Time can change everything. Seven years have changed Jennings and also changed Odaye."
Seeing that Jennings was still willing to associate with a low-class person like himself, Odaye felt his true feelings. He patted Jennings on the shoulder and made a joke.
"It was the respected lord, Viscount Richard, who changed everything for us."
Because Richard changed the fate of the Jennings family, he is very loyal to Richard, which can be shown in his daily chats.
If someone who is unfamiliar with Jennings meets him, they will definitely think that he is a person who is good at flattering people.
"We should really be grateful to Lord Richard. Without him, we wouldn't have the wonderful life we have now. I am a restaurant owner. I don't need to pick up the kitchen knife to cook. Our restaurant employs three indentured servants, and one of the chefs is very good.
."
“Aren’t the indentured servants in the territory always under direct official management?”
"The legal provisions have changed since last winter. Nowadays, indentured slaves are divided into official slaves and private slaves. Official slaves are slaves directly managed by the government, and private slaves are slaves purchased by free people from outside. Everyone knows that official slaves have signed a five-year contract.
The contract is for a year, and the contract for a private slave can be signed for ten years."
After this year's Birthday of the Goddess, and entering the year 3259, there are already 14,000 free people in the Harland Territory.
Most of the freedmen in the territory are the families of soldiers who were killed, disabled, or served with meritorious service. There are more than 8,000 people in this group.
As long as you join the army, the threshold for becoming a free citizen with your family is not high. As long as you fight in a few battles and cut off the heads of orcs, you can basically achieve military exploits.
Of the 1,600 veterans in the territory, more than 90% are meritorious personnel.
Except for the families of soldiers, most freedmen were slaves in the first two years. In addition, those who have contributed to the development of the territory and have been recognized and commended by Richard will also become freedmen in advance.
Fourteen thousand free people, thanks to the thin tax policy enacted by Richard, have now saved some money.
Many people with flexible minds have already started business activities.
Engaging in business activities is naturally inseparable from hiring personnel.
However, the indentured servants in the territory were all controlled by the government, and free people were hired, but they could not afford too high a price.
The earliest merchants in the territory were all smart-minded people. They approached Justice Otto and hoped to amend the law and open a loophole to allow them to purchase slaves from the outside world.
Otto thought for a moment, agreed to the merchant's request, and decided to talk to Richard.
Opening up the door for private purchase of slaves, although it is easier to sneak into spies, it will also be of great benefit to the development of the territory.
Because he had too many troops, Richard could no longer afford the money to continue buying slaves.
If you want the population size to continue to increase, you need to rely on the power of the private sector.
Many private businessmen are family members of military officers and have accumulated a lot of money.
If this money is hidden in the cellar, it will only cause deflation and will not do any good to the territorial economy. If used to purchase slaves, it will increase the strength of the territory.
As the population increases, the market size will become larger and the economy will develop.
How much power a territory has does not depend on how much gold and silver the lord has in his hands. It depends on how many materials, how many people, how many soldiers, and how much extraordinary power there is in the territory?