Lord Harland.

Chapter 283 Autumn Harvest Ends
As the ogres raged for a long time, the Martins family could only abandon some outlying villages, shrink their strength, and concentrate the population near the castle.

Although this is safe, there is not much arable land near the castle. If you want to feed tens of thousands of people, more than 1 soldiers can only transport food from the rear.

Over time, the Martins family couldn't bear it at all.

The report of the Martins family giving up their territory was once again placed on King Roger's desk.

Although they have become a great nobleman, but their strength is not strong and their heritage is not enough, the life of the Martins family has not been comfortable at all in the past ten years or so.

In just a few years, two patriarchs were killed in battle.

The pressure brought by the ogre was increasing. After weighing the pros and cons, the Martins family decided to abandon the two castles of Guoluo and Songtao, and give up the territory of about [-] square kilometers west of the Lania River.

When King Charles demarcated the territory of the Earl of Martins, he divided it into a huge territory. Although the royal family was burdened, the Martins family could not hold such a huge territory.

In just a few years, the Earl of Martins has completely fallen, and the Martins family even wants to give up the territory, which shames the family.

In the end, the Grant royal family took the responsibility. Roger borrowed a large amount of gold coins to support the Martins family, and even sent a Redeemer Legion to assist the Martins family to garrison the territory.

The balance lasted for five years, and the Martins family still made up their minds to give up the large territory close to the ogre tribe and focus on the eastern region. A territory of [-] square kilometers.

After analyzing the situation, King Roger finally agreed to the request of the Martins family.

After all, the strength in this area is not enough, and Nolan's full support must be needed to expand the sphere of influence.Nolan didn't want to invest, even if the sphere of influence was extended, once the ogre became ruthless, it would be impossible to rely on local forces to defend it.

After obtaining the consent of King Roger, the Martins family demolished the castle and the population moved to the east of the Rania River.

After the legendary ogre saw that the humans had left, they did not continue to let the ogre cross the Rania River.

The Laniya River flows rapidly, and the width of the river is about 60 meters. It is a very important tributary of the upper reaches of the Heihe River.It is not an easy task for the ogre to cross the river.

Moreover, after crossing the river, the ogre's range of activities has been reduced, and it is undoubtedly more difficult to use guerrilla tactics.

This area is about [-] to [-] kilometers away from Flame Castle. Even if the development level is very low, it is easy to get reinforcements from the Wild Lion Legion at such a short distance.

The Legendary Ogre is no fool for letting his minions duel head-on with the Central Legion of Humans.

After the Earl of Martins moved its population eastward, relying on natural rivers as a line of defense, the situation immediately reversed.

Although the two parties did not sign a contract, they acquiesced to each other's sphere of influence, and the situation in this area regained its balance again.

After killing the necromancer, Richard returned to the territory, and Harland's territory had already begun to harvest.

This year can be regarded as good weather, and the entire northern Xinjiang region has ushered in a bumper harvest.

Because of the mining of potash mines, the territory of Harland has a large amount of potash fertilizers. The 20 mu of potash fertilizers used in the experimental field has once again increased the yield per mu.The yield of wheat planted in paddy fields has increased to about 420 catties per mu, and even the dry land, which is difficult to irrigate and depends on the weather, has increased to about 240 catties per mu.

The output of the 20 mu experimental field is equivalent to 25 mu in previous years, an increase of about 20.00%.

Although natural chemical fertilizers are not as good as compound fertilizers, nor are they as good as nitrogen fertilizers in increasing production, the effect is better than that of simply using farmyard manure.Mixed with farmyard manure, the effect of increasing production is better.

Seeing that the effect of using chemical fertilizers is so good, Li Cha decided to increase his efforts in mining potash salt lakes next year.But this requires sending more workers to Salt Lake County, and roads and transportation need to be invested.

Harland Territory has cultivated about 200 million mu of farmland this year. In addition to cash crops such as cotton, fruits, and medicinal materials, the grain-heavy area is about 180 million mu.

The 180 million mu of farmland produces about 22 tons of grain.Compared with last year, the grain output has increased by about one-third.

This year, 40 mu of farmland has been reclaimed, and 20 mu of experimental fields have been applied with potash fertilizers. The increased grain production in this part is about [-] tons.

This year's rainfall is better than last year, and there are basically no natural disasters. According to the average statistics, the yield per mu has increased by about [-]% compared with last year.

Of the 22 tons of grain, 13 tons belonged to the freemen.The official food in Harland's territory is only about [-] tons.

In the spring of this year, 6 freedmen became freemen. Adding these 6 freedmen, the number of freedmen in the Harland Territory was 22, which already exceeded 5000% of the total population30.00.

Due to the epidemic, the Harland Territory incorporated more than 4 serfs who fled from other territories. Adding the population born in the territory, the number of contract slaves reached 41.It is slightly higher than the peak number of indentured slaves last year.

For 13 tons of grain, [-] tons of grain for cultivation, [-] tons of emergency reserve grain, [-] tons of [-] tons of military grain, and [-] tons of grain are reserved for wine making. Only [-] tons of food can be truly eaten. tons or so.

More than 9 tons of grain need to feed four to 10,000+ people and more than [-] large livestock. The surplus of grain is not very sufficient, and it is impossible to sell it outside.

Li Cha didn't expect the territory to make money from agriculture this year. The agricultural production can be self-sufficient, and there is no need to buy food from outside that costs gold coins. Li Cha is already satisfied.

From last year to this year, more than 30 people flooded into Harland's territory in two years. It is not easy for the agricultural surplus to feed these 30 people.

It was able to survive last year thanks to the support of the animal husbandry industry and the [-] tons of mutton in winter.

Although the agricultural harvest has been bumper this year, the animal husbandry industry has suffered serious losses.Not long after the plague in northern Xinjiang, there was a sheep plague in Harland's territory at the turn of spring and summer.

This time, sheep plague was very serious and spread widely. According to the rough statistics of territorial officials, more than 60 sheep died of the disease. The real situation may be even more serious.Among the sheep that died of illness, a considerable part were ewes.After the sheep plague, the number of sheep in the Harland Territory decreased by about 30.00%.

Because of sheep plague, burying dead sheep is a difficult task.

This year, not only has the production of woolen textiles been reduced, but in the entire Harland territory, it is estimated that there are only 70 mutton sheep for slaughter.There are only about 50 mutton sheep slaughtered in government-run pastures, which is about half less than last year.

Fortunately, the territory of Harland walks on two legs of agriculture and animal husbandry, and has a high ability to resist risks. The heavy losses of animal husbandry will not lead to turmoil in the territory, and the leaders will have no way out because of too many sheep deaths.

Last year, Li Cha dealt with Tang En, and a large number of agricultural system officials were held accountable.This year's autumn harvest season, Richard started his inspections early, and he was accompanied by Berleen, the new head of the agricultural system in the Harland Territory.

Burleen was the second batch of slaves who came to Harland and had also joined the army to fight.In the war, he lost three fingers, could not use bow and arrow, and became slightly disabled.After retiring from the military, Burley entered the civil service.Starting from a grass-roots position in the agricultural sector, he was slowly promoted to a middle-level position in ten years.

After Tang En had a problem, Li Cha sent people to investigate the officials of the agricultural system on a large scale.Bo Lien has withstood the test and is a very rare honest official.

Tang En fell, and Bo Lien took the opportunity to ascend to the top of the civil service system and reaped benefits.

Although Bo Lien is over forty years old, he is very eager to learn. He has participated in literacy classes in the army, and his education level is not high.After being transferred to the civil service system, Bo Lien has constantly enriched himself and has been learning new knowledge for more than ten years.In particular, the level of mathematics has improved very quickly, and now I can skillfully use trigonometric functions and plane geometry knowledge to complete ballistic calculations.

Despite retiring from the army, Burleen has always been a reserve officer in the Harland Territory. In recent years, he spends one or two months every year participating in reserve training to train trebuchet shooters for the Harland Territory.

Compared with Tang En, Bo Lien's ability is obviously much stronger. Facing the methods of lower-level bureaucrats to fool his superiors, Bo Lien will not be deceived at all.

With Bo Lien, an expert from the grassroots, following, the real situation below is basically clear at a glance.

Li Cha has always dealt with corrupt officials harshly, and Bo Lien is proficient in business. This year, officials in the food system hardly dare to reach out, and there are quite a few honest officials.

Li Cha and Bo Lien walked around the major grain depots, and waited for the autumn grain to be stored before completing their inspection work.

After returning to Fort William, Li Cha rested for two days, and once again brought a few entourages to the vicinity of Fort Salt Lake.

The vicinity of Salt Lake Fort has been the focus of the development of Harland's territory in recent years.

Most of the land here is saline-alkali land, which is not suitable for agricultural production, but the discovery of potash mines has made potash mining a very important industry.

This year alone, 2 people immigrated to Salt Lake County from the Harland Territory. If it were not for the road restrictions and the inability to transport various materials, the number of immigrants would be even greater.

In addition to the Salt Lake Fort, the Harland Territory also built the North Boundary Fort in the northern part of Salt Lake County this year, and built the Reindeer Fort between the Flower Castle and the Salt Lake Fort, serving as a supply base between the two castles.

In order to speed up the development of Salt Lake County, Richard built brick kilns, cement kilns, and glass kilns near Salt Lake Fort and Reindeer Fort to produce various building materials nearby.And it is going to build a wide masonry road. This year, the section from Graveson to Tongshan Town has been completed.

The section from Tongshan Town to Reindeer Fort needs to climb over two mountain ridges, and I am afraid it will not be completed until next year.

Li Cha came to the camp where potassium salt was mined, and found that the size of the camp was bigger than last year.Several masonry houses were built in the camp, where grassroots managers live and work.Most of the remaining houses are boarded up, and some newcomers live in tents.

Behind the rows of houses, a large amount of coal is piled up, and it seems that the fuel stored in winter has been solved.

Li Cha directly found the officer in charge of the camp, pointed to the tent outside and said, "It's already mid-August, and winter is not far away. You can't survive winter if you live in a tent. Although brick and stone houses are subject to local conditions, If it can’t be built in a short time, more wooden houses should be repaired. If a large number of contracted slaves freeze to death, I will hold you accountable.”

"Master Earl, the construction tasks that have been pressed down from above are too heavy. The drying yard, office areas, warehouses, walls, and sheds all need to be built, and our craftsmen are simply too busy."

"Other projects will wait first, and the construction of the shed should be given priority. Before winter, you must let the contracted slaves move out of the tent. If there is a problem, I will trouble you."

Coming out of the mining camp, Li Cha led people around the area and returned to Fort Salt Lake.Bernard Luca, the civil affairs officer of Salt Lake County, stood at the gate of the city early to greet them in advance.

Bernard Luca has served the Harland Territory for many years, and used to be an official in charge of orcs in the Territory.

He has lived in the orc empire for many years and is proficient in many orc languages.

The orc captives made a great contribution to the development of Harland's territory.

Especially in the sheep-body tribe, 1 sheep-body people graze more than 80 sheep. On average, each sheep-body man provides as much as [-] silver coins in taxes, which is equivalent to six times that of ordinary humans.Not to mention that the sheep-body man discovered the brown sugar tree, which brought an important industry to Harland's territory.

Over the years in the Harland Territory, Bernard Luca has trained more than a dozen translators who are proficient in various orc languages. The orc captive department under his management has never made any mistakes, and his contribution is not small.After the territory was divided into counties and counties, Li Cha decided to let him take charge of it alone, and appointed him as the Civil Affairs Officer of Salt Lake County.

Bernard is of noble blood, he is the uncle of Baron Luca.After being captured by the orcs, in order to avoid dishonoring the honor of the nobility, he has not contacted members of Baron Luca's family.

The civil affairs officer of a county is already the highest-ranking civil official in the locality. After taking this step, Bernard has become a heavyweight official in the Harland territory.

Now that he has become an important civil servant of the Earl of Harland, Bernard has instead become the backer of the Luca family. Last year, he wrote to Baron Luca to take his family to Harland's territory for development.

Bernard's eldest son, Blake, was already a fourth-rank knight. After joining Harland's territory, he was appointed by Richard as the deputy captain of the tenth battalion and became a mid-rank officer.Outsiders who want to become full-timers must make military exploits and shed blood for Harland's territory.

"How is the situation in your county this year?"

Bernard said: "The county has reclaimed 4 acres of dry land this year, with an average yield of only [-] catties per mu, and a total of [-] tons of grain harvested. As of this year's autumn harvest, the county's population has reached [-], and the grain The self-sufficiency rate is only [-]%, and the food and clothing of the local population depends entirely on the support of Gravessen County. Unless there are magicians who are good at life magic to improve the soil, otherwise the county's agriculture will not develop very well.

The lifeblood of Salt Lake County is mining, and in addition to the potash mines, our county produces a lot of table salt.Salt production is also a big industry, with a market size of more than [-] gold coins this year.If you can sell it outside in the future, you can earn more. "

(End of this chapter)