Lord Harland.

The Secret Behind Chapter 287

More than ten years ago, both Li Cha and Qiao Sen were the sons of a baron. Li Cha's social status was higher, and Qiao Sen had stronger power.

At that time, Richard was not the first heir to William's title, and Qiao Sen was the illegitimate son of Viscount Blue Shield, and he had no status.

At that time, the Harland family was a new aristocrat and had not yet established itself in the aristocratic circle. The external environment was relatively dangerous, and the territory was in a precarious state.The Langton family is a vassal of the Duke of Guise. Their connections and geographical location are stronger than those of the Harland Territory, and their strength is also stronger than that of the Harland family.

The real status between the two is not very different, and they are still in the same class.

More than ten years have passed, and the status of the two parties is already very different, and the classes are already different.

Richard became the Earl of Harland, ranking among the top ten in the Kingdom of Grant. Except for the king and the duke, his power was somewhat stronger than that of the earl and marquis.

Even King Roger, Jonathan, Edward and other dukes have to write letters to communicate with Richard when dealing with major issues in northern Xinjiang.

And Joson's reliance on the previous generation of Baron Langton had already died of illness, and his elder brother Talon didn't care about his illegitimate son at all.Without the support of the nobility, Qiao Sen has been reduced to a middle- and lower-class businessman.You can only have food and clothing, anyone can make it up, and a little carelessness may kill you.

Qiao Sen knew in his heart that he had old grievances with the Harland family.The reason why he came to Harland Territory was actually to take refuge.

Johnson is the most beloved illegitimate son of Baron Langton. Even though he committed a crime and was caught by William, Baron Langton still paid a ransom worth three thousand gold coins.Before Baron Langton died of illness, he still left Johnson with a property of two thousand gold coins.

After Baron Langton died of illness, Johnson lost his backer.Later, he stayed in Nolan to do business. Maybe he had some talent in this area. Qiao Sen quickly seized the opportunity and hoarded a large amount of food in advance when the civil war broke out in Nolan, accumulating tens of thousands of gold coins.

In a feudal slavery country like the Grant Kingdom, the channels for ordinary people to rise are very narrow, and the only way to change their destiny is to make military exploits and obtain titles.Only by obtaining the hereditary title and gaining a firm political foothold can economic interests be preserved.

Only by grasping the direct power can economic management be able to guarantee profits.

The Kingdom of Grant is not a free market economy, and doing business here will inevitably involve bloody conflicts and competitions.

Ordinary businessmen have no noble support behind them, the more they earn, the faster they die.After Qiao Sen made a fortune, he soon got into trouble. A court earl was eyeing his property.

An ordinary businessman was targeted by nobles, the ending is self-evident.In order to keep his property, Qiao Sen had no choice but to leave Nolan decisively and flee for his life with his wife and children.

But the court earl was still unwilling to let him go, and kept sending people to chase and kill Qiao Sen.Qiao Sen first fled into Sodamia province, and then fled into Gascoigne province after his identity was leaked.

In the territory of the royal family, the earl of the court is very influential, and the earl of the court who fled twice was unwilling to let him go.During the escape, seven or eight of the guards Qiao Sen hired twice died, as did his wife and eldest son. If Qiao Sen had not become a mid-level professional, he probably would not have escaped to Harland's territory.

The territory directly under the royal family could not survive, and Qiao Sen could only go to the territory of the big nobles.

Of the great nobles in the Grant Kingdom, only the Harland family has the best food and the most fair administration of officials in the territory.It is also the most friendly to businessmen coming in from outside, and the channels for ordinary people to rise are also the most smooth.Even if it is for the future of future generations, Qiao Sen can only choose the Harland collar.

The most critical point is that the territory of Harland is very close to the province of Gascoigne.

Qiao Sen was originally from the aristocratic circle, and made a fortune in business, so he was better informed than ordinary people.Two years ago, he received news that the Harland Territory held an expo, that the migration ban had been lifted, and foreign freedmen were welcome. He immediately decided to move into the Harland Territory.

Before meeting Li Cha, Qiao Sen bribed the manager with a little money. Using a fake identity, he was naturalized in King's County and became a freeman of the Earl of Harland.

Qiao Sen is a rich man. He bought real estate, shops, and a family business shortly after his naturalization. Because he pays a lot of taxes every year, he has also been affirmed by King County officials.

It has actually been two years since Qiao Sen moved into Harland's territory.The period of living in Harland's territory was the happiest period for Qiao Sen in recent years.

The expo opened today, and Qiao Sen came to Fort William from King's County in advance, planning to walk around the street to see if there was any business to do?He never expected such bad luck to be recognized by Richard on the street.

With the current social status of the two, as long as Li Cha shows a little bit of malice, disaster will happen to Qiao Sen's whole family, including his newly married wife and children who are waiting to be fed.It didn't even need Li Cha to speak, as long as the officials below knew the earl he was in charge of attacking, they would spontaneously trouble Qiao Sen and kill him.

Seeing Qiao Sen's face full of fear, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy, Li Cha waved his hand and said, "You robbed the caravan of the Harland family back then, because you paid the ransom, my father William decided not to I am looking for trouble for you. The Harland family is a nobleman who values ​​reputation and will not punish you twice for the same crime. But in my heart, people like you are not welcome. I solemnly warn you to keep your own place , operate with integrity, don’t cause trouble for yourself, since you have come to Harland Territory, you must be a law-abiding citizen.”

Seeing that Li Cha's voice did not pursue his intentions, Qiao Sen hurriedly got up and bowed respectfully to Li Cha.

"Dear Lord Earl, I swear to you that I will abide by the law and operate with integrity. I sincerely thank you for your forgiveness. Your heart is as broad as the sea, your morals are as high as a saint, and your magnanimity Forever to be praised."

Li Cha knew in his heart that there were very few law-abiding businessmen in the Chenxi plane.Especially businessmen with big businesses, relying on the support of nobles behind them, like to monopolize the market violently and kill competitors.After all, any commercial method is not as effective as violently destroying a competitor's body.Unless you meet businessmen with the same deep background and check and balance each other, it is possible to maintain peace.

Rockefeller commanded mercenaries to massacre strike miners, and the DuPont family sent their competitors’ families to take a land plane to blow up their rival’s gunpowder factory. Among the businessmen in the Dawn Plane, they were all law-abiding civilized people.

This is true for sitting merchants, and it is the same for traveling merchants.After the caravan enters the castle, they may still abide by the law. In the deserted wilderness, killing people and stealing goods is also very common.

In reality, most people who do business have lives in their hands.

Even small businessmen who wander around the countryside and walk in the streets and alleys have high risks in their jobs.It is easy to lose your life if you go to an unfamiliar area.

To make business prosperous, maintaining market order is fundamental.

The core of maintaining market order is to strictly enforce laws and regulations.

After the ban was lifted in the Harland Territory, Richard increased the number of security forces and issued a decree to protect the fairness of commercial trade.

Anyone who commits a crime in the territory of Harland will be punished very harshly, even if it is a caravan of the royal family or the duke family, the territory of Harland will not be merciless in punishment.

There used to be members of the Grant family branch who murdered and robbed the territory of Harland. As a result, all the caravans were arrested and hanged. Even if someone got a letter of intercession from the nobles of the capital, Li Cha would not show any face.

Even if the royal family is like this, the face of other nobles will not work on Li Cha's side.

By killing chickens to warn monkeys and setting a good example, the impression that Harland's territorial laws are harsh and fair has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Because of the harsh laws and regulations, the benefits are out of proportion to the risks. In the territory of Harland, basically no one dares to bully the market, kill people and get goods.

Even the caravans from other places restrained their minions. After all, they couldn't hide from aerial reconnaissance and couldn't beat the monster cavalry.

The better the decree is implemented, the more the Harland territory will be recognized by the merchants, and the influence of the commodity fair will be greater and greater.The first two commodities fairs were basically nobles and businessmen from northern Xinjiang. From the third commodity fair, merchants and nobles from the east, west, and south began to pour into Harland Territory.There are even many foreigners who came from the Grand Duchy of Stanik.

Through the channels of the Fortune Church and the Watson family, the trade volume of Harland's territory exported to the Grand Duchy of Stanik has increased seven or eight times.By this year, [-] gold coins worth of goods had been exported.

Many nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stanik, unwilling to be second-rate dealers, were exploited by the Fortune Church, the Watson Family and other major channels, and jointly formed a large-scale caravan, and began to trade in the territory of Harland.

The commodity fair was held for twelve days, and the export volume reached a new high, an increase of 40.00% over last year, reaching 14 gold coins.There are a lot of profiteering commodities here, which have earned very high profits for Harland's territory.

The import volume is also very impressive, reaching a total of 11.Among them, 7 gold coins are various mineral raw materials, and [-] gold coins are for the slave trade. In just twelve days, the territory of Harland bought [-] slaves. Counting the refugees who migrated to the territory due to the plague, they entered Harland this year. Germany has a population of [-] people.

Among the 7 people, 4000 were free citizens who voluntarily moved into the territory of Harland. These people included small businessmen, handicraftsmen, and losers in political struggles in noble territories. Many of them were literate and had professional skills. The funds are all very high-quality immigrants.

After walking around the street, Li Cha went directly to the intelligence department.

"George, find someone to check on Johnson's situation and see who he offended?"

"Yes, Count."

Although I don't know who Qiao Sen is, George is a person engaged in intelligence work and has subjective initiative in doing things.He first found Li Cha's guards, and figured out what happened today from the side.Then he found his elder brother Hayden and asked who Qiao Sen was?

Hayden was also a witness to that incident back then, the ransom he personally asked for, so of course he knew who Qiao Sen was.After finding out about Josen's situation through Hayden, George quickly found the man.He analyzed what Li Cha meant, and saw that Li Cha was unwilling to pursue Qiao Sen, so he investigated the inside story of Qiao Sen's migration to Harland from the side.

"It is the Earl of the court, Steven, who is eyeing Qiaosen."

George came to Richard's mansion and reported the reason why Johnson fled to Harland's territory.

Hearing this name, even Li Cha's expression was a little dignified.Because Steven is a heavyweight in the royal capital, the commander of the Palace Guards, and King Roger held this position before he was knighted, which shows the importance of Steven's status.

This person is a member of the Grant family branch, with a very good bloodline talent, and is now a rank nine knight.Now the Grant royal family has seven court earls, and Steven is considered the most important person.

"How much intelligence do we have about Steven?"

George had a good memory, so he made preparations before the report, and immediately replied: "Most of it is public information. We only know that this person is very talented, and he was trained by the Duke of Brenner."

Li Cha narrowed his eyes, and suddenly asked, "Is Steven a greedy person?"

George nodded and said: "A few years ago, Steven was not a greedy person, but since King Roger entrusted him with important tasks, Steven has been very hard on businessmen in Nolan, and some of them have no political backing. The wealthy man in the capital was ruined by him. Among the citizens of the capital, Steven has become a man full of filth and a bad reputation. This change is a bit abrupt, and Steven may have shown it on purpose."

"It looks fine on the surface, but I always feel that there is something behind it. You have to keep an eye on Qiao Sen. He is a mid-level professional and has a very high level of vigilance. When you follow him, you must plan well. , Don’t get too close. My intuition tells me that there should be something behind Qiao Sen, otherwise Steven wouldn’t keep staring at him and send people to attack Qiao Sen twice.”

"Although Steven has the Grant family blood, his background is very low, and he doesn't have many people he can trust. I also don't think he will send people to attack Qiao Sen several times just because of some money."

Now the army and intelligence agencies in Harland's territory are equipped with a large number of monoculars.

When the telescope is equipped to the army, whether it is tracking or reconnaissance, it becomes easier.As long as Jonson didn't have extraordinary eyesight, people who knew Ruiz would not be able to find someone staring at him on the window sill two kilometers away.

The affairs of Qiao Sen were arranged, and the commodity fair was held very successfully.

After entering October, the Steam Engine Research Institute made persistent efforts and successfully manufactured three steam engines using red rubber sealing rings.

These three steam engines are all used to pump water in the coal mine. The workload of each steam engine exceeds fifteen miners. The power of the machine is already looming, and the productivity is about to usher in a leap forward.

In addition to pumping water, Li Cha asked the Machinery Research Institute to allocate manpower to study steam engine-powered textile machinery, flour grinding machinery, and transmission machinery. This year's elementary school graduates in the Harland Territory should try their best to contribute to the steam engine research institute, mechanical research institute, plant Research institutes and other scientific research units are inclined.

(End of this chapter)