Chapter 202 Year-end 2
“Lord, this year we have integrated a total of 13,000 hectares of cultivated land, including 10,000 hectares in Alda and 3,000 hectares in Bailding. Next year we will Accelerate the progress and plan to continue to use two to three years to integrate the remaining 60,000 hectares in the two areas.”
In the hall of the castle, Agriculture Minister Hansel was reporting on the results of his work.
The so-called integration of cultivated land is to piece together the scattered small pieces of cultivated land from the homes of gentry and landlords in various places into a large area of cultivated land through replacement, transfer, etc., and this large piece of cultivated land is managed by only one family. .
Or the small plots of cultivated land held by the farmers can be connected together, and the newly established farmers' association can provide intensive management and guidance, such as raising funds from each household to carry out some public affairs.
By establishing large farms one by one in this way, landlords will be willing to spend money to build large-scale water conservancy projects, pave roads and bridges on their own large arable land, without having to worry about being taken advantage of and spending a large sum of money. After the money, the neighbors benefited.
“So slow?”
Paul slapped the table. He thought it would be done in half a year, but he didn’t expect it would take several years.
Obviously, the Lord is quite dissatisfied with the work progress of the Ministry of Agriculture.
"Uh... Lord Grayman, please listen to my explanation..."
Hansel looked embarrassed and began to complain to Paul.
"This aspect of work is not easy to do! Both landlords and farmers are afraid of suffering a slight loss during land replacement, but they are dedicated to studying how to take advantage of it. There are conflicts between landlords and landlords. Intrigues, fights between farmers, and even large-scale armed fights between entire villages are all things we often encounter."
"And we are short of manpower. We can carry out land replacement work in each village. I hope that we can be assigned more affairs officers in the coming year."
Paul angrily said: "Why do these people have no overall perspective? Isn't it just a few meters of land? , a little more or a little less?”
“Oh, Lord, let alone a few square meters, even a few inches will cost them their lives. And the quality of cultivated land everywhere. The differences are uneven, which makes it extremely difficult to measure. ”
"Well, anyway, you should work harder and try to finish it for me next year!"
Hansel took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
"This... we will try our best..."
Paul asked again: "How is the promotion of the new farming technology going?"
"This is going very smoothly. Farmers' associations in various places have introduced the crop rotation system to various villages and towns, and landowners have responded that they will start testing it next year. However, homesteaders are not very enthusiastic. After all, they have little land and always need to grow some edible crops. Produce food for the whole family ”
"These small households don't have to force it. When food production increases and they have money to buy rations from the market, they will naturally have the courage to experiment."
"Yes, Lord Lord."
Hansel continued to report: "Due to the promotion of harvesters, everyone has surplus labor to open up new cultivated land. Next year we estimate that the cultivated land area will increase by about one-sixth, including Alda and Baierding. "
Paul nodded with satisfaction: "This is good, but the new farmland must also follow the large farm model."
"Of course, Lord, we will strictly monitor it. ”
...
After reporting on the agricultural matters that concerned him the most, Paul went on to listen to business, finance, immigration, military and other matters.
Overall, the situation satisfied him. Since the introduction of a series of measures to support business, a total of twenty-three factories of various types have been built in Alda and Bairding, producing cans, paper, porcelain, salt and other items.
Now the products from the two places have begun to be sold in the northwest territories, and a small amount has even been sold near Jingyao.
Paul believes that when the southbound route is fully opened, trade will grow even more rapidly, and without layers of tariffs, the profits will be even greater.
When profits rise, more businessmen will be attracted to invest in building factories.
Thanks to the establishment of various private factories and the sales of various new products, the tax revenue of the Government Affairs Council reached 23,000 silver coins this year, while the Gleiman family’s industry income reached 25,000 silver coins. The total adds up to almost fifty thousand silver coins.
After going out for various expenses, there was still a surplus of 10,000 silver coins.
"Spend it! Spend it all! Next year I hope the surplus will not exceed two thousand silver coins!"
Paul waved his hands and said something that made everyone in the Government Affairs Council stunned.
“Only by making money flow can it be considered wealth, otherwise it will just be a pile of metal lying around eating ashes!”
“I suddenly thought of an idea. How about we change it next year? Invest more money in education. There is such a shortage of talents in the territory, so it is always good to invest in education.”
This idea received a response from everyone, especially the female consultant Miss Dias, who expressed her enthusiasm for Weiss College. I'm particularly concerned about things.
In terms of immigration, the Government Affairs Council has received a total of 1,563 refugees so far. Most of these people are young and middle-aged men and women. They are too old or too young to survive in the Northwest Gulf.
Most of these people were placed in various newly opened factories.
“More refugees will arrive tomorrow.”
Hansel said to everyone.
“Now that the Earl of Arda is recruiting immigrants has spread to all directions, and the refugees will automatically flock to us. In addition to the rebel areas in the south, those in the northeast who have been robbed by orcs They will also come to us."
After the reports from the Government Council, the military headed by Schroeder began to report on the military aspects.
The size of the army has not expanded much, but it has made great progress in weapons and equipment.
As for the Army, with the successful development of the flintlock gun, small batch production has begun, and the First Battalion of the Army has accepted the task of equipment testing.
The Navy accounts for the bulk of military spending. This year, the Navy took over three new sail warships. According to Austin's 666 plan, the other three are also being built intensively.
However, the Navy Commander is still dissatisfied with this batch of ships. In order to equip them as soon as possible, many of the wood materials have not been fully dried, which makes this batch of sail warships destined to have a short service life.
So he proposed that the construction of the next batch of warships must follow formal procedures and allow the wood to be fully dried to build a batch of qualified warships.
"Austin, my next plan is to develop private merchant ships and sell them to merchants to go south to do business. But you know, the shipyard's production capacity is limited."
Paul's words made the navy commander extremely depressed.
(End of this chapter)