It was the first time for the Duke of Flanders to go to the Northland. He was very surprised when he passed through the province of Dremke with the Duke of Kenmes. In front of him, the territory was well-arranged, the boundaries of the territory were clearly defined, the straight and wide traffic avenues, and the fields beside the road There are criss-cross and well-structured water conservancy facilities all over, all of which subverted his impression of this large agricultural province in the pre-Christian Empire in his mind.
Didn't it mean that the national highway in Dremke Province was the most lucrative and longest inter-provincial highway in the former empire? It is said that in order not to infringe upon the rights and territories of the nobles in the imperial territory of Dremke Province, the national road under construction was changed again and again, and finally an agreement was reached along the borders of each noble’s territory. Turning does not know how many turns, and the cost has doubled several times. Times, all the families and nobles related to this avenue have made a lot of money... What is going on with this flat avenue in front of you? Could it be that this was a big deal left by the former Grand Princess of Madras when she was in charge of Dremke Province
The Duke of Flanders led the family armed corps to escort more than 100,000 people. When they moved to Yungesandra Province, they did not pass through the Southern Province, Winston Province, and Dremke Province. Meishan Province crosses the Bailu Lake Swamp to Yungeshandra Province. Although this road is more difficult and dangerous, it has reduced the distance and time by nearly half. Not only him, but Grand Duke Handra and Grand Duke Sabaji, who were transferred to the southwestern provinces, also took this path.
The Duke of Kenmes pouted and told the Duke of Flanders that this was the work of Lorist. After the Principality of Madras was destroyed, Lorist transferred all the princely nobles who surrendered to Winston Province, and then invested nearly two million Jinford to use more than 100,000 captured Principality soldiers as labor. It took two years It took half the time to straighten the national road in Dremke Province, and build water conservancy facilities before re-dividing the title of land according to the geographical location, and canonizing the nobles of the land...
"This... this... how did the Norton family spend so much money to plan the jurisdiction..." The Duke of Flanders was a little speechless, more than two million Jinford, this Dremke province is just the jurisdiction of the Norton family , and it's not a territory directly under the central government, so many gold coins were thrown down, and it would take years to recover the capital. You must know that the jurisdictional territories are basically the territories of the lower lords and vassal families, and the Norton family can only charge a management fee of 10% at most...
Moreover, inter-provincial roads like this are generally funded by the kingdom, and the Norton family, as the lord of Dremke Province, can apply for financial subsidies. But thinking about the disposition of His Highness the Second Highness, the Duke of Fulunduo knew that it was impossible. It seems that the Norton family is really rich, so they can complete the transportation construction of such a province by themselves.
The Duke of Kenmes laughed: "This is big money? My friend, you don't know that the Norton family spent nearly 20 million goldfords in the Northland for territory development, and spent one or two thousand on the family's armed forces Wan, how do you think the name of the Norton family's elite armed forces came out? It was purely spent money..."
Just as Lorist muttered that Duke Kenmes would rather spend his money on life enjoyment than invest in family weapons, Duke Kenmes also thought that Lorist spent too much money on family weapons. He once heard from Lorist that half of the family's income is spent on the family's armed forces every year, which made Duke Kenmes think that Lorist must have been persecuted. In order to protect the family, the armed strength of the family has surpassed that of the kingdom, so the second highness is jealous.
As a talented businessman, the Duke of Kenmes can easily roughly estimate the annual income of the Norton family, and it is precisely because of this that he understands that the Norton family's hundreds of thousands of family armed forces spend at least two or three dollars a year on military expenses. Millions of Goldfords. However, it is better to enjoy the shade under the big tree. The stronger the Norton family's armed force, the thicker Lorist's thigh he is hugging. He can completely rely on the big tree of the Norton family to earn his own small money without worrying about being attacked by others. The idea of the Kenmes family.
The Duke of Flanders was stunned by the words of the Duke of Kenmes: "This... so much Kingford, where did the Norton family get so much money..."
"I'll grab it." The Duke of Kenmes replied lightly. He knew Lorist's details very well. He had heard them talk about going north more than once when he was drinking and playing with Fatty Shi, Bodfinger, Tiger Ross and others. According to anecdotes on the road, they robbed and robbed all the way to the Northland.
"Are you joking, how could you get so much money?" The Duke of Foron shook his head in disbelief.
"Hehe, my friend, you don't know that that guy was studying in Morente City back then. When he was going back to the Northland to inherit the title, he organized a convoy with his friends from Dawn Academy to go north, but the nobles along the way beat their convoy. idea, so they fought all the way northward, invincible. As the victors, they looted the territories of the losers, so the convoy grew stronger and stronger. They captured the rebellious nobles in the provinces of the three kingdoms, stabilized the situation in the kingdom, and helped the Second Highness to the throne.
You can think about how much they robbed at that time, nearly a hundred noble territories in three provinces! Then they went crazy, robbed the Principality of Madras, and went to the Northland to snatch the Grand Duke of the Northland. They grab everything, want everything, gold coins, women, men, even the elderly and children. Later, he robbed the second prince, Windbury King City. The biggest one was when they destroyed the slave kingdom of Haneyabada a few years ago. I estimate that the property they robbed from that slave kingdom was no less than 20 to 30 million goldford... "
The Duke of Florida opened his mouth wide, as if listening to heaven: "Really?"
"Why am I lying to you? That guy and his subordinates are not shy about talking about these past events, and they still talk about robbery. You will never understand how terrible the efficiency of the organized robbery armed by the Norton family is. They robbed The place is cleaner than white paper... "
The Duke of Kenmes slandered the armed robbery of the Norton family in an envious tone. Finally, he licked his lips and said angrily: "That guy also robbed me of one hundred thousand goldford..."
When Lorist lightly packed Jane and returned to the family territory after leaving the northbound convoy, the first thing he dealt with was the Kenmes family. Not only did he set fire to the Red River Valley Manor Castle on the Viscount territory of the Kenmes family, he also stored it in The materials and supplies in the manor were wiped out, and even Duke Kenmes' private money of one hundred thousand goldfords, which would be hidden in the secret room of the manor, was not spared.
Even though the Duke of Kenmes is now running the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce, the number of Jinfords he handles is calculated in tens of millions, and he himself spends more than 100,000 Jinfords for a year of extravagant living. But when he thought of the one hundred thousand jinford money from his private house, his heart hurt like a knife. The 100,000 private money hidden in the secret room of the Red River Valley Manor Castle was spent almost every bit of extra money and kickbacks bit by bit in the various businesses he took over after he took office in the family chamber of commerce. Even his father didn't know about the huge sum of money accumulated in ten years.
In the end, the private money was robbed by Lorist, which was an eternal pain in Duke Kenmes' heart. When he remembered that he had been frugal since he entered the family chamber of commerce, and that the gold fords that he carefully wiped and put into the box were saved by Lorist, Earl Kenmes became furious. Back then, when he got the bad news, he wanted to go to Lorist to fight for his life. Regardless of the heavy casualties of the family's armed forces, he insisted on conquering the Rock Castle that had fallen into the hands of the Norton family, which almost sparked a mutiny.
However, the greatest advantage of the Duke of Kenmes is that he is sober-minded and knowledgeable about current affairs. After knowing that he is not Lorist's opponent, he immediately obeyed his father's order and changed his course, turned an enemy into a friend with Lorist, and hugged Lorist tightly. This big thick leg has such a prominent status and title until now, and the Kenmes family also monopolizes West Degrad province as the family territory...
Passing through the pontoon bridge on the lower reaches of the Midobro River, the Duke of Volenda really set foot on the land of the Northland. On the way from the pontoon ferry to Bear City, he finally understood the changes brought about by the Norton family's investment of tens of millions of goldfords in the Northland to develop the territory that the Duke of Kenmes said. Is this the remote and desolate Northland? Endless herds of cattle and sheep, spacious avenues, endless farmland, row upon row of village houses, lively town markets and bustling crowds...
The Duke of Forendo felt that the impression he had seen when he went to the Ontario Plains where the imperial capital was located when he was young seemed to be inferior to what he saw now. The closer he was to the Bear City, the more prosperous and lively the place was. Even though it's winter, the sky is snowing heavily, but the streets are still full of people coming and going, full of joyful atmosphere.
Kenmes proudly told him that it wasn't that the southern region where the capital of the Northland, Angry Bear City, was located, was the most prosperous area, but that the real rich areas in the Northland were Fengleyuan, the old Norton family territory, and Beihai City. The first to be developed, the second is the harbor city. In addition to owning a mansion in Angry Bear City and the largest manor in the Eastern Suburb Noble Zone, he also owns a large courtyard building in Beihai City.
It seems that the Norton family is really rich. The Duke of Volunteer is relieved. He should be able to borrow money this time. However, following the Duke of Kenmes' introduction to the Northland, the Duke of Flanders suddenly had an idea in his heart. He wanted to get Lorist's permission to inspect the Northland and see how much the Norton family spent. The result of Jinford's territory development...
The New Year's celebration in 1785 in the general calendar of Galintia was the largest New Year's celebration banquet held by the Norton family, with the largest number of participants and the highest standard. The number of nobles and their families who participated was nearly 1,500. Lorist felt that the central castle of Raging Bear City was not big enough, and it seemed that it needed to be expanded again. Perhaps this time, a palace was really going to be built.
Speaking of the highest standard of this new year's celebration, it is because the number of grand dukes participating is the largest. The four alliances of the Northland are four grand dukes. Grand Duke Feisabrun brought his lover Shandi Great Swordsman again. It seems that There is already a feeling of joy. Even last year, after attending the banquet hosted by the Duke of Kenmes' manor, he asked Lorist specifically about the price of the house in the Noble District, and seemed to want to build a manor for permanent residence.
However, the Grand Duke Fesabrunn still couldn't bear to pay for it, but what he meant was that he wanted Lorist to pay to build a manor for him as a tribute to his elders, and the manor was bigger than Kenmas The Duke's is bigger and more luxurious...
In addition to the Grand Duke of Fisabrun, there is another Duke of Forondo in this New Year's celebration. Although he was an enemy, the Duke of Forondo has surrendered to His Royal Highness after the war is over. Everyone is a noble from Antinac. Lorist also couldn't refuse it. Not only a warm welcome but also a courteous reception is required. This is the so-called aristocratic demeanor. It was normal for aristocratic families to fight for the top in the battlefield yesterday and talk about it today.
Lorist also readily agreed to what Duke Kenmes said that the Duke of Flanders came this time to borrow money to develop the territory. Of course, the money was not borrowed for nothing. To tell the truth, the money loan between the nobles was also a kind of usury, and the repayment within the specified time limit had different interest rates. If you have a good relationship, nine times out and eleven times back, if you borrow 10,000, I will give you 9,000. You only need to repay 11,000 within the specified time limit. If the time limit is exceeded, the interest rate will double.
If it is harsher, it is likely that seven out of thirteen will be returned, and the loan of ten thousand to seven thousand will be repaid at thirteen thousand, which is almost doubled. However, Lorist promised the Duke of Florida that the loan from him could be for a period of three years, nine out of twelve, which made the Duke of Florida overjoyed. It's just that he remembered the idea in his heart, and proposed that after the winter, he wanted to go around the Northland to see the results of the Norton family's development of the territory, learn from the experience before signing the loan agreement, Lorist agreed without hesitation, and ordered Lei Di is responsible for the safety of the Duke of Volendo on this trip.
The Duke of Flanders set off after the rainy season, and Reddy took a team of guards to escort him and spent more than two months wandering around the Northland and returning to Bear City. The Duke of Volendo asked for a meeting with Lorist, and then made a new request. He hoped that the Norton family could give him support and fully assist him in the development of Yungeshandra Province in terms of personnel, technology and funds. For this, he was willing to pay a huge amount of money. remuneration.
This is not a simple loan relationship, but requires the Norton family to provide personnel to conduct a detailed survey and exploration of the entire Yungeshandra province of the Forendo family territory, comprehensively design and plan the development of the entire province, prepare a budget and arrange planning steps. In other words, the Duke of Flanders entrusted the Norton family to develop their own family territory, and there had never been such a precedent in the pre-Christian Empire era.
The request of the Duke of Florida has aroused huge repercussions within the Norton family, and there are endless voices of approval and opposition. Not only is there no precedent for this, but there are also many voices who question how the Forendo family will repay the huge price paid by the Norton family for the development of Yungeshandra Province. The Duke of Forendo was very calm about this, he said that the Forendo family is indeed poor and poor, and can't give much money. But he has a province as a territory. As long as the development is completed, no matter whether it is ten years or decades, the debt will be paid off slowly.
Lorist had a very good impression of the Duke of Flanders. When he went to the four central duchies, the Dukes of Flanders did not destroy the warehouses of food and various supplies in order to protect his subjects, but sealed them up and left them for the Second Highness to receive them. The army of the Kingdom of Antinac will not harass the people. When His Royal Highness moved the Forendo family to Yungeshandra Province, the number of people who voluntarily followed the Duke of Forendo to the new territory was also the largest. One hundred thousand.
Lorist also admires the attitude of the Duke of Volunteer who is willing to let his family bear huge debts in order to develop the territory. He told the Duke of Volunteer that in principle, he supports the Duke of Volunteer’s open development of the territory and the development of people’s livelihood. However, we should wait for the results of the comprehensive survey and exploration to proceed with the specific plan. It is useless to worry now.
On July 3rd, 1785, the Gelinth Yatong calendar, the Grand Duke of the Northland ordered the deployment of capable personnel to conduct a comprehensive survey and exploration of the Yungeshandela Province, which opened the curtain of joint development of the noble territory.
…