Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales There were only two things worth Laurist's attention in the year 1783. The first was the coronation ceremony of the second prince. Although the ceremony was already a thing of the past, the unhappiness that happened during the ceremony and the fear expressed by the second prince had caused the relationship between the alliance of the four northern families led by the Norton Family and the second prince to become tense and confrontational. This indicated that the Crimson Empire would become a battlefield between the two factions. Before Laurist, the Sword Saint of the Empire, and the second prince, the Emperor, the situation in the Empire would not calm down.
The second event was the completion of the Bear Palace outside the Raging Bear City's east gate. After three and a half years of hard work and the meticulous work of thousands of skilled craftsmen, the magnificent Bear Palace was finally completed. In the Galinthea Continent, there was no such thing as breaking the rules. As long as the nobles had the money and power, they could build a palace that surpassed the size of a royal palace as their own residence. This was not only to show off the strength of their family, but also to leave a famous family legacy for their descendants. At the same time, it was also to engrave their name in history. For example, the Handa Family's Mercury Palace and the Flondor Family's Summer Palace.
What made Laurist not know whether to laugh or cry was that when he decided to build the Bear Palace, he did not want to build a grand palace that would go down in history. His original intention was to solve the overproduction problem of the mines in his family's territory. Simply put, he wanted to change the export mode of production into domestic production. At the same time, he wanted to give the people in his family's territory a chance to work and earn money during the slack season. They would then use the money they earned to buy the daily necessities that the family's territory produced. This would allow the family's territory's economy to circulate and develop. This would change the bad habit of the people hiding their money as soon as they had it.
Therefore, the Bear King Palace's stall was very large, but in terms of details, the layout and decorations were neither exquisite nor luxurious. To Laurist, the so-called palaces of the Galinthea Continent were nothing more than a few beautifully decorated castles and a few gardens. They did not have the grandeur and grandeur of the palaces from his previous world. Moreover, the construction period was also very short. Those famous palaces in the previous world all took more than ten years to complete. But this was, after all, the world of Dou Qi. Some craftsmen with Dou Qi were able to excavate the mountains and take the stones. Building houses and roads were very convenient, greatly improving the efficiency of construction.
Laurist had a hand in the design of the Bear Palace. It was more like the layout of the Forbidden City that he had brought his female secretary to in his previous life. Although it was impossible to replicate the palaces in the Forbidden City, the huge layout had won Master Xiluba's praise. He believed that Laurist had extraordinary talent in architecture, and was good at the layout and hierarchy of buildings. It was just that when Loriste received the general design draft and saw that the Gothic buildings were placed according to the layout of the Forbidden City, he felt that it was a little out of place, but he could not make any changes.
On the other hand, Master Xiluba was very ambitious. He wanted to make the Bear Palace the first palace in the Galinthea Continent, so that his name would be recorded in history. If Laurist had not been on guard and decided the name of the palace early on, Master Xiluba might have been willing to give up all his fame, wealth, and title just to carve his name on the palace. If the palace could be renamed to Xiluba Palace, Master Xiluba would be willing to die for it.
In the construction of the Bear Palace, Master Xiluba had put all his effort and energy into it. He was very particular about the quality of the construction, and did not let go of any mistakes. He lived on the construction site. Because the layout was too large, the initial construction budget was two million gold fords, and the construction period was two years. But soon, under Master Xiluba's request, the cost increased from two million gold fords to three million, then five million. Finally, under the influence of the title of the world's first palace, Director Spear approved a huge construction fund of eight million gold fords. The construction period was also shortened from two years to three and a half years. The estimated 100,000 workers were also doubled, and all the skilled craftsmen were gathered.
To Viscount Spear, the family's treasurer, spending money on the Bear Palace was not a waste, but a serious matter. With the Norton family's current strength, they indeed needed such a magnificent palace to set off the family's prestige. Especially since Laurist had been promoted to the Guardian Sword Sage, which was the Norton family's greatest glory in the past 300 years. They had to have a palace worthy of his status as a residence. After a few hundred years, the family's descendants could still look back on the glory of their ancestors and the family's pride in this palace.
When Laurist received the total cost of the Bear Palace, he was dumbfounded. Eight million gold fords was equivalent to more than three times the Norton family's annual income a few years ago. Spear, who had always been known for being stingy, had actually agreed to spend so much. If not for the fact that Laurist believed in the strict financial supervision regulations of the family, where every expenditure was audited by professionals, he might have sent someone to check if there was any corruption or misreporting.
Fortunately, the family had already opened the trade route to the central and southern parts of the continent. The wholesale market in Moronte City could provide the family with more than six million gold fords every year, and the trade market in Port Qilin also had a profit of more than one million. Even though the family's armed forces had spent three years on the Mana Hill Plains to defeat the Commerce Alliance, and the expansion of the family's fleet and the lease of the Freedom Alliance's territory, the profit was still enough to support such a huge expenditure. But the harvest was enough to support such a huge expenditure, and there was no need to worry about the family facing any financial crisis in the next few years.
The Bear King Palace that cost eight million gold coins … Laurist smiled bitterly. He would rather spend the gold coins on the development of the people's livelihood in his family's territory, or on the family's military plans, than to build such a luxurious palace. This was truly an outcome that exceeded his expectations. The original plan to spend two million to build the Bear Palace was only to stimulate the family's domestic demand, and not to be too exquisite. Perhaps in the future, Laurist could open up to be a public amusement park or museum, but for now, it was impossible. Such a luxurious palace could only be used as his own residence.
In a way, Laurist didn't like living in such a luxurious palace. Unlike Princess Sylvia, his four concubines, and his children, Laurist preferred to live in a simple fortress castle, like a castle made of rock. Every morning, he could hear the bugles of the barracks, the neighing of horses, and the shouts of the soldiers during training. To Laurist, this was real life.
In his previous life, Laurist had read a passage on the Internet that was still fresh in his memory. It was about the imperial palace. It was said that the luxurious palace was a gorgeous birdcage, and that when the emperor moved in, he would be locked in the birdcage. Therefore, the descendants of those wise and powerful founding emperors were not very promising. Because when they lived in the birdcage that was the Imperial Palace, pretending to be the Son of Heaven and acting mysterious, they were also unknowingly controlled by a large number of officials under them. They were separated from reality and were manipulated like caged birds. For example, the later emperors of the Song and Ming Dynasties were all raised to be useless …
In October, Laurist left Syrovas Island with his family and returned to the Northern Lands, preparing to move to the completed Bear Palace. In reality, Laurist didn't like the name Bear Palace. Although he was the one who decided on the name, it was the result of his family's collective support. The Norton Family was known as the roaring bears of the Northern Lands, so all the family's names were related to bears. Bear Palace was thought to be the most suitable name, as it was majestic. Laurist thought about it, and felt that it was better than Xiluba Palace, so he decided on this name.
"Your Highness, there are a total of 3,461 demonic bear statues in the Bear Palace, each with different forms and movements. For this, we commissioned mercenaries to capture 17 demonic bears in the Barbarian Plains to observe their habits, and then draw them for reference. Finally, we chose the most suitable movements and images to carve …" Master Xiluba pointed at the charmingly naive demonic bear statues on both sides of the road, proudly introducing his meticulous design and decorations to Laurist's family.
Hm, this is how you spend more and more money. Did I enter a black bear's playground? Laurist could only curse silently in his heart. Compared to Laurist's heartache, his wife and children had long since been moved by the splendor and grandeur of the Bear Palace. Princess Sylvia was very satisfied with her new residence, and as for the children, they had already gone wild and started playing chase games around the demonic bear statues. Meanwhile, Andrew had already climbed up the largest demonic bear statue, proudly showing off his abilities. A few of his personal servants could only watch anxiously from below …
Busy and tiring! After returning to his family's territory, apart from moving to his new residence, Laurist also had to prepare for the new year celebration in the Bear Palace. As it was the first time the celebration was held in the Bear Palace, Laurist couldn't slack off. He was busy welcoming the guests who came to congratulate him on his new home. At this moment, he missed the leisurely and peaceful days in the Cherry Blossom Mountain Villa the year before and last …
After the new year, Laurist finally had some peace during the rainy season. The year 1784 had arrived. This year, the Norton Family planned to establish a new province in the north of the family's territory, below the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range, with Twin Mountain Towns as the center. This would give the family another direct jurisdiction. This province was to be named the Panshan Province, meaning that it was next to the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range.
"I'm going to implement a new land ownership policy in the Panshan Province," Laurist decided.
In a sense, the more than three million citizens living in the North were actually tenants of the Norton Family. This was because all the land in the North was the Norton Family's private property. Although the Norton Family had forcibly relocated more than two million citizens to the North, they had even given them land and houses, allowing them to live and work in peace and contentment. In reality, the land that these citizens farmed was not their private property. Every year, 50% of the land's yield was the rent they paid. Regardless of whether it was land or houses, they could not buy or sell them. However, they could repair, rebuild, and pass it on to their descendants. This, however, required the Norton Family's approval and a fee.
In the North, other than the manors that the Norton Family gave to their Gold Knights, the Norton Family owned all the land in the Dawn Academy and the noble district. The land that the Dawn Academy occupied was freely provided by the Norton Family. There was no time limit. However, if the Dawn Academy wanted to move elsewhere, the Norton Family would take back the land unconditionally. This was an undisputed result.
The noble district was different. The Norton Family sold the rights to use the land. The nobles who bought the land could build manors and castles on it. They could pass it on to their descendants in the future, and they could also buy or sell it freely. The Norton Family had no right to interfere. However, the purchaser of the land had to pay a fee for the use of the land every year. Although the amount was not large, if a noble family could not afford to pay the fee, the Norton Family had the right to confiscate the manor and castle on the land to offset the debt.
Of course, the Norton family were not greedy vampires. After deducting the debt from the market price of the manor and castle, they would return the excess to the original owner. Alternatively, they would look for another noble to take over the manor and have them trade with the original owner. Then, they would ask the original owner to pay the land use fees. However, to a noble, leaving the noble district meant that he would be excluded from the noble circle in the North. This was an intolerable ending. Therefore, even nobles who were losing money by borrowing money from loan sharks still wanted to stay in the noble district. This meant that there was still a chance for them to make a comeback.
Why did the Norton Family develop real estate in the seven towns of Fengle Plain a few years ago? The reason was simple. The real estate development in the seven towns of Fengle Plain was treated the same way as the noble district. The only difference was that one did not need to be a noble. This was an opportunity that could not be asked for. These houses were better than the ones given to them. For example, if a farmer bought a house developed by the Norton Family and returned the house, the tax on the land he farmed would be reduced by 10%.
The biggest difference between a family's direct jurisdiction and a governed territory was that in a direct jurisdiction, the family was the biggest landlord. In a governed territory, the nobles who were enfeoffed as vassal lords were the real landlords. Other than these fiefdoms, the rest of the territory belonged to the family. Therefore, for some large aristocrats, they were very unwilling to confer vassal lords to their subordinates, or were stingy in conferring titles to their subordinates who had meritorious services. To them, the production of their territory was their income, and conferring a vassal lord was equivalent to reducing the gold coins in their pockets.
Leurist was preparing to implement a private land policy in the newly built Panshan Province. This meant that they were prepared to transfer the ownership of the land. In other words, if the North was a socialist public land system, then the land policy in the Panshan Province would be a capitalist private land system. This was the only way out of desperation. The newly built Panshan Province needed citizens. However, these citizens could not be immigrants who were forced to migrate. They needed strong immigrants who had the ability to fight back. After all, the Panshan Province was adjacent to the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range and the Barbarian Plains. Other than defending against the Mountain Barbarian tribes from the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range, they also had to defend against the invasion of the ferocious magical beasts. This required the citizens to have a certain amount of strength to protect themselves.
Although the large Mountain Barbarian tribes and magical beast hordes were protected by the clan's armed forces, the clan's armed forces were unable to defend against small scale bandits and attacks in groups of three to five. That was why Laurist had set his sights on the mercenaries and retired soldiers from their families. To attract them to settle down in the Side Mountain Province, they were prepared to implement a private land policy. Every mercenary and retired soldier who settled down in the Side Mountain Province would have the rights to a hundred mu of land, including the right to own and use it. After ten years, they could decide whether to buy or sell the land or pass it on to their descendants. They did not need the Norton Family's approval.
"Perhaps, these citizens who have their own land in the Panshan Province will become the first free citizens of our family's territory," Leurist said.
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