Chapter 181 The Discovery of the Coal Mine
It has been less than two months since we obtained the new fiefdom, and the mineral resources in the territory have not yet been fully surveyed.
During this period, Richard sent more than a dozen groups of surveyors to search for various ores on a large scale within the territory. From clay mines, to lime mines, to various metal mines, the explorers slept and ate in the open until they finally made discoveries and drew various mineral resources on simple maps.
Because the conditions are difficult and the threshold is not low, the salary of mineral exploration personnel is relatively high, reaching eight silver coins per month, which is comparable to that of He'an Primary School teachers.
After two months of exploration, roughly the minerals in the territory have been discovered.
The first thing found was a clay mine, which was not far from the Fort.
Richard is ready to melt the snow and build a second brick kiln near the clay mine to speed up the development of the Harland Valley.
It is very inconvenient to build in the territory without bricks. Although it is located in a mountainous area, Richard does not have so many manpower to build a quarry.
After the new brick kiln is built, there will be no need to consume transportation capacity to transport bricks from dozens of kilometers away.
After six years of burning bricks, the brick kiln already has a lot of technical staff, and some of them can be transferred to build the new brick kiln.
Now that the second brick kiln is being built, Richard no longer needs to do it himself and take the lead in demonstrating the work.
Then came the discovery of limestone, which produced raw cement. There is such an earthen kiln in Harland's territory, and there is no need for Richard to take care of it.
The third discovery was a coal mine with scarce territory. After hearing that the coal mine was discovered, Richard was so excited that he didn't even have time to put on his shoes.
He immediately wrote to the prospectors, held a celebration banquet at the military station, and gave the prospectors a gold coin allowance.
The coal mine is fifteen kilometers away from the Fortress. Richard personally inspected the coal mine and found that it was of high quality. It was typical bituminous coal with high carbon content and high calorific value, which could be used to smelt coke.
If coke can be produced on a large scale, the steelmaking process will also develop rapidly.
Besides, coal is mined and can be used for heating in winter.
If the territorial residents burn coal in winter, they can reduce the felling of trees, prevent soil erosion, and avoid flash floods.
Richard has been in Dawn Continent for more than ten years and has rarely seen anyone burning coal in Grant Kingdom. Perhaps humans in other areas have already used coal resources on a large scale.
According to Richard's observation, there are very few open-pit coal mines in northern Xinjiang.
This time, it is actually very rare to find a shallow coal mine that is easy to mine in the territory.
Because the miners in the territory had no experience in coal mining, Richard was a little worried, so he followed the miners and stayed in the coal mine for a few days.
Coal mines on the surface are best mined by digging with hammers and drills.
The coal mine was discovered halfway up the mountain, and to transport the coal out, a kilometer of road needed to be built.
After Richard led the surveyors to survey the terrain, he decided to use wooden rails to transport coal.
The territory can now produce some steel. A hydraulic forging hammer is used to beat the steel into thin steel plates. After the thin steel plates are cut, the steel plates are nailed to the wooden tracks.
Relying on the power of downhill inertia, the coal is loaded onto the wooden bucket truck, and the coal can be easily transported down the mountain along the track.
There is a small river at the foot of the mountain that can pass small boats. This small river is a tributary of the Powell River. Coal can be transported to Fort William through river transportation.
After coal is mined, the territory will also have a new source of income.
The price Richard assigned for coal was very cheap, only twice that of wood.
The market price of one thousand kilograms of wood is only about one silver coin. During the coldest period in northern Xinjiang, it could not be burned for ten days.
A relatively wealthy family would burn more than one gold coin in fuel in one winter, and would need to cut down more than twenty large trees to keep warm.
Coal of the same quality has much higher heat than wood. Three kilograms of coal can be burned overnight. An ordinary family can survive the winter with just one ton of coal.
The price of one ton of coal is only four silver coins, which is equivalent to a month's work for ordinary people.
At such a price, most families can accept it.
There are now about 10,000 free people in Harland's territory. Because Richard's taxes are low, these free people have some money in their hands.
There are about 2,400 freemen in the territory. If these two thousand freemen all buy coal, the output value of the coal mine will reach 800 gold coins, and the net profit will exceed 500 gold coins, which is already a lot of money.
Moreover, many indentured slaves fulfill their contracts every year. As the population of the territory increases, consumption increases, and coal mines increase production, the income from coal will become higher and higher.
The development of coal mining industry will also bring about the development of coal chemical industry.
After a simple calculation, Richard found that the coal reserves were very large, and this hill was almost a coal mountain.
The shallow coal seam alone exceeds tens of millions of tons.
According to the current mining volume in Harland Territory, this coal mine can last for hundreds of years.
The territory's materials are enriched, which will promote the development of the territory's economy.
Now even if Richard has no cash or gold coins, he can still distribute food, brown sugar, liquor, coal and other materials to the soldiers to pay for it, and provide accommodation for a period of time.
From now on, Richard will distribute grain and coal to the pensions in the territory.
No gold or silver mines have been discovered in the territory of Harland, and it does not become a hereditary earl and does not have the right to mint money.
Due to the insufficient number of gold coins, deflation has occurred in the territory. Many free people even had the habit of bartering among themselves.
There are still many indentured servants and few free people.
If there were more free people and they had the habit of hiding money and saving, the shortage of currency would become even more serious.
To solve deflation, we need to activate the economy, provide more goods, increase the income of free people, and cultivate consumption habits.
After the coal mine was discovered, even in winter, coal mining could not be stopped.
Coal is a necessary living material in winter. Coal can be exchanged for money after being mined.
Even with such a big stall now, Richard is still short of money.
No matter how many gold coins flow into Richard's hands, they will be spent quickly. Although there are more and more supplies and strength, Richard also feels more and more short of money.
In the months after the war ended, Haaland Territory had been preparing for war.
Richard made another thirty pieces of snake scale armor and equipped them to the third squadron. At the same time, he also made ten pieces of brute force armor and equipped them to the first squadron.
Now the First Squadron has twenty pieces of brute armor, sixty pieces of snake scale armor, and seventy pieces of iron armor. The quality of the equipment exceeds that of the First Squadron of the First Battalion of the Northern Army, and is enough to rival the Royal Guards.
The First Squadron fought many hard battles and suffered heavy casualties. Only a dozen veterans who joined the army six years ago are left. Due to the continuous recruitment of veterans, the quality of the soldiers in this squadron is very high. There are now eight professionals and 43 high-level students. The remaining soldiers are basically middle-level students.
The armor penetration rate is 100%, and the possession rate of enchanted armor exceeds 50%. It is the iron fist in Richard's hand.
The second and third squadrons are also the main squadrons. Their supplementary strength is second only to the first squadron and has priority over Richard's guard squadron.
These three main squadrons are second only to the Warcraft Cavalry in importance in the Harland territory and are the backbone of the territory.
(End of chapter)