Development Conference I

Considering that after this victory celebration, the earliest batch of indentured slaves and a large number of military dependents, totaling more than 20,000 people, will regain their status Freemen.

In response to the shock, Victor decided to convene a meeting of all the officials in the territory.

The meeting focused on several aspects, including this year's financial summary and next year's budget plan. After all, after deducting the more than 20,000 yuan to be spent on the celebration, there is still 30,000 yuan in working capital. 10,000 yuan can be kept for emergencies, and the rest can be spent.

Those attending the meeting included Victor, Veronica, and civil servants from the territories of Powell, Powell, Bob, Rabik, Jimmy, Weber, Tony, Isaac, Rafam, Mala, Orlando, Luoza, Zarack, Adelaide Levant, Vincent.

Victor first introduced Veronica to everyone, "Veronica Golden Pear, my fiancée, who will become the mistress of the Golden Sunflower Family next spring."

Although many people already knew Veronica, they still greeted Veronica politely, as Victor's words were like a sacred decree to them, and they had to obey them.

Victor nodded with satisfaction, then pointed at Powell, indicating that Powell should speak first.

As the Chief Political Officer and head of Civil Administration affairs, Powell was Two Rivers Territory figure in the Mesopotamia. Many of the first batch of officials were demoted to indentured servants or even executed by Victor, while he remained securely in his position as Chief Political Officer.

"The territory's population has now reached [number] people, more than double the number at the beginning of this year. Among them, there are Freemen people, totaling 3,578 households; and [number] indentured slaves."

Victor frowned. "Why are there so many serf households?"

"Sir, this year is different from last year. The structure of slaves has changed. This year, the slaves purchased are no longer purchased as family units, but as single male and female slaves. In order to facilitate statistics, the Department of Civil Administration simply registers them as separate households."

Victor nodded.

"What is the state of trade within and outside the territory?"

Rabik was the third head of the business department. The previous two were either killed or demoted to slavery and sent to work in a limestone mine. As the youngest and most capable employee in the Commerce Department, Rabik was promoted to head.

Without consulting any documents, he blurted out, "Currently, the territory's main foreign trade partners are the Gorn Trading Company and the Iron Birch Territory. A total of 3,100 gold has been sold, mainly machinery and steel. Internal trade within the territory is still dominated by consumer goods and production tools, especially White Sugar, livestock, flour, and farm implements. A total of 11 tons of White Sugar, 4,300 sheep, 211 cattle, 2,147 horses, 150 tons of flour, and 9,145 pieces of various farm implements have been sold, generating a total income of 5,300 gold. Adding the income from foreign trade, the total is 8,400 gold."

Victor nodded, satisfied with Rabik's answer, which matched the information he had received in advance perfectly.

"The territory's business is just getting started, and this income is already quite good. Once the steel contract with the Gorn Trading Company begins to be delivered next year, the territory's income can easily quadruple."

"How is the sugar plantation doing now?"

Tony is in charge of managing the sugar plantation and is also the current village chief of Green Field Village.

"Sir, this year's sugar beet yield on the estate has surpassed last year's record, reaching 2.2 tons per acre, which has directly increased White Sugar production by 10%. Currently, the warehouse holds a total of 134 tons of White Sugar, including 127 tons of new sugar and 7 tons of old sugar."

"Very good. Pay attention to strengthening the management of the stored White Sugar. Next year, we can increase the sugar beet planting area by one-fifth, increasing the total sugar beet area to 600 mu. In addition, prepare 10 tons of new sugar, which I will use for the celebration ceremony."

"Yes, sir."

The White Sugar industry is very important to the territory; the main force for the expansion and construction of the Two Rivers Territory will depend on it in the future.

You can't make much money by simply growing grain. Grain is very cheap in the Vera Duchy. An average yield of 250 kilograms of wheat per acre is only 1 Silver Coin. It takes 6,250 kilograms of wheat to sell for 1 gold coin, which is the yield of 25 acres of wheat.

A baron's territory typically covers an area of three to four hundred square kilometers, with a maximum of 200 square kilometers of arable land. Using a crop rotation system, 100 square kilometers of land must be cultivated each year, requiring at least seven to eight thousand serfs. After deducting the serfs' food rations, the maximum surplus is 8,000 tons of wheat, which can be sold for around 1,300 gold.

Besides the expenses for the baron and his family, this amount of money also had to be invested in the territory. The only money available for raising an army was five or six hundred gold, barely enough to support an infantry unit of 600 men. If it were to support Cavalry, it would only be enough to support a maximum of 200 men and horses.

Therefore, powerful noble territories generally have special products that can generate revenue for the territory, such as Sunflower Oil from the Golden Sunflower Territory and Maple Syrup from the Crimson Maple Territory.

The meeting continued, Victor asked Luoza to give a briefing on the horse farm and stud farm.

"Your Excellency, silage is truly remarkable. With it, horses can better conserve their energy during the winter, which greatly helps with breeding in the spring. I am confident that I can increase the number of horses at the warhorse farm by a quarter next year, reaching around [number missing]. I plan to use artificial insemination to assist mares in becoming pregnant..."

Seeing that Luoza was about to continue introducing his horse racing knowledge, Victor simply interrupted him.

Adelaide, the head of the Puma Farm and also the livestock supervisor, introduced the job.

"This year, the storage of silage has doubled again, but it is still far from enough relative to the rapidly growing number of livestock. I hope that the territory can increase its financial support for the livestock industry next year, and at least double the number of silage pits need to be built."

"Okay, Weber, please add this to next year's budget." Weber is the current Financial Director.

"Sir, may I speak first?" Levante, the Head of Transportation and former head of the Wood Fort Town, Victor Levant.

Victor nodded to signal him to speak.

"Currently, the territory is facing a cement shortage. Building the cellars requires a lot of cement, and according to the plan, the docks in the Lime River and Sea Song Town will be expanded next year. Under these circumstances, I hope to expand the production scale of the limestone mine and cement plant as soon as possible, otherwise the cement production next year will definitely not be enough."

Upon hearing this, Victor turned to Jimmy, the current head of the Industrial Department and former brick factory manager, and asked, "How difficult is it for the cement plant to expand its production capacity? How much capital investment is required?"

"Funding is not a big problem, the cement plant needs to recruit more workers."

"There is no problem with workers. A large number of Freemen will be added by the end of this year. As long as the treatment is guaranteed, you will not lack workers."