Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 357: Chapter 29: The Journey Home

The core of the “Treaty of Torde” is actually only one sentence, “All land acquired by the army beyond the western national borders shall belong to the Republic, with ownership vested in the military.”

This treaty is the cornerstone of the political ecology of the Newly Reclaimed Lands Province and the source of power for the Kingdom of Galloping Horses’ continuous western expansion.

Therefore, anyone wishing to purchase land in the Newly Reclaimed Lands Province needs to buy “acreage” from the army garrison in the county capital first.

After paying for the land, take the half title deed provided by the garrison to the town under the county, and delimit the unsold land according to the acreage under the supervision and notarization of the town mayor and the Garrison Officer.

Once the land enclosure is complete, the buyer can begin farming, and the remaining half of the title deed will be completed by the mayor and Garrison Officer and returned to the county garrison.

The title deed is then confirmed, signed, and sealed at the county garrison, and subsequently sent up to the headquarters of the garrison troops in the provincial capital.

After the headquarters transcribes, seals, and archives the title deed, it will be sent back the same way, through the county garrison and the town hall, and finally returned to the buyer.

In this manner, there are four copies of the complete title deed. The original is in the hands of the buyer, and copies are retained at the headquarters, county garrison, and town hall. Any damage or loss in any link will not affect the certification of land ownership.

However, this process is rigorous but cumbersome, with the title deed taking at least six months to a year to be returned.

But legally, it’s not necessary to wait for the complete title deed to return; the moment the land is delimited, the buyer already owns it and can dispose of it as they wish.

…

The Paratu Council’s method for judging land prices is also simple and crude, considering only two factors: Is the terrain hilly or flat? Is there a water source within half a kilometer?

Land near water on flat grounds has a high unit price, while distant water on hilly terrain has a low unit price.

If it’s forest land, its value and taxes for the timber are also accounted for.

Roads, rivers, lakes, and all water bodies are the property of the army and are not for sale.

Land is divided into “surface” and “subsoil” parts. Buyers only own the surface, and the subsoil is also not for sale.

By stratifying land ownership, buyers can only cultivate, while all minerals beneath the surface remain the property of the military.

There are also various other restrictive clauses, too many to mention, that block any potential encroachment on the military’s interests.

…

It wasn’t until Gerard carefully explained that Winters understood why Mr. Bunting was so eager to get back to Wolf Town ahead of others.

The Newly Reclaimed Lands government’s straightforward land pricing model, combined with the rule that whoever encloses the land first gets to own it, is akin to shouting, “Buy quickly, first come first served.”@@novelbin@@

Quality land is finite, but the number of people wanting to buy land is infinite. Every year, the county garrison sells land, and the good spots only become scarcer.

Just this year alone, seven estates bought more “acreage” from the garrison. Clearly, Mr. Bunting set out early in order to enclose land before anyone else could.

“That must be it,” Gerard said, spreading his hands, “Now the estates are so close to each other, there’s limited land to enclose around them, especially for the Bunting family. Mr. Bunting probably fears someone else might enclose it first, and then his family’s land would no longer be a complete piece.”

Gerard and Winters rode side by side at the front of the caravan. Without the cargo, the team moved much faster than on the way there.

“He doesn’t need to be so petty and sordid, why not discuss it with the neighbors in advance? It seems Mr. Bunting considers others as stingy as he is,” Winters commented with some disapproval.

Gerard replied helplessly, “Mr. Bunting has his difficulties, he has many sons. And who wouldn’t want their own land to be a contiguous whole? Scattered plots are especially inconvenient for farming. There are many such fragmented plots in both Nanxin and Beixin villages, where the villagers don’t have much spare money and can only buy small pieces at a time. In the end, you wouldn’t believe how much land is taken up by just field ridges.”

Agricultural common sense was outside of Winters’s knowledge, the lieutenant did not understand what “field ridges” were, and Gerard had to explain it to him.

“What about Nanxin and Beixin villages?” After listening to Old Dusack’s explanation, Winters was very curious about the conditions in the Protestant villages with even less arable land per capita.

Gerard lamented, “Due to the scarcity of land in those two villages, they simply don’t use field ridges. They just use a few stones to mark the boundaries, and there haven’t been any disputes.”

“So if I wanted to buy land, should I turn around and go back to Revodan now?” joked Winters.

“Do you want to buy land? Great!” Gerard was first surprised, then delighted, happily clutching the lieutenant’s arm, “There’s a piece of unclaimed land just between my family’s property and Dusa Village, a complete plot, and it’s even by the river. If you think it’s too small, I can sell you some more.”

Old Dusack’s eagerness took Winters by surprise, and he repeatedly waved his hands, “I was just kidding, where do I have the money to buy land?”

“No problem, I can lend it to you.”

Of course, Winters could not agree; he firmly declined, and seeing this, Gerard did not press any further.

Noticing Old Dusack’s disappointment, Winters tried to change the subject, “It seems like everyone’s not doing well, not as alert as on the way here.”

After spending three days in Revodan, many of the drivers, hired hands, and even the Dusacks were listless.

Quite a few drivers yawned endlessly, drowsily leaning against their seats, listlessly cracking their whips.

Some of the Dusacks had yet to sober up from the journey there, completely lacking their previous sharpness and vigor.

Winters counted in his mind and noted that the frequency of Dusack patrols had dropped significantly; they traveled all morning and saw only two riders come to the front for inspection.

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