He had to admit that Claude had come up with a crazy idea.
For any Aueran citizen, having a personal property was a guarantee of a happy and peaceful family life. It could also be passed down to future generations to expand the family's wealth.
However, it wasn't that easy to purchase a family property in the kingdom. Even if one purchased a public property from the local administrative department, the price wasn't something ordinary people could afford.
Back in the day, Claude's sister, Angelina, wanted to buy a long-term property for her family and had her eye on the woodshed.
So, she bought three small private forests and used Claude's status as a captain to buy all the public forests in the vicinity. That was how she built Ferde Forest that spanned more than four thousand acres. She spent all the eight thousand crowns she got from selling her new building and the three thousand crowns from the national bank account Claude gave her.
In Aueras, among the three types of land that could be bought and sold, the wood was the cheapest. Most of them were located in the wilderness.
Angelina bought the public wood in Whitestag and had already cut down all the usable wood, so she sold it to Claude at half price. Even then, it was still two crowns per acre.
In addition to the three barren private forests, Angelina had spent almost 12,000 crowns to buy a little more than 4,000 acres of treeless forest.
Angelina had no choice but to borrow six thousand crowns from the national bank in order to develop and build the family's wood. The money was used to build roads and to cultivate and transplant saplings. It took five to six years for the initial results to be seen.
From this example, it could be seen how much it would cost to own a personal or family business in the kingdom's mainland.
The wood was located in the mountains, so it was the cheapest. Pastures came in second. An acre of land was valued at around ten crowns, and those with rivers and waterways were worth twice that.
As for farmland, it was impossible to get the best ones. Very few people would sell them.
Even the not-so-good public lands in the hands of the local government would sell for around thirty to forty crowns per acre.
That was why when the families of the retired soldiers heard that the theatre was willing to give each of them ten acres of land and a property of equal value, they were all willing to move to the colonies without hesitation.
They knew that even if they worked hard for their entire lives, they wouldn't be able to own ten acres of land in the kingdom.
Claude found inspiration from the families of the immigrants and thought of a way to make the officers who were about to retire willingly stay in the theatre and become volunteer officers.
Take a low-level officer who was about to retire as an example. He had been in the army for so many years, and his food, lodging, and clothing were all provided for free by the military camp. In addition, he lived frugally and did not spend recklessly.
With 15 years of military experience, the rewards he received during the two wars, and the benefits he received during the war, he only had 200 crowns in savings.
With the two hundred crowns in savings, he could get married and buy a house in his hometown, but it was far from enough to buy ten acres of fertile land and start a small farm.
In the future, he would have to deal with people and the cost of having children. Unless he could find a job in his hometown, his life would not be easy.
It wasn't that they couldn't live, but that they couldn't have a decent life.
For example, Claude's childhood friend, Welikro's father, Kubrik, was also a citizen. He served in the royal guard for 15 years before he retired and could only rely on hunting to make a living for his family.
Later, he offended Mayor Robert over the establishment of the town guard and was constantly harassed by Blacksnakes under his orders. In the end, he had no choice but to leave Whitestag with his family.
Kubrik's tragedy was that he didn't have a personal estate. Even though he was known as the best hunter in Whitestag, he relied on luck to survive. If he was lucky, he would be able to hunt, but if he was unlucky, he would end up wasting his time and risking his life.
If he had ten acres of fertile land, he wouldn't have to worry about the town hall's establishment of the town guard and could just focus on managing his family's farm.
It was precisely because he didn't have a personal estate that he hoped to get a job in the town guard. That was why he had a conflict with Mayor Robert and left the royal capital.
Even though the price of land in the colonies of Sisilia wasn't as high as in the kingdom itself, a civilian officer still had to pay a hefty price.
If they had to spend money to buy land, they would consider the distance between the two continents and the inconvenience and difficulty of migrating away from their homeland. Perhaps they would give up on the idea.
For example, Claude had Myjack purchase 1,800 acres of barren land in the mountains not far from Lanu for his sister's farm. Even though he was a lieutenant-general and received preferential treatment, he still had to pay one crown per acre for the 1,800 acres of land.
That was why Claude wanted to use the lands of Cromwell and Balingana, which were the most suitable for agricultural development, to entice the retired officers to migrate to the two colonies. He wanted them to volunteer for the two corps and continue serving in the army. The lands of the two colonies would become a very attractive temptation for them.
A hundred acres of fertile land and a thousand acres of pasture were like two huge pies that fell from the sky for the officers.
A hundred acres of fertile land was enough to build a small to medium-sized farm. Not only could a basic officer migrate his family over to manage the farm, he could also bring his wife's family over to help out. That would be enough to ensure that they didn't have to worry about food or clothing.
Of course, it would be more difficult to make a living if all the crops were planted, but the farms had basic ways to make money. For example, if they had ten mu of vegetable fields and planted ten mu of seasonal fruits like blueberries, they would be able to make a good profit and feed twenty to thirty people.
Even chickens, ducks, pigs, and goats could be raised in the farms. That would bring in decent profits.
Cromwell and Balingana were former citizens of the kingdom. Most of them had migrated there when the kingdom was in dire straits.
After earning some money in the colonies, they bought some land and built their own farms and farms. They were all very small scale, and this was the most basic model for colonization in the colonies. They were allowed to develop on their own, and the colonies developed very slowly because of the small number of settlers.
From a certain perspective, the land in Cromwell and Balingana was public property of the war theatre. If someone was willing to pay for it, it would bring in an astronomical amount of profit.
But if no one was willing to pay for it, it would be worthless land that had been exposed to the elements for thousands of years.
Claude planned to use the land to entice retired officers to migrate to the two colonies. It might seem like the war theatre was losing a huge sum of money to buy land, but from another perspective, it could also increase the value of the worthless land.
The generals of theatre HQ unanimously agreed to Claude's suggestion to use free land as their personal property and the right to immigrate to two colonies to attract the retiring officers. They would then immigrate on their own accord and be conscripted as volunteer officers to continue serving in the army.
Of course, their benefits wouldn't change after becoming voluntary officers, but they would be given preferential treatment in their personal property.
For example, every officer with the rank of captain would be given a hundred mu of fertile land or a thousand mu of pastures for free, which they could use to build their farms or pastures.
On the other hand, a First Lieutenant could only receive 75 mu of farmland or 750 mu of pasture land for free. He could apply for the same treatment as a Captain with 100 mu of farmland or 1000 mu of pasture land, but he would have to continue serving in the army until he was promoted to a Captain or served for another five years ….
The generals of war theatre HQ worked through the night and finally came up with the land exchange rules and immigration rights for the ten thousand retired officers.
In order to attract the retired officers to migrate, they even came up with an even crazier preferential treatment.
It was a retired officer who could bring his family back to the kingdom. His travel expenses could be subsidized to a maximum of ten crowns depending on the number of immigrants.
It wasn't cash, but all sorts of daily necessities. That way, not only would it satisfy the needs of the new immigrants, it would also provide an outlet for the newly established workshops in the war theatre.
After a busy night, the generals ordered their subordinates to put up the notice that they had drafted overnight. Then, they decided to reward themselves. During this period of time, they had been worried and worried about all kinds of things. Finally, the matter had come to an end. They would first take two days off to let everyone relax. After resting for two days, they would come back to work.
Ten hours later, the generals of war theatre HQ gathered once more and looked at each other.
No one expected that the notice posted in the morning would cause such a huge reaction. Not only did the basic officers who were preparing to retire rush over to register for immigration, even the basic officers in the two corps who were not preparing to retire also made a huge ruckus. They formed a group to protest to their superiors, meaning that if they did not obtain the immigration rights for personal property and land exchange in the two territories, then they were also prepared to submit their retirement applications ….
That was something the generals didn't expect. They only thought about the 10,000 or so officers who were about to retire, but they forgot that there were still another 10,000 or so officers in the two corps who weren't about to retire.
As the saying goes, one doesn't worry about scarcity, but about inequality. When the low-level officers who were about to retire received such good immigration qualifications, it immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the low-level officers who were still in the army. They also formed a group to demand the same treatment.
Since they couldn't find the generals at war theatre HQ, they went to the generals' residences to make a ruckus. That was also why Claude and the others met at war theatre HQ.
Needless to say, taking advantage of the fact that the colonial war had just ended, there wouldn't be any war in the next half a year. After a discussion, the generals decided to implement a family leave system on a large scale.
The officers who were still serving in the army would be given half a year's leave to return to the kingdom to visit their families, get married and bring their families back to migrate.
The immigration rights and land exchange rights were the same as the officers who were about to retire. Only then did the chaos come under control.
However, right after the officers left, the soldiers of the two corps sent their representatives to petition the generals at war theatre HQ.
The soldiers were split into three factions, each with their own representatives. Their requests were also related to the immigration rights.
The first faction had the fewest number of soldiers. They were recruited from the kingdom and were initially added to Ranger before being transferred to the five enhanced folks. They were now the backbone of the two corps.
Their representatives were also asking for immigration status, hoping to obtain a personal property in the two colonies as a gift.
Of course, they weren't greedy and only asked for 20 mu of farmland.
The generals quickly made their decision. As long as they could serve for 15 years, even if they weren't promoted, they would be given 30 mu of farmland and 300 mu of pastures.
Given that the colonies were in urgent need of immigration, the theatre could even give them land and have them write letters to their families to come to the colonies and take care of the land first.
However, the relocation allowance would be halved. In other words, the theatre would only give their families half of the relocation allowance.
The second group of soldiers were former members of the garrison forces of the overseas colonies. They were elites who had been reorganized into the five enhanced divisions and eliminated the unqualified members. Although they had their own families and properties in the overseas colonies, no one would complain about having too many properties. They also hoped to qualify for immigration, and the reason was that they were also a member of one of the two corps …
This was an irrefutable reason. The generals were prepared to treat them equally, just like the soldiers of the First Faction. As long as they completed their term of service in the army, they would be given 30 mu of fertile land or 300 mu of pasture. They could be given it in advance and let their families take care of the property first.
The last faction had the largest number of soldiers, accounting for almost half of the base of the two legions.
They also asked for immigration rights, but the generals had different reactions.
General Bolonik was annoyed. He felt that these soldiers were insatiable because it was their duty to serve in the two corps.
This faction was made up of the 100,000 families of retired soldiers. When they immigrated to the theatre, the theatre had already given their families a property.
For example, 10 mu of farmland, a shop, or a private workshop.
In the end, they were now coveting the immigration rights of the two colonies …
After a long discussion, the generals finally reached a decision. The treatment would be the same as the first two factions. They would be given 30 mu of farmland or 300 mu of pastures after their term of service, but they could not be given in advance. They would only be distributed when their term of service ended.
The generals breathed a sigh of relief when they finally satisfied the needs of the soldiers of the two corps.
General Skree then suggested that since Cromwell and Balingana were sparsely populated and had implemented an immigration qualification system, only those who served in the two regiments could immigrate their families to Cromwell and Balingana.
Why don't we take it a step further and immigrate the families of the soldiers who died in the four colonial wars and give them the corresponding personal properties for free? I believe that this will increase the loyalty and loyalty of the officers and soldiers of the two legions …
This was a good idea. The territories of the two colonies were vast and fertile. The number of soldiers who had truly sacrificed themselves in the four colonial wars, including those who were disabled and retired, was only twenty to thirty thousand. Giving their families some land would increase the loyalty and sense of belonging of the soldiers to the two corps. This was a very good deal.
The generals nodded in agreement and General Skree was in charge of carrying it out.
The matter of the soldiers of the two corps was settled, but they didn't expect to be met with local protests.
The reason was simple. Back then, when Marshal Michaelqi was clearing the fields and fortifying the walls of Cromwell and Balingana, he forcibly relocated more than a hundred thousand royal citizens from the two colonies. He even wrote them an IOU, meaning that they would be compensated double the amount they were relocated.
Now that the citizens wanted to return to the two colonies and receive double the compensation, the generals were put in a difficult position.
Claude, on the other hand, didn't care at all. He believed that since the immigration rights for the two colonies had been implemented, they had to follow through with it.
Don't let a single one of the former citizens go back. The IOUs didn't specify where they would be compensated, so we'll just compensate them in Robisto.
Tell them that it's invalid if they don't want it.