In a short period of time, the recently opened cities began to regain color, but a certain nervousness could be seen on the faces of ordinary citizens.
While the Chemical Industry Research Institute continues research to separate various coal tar extracts, it also improves the condensation system to increase the efficiency of coal tar collection. Additionally, the planting of natural dyes could be further delayed. After all, chemical dyes had begun mass production. Dyeing fabrics should not only be possible now, thanks to magic, but also through science.
There was a heavy reliance on magic to advance technologically, and to avoid that, magical research had also been implemented where everyone could aspire to have things that magic could provide without depending on it.
In border cities, there were around 200,000 citizens, many of whom had low incomes and couldn't afford high-quality clothing made with magic. Now, with this implementation, one wouldn't need high resources to have the minimum essentials.
At the end of the year, Damian convened civil officials from all human territories again for a financial meeting. The reason he invited officials from other systems was mainly to provide everyone with a comprehensive understanding of the territory's development.
Last year, the human territory increased its population by 3,867,899 citizens, which greatly recovered the birth rate that had been lost in previous years.
There was no war nowadays, which greatly improved things, but now that a new battle was approaching, there would be millions of deaths again.
Not counting the population generated by natural reproduction, the influx of people in the last two years has been increasing, representing almost the entire total population.
According to this year's statistics from the civil affairs department, the human territory has 175 million inhabitants, and this year, the birth rate surpassed previous years by almost double. The human population growth is 1.9 per year, and this needs to be controlled.
Due to the high demand in the northern territory, living conditions are usually very demanding, and due to natural reasons, the inhabitants are much stronger than in the south. Nowadays, territories are divided by production and war zones; in the south, they are responsible for producing enough food to encourage the soldiers from the north.
Annual cereal production exceeded 6,225,000 tons, marking the beginning of an excellent harvest. However, half of that food comes from civilians producing it on protected farms.
Livestock also suffered significant losses due to a sudden plague. In officially controlled pastures in the northern territory, only 600,000 sheep were slaughtered throughout the year, reducing production by about half.
Free men who raised sheep suffered greater losses because their capital was small and their ability to resist risks was low. If they encountered a sheep plague, the losses would be almost unbearable.
According to the livestock department's statistics, last year, more than a million sheep died from the plague.
Such large losses greatly dampened farmers' enthusiasm for reproduction. Damian could help, but it wasn't his duty to do so. He needed everyone to take risks, because that's the real world.
The private agricultural industry is like that; the risks are very high.
Cattle and sheep are now less susceptible to plagues, and raising chickens and pigs is riskier. After a plague, many years of accumulation on breeding farms would disappear.
Of the 600,000 sheep produced for slaughter, the army consumed hundreds of thousands. Officials, researchers, teachers, and factory executives consumed some of them, and only about two-thirds of them could be marketed.
Additionally, this year's surplus of cereals is relatively small, and it's necessary to store some lamb meat during the winter. Only 200,000 sheep are sold in the market, which can be exchanged for about 20,000 gold coins.
Compared to previous years, income from livestock has been reduced by two-thirds, greatly affecting the territory's financial income.
Although there is no war this year in the steel industry, due to the population increase, the internal market demand is very strong, especially in the real estate industry, which has an extremely outstanding capacity to boost the economy.
"Shall we continue to ignore the problems in livestock?"
Damian, who was seated on the throne, remained silent. It was Frieren who spoke: "We cannot compare you to private companies that bill based on their work. These risks are human, and we are not gods to create an ideal world."
"The royal family's productions are directly linked to food for soldiers on the frontlines and citizens with low incomes. And if we solve the problems of livestock and harvest, we'll be providing help they shouldn't have."
Private harvest companies were farms of retired soldiers or people who didn't want to get involved in war.
"We will help with whatever is necessary. Now that wars are approaching, we must avoid any natural harm and run everything flawlessly." Damian delivered a verdict after some more conversations on the topic.