Chapter 434: Do you want to get rich?
May 10, 359 Pendor.
Nearly 10,000 people from the three newly reorganized legions of the Bacchus Empire appeared outside Changhe City.
Most of Leon's troops, including those from the Principality of Sarleon and the Principality of Noldor, also gathered here.
However, these troops are not here to fight, but to participate in a joint military parade.
Li Ang and Alina's wedding is about to be held in Changhe City.
The wedding was planned with great fanfare, and almost all the prominent people in the entire continent were invited to attend.
Even King Vidis of the Firdsvain, Queen Ursula of the Kingdom of Ravenstern, and Gregory IV came in person - there were civil wars going on in their countries, Vidis's troops were still attacking Cliff Bay, and Ursula's troops were still besieging Dawnhearth.
But they had to come because this time, in addition to the wedding, there was another important thing.
Li Ang will be crowned emperor on this day.
Why did these two people bring together the two countries' armies to hold a 'joint military parade' when they got married?
Isn't it just to scare people together...
There were wars going on in Firdsvain and Ravenstern. If it was just a wedding, there was really no need for Vidis, Ursula and the others to come in person. But if they didn't come after Leon became emperor, they would probably be beaten in a few days...
The New Pendor Kingdom is strong in both military and cavalry, and with the addition of the army of the Bacchus Empire... the two countries of Firdsvain and Crowstern, which are in civil war, are really not to be trifled with.
In fact, Li Ang had no intention of becoming emperor - he didn't care about the title at all.
But the thing is that Alina cares a lot...
When Pende Academy was founded, Alina wrote a message on the inner wall of the academy: "If you are a noble, you need to master knowledge to retain wealth for your family; if you are not a noble, then you need to master more knowledge to create wealth for you and your descendants - Luciana Marius Justus Basilius."
This can be considered as an encouragement to students to study, but the focus is not on the message itself, but on Alina's signature.
Alina is the name she gave herself, which can be understood as her 'self-proclaimed name' - for the Bacchus, self-proclaimed names are also formal names, which are generally used in letters or daily addresses instead of their real names.
The signature "Luciana Marius Justus Basilius" is Alina's real full name.
Luciana is her real name, Marius is the clan name inherited from her adoptive father Emperor Marius; Justus is the original family name; Basilius is an additional name and also a title, meaning 'Emperor'.
Emperor Marius actually had no title - he was not recognized by the Senate at the beginning, and he ascended the throne by forcing the Senate through a mutiny, so he did not use any title.
According to Bacchus' tradition, 'Augustus' was the title of the Bacchus emperor. If we look at it from the perspective of so-called 'legitimacy', Demoses Augustus was the legitimate emperor recognized by the Senate , and Marius should be considered a rebel...
Therefore, in order to avoid any restoration or mutiny in Bacchus, Arina no longer used the title of Augustus, but gave herself the title of "Basilius", indicating that she was the emperor recognized by both the Senate and the elected parliament - although she was the only candidate nominated at the time, the process was indeed completed...
However, Arina's title is very peculiar - 'Basilius' is a masculine word, usually used by male emperors, and the queen should use the feminine word 'Basilosa'.
She used the title of a male emperor.
This is because the ruler known as the 'Empress' usually lets her husband serve as regent. But Alina intends to manage the Bacchus Empire herself and be an absolute monarch, and will not let anyone else serve as regent.
This title represents her determination.
This means that according to the standard written title, Arina should also be called 'Emperor Marius' instead of 'Empress Luciana'...
But out of habit, no one actually calls Arina Marius the Great, and her title of emperor is rarely mentioned.
Even in Bacchus, people simply call Alina by her name - the word 'Alina', according to the ancient Bacchus language, originally means 'noble and wise queen'.
But Alina's title of emperor, namely "Basilius", became a little awkward after she and Leon confirmed their marriage - Leon did not have the title of emperor, but Alina did, and it was a male emperor title. If someone didn't know, they might think that Leon was her male lover...
Leon himself didn't mind. Even on the marriage certificate, the name of Arina he wrote himself was still "Lucianna Marius Pendragon Basilius".
That is to say, after Alina and Leon got married, she would still be the emperor of the Bacchus Empire. She would just use Leon's family name to replace her original family name, and the additional title of 'male emperor' would still be retained.
Li Ang actually agreed with Alina's use of this unique male emperor title.
However, even if Leon didn't care about these issues at all, everyone else felt that this was inappropriate, and Alina also felt that it was inappropriate.
Everyone felt that Leon was no longer suitable for the title of "King", and the New Pendor Kingdom should not be just a kingdom.
So Amy, Wendy, and Alina conspired again and forced Leon to change New Pendor into the Empire.
Leon's title now becomes 'Emperor of the Pendor'.
The emperor of the Pendes married the emperor of the Bacchus, that's the equal right.
Although the Bacchus queen used a male title... Never mind, it's a minor issue. Don't restrict gender so strictly...
Of course, there were many people involved in this "forced emperorship", such as Godric, Eric, Fawcett, Leofric, Lisadiran and many other lords, and even honest people like Anson who had little desire for power.
Even the process was very rigorous - Li Ang did not proclaim himself emperor, but was "granted by God".
Which god is so powerful that he can grant orders to the emperor?
Of course, it is the official belief of the New Pende Empire that was newly established a few months ago - the God of Wealth...
It was Amy who represented the God of Wealth and put the emperor's crown on Le Ang's head, it was Wendy who handed Le Ang the scepter, and it was Alice who brought the emperor's guards of honor and purple robe.
These are the three wealth spokespersons who are currently widely admired.
So the ceremony of divine appointment of the emperor was held on the morning of the wedding day, along with a grand military parade.
If it's just a marriage, there's certainly no need for a military parade, but becoming emperor does require this process - why would one become emperor if the army isn't strong?
And, as Amy said, the king's marriage is definitely full of political factors...
Why does everyone want Li Ang to become emperor?
The reason is simple - for convenience.
Yes, many things will become more convenient after Li Ang becomes emperor.
For example, persuading surrender.
After Sarah successfully forced the Principality of D'Shar to surrender, Amy naturally planned to try to persuade Firdsvain or the Kingdom of Crowstern... or one of the forces in between.
The division and infighting between the two countries were all caused by Amy. She was unable to reap the benefits at that time, but now she has enough strength to close the gap.
Not long ago, Leslie went to the Mist City and pretended to be a wealthy woman - in fact, she was not pretending, because Leslie, who held a large amount of state-owned assets in her hands, was indeed a real wealthy woman.
She acquired a large number of properties in Fog City at extremely low prices. Due to the economic downturn in Fog City, various industries were in a state of stagnation and prices were very low. Leslie basically bought the entire city in one month.
How much did it cost?
It was a lot, more than 600,000 dinars—old dinars.
Leon did not allow the new currency to enter the Firdsvain. The new currency is currently only circulated in the central part of Sarleon, Long River City and White Hart Keep, and has not yet been fully popularized - it has only been half a year, and it is still in the process of replacing the old with the new, so it is impossible to be fully popularized.
These more than 600,000 old dinars are what people use to exchange old coins for new ones.
On the surface, a large number of dinars entered the Fog City, which looked like a large amount of hot money entering the market. This should be a good thing, right?
But what is the reality?
Not a good thing at all...
Money is actually a double-edged sword.
More than 600,000 dinars were invested in the Fog City, where the economy was already extremely depressed, in just one month, and there was only one consequence - a catastrophic disaster.
Yes, the Fog City has completely collapsed now.
Because all those who sold their properties to Leslie moved away with the money...
They exchanged their money-losing industries for cash, purchased large quantities of daily necessities without regard for the consequences, and then fled the Firdsvain - this is human nature, which businessman would be willing to stay in a place with a depressed economy and frequent tax increases?
Most people fled to the inland Sarleon because the sea was unsafe. Pirate lords on the verge of bankruptcy were looking for fat sheep everywhere. Even King Vidis's own fleet resumed its old business on the sea.
These people's large-scale purchases of daily necessities and their escape after the purchases directly led to the complete destruction of the already bleak business in Wulong City.
inflation.
The grain prices in Wulong City were already ridiculously high, and these people were all business owners from all walks of life. After they received the cash, they bought the remaining grain from various channels at high prices in order to move...
But what happens after they buy it?
There are no daily necessities for sale in the city. There are a lot of dinars, but they are no longer useful...
According to Leslie's report, the price of flour in Fog City has risen to ten dinars per pound, fish and meat start at fifty dinars per pound, wheat bran can be sold at one dinar per pound, and even a pound of bark can be sold for five dirhams.
This price is seven hundred times the price of grain in Changhe City, and there is still no demand for it.
There is also a shortage of food in other parts of the Firdsvain. There is a war going on in the Firdsvain Bay and the Kingdom of Ravenstern is also at war. In addition, a large number of pirates are patrolling the sea - the pirate lords are also short of food, and they must find fat sheep.
This means that no grain merchants can go to Fog City to rescue the market, because grain cannot enter Fog City at all. As soon as grain is found, it will be snatched away along the way.
King Vidis certainly wanted to save it all, but he missed the winter ploughing last year and now it is difficult to save the situation - he is bankrupt.
This is of course a good time to persuade them to surrender...
Amy had a large amount of food, enough to save Fog City and even the entire Firdsvain.
The two million acres of land she had reclaimed around Sarleon City were now ready for harvesting wheat and corn.
In fact, there are potatoes, but they are not planted in large quantities. However, the "small" here is relatively speaking - many farmers plant them, and the total area is at least 100,000 acres.
The situation Amy encountered was different from that of Lord Dean in Imer Village. If Amy had not required that taxes be paid only in wheat and corn, the farmers would actually be happy to grow more potatoes.
Because Amy had promoted potatoes when she was struggling in Sarleon City two years ago, the farmers already knew the yield of potatoes.
But in order to ensure reliable food reserves, Amy only allows storable grains such as wheat and corn as food taxes - you can grow other crops, but the food taxes must be paid with these two crops.
With two million acres of land, even without counting other places, the national treasury can earn at least 200 million pounds of grain - this is the standard agreed upon by Amy and the farmers. Each acre is taxed at 100 pounds, either dried wheat or corn.
These 200 million pounds are not the total output, but only taxes, which can be used for sale or as surplus grain reserves.
The farmers have enough food. The staff of the Griffin Grain and Oil Purchasing Station sent by Leon have confirmed that the farmers around the Lion City can sell an average of about 500 pounds of food - that is, after paying taxes, minus the next season's planting grain and their own food rations, each household will have an average of 500 pounds of food left.
There are nearly 100,000 farmers, and the average surplus grain per household is 500 pounds per season, which is not much, and most of the time it is not enough for them to repay their agricultural loans.
But no matter what, at least they have enough food and clothing.
This also means that after the farmers dry the grain, Leon's grain and oil company will be able to purchase 50 million pounds of grain from the surrounding areas of Lieshi City at a fair price, which is also surplus grain.
The price is indeed quite low. The purchase price of 50 million pounds of grain is about 500,000 dinars, which is one dinar for one hundred pounds.
Because the price of food in Long River City and Sarleon City is also cheap, flour and corn meal are currently priced at the same level. One dinar plus four dirhams (1.4 dinars) can buy one hundred pounds of flour.
One hundred pounds of wheat or corn can produce about seventy pounds of flour or cornmeal, which is about one dinar.
That is to say, even if farmers do not sell to the "state-owned purchasing station", they can still get the same price if they sell it in the city, and they have to find a place to grind the flour themselves.
The harvest in other places was not so good, because the insect pests in the areas around the Noldor Forest were indeed very serious this year. With the coordination and transportation of Changhe Express, self-sufficiency could be generally guaranteed.
Only places like the Beibu Gulf can still provide some grain taxes, but the exact amount is uncertain.
This is the difference between overall industrial development and the layered increase in aristocratic territories - the 300,000 people under Amy's unified management can bring 250 million pounds of food reserves to the country, but the 600,000 people and 450,000 agricultural population in other places may not have surplus food.
Right now, Vidis is trembling in Changhe City.
This is not an adjective, he is really shaking.
On the way to Changhe City, he had seen the endless farmlands around Lieshi City and the farmers busy harvesting.
Now, he saw seven fully-strength legions, totaling 20,000 men, lined up for a military parade outside Changhe City.
He knew that the 'New Pende Empire' that had just been established today lacked nothing.
He could also see that Li Ang was trying to scare him.
In fact, Li Ang didn't say anything. He greeted every guest with a smile. After all, the wedding was right after the military parade, and it would be bad to scare the guests at the wedding...
Look at the petals flying all over the sky, look at the cheering crowd, look at the exquisite carriage carrying Alina slowly approaching - if you don’t look at the Bacchus army behind Alina, what a warm and romantic scene it is!
But when Justus put Alina's hand in Leon's, Leon looked back at the "foreign guests". Not only Vidis, but also Ursula and Gregory IV began to tremble...
So Li Ang asked them, "I heard you are all going bankrupt... do you want to get rich?"
