Volume 10: Our Journey Chapter 328 Good Neighbor (Part 3)
The Dwarf King's questioning plunged the entire meeting room into an awkward silence. Even the Finance Minister, who had been furious before, shut his mouth and sat back in his chair with a frustrated look on his face.
Seeing these capable ministers all wilting like eggplants hit by frost, and no one responding, the dwarf king was furious... But he couldn't help but pass the blame on to others, because at least half of the responsibility for this matter was on his head...
The Western Continent, where strong winds howl all year round and more than 70% of the land is made up of mountains, wastelands and deserts, is not suitable for agricultural development. The Dwarf Kingdom can produce a population of tens of millions, all thanks to several generations of Dwarf Kings who have been diligently caring about farming.
After Xiao Yun published his terrace maintenance and water diversion irrigation techniques in his "Travels on the Continent", the Dwarf King immediately dispatched troops to carry out "military reclamation" in the southern mountainous areas. This was enough to show that the Dwarf King valued tradition in agriculture... These hot-tempered Black Iron Dwarfs are not only good at forging and fighting.
The terraced fields reclaimed in the southern mountainous areas with abundant rainfall have alleviated some of the food shortage problems in the country. The Dwarf King is "grateful" and has provided a certain degree of support to the Snow Wolf Tribe and the grassland tribes from his standpoint. For example, at the "Frank Feast" on the issue of grassland self-reliance, the Dwarf King generously supported the grassland.
But this kind of support is obviously not enough, at least it can't satisfy Xiao Yun, so this guy spent several years slowly weaving a network, taking advantage of the stalemate between the Dwarf Kingdom and the Dark Elves and using a large amount of cheap exported vermicelli to impact the food self-sufficiency rate of the Dwarf Kingdom, which was already at the safety red line...
The Dwarf King is no fool. After importing more than 300 million kilograms of cheap vermicelli from the grassland every year for three consecutive years, he has slowly come to his senses.
What does it mean to produce 300 million kilograms of vermicelli every year? It means that the entire Ironforge (including the surrounding towns and villages) can survive on vermicelli alone, and there is still surplus.
At first glance, it seems like a good thing... However, when a large number of bankrupt farmers around Ironforge flock to the city to make a living, or abandon their fields to work in mines and ironworks, this good thing will change...
"Your Majesty, we need a friendly alliance with the grasslands. We cannot stop trade with the grasslands." Seeing no one speak, the Minister of the Interior cursed these guys in his heart for not knowing how to share the king's worries (taking the blame for the king), so he had to bite the bullet and do it himself, "There are still more than two months before the autumn harvest. If the purchase of grassland vermicelli is interrupted, the entire Ironforge will be affected..."
The Dwarf King's lips twitched slightly. He really wanted to roar: Have the more than 200 million vermicelli purchased in the first half of the year been consumed? Can't even make it to the autumn harvest? !
However, he knew what was going on. He was also aware that the vermicelli sent from the grassland was not only consumed by Ironforge... If you could just resell the vermicelli at seven copper coins a pound, you could make at least 20% profit. Compared with other industries, reselling vermicelli was a huge profit - and if he made a mandatory requirement not to allow anyone to make a profit from vermicelli, then even if he was the king, his words would be ignored by many people.
Moreover… no matter how much the Dwarf King was unwilling to admit, in the new industry chain of “reselling vermicelli”, the Ironforge Royal Court, or he himself, was actually the biggest dealer. This batch of imported vermicelli was not all settled with coins. About 70% of the transactions were settled with minerals (i.e. iron ingots). From the purchase of iron ingots by the mine to the delivery to the grassland people, and then to the vermicelli exchanged for iron ingots into the “treasury”, the Dwarf King himself made a lot of money…
Otherwise, how could the Dwarf King have been so well-off in the past two years? He had fought with the Dark Elves for so many years, and although he had indeed seized the mineral veins, the war had also consumed a lot of resources!
The king (landlord) doesn’t have any surplus food!
It was impossible to get the Dwarf King to admit that he had a grudge. Since the Minister of the Interior was so tactful and tried to save his face, he could only ignore the issue of the vermicelli's whereabouts and... blame others. He stared at them and asked knowingly, "There weren't so many vermicelli before, and Ironforge's food supply was not so tight. What's going on?"
The Minister of the Interior heaved a sigh of relief, and naturally followed the King's wishes, casting a disapproving look at the Minister of Affairs.
Minister of State: “…” I have a question: MMP, but I don’t know whether I should say it or not?!
There was nothing he could do. The blame had fallen on him. Whether he wanted to take it or not was not something he could change by his own will. The Minister of Affairs pinched his nose and admitted, "This is all because the land around Ironforge is seriously abandoned. Since... the famine three years ago, the output of the land has been difficult to improve. Many farmers' families can no longer support themselves and have to give up farming, or go to the mines to find another way to make a living, or move into the city..."
The Minister of Affairs was also very smart. He didn't mention the problem of cheap vermicelli flooding the market, which led to the bankruptcy of many low-income farmers, especially those around Ironforge. He simply attributed it all to the famine three years ago...
"With no one cultivating the land and fields left idle, food will naturally become less and less sufficient." The Home Secretary chimed in at the right moment, expressing an attitude of "not the fault of the war" with a sigh on his face.
The military minister who had remained silent the whole time realized something was wrong - because the Dwarf King was very strong and good at fighting, and he always led the army in person, the military minister of the Dwarf Kingdom was basically a human-shaped stamp - why did it seem like the blame was going to fall on him? !
It must be said that this military minister who had never had much presence in the kingdom's cabinet was very perceptive, or he knew their king well enough. As soon as he had a bad premonition, he saw their king turned to look at him, with a look of anger on his face...
Military Minister: “…” I have an MMP, but I don’t dare to say it.
Next, the Dwarf King expressed his deep sorrow over the abandonment of farmland in the core area of the kingdom, and sternly requested the military minister to organize a militia, reclaim the abandoned land, and carry out military reclamation.
The military minister, with a look of regret on his face, could only reluctantly carry this heavy and big flying pot.
After going around in circles to deal with the issue of "who is responsible for the vermicelli collars in the hands of the grassland people, and who should take the blame now that the kingdom cannot refuse the grassland people", these Black Iron dwarfs once again faced the question of whether to pay money, or no, whether paying money would be more face-saving.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer voiced his opposition from the very beginning, not because he was stupid or too straightforward, but because he instinctively did not want to get involved in such an unprecedented "risk investment" with unknown potential risks - after all, he was in charge of the money, and if he did not make his opposition clear from the beginning, the Dwarf King would definitely hold him accountable.
"The more you do, the more mistakes you make, and doing nothing is no mistake", "Don't release the eagle until you see the rabbit", these common officialdom practices are not unique to the human officialdom... The Dwarf King will definitely not take the blame, he doesn't want to end up like the Military Minister!
The Minister of Finance was unwilling to get involved, but the Minister of the Interior, who was helping the Dwarf King to save his reputation, seemed to have a different opinion. He took the initiative to say, "I think the Snow Wolf Tribe is smart and will not do a business that loses money. Since the grassland products flowed out of the Northern Continent, they have never lost in the confrontation with the monster Lamia Chamber of Commerce. I don't think the invitation from the grassland people this time is necessarily a bad thing."
The dwarf king looked at the Minister of the Interior with satisfaction. In fact, he was particularly attracted by the phrase "making money with money" described in Xiao Yun's letter... Otherwise, he would not have mentioned the reality that "the kingdom cannot say no to the grassland" at the beginning, which would damage his face. To put it bluntly, he didn't want these ministers to waste time on the boring question of whether to pay or not (he wouldn't take the blame anyway), but he needed someone to take the initiative to take responsibility for the kingdom's property.
For humans, 500,000 gold coins might just be the family assets of a great noble, but for the impoverished Dwarf Kingdom, it is really tight to pay such a sum of money - it is true that the Dark Iron Dwarves have mines at home, but given the extremely poor infrastructure (transportation) conditions in this world, cashing in is a big problem.
"According to the operation mode of the International Joint-Stock Commercial Bank described by Sage Ayun, this kind of organization that gathers a large amount of cash... well, the profit method seems to be to lend different amounts of gold coins to individuals or groups, and make profits in the form of annual interest and monthly interest, which is similar to the lending of the Human Chamber of Commerce..."
The Minister of the Interior began to explain what he knew about human lending. This dwarf minister, who had made a small fortune in vermicelli trading, was obviously very concerned about the world outside the Dwarf Kingdom. He knew all about the capital profit model of the Human Kingdom, which even the Dwarf King did not know much about. After introducing the most profitable industry in the Human World, the old man's eyes sparkled and he breathed heavily, "If Sage Ayun can invite the Elf King to participate, and with my King, then we can believe without a doubt that this bank will definitely be the most profitable organization in the entire continent, far exceeding the Lamia Chamber of Commerce!"
Whether it is venture capital or lending, the biggest risk is the appearance of bad debts that cannot be recovered. With two half-gods in charge, the Minister of the Interior can't think of this continent, no, which organization or individual in this world dares to borrow money and not pay it back!
The dwarf king was confused...
The dwarf king, who was extremely talented in military and personal strength, obviously did not understand business. He could calculate the profit of reselling vermicelli only because this matter was closely related to his kingdom and the wealth he could control. After listening for a long time, he only understood one sentence: lending money to others and collecting interest is the most profitable business in the world.
"Then why would anyone borrow money from this... bank?" The Dwarf King looked confused. "According to what you said, the monthly interest rate is 1%. If I borrow ten gold coins, I have to pay back eleven gold coins. Who would be so stupid?"
The Minister of the Interior didn't understand this either, but he had a mysterious confidence in the grassland people. He smiled and said, "This is the grassland people's business, Your Majesty."
The dwarf king suddenly realized something, and laughed while clapping his hands on the armrests: "That's right, whether or not to make money is the business of the grassland people, what does it have to do with us? We just have to pay the money and wait for the dividends!"
Dark Iron Dwarves, reach a consensus.
On the other hand, the invitation letter sent to the Elf King was brought back to the Ice and Snow King City by Selina, a blatant "spy" who had been squatting on the grassland for a long time.
The Elf King, who met Selina in the study, read the letter written by Mr. Sean and immediately asked a question: "Did the Snow Wolf Man also send the invitation letter to the Beast King?"
Selina was not surprised that the Elf King would ask this. When she mentioned this, her expression was hard to describe: "Yes, I sent it to the Moon Bear Tribe to exchange for the captured General Bazel."
The Elf King laughed, shook the letter, and shook his head slightly: "This sage Ayun..."
Selina herself is very beautiful, and the Elf King with a bright smile (er...) can't stun her. The snow elf lieutenant said with a helpless smile: "You asked me to observe Sage Ayun more, but I really want to say... Although I have known him for many years and even know what he likes to eat, I still can't understand this person - really, I have no idea what's going on in his mind. He just 'annihilated' the 8,000 white bear army sent by the Beast King, and in the blink of an eye he sent a letter to ask others if they want to do business together. I can't imagine how the Beast King will react to receiving the invitation."
The Elf King is a person who doesn't have a good face when facing stupid [beep——] and people he doesn't like. For example, when facing the Beast King directly, or when facing the old dragon Austin, he is very cold and arrogant.
But he would be quite easy-going and friendly to people he recognized, such as the Elf Queen Otilia, and the young lieutenant Selena, whom he thought had a promising future .
"The Beast King is very likely to join." The Elf King chuckled and put away the letter. "After many failed expeditions to the grassland, the Beast King now has only two choices. One is to ignore the civil unrest in the Far East and conquer the grassland at all costs, and the other is to admit defeat and solve the internal affairs of the Far East first. Compared with these two choices, it is undoubtedly much more practical to pretend to be generous and accept the "reconciliation request" issued by the grassland people and find another opportunity to retaliate and save face."
Whether the Beast King could take or be willing to give up 500,000 gold coins was a stupid question that was not within the Elf King's consideration at all. Firstly, the Beast King did not have to pay for the money himself, and secondly, the Beast King was absolutely confident that he could get the money back intact. It was just a "temporary deposit", so there was no need to worry about gains and losses.
Selina thought about it and was surprised. "So that's how it is... showing one's strength and then offering the enemy a ladder is also a way to resolve... relieve the crisis." After a pause, the snow elf lieutenant said thoughtfully, "The Beast King needs time to resolve the Far East issue, and the grassland also needs time to digest the surrendered population. Next, the war between the grassland and the Far East will enter... um, a stalemate?"
"Their war is not over, it's just entering the preparation stage." The Elf King smiled and said, "If the Beast King still regarded the grassland as 'uncontrollable rebels' before, then after these years of fighting, the Beast King should also understand that these orcs on the grassland are challenging his crown. He did not eliminate the crisis in the bud at the beginning. Now, if he wants to eradicate the enemy, he must and can only strike with all his strength."
Selina understood. The Snow Elf Lieutenant was not surprised by what the Elf King said about the ambitions of the grassland orcs. She witnessed with her own eyes how the Fire City received and transformed the Far Eastern prisoners of war. Even if Xiao Yun had never admitted it and only said nice things, she would not think that Xiao Yun had no ambitions at all.
At this moment, Selena was concerned about the Elf King's unfulfilled intentions - obviously, in the Elf King's view, for the current Beast King, "a full-force attack" is a very difficult task.
"So, we did help the grassland people a lot." Selina was tangled, "Why didn't we ask Ayun for a benefit at that time? If we go to that guy now, he will definitely not admit it."
If it weren't for the great efforts of the Snow Elves' spies, how could Primo have exported revolution so efficiently in the Far East with just the limited manpower they had?
The Elf King looked at the junior kindly and said, "It seems that you like that Snow Wolf Man Sage very much."
"It's not that I like or dislike him, I just can't ignore that guy." Selina said with a complicated expression.
The Elf King smiled slightly, and said meaningfully: "It is not just this Snow Wolf Clan Sage who you care about that cannot be ignored."
It is no secret that the Elf King likes to be alone. After Selena finished her report and got the king's consent, she took her leave and went to the financial officer to apply for funds.
The Snow Elves are a race that looks delicate but is actually very stubborn. The Ice and Snow Kingdom's work style is quite "reckless", and whoever is in charge must be responsible for the matter to the end. In other words, Selina, an officer , will have full authority to manage the 500,000 gold coins allocated by the Ice and Snow Kingdom from now on... It is completely different from the Dwarf Kingdom.
After completing a series of formalities and returning to her residence to see her family, Selina suddenly realized how much content was contained in Wang's last sentence.
No matter what the inside story or the truth of the grassland's "self-defense counterattack war" is, the grassland people have "eliminated" tens of thousands of Far Eastern troops one after another, and this ironclad fact cannot be erased.
Not to mention the Beast King who had vague intelligence, even the Elf King who knew everything about this ridiculous "battle" did not think that the current grassland kingdom could be easily wiped off the map - the astonishing production capacity and foreign trade density (as well as the efficiency of digesting prisoners of war/surrendered people) reflected the internal organization and mobilization capabilities beyond conventional understanding. If one wants to eliminate, no, just want to defeat such an enemy, one must be prepared to suffer huge financial losses and sacrifice countless young soldiers.
Not to mention that the western dwarf king has a vermicelli collar woven by the grassland people on his neck. If pressed to the limit, the grassland people can borrow soldiers from the western continent... As long as the grassland people are willing to pay the price, the dwarf king will definitely come over with a hammer...
As for borrowing a passage from the Elf Forest, it is not a problem at all. If the grassland people are willing to pay enough benefits, the forest elves may not even need the Dwarf King and can just roll up their sleeves and go...
"Unconsciously, the grassland tribe has become an existence that the entire Bloomfield continent cannot ignore." Thinking clearly about the reason, Selina sighed and missed, "It's hard to imagine... Less than ten years ago, Fire City was just a small tribe that was not even as good as the Tiger Tribe's royal court."
Selina was one of the first snow elves to come into contact with the Fire Department. At that time, she was just a non-commissioned officer, and she led a few soldiers on patrol missions. She got into a fight with Balk, Qingyan, Yugu and the others, and her right arm was almost bitten off by Balk...
At that time, Ayun was still very thin. Selina remembered that he was shorter than the frightened Snow Wolf Cub... Wait, it seems that Ayun has not caught up with Yangmao's height over the years. He is still shorter than Yangmao...
