Volume 2: Empire Chapter 65: The Land of Plenty
What to change?
Queen Christina didn't say it, but Luke could understand some of it.
Sitting on the ceremony stage and watching Dai'er dancing below, she was dignified and elegant, as quiet as a holy sculpture, but her heart longed to fly away from here and become the free Jasmine Xiang.
Sinclair, who was dancing happily with the noble lady on the dance floor, was handsome and free and easy, showing his royal temperament and being flattered by the people around him, but he actually didn't care about the throne and just wanted to be a general commanding thousands of troops.
And Agatha, who was hiding somewhere unknown, took action early in order to escape her fate.
The ideological changes triggered by the times are first reflected in this generation of young people. Unlike their parents, they are not conservative and pedantic, and are no longer willing to accept the fate imposed on them. They will think and then fight!
Christina's heart is not as cold as she appears to be. Instead, she is as passionate and energetic as her age.
Conquering this fierce horse has always been regarded by players as a high-difficulty plot challenge.
Luke said to Christina, "Speaking of change, it suddenly occurred to me that the land of Luthien Bay is a blessed and fertile land. The climate there is suitable and very conducive to the growth of crops. No matter what you plant, you can get a much higher yield than other places."
The Kingdom of Lucien is located on a peninsula southeast of the Golden Shield Empire. The land there is fertile, the climate is suitable, and the land is blessed by an unknown great power, making it very suitable for farming.
The Golden Shield Empire has experienced various turmoils in its history, but there has never been a large-scale famine, all because of the existence of the Kingdom of Lucien.
Christina didn't know what Luke meant by suddenly talking about Luthien Bay, so she said, "It is the good fortune of Luthien to receive the blessing of the God of Harvest."
But it was unfortunate for the people of Lusien to be surrounded by the Golden Shield Empire, which was full of martial virtues. In order to maintain the independence of the kingdom, the Kingdom of Lusien had to pay tribute to the Golden Shield Empire every year, and also had to marry marriages from time to time in exchange for its agricultural products to enter the international market.
Luke said, "I know that the Kingdom of Lucien has a lot of surplus food every year. With the use of industrial machinery to cultivate farmland, Lucien's food production capacity is increasing year by year. Even if Lucien vigorously develops animal husbandry and winemaking, it cannot consume all the surplus food. Instead, it has caused a surplus of meat products, cheese, fruit and wine."
Christina said with approval: "I just talked about this with MacDonald. My father hopes that more of Lucien's agricultural products will enter the imperial market, but the cabinet does not want to see Lucien's agricultural products impact the price of the imperial market.
There are also storage issues with many perishable foods, which means they cannot be transported for long periods of time.”
Luke asked, "Is there a map of Luthien Bay?"
Christina realized something and said immediately, "Yes, I'll ask someone to get it right away. Can I ask McDonald to come and sit in on the trial? I've been away from Lusien for a long time, and he knows the current situation there better than I do."
"Of course! To make money in Lusien Bay, of course the Lusien royal family needs to be involved."
After a while, McDonald came over very stiffly. He was no longer as arrogant as before. It was obvious that he was frightened by the way Luke had just ordered Sinclair around.
Christina lectured her brother, "Lucien Bay is isolated from information, and you don't know how fast the world is changing. This trip is a chance for you to broaden your horizons. Governor Meteorite is not someone you can offend. Apologize to him."
Although MacDonald was reluctant to apologize to a small lord as a prince, since both the grandson Sinclair and the queen were so respectful to this peer, he had no choice but to bow to Luke and said, "I'm sorry, Governor Meteorite."
Luke could tell that McDonald was not comfortable with his status, but he didn't mind. He was just a country prince who had never seen the world.
"I forgive you. Please sit down. Her Majesty the Queen and I were just discussing agricultural products from the Kingdom of Ruth'en. There are some matters that require your decision."
MacDonald sat down with a puzzled look on his face. The servant had already found a map and spread it on the table between the three of them.
The Kingdom of Luthien has only one land neighbor, the Golden Shield Empire. The entire territory of the kingdom is on the peninsula, which bends northward to form the Luthien Gulf with the coastline of the empire.
The peninsula is flat, and more than 70% of the land is arable. Agricultural product exports are the main source of income for the Kingdom of Lusien. However, as industrialization sweeps the world, the Kingdom of Lusien, which relies on agriculture, is not living as comfortably as before.
The decline in agricultural product prices and the inability to sell agricultural products have become the biggest headaches for the Kingdom of Lucien.
Luke pointed at the map and said to Queen Christina and Prince MacDonald, "The northernmost Pearl Port of the Kingdom of Lucien is 750 kilometers away from Raging Waves City, which is nearly one-third shorter than the land distance.
As far as I know...Lucien's wine is of very good quality because of the special grains you produce there, but it can't be sold at a good price due to the lack of commercial operations. However, some wineries in Nutao City transport bulk wine from Pearl Harbor, repackage it and put their own labels on it, so they can sell it at several times the price."
Prince MacDonald opened his eyes and mouth wide, he could not imagine that there was such an operation in the world. Moreover, most of the wineries in the Kingdom of Lusien were royal properties, and they always exploited others. Who would want to be exploited more by others?
This was obviously the first time Queen Christina had heard of this kind of middleman making a profit from the price difference. She asked Luke, "Is there really anyone who buys wine at several times the premium?"
Luke said, "The world market is expanding too fast, and the inequality in information has created countless business opportunities that can be used to make money. Raging Waves City is an international city facing the whole world, and many companies make money by taking advantage of the information gap."
Prince MacDonald immediately asked, "Can we raise the price of wine and make more money?"
Luke smiled and said, "If the Kingdom of Lucien is only a wine supplier, it has no right to set prices. Those who control the sales end can make your wine the price of water at any time.
If you want to make money, you must first enter the Raging Waves City market."
Christina said: "This will probably harm the interests of many people in Raging Waves City. Does the Kingdom of Lucien need to agree to any conditions?"
In order to prevent the food from the Kingdom of Lucien from impacting the imperial market, the Cross Society has been restricting the entry of food from Lucien through cabinet decrees. Therefore, the Kingdom of Lucien has no bargaining power over food prices and can only earn hard-earned money.
The same goes for wine.
If the wine of the Kingdom of Lusien could be directly connected to the world market through the City of Raging Waves, it would inevitably affect the interests of many people. Christina knew that Meteorite would never be so kind, and he would not offend his own people without sufficient benefits.
But Luke said, "Don't worry, there are no additional terms for this kind of cooperation."
Christina didn't believe it: "How are you going to explain to your people?"
Luke smiled and replied, "For an individual, speculation can create huge wealth in the short term, but it is not a good thing for the development of a region. Making money by taking advantage of information inequality is just a time difference. Over time, the wine buyers will eventually find the Kingdom of Lucien.
At that time, Nutao City would lose a revenue, the local wine industry would be hit, and the Kingdom of Lucien would have no bargaining power when facing international bulk wine merchants. In the end, a good hand of cards was ruined, and the money was earned by others!
The Kingdom of Lucien and the City of Nutao have a healthy cooperation in the wine industry. We have the supply, the market, the fastest information flow, and a professional marketing team. We can adjust the production capacity of different wines according to market changes, and we can formulate the most favorable sales plan for us by virtue of our dominant position in the market.
Even after the wine cooperation model is successful, we can add other agricultural products of the Kingdom of Lucien into this cooperation.
The world's demand for food and wine will only grow in the future. I will not give up a mountain of gold for the sake of a small profit for a small number of people."
McDonald looked at Christina. It was obvious that Luke's plan was too big and he was a little confused.
After becoming the queen, Christina's horizons were broadened because she had stepped out of the closed kingdom. During this period, she had heard a lot about the economic miracle that was happening in Raging Wave City, and all of this was inseparable from Meteorite's control and management of the city.
If the wine and agricultural products of the Kingdom of Lucien could really form a solid commercial entity with the City of Raging Waves as Meteorite said, it would surely bring previously unimaginable wealth to the kingdom.
Christina said to MacDonald, "I think this is a good opportunity to improve the economic plight of Lucien Bay. You should stay with Governor Meteorite these days, forget your identity as a prince, and learn from the Governor.
I will write to my father and tell him about the wine business cooperation with Raging Wave City."
"Okay, Sister Christina... No, as you command, Your Majesty the Queen."
Christina then said to Luke: "The Kingdom of Lusien is very closed, and I am afraid that we can't find anyone who can deal with international commodity trade. I will ask Nutao City to do more for the cooperation.
I promise that the simple benefactor Ruth will provide you with the best quality wine. "
Luke is not satisfied with just a wine business cooperation, he is eyeing the agriculture of the entire Lucien Bay area.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the business affairs can be left to Raging Waves City. I will notify Senator Ibul and organize a business team to go to the Kingdom of Lucien to discuss the establishment of a joint company.
Including grain and other agricultural products, all can be included in the company's business projects and plans can be made in advance.
However, the maritime trade between Raging Waves City and Lucien Bay will surely increase rapidly in the future, and Pearl Harbor may not be able to provide sufficient throughput. "
Christina asked MacDonald, "Is Pearl Harbor still the same?"
McDonald said helplessly: "Except for fishermen, there are not many ships entering and leaving Pearl Harbor, and we don't have the money to expand and repair Pearl Harbor."
If ships cannot enter the port, goods cannot be shipped out, and no matter how profitable the business is, it will not be your turn to earn it.
Luke said at this time: "Raging Waves City can invest in building a brand new port for the Kingdom of Lucien, and can also invest in building a new highway that runs through the peninsula."
McDonald looked at Luke in shock. His entire kingdom was reluctant to spend money to repair the port, but you opened your mouth and invested in building a new one, and also added a highway that runs through the peninsula.
I heard that Nutao City is rich. Is it really that rich?
"You're going to build us a port and a road?"
Looking at McDonald's expression, Luke could only sigh that the country prince was ignorant and didn't know the dimensional gap between agricultural society and industrial society.
“Just a port and a road.”
That’s all!
All MacDonald could say was, "Thank you, Governor, you are so rich!"
Luke said arrogantly: "Money is just a number to me. Only when everyone can make money can I feel a sense of accomplishment.
Do you want to make more money?"
"Yes!" McDonald said without hesitation.
"Okay...Raging Waves City can invest in the animal husbandry industry of the Kingdom of Lucien and use your surplus grain to raise cattle, sheep, and pigs. Raging Waves City can invest in building a milk powder factory, a cheese factory, a textile factory, a weaving factory, and a meat processing factory for you.
I know that Miss Qingkong has developed a secret technique that can sterilize food while keeping it fresh at a very low cost. Her secret technique development team has also used this technology to successfully produce sealed canned food, called canned food.
The meat, vegetables and fruits in cans can be stored for more than ten years without spoiling.
Raging Waves City can invest in building the world’s first canned food production factory in Pearl Harbor.”
No matter how country bumpkin MacDonald was, he knew that the governor in front of him was throwing money at him.
The biggest problem in the Kingdom of Lucien is that there are too many agricultural products. If they cannot be sold or eaten, it will cause a huge waste, especially meat, milk, vegetables and fruits.
As long as the problem of food storage is solved, it will be possible to engage in long-distance maritime trade and sell goods to places where they can make money.
McDonald was so shocked that he didn't know how to express his excitement. Fortunately, Queen Christina remained calm. She asked Luke, "These investments are a huge sum of money. How does the Kingdom of Lusien need to repay them?"
Luke could sense Christina's vigilance. She must still think that there was no such thing as a free bargain, and that these investments must have strict additional terms.
Luke replied: "The Investment Office of the Government Affairs Office of Raging Waves City will calculate the detailed investment amount and formulate a debt repayment plan that you can accept based on the income of the Kingdom of Lucien.
These are all profitable businesses, and I am not worried at all that the Kingdom of Lucien will not be able to pay back the money."
Christina looked at Luke and asked again, "There are really no other terms."
Luke shrugged. "You are the Queen of the Empire, I am the Minister of the Empire, and the Kingdom of Lusien is a vassal state of the Empire. If you want to add any additional terms to these investments, that is your business."
I am only responsible for making money for you.”
Christina couldn't see through Luke's thoughts. Although she believed that there was definitely more to these investments than just making money, she couldn't figure out what benefits Luke could get from them other than money.
I have to admit that this investment plan is really good!
It will allow the Kingdom of Lucien to enjoy the true richness of this rich land.
Christina raised her glass and said, "The Kingdom of Lusien welcomes you."
Luke clinked glasses with Christina: "Thank you, Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to work with you!"
The closed Kingdom of Luthen was pried open, and the capital controlled by Luke was about to launch a dimensionality reduction attack on this agricultural country beyond its cognition.
