Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 142 The King's New Deal
After Luke officially took office as the King of Dragon Country, he set up his ruling team as quickly as possible. But he soon discovered that the situation in Dragon Country was more serious than he had imagined.
After a thousand years without a king to rule, the dragons were completely scattered, and their innate laziness caused the entire dragon civilization to degenerate. The entire social structure was even looser than that of the barbarians in the western border of the empire, and their creativity was almost completely lost.
It can be said that the thousand years after the war were a complete blank period for the Dragon Nation. Even the magic that dragons excelled at, the research on it was almost stagnant.
The Dragon Kingdom is completely living off its past success, and the improvement of its national strength is entirely based on the increase in the number of giant dragons. However, even King Tyron and King Seir have no idea how many giant dragons the Dragon Kingdom has now.
There is no reference material, no top-down governance system, no treasury belonging to the Dragon Kingdom, and no education system for young dragons...
Now that Luke is the king of Dragon Kingdom, he has nothing.
And being stared at by so many longans.
He just felt that he was in a dilemma.
They are already so poor, I really don't know where the dragons ' arrogance comes from?
If it weren't for the fact that he had some experience in governance as the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, he probably wouldn't know where to start to rectify the situation if a new leader came to power.
The first thing is taxation!
King Peak issued a one-time tax order to all dragons in the Dragon Kingdom, requiring all dragons to hand over one tenth of the treasures in their dragon nests to the Dragon Kingdom’s treasury.
Luke knew it wouldn't be easy to dig treasure out of a dragon's claws, so he followed this one-time tax order with an explanation.
This taxation order was derived from the "Treasure Nationalization Order" implemented by the Dragon Kingdom during ancient wars. During wars, all dragons no longer have private treasures, and all treasures belong to the Dragon Kingdom and are used for war needs.
The one-time tax order only requires the dragons to hand over one-tenth of their private treasures, and the Dragon Kingdom will no longer levy taxes on the dragons.
Part of the tax collected this time will be used to rebuild the Dragon Magic Cliff of Dragon Kingdom and reopen the magic research belonging to dragons; part will be used to build the Magic Academy of Dragon Kingdom so that all young dragons can receive the most systematic and formal education; part will be used to invest in the business of Emerald Forest and obtain the necessary resources for Dragon Kingdom through the now prosperous world trade.
If there is any money left over, it will be used to arm the King's dragon army.
Luke particularly emphasized that taxation is to cope with the crisis that the Dragon Kingdom will face in the future. All dragons who actively pay taxes can get priority access to the Dragon Kingdom’s subsequent welfare and support policies.
After the one-time taxation order was issued, it quickly received a response from the dragons who supported the Taotie King.
In the past, it was almost impossible to move treasures out of a dragon's lair. Collecting and storing treasures was a dragon's special hobby.
However, the gradual chaos in the world allowed the dragons to re-elect their king after a thousand years. They must know which is more important, the current strength of the Dragon Kingdom or their own treasures.
Moreover, the Taotie King only collected one tenth of the tax and promised not to collect taxes in the future.
So after a period of busy work, the king's dragon's nest was filled with treasures.
Now that I have money, I can do a lot of things.
Luke first wrote a letter to Agatha, asking the Empire to find a way to cash in on the various treasures it had received, and then purchase on its behalf all kinds of supplies that Dragon Country was most in need of.
Then he wrote a letter to the Three-Leaf King of the Emerald Forest, asking the forest elves to help Dragon Kingdom rebuild the Magic Cliff; asking the Emerald Magic Academy to help Dragon Kingdom build the Dragon Magic Academy; asking Emerald Lake to send a trade advisory group to Dragon Kingdom to discuss how to create Dragon Kingdom's trade advantage projects.
Finally, he wrote letters to the Golden Civilization, Angel Civilization, Hell Civilization, and Shadow Civilization, informing them that the Dragon Kingdom had a new king and that he was willing to maintain harmonious relations with all ancient civilizations. In particular, in the letter to the Shadow Civilization, Luke strongly expressed his hope to be invited to visit the Shadow Civilization.
After sending out several important letters, Luke ordered the formation of a giant dragon world tour group. He wanted to express to the world that Dragon Country was ready to actively integrate into the current world system and participate in world trade activities.
The machine of Dragon Country, which had been inactive for a thousand years, finally started to move under Luke's day and night operation. However, various sedimentation problems were gradually exposed with this movement.
Luke put almost all his energy into governing the Dragon Kingdom, and his daily life was even more stressful than in the Empire.
Although the Prime Minister of the Empire has a lot of work to do, the Imperial Court has a complete bureaucratic system. Luke sometimes disappears for several months, and the Empire's government system can still operate normally. In the Dragon Kingdom, if the Taotie King is not in the King's Dragon Nest for a day, everything will come to a standstill.
For this reason, Luke had to write to Agatha again, saying that he might have to wait a while before returning to the Empire...
Luke was busy working for the Dragon Kingdom.
The information about the Dragon Kingdom was gradually improved, and then he discovered that those Dragon Kings who did not support him were also integrating their forces.
They even followed their own example, issuing tax orders to the dragons they controlled, establishing a ruling system, and expanding their military power.
For a moment, Longguo seemed to have entered the Spring and Autumn Period.
As the legitimate king of the Dragon Kingdom, King Taotie controls about 40% of the land and dragons of the Dragon Kingdom, while the other 60% is ruled by dragon kings who do not support him.
Forty percent may seem like a lot, but King Taotie has no roots in the Dragon Kingdom. This forty percent is actually controlled by the Dragon Kings, who may abandon their king at any time.
The only things Luke actually owns are probably the Twilight Dragon and King's Peak.
In order to strengthen the strength of his own group, Luke actively tried to attract the small dragons to join his group of king dragons. He even set his sights on the wild dragons that he had previously looked down upon, and picked the best from the worst to fill in his group of king dragons.
The days passed by one after another, and Luke's group of king dragons expanded from seven twilight dragons to thirty-five dragons. After the Dragon King Trial was over, King's Peak was finally surrounded by dragons again.
One day, Luke received a message.
The visiting delegation from the Golden Shield Empire landed in Jinjing Town and requested King Taotie to allow them to enter the country and go to King's Peak to pay a visit to the King of Dragon Kingdom.
The leader of the Golden Shield Empire delegation is... Princess Agatha Augustine.
Luke was delighted to hear that Agatha had come.
The accident with the Dragon King meant that Luke had not seen Agatha for more than three months. He could not help but think of her in his busy life.
So Luke immediately gave an order to allow the Golden Shield Empire delegation to enter the country, and sent the black dragon Bale to lead a team of giant dragons to greet them.
Just when Luke was looking forward to Agatha's arrival, another piece of news came.
The Three-Leaf King of the Emerald Forest has led a delegation to land in Dragon Kingdom and will soon arrive at King's Peak to pay tribute to the new King of Dragon Kingdom.
Judging from the time, King Sanye should be here, but he comes at a wrong time.
There was no choice, Luke could only meet with the Golden Shield Empire delegation and the Emerald Forest delegation at the same time.
King's Peak is covered with snow and ice, and cold winds howl through the mountains all year round.
In the king's dragon's lair in the ice, Luke sat on the throne in the middle, human-shaped twilight dragons stood on both sides of the throne, and dragons surrounded him on the ice platform.
In front of the throne were Agatha, the eldest princess of the Golden Shield Empire, and the Three-Leaf King of the Emerald Forest who came to visit.
Agatha was wearing a white ermine coat, her long golden hair tied into a bun, and a princess crown, looking elegant and graceful.
She knew that King's Peak was the highest mountain in Dragon Country, covered with ice and snow all year round, but she didn't expect the climate here to be worse than she imagined. The air was thin, the temperature was cold, and it was open air, with no servants to take care of it.
After the surprise of her husband becoming the King of Dragon Kingdom, Agatha was filled with heartache when she arrived at the King's Dragon's Lair.
If the Three-Leaf King of the Emerald Forest had not been standing by, she would have rushed over and hugged her husband.
Agatha, who was in charge of the Imperial Secret Service, did not reveal her true feelings. She saluted King Taotie according to etiquette and expressed the purpose of her visit to the Dragon Kingdom.
The Golden Shield Empire wants to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Dragon Kingdom, exchange diplomatic personnel, open up the markets of both countries, and carry out more economic and trade cooperation.
At the same time, Longguo requested to join the free trade body.
This was something that the two of them had discussed while cuddling together, and Luke could only give a very formal response.
"As the king of Dragon Country, I am actively promoting Dragon Country's integration into the current world. It is my wish to establish friendly relations with countries around the world. However, the Golden Shield Empire and the Shining Gold people are at odds. As a civilization that existed at the same time as the Shining Gold civilization, the Dragon Civilization does not want to get involved in a meaningless dispute. After all, the Dragon Civilization and the Shining Gold civilization have an unpleasant history, and too much contact may lead to accidents.
Therefore, it is inconvenient for Dragon Country to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Golden Shield Empire, but this does not hinder our cooperation and exchanges in trade.
Jinjing Town is the window for communication between our two countries. It would be even better if the Golden Shield Empire could crack down on crime in Jinjing Town."
Luke made his point very clear.
Now that I am the king of Dragon Kingdom, does the Empire still care about the overt diplomatic relations?
It is not appropriate for the Dragon Kingdom to directly anger the Sparkling Gold People now. A relationship that is not made clear is more in line with the interests of both the Empire and the Dragon Kingdom.
Agatha could understand what Luke meant. She also knew that the Empire and Dragon Kingdom were now a family. It would be interesting to hide this relationship and work together to trick the Golden Talent.
These were just Agatha's excuses for coming to Dragon Country, and of course, they were just for show in front of the Golden People.
Agatha said immediately: "What a pity! The Golden Shield Empire always welcomes further development of its relationship with the Dragon Kingdom.
This time, I brought a trade team with me, hoping to have on-site trade negotiations with Longguo.”
Luke replied: "Of course I welcome doing business. I have several good trade cooperation projects that I can discuss with Her Royal Highness the Princess.
Of course, the Emerald Forest is indispensable.”
Hearing that he was being talked about, King Sanye immediately saluted Luke.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to ascend the throne and become the King of Dragon Country so soon. Thank you for helping the forest elves in the Headhunter War. The forest elves are willing to fully support all your policies.
This time I brought the elf you requested."
King Sanye's support for the Taotie Kingdom comes from the heart.
During the Headhunters' War, King Sanye had a great liking for this special Dragon King, and this Dragon King understood the current world.
In fact, after the news of the Dragon King's trial reached the Emerald Forest, King Sanye was worried about who would become the new King of Dragon Kingdom.
If the elected king interferes too much with the forest elves, it will inevitably cause great harm to the Emerald Forest.
Fortunately, the Dragon Kingdom was lucky enough to choose King Taotie as its king.
The letter that King Taotie wrote to himself after he ascended the throne also shows that this is a king who is very clear about the direction of the world. The Dragon Kingdom will soon become a force that can influence the world, which is a great benefit to the Emerald Forest.
Therefore, the Emerald Forest spared no effort in helping the Dragon Kingdom regain its strength.
This time, King Sanye brought everything King Taotie wanted, and he believed that the Emerald Forest would definitely reap huge benefits from it.
At this time, Luke had already seen the elves and the list of supplies brought by the Three-Leaf King.
The Emerald Forest has a modern foundation and is capable of helping Dragon Kingdom quickly catch up with the times, while also sharing the investment that the empire needs to make.
Luke said to King Sanye very happily: "It is too lonely for Dragon Country to have only giant dragons as intelligent creatures, and the number of giant dragons is too rare for the vast Dragon Country.
I hope to take advantage of the construction of the Magic Cliff and the Magic Academy to allow some forest elves to migrate to the Dragon Kingdom, so that more dragons can know what the world outside is like now."
This is definitely an unexpected gain for the Three Leaf King.
Dragon Country is one of the few undeveloped places in the world, and it is full of treasures. Dragon Country has always been closed to the outside world, and never allows other intelligent creatures to enter Dragon Country. This time, King Taotie allowed the forest elves to migrate into Dragon Country, which is equivalent to giving the Emerald Forest countless opportunities.
King Sanye immediately thanked Luke: "Thank you, Your Majesty! I will definitely restrain all the forest elves who migrate to Dragon Country and make sure they abide by the laws of Dragon Country."
For the Dragon Kingdom, introducing forest elves can solve the current shortage of labor in the Dragon Kingdom, which is a mutually beneficial policy.
Luke immediately decided: “The forest elves can obtain a seaport and two inland lands in the Dragon Kingdom to build the forest elf autonomous territory.
The forest elves can conduct geological surveys in the area I specify and help us find minerals that can be exported. Dragon Country has no industrial base and can only export raw materials for primitive accumulation.
If Emerald Forest wants to build a factory in Dragon Country, I can grant you special preferential policies."
King Sanye immediately asked: "Can Emerald Forest engage in the mining and trading of Dragon Country's Fire Crystal Ore?"
After asking this question, King Sanye couldn't help but look at Agatha.
The Fire Crystal Trade is the root cause of the conflict between the Golden Shield Empire and the Shining Gold People, and it is also the basis for the Golden Shield Empire to dare to challenge ancient civilizations.
Can Emerald Forest get involved in this hugely profitable business?
Luke answered directly: "No! If I had known that the Fire Crystal trade would bring so much trouble to the world, I would not have agreed to give the mining and trading rights of Dragon Country Fire Crystal to the Golden Shield Empire.
However, all the fire crystals that the Golden Shield Empire obtained from the Dragon Kingdom were transferred by Her Majesty Queen Clear Sky as compensation for the destruction of the World Tree in the ancient war, so I have no power to terminate this trade.
However, we will no longer grant any party the right to mine or trade Fire Crystals , to prevent more unexpected and severe incidents from occurring!"
As the King of Dragon Kingdom, Luke officially announced: Dragon Kingdom’s fire crystal is unique to the Golden Shield Empire!
