Louie had already decided that the best way he could obtain more benefits from his cooperation with the Elf Queen was to have her see the potential of Dragon City.
Since he and the elves were already in a tight relationship, their destinies were already set in stone in a way. Given the locations of their respective territories, they would either become lifelong enemies or perfect allies.
Louie continued giving the Elf Queen a tour of his city to increase their intimacy.
“Asides from being situated in a geographically advantageous location, Dragon City also has fertile lands within its vicinity. In the west, we have grassland suitable for grazing. I have had the beastmen put it to good use.”
“To prevent chaos, their livestock can only feed on their allotted grasslands. They offer some as a tribute to me as well as some of the state’s official currency.”
“Over there is a cow pasture. Why don’t we take a look.”
Louie and the elf queen approached the edge of the pasture, where the cow breeders were diligently milking the cows.
“There aren’t many cows at the moment. Fresh milk is a luxury that has always been enjoyed by the nobility and royalty as well as those with money and labor to raise cows in their estate. It has never appeared on a scale large enough for public enjoyment.”
“However, I think that as dairy herds expand and Dragon City becomes richer, even the most ordinary citizens could enjoy fresh and delicious milk.”
“Milk is currently hard to sell as only rich merchants from other countries can afford it. I let them sell it at the market price, unlike countries who only turned these people into their workforce.”
“These cows belong to me, and they are considered as something that I loaned to the herders. The cows that are born later would belong to these people. They just need to return these cows that I loaned to them. It might take several years, but for dragons, waiting for a few years is no big deal.”
“Once the people of the territory become richer, my territory will become stronger. It will become a land where those seeking prosperity will flock to.”
The elf queen seemed to have understood and nodded her head as if she didn’t. She pondered for a moment and said, “You truly have an acute foresight and business acumen. If I didn’t know you had intentions of becoming the Dragon God, you could perhaps become the God of Wealth. Printing money sounds good, but there is a downside to doing so. If too many of those notes are printed, it’s easy to cause the price of goods to collapse.”
Louie let out a smile after hearing this.
“You are talking about inflation, right? This is something I’ve been careful about. The notes I print are priced equivalent to the Subila Empire’s currency. Any merchants that want to trade in my territory would have to exchange Subilan currency with my notes. In any case, the Subilan currency is still the most trustworthy.
“On the other hand, my goal is to one day make every country and power in the main continent accept Dragon City’s notes as a currency that could substitute Subilan currency.”
“As for the over-issuance of paper money, as long as it is within a certain range, there is no problem. What do you think is the most important thing for a country? That is the government’s credibility. As long as the citizens of Dragon City believe in me, believe that I will always rule this territory, then there will be no problem. If a crisis were to occur, then I would like to thank the racial diversity of San Soliel. We could simply start a war to transfer the crisis to other countries and races.”
Louie smiled cruelly. Domestic problems being transferred into the war was a common tactic. For example, World War II had been caused by economic depression. On the other hand, Louie as a dragon did not need any excuses to start a war. As long as his troops were strong enough to attack other races and countries, they could plunder and seize wealth to deflect possible problems within the territory.
On the other hand, elves were a peace-loving race, but that was only comparatively speaking. True pacifists would never survive in the world of San Soliel. Even the paladins of the Goddess of Morning would not speak about benevolence in the face of evil.
“This is indeed a good method. Four thousand years ago, the Forest of the Moon encountered a huge natural disaster. Many elves almost lost their lives. At that time, I started a war with the humans to shift the crisis, allowing the elves to survive.”
The elf queen approved of Louie’s words.
A dragon and an elf talked with each other with rather cold and ruthless political words. For them, kindness might be a necessity, but when the crucial moment came, citizens would just become mere numbers. As long as there were enough benefits, Louie and the elf queen would not mind sacrificing the citizens. They actually only needed one thing and that was faith.
“These radishes also provide a lot of nutrients. If they are pickled, they would taste a lot better and can be eaten by the common people.”
Louie pointed to the radish field which was filled with ripe produce that was ready for harvest.
“Pickled? That requires salt to do, but salt is expensive and the average citizen can’t afford it.”
The elves’ demand for salt was much lower than the humans or beastmen, but they would still need to import a lot every year. The elves would trade their handicrafts and specialties to countries outside the Forest of the Moon.
Fortunately, the Forest of the Moon was vast and abundant. The elves’ fertility rate was low enough that the population would not skyrocket, otherwise, they would have long been extinct.
“Salt is actually not expensive. Other than technical limitations, a few countries can produce a lot of salt, but they control its production to give it an illusion of being a valuable resource.”
San Soliel used boiling salt instead of basalt. This method wasn’t that great. If Dragon City was in a territory close to the sea, Louie would probably have been able to make his own salt. In an instant, it would become worthless.
“Luckily, Your Majesty has come out to watch an interesting drama with me. Those merchants think that they can’t produce salt in Dragon City, so they want to sell it at a high price. Come watch with me how those people go bankrupt.”
Louie sneered.
The queen gladly agreed. She raised her hand to call forth her carriage. Although Louie was a dragon, he entered the carriage first and extended his hand to the queen like a gentleman.
Seeing that Louie looked like a male elf with the same moonlight-silver color as her, the queen did not stay reserved. She extended her delicate hands and let Louie support her. With a gentle pull, the queen was lifted up, and her bare feet touched the edge of the carriage.