Chapter 138: Chapter 128, The Food Crisis_2
That was also one of the rare places on Rage Owl Star with a favorable climate, where Low Energy Storms occurred infrequently and there was a vast expanse of arable land. The only scene of sprawling fertile fields on Rage Owl Star could be found in the Green Valley Region.
One plantation after another was spread across that land.
“And the road to the west, it leads to the desert. You might not be familiar with it, even though it’s covered in sand, there are dotted green oases. Many people surviving in the West Desert Region have found underground plantations left over from the era before the war. Once repaired, these factories allow for high-density vertical cultivation. They don’t need a large area to produce very high yields.”
“These two major arteries support the main food consumption of Revival City. Last year, Wohan mentioned in his work report to the Alliance Council that Revival City imported a total of four hundred thousand tons of food from these two sources.”
“The so-called capillaries refer to the various medium and small settlements with food production capabilities within a radius of five hundred kilometers around Revival City. Within this range, there are some cultivable lands, although not as extensive or concentrated as in Green Valley. Still, there are some, like Mantan River Valley Manor; there are also some environmentally special caverns that allow for the dense cultivation of certain fungi; and some places have breeding farms… There are many types, with varying yields. They primarily support nearly all the settlements within this range, and the surplus is brought to Revival City for sale.”
“To give an example from last year, through these capillaries, Revival City purchased a total of one hundred thousand tons of various foods.”
“These combined rough estimates amount to five hundred thousand tons. In fact, Revival City did not consume that much, with 70% of the food being distributed to various locations outside of Revival City. After all, Revival City is the largest trade hub on the entire planet.”
Lady Ossina’s expression grew solemn, “This means that what we need to do is not only ensure our own food security but also, as much as possible, allow food to circulate throughout the wasteland with Revival City as the hub.”
“Yes.” Bradford sighed, “If we can’t manage that, perhaps Revival City won’t starve, but many settlements in the wasteland with no food production capacity may suffer catastrophic disasters.”
Lady Ossina said, “Moreover, there have been issues in the Green Valley Region this year. A much larger monster invasion than in previous years has destroyed many plantations; there are many, many displaced people, and many of them have turned into raiders, further complicating the situation…”
“Yes.” Bradford agreed, “The chaos in the Green Valley Region has led to a more than 30% decrease in food imports from there this year, and if the situation does not ease, that import figure is likely to collapse dramatically.”
The discussion about the Green Valley Region was something Lady Ossina had experienced personally.
It had been several months since she had fled the Green Valley Region, but according to the latest intelligence, the situation there had not improved. Refugees from the Green Valley Region were still trekking hundreds of kilometers and wandering to Revival City.
Behind every refugee who managed to make it to Revival City alive, perhaps two or three people fell along the way.
Thinking about this, Lady Ossina felt almost unbearable.
But she had to bear it.
She knew that they did not yet have the capability to cross hundreds of kilometers southward and rescue those suffering along the way.
She had to ensure that Revival City was well taken care of first.
Gathering her thoughts, she said, “We must restore food trade imports as soon as possible. Next, under the structure of the Department of Commerce, I will establish a Food Trade Bureau. I have sent people to tally everyone who has worked in the food trade in the past, and they will be immediately transferred to the Food Trade Bureau.”
“They will each have their responsibilities and, based on the three main directions we’ve discussed today, will form three working groups. They will try to reach out to those who have had food trade dealings with Revival City in the past and work to restore the scale of the food trade as much as possible.”
“Mr. Bradford, I need your help.”
Bradford was pleased inside but maintained a serious expression, “That’s exactly why I’m here.”
“Good, I can appoint you as a special advisor to the Food Trade Bureau. I need you to take special charge of the revival efforts for both the ‘capillaries’ and the ‘West Desert artery’ trade routes. I hope that within two weeks, our ‘capillaries’ can mostly resume their function; and within a month, our ‘West Desert artery’ can start to flow again. Can you do that?”
Hearing the title of just a special advisor, Bradford felt a little disappointed.
An advisor, after all, might not amount to an official position.
When he first heard the term ‘Food Trade Bureau,’ he had hoped that he might have a chance to become the head of it, even if only on a temporary basis.
Having an official position seemed to represent the beginning of his integration into the new government structure. All that was left was to speak with his abilities and performance.
Food trade was, of course, the most important sector of Revival City’s many commercial categories. If he did well in this area, solving the food crisis, then would he really have a chance at the Minister of Commerce position in the future?
After all, Lady Ossina could not possibly continue to take on the work of multiple departments indefinitely.
But now, being just an advisor, a negligible and easily dismissible position, was somewhat disappointing to him.
But he quickly rallied.
Being guilty, having the opportunity to serve and wash away his sins, he should cherish and give it his all.
Putting aside these thoughts, he began to calculate carefully and did not speak for a while.
Osenia patiently waited.
Bradford finally spoke, “I will do my utmost to fulfill your request. I will work hard to restore the relevant trade routes. However, the whole matter cannot be accomplished by my efforts alone. After the trade channels are established, to take in such a large quantity of food, we will also need enough goods to trade.”
He paused, there was a topic he did not really want to bring up, but in the end, he decided it had to be discussed: “Alliance currency…”
Osenia raised her hand to stop him from continuing.
“That’s not up for discussion. But you can rest assured, we are not going to completely abolish the Alliance currency. In foreign trade, we will recognize the value of the Alliance currency for a long time to come. For international commerce, we can still accept trade settlement in Alliance currency.”
“With your word, I’m much relieved.”
His concern was quite normal.
If the Alliance currency were to be completely abolished, then it wouldn’t just be the residents of the inner city who were ‘plundered’, it would be all the forces that had traded with Revival City in the past. For convenience in trade, many forces had accumulated a certain amount of Alliance currency.
If it were suddenly all abolished, it would mean that the money they obtained from selling food or other commodities in the past would now be worthless.
This would be unacceptable to many forces.
If Revival City could achieve a complete internal cycle, not depending on the outside, then it wouldn’t matter. But now that even basic food needs rely on foreign trade, this clearly cannot be done.
It would destroy the trading credit of Revival City and offend the highly independent other settlements.
“Go ahead with confidence,” said Osenia, “I will do my utmost to prepare the other trading goods.”
…
The problem Bradford mentioned was actually not a concern for Osenia.
As for the currency, it could just continue to be acknowledged in foreign trade.
Of course, we cannot simply buy food with Alliance currency without giving something else in return. People getting Alliance currency would also want to buy things.
Osenia was confident about the related trading goods.
Revival City has quite a lot to offer for sale.
Revival City has a not weak industrial production capacity—textiles, electrical appliances, some metal tools, and even power generators using thermal limestone—it goes without saying.
Additionally, there’s a large variety of goods stored in the warehouses of Revival City.
A trade hub does not only deal in food trade.
After those nobles were caught in a single sweep, many channel merchants like Bradford had their goods fall into the hands of the current government.
These are all goods that can be used for trade.
Moreover, Revival City now has two particularly valuable commodities for sale:
Arms and medicine.