Lux's Farewell

Chapter 597 [0590] Shurima Grain Trade Plan

Jarvan IV was short of money.

When collecting military power in Tobysia, Jarvan IV promised the private army of the nobles the same treatment as the regular legion, and fully accepted them-this certainly deprived the nobles of their military power substantially, but the same , He also needs to bear the heavy burden of feeding these soldiers.

Don't forget, Demacia's military benefits are not just as simple as "the opportunity to become a nobleman". They have a fairly high salary level, free armor and robes, and food subsidies that are enough to satisfy most rice buckets. And quite amazing pension treatment.

Elite soldiers must be treated like elite soldiers. Noxus wargroups have their own private land, but Demacia doesn't have such a thing. Jarvan IV has to bear all the expenses of the army.

This burden is very heavy, so heavy that when Jarvan IV actually saw the bill, he even had the idea of ​​"how about a wave of disarmament".

Of course, considering that now is the time for him to gather power from the nobles, it is impossible for Jarvan IV to take the initiative to disarm the army, let alone reduce the treatment of the army or increase taxes on the fiefdoms directly under the royal family...

Jarvan IV himself was very frugal, and there was nothing to save money. If he wanted to support an astonishingly large standing army, he had to increase his income.

Therefore, as winter was approaching, Jarvan IV, who was a little free, had to start thinking about a new money-making plan.

There is no pressure on the royal family's surplus money for three to five years, but under the deficit, he must make plans early!
But after much deliberation, Jarvan IV didn't think of any good solution—for a big agricultural country, how difficult it is to open up a new source of income!
A big agricultural country...food...

and many more!

Just when he was thinking hard to no avail, Jarvan IV suddenly remembered the Shurima towns he had seen on his way to the summit.

Jarvan IV thought of those Shurima people who didn't seem poor but didn't have enough to eat, and remembered the extremely expensive food prices there, so a bold idea appeared in his mind.

If I can sell the grain produced by Demacia to those Shurima people...

The profits from this will probably be quite astonishing!

You must know that because food is not easy to transport as a bulk commodity, although Demacia has plenty of food, it exports to the east at most, and hardly conducts seaborne trade-transporting food by sea is simply a charity business that does not make money. The thing is heavy and takes up space, and it is afraid of moisture and humidity, and it is not easy to load and unload. Any businessman with a head will not consider transporting food for profit!
The biggest specialty of the family has almost no profit in seaborne trade, and the merchant ships have a huge trade deficit every time they come and go. Naturally, Demacians lack interest in seaborne trade.

However, after witnessing the living environment of the Shurima people on the way to the summit, Jarvan IV discovered that the grain trade may not necessarily be unprofitable.

Most of the time, it is the port city in the north of Shurima that eats up this part of the profits!

The price of the same pound of wheat grain in the inland city of Shurima is more than twelve times that in the northern port city!

Therefore, even if the sea transportation of grain does not have any profit, and may even lose money, if the grain that arrives in Shurima can be transported to the inland, the profit will be quite amazing!
Moreover, this kind of trade will also be welcomed by the Shurima people, it is an out-and-out win-win trade!

Thinking of this, Jarvan IV couldn't help but feel a little excited in his heart - he tried his best to calm down, and then began to plan repeatedly. In the end, he fully confirmed that the only problem with this kind of trade might be the competition of Shurima merchants. And the difficult transportation in the second half.

As a climber, Jarvan IV has also traveled thousands of miles in Shurima. He knows how painful it is to trek in the desert, and also knows how difficult it is to transport large quantities of food in the desert. I also know how difficult the sand robbers in Shurima are.

However, after thinking about it for a while, he also made sure that these were not a problem for him or Demacia at all.

Because Demacia has reliable force as its backing!

According to Jarvan IV's judgment, although Shurima has an ancient history, it is essentially a lost civilization - the largest cities on the north bank need to rely on the protection of the Noxus, which is similar to that on the continent of Valoran. There is no difference between the city-states and principalities in the country.

Demacia has very rich diplomatic experience in dealing with such forces.

For these weak city-states, Demacia will be happy to provide them with shelter to help them completely get rid of the influence of Noxus (just like many duchies and city-states in Valoran after the Battle of Tobyssia), During this process, Demacia will not ask for any compensation.

"This is where we differ from Noxus."

Jarvan IV thought with some pride.

And after helping them get rid of the influence of the Noxus, Demacia's food will enter the local market naturally, either by cooperating with the locals and directly purchased by the locals at a higher price, or by themselves Form a caravan, even buy a mulberry monster, organize an armed escort army to protect,

In this process, the excess food of Demacia will become the life-saving food of many Shurima people, and the glory and justice of Demacia will be spread to this ancient land...

The more Jarvan IV thought about it, the more excited he became. He picked up a pen and paper, quickly recorded all his thoughts, and after sorting them out, he found Barrett Bouvier, Galen And Tariq, and they began to discuss the feasibility of this plan.

........................

After listening to Jarvan IV's plan, Barrett first expressed his affirmation.

This is not flattery.

As the royal family's money bag, the Bouvier family is a family with a relatively strong business atmosphere in Demacia. At least in Demacia, they can be regarded as "professionals."

In the opinion of Barrett, a professional, His Majesty's plan has merits.

Barrett has never been to Shurima, but when he was young, he used to be an envoy to Nokmochi, passing through many principalities and city-states of Valoran. Judging from the experience of that travel, Jarvan IV Shi's plan can be said to be remarkable and very feasible.

You must know that in the past, Demacia's main food trade direction was to sell cheap or even cheap food to the east, to those city-states and duchies, in exchange for their support, and to jointly fight against the Noxians—like the people who came to Xiongdu before. Arzhen, who helped investigate the death of the messenger, is the chief mage of Abmac, and the reason why he was sent to Demacia to deal with cases that may be related to magic is because Abmac needs Demacia's supply of food .

Why can the Demacians, who adhere to the policy of elite soldiers and do not like to engage in overseas military operations, compete with the Noxians who like armed intervention for the control of many city-states and principalities in Valoran for many years?
Because Demacia has food, and food is influence.

And now, with the end of the Tobyssian War, the Noxus may no longer have the mind to do things with the Principality of Valoran and the city-state for a while, and Demacia's assistance to its allies can naturally be Make an appropriate reduction, and if this part of the food share is sent to the Shurima continent through seaborne trade, and sold to the Shurima people...

This is equivalent to reducing diplomatic influence in exchange for more economic benefits, no problem at all!
Economic and trade experts gave a positive response, which undoubtedly made Jarvan IV more relieved. He nodded slightly, and then looked at Tarik and Galen.

"Then do we have the ability to organize a team to protect our caravans from sand bandits?"

"There's no problem!" Galen looked confident, "Although the environment in the desert is harsh, the warriors of the Fearless Vanguard are fearless!"

Jarvan IV nodded again, and then his eyes fell on Tarek who was frowning.

"Have you thought of any worrying issues?" Jarvan IV said unhurriedly, "Say it directly without any scruples."

"I'm worried about the people of Shurima." Facing the expectant Majesty the King, Tariq showed a wry smile, "Barret understands the principality and city-state of Valoran, and Galen understands the ability and courage of the Fearless Vanguard. , but I don’t fully understand Shurima—although I have climbed to the top of Mount Targon twice and trekked in endless sand seas, in fact, my understanding of this desert is really not that good. Go deep."

"This is a prudent answer." Although Tarik didn't give any guarantees, and was even a little pessimistic, Jarvan IV didn't mind, and instead nodded slightly, "Indeed, we still don't know much about Shurima. ...But maybe it’s not a problem, if you don’t understand, it’s okay to take the initiative to understand, right?”

Tariq blinked, then nodded slightly.

What Jarvan IV said is correct, one should not make rash judgments without knowing the situation of Shurima, and to give an accurate judgment, one must understand Shurima carefully.

So, he simply raised his head.

"Your Majesty, I request a trip to Shurima."

"You want to find out for yourself?"

"That's right." Tariq nodded, "Although the desert looks barren and desolate, it seems to be a yellow ruin after a ruin, but to be honest, when I stood on Targon Peak, from the gap in the sea of ​​clouds I still get a palpitation when I look down at that land."

Jarvan IV blinked.

"I always feel that there is a huge force in Shurima, which contains a majestic vitality." Taric spread his hands helplessly, "If you want to sell food in Shurima... I think It is necessary to understand it well.”

Galen and Barrett didn't quite agree with Tarek's statement, but Jarvan IV nodded deeply.

As a climber, Jarvan IV is also "walked" to a certain extent, so in some ways, he and Tarek feel the same way.

Moreover, bulk grain trade is not a small matter. In order to avoid problems, early preparations must be carried out well, and Demacia’s grain hoarding, merchant ship employment, etc. also need to be planned. At this time, let Tarik go Walking around and taking a look in the desert is also a job of sharpening a knife and chopping firewood!
In this way, Jarvan IV agreed with Tarek's opinion. After the brief meeting ended, the royal family of Demacia began to hoard food, and actively explored the situation in Shurima, making a start for the next food trade. Prepare.

With an elite squad, Taric left Demacia on a merchant ship and walked into the sands of Shurima.

........................

Just when Tariq sailed south and began to investigate the situation in Shurima, in Demacia, a pair of sisters came to Fossbarrow together.

After the Battle of Tobyssia, due to Aatrox's surprise attack, although the Flying Wing sisters joined forces again after many years, they did not escape the fate of being hanged after all-even if Aatrox hadn't gone crazy and Kalya used La Mo's demonic power suppressed him, and I'm afraid the constellation of justice on the star dome will be severely slashed.

Mutual protection at the last moment has restored their relationship. Although there are still great differences in views on justice, but now...they can at least communicate calmly.

In Morgana's hidden place of self-exile, they have undergone a long period of cultivation.

Although Aatrox's darkborn sword did not directly hit their bodies, the dangerous death-giving sword energy above still made these two mixed-blood descendants of protoss and mortals somewhat unable to support them. They just spent more than half a year cultivating , was able to recover to a healthy state.

After regaining their health, Kyle and Morgana originally wanted to return directly to Xiongdu—after the threat of demons disappeared, they both thought that black mist and the existence in the black mist were very dangerous. It must be treated with caution, and during this period of time, the Demacians did not intend to prepare for war at all, but devoted themselves to the internal struggle. After realizing this, even Morgana could bear it. I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed with Jarvan IV.

However, before guiding Jarvan IV on the right path, the Wing Sisters have one more thing to confirm.

In the shadow world, Nocturne is still there.

As the "founding father" of Demacia, Morgana knew something about Sentu and the first generation of the Fearless Vanguard. After discovering "Fiddlesticks' trail", she was already worried about whether Nocturne would Get out of trouble.

But before she had time to enter the Shadow Realm to investigate clearly, she was severely injured by Aatrox. In order to avoid giving the devil the head, she could only rest in peace until her body fully recovered, and then found the entrance to the Shadow Realm. Into the shadow realm.

Then, Morgana stared blankly at the empty fortress, her heart completely sank to the bottom.

It's over, the devil is gone!
The only survivor didn't know anything (Jacka's memory was reset again), Kyle and Morgana, who felt that something was wrong, quickly began to search for all possible valid information.

Then, they discovered Archon's compost.

"This must be some kind of evil ritual." Facing the humus soil corroded by the shadows and neatly piled up, Kyle vowed, "Let's go, sister, find the nearest crack in the shadow world, we have to eliminate the demons believers!"

　Carya's Small Classroom Composting and Ceremony:
　　Composting has strict requirements on the form of materials. In a sense, this thing does look similar to ritual magic...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)