Wolf King

The dwarf king's questioning made the entire meeting hall fall into an embarrassing silence. Even the finance minister, who had been irritable and jumping before, shut his mouth tightly, sat back in his chair with an aggrieved face and sulked.

Seeing this group of capable ministers all wilted like frost-beaten eggplants, with no one to answer, the dwarf king's heart was full of anger... But he couldn't take the initiative to throw the blame to others. Because of this matter, at least half of the responsibility is on his head...

Strong winds are howling all year round, and more than [-]% of the entire continent is composed of mountains, wastelands and Gobi deserts. The western continent is not suitable for agricultural development. The dwarf kingdom can reproduce a population of tens of millions, all thanks to several generations of dwarf Wang Jinjin Worrying about farming.

Xiao Yun disclosed terrace maintenance and water diversion irrigation techniques in "Travel to the Mainland", and the Dwarf King immediately sent troops to carry out "military reclamation" in the southern mountainous area. This is enough to show that the Dwarf King attaches great importance to tradition in agriculture... These grumpy black The iron dwarf is not only good at blacksmithing and fighting.

The terraced fields reclaimed in the southern mountainous area with abundant rainfall have alleviated part of the domestic food shortage problem. The dwarf king "reported his kindness" and supported the snow wolf tribe and the grassland tribe to a certain extent from his standpoint, such as the "Frankish Feast" Regarding the self-reliance of the grassland, the dwarf king kindly supported the grassland.

But support from this standpoint is obviously not enough, at least not enough to satisfy Xiao Yun, so this guy did not hesitate to spend several years slowly weaving a web, taking advantage of the dwarf kingdom and the dark elves' war to stalemate and have no time for distraction, Using a large amount of cheap exported vermicelli to impact the food self-sufficiency rate of the Dwarf Kingdom, which is already on the red line of safety...

The Dwarf King is not an idiot. After importing an average of [-] million catties of cheap vermicelli from the grassland for three consecutive years, he has slowly come to his senses.

What is the concept of [-] million catties of vermicelli every year?It is the concept that the entire Ironforge (including surrounding towns and villages) can survive only on vermicelli, and there is still a surplus.

At first glance, it seems like a good thing... However, when a large number of bankrupt farmers around Ironforge flocked to the city to make a living, or abandoned their fields to work in mines and ironworks, this good thing will change...

"King, we need a friendly alliance with the grassland. We can't suspend trade with the grassland." Seeing that no one spoke, the Minister of the Interior cursed in his heart that these guys didn't know how to share the king's worries (take the blame for the king), so he had to be stubborn Scalp yourself, "There are still more than two months before the autumn harvest. If the purchase of grassland vermicelli is interrupted, the entire Ironforge will be affected..."

The dwarf king's lips twitched slightly, he really wanted to growl: Has the more than 2 million vermicelli purchased in the first half of the year been consumed?Can't even last the autumn harvest? !

However, he has a certainty in his heart, and he also knows that the vermicelli sent by the grassland is not only consumed by Ironforge... The vermicelli for seven copper coins per catty can make at least 20% profit if they are sold casually. In other industries, reselling vermicelli is completely profitable-and if he enforces that no one is allowed to make a profit in vermicelli, then even if he is the king, his words will be ignored by many people.

Besides... No matter how unwilling the dwarf king is to admit, in the new industry chain of "returned vermicelli", in fact, the Royal Court of Ironforge, or he himself is the biggest banker - this batch of imported vermicelli is not all For those settled with coins, about 70% of the transactions are settled with minerals (that is, iron ingots). From the purchase of iron ingots at the mines to the delivery to the grassland people, to the vermicelli exchanged for iron ingots into the "national treasury" During the process, the dwarf king himself ate two pieces of money...

Otherwise, the dwarf king has been so loose in the past two years?After fighting against the dark elves for so many years, although it is true that the mine veins have been snatched, the war consumes a lot of money!

The king (landlord) has no food left!

It is impossible for the dwarf king to admit that he is responsible. Since the Minister of the Interior is so savvy to give him his respect, he can only reluctantly ignore the problem of the whereabouts of the vermicelli, and push the boat along... to send the blame to other directions, staring He squinted his eyes and asked knowingly: "I didn't have so many vermicelli before, and Ironforge's food was not so tight. What's going on?"

The Minister of the Interior breathed a sigh of relief, and naturally followed the king's intention, turning his disapproving gaze to the Minister of Affairs.

Minister of Affairs: "..." I have a question about MMP, I don't know if I should say it or not? !

There is no other way, the blame that should be carried has fallen on the head. Whether you want to carry it or not can not be shifted by personal will. The Minister of Affairs pinched his nose and bowed his head to admit: "This is all because the land around Ironforge is seriously abandoned. Since... After the famine three years ago, the output of the land has been difficult to see improvement, and many farmers' families have no choice but to give up planting, or go to the mine to find another way of life, or enter the city..."

The Minister of State Affairs is also very shrewd. He did not mention at all that the low-level farmers, especially those around Ironforge, went bankrupt due to the impact of cheap vermicelli on the market. He blamed it all on the famine three years ago...

"With no one plowing the land and the fields being abandoned, the food supply will naturally become less and less sufficient." The Minister of the Interior chimed in at the right time, expressing the attitude of "a crime other than war" with a sigh.

The Minister of Military Affairs, who has been silent for a long time, realized that something was wrong—because the Dwarf King is very powerful and especially capable of fighting, and he often leads his own conquests, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Dwarf Kingdom is basically a personal stamp—why does this pot seem to be falling on him? look like? !

It has to be said that this military minister who has never had a sense of presence in the kingdom's cabinet is still very keen, or knows their king well enough. He just had a bad premonition when he saw their king turn to look at him with a serious look on his face. I can't argue with it...

Military Minister: "..." I have an MMP, but I dare not say it.

Next, the dwarf king made some sad remarks about the abandonment of the land in the core area of ​​the kingdom, and severely asked the military minister to organize a militia, take back the abandoned land and carry out military reclamation.

The military minister with a sad look on his face could only submissively carry this heavy and large flying cauldron.

Going around in a circle and dealing with the issue of "who is responsible for the vermicelli collar held by the prairie people, and the kingdom can't refuse the responsibility of the prairie people now", these black iron dwarves once again faced whether to pay, no, pay Questions that can be more face-saving.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer clamored against it from the very beginning, not because he was brainless or too upright, but because he instinctively didn't want to get involved in this kind of "venture investment" that had no precedent and didn't know how many potential risks it had. After all, he was in charge of money, no Early in the morning, he made his opposition stand clear, and the dwarf king forced him to take responsibility.

"Do more, make more mistakes, don't do better", "If you don't see rabbits, don't scatter eagles", this kind of officialdom is not only born in the officialdom of the human race... The dwarf king will never take the blame, he doesn't want to end up with the military minister !

The Minister of Finance was unwilling to let go, but the Minister of the Interior who helped the dwarf Wang Wanzun seemed to have a different opinion. He offered to propose: "I don't think that with the shrewdness of the Snow Wolf clan, we will not do business that loses money. The goods from the grasslands flow out of the northern continent. Grassland goods have never lost in the confrontation with the monster of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, and I don’t think the invitation of the grassland people this time is necessarily a bad thing.”

The Dwarf King looked at the Minister of the Interior with satisfaction. In fact, he himself was particularly moved by the phrase "money makes money" described in Xiao Yun's letter... Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought up the phrase "the kingdom cannot say no to the grassland" from the very beginning. A reality that would hurt his face.To put it bluntly, he didn't want these ministers to waste time on the frivolous question of whether to pay or not (he didn't take the blame anyway), but he needed someone to take the initiative to stand up and be responsible for the kingdom's property.

For the human race, 50 gold coins may only be the family assets of a certain nobleman, but for the barren dwarf kingdom, it is really tight to pay such a sum of money-it is true that the black iron dwarves have mines at home, but Given the poor infrastructure (transportation) conditions in this world, monetization is a big problem.

"Based on the operation method of the "International Joint-stock Commercial Bank" described by the sage Ayun, this kind of organization that gathers a large amount of cash...well, the profit method seems to be to lend different amounts of gold coins to individuals or groups, with annual interest and There are two ways to make money from monthly interest, which is similar to the loan of the Human Race Chamber of Commerce..."

The Minister of the Interior began to explain what he knew about human loans. This dwarf minister who also made a small fortune in the hands of vermicelli was obviously very concerned about the world outside the dwarf kingdom. Even the dwarf king didn't know much about the capital profit model of the human kingdom. He is familiar with everything. After introducing the most lucrative industry in the human world that he knows, the old man's eyes lit up and he said harshly: "If the sage Ayun can invite the Elf King to participate, plus Then we can believe without doubt that this bank will be the most profitable organization in the entire continent, far surpassing the Lamia Chamber of Commerce!"

Whether it is venture capital or borrowing, the biggest risk is bad debts that cannot be recovered.There are two and a half gods sitting in town, and the Minister of the Interior can't think of this continent. No, there is no organization or individual in this world who dares to borrow money and not repay it!

The dwarf king was dumbfounded...

The dwarf king, who is extremely talented in military and personal force, obviously doesn't understand business. He can figure out the profit of handing over vermicelli because it is closely related to his kingdom and the wealth he can control. After listening for a long time , He only understood one sentence: Lending money to others and charging interest is the most profitable business in the world.

"Then why do other people borrow money from this...bank?" The dwarf king looked blank, "According to what you said, if you borrow ten gold coins, you have to pay back eleven gold coins. Who would do that?" stupid?"

The Minister of the Interior didn't understand this either, but he had confidence in the prairie people, and said with a smile: "This is the business of the prairie people, Your Majesty."

The dwarf Wang Dai was enlightened, patted the handrail and laughed loudly: "That's right, making money or not is a matter for grassland people, so what does it matter to us? We just need to pay the money and wait for the dividends!"

Dark iron dwarves, agree.

On the other hand, the invitation letter sent to the Elf King was brought back to the Ice and Snow King City by Selena, a shining "spy" who had been squatting on the grassland for a long time.

The Elf King who met Selena in the study room, after reading the letter written by Mr. Xiao En, immediately asked a question: "Did the Snow Werewolf also send the invitation letter to the Beast King?"

Selina was not surprised that the Elf King would ask this. When it came to this matter, her expression was indescribable: "Sent, the captured general Bazel, who was entrusted to the Moon Bear Clan to exchange, was brought back."

The Elf King laughed, shook the letter paper, and shook his head slightly: "This sage, Ayun..."

Selena herself is very good-looking, and the elf king with a bright smile (uh...) couldn't surprise her. The second lieutenant of the snow elf couldn't laugh or cry: "You asked me to observe the sage Ayun more, but I I really want to say... Although I have known him for many years, and I can even recite what he likes to eat, I still can't understand this man-really, I have no idea what is going on in his mind. Just now After 'eliminating' the [-] white bear army sent by the Beast Emperor, I sent a letter asking others if they want to do business together, I can't imagine how the Beast Emperor will react when he receives the invitation."

The Elf King is a person who doesn't have a good face when facing silly [beep——] and people he doesn't like. For example, when facing the Beast Emperor, or facing the old dragon of Auston, he is very cold and arrogant.

But for those he approves of, he will be very easy-going and friendly, such as facing the elf queen Otilia, or the young second lieutenant Selena who he thinks has a future.

"The Beast Emperor is likely to join." The Elf King chuckled and put away the letter paper, "After many expeditions to the grassland have failed, the Beast Emperor has only two options left, one is to ignore the civil strife in the Far East and conquer the grassland at all costs , The second is to admit defeat and resolve the internal affairs of the Far East first. Compared with these two options, it is undoubtedly much more practical to accept the "reconciliation request" issued by the grassland people pretending to be generous, and to find another opportunity to retaliate and regain face."

The stupid question of whether the Beast Emperor can get 50 gold coins or not, is completely out of the Elf King's consideration. First, the Beast Emperor does not have to pay for the money himself. Second, the Beast Emperor is absolutely confident that he can spend The money that comes out is taken back intact, and it is only "temporarily deposited", so there is no need to worry about gain or loss.

Selena thought for a while, and then she looked surprised: "So it turns out that...after showing your own strength, taking the initiative to hand out the ladder to the enemy is also a way to resolve...the crisis." After a pause, the Snow Elf Second Lieutenant Ruo Thoughtfully, "The Emperor of Beasts needs time to solve the Far East issue, and the grassland also needs time to digest the subordinate population. Next, the war between the grassland and the Far East will enter... um, a stalemate?"

"Their war is not over, it's just entering the preparation period." The Elf King said with a smile, "If the Beast Emperor previously regarded the grassland as an 'uncontrolled rebel', then after these years of confrontation, the Beast Emperor should also I understand that these orcs on the grassland are challenging his crown. He didn't nip the crisis in the bud at the beginning, and now, if he wants to eradicate the enemy, he must and can only strike with all his strength."

Selina understood that the second lieutenant of the Snow Elf was not surprised by what the Elf King said about the ambitions of the grassland orcs.She witnessed with her own eyes how Huoyan City received and transformed Far East prisoners of war. Even if Xiao Yun never admitted it and only talked obediently, she would not think that Xiao Yun had no ambitions at all.

At this moment, Selina is concerned about the unfinished intentions of the Elf King—obviously, from the Elf King's point of view, it is quite difficult for the current Beast Emperor to "strike with all his strength".

"So, we have done the prairie people a great favor." Selena was confused, "Why didn't we ask for benefits from Ayun at that time, and now if we go to that guy, he will definitely not admit it."

If it wasn't for the great efforts of the snow elf spies, how could they export revolutions in the Far East so efficiently with Primo's little manpower?

The Elf King looked at this junior kindly: "It seems that you like that snow werewolf sage very much."

"I can't say I like or dislike him, it's just that I can't ignore that guy." Selena said with a complicated expression.

The Elf King smiled slightly, and said with deep meaning: "What cannot be ignored is not only the sage of the Snow Wolf Clan who made you care."

It's no secret that the Elf King likes to be alone. Selina resigned after finishing the report and got permission from the king, and went to the finance lady to apply for funds by herself.

The snow elves are a race with a delicate appearance, but in fact the entire ethnic group is very tough. The style of handling affairs in the Ice and Snow King City is quite "reckless". Whoever is responsible for the matter must be responsible to the end. That is to say, Selina, who only has the rank of second lieutenant Officer, from now on, he will have full control over the 50 gold coins allocated by the Ice and Snow King City... and the Dwarf Kingdom are simply two extremes.

After going through a series of procedures and returning to her residence to meet her family, Selena suddenly realized how much content Wang's last sentence contained.

No matter what the inside story or the truth of the grassland's "self-defense counterattack" is, the people of the grassland have "eliminated" tens of thousands of Far East troops successively. This iron-clad fact cannot be erased.

Not to mention the Beast Emperor with vague information, even the Elf King who knows the bottom line of this ridiculous "battle" does not think that the current Grassland Kingdom can be easily wiped off the map - amazing production capacity and foreign trade density (And the efficiency of digesting prisoners of war/surrenders) reflects the internal organization and mobilization ability beyond conventional understanding. If you want to eliminate, no, just want to defeat such an enemy, you must do a good job of financial bleeding and sacrifice countless young soldiers preparation.

Not to mention the vermicelli collar woven by the prairie people on the neck of the dwarf king in the west. If you are in a hurry, the prairie people can borrow troops from the western continent... As long as the prairie people are willing to pay the price, the dwarf king will definitely come here with a hammer...

As for borrowing from the forest of elves, it is not a problem. If the grassland people are willing to pay enough benefits, the forest elves might not use the dwarf king and just roll up their sleeves...

"Unknowingly, the prairie tribe has become an existence that the entire Bloomfield continent can't ignore." After thinking about the truth, Selina sighed with emotion and nostalgia, "It's really unimaginable... ...Less than ten years ago, Huoyan City was just a small tribe that was not even as good as the original Tiger Clan Royal Court."

Selina was one of the first snow elves who came into contact with the Fire Department. At that time, she was just a non-commissioned officer, leading a few soldiers on inspection missions, and fought with Balk, Qingyan, and Yubone in a daze. The right arm was almost bitten off by Balk...

At that time, Ayun was still very thin, and Selena remembered that he was shorter than that frightened snow wolf cub at that time... Uh wait, it seems that Ayun has not caught up to Wool's height over the years, It's still a bit shorter than wool...