Once upon a time there was an impressive kingdom called GoldMidas, named in honor of the symbol of its prosperity (gold) and the creator of its sensational level of well-being (the first king Midas).
It had a great city surrounded by immense walls, whose area made up an immense rectangle. The gigantic main entrance and exit door was located in the north, while the secondary one was in the south. The first allowed entry to the kingdom, while the second connected with various roads that led to gold mines, agricultural extensions and food stores (which were located on the outskirts of the city).
The homes, factories and workshops of the artisans were behind the walls. The majestic palace of king Midas XVI was located in the center of the city, which had four balconies, each one at a cardinal point. More than balconies, these were strategic observation sites, which allowed the sovereign to see easily his subjects.
In addition, the north and south quadrants were assigned to the military forces, the east was residential and the west was the artisanal, industrial and commercial sector.
This kingdom stood out for boasting extraordinary levels of wealth. All the walls, roads, signs, lighthouses, carriages, statues, squares, chairs, buildings, and roofs were covered with gold dust.
Furthermore, despite rivalries, its inhabitants worked hard to contribute to the development and progress of the kingdom, prevailing peace, respect and veneration for the king, who is responsible for guaranteeing access to essential services (education, health, food, clothing and housing), equal opportunities, and the redistribution of incomes, so that citizens, willing to work for the well-being of the kingdom, are partners in its spectacular economic success.
In the first day of the year 500, early in the morning, without the sun rising, the sovereign Midas XVI, a descendant of the famous king Midas, looked out from the south balcony of the palace.
There were movements of many people. Some walked and others rode in their luxurious carriages. It was difficult to distinguish aristocrats from miners because all proudly wore their fine golden robes, made of silk and gold dust.
Suddenly, several persons realized that the king was watching them. Almost everyone stopped, bowed to the sovereign and sang the hymn, corresponding to that day:
-500 years ago our beloved king Midas was born!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas II!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas III!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas IV!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas V!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas VI!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas VII!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas VIII!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas IX!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas X!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XI!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XII!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XIII!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XIV!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XV!
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XVI!
-Long live to all the Midas kings, who have brought peace, prosperity and wealth to our kingdom!
Next, the king Midas XVI asked them to stop singing and expressed:
-Dear subjects!
-I will be brief.
-It´s a pleasure for me to start the day talking to you.
-But as you well know, we must all keep working to have more and more wealth.
-There is no time for celebrations!
-I ask you to continue going to your work sites.
-I also remind you that whoever has an empty place in its carriage must transport another subject.
-Go to work!
-Let´s do it!
-Today we will be richer than tomorrow.
-You have the blessing of the entire Midas dynasty!
-That´s all!
The sovereign withdrew from the balcony, being obeyed by the subjects of the kingdom. Later, he met with his counselors, in order to discuss an extremely delicate matter that was only known by him and the twelve advisers.
The counselor Enro began his speech:
-Long live to the glorious king Midas XVI!
The king Midas XVI interrupted him abruptly:
-Dear counselor Enro.
-There is no time for formalities!
-Where are the counselors Jhulio, Augusto, Septi, Octavio, Noveno and Decimo?
Due to Enro's face of uncertainty, the counselor May replied:
-Jhulio and Augusto are supervising the activities in the mines.
-And Septi, Octavio, Noveno and Decimo quit.
Somewhat annoyed, the king Midas XVI stated:
-What is the situation?
The counselor Enro expressed:
-Please listen carefully!
-Dear king, with all due respect, we are facing extremely difficult times.
-There is no time to lose!
-Although we are producing more wheat and have countless sheep and lambs, the incomes from the gold mines have fallen by 5%.
-Neighbors are paying an ounce of gold at a price 3% lower than last month, claiming that the purity of this mineral has decreased.
-Dear king, my proposal is to increase production and improve processes to obtain gold of better quality.
-For this reason, we must reactivate the closed mines and hire more personnel.
The king Midas XVI gave the floor to counselor Febro, requesting him to forget the greetings, and go directly to the matter of interest.
The counselor Febro stated:
-I don´t like this idea!
-I don´t see it well!
-I disagree with this proposition!
-Our kingdom is one of the few that sells jewelry with eighteen karat gold.
-The underlying problem is not the quality of gold, but it is an excess of supply in foreign markets.
-It is not worth investing more in conditioning the mines or spending more on personnel.
-I propose to reduce production and only sell jewelry with eighteen karat gold.
-As very few competitors have gold of that quality, we can gradually increase its price and recover our previous level of incomes.
Then, the counselor April intervened:
-None of these proposals is reasonable!
-We don´t have enough money for new explorations or to increase production!
-Nor can we lower production and lose participation in the markets!
-Your majesty...
-We are on the verge of a recession!
-Total revenues of the kingdom decreased by 2% last month, and the population has grown by 1%. Very soon the subjects will realize that they have become impoverished.
-The options are: issue sovereign bonds, increase taxes, encourage the export of other products, increase tariffs on imported goods and issue more money.
Next, the counselor Juno presented a more radical proposal:
-Your majesty...
-There are few gold reserves in the mines!
-Maybe in two years we will run out of gold!
-We should invade the kingdoms of the north and east!
-If we are successful, we would obtain the monopoly of gold and have more mines of this precious mineral.
-There is also another option: hire mercenaries to block their trade routes. This would be a way to neutralize them, without declaring war.
The counselor Juno was interrupted by king Midas XVI, whose face reflected his deep dissatisfaction with the proposals of advisers, expressing:
-Counselors!
-How did the king Midas generate wealth?
-I remind you that at his time there were not so much activities of gold extraction, and trade relations with the other kingdoms were scarce.
The counselor Enro spoke:
-King Midas XVI, it is a mystery how the first king Midas managed to produce and accumulate so much wealth, which only reached the time of your father. What we have now is the result of work and economic policies, but this cannot be compared to what existed before.
-With all due respect, the king Midas didn´t allow historians to record his secret. That is why there are different versions, coming from oral tradition, which have been told, generation after generation.
The king Midas XVI said:
-Dear counselors, we know those legends.
-Some say that the king Midas was a great visionary and the best producer and merchant of all times, while others reveal that he made a pact with a god, who granted him the gift of turning everything he touched into gold.
-What we know is that he ordered to make large excavations, and surprisingly after the king Midas visited them, there were discovered immense gold mines.
-Also there were many attempts of adventurers to find other gold mines, and the only ones that exist are those located in the underground places that the famous king Midas visited.
-Then…
-What was his secret?
The counselor May stated:
-Your Excellency king Midas XVI!
-I am glad you addressed that point!
-I remind those present that my ancestors told me the great secret, which has endured in my distinguished family, and not even the last Midas kings know it.
-Dear king Midas XVI, considering this emergency situation…
-Can I reveal the secret?
The king Midas XVI replied:
-I have already been warned that this is a myth!
-Okay!
-Do it!
The counselor May continued the conversation:
-The first king Midas made a pact with a deity and everything he touched turned to gold.
-Before giving up his powers, he visited various places creating the gold mines.
-But, the mines...
The king Midas XVI didn´t let counselor May continue speaking and said:
-We already know that legend!
-It tells that everything he touched turned to gold!
-Some people even dare to say that the statues of his daughter and those of his servants were real persons in other times!
The counselor May spoke again:
-Your majesty...
-Please, be patient!
-The great secret goes further...
-We all know that the first king Midas lived sadly in his last days!
-Before committing suicide, he told the great secret to one of my great-great-grandparents...
Again, the king Midas XVI asked:
-Counselor May...
-What´s that secret?
-Go to the matter of interest!
The counselor May replied:
-Very briefly, the first king Midas lost his golden touch, and he also received instructions of how to recover it, keeping this secret, in case one of his descendants needed it to reactivate the golden magic.
-Therefore, my proposal is to recover the power of the occult sciences, which can only be used by the most excellent king, and create new gold mines.
-Once we have enough gold, the king can abandon this power and keep the secret for his descendants.
Before laughter and incredulous faces from several advisers, and after several seconds of deep thought, which seemed endless, the king Midas XVI decided to investigate this matter.
However, before concluding the meeting, he gave orders to open the closed mines, extend the working day from eight to ten hours (so that the miners could work two more hours to restore the closed mines), issue more money, and look for substitutes to the directors who resigned. This last task was assigned to the counselors Enro and May, who in difficult situations at least looked for solutions.
Likewise, the king Midas XVI surprised with his decision to secretly sell the palace jewels, in the black markets of other kingdoms. The sovereign knew that by trading them clandestinely, he would be able to obtain better prices, and at the same time, there would be no panic among his subjects. This activity was entrusted to the counselors April and Augusto, who were discreet and had contacts with smugglers and jewel thieves.
That night, the sovereign could not sleep well. Over and over, his mind wandered and he thought of the great secret, that was the only way of escape. He reflected:
-Is this the true or pure fantasy?
Nonetheless, as the king had no other options, he knew that it was necessary to proceed with a risky and implausible plan, which would soon be revealed by the counselor May, a descendant of a group of wizards, and one of the most cunning and unreliable persons in the kingdom.
In his anguish and despair, he was surprised by the dawn of a new day and a deep conviction. Obviously, the king Midas XVI had to rewrite or create a new story very different from that of his predecessors, which in certain way could be similar to that of the first king Midas, who practically made gold out of nothing…