Chapter 64 - The Predicament in the North

"Your Highness..." Standing there, looking at Oriman who was standing there blankly and seemed a bit distracted, Chen Heng gave a reminder. Only then did Oriman come to her senses. "Sorry," looking at Chen Heng in front of her, she sighed and covered it up by saying, "Sorry. Seeing you made me think of some past events." "It doesn't matter." Chen Heng nodded understandingly and didn't ask any more questions. "During these past few months, Kailin, you weren't in Kutu. Where did you go?" Looking at Chen Heng, Oriman continued to ask. Of course, she knew very well where Chen Heng had gone. At this moment, she just changed the topic to continue the conversation. "I went to my father's territory and stayed there for a while," Chen Heng answered truthfully. "I had some things to deal with there, so I stayed in my father's territory for a period of time." "Oh?" Oriman seemed a bit curious and deliberately asked, "I wonder, what were those things?" "Is it convenient to disclose?" There was curiosity on her face, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face, making people feel itchy to tell her about their achievements. However, Chen Heng remained unmoved. He just smiled and simply told what he had done. What he had done was important, but actually it wasn't a secret. At least for Princess Oriman in front of him, as long as she wanted to investigate, she would probably be able to know the result soon. Since there was no possibility of hiding it, Chen Heng didn't mean to hide it either. He directly opened his mouth and told what he had done. "North-South trade." Listening to Chen Heng's account, Princess Oriman showed a surprised expression on her face, and her face was full of admiration. "What a wonderful idea." "How did you come up with it?" There was admiration written all over her face, and she asked curiously at this moment. Compared with before, although there was still an element of pretense this time, there was a lot more sincerity in it. She was truly impressed by what Chen Heng had done, and there were also many aspects that she wanted to communicate with Chen Heng about. Her performance at this moment wasn't all pretense. "My friend Kurudo is a lord from the north," sitting opposite Princess Oriman, Chen Heng said softly. "Through this friend of mine, I learned about the lives of the northern lords, knew about their difficulties, and also understood the differences between the north and the south." "The idea of developing North-South trade came from this." "Oh." Oriman became a bit more interested. "Tell me, what did you find?" "That's quite complicated," Chen Heng smiled and continued, "For example, the climate, and the products." "Your Highness may not know that the climate difference between the south and the north is huge." "This difference seriously affects the output and also affects the lords' incomes." "Compared with the south, due to the climate in the north, the grain output is not high. The output per acre is only a quarter of that in the south." "Similarly, the battles with the alien tribes in the desert have led to long-term wars." Looking at Oriman, Chen Heng explained, "The battles have affected production. The labor force that could have been put into production has been forced to become soldiers, and it has even seriously affected the farming cycle, resulting in a further decline in output." "These factors have affected the price of grain, causing the grain price in the north to be very high." "Indeed." Oriman took a look at Chen Heng and quite agreed with what he said. Although what Chen Heng said was very simple and clear, in this era, not everyone could summarize it like this. For many nobles who grew up in Kutu City, they probably didn't even know where the north was, let alone summarize anything. "Then what do you think should be done about this situation?" Oriman continued to ask, looking at Chen Heng with great interest. She just asked this question casually and didn't expect Chen Heng to really answer it. In the past, she had also asked many people about this question, but she had never received a specific and clear reply. Those professionals who knew the situation in the north very well couldn't solve it, let alone Chen Heng in front of her. However, to her surprise, at this moment, Chen Heng gave an answer after just a little thought. "There are two ways," Chen Heng thought for a moment and then said, "The predicament of the northern lords actually doesn't lie in the low output, but in the continuous wars." Whether the land output is high or low actually won't cause the lords to fall into a difficult situation. After all, even if the output of an acre of land is low, it just means that the lord's income is a bit less and life may not be so affluent, but it won't push the lords to the verge of financial collapse. The real predicament of the northern lords lies in the fact that while the land output is low and the income is low, they also have to face strong military pressure. Due to the powerful pressure from the desert, the northern lords have to be involved in long-term wars. And fighting requires costs. It is precisely because they have to constantly pay high war costs while their own incomes are low that the northern lords have fallen into the current difficult situation. Therefore, if you want to solve the current predicament of the northern lords, the method is actually very straightforward. "If you want to solve this problem, either make the pressure from the desert disappear, or let the northern lords make profits in the wars so that they can continuously recover the costs in the wars and be able to support themselves like this." Looking at Oriman, Chen Heng gave his answer. "Then what should be done to achieve these?" Looking at Chen Heng, Oriman subconsciously asked this question. At first, she was listening quite casually and was a bit absent-minded. But as Chen Heng spoke, she became more and more absorbed. In the end, she had concentrated all her energy and was listening carefully. As the princess of the Kutu Kingdom and also as a lord adjacent to the northern lords, she had always attached great importance to the problems of the northern lords. In the past, she had also listened to the suggestions of many relevant people, but never had anyone been able to analyze it as thoroughly and clearly as Chen Heng. "The way to do it is actually very simple," looking at the increasingly absorbed Oriman, Chen Heng continued, "If you want to relieve the burden on the northern lords, you can start with trade first." "Unlike the situation in the north, due to the climate and environment in the south, the grain output is very rich. Sometimes the grain even rots in the warehouses and can't be sold at all." "This is exactly the opposite of the situation where the grain price in the north is high." Chen Heng said softly, "Through trade, the surplus grain in the south can be transported to the north, thus reducing the costs of the northern lords." "On the other hand, the slaves obtained by the northern lords in the wars can also be digested through trade, enabling the northern lords to make profits in the wars and making the wars no longer unprofitable." "If these two points are done well, the pressure on the northern lords will be reduced a lot, and it won't be as difficult as before."