Chapter 503: Not only a common enemy, but also common interests
Walking into the tea room on the second floor, Lulos saw the wheat-skinned, black-haired Kush youth at a glance.

He looked about 5 feet 4 inches tall, or maybe even shorter because he was wearing thick-soled boots.

Standing in front of the window, the Saint Sun demon who was famous in the Thousand River Valley was holding a copper cup with a carved wave pattern in his hand. He was wearing a simple and plain half-cape priest's robe and seemed to be smiling.

Opposite him, on a walnut stool, sat an old man with a large frame and white hair. Lulule had seen him before with Juanno.

This should be Dean Ludwick.

When Lulos saw Horn, Horn also saw Lulos at the same time.

No matter how thick-skinned Horn was, he felt a little embarrassed at this moment. Lulos was not only a partner, but also Carrie's mother.

Who knew this petite little girl would be Carrie's mother?
How can something so big come from something so small?

Thinking about Carrie's tall figure and lolita heart, and this lolita figure and mature woman heart, he felt that it seemed to make sense.

At least Horn was sure that there was definitely something wrong with Carrie's father.

Seeing Horn turned his head, Lulos spoke first: "The time is perfect. Since we want to make an alliance, why don't we discuss it now? Don't drag it out."

"Now?" Horn was a little surprised. He did have a plan to determine the core dispute today, but that should be done after the dinner when there was plenty of time.

"You don't want to discuss this matter at a meeting with so many people tomorrow, do you?" Lulos supported herself on the chair and sat on it, her legs swinging in the air.

"Our common enemy is the church, so we unite..." Horn was caught off guard and subconsciously started talking nonsense.

"We've heard enough clichés. What do you need? What can we provide? That's what I want to hear."

Lulu stood on the chair with an air of seniority and patted Horn's shoulder: "Don't be nervous. Although you and Carrie... we can be equals and discuss our own affairs."

Horn glanced at Ludwig, who shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he didn't care.

After fixing his hair, Horn put down his wine glass and simply dragged a chair over, moving forward the conversation that was originally scheduled for after dinner.

After organizing his thoughts, he spoke to Ludwig first:

"Your Majesty Ludwick, have you ever thought about why Kasha County is so oppressed, and why there is still a group of people who are determined to oppose and break off relations with the church?"

“It’s because the church is so deeply rooted that it’s hard for people to forget this tradition for a while,” Ludwik explained.

"That's part of the reason, but fundamentally, it's because of the material foundation." Horn retorted, "Dean Ludwick, let me ask you, Kasha County is a large grain county, with orchards, grains, and livestock as its main output. Am I right?"

Ludwig hesitated for a while and then nodded.

"Your supporters are small farmers, rich farmers, self-employed farmers, and knight lords. Kasha County's industry and commerce are not well developed, and it mainly relies on agricultural output..."

Horn began to analyze Ludvik.

Unlike Langsand County and Hotam County, Kasha County has a small population, so the per capita amount of farmland is quite large.

Since industry and commerce are not well developed, there is only one city, Xiaochi, and the industrial and commercial population is not large.

Since their agricultural products cannot be consumed by themselves, they have to be sold outside in exchange for daily necessities.

“Why did the Juano faction prosper in Cassia County?”

"It is because Kasha County borders France that we can sell food and agricultural products to France, and we do not need to rely entirely on the Thousand River Valley Church."

“Why did your supporters suddenly side with the church and oppose a win-win combination?”

"It's because the Franks can't consume the grain output of the entire Kasha County."

“If they fall out with the church and the other nobles in the Thousand Valley, no one will buy their food, and they won’t be able to buy enough daily necessities, and they won’t be able to make a profit.”

"They are afraid of really angering the church and are afraid of falling into a lower social class, so they oppose our union."

"The reason why Kasha County is hesitant and jumping back and forth is because of the conflicts of interest within it."

After talking until his mouth was dry, Horn took a sip of the black tea on the table and asked, "What do you think of what I said?"

"Of course it's right, we all realize it, but how do we solve it?" Ludwig opened his eyes for the first time, with a terrifying gleam in his eyes. Horn, however, showed no sign of fear. He stretched out his hand and drew a simple map on the table, marking the locations of Fort Jeanne, Red Copper Fortress, and Black Snake Bay.

"The solution is simple. What the Franks can't eat can be transported to Black Snake Bay, right?" Pointing to the simple map drawn on the table, Horn emphasized twice on the location of the Red Copper Fortress.

“The area of ​​Black Snake Bay is almost twice that of Thousand River Valley, and the demand for food has always been great, but originally there was a blockade by the Red Copper Fortress and the church, so food had to be smuggled.

Now that we have captured the Copper Fortress, the shipping route from Jeanne d'Arc to Black Snake Bay is unobstructed.

Through the Ibe River, food from Longsand County and Kasha County can flow into Black Snake Bay in a continuous stream.

I can guarantee that the market in Black Snake Bay can definitely absorb the food output of our two families."

Lulos asked back without commenting, "There aren't any extra gold pounds in Black Snake Bay, right? What can we use to exchange the food for it?"

This is a big problem. The grain from Kasha County can be sold for gold pounds, but what can it get in exchange for transporting it to Black Snake Bay?

"Who said you don't have gold? Not only do you have it, you have two, one black gold and one white gold." With a snap of her fingers, the maid beside her took out two silver plates from behind the curtain.

One contains black powder and the other contains white powder.

"Pepper? Spice!" Lulos recognized what the black powder was at a glance and immediately thought of the specialty spice of Black Snake Bay.

Spices are not the ingredients used to make perfume, but pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg...

In this age of condiment scarcity, these condiments are almost worth their weight in gold.

The Lilac Corridor in the south of the Frankish Kingdom was originally a desolate land, but it rose to prominence thanks to the clove trade.

In this way, the grain output of Langsander County and Kasha County was transported to Black Snake Bay in exchange for local spices, and then sold to the Kingdom of France through Kasha County.

Spices are not common commodities like grain. They are definitely a seller's market with supply exceeding demand within the empire.

Horn also controls the official trade channels to the Kingdom of France, which allows him to obtain more preferential treatment, and he may even be able to set up a Black Snake Bay Spice Company.

With the funds raised from selling stocks and securities trading, early industrialization was completed in Longsand County alone.

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult." Lulos subconsciously patted her chest, waist and thighs, and found that she didn't bring any tobacco leaves or pipes. She sighed and said, "The spice trade has quotas among the secret parties. Now it is controlled by several secret parties in the south."

"The food issue is one of the most important issues in Black Snake Bay." Ludwick saw the prospect and also held on to it. "We are not smuggling. We have shipping and the distance is so close. We must have more food than them."

"Using political correctness to pressure them, if they are unwilling to provide quotas, they will just have to watch their brothers in Black Snake Bay starve." Horn suggested, "To be more ruthless, you can also ask, why can the same spices be exchanged for more food in your place, but cause famine in their place?

Where did the missing food go? Was it embezzled? How do they feel about the fact that so many people have died of starvation over the years?
We can also cooperate with them, lower the price of grain, operate at a loss, first destroy their credibility, and then acquire and annex them..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Are you doing this to see a civil war in Black Snake Bay?" Lulos knocked on the table to stop Horn's thoughts. "It will take time to transfer the quota. We can't swallow up Kasha County's food in a short time."

Horn and Ludvik looked at each other and sat back in their seats.

"Hmm..." Horn pondered for a moment, "In fact, we can provide loans and guarantee payments, but we can't solve all the problems..."

"Don't you still have platinum? Where's the platinum? We don't have such a thing here."

Lulos stretched out her delicate fingers, picked up a small handful from the silver plate and rubbed it, and a finer powder fell from her fingertips.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Horn's forehead.

No wonder she is called a physical witch. Although she looks small, her physical strength is really strong.

"Try licking it."

Seeing Lulos's suspicious look, Horn had no choice but to pinch a little and sprinkle it into his mouth, then swallow it.

Lulos then put a little on her tongue and licked it. The next second, her eyes lit up immediately.

"This is?"

(End of this chapter)