Chapter 129
Chapter 129: Baffling, What a Vicious Scheme!
Of course, even though he was mumbling in his heart, Kyle still listened attentively to Lorne’s words.
“Benefits need to be weighed. If there’s nothing to be gained from Fusang, then it’s naturally more important to maintain the generous image of the Lolan Empire.
“But if the benefits gained from letting go of this generous image far exceed this so-called status, then there’s no need to maintain it at all.
“Heh, be glad that the current king did not hear my analysis. Otherwise, the imperial court would be in a hurry to change their mind. At that time, you would know how true my statement can be.”
Kyle chuckled a few times. Lorne’s words had completely dispelled his worries.
After interacting with Lorne for so long, he was really showing signs of assimilation. In terms of behavior and handling matters, he was more inclined to pursue practical benefits and neglected other things like status.
So when Lorne said this, he really had a feeling that this had hit the nail on the head.
Kyle decided to gather the head of the Ministry of Finance and the others when he returned and begin to work on it. He wanted to see how he could make it look more charming.
As Kyle was imagining this, Lorne suddenly took out a copper coin and a small piece of gold and placed them side by side on the table.
“Actually, if I want to take care of both, I do have a pretty good idea. I can maintain the generous appearance of my Lolan Empire, but at the same time, I can kill several birds with one stone.
“Not only do I have to obtain the gold mine in Fusang, but I can also take it out gracefully. Even the surrounding countries will have to praise my Lolan Empire for its benevolence.”
Lorne’s sudden words instantly drew Kyle’s thoughts over. Then, the next second, Kyle was dumbfounded.
“What do you mean?
“Not only can our Lolan Empire take over the Fusang gold mine, but we can also even hide our traces and others will even say that we’re good?!”
Lorne nodded and pointed at himself.
“Actually, the way to do this is very simple. Before we implement the plan, we’ll first send people to Fusang to investigate the distribution and burial sites of the gold mines.
“As long as we confirm it, the Lolan Empire can write a letter to the emperor of Fusang, indicating that we can directly send a group of people to personally teach the farmers and merchants over there to learn how to farm and do business.
“And the locations will be selected in the places where the gold mines are distributed.
“Don’t they want to learn the advanced technology and cultural knowledge of my Lolan Empire in Fusang? If we personally send people to teach them on the spot, don’t you think they will be happy?”
Kyle mulled over these suggestions and simulated the scene in his mind. If he wrote a letter to the emperor of Fusang, this whole ordeal could really happen.
A moment later, he nodded and said, “I’m sure the Emperor of Fusang would be so happy that he would jump up and down in joy. He might even personally send a ship to welcome the people sent by our Lolan Empire.”
Lorne immediately snapped his fingers and praised him, “That’s what I mean by all this. This is actually using benevolence and righteousness as a facade. In essence, my Lolan Empire isn’t really teaching them anything advanced. After all, sometimes it’s not a good thing to let a small barbarian country know too much.”
Kyle nodded. He understood this underlying meaning. He still remembered clearly the theory of raising wolves that Lorne had taught him.
“After the people of my Lolan Empire gets there, there are two main things they could so-call help with.
“One is to participate in the local mining of gold mines as the suzerain of the above countries. It may not be a large share, but at least a part of it can be taken away first.
“The other is to import a large number of copper coins into Fusang and use them to exchange for the gold in their hands.”
Kyle could not help but frown slightly. After thinking for a while, he still asked with some doubt, “Lorne, I can understand the first one, but I don’t understand the second one. Why do you need to import a large number of copper coins?”
Lorne did not mock Kyle for not being smart this time because the second one was related to economic means and required a profound level of understanding.
In this era, most people would not be able to make sense of it.
“I don’t know if you can understand my explanation. I’ll try to put it in more layman’s terms.
“In the territory of Fusang, there is a sufficient amount of gold. On the contrary, normal coins such as copper coins are very scarce.
“Therefore, unlike my Lolan Empire, the value of copper coins in Fusang would be much higher, and the exchange ratio between them and gold is also far from the same.
“At this time, we can transport the copper coins that are slightly less valuable in the Lolan Empire to Fusang, and these copper coins can immediately be transformed into valuable goods over there.
“After exchanging their gold, we can store them in the Lolan Empire’s treasury.
“After this, our Lolan Empire’s imperial court will earn more than ten thousand times the profits
“In less than three to five years, all the coins in Fusang will turn into copper coins, and the huge amount of gold in their country will become the treasures of our Lolan Empire.”
Lorne had underestimated Kyle in all of this. The King of the Lolan Empire was quite intelligent.
Kyle easily understood Lorne’s explanation.
“You mean to say that it’s not enough to get gold mines by relying on the mining method…
“Instead, we’ll exchange copper coins and gold coins with each other. We’ll exchange all the gold in Fusang for the Lolan Empire, and leave the low-value copper coins to them.”
Lorne suddenly tapped the table lightly.
“Smart. You seem to finally understand me. You’re finally making sense, old friend!
“As long as the imperial court is willing to do so, then just like what I said earlier, within three to five years, all the gold in Fusang will flow into the national treasury of our Lolan Empire. We will directly use the means of coins to monopolize their gold!”
“Woah!”
Kyle immediately sucked in a deep breath.
This method was absolutely ruthless.
This was even more ruthless than personally bringing people to dig for it. They would let the Fusang people dig for it themselves, then use the worthless copper coins to exchange for gold at a low price, and then drag it back to the country for their own use.
This method of getting the Fusang people to work for nothing for the Lolan Empire was ruthless! It was extremely ruthless, and also very sinister.
However, Kyle liked it very much.