After Maxing out all Classes

Chapter 823: Restarting trade with Lost City

The queen had a gloating expression on her face.
“Those foolish tricksters from the Church of Darkness, they don't even understand the most basic principles of trade.
Without the support of my Kingdom of Gran, what use is that pathetic little city? It will only continue to be marginalized.
Many seafarers are now too lazy to go to Lost City's port, or they only go there to replenish food and water.”

Robb raised a laugh.
“They brought it upon themselves.
They didn't understand the power of a free trade port.
Now they should have learned their lesson.
Did anyone follow your lead?”

The queen shook her head.
“They dare not.
I can exempt the port from taxes to attract merchants, but Lost City dares not do so.
Besides this port, where else can they collect taxes?”

At this point, she suddenly showed a gentle look towards Robb.
“Factories from all over the kingdom are now contributing a significant amount of tax revenue, far surpassing agricultural taxes.
This is all thanks to you for putting us on the right path.”

Robb smiled and remained silent.
 

Suddenly, the queen's expression became serious again, and she spoke in a low voice, “I want to hear your opinion.
The Church of Darkness now suddenly wants to buy chocolate from me.
It's obvious that they want to reopen the trade window with my Kingdom of Gran and restore trade relations.
Should I agree?”

Robb didn't rush to answer but instead asked, “What are your current thoughts?”

A trace of anger flashed in the queen's eyes.
“I don't want to agree! They cut off trade and then want to resume it at their will? I want to block the Church of Darkness's overland trade route and leave them to die in the southwest corner.”

Robb couldn't help but laugh.
“Queen, I don't quite agree with your idea.”

“Oh? What is your opinion?”
 

Robb said, “Do you know who is more susceptible to being fooled by charlatans?”

The queen pondered the question seriously.
“The poor and the less educated.”

“Exactly!” Robb said, “You want the Church of Darkness to suffer? The Church won't suffer.
It's always the ordinary people of Lost City who suffer.
The poorer they become, the more they will believe in the nonsense of the charlatans.”

The queen fell silent.

His words made sense!

Robb continued, “I suggest that you take this opportunity to reopen trade and flood Lost City with all those extravagant luxuries.
If they want chocolate, give it to them at a high price.
Then sell them books and knowledge at a low price.
Export goods on one hand and cultural influence on the other.”

The queen remained speechless.

Robb said, “You don't know, but humans have a strange tendency.
They always think that everything advanced kingdoms and regions do is right and good, while everything backward countries and regions do is wrong and ignorant.”

With an evil smile, Robb continued, “As long as you keep providing the people of Lost City with things they can't produce themselves, like chocolate, they will increasingly feel the beauty of the Kingdom of Gran and the backwardness of Lost City.
Then they will start longing for everything in the Kingdom of Gran.
They will think that even if the queen farts, it smells good, while if the pope says something, it stinks.
At that time, it will be relatively easy for you to get rid of the Church of Darkness, the thorn in your side.”

The queen glanced sideways.
“What kind of metaphor is this?”

“The metaphor doesn't matter,” Robb laughed.
“I just mean that opening up trade will actually help you control it.
If you close it off, the people of Lost City won't know or understand anything.
They might even think that the people of the Kingdom of Gran are just like them, stuck in one place.
Then, what reason do they have to admire the Kingdom of Gran?”

Finally, the queen understood something.
“Fine, I understand.
I'll provide Lost City with a batch of chocolate.”

“Remember, at an exorbitant price!” Robb chuckled mischievously.

The queen snorted, “Of course.
If I can't sell it at an exorbitant price, I'd rather eat it myself.”

The queen had great trust in Robb's words.

After hanging up the phone, she began to make arrangements.

First, she agreed to the Church of Darkness's request to buy chocolate and then deliberately gave them an opportunity to restart trade.
Having grown up amidst the influence of major powers, she was extremely skilled in negotiations, and she seized this opportunity without leaving a trace.

The Church of Darkness thought they had succeeded and quickly put forward the request to the queen to “restart trade.” They even hypocritically stated that despite their religious differences, the people of Lost City were still subjects of the Kingdom of Gran and blabbered on.

Pretending to be reluctant, the queen forced the Church of Darkness to agree to a series of humiliating agreements before the two sides “finally” reached an agreement and restarted trade.

After a long period of embargo, Lost City was in desperate need of various supplies.
Once trade resumed, they frantically bought goods from the Kingdom of Gran.
The queen took the opportunity to make a huge profit, as Robb suggested, by selling rare commodities at high prices, while cultural products were practically given away in Lost City.

For example, romantic films directed by the Elf elder, love novels written by the White Birch Elder, urban dramas set in Lost City, and everyday life-focused manga were all thrown into Lost City as if they were practically free.

Anyway, as long as through stories, people can see how rich the cultural products of the metropolitan life in the Kingdom of Gran are, they throw them into Lost City as if they were free.

When the residents of Lost City saw these movies, dramas, and manga, they were amazed to discover how damn happy the people of the Kingdom of Gran lived.
Every household had running water, sugar to eat, could afford a “refrigerator,” and could afford to drink the Coca-Cola…
Oh, and let's not forget the ridiculously expensive chocolates that ordinary people couldn't even afford a bite of.
In the romantic films, as soon as the male protagonist appeared, there would be a large plate of chocolates.
He would personally unwrap the chocolate from its wrapper and feed them to the female protagonist, who would then display a happy and sweet smile.

The CEO male lead would often buy a fishing pond for the female lead as a gift, and the technology used in the pond was a unique technique from the Westwind City, using flowing water to raise fish! They even used the scientific fish feed.

The rich second-generation male lead would frequently buy the most beautiful stockings for his girlfriend, embroidered with gold and silver threads, shimmering and glamorous.
The crucial point was that they were labeled with a “Corton” brand logo, a top luxury brand.
There's no woman who wouldn't like it.

The most outrageous thing was in one of the romantic dramas, the male lead actually gave the female lead a Westwind brand diesel car.
What the hell, this thing was insanely expensive! Even regular wealthy people couldn't afford the fuel, let alone receiving a whole car as a gift.

Who can resist this kind of movie?

The result of watching them repeatedly is that they always feel that the Kingdom of Gran is good and Lost City is inferior.
They can't wait to immerse themselves in the embrace of the Kingdom of Gran.

Sadly, they don't know that they are actually living in a fantasy.
While the real Kingdom of Gran is indeed wealthy, it is not at the level depicted in the movies.
It's a downright deadly deception.