King-Chapter 1100 - 163: Navy? Pirates

Tax cut stimulus is a long-term mechanism; it had little impact on the Snow Moon Territory in the short term.

The city-building work had fully launched, leaving the security of the construction teams on Hudson’s shoulders.

The Kingdom planned to station two hundred thousand troops in the Near East, but that was only on paper. The first batch of troops that entered the Near East numbered merely eighty thousand, and the cavalry among them amounted to only twenty thousand.

The only consolation was that half of those twenty thousand cavalry came from the Expedition Army Corps; their combat strength was notable across the whole continent.

This military force would certainly be inadequate against the Orc Empire, but was more than enough to handle any individual Orc tribe. The only problem was that the start of city-building required attention to be spread too thin.

The last time the Human Alliance launched an expedition against the Orcs, the biggest achievement was not defeating the Orc Empire, but disrupting their transition from a Nomadic Era to an agrarian civilization.

For the Human Race, this was undoubtedly a great thing. Unfortunately for Hudson, who was tasked with defending the Near East Region, it was a huge headache.

The defining characteristic of agrarian civilizations is long-term settlement, unlike Nomadic Tribes that migrate annually.

If the Orcs had settled in one place to engage in farming, the likelihood of them causing trouble would have surely diminished. After all, Orcs might flee, but the land cannot; any mischief would be met with the threat of retaliation.

The Nomadic civilization was different; they would plunder and then migrate away, making it hard to seek revenge on the vast grasslands.

Now that summer had arrived, if nothing unexpected happened, the Orcs would likely make tentative encroachments by autumn.

"Marshal, all the information about the Near East Region has been gathered. In awe of your illustrious name, there are no large Orc tribes near the Snow Moon Territory.

Based on this, we have made some adjustments to our original plans. Apart from developing fisheries and animal husbandry, the Government Affairs Department plans to open salt fields in the coastal areas.

There is a lack of salt mines on the great plains, and in the future, most of the salt supply for the Near East will have to be transported from the Kingdom.

As long as the price of the salt we provide is similar to that transported from the Kingdom, we can capture most of the market.

The main competitors in this field are a few Lords from the coastal regions. In particular, the Felix Clan, who hold the Kingdom’s largest port in the Northern Border and the convenience of the vast river.

If a price war breaks out, the Felix Clan with their geographic advantage might be the most likely to siphon off our customers.

Especially the market in the Seven Northern Provinces, which is currently monopolized by them in conjunction with four other Major Noble Clans from the Northland.

However, this monopoly will not last. It is said that new salt mines have been discovered within the Northern Border. Once they are developed, their profits are bound to plummet significantly.

Considering that Snow Moon Territory is currently in a tax-exempt state, the other Lords of the Near East Region have not yet been ennobled, and transit taxes are definitely out of the question.

For cost reasons, some Lords from the Northern Border transporting goods may choose to take a detour through the Near East Region.

As long as the price is right, they would likely not mind picking up a batch of salt on their way.

In the short term, the goal is not to make much profit, but simply to establish trade relations with various parties and carve out the market, which would count as a success.

Considering that everyone is currently not well off, the main salt sold should be inferior coarse salt, complemented by a small amount of refined salt."

After listening to Jacob’s words, Hudson nodded slightly. His expression was impassive, but deep down, he was quite pleased.

Being able to deter the Orcs, he had indeed made history. In the history of the Kingdom, Lords who had intimidated Orcs were unheard of; it was more common to hear of those who were intimidated by the Orcs.

Such deterrence not only had an effect now but would directly influence the morale of both armies during warfare.

In comparison, the industrial structure planning for the territory seemed very mediocryst.

Hudson had no intention of intervening, as a mediocre plan did not mean it was a bad one. These kinds of development strategy plans were always best when they were as simple and generic as possible.

Whether it was developing the fisheries, animal husbandry, or the newly added salt industry, the Government Affairs Department had concocted the plans based on actual circumstances.

Under the current production system, all these were fully viable, and even if setbacks were encountered, the losses would remain within a controllable range.

Compared to the past when Hudson set frameworks and the Government Affairs Department was responsible for refinement, the fact that the department was now able to actively modify plans was already a significant improvement.

In a sense, this was all thanks to war. With Hudson at the front lines during the war, the Government Affairs Department had to operate independently.

Having gotten used to dealing with things on their own after being left to their own devices for so long, they were no longer the "child" that needed to report and seek guidance on every matter.

Salt production in the territory was divided into boiling salt and sun-drying salt.

Limited by production technology, although the cost of sun-drying salt was lower, its quality was truly poor.

Yellow granules, powder, terrifying amounts of impurities; these were unappetizing at first glance.

The technology for boiling salt was more mature, and its quality surpassed that of sun-dried salt, but there was still something missing when trying to produce top-quality salt.

The best grade of Snowflake Salt and Green Salt were made by boiling natural salt mines, which, supposedly, required the use of Magic Apparatus for purification and also added some Magic Active Factor.

The market for high-quality salt was too small. Many minor Nobles only consumed regular table salt, while Major Nobles were accustomed to using salt from their own production.

Hudson, for instance, had never needed to buy salt from outside once the salt produced on his own territory could meet the demand. If the quality was not sufficient, an additional round of purification would do, which was simply a matter of increasing the cost a bit.

Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience