The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 966 Salt!
“You see things very clearly…” Darian Nightblade shook his head and chuckled.

"It's not that I see things clearly, but His Majesty had no choice! Before the Swift Hand family came, who could have taken over his mess?" Yun Feng sneered. Roland was practically treating him like an animal.

“I understand. His Majesty knows you have grievances, so he goes along with you on small matters!” Darian Nightblade gave a thumbs up, looking like he finally understood.

"Your Majesty, how do you choose between a dog that can't prove itself and a slave that's easy to use? Doesn't anyone have to teach you?" Yun Feng said self-deprecatingly.

"Ahem, the Franz family is still very loyal to His Majesty!" Darian Nightblade said with a cautious expression.

"The Sword and Shield family back then... weren't they also disloyal?" Yunfeng's whisper sent a chill down Darian Nightblade's spine.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not planning to do anything!" A hint of amusement flashed in Yun Feng's eyes. Darian Nightblade's wary look and helpless actions clearly amused Yun Feng.

“Watch your words, and let’s not talk about the Sword and Shield family matter... I didn’t hear anything!” Darian Nightblade indicated that he did not want to get involved in the Empire’s secrets and historical vortex.

"Tsk tsk tsk! Doesn't the Chief of Public Transport make us laugh by saying that? This is what you do!" Yun Feng glanced at him. What's with this secret agent chief who works in covert intelligence pretending to be innocent?
“…” Darian Nightblade looked miserable and had nothing to say.

"By the way, what does His Majesty want with you?" Seeing the bitter look on Darian Nightblade's face, Yun Feng turned to the main topic. After all, Darian Nightblade, now holding the title of Commander of the Imperial Carriage, was no longer as transparent as he had been when he was a commoner. His every word and action represented Roland's will! As the head of the kingdom's secret service, his appearance in Swiftstream City was definitely not for a stroll!
“His Majesty was worried that Marquis Al-Tegran Franz might make an overreaction without understanding the situation, so he sent me to keep an eye on things. I didn’t expect to be stopped here!” Darian Nightblade shook his head and said helplessly.

“Taxation is necessary, but the kingdom’s commercial atmosphere is too weak right now. Excessive exploitation will lead to depletion of resources… After all, what can this poor, remote place in the North possibly have? The exchange of goods between the kingdoms is nothing more than an internal circulation! If we really want to support the finances through trade, we need to open up the entire Misty Mountains and the Anduin River!” Yun Feng saw it very clearly. Relying on the small amount of trade between these poor brothers in the North would only generate taxes that would be less than the cost of land. The truly profitable thing would be to open up trade routes to the South and the Shire!

“That makes sense!” Darian Nightblade nodded. You can’t expect to get rich by selling a few pieces of salted fish.

“However, there is one tax that we should pay attention to!” Yun Feng said seriously, his eyes narrowing.

“?” Darian Nightblade was taken aback. What was so special about this miscellaneous stuff that was worth taxing?

"Salt!" Yun Feng said, and strode outside.

"Salt?" Darian Nightblade's pupils constricted sharply!
Currently, the main source of salt in the North is the salt supplied by the Kingdom of Lagrange! There are several salt mines with huge reserves around Palembang! In the past, the North was sparsely populated, and the salt in Long Lake came from the byproducts of the Lonely Mountain Dwarves digging pits. However, with the influx of people, the amount of salt from the Lonely Mountain mines was not enough to meet the demand, so following the historical trend, the Lagranges started the Palembang salt mines!
……

"Salt?" The sullen Marquis Al-Tegran Franz fell into calm contemplation after Duke Yunfeng spoke, leaving Darian Nightblade, who followed behind, utterly bewildered. Hadn't you just had a falling out? How could you be sitting together so peacefully discussing politics in just a few minutes? (Yunfeng: Kid! Social skills, the ability to read people!)

Yun Feng, who was watching Marquis Al-Tegran Franz pondering, revealed a satisfied expression. It was true that the Franz family had trained themselves well! When it came to royal matters, the Franz family was more devoted than anyone else; their loyalty to the royal family was no joke! This was also why Yun Feng had come to him! The facts proved that the Franz family had indeed stood the test of time and was trustworthy! "If it's salt, the tax can't be too high!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said, his gaze fixed on Yun Feng.

"Oh? The reason?" Yun Feng sat up and asked calmly.

“From a geopolitical point of view, the kingdom currently needs these allies. Salt is valuable but not worthless! Rather than letting our allies grow apart for a little profit, we should concede profits to maintain our influence over other kingdoms!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said eloquently.

“Then do as you say, and go for it!” Yun Feng tapped the railing.

"..." Marquis Al-Tegran Franz stared at Yun Feng, somewhat bewildered. His gaze seemed to say, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
“I am a court duke! The kingdom’s prime minister! I also represent the will of King Roland!” Yun Feng nodded to Marquis Al-Tegran Franz and then turned to leave.

"???" Aren't you two supposed to be sitting there side-by-side? Darian Nightblade rolled his eyes. This one representing Roland's will, that one representing Roland's will—anyone who didn't know better would think Roland was a corn spirit! Sitting on a golden toilet shouting "Long live the Empire!" Wait a minute? Darian Nightblade realized he also seemed to represent Roland's will… Who is Roland? How come everyone represents his will?!
……

"Salt?" Roland stared at the news from Jiliu City and was instantly lost in memories. Salt was something that every transmigrator had to deal with when they traveled to ancient times. As for why Roland had neglected it, it was because he had accumulated a large amount of salt through system check-ins. Well, the brain-dead system gave salt instead of food during the famine... Since the salt in the Kingdom of Lagrang was all supplied by Roland, he didn't pay much attention to salt.

"Palembang has salt mines? Is that coarse salt even edible? Are they treating their allies like Japanese devils?" Roland exclaimed in shock as he looked at the message on the letter.

“Yes? I oversaw the resumption of mining, so coarse salt is definitely edible! People in other kingdoms can’t afford green salt, so coarse salt is already excellent! And who is the Japanese devil? Why are they targeting him?” Nyx asked Roland curiously.

"Hiss... I was careless!" Roland slapped his forehead. As an empire with immense material wealth, these remnants of the empire did not show much surprise or reaction to the salt Roland provided. However, for other ordinary people in the Central Plains, life was still difficult!

"Then we can process some salt and sell it to the Western world!" Roland thought for a moment. After all, a country's economy cannot rely entirely on systemic subsidies to operate smoothly; both increasing revenue and reducing expenditure must be carried out together.

"Crude salt? That's not competitive!" Nyx shook his head. Crude salt wasn't expensive to produce, and the dwarves were so wealthy because they controlled the salt and iron trade. Now you know why the dwarves were so rich! They mined salt and iron! In ancient times, those were all controlled commodities!

“No, we’ll refine it and sell it as salt!” Roland said.

“Processing coarse salt? Forgive my bluntness, but the empire has the technology to refine salt, but the cost is beyond the reach of ordinary people!” Nyx said seriously. The Lagrange Empire maintains its salt supply by relying on its large number of alchemists.

"No, we sell it even cheaper than coarse salt, focusing on volume! And it doesn't require alchemy, ordinary people can do it!" Roland shook his head. Salt isn't about price, it's about volume! Besides, why would anyone need alchemy for this? Transmigrators from past generations would probably curse Roland to death!
(End of this chapter)