From troll tribes to elf empires

Chapter 297 Journey and Awakening

This is a horn-hoofed royal city-state, similar to many other city-states on the northern plateau. It also has no city defense measures such as outer walls and moats, and instead has a natural transition between agriculture, suburbs, and cities;

And where Azra and his party are now located is in its outermost farming area.

The endless fields occupy almost all the areas in sight. Only in the far west, scattered factories can be seen for the first time, as well as the shadow of the city in the core.

Regardless of the factory or the city further away, Azra was dazzled by the fields here alone.

When she was very young, she also experienced the afterglow of the Snake Spirit Clan's heyday, and also saw agricultural areas that were larger than what she saw before;

But no at that time, even the three most powerful agricultural areas in the north today could never compete with this place in some aspects.

~~~~~~~~~

Two cars with dark green shells and bodies filled with the beauty of rhombuses and lines were driving one after another along a smooth and straight road at a not too fast speed.

There were three passengers in the front car, with Alama and Azra sitting in the back seat, while the guide from the headquarters was driving the car in the front seat.

Azra was leaning on the door at this time, looking through the car window to the depths on both sides of the road. There were big guys roaring and driving through the fields.

"What is that? It seems to be harvesting crops?" the snake spirit leader asked.

"The one in the front is a 'harvesting and threshing machine', and the one in the back is a 'transportation machine'" the guide in the front row casually introduced.

"This city-state has almost popularized 'field driving tools'. Now it only requires two or three horned hoof species to complete operations on large areas of farmland in one day."

"The early planting."

"Similarly, most of the processes including planting, irrigation, fertilizing, weeding, pest control, etc. are handled by specialized 'tools', and the same goes for the remaining rough processing and finishing."

Azra felt incredible at this answer. Looking at this place, and then thinking about the difficult production and living conditions in his own camp, he suddenly had mixed feelings in his heart and couldn't control himself.

"Don't worry, Azra. As long as you are willing to come here, the snake spirits in the future will also be qualified to live such a life."

The people inside the car looked out, and the travelers outside the car also looked in. Although everyone knew that there was a sect leader above their heads, they could not often see him because of the problem of quantity and social circle;

"Yes, strictly speaking, this is a subsidiary city-state affiliated with the Republic. It has an independent administrative system and maintains a very high level of autonomy. It is only subject to our supervision and maintenance in terms of law and security. All other matters

All are carried out based on the principle of 'equivalent exchange'."

"It seems different from what I remember."

"That's what you said."

but

"Okay, since he is the distinguished guest of the sect master, the little king will not delay." He patted his chest and bowed. "Samar will leave first. I hope the envoy can have a wonderful journey."

After saying hello, the guide turned to the captain and said,

"We will enter the city directly from now on. Remember to follow closely."

The leader of the warrior team did not get out of the car, but his voice rang in his ears.

"Yes, eating, clothing, playing, and education. These all require resources. Fortunately, they are teenagers as soon as they are born. They don't have to be raised from the infant stage like us back then."

"In the next ten years. No, I can't say it will be twenty or thirty years, or even longer. Grain, fruits, vegetables, meat, woolen silk fabrics, and minerals will all be the supplies that the Republic will purchase twice as much, especially food.

, you can start preparing now.”

"Autonomy? Independent administration? Exchange? What about the elves? What do you get?"

"Understood."

It is true that the first and second-tier powerful families in the north have countless free labor like gravel, and endless food. Who would think about working on magic and machinery?

After all, they themselves almost never engage in such production activities.

After explaining for a long time, Alama finally expressed the concept of "I am a rich man", although there are no poor elves in the black forest.

~~~~~~~~

"King Boista, although trade volume matters are not within my scope of authority, because of your enthusiasm, I will reveal a little bit of information."

And then look at the backward and inferior tribes

Those in power have no intention of improving it, because the extra food output will not actually change their lives and power;

But real workers have neither the energy nor the knowledge to improve;

In this way, the "immutability" in the north was formed that lasted for countless hundreds or thousands of years.

Perhaps, these guys who call themselves the ‘darlings of the world’ are really suitable to lead the entire continent’s tribes?

While talking, she took out a brick-sized device from her backpack, pressed a few buttons on it, and then motioned Azra to look at the numbers displayed on it.

"Look, I am also a rich elf."

Moreover, what she saw in front of her was the limit of "advancedness" in her imagination. Azra did not think that there would be a more advanced country in the world that belonged entirely to elves.

Therefore, she sighed at this time,

"Let me take a look."

At the moment, Azra subconsciously believed that the so-called "nation" among the elves should be a model of multi-racial living together.

For example, elves with strong individual strength but difficulty in reproducing serve as the absolute ruling class, while races with strong fertility such as horn-hoofed species serve as laborers;

Compared with the north, this is actually a different medicine. At best, it lacks the label of 'slave'. Today's situation is just a false harmony supported by strong productivity. The latter still has to serve the former unconditionally.

Samar glanced at Azra in the car, with a bit of hatred and disdain flashing in his eyes;

As a noble species that has been inherited since the Tulum era, he understands that these snake spirits were not good things back then, and they also had their share of the suffering suffered by the horned hoof species in history.

"And with our funding, Snake Spirit will have a city-state with complete facilities, a large number of auxiliary machinery, and corresponding technologies. Your compatriots' lives will not only be safe, but also extremely wealthy."

"Is this the country of elves? No wonder you call yourself the 'darling of the world'. Your skills are really the envy of snakes."

"That's right, it's a horn-hoofed character." The guide replied.

"However, such a large amount of food cannot be digested by one city-state, so it will sell food to non-agricultural city-states in exchange for its characteristic output;"

"This is a bit complicated to say, so let me explain it to you slowly along the way."

~~~~~~~~

During the conversation, the large fields gradually disappeared on both sides of the road, replaced by some small factories and several courtyards where various types of 'machinery' were parked.

"By the way, you don't use elf characters, this is a number, this circle represents 0"

After swallowing what he wanted to say involuntarily, Azra flipped up his hair in a covert manner and asked in a low voice again,

"What are they talking about?"

~~~~~~~

"Who is that?"

"The farms you see are all run by a horn-hoofed farmer, and those large machines are production tools produced in the elven kingdom;"

"The more workers who have gained income, they also have money to buy daily necessities to support their families;"

In the wind blowing in front of her, the snake spirit smelled the unique smell of the animals and heard the strange roaring sound. So she turned her head and looked outside, saw those houses and courtyards, and saw strange symbols one by one.

"Are those words?"

"The problem is indeed a problem, but the source is good news, so it's painful and happy at the same time."

“Of course no problem”

"Ha, there is no need to mention whether it is a favor or not. After all, this is something that benefits both parties."

"Let's go, let's go now."

"If you think about it, we now have 350,000 citizens, but apart from the 70,000 prime men like you and me who were directly transformed from trolls, there are only 3,000 'physical prime men' in their early years, that is, compatriots over 30 years old.

"

"Isn't it? In the 90th year of the Rune Calendar, there were only six mother trees in Manchuria, and the number of trees increased by only 250,000 every ten years. Among them, No. 4 was produced for the first time the year before last, and 60,000 were produced in one go. No. 5 and No. 6 also

Next year, the year after tomorrow will usher in the first production of each, which is another 90,000 little ones;"

"The former controls a large amount of wealth and physical objects, while the latter gets paid by helping the former work."

"The former is also the strong one, right? The strong one is willing to reward the weak one? Why not use him as a slave?"

Achimsta parked the car helplessly, shook his head, and got out of the car after putting on a gentle enough smile.

"King Boyx, the Ministry of State should have informed you. You don't need to pay attention to us."

But this kind of 'escape' and taking it for granted was interrupted by Alama, who was playing with the pointed tail of a beautiful female snake.

"Haha, you are wrong, this is not our country~"

"Trade? Will the elves buy things in the vassal state? Or is it the kind of transaction that pays a price?"

She knows those upright creatures in the fields

In the past, even when the Snake Spirit Tribe was becoming lonely, there were actually many subsidiary tribes in the territory, among which was this group that the elves called the 'Horned Hooves'.

"Okay, Xiao Wang has taken note of it!"

As she spoke, her eyes inadvertently glanced diagonally ahead, and discovered that at the end of the road, there were more than a dozen gorgeously dressed horned hoof species, led by a taller horned hoof species, who were waiting with their chins gazing.

"Although in terms of time and ability, the calculation of 'labor' can be calculated from the age of 15 after graduating from the Central School, but only 110,000 elves have entered the society;"

"Second, it turns out that using slaves is not necessarily efficient. Generally, hiring free labor will yield more gains;"

"Snake spirit."

"There's nothing I can't say. It just so happens that the damn snake spirit language along the way mentioned that my tongue hurts. In fact, it has been vaguely appearing in recent years."

The 'driver' who was driving also agreed upon hearing this.

"When nearly a hundred such city-states form trade routes, they can benefit more industries and feed more people. What we elves gain are the smiling faces in the process."

"Everything should be under militarized management! Team leaders, squadron leaders, and group leaders are under layer-by-layer control, and let them take care of themselves at the grassroots level! At the higher levels, a small number of prime-age soldiers, teachers, etc. are arranged, right? Wouldn't that be great? Anyway, they are

You are a teenager as soon as you are born, so there should be no problem with this!"

Alama pointed to the machinery in the fields in the distance and the off-road convoy that had just arrived, and said,

"They use 'credit coins' to obtain our specialties, and we also use 'credit coins' to exchange for the supplies we need. Only by going back and forth can we build a fairly stable social structure."

"After that, the 10 plants added in Rune Calendar 92, and the 13 plants added in 94, will also give birth for the first time in four or five years. This is 1.28 million children."

'Dong-dong-dong!'

The two elves both entered the car, and the team set off again. Then they slowly left the farming area and drove into the suburbs. The core area of ​​the city-state began to be clearly visible.

~~~~~~~~

On the road that followed, the number of traveling vehicles and horned hoofs gradually increased, and when they entered the city, they could even occasionally see foreigners from other city-states, who seemed to be sojourners or long-distance traders.

"City-states that receive taxes can repair the city and purchase supplies together."

"What's wrong with the headquarters' doubling in purchasing basic supplies? Are they preparing for war?"

"War? How do I know about this kind of thing? You should know better, right?"

Habitually withdrawing the nerve braid held by Azra in his hand, he pointed with it at the heavy vehicles behind the horned hoof species not far away.

"Also. Look over there, those transportation vehicles are also our products. In addition, there are roads, tracks, rail locomotives, construction equipment, etc. As for the price."

She turned around in confusion and saw Azra's originally purple face, which for some reason became a bit more purple.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"I see."

“It doesn’t seem like an easy thing to do”

Azra did understand, but she was also confused by the elves' choice, because it was completely different from the world she knew, whether it was production methods or population relationships.

Anyway, in her impression, 'agriculture' is either like what she saw when she was a child, relying on a large amount of low-end labor from slave tribes to obtain harvests, or like the current Snake Spirit Camp, where you just sprinkle some seeds and rely on the sky.

Have a meal.

After returning the braid to its 'original position' and flicking it twice in his palm, Alama continued to explain,

"Whether it's a transaction between city-states or a transaction with the clan leader, you need to use 'special equivalents'. Just like your northern tribes use precious metals to exchange goods, we also have a 'credit currency' system here."

But here, not only do they live a normal life, they also seem to have technical capabilities that put the powerful powers in the north to shame.

"You said! You said, our country will definitely remember your kindness!"

"King? Inferior"

Next, the driver pointed to the fields outside and continued,

"The royal breeding farm, the royal woolen factory. And the one over there, that's the parking lot for damaged agricultural machinery. Railcars will come and take it away every once in a while."

"You are joking. Since the noble elves have come to our country, they must show us the highest respect, otherwise how can we show our respect."

"Look after the children!? I can't do it!" The captain's serious face showed a rare expression of nervousness, and he thought randomly,

Taking over the words helplessly, Alama put his weight on the cold body of the snake spirit leader, looked out from the window on the other side, and read as he read,

So instinctively, she confused the huge difference between 'elves' and 'horn-hoofed species', and involuntarily regarded them as a whole.

"These symbols?"

When the guide's last words came out, Azra, who was immersed in the story, suddenly felt that the tip of his tail was tightened a bit;

The captain also got out of the car at this time, walked to Achim and asked with a frown,

"Ahem. It's nothing, I just choked on the spit."

". From 1990 to this year, there were only 160,000 new additions. Between 100 and 109, it will skyrocket to 7.5 million? This means that we will need less than 400,000 people to support more than 10 million in the next fifteen years.

young people and young students’ needs in all aspects.”

"Moreover, half of them are researchers, and the rest are military and civil servant employees. There are very few production units that are actually on the front line;"

"That's right, if you bring the Snake Spirit Tribe to join you, you will naturally receive the same treatment and live a safe and peaceful life under the protection of the Republic;"

What Azra didn't see at this moment was that the awkward smile appeared again on Alama's face next door, which was blocked by his tail.

‘This guy is really lying when he opens his mouth’

"And the five years from 1995 to this year are even more exaggerated. Suddenly there were 94 more plants. What do you think this means?"

In her understanding, they are weak, but diligent and honest, and have good fertility;

"The rest are the 60,000 3-year-olds, 80,000 4-year-olds, 20,000 8-year-olds, and 80,000 13-year-old seniors."

"I understand. Is the impending increase in growth putting pressure on the ruling government?"

"Haha, you're welcome. See you later."

"What's going on? Tell me? Of course, the premise is that the confidentiality regulations are not violated."

"Don't worry, you guy. That's something that needs to be conveyed to the city states recently."

Azra and Alama were already very familiar with each other, so he naturally asked in a low voice,

"The king of this city-state and his nobles."

Under the vague 'staring' of the ruling government guide, Alama shook his head and said that it was no problem at all, so Azra's eyes turned back to the guide in the front row again and asked his doubts.

"Can you tell me about the farmer and the hired laborers?"

"Well, it's a new phonetic character they created after imitating the elves' pinyin. It seems they thought the previous characters were too backward?"

"Let me listen. It seems to be some nonsense. Oh, this guy wants to increase the transaction volume this year. He also complained about the bad things about the city-state next door. That's about it."

"Achim, look ahead." (Elvish)

"I'm not blind. I've seen a bunch of nasty guys a long time ago. I told them not to disturb me. I'm worried about whether their attitude will make the snake spirit feel uncomfortable. After all, the horned hoof species are afraid of being beaten by us." (Elvish language)

"It doesn't matter. This matter will not affect the results of deep suggestion. At least that's what the witch doctors say." (Essence)

"That's good, I'll go take care of things later, and you and the lady will wait in the car for a while." (Essence)

"No problem, leave it to me." (Essence)

In the conversation that Azra couldn't understand, the two cars gradually approached the group in front, and then they heard the sound of greetings coming from the roadside.

"Samar Boix, together with the nobles of the city-state, met the wise elf envoy!"

"Alama, don't you give your snake spirit friend Nian Nian? Stop playing around, be careful and I will tell your captain~"

Therefore, at this time, when the team of six elves and one snake spirit entered the city, they immediately attracted curious eyes.

On both sides of the street, there are concrete buildings with several stories high. Although they are not very beautiful, they are often five or six stories high, and there are many shops below, as well as well-dressed people on the street.

The people here once again opened Azila's eyes, and at the same time, they also gave birth to jealousy in her heart towards this place.

"Production may not be a problem, after all, efficiency is there to support it, but education and other aspects have begun to be tense. What will happen in the next ten or twenty years?"

"What does it say on it?"

"Yes, then?"

"It doesn't 'seem', it's definitely not easy, so we need to transfer some production activities without technical content to the city-state on a large scale. We will focus on automated production lines ourselves, and then fully tilt social forces towards education, I guess.

Ah, before the first batch of elves born in the tide graduate, it is estimated that even you and me will have to work part-time as playmates for a while, teacher."

"You bastard, what kind of blind idea did you come up with? Thank you for thinking it through. Don't say this nonsense in the headquarters?"

"It's a bit shameful to say that although the Republic bans slavery based on the concept of 'all equality among intelligent creatures', it can only be implemented because of interests and pressure from us."

After that, Samar bowed slightly towards the other five elf warriors in the two cars in front and behind, and then led a dozen city-state nobles who didn't even interrupt to leave in the car.

~~~~~~~

"Achim, how could you leak information to him privately?"

There was a knock on the window from behind, and then Alama urged impatiently,

"Should we leave or not?"

"The city-state we are heading to now has more than 300,000 residents. Naturally, it is impossible for everyone to be extremely rich. Among them are wealthy nobles, farmers, factory owners, shopkeepers, and there are also ordinary people who make a living by working.

kind,

Achim leaned on the edge of the car, pondered for a while and whispered,

Whether it was what the guide described or what he witnessed with his own eyes, Azra felt moved.

After all, even those bitches on the street can live such a life, so why can’t the Snake Spirit Clan?

~~~~~~~

Northern Continent·Mammoth King City

"What do you think? I still have foreign guests to entertain here. Let's talk about it later?"

Therefore, whether in the eyes of the Snake Spirit Clan or the other first- and second-class forces, these guys are qualified laborers and excellent slaves;

When large forces need to conduct transactions but cannot find suitable equivalents, affiliated tribes like the 'Horned Hooves' occasionally serve as 'currency' and are used by hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands.

The exchange of plans is not uncommon.

"Of course we have to buy grain, meat, cloth, raw materials, and sell them some machinery. Just like those agricultural machinery just now,"

"First, the most fundamental reason is that slaves are prohibited here. Whether it is the kingdom of elves or the affiliated city-states, there is no such thing as slaves."

“In this process, farmers acquired a large amount of private property and had the money to enjoy a luxurious life, thereby creating more demand for luxury goods;”

"After buying these tools, farmers don't have to go to the fields themselves. They only need to hire some laborers to complete the harvest easily and more efficiently. Then they only need to pay taxes to the city-state, and the remaining food will be their private property.

;"

The protector's huge body was slightly conscious, and it felt slightly confused at this time.

In the past ten years, the regular beasts that had not seen any big movements for many years seemed to have become somewhat active. Even in their 'sleep', they still experienced no less than dozens of short and fierce battles.

In addition, the sky seems to be getting a little noisy.

Some special 'exceptions', in addition to the original source, have dozens of origins, making the already chaotic 'reality' a mess;

All this affected its 'sleep', so the golden statue trembled slightly, tasting

It found that some of them seemed to exist in order, while others appeared to be chaotic;

The former is the focus of attention, and they are conveying a kind of information that they do not understand in a strange way?

And its destination seems to be the far south

The south of the country? No, not where the chaos continues, but further south, even further south than the wall of the continent.

(End of chapter)