King
Chapter 1288 - 1288 229 Trade Contraction_3

1288: Chapter 229: Trade Contraction_3 1288: Chapter 229: Trade Contraction_3 The outside world speculated that Maxim had been played by some disreputable Trashy Mother Dragon.

Some even secretly searched for this non-existent “Trashy Mother Dragon,” just to have her mess up their own dragons once more.

“Duke, last night, a patrol member found a letter outside, signed by a Minotaur, addressed to you!”

Tom’s words left Hudson completely baffled.

“Could it be that the Orcs are plotting another conspiracy?”

But that doesn’t make sense either; collusion is a serious accusation, yet it depends on whom it falls upon.

Mere rumors of him colluding with the Orcs would be laughable if spread.

Across the entire Continent, who doesn’t know that Master Hudson is the most active in combatting the Orcs!

To forcibly pin the crime of “collusion with Orcs” on a Commander with the highest Orc kill count—who would believe that?

It would make more sense to frame a Minotaur!

Even if there were collusion, it would be Master Hudson dismantling the Orc Empire, not any sort of treason.

Swiftly taking the letter and giving it a quick glance, Hudson couldn’t help but feel a mix of laughter and tears.

It turns out the Minotaurs were caving in.

They wanted to be on friendly terms and had deliberately written a letter proposing trade relations.

Considering the difference in productivity between the two sides, such trade terms are more favorable to the Kingdom, and Hudson had no inclination to oppose it.

Of course, the letter spoke of trade relations, but in reality, it pertained to smuggling.

Both Alpha Kingdom and the Orc Empire care about their reputation.

Smuggling can happen all you want in secret, without anyone taking it seriously, but openly, no one is willing to lift the ban.

“Tom, have someone discreetly leak the information that the Minotaurs intend to relax restrictions on smuggling trade.

Keep this operation hidden, so it’s not traceable to us.

We can’t have any association with this,” Hudson instructed.

Responding to the letter was out of the question.

Hudson would not entertain anything that could potentially incriminate him.

Besides, the Clan of Minotaurs is not worthy of equal treatment by him.

The truth of the letter will be tested by the smugglers below.

If restrictions on the border are indeed relaxed, smuggling will only become more convenient.

Market expansion of this sort has always been welcomed by Hudson; it’s just a shame that the Orcs are too poor.

You can tell from the taxation situation.

The special export tariffs collected by Snow Moon Territory have not increased for two consecutive years and have even slightly decreased this year.

At first, Hudson thought it was due to embezzlement and conducted an anti-corruption campaign within the taxing system.

Many corrupt bureaucrats were apprehended, yet it had little impact on the declining tax revenue.

Despite an increase in participants, tax revenue continued to decrease.

The central issue is that the buyers have no money!

The smuggling trade has evolved from initial monetary transactions to the current bartering of goods.

Whenever market supply of anything becomes abundant, prices inevitably slip.

What were once invaluable furs now teeter on being worth as little as cabbages.

Livestock like cattle, sheep, and horses are equally worthless in the Near East Region.

Many smugglers, pessimistic about market prospects, are paying their taxes to Great Lord Hudson in kind.

If the market in the Orc Empire cannot be further opened, such nearly plunder-like trade will only get harder.

In fact, even if the Orc Empire fully opened up its market, given their level of productivity, the days of prosperity for smugglers are numbered.

In the past, balance was maintained because the Orc Empire would periodically come to plunder.

The wealth taken through robbery leveled the trade deficit of the smuggling trade.

Now, with nothing left to rob, the result of the trade is the constant outflow of wealth from the Orc Empire.

If there were experts in economics, it would be immediately apparent the crisis facing the Orc Empire.

Unfortunately, this is an era that reveres military might.

The Orc Royal Family and Royal Clan, as the ruling group, don’t regard economic issues seriously at all.

Especially those newly risen Royal Clans – they’ve always been paupers in the past and haven’t perceived anything wrong.

One by one, they plan.

Once the Empire recovers its vitality, they’ll lead a grand army to seize the wealth from Alpha Kingdom.

Others, oblivious to the crux of the problem, see it simply as insufficient military strength to go out and plunder, so Hudson, as their enemy, is even less likely to offer any reminders.

It’s better to have a somewhat foolish foe!

Bartering is great.

It signifies that the commercial trade within the Orc Empire will be squeezed to an utmost limit.