Dictator From Outer Space - Chapter 275:

The year 1039 of the Continental Calendar marked a significant change in Bagran: the beginning of the cotton industry.

This did not mean simply planting cotton, but cultivating it on a large scale and preparing for the related industries.

It was the result of settling the nomads who wandered across Bagran and making them work hard to irrigate the fields.

The variety of cotton was improved Siviri cotton, which had many advantages such as less water and mana consumption and shorter growth time.

In places with abundant farmland, such as Lantis City and the Direct Territory, the production of cotton bolls was already finished and the machines for ginning and spinning them into fabrics and other products were ready.

Modern factories using improved ether engines were installed in various parts of the Direct Territory, replacing tens of thousands of workers.

One ginning machine that separated seeds from cotton bolls could do the work of more than a thousand people, so there was no comparison in efficiency.

The transportation network for moving these products was also flawless, thanks to the pre-laid rails.

The only caveat was that cotton bolls were prone to fire due to friction, so dedicated staff had to follow them closely.

This huge production network was densely clustered in the eastern part of Bagran, making it very efficient in logistics.

The only problem was the lack of demand.

The current population of Astera Continent was slightly over 300 million, but Elvrande despised human products as inferior and did not treat them well.

Zaium also paid close attention to its own textile industry, including wool, making it hard for new entrants to break in.

Arma decided that the demand from the newborn Bagran was enough for now.

“The population of 15 million is small, but the scale of the production network is not that big either. After we dominate Bagran internally, we can expand our market to Zaium and Elvrande.”

She could expect this because the quality of the fabrics made in eastern Bagran surpassed her imagination.

Although they were inferior to those of 21st century Earth due to technical limitations, they boasted a touch and softness that Astera could not dream of.

The merchants who visited the factory and received samples of fabrics were amazed.

“This softness is similar to the eraxil fabrics made by Silverds… I wish the price was cheaper.”

“Wait, there’s a price written here… 3 silvers per meter of fabric?”

“That’s an unbelievable price. Eraxil fabrics cost more than 30 silvers per meter.”

Silverds were an Ain race that lived in the northern part of Astera, on Lake Raon.

They had large wings on their backs.

They were also very beautiful in appearance, so they used to be sold as slaves in the past.

Recently, their population had decreased so much that it was rare to see them sold as slaves, but it was not completely gone.

The main product they made was fabrics made from eraxil fibers that came from king beetles.

These fabrics were incomparable to existing fibers in terms of softness and luster.

Even Elvrande did not accept anything other than eraxil fabrics for their dresses for parties.

They were expensive and prone to wrinkles, but their overwhelming advantages of being easy to dye and having a good shine outweighed everything else.

But these cotton fabrics were comparable to those expensive eraxil fabrics.

The price was one-tenth of that.

One merchant doubted as he rubbed the fabric until it wore out.

“There were cotton fabrics before. Elvrande and Zaium both have cotton fabrics made from cotton bolls. But I’ve never seen this kind of luster before.”

“It feels so good to touch it. Usually cotton fabrics are very rough.”

“I know Bagran completely banned slavery, but how can they offer this price?”

“I’ll explain that to you.”

The owner of the elegant voice was none other than Arma, the merchant lord of Bagran.

The merchants were startled and quickly bowed their heads.

Arma had a bad reputation for appearing out of nowhere without any prior notice despite being a merchant lord.

Normally, when a high-ranking person visits somewhere, there should be some preparation.

They should embellish their books and clean up a bit.

But she visited various businesses so irregularly that it was hard to prepare for her.

If they clumsily manipulated anything, they would be shaken down by her inspectors, which was a daily occurrence.

So these days, their sites and books were fairly accurate.

She had many scary stories about her, but she was very kind and friendly to ordinary people.

Considering her position as a merchant lord, she had achieved a remarkable anti-authoritarianism.

Anyway, she took the merchants to tour the weaving factory.

“The process of separating seeds from cotton bolls requires a lot of labor. But if you use this ginning machine, the production will increase dramatically.”

“This looks like an improved ether engine… Is it directly connected to the ginning machine?”

“Yes. Using carts is too inefficient.”

The ginning machine was spinning without rest, separating cotton bolls and seeds.

According to her, one ginning machine could do the work of more than a thousand people.

The merchants’ eyes widened.

“A thousand people!”

“It’s true that separating seeds takes a lot of time. You have to push them one by one with a stick…”

“From these separated cotton seeds, we extract cottonseed oil. We can secure a lot of vegetable oil.”

The next process introduced was extracting oil from seeds by applying heat and pressure.

The merchants were surprised that they could extract vegetable oil so easily.

It was not an ordinary amount by the looks of it.

“This could be used for cooking as well, right?”

“That’s right. You can also eat fried foods more often. Although they are a bit expensive.”

In fact, humans were able to use vegetable oil properly only after using cottonseed oil.

Before that, oil itself was precious and they could not use it carelessly.

Fish and chips, which are representative of fried foods, were also derived from cottonseed oil.

What shocked the merchants was that machines that looked like golems were involved in all these processes.

“Wow, this is amazing.”

“They cut off the head and legs and only adopted the torso. Perfect for repetitive work.”

“Doesn’t that use a lot of ether stones?”

Arma smiled and answered the merchant who asked that.

“It costs less than labor. And golems don’t complain.”

“Indeed…”

It was a strangely cold and realistic answer.

Anyway, the merchants who toured the factory were impressed by all the processes and products.

They traveled around various countries and knew well about the technological and cultural levels of each place.

Zaium, let alone Elvrande, could not show such performance.

They could not even make efficient ether engines, let alone factories like this.

Overwhelming technology meant a lot of profit and whoever took the lead would win.

The merchants’ eyes lit up and Arma led them to the conference room.

“What I want to propose to you is to create demand overseas. Bagran can supply as much as you want, but outside is a bit difficult.”

“Well, the outside view is not very good.”

“What is the reason for our existence as merchants? Just give us the goods. We’ll sell anything.”

“Thank you.”

Arma gave them samples as she spoke.

“What you have to do is travel around the continent and distribute these products to nobles, influential people, and merchants.”

“You mean give them away, not sell them?”

“Quality is guaranteed, so you’re going to distribute samples and create demand.”

“Then it doesn’t matter if it’s not us…”

The merchants were somewhat disappointed, but they changed their minds when they heard Arma’s next words.

“I will leave the export to that country entirely to him. In other words, I will supply as much as he can generate demand.”

“Hmm…”

“So it depends on how hard we work, right?”

They nodded.

The merchants felt that this was worth a try.

With this quality, there was no exaggeration to say that there was no competitor.

If they got assigned a decent area, they could have a monopoly on the goods.

The profit from there would surely exceed their imagination.

They had to resort to this method because there weren’t many countries that liked Bargran lately.

They needed lubricants like merchants as they pursued both conquest and trade routes.

Of course, they would be unnecessary when they conquered Zaium, but they needed some preparation to swallow up that huge empire.

Arma began to assign the areas.

The merchants appealed tearfully to get a more bustling area.

***

When Bargran absorbed Galisto, they started with population census and land surveying.

The nobles of Galisto, who were anxious about the outcome, were tongue-tied by their thoroughness.

—Is the census for taxation? I hope it’s not too heavy.

—It’s one thing for the direct territories, but why do they survey the independent domains?

—Do they want us to give up our land like they did in Bargran?

—I can’t tolerate that even if I’m the king. I’ll inform Zaium and fight to the d***h.

-Something’s strange. Why do they survey the nomads?

In any country, nomads were excluded from the population.

They were no different from beggars, with their innate nature being violent and lowly. They were hard to use as labor and even harder to tax.

In short, they were useless and left alone, but they bothered to survey them, which made them curious.

Anyway, the two tasks continued until 1039 came.

Manpower and money were not a problem, but the environment did not cooperate, causing a lot of friction.

There was no way that those who were no different from beggars would obediently tell their numbers.

Bloodshed occurred everywhere, but Arma pushed it forward without shaking.

It was a kind of notification even though they could scan and survey with artificial satellites.

It meant that they should be ready to join the settlement soon.

There was also a similar incident in land surveying.

The nobles did not like the surveyors who measured their domains.

All kinds of sabotage followed, and some even killed the surveyors.

When Arma reported this, Leobold gave a cruel order.

“I can’t tolerate killing the surveyors, even if you don’t cooperate with the survey. You need an example, so crush them.”

He didn’t like bloodshed, but sometimes he had to spill it.

When the Bargran army moved out according to his instructions, the count who killed the surveyor appealed to the neighboring domains and Zaium while deciding to resist to the end.

He shouted at the Bargran army commander who offered him surrender as a procedure.

“Sending surveyors means you want to swallow my land! I know you massacred many nobles in Bargran! Try trampling on us too!”

The commander tilted his head and said,

“You seem to have misunderstood something. The meticulous land surveying is for taxation, not oppression.”

“What?”

Just for taxation?

The count was flustered and stuttered, and the commander ordered an attack.

“Anyway, you have to take responsibility for killing the surveyor. Each unit, start attacking.”

The troops were not Goliaths but Chektan soldiers.

They easily smashed a few old Goliaths and attacked the mansion.

The count died in that battle and most of his retainers shared his fate.

When one count’s domain was destroyed, there was no more force that interfered with the surveyors.

“That’s what I’m saying. There are some people who only understand when they see blood.”

Leobold was tempted to just push them away.

But his goal was not simple conquest, but improving the level of Astera civilization.

If he killed them as soon as they resisted, only desolate land and hostile people would remain.

“It’s not bad to start over in a barren land…”

But there was no need to spill blood when there were other ways.

Anyway, as many nobles became scared and shrank back, land surveying progressed quickly.

Arma compiled all the data and reported it.

“The final population of Galisto is about 7.66 million and the area is about 500 thousand km2…”

All kinds of data needed for national management were listed as well.

The most urgent thing was of course the debt problem.

The former king, Palkus II, had spent a lot of money on war expenses from here and there, and he had not paid it back, so it became debt.

“The amount is 450 thousand gold, but one of the creditors was Grand Duke Pangral, so it actually reduced to 300 thousand gold.”

“That’s a relief. I guess you borrowed money from Zaium too?”

“10 thousand gold from the royal family, 50 thousand gold from the Northwind Union and other nobles, and the rest from Denova.”

“You borrowed a lot.”

It was natural that Bargran had to shoulder that debt as well when they absorbed Galisto.

But Leobold didn’t feel like giving them the money.

“The point is, it’s all good if the creditors disappear, right?”

It was a natural logic that debt would disappear if the creditors disappeared.

Arma looked at his master with calm eyes and asked,

“It’s hard to deal with Zaium right now, so shall we merge Denova?”

Denova was quite close to Bargran.

It seemed easy to merge Denova if they could handle the Gram Kingdom, which had a small population.

“What’s the atmosphere over there?”

“They’re excited by the war atmosphere. The financial sector hasn’t recovered yet, but there are many merchants who lend money here and there.”

It was only possible for Bargran to manage their military power with their national budget, as they managed all their resources directly.

Recently, due to the rising war clouds, Elvrande and Zaium increased their military power, but they lacked money, so they borrowed from merchants and issued bonds.

Thanks to that, Denova was enjoying the biggest boom ever.

The interest alone was huge, and the merchants couldn’t get rid of their smiles.

Considering that most of them were elf merchants, the final winner would be Elvrande.

“They don’t ask for money right away?”

“They pay interest on time. But if we show a little sign of weakness, they’ll come running with their bonds.”

“It’s not bad to just pay them off…”

It seemed good to start a business based on the paper money that would be issued this time.

It would be easier in the future if they ate Denova.

Leobold had originally planned to create an independent financial system without Denova, but Elvrande became hostile faster than expected.

He decided to absorb them with a simple conspiracy.

“We’ll have to take over Denova,” he said.

Arma revised the roadmap on the spot.

“If we announce that we found the bones of Altima in the master’s domain in Zaium, we’ll attract many investors.”

Altima was the most famous dragon among all.

She was so powerful that she could fight against any god, and she had a deep connection with the Gram Empire, the predecessor of many nations including Zaium.

She was the only dragon who had faith, so her popularity was undeniable.

However, bones alone were not enough to gather investors. They needed convincing evidence of ruins and treasures.

“Elvrande will fall for our trap. They won’t dare to start a war, but they’ll probably use their money to bury the excavation site.”

“Then we’ll take their money and steal the bones.”

The result would be the bankruptcy of the merchants and the downfall of Denova.

The only thing that worried him in this plan was Valgard.

He was Altima’s champion, and he had not forgotten her even after 200 years.

He had no reaction at the stage of collecting souls, but he couldn’t predict what he would do when the bones were exposed and the soul was completed.

“He doesn’t say anything about his oath. Do you have any other information?”

“He’s a very taciturn person… But I got some new information about Altima from Margareta’s notes.”

“What is it?”

“She died cursing humans in her last battle. I don’t know why.”

There could be many answers to this, but the most likely one was betrayal.

“Valgard was reluctant to talk about Altima’s end. There must have been a traitor in the Gram Empire at that time.”

“I’ll focus on investigating the Infinite Library for that.”

With Arma’s ability, the magic barrier in the library was no problem at all.

It was hard to do a full survey right now, but as soon as the space platform was completed, he could mass-produce micro-drones and transfer all the records.

And then it would be revealed that the elves had manipulated history.

***

Spring of 1039 Continental Era.

A small event was held in Rozelon, the royal capital of Bagran.

The king declared the establishment of a bank and the issuance of paper money.

There was something similar to a bank in Astera.

The merchants of Denova formed an association and sent staff to lend money and collect interest in busy places.

The interest was brutal and the collection was ruthless, so people’s perception of lending business was terrible.

—It’s better to negotiate peace with elves than to borrow money from merchants.

—How can they do that with such murderous interest?

—Why are you so negative? When did His Majesty ever pursue a policy that harms people like us?

Leobold’s administration had made Bagran prosperous.

He was clearly fighting a two-front war, but in many cities including Rozelon, people couldn’t feel it.

That meant Leobold had defeated Galisto and Pangral with only a fraction of his national power.

With such an achievement, the bank establishment was not so bad.

But the paper money introduction met with strong opposition.

It didn’t make sense to replace all metal coins with paper.

—Give up gold for that paper scrap? Who would want that?

—They guarantee 1:1 payment, but how can we trust that?

—This is a scheme to recover the money spent on war. We must never believe it.

There were some opinions that trusted the king, but they were few.

In Rozelon, there was a sinister rumor that the king would take away all the gold in the kingdom.

And it turned out to be true.

Not long after Codex was revised, Leobold issued an edict.

“From tomorrow for one year, all existing gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins will be exchanged for paper money of equal value at 1:1. The subject is Rozelon Bank and there is no limit on amount.”

The name of the currency was Credit, and it had colors and designs corresponding to gold, silver, and copper coins.

It also had five units as a feature.

The real thing came out, but most people didn’t care.

—It’s not like anyone will use it anyway. No need to worry.

—His Majesty must have made a mistake this time. That paper scrap has no value at all.

—Why does he take such a risk when he doesn’t have financial problems?

-He must have spent a lot of money on war. The food supplied to conquered lands must be huge.

But not everyone ignored Credit.

When spring came and many fields in Floating Continent produced tempting strawberries, many merchants came to Bagran to buy them.

They smelled the fresh strawberry scent from the wide fields and smiled with satisfaction.

“Ah… this is the smell. Elvrande strawberries are weak.”

“They even import these strawberries from here. They must have tasted them and realized they can’t compete.”

“That’s amazing. Do they import them through Denova? It must cost a lot to transport them by airship.”

“The noble families have enough money to build a country.”

The merchants sneered at the elf pride.

But they were shocked at the auction house.

There was a banner that said they didn’t accept any metal coins.

The only thing that was valid was Credit issued by Rozelon Bank.

“Do you want me to bring that paper scrap to buy strawberries?”

“This is ridiculous…”

The merchants stood like statues in front of the banner.