The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

”Due to our excessive trade of iron, the market cost of iron has dropped. It didn’t drop by much since the demand is still pretty high for weapons right now thanks to the wars that are happening near us. But once these wars end, I feel like the cost of iron is going to drop by quite a huge margin.”

He brought his hands together, tips of his fingers touching each other.

”So I feel like we might need to diversify our income sources.”

Adrian nodded.

”Got any ideas?”

”Well, we use the exact same strategy we use for iron here,” Cassius said calmly. ”We buy the grains and everything from the citizens directly at a low cost. And then we sell all of this excess food to other territories at a much higher price. This way we can earn the money needed and we can also streamline the whole process and make it cheap since we will be managing the entire inventory ourselves.”

He gestured with his hands.

”The more we have, the cheaper it gets for us. And the citizens also wouldn’t have to worry too much about transportation costs to outside markets. Though, since the amount of money that the farmers will earn from selling to us... if we set it up at eighty percent of the market price, is actually going to be quite a lot.”

Cassius leaned forward slightly.

”Because in other territories, farmers aren’t really the owners of the land. It’s mostly the lords of the territories who own it. And they just hire farmers to work on their fields like slaves. Due to this, the lords have full access to the profits and these farmers only get a small salary that is barely enough to feed their family.”

Adrian nodded as he followed the logic.

”Well, how much do you think they will earn if they do this farming for us? And how much do you think they will need to live?” Adrian said.

”I want you to give them at least double of what they would need to do their basic survival things.”

Cassius immediately shook his head.

”Too much kindness from you, and too much money in the hands of regular citizens will give them a good reason to leave the territory. Ambitious people will, once they have enough saved money, move out in search of better opportunities. And I don’t think that we would want that.”

Adrian frowned and shook his head.

”No, that is not what I want. But I do want my people to live a better life.”

Cassius shook his head again.

”That is optimistic. But you must think about the territory itself and not just your citizens’ feelings. Money isn’t the thing that actually keeps people happy. It just gives them the things they want. It helps them survive.”

The financial manager looked at him dead in the eye.

”But after that, if you give them more, they will start to act spoiled. Putting excessive money in your people’s hands is like giving them more power against you.”

Adrian just looked at him.

For a second he felt like he might just be back on Earth. It felt like he was sitting in a cabinet meeting with all of the politicians who successfully kept the poor people poor and the rich people rich. Where the poor got poorer and the rich got richer just to maintain the status quo.

Adrian didn’t want to see that happen in his territory because he was the part of the poor in the past.

But in a purely objective way, he could also see that maybe, just maybe, Cassius was actually right about the economics of this world.

But he refused to accept it.

Adrian just shook his head and let out a sigh.

”I don’t think that is morally right.”

Cassius just stared at him without blinking.

”Please don’t be naive.”

Adrian shook his head stubbornly.

”No, I am. And I know that I am being optimistic. But okay, fine. Why don’t you find a middle ground?”

He pointed a finger at Cassius.

”Instead of just survival money, give them at least fifty percent extra over how much they would need to survive. At least do that. And give them some sort of perks since they’re doing so much.”

Cassius tilted his head.

”What do you mean give them perks?”

Adrian looked at him and thought about it for a few seconds.

”Well...”

His eyes lit up.

”Yeah, right. Why don’t you set up an office where people can come and ask for permits to set up their own independent businesses? I want you to give these guys the permits to set up businesses so that they can sell their own goods inside the territory if they want.”

He started speaking faster as the idea formed.

”Here, okay, so give them these perks. They can store all of their goods at our place. We will be taking care of all of the storage and preservation. And obviously they will be selling the bulk to us at whatever market price you pick, right?”

He leaned forward.

”And then, I want you to give the same ingredients, the stuff that they’ve given to us, back to them at the exact same price if they want to use it for their own shops. I want you to give it to them at the same price. Maybe charge a little bit extra for the storage fees since we will be preserving the food for them. But not too much.”

Adrian looked around the table before moving back to Cassius.

”I want these people to have the freedom to set up their own businesses. Maybe restaurants or a stall where they sell vegetables and grains. The food inside our territory must remain cheap. We will be exporting this outside for a much higher price to the nobles. But for my people? Food should not be an issue for them.”

He looked directly back at Cassius.

”I want every single person to eat to their heart’s content. And I want every single person to have a roof over their head. Other than that? We can talk about it whenever we both have some free time.”