Utopia

"The Principality of Akern, right? It's this country again."

"That's right. Compared to the other eight countries that are constantly at war, the Principality of Akern is the only country that has no war and no foreign invasion."

"Not even zombies?"

"No. But there is no obvious diplomacy between the Principality of Akern and the other eight countries. At the same time, except for the border area with us, the Principality of Akern is surrounded by swamps and forests infested by zombies."

Not long after returning to Ruyi Town, Sogen listened to the report given to him by Beth, who was not pregnant, and was planning in his heart how to use the Principality of Akern to benefit himself and even the town.

"The internal environment is comfortable. But Turan will definitely not let them go, right?"

"According to my understanding, the Principality of Akern has already known to retain copper resources. It has even begun to use salt to replace copper coins."

"I said Beth, none of the other eight countries thought of it?"

"One or two principalities, or kingdoms, thought of using sugar as a trading commodity. But... Sogen, you know, right? Sugar needs more time to process and make."

In this part of the New World, the main source of sugar is sugarcane. And there is a bad thing about sugarcane, that is, it has a considerable demand for the fertility of the land.

Even after planting and harvesting a round of sugarcane, the fertility of the land will show a significant decline. If there is no suitable rotation system and suitable fertilizers, the land will become desertified without fertility.

Unfortunately, the natives took advantage of this and built houses on the desertified land for living. Then they kept the form of slash-and-burn farming and continued to look for the next good piece of land.

Next, sugar cane sugar extraction is not just about feeding a large bundle of sugar cane into the machine, and only a little sugar cane juice is squeezed out. Cleaning impurities and heating and boiling it to concentrate it into preliminary brown sugar is another step that increases production costs.

So compared with the crude salt obtained from drying seawater, the brown sugar obtained from sugar cane juice is actually quite expensive. Therefore, in the collective memory of the first generation of people in the Kingdom of Negan, brown sugar and even white sugar after refining are all noble foods, and ordinary people are basically not qualified to touch them.

Of course, the current Kingdom of Negan has many special sugar crop plantations that produce and sell their own sugar crops. Sugar extracted from sugar cane has become a common thing in every household in the Kingdom of Negan, along with maltose brought by the Minotaur tribe.

At the same time, compared with the natives using sugarcane residue as feed for cattle, camels, and alpacas, the papermaking workshops in the Kingdom of Negan will purchase it in large quantities and use it specifically to produce paper.

In other words, in the Kingdom of Negan, the process from sugar production to papermaking is a continuation. Of course, with abundant sugar, the brewing industry will definitely prosper.

However...

Sometimes Thorgen himself doesn't know what to say. Due to economic reasons, the majority of the people in the Kingdom of Negan, who account for eight-ninths of the population, like maltose, while the minority of nobles prefer sugar squeezed from sugarcane.

As a result, the actual consumption of sugarcane sugar is not high, and the surplus production is basically used in the sugar and wine that the nobles prefer.

[An old book friend who I have known for ten years recommended me a book-chasing app! It's really useful. I use it to read and listen to books to pass the time while driving and before going to bed. You can download it here ]

The reason is that maltose is not easy to absorb moisture, and it is even less likely to decompose due to heating. As long as it is kept in a sealed container, there is no problem with the one-year shelf life of maltose. Compared with the characteristics of sucrose that it is easy to absorb water and easy to get wet, maltose is a better cheap sugar.

In other words, the Kingdom of Negan, which likes maltose more, actually has excess sugarcane sugar for sale. However, what are the natives now worth for the Kingdom of Negan to buy with white sugar, or even more expensive but not easy to sell sugar and wine?

Sogen really couldn't think of anything other than metals like gold, silver and copper.

"Hmm..."

"Also, maybe you're an official yourself and you don't realize it. Including salt and sugar, all kinds of condiments are highly profitable commodities. My family used to transport sugar, and there's also a kind of sweet ginger."

"Sweet ginger? Is it the raw material of ginger candy that can sometimes be bought outside?"

"Yes."

Speaking of this ginger candy, Sogen had tasted it when he was in the village before. Although it's sweet, the raw material of ginger candy is ginger after all, and the spicy taste of ginger is quite obvious. So far, ginger candy is not a popular sugar. However, in the Western human kingdom of the Old World, ginger can be sold at the same weight of gold.

The reason is that the food in the Western human kingdom is often spoiled due to the lack of salt. Therefore, ginger, as a spice, can effectively remove odors and keep food fresh, which has attracted the common pursuit of humans in the Western countries of the Old World.

"If that's the case... um... Beth, can you continue to investigate here to see if the Principality of Aken likes other types of condiments."

"For example, vinegar?"

"Yes."

Perhaps because they have been married for a long time, Sogen doesn't need to say too much, and Beth is the type who can quickly understand what he means.

"Vinegar, compared to wine, vinegar is not a valuable commodity."

"I know, but without vinegar, can those meat-eating natives tolerate greasiness?"

As Sogen said, no matter which race, the biggest disadvantage of eating meat is that it is easy to get greasy. And the best way to get rid of the greasiness is vinegar. The sour taste of vinegar is a good thing for carnivorous races to ensure that their appetite is always open.

Just like Beth said, vinegar is actually a by-product of winemaking. Although the process of making vinegar is not much different from that of making wine, experts who know how to make wine or vinegar basically know both, so in terms of profit, most merchants will definitely not sell cheap vinegar to the other party, but give priority to selling high-priced wine as soon as possible.

So in the Chamber of Commerce branch in Ruyi Town, Manko, who has become the branch director, is dealing with the taxes paid to the upper level on the one hand, and considering how to create more income for himself and even the Chamber of Commerce on the other hand.

"Manco?"

"Turan, what do you want to sell next, boss of your company? Do you need me to make some concessions for you?"

"Aren't you clear about the purpose of my trade with the natives? I hope to make money from my own people more than trade."

"Oh?"

"The report from my subordinates said that the eyes of the natives are getting more and more strange."

"Want to come out and rob?"

"It's possible. But I'm more worried about whether they will come out to kidnap."

"No way?"

"That's why I hired male members like Tulo to be embedded in the team. After all, the members of my company are basically women, and the natives often look at them."