The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

"What do you think we're still lacking?" Roland suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Renault, who was following behind Roland, was caught off guard and bumped into Roland's back, making him see stars.

"Huh? What's missing?" Renault was taken aback, looking around blankly.

“I have everything I need!” Renault said, shaking his head.

“I always feel like something’s missing? It’s very important!” Roland affirmed.

"Hmm?" Renault asked, puzzled. The kingdom was in better shape than ever before; everything was on track. If things continued like this, the region would soon prosper...

Wait a minute? Prosperity! Renault's eyes lit up. It was Prosperity!

“You mean… we lack business opportunities?” Renault probed.

“It’s not just about commerce! It’s about the liquidity that commerce brings! Don’t you think… the kingdom is like a stagnant pool right now? People look busy, but the whole land lacks that vibrant energy!” Roland shook his head.

He had been wandering around the city these past few days. The people's busyness was driven by the crisis. Under the threat of war, the entire kingdom's people were wound up to the max, working diligently on the land and reaping the fruits of their labor. Apart from that, there was very little commercial activity in the entire city of Jiliu. The soldiers had nowhere to spend their salaries except for buying some grain and vegetables. There was only one tavern in the city that could barely provide entertainment. What was even more tragic was that the tavern's drinks were also limited. Due to the food shortage, Roland had ordered that no one was allowed to brew wine privately. Now, the city's drinks were either supplied by Roland or the dwarves, and the quantity was not large. Therefore, they had to implement a purchase restriction policy.

"This won't do! We need to get the money circulating! Money that moves is money! Money that doesn't move is just scrap metal!" Renault clearly saw this point. After all, he was born into a branch of a great noble family, so his knowledge was naturally different from that of ordinary people. His future appointment as Governor of the North was enough to show his insight and ability. At the very least, he was someone who could lead an army on horseback and herd the people on foot!
“Yunfeng said the same thing! It’s not easy to get money moving!” Roland shook his head and looked at Renault.

“What do you mean?” Renault asked.

"Reopen the trade routes in the North! Let our caravans go out! Let the goods from the Western world come in!" Roland clenched his fist.

"...Another war? Can we handle it?" Renault was taken aback. The main force of the Swiftstream City had been fighting continuously for a long time. Even if the soldiers didn't say it, Renault could feel the fatigue of all the soldiers.

“We need caravans! The people need commerce!” Roland sighed helplessly.

“…” Renault sighed.

"How many people do you plan to send?" Renault's lips twitched.

"Why don't we send the Knights on their way?" Roland thought for a moment.

"..." Renault raised an eyebrow and fell silent.

"What's wrong? Is something amiss?" Roland's eyes were full of confusion. "Are you going to keep exploiting the Knights like this?" Renault gave a helpless smirk. If this were to happen, the Holy Radiance Knights, personally led by the King, would definitely go down in history! Famous as a knightly order that was exploited to death by the King…

"Isn't it because the Knights are so useful..." Roland scratched his head awkwardly. He himself felt that it was a bit unfair, after all, the Holy Knights were his first army and the legion that had fought alongside Roland in every battle so far! They fought all the way from the Charr to Lonely Mountain, and then from Lonely Mountain to Dolgodo, and then fought a battle with the Northern Orcs north of the Gray Mountains, and then fought a battle with the Chariot Peoples afterward.

"I suggest you switch to a different army! If you keep fighting like this, even the knights will lose all morale!" Renault shook his head. You can't keep using an army just because it's effective!
"Hehe... let me think about it some more..." Roland said awkwardly. If it weren't for the system granting them extremely high loyalty, these knights probably wouldn't mind stabbing him in the back...

“Soldiers are easy to deal with, but what about caravans? We don’t seem to have any caravans, do we?” Renault shook his head.

“The caravan is ready!” Roland nodded.

To be honest, the caravan arrived just in time... Roland had just set off earlier and arrived today.

"Let me introduce you, this is Ruhr, the guild leader of our Lagrange Caravan!" Roland introduced Renault.

"Hello! Lord Ruhr!" Renault nodded in a friendly manner. After all, this man would be in charge of the entire Lagrange trade in the future, so it wouldn't hurt to have a good relationship with him.

"Greetings! Sir Renault!" Ruhr, with his dark green hair, appeared shrewd and shrewd.

"Ruhr will lead the Lagrange royal family's caravan to the Western world for trade, which will boost the kingdom's commerce and make it more prosperous!" Roland briefly explained the impact of trade on national economic development. Besides trade, the only other way to quickly accumulate initial capital and propel the kingdom forward was through colonial plunder!

Roland had considered colonizing and plundering, but after considering the various chariot tribes with tens of thousands of chariots, Roland decisively abandoned the idea. After all, when the opponent's strength presented an overwhelming advantage, even the most valiant and skilled Lagrange Dragon Knights would become more inclined to sing and dance.

Just as a Maxim machine gun can be used against nomads, an overwhelming number of enemies can cool the frenzied blood of the Lagrange Knights!

"What is the composition of the caravan?" Renault looked at Roland. He already understood what Roland meant. This scoundrel king was not only addicted to fleecing the Knights, but also to fleecing himself! Wasn't this a roundabout way of getting him to take on this mission?
"The caravan consists of ten hired knights, fifty hired guards, and two hundred crew members! There are one hundred two-wheeled wagons! It can transport 400000 catties of goods at a time!" Ruhr said with an elegant bow.

"Thank you! There are even knights in the caravan? How extravagant!" Renault exclaimed in astonishment.

"They're just hired first-tier knights. That's enough to drive away some bandits and orcs. To deal with magical beasts, we still need the guards hired by the caravans!" Ruhr said modestly.

"Guardian? Tier 1 or Tier 2?" Renault asked curiously. As one of the few ranged classes capable of equipping heavy armor in bulk, Guardians were highly sought after. (The Battanian archers were an exception!)
"Tier 1! Where am I supposed to find so many Tier 2 guards to hire..." Ruhr chuckled bitterly.

“Guards, huh…” Roland smiled knowingly.

Roland didn't know much about the Guardians, mainly because he hadn't played this type of unit much when he played games before. Although he didn't know much about them, Roland knew that this unit was very well-balanced and could be considered a versatile unit on the battlefield.