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

Chapter 946 "Losing National Rights and Humiliating the Nation"?

"Ahem... My dear minister, please speak freely!" After receiving a legacy from the empire, Roland's eyes became much clearer. As the saying goes, you always lose something when you gain something, and Roland gained provisions but lost his worries! Now in a good mood, Roland was willing to listen to anything.

"Isn't the kingdom's current economic system in serious trouble?" Al-Tegran Franz said reluctantly, raising an eyelid and twitching the corner of his mouth.

“Life will always find its way!” Roland said, blushing. Because the entire kingdom’s commercial activities currently only exist in a small part of the city of Swiftstream, who would have thought that the northern capital would actually shoulder the position of the kingdom’s commercial core?

"..." Marquis Al-Tegran Franz's eyelids twitched. "Don't you want to see what you're saying? This kind of laissez-faire business management is nothing short of genius!"

"Ahem, it's not a big problem. After all, commerce isn't essential for the kingdom... The kingdom has many important things to focus on!" Roland coughed. The main issue was that the Kingdom of Lagrang was a battleground, a wasteland that had previously been ignored. But after Roland led his people to establish the kingdom, it quickly attracted everyone's attention. Soren realized his north-south passage was blocked! The two southern kingdoms realized they had reinforcements! The dwarves realized they had a powerful backer! The once-neglected wasteland suddenly became bustling...

Roland himself almost became the Great Western King of Middle-earth, shouting "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The remaining commerce was solely for exchanging wheat to feed the people. Roland hadn't deliberately managed the other spontaneous commercial activities. Although Dragon Coins circulated within the kingdom, their circulation speed and efficiency fluctuated very little. Incidentally, the two countries that used Dragon Coins the most were River Valley and Akvia. It could be said that Roland unintentionally used currency to bind the two kingdoms to himself.

"Yes! That was true before! But things are different now! The Swift River Avenue is open again! River transport can also develop! Cities and towns are springing up along the Swift River! Now the kingdom needs commerce to keep its lifeblood flowing!" Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz said solemnly. Land and agriculture are the foundation of a country, but commerce is its lifeblood! A country without commerce will inevitably stagnate! During the days Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz was missing, he was busy conducting on-site research, only to discover that this makeshift organization had even bigger problems than he had imagined!

At first glance, the Kingdom of Lagrange appears to be a powerful and rising force! Its knights are numerous, and it even boasts two dragon rider commanders! This lineup would be a top-tier army even in The Lord of the Rings. However, a closer look reveals something amiss! Beneath the seemingly vibrant and thriving appearance, you'll discover a dilapidated and poorly constructed organization!

If a nation were a person, the Kingdom of Lagrang would currently be a crippled tin can with a broken left arm and a broken right arm wielding a sword! It might look intimidating, but getting caught by it and getting hit would definitely hurt! However, if the opponent were to break Lagrang's rules, the entire kingdom would be put on the defensive! After all, what fighting power could a cripple possibly have?

"Hmm..." Roland nodded noncommittally. You don't expect a child who transmigrated before even entering society to become a business genius, do you? Roland realized this problem a long time ago, but he never had the time or ability to solve it. The nobles also tacitly avoided this sensitive matter. Even nobles like Yun Feng, who didn't give Roland a good look, didn't get involved in business. The meaning behind this was self-evident!

For a kingdom in dire need of rebuilding, commerce is undoubtedly of paramount importance, the lifeblood of a nation! Lagrange's fragile commercial environment simply cannot withstand the meddling of nobles. Besides, why are you intervening before the king has even made a move? Do you intend to control the market and the economy? What are your true intentions? Even the Swifthand family deliberately avoids the intricacies of the situation; the tangled web of interests is enough to make Duke Joelster's heart pound with fear! Therefore, no noble will voluntarily join the race before Roland intervenes. After all, economic factors are relatively easy to resolve, but political factors are much more complex!

"Interesting! What are your thoughts?" Roland smiled. As a qualified ruler, he possessed at least the most basic qualities of a ruler: entrusting professional matters to professionals!

"..." Duke Giorstja frowned at the impetuous Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz, but his brows quickly relaxed, and a thoughtful expression appeared in his eyes. Duke Giorstja realized that, by sheer chance, there really was no better executor than the Franz family. As a family dependent on the imperial power, the Franz family could not possibly have any ambitious figures who would disrupt the government. Loyalty was the hallmark of the Franz family, and as an extension of the king's will, Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz was clearly qualified. Therefore, Duke Giorstja, who was about to speak, fell silent again.

"Agriculture is the foundation and cannot be neglected, but commerce is the kingdom's ceiling! Only when goods circulate can there be an economy; otherwise, stockpiled goods are just waste!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said firmly, which was in line with the Franz family's ancestral motto of investing every penny in the right projects!

“I’ve heard that apart from the imperial merchants, all other transactions are now conducted spontaneously by the people? That won’t do. How much tax revenue will be lost unintentionally? I know you don’t rely on tax revenue to support your army right now! But what about your descendants?” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz noticed Roland’s hesitation.

“Domestic commercial taxes can be postponed, but you don’t care about tariffs at all!” Marquis Al-Tegran-Franz complained. This kind of behavior of ignoring tariffs is quite something!

"The main problem is that the scale is too small; it's a bit early to be thinking about it now!" Roland said awkwardly in a low voice.

“Small? The kingdom’s snowflake salt, steel equipment… are these things considered small? And if I may be so bold, we paid just as much tariffs when we imported grain…” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz glanced at Duke Giorstedia and then complained to Roland.

"???" Roland turned to look at Duke Joelster, still not understanding what had happened.

"It means that apart from Lonely Mountain, the other two countries are also collecting our tariffs... Otherwise, how could Dragon Coins circulate so widely in those two countries?" Duke Joelsteria explained.

"Huh? I'm the one who has lost sovereignty and national humiliation?" Roland's mind reeled. Wasn't his situation even more abstract than the Empress Dowager's? The Empress Dowager had only lost her autonomy, but he had lost it all!

"Why don't you make a decision?" Roland stared at Duke Joelsteria in shock. After all, the two pillars of the kingdoms, Joelsteria and Yunfeng, had been stationed in Jiliu City. Logically, this should have been a simple matter!

"?" Duke Joelsteria was stunned. "Do you want to hear the nonsense you're spouting? Yunfeng and I are supposed to discuss and formulate a tax system? It's not even spring yet! If the two of you don't 'love each other,' and you actually do that, we'll be able to detect attacks from other nobles on the way!"

"Where's Nyx? Isn't she going to handle this?" Roland rubbed his temples, suddenly remembering that his wife was also in Swiftstream City! As the Queen of the Kingdom, she naturally had the authority to make decisions.

"Shouldn't such matters be decided through discussion among everyone?" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said awkwardly. Who would dare make the decision if you didn't sit at the table? The nobles aren't stupid. If you use this as an excuse to annoy them and make things difficult for them, no one will complain. You can sit high in the court and say, "No one consulted me about the taxes back then!" and silence a top family. Who but the Franz family's "sycophants" would dare to do something so obviously designed to harm you? Others who want to participate either lack the necessary status or don't want to get involved. After all, who would exclude the controlling shareholder from their shareholders' meeting to distribute the spoils?