Chương 158: Development, Development 2

West-Hayden was housed in a warehouse. When Li Qinwu went to find him, he wasn't there—or rather, his soul wasn't there. His body was inside that jar, but his soul had wandered off to who-knows-where. Li Qinwu could only find a small wooden stool and sit to the side to wait. After waiting for about ten-odd minutes, West-Hayden drifted back leisurely. His semi-transparent body passed straight through the warehouse wall, flew up in front of Li Qinwu, and lamented.

"Goblin, your kingdom is truly fascinating. Chaotic goblins can actually possess order, and the society is neat and well-organized, with a peculiar kind of vitality!"

"Sigh, cut the crap for a moment. Let me ask you, what can magic bring to my society? How should we begin?" Li Qinwu went straight to the point. His current volume of knowledge regarding magic was quite small, and he did not know how magic could generate production, nor did he know how to develop a magical industry. West-Hayden smiled and said in a highly proud tone: "Magic is power!!"

For the next five hours, West-Hayden talked endlessly to Li Qinwu about the mysteries of magic, vastly advancing Li Qinwu's understanding of it. First was materials; magic could synthesize special materials. For instance, Mithril. This metal was exceptionally light and extraordinarily hard, and one of the methods to synthesize it relied entirely on magic. Magic could also refine high-performance metals, such as springs. The carriages used by mages actually all possessed shock-absorbing springs.

High-performance springs were extremely difficult to manufacture. Many transmigrators who developed industry from scratch might very well never manage to produce high-performance springs in their entire lives. But in this world, through magical means, high-performance springs could be refined using an incredibly simple process. Magic could also manufacture enchanted items, such as the staves equipped by mages. A staff allowed mages to rapidly output magic and also possessed a certain energy-storage effect.

For example, if mages wanted to use the Fireball spell, conjuring it with bare hands took far too much time and consumed too much mana within the body. Furthermore, once the spell was conjured, it had to be thrown out immediately; it couldn't stay in the hand for too long, otherwise it would explode. However, if a staff was used, one only needed to pour mana brainlessly into the staff, and the magical script on the staff would autonomously run the Fireball spell.

In this way, the Fireball spell would be more powerful, and one could also choose whether to release it or not. Finally came the thing Li Qinwu was most interested in: magical engines—the key to industrialization in an alternate world! A magical engine was essentially a magical machine capable of providing propulsion. The airship Li Qinwu saw last time was precisely an aircraft installed with a magical engine.

However, magical engines were highly primitive things, only suitable for installation on large-scale equipment, and their adoption rate was very low. A magical engine was a veritable gold-devouring beast. To run, it required several mages to cast spells simultaneously to supply power, or the input of high-purity mana crystal cores.

This kind of investment was simply too terrifying, which was why magical engines had never been popularized in human society and remained permanently the playthings of lordly mages and aristocratic masters. On the other hand, the Northern Elven Empire had popularized magical engines on a small scale; they possessed some method to reduce the consumption of magical engines to equip a portion of their factories for production.

Listening to this made Li Qinwu's blood boil with excitement, especially regarding the airships. If he could build a few more of these things, organize them into an air force unit, and fly them over enemy cities to drop bombs—an alternate-world version of the Kirov Airship—who could possibly withstand that? Moreover, magical steelmaking also had incredible potential! If magic could be used to produce high-performance steel, wouldn't there be a way to manufacture the long bayonets he had been wanting all this time?

High-performance steel could also be used to build muskets. The barrel walls would be thinner, making the entire musket lighter. Breakthroughs in materials science would cause weapon performance to skyrocket! Suppressing his excitement, Li Qinwu asked: "Where should we start! Especially with magical steelmaking, how can that be realized?" West-Hayden gave a chuckled smile.

He could tell that this goblin's attitude toward magic was purely utilitarian, completely free from the baggage of viewing magic as something lofty and sacred. This was perfect, as it coincided exactly with his own philosophy.

"To unlock the very first step of the magical world, we first need a mana tide observatory and to construct a mage tower. Only by understanding the operational conditions of the mana tides can we proceed with the engraving of magical script. Take magical steelmaking as an example; it requires a magical blast furnace. You build the magical blast furnace using magi-conductive materials and engrave magical script onto the furnace body.

When engraving magical script, one must choose a time period when the mana tides are peaceful. Unformed magical script is extremely fragile and will be instantly ruined if buffeted by a mana tide." Li Qinwu said: "I will immediately begin the construction work for the mage tower. However, the location of the mage tower needs to be chosen by you. I will dispatch personnel to assist you with the surveying." West-Hayden was highly satisfied with Li Qinwu's stance.

"Very well. During the construction of the mage tower, you can send people to purchase the magi-conductive materials for building the magical blast furnace. I will write down what materials are needed for you, and you can just have merchants buy them. They are all easy-to-purchase items, but the price will be very expensive, so you must be mentally prepared. In addition, once the various magical facilities are up and running, I want to research projects that I am personally interested in.

You must not interfere with my research, and you must provide sincere support." Li Qinwu nodded.

"Deal. But your research direction must be reported to me. You cannot research anything that harms the interests of the Alliance or violates Alliance laws. Other than that, I will not interfere with your research and will provide you with resources." Just like that, the two sides reached an agreement.

Li Qinwu found a squad of goblins, procured a handcart, loaded West-Hayden's physical body onto it, and began wandering around everywhere to select the construction site for the mage tower, while he himself prepared to purchase the raw materials for constructing the magical blast furnace. He first returned to his own residence. His residence had undergone a massive transformation by now; it was no longer the original dilapidated little wooden shack, but a two-story concrete building of about 500 square meters.

The architectural silhouette still looked incredibly ugly—a classic example of goblin aesthetics that you just had to live with—but the interior was fully furnished. Tables, chairs, stools, a sink, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The bed was even covered with beast hides, allowing him to lie down and sleep immediately. It was evident that One-Ear had put his heart into it.

Li Qinwu felt that One-Ear was far too eager to advance, and intended to heap more responsibilities onto his shoulders once he returned from his leave. Li Qinwu settled into the Grand Chief's residence and dispatched guards to fetch Jin Lambo. This fellow had followed him into the Alliance territory and had been conducting inspections over the past few days; it was time to grant him an audience to discuss the matter of chamber of commerce cooperation. Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Upon receiving the notification, Jin Lambo arrived at the Grand Chief's residence and stood quietly by the doorway waiting to be summoned. During the wait, his gaze remained fixed entirely on the Grand Chief's residence. To his eyes, this building, which hadn't even been plastered with white lime, was crude in the extreme. Yet his sharp merchant's snout detected something unusual about this house.

He cast a cautious glance at the two guards standing by the door; seeing that the two fellows were completely motionless like wooden stakes, he slowly drew close to the wall and lightly brushed the concrete wall surface with his fingers. Hmm, a material he had never seen before. This appeared to be some kind of new construction material? How on earth was it made? While he was pondering the commercial value of this material, the wooden door was opened by a guard, and he was permitted to enter.

Jin Lambo adjusted his clothes, was led into the Grand Chief's residence by the soldier, and came before Li Qinwu in the reception room.

"Good day, noble Majesty. Jin Lambo extends his most sincere blessings to you!" Upon seeing Li Qinwu, Jin Lambo took off his hat, held it against his chest, and bowed 90 degrees. Li Qinwu gestured toward the wooden chair opposite him for him to sit, then pulled out a pocket knife to trim his sharp fingernails.

"Jin Lambo, as I promised you last time, I will allow you to establish a chamber of commerce within my territory. Now, it is time to fulfill my vow. You may select a 5000 square meter plot of land in either Iron-City or Gob-Fort. I will dispatch personnel to help you construct the chamber of commerce, and with that, the personal favor between you and me shall be completely settled." Jin Lambo scratched his cheek, feeling it was a bit of a pity.

A personal favor owed by a regional ruler was more precious than 10, 000 gold coins. To have it repaid just like this left him thoroughly reluctant. However, he also understood very well that he had merely provided a small piece of intelligence; to receive this much in return was an absolute steal. He bowed to Li Qinwu once more.

"Majesty, thank you for your benevolence. As you wish." Seeing that he knew how to read the room, Li Qinwu also nodded, placed a document on the table, and slid it in front of him.

"Read through the first page completely, and tell me, can the items on it be bought? How much money will it take?" Jin Lambo picked up the document, his eyes scanning across it as rapidly as searchlights, scanning all the items listed on the document within a dozen-odd seconds. He closed his eyes, muttering calculations silently in his mouth, and then spat out a number.

"Majesty, if you wish to purchase these things, it will require at least 50, 000 silver coins."

"50, 000, huh..." Li Qinwu's finger tapped against the tabletop while his brain whirled rapidly, analyzing whether this fellow was treating him like a sucker to be fleeced. The items on the document were the raw materials for the magical blast furnace given to him by West-Hayden, and the primary items were depleted mana crystal cores. Mana crystal cores were exactly like batteries; the more they were used, the less mana was stored inside them.

Eventually, when a mana crystal core could no longer store mana, it would be shattered and ground into powder, which was the most common and widely utilized magi-conductive material. The design scheme provided by West-Hayden was to construct a magical blast furnace with a daily output of one ton, which required roughly two carts of depleted mana crystal cores pulled by Earth Dragons. Adding in the other special materials, 50, 000 silver coins was actually quite reasonable.

This time, Li Qinwu had plundered a massive ocean of wealth from the Governor's manor. Converted, it amounted to 20, 000 gold coins, 280, 000 silver coins, and countless copper coins. The Alliance currently lacked a currency system, so keeping this money in hand was useless. He wouldn't feel a shred of heartache even if he spent all of it, so he nodded in agreement to the transaction. Li Qinwu felt his smoothly trimmed fingernails, set down the small knife, and spoke leisurely: "Mm. Next, look at the second page.

Estimate for me what kind of prices the items listed on it could fetch in the human world." Jin Lambo immediately flipped open the document to the second page, and then excitedly began rubbing his hands together. The second page listed a whole assortment of miscellaneous items, all of which were things Li Qinwu felt the Alliance could produce and could fetch a high price in the human world.

For example, the hides, horns, and glands of Horned Crocodiles, various wild beast pelts, certain herbal medicines, timber, and so forth. Jin Lambo screamed in his heart: I'm rich, I'm rich! Many of the items on this list can fetch astronomical prices if taken to the human world. Sure enough, my investment was absolutely correct! He instantly wanted to open his mouth to purchase certain goods, but Li Qinwu's words brought him to a dead halt.

"Don't be in such a hurry to speak. Think carefully before you answer. Your quote will determine our future cooperation, as well as your little life. In the future, I will dispatch people to infiltrate the human world to verify the price levels of your human world. If you fleece me too severely, well, then I will just have to fleece you right back." Jin Lambo felt a chilly breeze brushing past his neck, and didn't dare utter the words he had just formulated.

He hesitated for a long while, pulled a charcoal pencil from his breast pocket, and began writing on the document. After a good while, he respectfully presented the document back in front of Li Qinwu, with purchase prices marked behind the items on the document. Li Qinwu glanced over it and discovered that Jin Lambo had also added a few types of items to the bottom of the document. One of them, a material called Ebony, commanded an extremely high price—a single tree could actually sell for 2000 silver coins!

He tapped on the Ebony entry and asked: "What is this thing? Why is the price so high?" Jin Lambo replied with absolute respect: "Majesty, Ebony is an extraordinarily precious timber. Mages use this material to manufacture staves. The older the Ebony, the higher its value; it is a highly sought-after commodity. 2000 silver coins is the price for a 50-year-old Ebony tree. After that, for every 10 additional years of age, the price rises by 100 silver coins.

Once past 100 years of age, for every 10 additional years, the price rises by 500 silver coins. Majesty, during the few days I have spent in your tribe, I have seen an immense amount of 50- or even 100-year-old Ebony being used to construct ordinary houses. Oh my God of Commerce, this is simply too extravagant! Even the noblest master mages aren't qualified to use Ebony to construct houses!" Li Qinwu also widened his eyes.

Ebony, which was worth its weight in gold, was actually being used by goblins to build houses. He hadn't expected to reap this kind of harvest. He pondered slightly and said: "Jin Lambo, there are many humans living under my rule. Go select a few of them and teach them how to identify Ebony and its age. I will sell you as many Ebony trees as you can locate."

What Li Qinwu left unsaid was that once his own people learned how to identify Ebony, this material would immediately be classified as a strategic resource and banned from export to the human world. He also wanted to build his own mage corps and required a vast quantity of staves; at that point, he wouldn't even have enough for himself, so how could he possibly sell it. Jin Lambo seized the opportunity to propose a barter system, to which Li Qinwu voiced his agreement.

The first cooperation between the Alliance and the chamber of commerce was officially established, leaving everyone highly satisfied. Following this, the atmosphere between the two sides became harmonious, and they began chatting about various casual topics. Li Qinwu felt that as the population grew larger in the future, in order to facilitate the integration of resources, he would need to design his own currency system. He thus asked Lambo if he had any suggestions.

Jin Lambo spoke at length about various economic issues, and Li Qinwu pricked up his ears, absorbing all the knowledge into his brain. To increase his own weight in Li Qinwu's mind, Jin Lambo shared a wealth of highly valuable information, and even mentioned that he had brought along many books on economics, which he would bring over to present to Li Qinwu in a moment. He talked until his mouth was completely parched.

Li Qinwu ordered his soldiers to serve him water, and smoothly asked: "Jin Lambo, if I manufacture a type of paper currency and have it circulate within my Alliance, do you think that would be feasible?" The moment Jin Lambo heard the term "paper currency," his head immediately shook like a rattle.

"Majesty! You must absolutely never issue paper currency! You must be thinking that paper currency is more convenient to carry around than metallic currency, right?" Li Qinwu nodded, indicating that that was precisely what he thought. No one wanted to carry several kilograms of copper coins just to purchase goods, after all. Jin Lambo shook his head even faster.

"Majesty, if you adopt paper currency, your financial system will become extremely precarious! In history, my homeland, the Kingdom of Akuxi, also once attempted to promote paper currency. The outcome was utterly disastrous; counterfeit notes cropped up endlessly in the market! No matter how sophisticated our anti-counterfeiting technology was, counterfeit notes capable of passing off as genuine would always surface on the market.

This caused my homeland's financial system to completely collapse during that period, and it took several decades to recover before we switched back to using metallic currency." Li Qinwu asked in confusion: "Why were the counterfeit notes able to pass off as genuine? Was your anti-counterfeiting technology too backward?" Jin Lambo coughed slightly and said with deep meaning: "Majesty, the Kingdom of Akuxi shares a border with the Mage Guild." Li Qinwu understood instantly.

The Mage Guild possessed an absolute technological advantage; manufacturing counterfeit notes was a total breeze for them. No matter how formidable the technology of a secular nation was, could it possibly outmatch the Mage Guild? It appeared the Alliance could only honestly stick to using metallic currency. Gold, silver, and copper possessed intrinsic value themselves. If you wanted to forge counterfeit coins, wouldn't you have to use a piece of real gold, silver, or copper to do it?

The cost of that was far too high; no one would bother. However, Li Qinwu had previously seen a scenario on the internet where some people would use pliers to clip off a tiny bit from the edges of gold and silver coins. The clipped gold and silver coins would be spent normally, while the clipped portions would be kept. Over days and months of accumulation, one could amass a considerable amount of wealth.

Later on, the general public rushed to emulate this behavior, causing a massive wave of mutilated currency to appear on the market. Li Qinwu asked Jin Lambo if there was any solution to this problem. Jin Lambo indicated that there wasn't any exceptionally good method; they could only step up propaganda among the populace, causing them to actively inspect whether the coins were complete during transactions. If a coin possessed a defect, they should demand that the other party replace it with a whole silver coin.

Furthermore, relevant laws would need to be enacted to punish those who maliciously defaced currency. Of course, even after all these measures were implemented, there would still be many mutilated gold and silver coins circulating on the market. But fortunately, this phenomenon was merely an annoyance and would not threaten the foundational integrity of the entire currency system. It was infinitely better than facing an ocean of counterfeit notes after adopting paper currency.