Chapter 67.5

Short Story 3

Princess Mia Gains a Bosom Buddy Through a Mutual Misunderstanding Part 3

The discrimination against agriculture in the Empire can be traced back to its very roots. The land that the Tearmoon Empire is on used to be called the Fertile Crescent. A seed planted there would easily reap ten or even twenty times more than a seed planted anywhere else. The people that originally lived in the regions lived through farming. They lived easy lives with abundant resources and plenty of harvests. They had very little conflict...

...until they were invaded by a tribe of hunters. This tribe used their hunting skills for war and so they were able to quickly subjugate the original inhabitants. Since then, the conquered natives were mocked by their new rulers. These new rulers called them the “slaves of the land.” They were ridiculed and called spineless and talentless. They were thought to be too cowardly to hunt that they can only live by tilling the land. As serfs, they provided their masters with food and labor. This made the invaders richer and richer.Yôur favorite novels at n/o(v)el/bin(.)com

At some point, these hunters began calling themselves as nobles. And the man who was their tribe leader became the First Emperor of the Empire. From that time, the farmers had always occupied the bottom spot of the social hierarchy of the Empire. Even when serfdom was abolished long time ago, the discrimination remained alive and well. It was still thought that those who farm are only those who have no other talent for doing anything else. It isn’t like the noble altogether prohibit farming. But they only farm the bare minimum and if they can, they prefer to rely on imports. This is why the last thing that they want is that their territories be turned into farmlands. This is the ultimate irony of the Tearmoon Empire. It is an empire built upon the lands perfect for farming, but the ones living in it utterly despise it.

That twisted concept is now what Ludwig is fighting against. He is going against the very history and tradition of the Empire itself.

“At the moment, we are totally relying on food imports from the neighboring kingdoms. This situation is too risky. If ever there is a famine, those kingdoms will surely prioritize themselves. So, unless we increase our domestic production and be self-sufficient, then the Empire has no future.”

“I do agree with what you are saying but changing the current mindset and situation will be very difficult.”

Balthazar grimaced as he was already considering the implications of forcing the noble to farm.

Seeing that his prey has taken the bait, Ludwig leaned forward.

He smiled knowingly...

“She wrote that she attended her first meet-and-greet party. Do you want to have a guess of who was hosting it?”

“Tell me.”

“Perujin Agricultural Country.”

Balthazar took a deep breath. In his eyes were starting to show a hint of admiration.

“I must say... that is interesting.”

Perujin Agricultural Country is a country in the southwest border of Tearmoon. Even though its land area is large, their military and economic power is weaker than that of Tearmoon. That is because about eighty percent of their population were farmers.

Because of this, Tearmoon looks down at Perujin as a second-rate, uncivilized, and undeveloped country that is hardly worth of its time. It was considered to be a country of serfs. Sadly, this discrimination from the Tearmoon nobles blinded them from the truth. Most of the food imported into the Empire actually came from the country that they looked down on. This just shows how gravely the situation really is.

“The country that is looked down by nobles but it actually vital to the Empire, huh... If the Princess did this out of diplomatic insight, then... what this could mean would be... my God. That’s definitely a progressive thinking!”

“This is Her Highness we are talking about, you know. I won’t be surprised if it was all calculated. But that’s not the end of it, there’s more to the letter. Guess what happened next?”