Chapter 391: Sure Profit! The Dark Forest and the Sacred Flame!

The Hunhe Principality lies in the south of the Xiling Kingdom, with some territory also extending westward.

From this day on, large caravans composed of Xiling Kingdom nobles entered the Hunhe Principality, hauling away cart after cart of potatoes!

The Hunhe Principality naturally allowed these nobles to purchase, though they imposed taxes.

But compared to the profits, these taxes meant nothing.

Just as Lin Yan and the Holy Maidens had predicted.

Potatoes sold like wildfire in the Hunhe Principality!

Some nobles, eager to sell quickly, even sold directly to Hunhe Principality nobles at lower prices—effectively wholesale.

They did this because they wanted to buy something else.

Gao Liang!

"You want Gao Liang? How much? What price?"

This was a conversation between two nobles from the two kingdoms.

"As much as you have! 3.5 silver coins per jin!"

Said a noble from the Xiling Kingdom.

Yes, the royal family bought at 4.5 silver coins, but Xiling Kingdom nobles still offered only slightly above market price.

This was a scenario Dream Ying and the others had already considered.

To motivate Xiling Kingdom nobles to actively join this economic war, you had to offer incentives—this 3.5 silver coin price was the royal family's minimum purchase rate, effectively giving these nobles a profit of 1 silver coin per jin!

Yet even at 3.5 silver coins per jin for purchasing Gao Liang in the Hunhe Principality, it still enabled the Hunhe Principality's people to plant Gao Liang on a massive, even total, scale.

The reason was simple.

Rice sold for only 2 silver coins per jin.

But Gao Liang sold for 3.5 silver coins.

Gao Liang's yield per mu was similar to rice, and it required almost no maintenance—labor costs would drop dramatically.

Most crucially, cheaper Divine Beans now replaced rice as staple food—if they planted all their land with Gao Liang and bought Divine Beans for consumption, their profits would far exceed those from planting rice.

Of course, they could still plant a small portion of rice for their own families, and use the rest of their land for Gao Liang—annual profits would still double!

Who wouldn't want doubled income?

So upon hearing the Xiling Kingdom noble's words, the Hunhe Principality noble immediately sold all his Gao Liang stock to him.

"Will you keep buying like this?"

Asked the Hunhe Principality noble.

"Of course—we'll buy as much as you have."

Said the Xiling Kingdom noble.

But it was only the first day; the Hunhe Principality noble had not yet decided.

Yet on the second, third, and fourth days, as more Xiling Kingdom nobles arrived to buy Gao Liang, some bolder nobles who spotted the opportunity had already begun large-scale Gao Liang cultivation.

The Hunhe Principality's climate was excellent—this was one reason for its high grain yields.

Here, sunlight was strong, the climate ideal, the soil fertile, and nearly all land was flat plains.

After planting Gao Liang, some impatient nobles had already petitioned the Church for magicians to accelerate growth.

With magician-induced acceleration, Gao Liang's growth cycle shortened dramatically!

As more Xiling Kingdom nobles arrived to purchase Gao Liang, Divine Bean sales surged, squeezing rice sales—and more and more people in the Hunhe Principality began planting Gao Liang.

Soon after, a new Gao Liang liquor—brewed in Yan Country but falsely claimed to be from the Xiling Kingdom—appeared in the Hunhe Principality.

This Gao Liang liquor was exceptionally delicious, instantly captivating the Hunhe Principality's people.

Now the Hunhe Principality's people understood why the Xiling Kingdom was buying Gao Liang!

At this moment, Queen Luo Ying sent an envoy delegation to sign a long-term Gao Liang purchase agreement with the Hunhe Principality's royal family.

With this guaranteed purchase agreement, even more Hunhe Principality nobles began large-scale Gao Liang cultivation!

"We didn't spend much gold at all—actually, we made a lot."

In the temple, Luo Ying gazed at the Gao Liang liquor.

She was a Holy Maiden, so she could not drink—the liquor was merely placed here for discussion.

Dream Ying nodded and said: "Yes, from Divine Bean sales, we've already recovered substantial gold. Though we bought Gao Liang at high prices, the liquor distilled from it was sold back at even higher prices—this back-and-forth brought us no loss, and instead flooded the Hunhe Principality with our gold while undermining its food foundation."

This was the brilliance of the strategy.

On the surface, buying Gao Liang at high prices seemed like a loss—an attempt to destroy the Hunhe Principality's food base—but in truth, the delicious Gao Liang liquor brought the money back.

Alcohol, by nature, has the highest profit margin.

Generally, two jin of Gao Liang yield one jin of Gao Liang liquor.

The Xiling Kingdom side spent 9 silver coins for two jin of Gao Liang.

But the wholesale price of one jin of Gao Liang liquor was 10 silver coins—retail prices, set and pocketed by the selling nobles, were even higher.