Chapter 239: The Overly Cheap Jewelry

At night, the stars in the sky are brilliant, and Fislate under the starry sky is also brightly lit.

Nowadays, most of the people living in the city have purchased transparent Crystal Lamps from Dwarf shops.

Although the name contains the word "crystal," in fact, they are made of glass, not natural crystal stone.

Dwarves once relied on these exquisite objects that emitted bright light to dispel the darkness hidden deep within the mountains of Khazad-dum; now, this light also illuminates every household in the city.

On the city's main roads, lights are also lit at night to guide pedestrians and provide convenience for patrolling guards.

In the beginning, the city's rules required residents going out at night to carry torches; otherwise, they would be taken away for questioning by patrolling soldiers as suspicious persons.

At that time, the phrase guards often had on their lips was, "You're out late at night without a torch—are you trying to steal something? Take them away!"

"

As the town continued to develop, under Allen's leadership, the Cabinet issued an urban road lighting decree.

The city's main roads are illuminated by designated personnel during the first half of the night to provide convenience for residents, and after the second half of the night, the fuel for the lights is exhausted and they automatically extinguish, at which point the city officially enters curfew, prohibiting any residents not on official business from leaving their homes.

But even if it only illuminated the first half of the night, the nightlife in Fislate has been greatly enriched, especially in summer, when people who have worked all day gather friends to chat and cool off by the roadside in places with few mosquitoes.

And children who cannot stay at home will also chase and play with their little friends on the still-bright roads.

Some residents with business acumen will make cheap but tasty snacks and delicious drinks at home to sell to the people cooling off nearby.

Now, Allen, who is not wearing formal attire, is not too conspicuous on this bustling street, because groups of young people are everywhere, and no matter how bright the lights are, they cannot compare to the daylight.

Even if someone recognizes Allen up close, they are signaled by their King to stay quiet; causing too much of a stir at night is not a good phenomenon.

As long as one keeps a low profile, most residents in the current environment will only focus on what is in front of them and will not notice that the King of Rhovanion has come among them.

"My Lord, some unusual commercial activities have appeared in the town recently."

"Oh! Is that so? Tell me something specific."

Allen, who had just been watching a group of children run past him, was quickly drawn to Manid's words; his first child was born before the new year, a girl named Andrea, who is now learning how to walk.

"I wonder if you still have an impression that after your grand wedding with Lady Yamila, the Dwarves of Durin's Folk rented a shop in the market to sell some exquisite Jewelry and armor."

"Is there a problem with this?" Although several years have passed, Allen still has some impression of this matter; that Tiehaer, who was a bit overly enthusiastic, was memorable, but what Allen remembered most was the Dwarves' shocked expressions at the wedding, their mouths open wide enough to stuff a whole apple inside.

"Although the owner of this shop is your ally, I want to tell you that there is a big problem with it!"

For a moment, Allen's originally lighthearted expression became serious.

Commerce is very important to Rhovanion now; it is precisely because a large number of merchants bring specialty goods from all over to Fislate that Allen can turn the precious metals stored in his treasury into various supplies, while allowing the people who obtain gold and silver to make their lives more colorful.

From the perspective of food and clothing, the people of Rhovanion can be completely self-sufficient, and there is even a large surplus of grain harvested every year, stored in warehouses across the land; after all, the climate in Rhovanion has been quite good for more than a decade.

But Allen needs a general equivalent, that is, the circulation of gold and silver coins, to concentrate the resources in the territory to accomplish the things he wants to do.

For example, providing a large amount of supplies to the Dwarves who are repairing the castle at Langwell.

And the various projects he has completed step by step over the years cannot rely solely on land taxes; after all, the tax rate Allen set at the beginning was not high, unlike a certain kingdom that prides itself on Knight spirit and implements an inhumane system of taking nine out of ten in taxes.

Moreover, in the later stages, in order to stimulate the birth rate, Allen also issued various tax reduction and exemption policies, allowing people to have enough ability to raise more children.

This led to a decrease in the supplies the Cabinet received from the land.

It's just that this phenomenon does not have much to do with Allen; although the required supplies cannot be collected through taxes, the Cabinet will spend money to purchase them from the private sector, distributing the large amounts of gold and silver Allen obtained from the Lonely Mountain into the hands of the people.

In the beginning, the wages or payments Allen issued had few uses other than spending in taverns or purchasing reasonably priced daily necessities at government-run general stores.

If the residents had any major expenses, it was likely renovating their houses within the city walls.

At that time, this method of capital recovery could not be called good or bad, but it could only be used when the population was small.

After all, the Dinar Allen earned in the simulation was limited, and he could not provide endless supplies to satisfy all his subjects.

Fortunately, the people at that time had just escaped the threat of the Orcish, and their standard of living had barely reached the level of having enough to eat and wear; they did not have many demands for other things.

Having general stores selling daily necessities and taverns providing delicious food and mellow wine was already very good.

Moreover, the population under Allen's rule at that time was not large, and management was not complicated, or rather, it did not really need much management; it could maintain stability with simple guidance.

It is just that over the years, Allen has not been satisfied with the state at that time; he obtained too many gold and silver treasures from the Dwarves, and if they were stored in the treasury, they would just be dead objects.

Other than being able to make those who see them let out exclamations of wonder, they have no other use; turning this glowing wealth into currency and letting it circulate appropriately in the territory is the most important role for this gold and silver.

Therefore, after the Battle of the Lonely Mountain, Allen was so eager to open up the paths to the High Pass and the Old Forest, allowing commerce to appear in his territory again and giving his residents the opportunity to spend money freely.

And Allen would collect the gold and silver he spent by adjusting tariffs and commercial taxes, raising or lowering shop rents, and organizing his own caravans to sell Honey, agricultural products, weapons and equipment, ships, and other forms.

Militarily, in the two battles of defeating Ashur and helping Gondor fight against Mordor, Allen also obtained a considerable amount of spoils of war, so his treasury remains very healthy to this day.

And the price of grain in Rhovanion, under the control of the Cabinet, has always been maintained within a relatively reasonable range.

Therefore, Allen does not need to worry about his subjects becoming nouveau riche with large amounts of gold and silver just by relying on the output from their land.

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Their lives have indeed been getting better, but this process is relatively slow, which greatly reduces the possibility of inflation.

And as one of the King's right-hand men, Manid's main job now is to stabilize the commercial environment of Rhovanion, so that prices do not skyrocket, while also ensuring that the precious metals in Allen's treasury can fluctuate within a safe range.

Therefore, when his Finance Minister suggested that there was a relatively big problem with the Dwarf shop, it immediately aroused Allen's vigilance.

He needed to hear the specific situation to judge whether someone wanted to challenge his system; in Middle-earth, there are many successful merchants among the Dwarves, and what Allen worries about is that perhaps someone has already seen the commercial loopholes in Rhovanion and wants to start some kind of financial storm in his territory, or something similar to "sheep eating people."

For a moment, Allen felt that if necessary, he wouldn't mind sending a Letter to ask Thorin what his kin actually wanted to do in his territory.

"At first, I arranged for my subordinates to pay special attention to that shop. At that time, it was very normal. The shop was filled with extremely exquisite and luxurious Jewelry, as well as well-forged armor. Except for those noble representatives from Gondor, only merchants from Eriador would patronize it. The residents in the city simply did not have that much wealth to buy Dwarf things."

Allen nodded; there was nothing wrong with this. Dwarf things were good, but they were also truly expensive; even the Toys they made were quite pricey elsewhere in Middle-earth.

But Manid's next words made Allen surprised.

"But half a year ago, that shop became a bit strange. The Dwarf Tiehaer in charge there began to promote extremely cheap Jewelry to the citizens. At first, I didn't pay much attention after learning about this, because most of the materials for those ornaments were copper, and there was no problem with selling them cheaper."

As he spoke, Manid took out a very simple small wooden box from his bosom. After opening it, inside was a brass-colored ring with hollow patterns; the ring face was a smooth black gemstone, shining with a soft light under the lamp.

Manid handed it to Allen and continued: "But what puzzles me is that these copper ornaments are just too popular. And, under the circumstances of being extremely popular, Tiehaer actually didn't raise the price. You must know that half a year has passed, and every time these ornaments are put on the shelves, they are snatched up. Maintaining the original price definitely does not conform to commercial behavior. I suspect there is some problem here, but I have no other evidence, so I can only report the situation to you."

The word "popular" in Manid's mouth made Allen's vigilance suddenly rise. If it were in his original world, he might think that the ring in front of him was popular because of its decent design and extremely low price.

However, this is Middle-earth, where the enemy is best at corrupting people's hearts. Sometimes he uses fear as a weapon, but sometimes, greed is also a sharp blade in the hands of the Dark Lord.

Thinking of this, Allen, after pondering for a while, reached out and picked up the ring in the wooden box. Even when facing the One Ring, he had walked out of the influence of that ring, and an ordinary, mass-produced brass ring couldn't possibly be more powerful than that Gold Ring, right?

Regardless of what conspiracy lies within this, testing it personally will naturally yield some information.

Allen, having just picked up the brass Ring, could not help but raise his arm to hold it under the lamplight; in that brief second or two, he suddenly felt the Ring before him was extremely beautiful, especially the Black Gem inlaid upon it, whose soft radiance even illuminated his inner heart, and apart from that, there was nothing else.

At this moment, Allen felt that even the Ring of Power he once possessed could not compare to the Ring before him, and he desperately wanted to put it on and never take it off again.

Suddenly, a warm breath flooded Allen's entire body, and the next moment, for some reason, Gollum's ugly yet pitiable face appeared in Allen's mind; that phrase, "my precious," was like a basin of cold water poured over Allen from head to toe, allowing him to completely break free from this feeling of being controlled.

It was the Qi within his body that allowed Allen to briefly regain his clarity, and his subconscious told him that if he continued to sink into it, that pathetic Hobbit would be his cautionary tale.

And that final basin of cold water that made Allen completely sober was his own fairly decent willpower winning out over the Magic on this Ring.

Although this process was not particularly pleasant, it also made Allen understand what kind of danger these pieces of Jewelry were hiding.

Allen blinked his eyes rapidly, his face not revealing the slightest unusual expression; he slowly lowered his raised arm, then quickly placed the brass Ring back into the box and shut the lid firmly.

At this time, Manid did not realize that the King before him had just had a rather intense confrontation with an enemy in the span of a few seconds, because he had not come into contact with the brass Ring.

As one of the highest-paid members of the Cabinet, Manid did not like copper ornaments; if it were gold, he might have had the interest to fiddle with it, but as for the item before him, he only took one look and did not pay it much mind.

And this, too, allowed him to escape a disaster.

"Manid, go find Cress; I need you to use every means at your disposal in the shortest time possible to find out exactly how many of my subjects have purchased this kind of cheap Jewelry; this matter must be sufficiently discreet, do you understand?"

Upon hearing Allen's order, Manid's spirit lifted, and he replied, "I understand, my lord."

"Go and get busy."

After giving his instructions, Allen took several personal guards and walked toward the tavern; his original purpose for this evening was to seek out those veterans.

The matter of forging armor could not be delayed either.