Nova Lemuria, the capital of the East Lemurian Empire, is said to be 'the capital of two-thirds of the world's wealth'.
　The reason for this is that Nova Lemuria has a good natural port and is located on a trade route that runs from east to west, north to south.

　In other words, the prosperity of the empire is supported by the wealth of transit trade.
　However, there are two drawbacks to this transit trade.

　The first is that it is highly dependent on the political and economic conditions of the countries to which the goods are imported and exported.
　The second is that transit trade inevitably results in the flow of wealth to the Kingdom of Fars, a neighboring country ...... that is the Empire's greatest nemesis.

　This means that the empire needs to find other sources of income besides transit trade.

　The first source of income would be agriculture.
　The staple food of the Empire is wheat, but grapes and olives are also grown.

　Wine and olive oil made from these grapes and olives are the main exports of the empire.
　However, as a means of earning foreign currency, they are a little weak.

　Next, the handicraft industry produced glassware and high-quality ceramics.
　These are also exports of the empire.
　However, both of these products are made in the Kingdom of Phallus.

　The Kingdom of Phallus is also a country where handicrafts are as developed as the Lemurian Empire.
　Therefore, they compete with each other, and there is no great profit.

　Or rather, ......
　In the first place, even if these products are sold, they are meaningless if they do not enter the treasury as taxes.
　Therefore, it does not make much sense to encourage the production of wine, olive oil, glass, and ceramics.

　If we can monopolize the production of new products, we will be able to sell them. ......

　So, take a look at this guy. What do you think?
　"...... It's very white.

　Karolina looked at it with wide eyes.
　Christos, Galfis, and Loukanos all looked at Hercule's hand as well.

　What Hercule was holding in both hands was pure white pottery.
　Yes, pure white pottery.

　"This is pottery made in the Empire.
　"...... Are you sure?

　Christos gulped.

　The pottery made in the Empire and the Kingdom of Foulth is mostly black.
　This is because neither country has the technology to produce white ceramics.

　Shiro pottery is produced only in the Silk Country, further east than the Kingdom of Fars.
　For this reason, it is traded at a very high price.

　Pure white is a holy color in the Messianic religion.

　It's called "bone ash porcelain. The bones are used to produce the white color.

　This is so-called bone china.

　Why did Hercule know how to make bone ash porcelain? ......
　In fact, it was not Hercule who made it.

　Of course not.
　There is no way that Hercule, a madman who enjoys studying, could have made bone ash porcelain with only the knowledge he read in a book.

　The person who actually made it was a craftsman of the Lemurian Empire.
　About four years ago, when he was eight years old, Hercule secretly commissioned a craftsman from the Lemurian Empire.

　Originally, Hercule had intended to run away from home when he reached adulthood, but he also had the decency to at least think about the debt of gratitude for raising him.

　I'm going to run away from home, but please forgive me for making bone ash porcelain!
　That was the plan.

　All Hercule did was to give him the materials and simple instructions on how to make it, and then to give him the money and receive the report on time. From Hercule's point of view, it was just a matter of "I went to bed, woke up, listened to the report, went to bed, woke up, and listened to the report, and it was done.

　The emperor of the Lemurian Empire is the absolute ruler of this country.
　He is the son of the Emperor of Lemuria, and if he refuses the request, he must be prepared to die.
　Of course, if you fail, it is death.

　Hercule knew that bone ash porcelain existed and did not have any doubts about its completion, but from the craftsman's point of view, it was common sense to think that it was certain to fail because it was the proposal of an amateur kid who did not understand the "word" of ceramics.

　This bone ash porcelain is the fruit of the hard work of the craftsman who prepared for death and finished it by adjusting the temperature while crying.
　Well, the craftsman who completed it received enough money from Hercule to live happily for the rest of his life, and in addition, he can live without any worries in the future only by producing bone ash porcelain for the rest of his life, so the effort itself was fruitful.

　Well, actually, it's still in the research stage. See, it's not a pretty white color, is it?
　It's still amazing!

　Christos stood up excitedly.
　Lucanos keeps his poker face on, but his eyes are fixed on the bone ash porcelain.
　And Galfis smiles bitterly.

　I didn't expect such an amazing thing to come out of nowhere.
　"Well, yeah.

　Hercule modestly affirmed.
　I'm aware that I'm taking someone else's idea, so I'm modestly proud of it.

　Well, if ignorance is a sin, then knowledge is an achievement.
　In that sense, Hercule's work is definitely an achievement.

　"There are a few craftsmen who can build this. I'll gather up all the craftsmen and mass produce it. And I'll charge you 40% tax on sales. Hey, I thought of it, no complaints.

　Even if we charge 40% tax on sales, the artisans will definitely make a profit.
　That's how high the demand for white porcelain is.

　And here's another thing.

　Hercule snaps his fingers with a sharp look on his face.
　Then a maid arrived with five cups on a tray.

　The maid placed the cups on the table, bowed deeply and left.
　Hercule sipped from the white ...... bone ash porcelain cup that the maid had left behind.

　"Hmm, it's bitter. I knew it.
　"...... What is this?

　Carolina frowned and looked at the liquid in the cup.


　It's a black liquid, I don't know what it is.
Coffee.
　Coffee?

　Karolina's mind wanders. "Coffee?
　Hercule urged the four of them to shut up and drink.

　Christos, Galfis, Loukanos and Karolina sipped fearfully from their cups.
　Their reactions were different.

　"Oh, it's delicious.

And Karolina.

　"Ew, .......
　And Galfis.

　"This is ...... bitter.
　"This is bitter," said Christos with a scowl.

　"It's eye-opening. I like it.
　I like it." Lucanos.

　Hercule nodded in satisfaction as he watched the four of them.

　It's a new drink to replace wine and beer.

　Most of the water in the Empire, or rather in the countries around the Empire, is hard water.
　The water sources are not as abundant as in Japan.

　As a result, the water is not very tasty and fresh water is hard to come by.
　Therefore, wine and barley wine are the main beverages in the Empire.

　Since alcoholic beverages do not spoil, they can be stored for a long time.
　They can also be diluted in water to sterilize the water and make it taste a little better at the same time.

　But there is a big problem with this.
　The alcohol will make you drunk.

　That's why drinking tea is popular among some nobles, clergymen, and merchants.
　This is not barley tea, but a genuine tea made from Camellia sinensis.

　It is imported from the East and is very expensive.

　So let's sell coffee!　
　That was Hercule's strategy.

　It has the effect of making you sleepy. In fact, it was drunk in a church. That's why I got it.

　Hercule's acquisition of the coffee was accidental.
　A few years ago, when Hadrian III took him to the southern part of the Empire, he happened to find coffee in a church where he stayed.

　A coffee tree had been planted in a corner of the church and was being cultivated and drunk to wake up from sleep.
　This time, we dispatched a messenger to get coffee from the church in a hurry.

　Just go to ......
　Hercule had just a few questions.

　Could coffee grow in such a place?

　It was a simple question.

　Hercule didn't know much about the growing conditions of coffee.
　However, the climate and precipitation of the churchyard where Hercule found the coffee can be found at ......

　But the climate and precipitation of the church garden where Hercule found the coffee may be slightly different from the growing conditions of coffee.
　I was thinking.

　However, this is not the earth.
　It is hard to imagine that the coffee of this world and the coffee of the earth are the same plant. ......

　In the first place, there is no proof that the fruit of this tree is coffee.
　I have not checked the base sequence.

　There is a high possibility that it is a fruit of a tree that is as close to coffee as possible, but different from coffee.
　In fact, the way we call "coffee" on Earth is completely different from the way it is called in the churches where coffee was grown in this world, partly because of the difference in language.

　The topography and vegetation of this world is very similar to that of Earth.
　However, there are some major differences.

　Well, it goes without saying when there are long-eared elves and warbeasts walking around.

　The church people know how to raise them. Why don't we grow them on the royal family's private property and sell them? We can make a lot of money.

　At first, we'll sell it to the aristocracy, clergy, and big merchants at high prices to spread the word.
　Then, when coffee became known to a certain extent and the common people showed interest in it, we would gradually teach the farmers how to grow it and increase production.

　At first, monopoly sales.
　After that, the plan is to make a profit through sales tax.

　Let's just focus on these two for now. That should bring in more money to the treasury.

　If you try too many things at once, you will run out of steam.
　That was Hercule's idea.

　In fact, he would like to get into beekeeping, sugar maple if he can find it, sugar, cotton and silk if he can smuggle seeds and eggs, but he can't do too many things at once.

　For now, we should focus our efforts on what we can do most quickly and surely.
　The combination of black coffee and white high quality porcelain for drinking it is not so bad.
　If we sell them as a set, we can make a good profit.

　(Well, there is no way that bone ash porcelain and coffee alone can turn our finances around.

　Hercule thought in his mind as he looked at the four excited people.
　The financial scale of a country is not so small that it can be supported only by porcelain and coffee.

　Unless, of course, these two become a major industry. ......
　This is just the beginning.
　It will take at least five more years before it can have an impact on the national treasury.

　This means we will not be able to achieve the promised three years. 　
　We can't 'do anything' to Carolina.

　Now all we have to do is check the administrative documents.

　The national finances of the Empire were not in a state of decline from the beginning.
　It used to be prosperous.

　It was only after Hadrian III, Hercule's father, ascended to the throne that the finances began to decline.


　After that, it temporarily recovered thanks to the efforts of Hadrian III, but once again worsened at the end of his reign.

　This is the outline of what Hercule knows.

　There are three possible reasons why the state finances shrank so quickly.

　One, a decline in overall state revenue due to a declining population and the destruction of agricultural land.
　However, Hercule believed that this effect was not so great.

　If the agricultural base had been destroyed to the extent that the nation's finances would have fallen, the empire would have been destroyed by now.

　So, there were two possible explanations.

　Either the government is not collecting taxes at face value due to a decline in tax collection capacity.
　Or the taxes are disappearing due to waste and embezzlement.

　Either way.
　But this is the case: ......

　I'll have to dig around in the government archives to find out.

　Hercule cowered.
　It's all about 'doing whatever it takes'.