"Your Highness …"
Standing there and looking at the dazed Olivia, Chen Heng said to her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine.
Only then did Olivia come back to her senses.
"I'm sorry."
Looking at Chen Heng, she sighed and said, "Sorry, seeing you, I can't help but think of some things in the past."
"It's fine."
Chen Heng nodded understandingly and did not ask any questions.
"During these few months, you weren't in the Kutu Royal City; where did you go?"
Olivia asked as she looked at Chen Heng.
She naturally knew where Chen Heng had gone, and she was just changing the topic so that she could continue the conversation.
"I went to my father's territory and stayed there for a while," Chen Heng said truthfully.
"There, I had some things to take care of, so I stayed in my father's territory for a while."
"Oh?"
Olivia was quite curious and asked, "What is it?"
"Is it convenient for you to tell me?"
Her face was filled with curiosity, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face, which made people's hearts itch.
Anyone who saw her like this would not be able to resist the urge to brag about the fruits of their labor.
However, Chen Heng was not moved and only smiled as he told her what he had done.
Even though what he had done was important, it was not a secret.
At the very least, if Princess Olivia wanted to investigate, she would be able to find out very quickly.
Since there was no way to hide it, Chen Heng did not hide it and told her what he had done.
"North-South trade."
Hearing Chen Heng's explanation, a look of shock appeared on Princess Olivia's face, and a look of admiration appeared on her face, "What a good idea."
"How did you think of it?"
Admiration was written all over her face as she asked curiously.
Compared to before, this time, although she was still pretending, there was a lot more sincerity in it.
She felt great admiration towards what Chen Heng had done, and there were many things she wanted to discuss with Adil.
Her current actions were not just a disguise.
"My friend, Krudo, is a ruler from the north."
Sitting across from Princess Olivia, Chen Heng said softly, "Through this friend of mine, I learned about the northern rulers' lives and their predicament. I also learned about the differences between the north and south.
"The idea of developing north-south trade also came from this."
"Oh."
Olivia's interest was piqued. "Tell me, what did you discover?"
"That's very complicated."
Chen Heng smiled and continued, "For example, the climate and production."
"Your Highness might not know this, but the difference in climate between the North and the South is huge."
"This difference seriously affects the output, and also affects the lord's income."
"Compared to the south, because of the climate in the north, the grain production in the north is not high. The yield of an acre of land is only a quarter of that in the south."
"At the same time, the battle with the desert outsiders led to a long war."
Looking at Olivia, Chen Heng explained, "The battle has affected production, and the people who could have been put into production have been forced to become soldiers. In fact, it has greatly affected the farming cycle, causing production to fall.
"These factors have affected the price of food, causing the price of food in the north to be extremely high."
"Indeed."
Olivia looked at Chen Heng, agreeing with his words.
Even though what Chen Heng had said was quite simple, in this age, it was not something that just anyone could summarize.
For many nobles who had grown up in the Kutu Royal City, they most likely did not even know where the north was, let alone come to a conclusion.
"What do you think we should do in this situation?"
Olivia asked as she looked at Chen Heng with interest.
She had only casually asked this question and did not expect Chen Heng to answer.
In the past, she had asked many people about this question, but she had never received a specific and clear answer.
Even those professionals who understood the situation in the north could not do anything about it, let alone Chen Heng.
However, what surprised her was that Chen Heng only thought for a moment before giving an answer.
"There are two ways."
Chen Heng thought for a moment before saying, "The northern rulers' predicament is not because of the low output but because of the continuous war."
In actuality, the output of the land would not cause the rulers to fall into such a predicament.
After all, no matter how little a plot of land produced, it would only mean that the ruler's income would be a bit lower, but it would not cause the rulers to fall into financial ruin.
The northern rulers' true predicament was that they had low output and low income, but they also had to face immense military pressure.
Because of the immense pressure from the desert, the northern rulers had been forced into a long-term war.
War, on the other hand, had its costs.
It was precisely because of their low income that they had to pay the high cost of war, which was why the northern lords were in such a predicament.
As such, the solution to the northern rulers' predicament was very simple.
"If we want to resolve this problem, we either have to make the pressure from the desert disappear, or we have to make the northern rulers profit from the war so that they can continuously recoup their costs."
Looking at Olivia, Chen Heng gave his answer.
"What should we do to achieve all of this?"
Looking at Chen Heng, Olivia instinctively asked.
At first, she listened very casually and was somewhat inattentive.
However, as Chen Heng spoke, she became more and more focused. In the end, she focused all of her attention and listened intently.
As the Princess of the Kutu Principality and the ruler closest to the northern rulers, she took the northern rulers' problems very seriously.
In the past, she had listened to the suggestions of many people, but no one had been able to analyze things as thoroughly as Chen Heng did.
"The solution is actually quite simple."
Looking at the focused Olivia, Chen Heng continued, "If we want to reduce the northern rulers' burden, we can start with trade.
"Different from the northern side, because of the southern side's climate and environment, food production is quite abundant. Sometimes, food rots in warehouses and cannot be sold.
"This is the exact opposite of the northern side's situation.
Chen Heng said softly, "Through trade, we can transport the surplus food from the south to the north, reducing the northern rulers' costs.
"On the other hand, the slaves that the northern feudal lords obtain during the war can also be digested through trade, allowing the northern feudal lords to profit from the war. War will no longer be a profitless thing."
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