Soul Space, the daily meeting of the Twilight Kingdom.
"Your Majesty, you do not look well."
Todd snapped out of his daze, touched his face, and said in surprise, "Really?"
Emerson nodded: "You seem to have something on your mind..."
With a sigh, Todd looked at the assembled kingdom officials in the meeting hall and asked, "Where were we in the report?"
“My turn!” Monk Joe raised his hand: “Your Majesty, as per your decree, I issued a proposal a few days ago in the name of the Holy Son, hoping that the residents would develop and operate farms outside the city. Seeds, farming tools, and materials will all be provided free of charge by the kingdom…”
Todd leaned forward and asked, "How did it go?"
The monk shook his head helplessly and said, "No one wants to farm. Everyone says they'd rather be a laborer at the docks than work in the fields. There are plenty of jobs in the city, the pay is good, and you don't have to work hard. Most importantly, they're used to a good life and nobody wants to get their hands dirty again."
Upon hearing this, Todd frowned and remained silent.
Emerson then added, "The wheat and beans brought in by sea are of good quality and inexpensive. If the residents were to grow them themselves, considering the costs of labor and spoilage, they simply couldn't compete with the prices in the south. No wonder they're unwilling."
“Speaking of maritime trade, something comes to mind.” Emerson stroked his mustache. “If I’m not mistaken, Your Majesty’s three-year tax-free period is about to expire. It’s necessary for the kingdom to begin discussing tax types and rates, and the recruitment of relevant departments and personnel must be put on the agenda.”
Todd suddenly spoke up: "About the agriculture in Twilight City..."
Emerson was taken aback. He had just been talking about taxes, so how did he end up talking about agriculture again?
“Harkins, have the royal scribe draft a document entitled ‘Five-Year Agricultural Development Plan’,” Todd said, thinking for a moment. “First, notify the Northern Island Trade Fleet to gradually reduce the amount of grain imported from the south; second, impose tiered tariffs on imported grain; third, allow immigrants outside the city to register and develop and operate farms and ranches, and after producing a certain amount of grain, allow them to become residents; fourth, add a new land type to the land planning outside the city—basic arable land, which can only be used for agricultural purposes and cannot be used for other purposes; fifth, post a notice that after the three-year tax exemption period ends, the Kingdom of Muxi will continue to exempt agricultural taxes.”
Upon hearing this, Emerson's eyes widened, and he quickly advised the king, "Your Majesty, could you please reconsider the agricultural tax exemption? In any kingdom, agricultural taxes are the backbone of national development; to simply exempt them like this is too much..."
Todd looked into Emerson's eyes without the slightest hesitation: "Just do as I say! Agricultural taxes may seem like a lot now, but once the kingdom's other industries develop, that amount of money will be nothing."
Watching Huggins repeat what he had just said, Todd nodded in satisfaction, then asked Terence, "Regarding crop cultivation, the Kingdom of Muxi is located by the sea, and the surrounding land is severely salinized. Does the academy have any good methods to improve this?"
“The common methods are crop rotation and composting, but I’m not very clear on the specifics,” Terence replied somewhat awkwardly.
Todd tapped his fingers on the table, muttering to himself, "The soil around Twilight City is infertile, and most of the city's raw materials are used to make gunpowder. We have to find a way to artificially synthesize fertilizer. Let me think... Speaking of fertilizer, in my previous life, it seems we used Hubble's high-pressure reaction tower to chemically synthesize ammonia, and then used free molecules to produce nitrogen fertilizer..."
Terence asked with a puzzled look, "Your Majesty, what exactly are these molecules and nitrogen elements you mentioned?"
Todd slapped his forehead and gave a wry smile, clearly troubled.
The nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers used in modern agriculture first require the synthesis of artificial ammonia. The production of ammonia requires a relatively high level of industrial technology and chemical theory from the country before it can be feasible.
In the previous era, the industrial production of ammonia using nitrogen and hydrogen as raw materials was not officially established until 1918. Now, the Kingdom of Muxi, let alone building a reaction tower, cannot even explain this complex chemical reaction.
Is there a relatively simple way to manufacture fertilizer?
Seeing that the king had fallen into deep thought again, the officials at the table, both high and low, tacitly remained silent.
Emerson exchanged images and sounds from his memories with Terence through the computer screen; Mary, meanwhile, was intently sipping her coffee while browsing through famous paintings on the computer.
Cumberland, the kingdom's highest military commander, had nothing to do at this morning's routine meeting, so he simply picked up the mouse and started browsing the computer.
The computer data and stored information in the Soul Space are all transformed from memories in Todd's mind.
Since those who enter the soul space are all people Todd trusts, a significant portion of the data, aside from some highly confidential information, is actually in an open state.
Cumberland awkwardly clicked around with the mouse, and unintentionally entered a file interface. The folder icon on the left read "American TV series - Spartacus", and the one on the right read "Manual joystick driver".
"Hmm? What are these two?" Cumberland curiously hovered the mouse between the two folders for a while before finally opening the folder named "Spartacus." Next, he found a bunch of video icons, picked the first file, and double-clicked to start playing it.
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