Arthur followed his gaze, looking around. Inside the tent, besides maps, tables, chairs, and weapon racks, there was nothing.
His gaze finally returned to Hubbard, and he spoke with a hint of inquiry and warning:
"You had better have substance, my fat official."
Hubbard no longer kept them in suspense. He raised his plump hand again, this time his movement steady and forceful, pointing heavily at the vast, deep green area on the map that occupied nearly half of it.
The Brightmoon Mountains.
Hubbard shivered his plump body, as if gathering all his strength for the words to come.
Then, from deep in his throat, he clearly squeezed out one word:
"Charcoal!"
Arthur stood up, looking at the Brightmoon Mountains on the map. He had indeed somewhat overlooked this mountain. He had also thought about the iron ore, copper ore, and even more precious minerals that might be hidden within the mountains, but that would be a very long-term endeavor.
Yet he had overlooked its most superficial, most direct, and most abundant output: wood! Endless wood!
Seeing Arthur's reaction, Hubbard knew he had completely won his gamble.
His voice was filled with irrepressible excitement and temptation, like a devil whispering in his ear:
"Lord Arthur, look at these Brightmoon Mountains!"
"The wood in here, let alone century-old trees, even thousand-year-old giant trees, are countless!"
"The timber within the Brightmoon Mountains is so vast that even your descendants, cutting for hundreds of years, probably wouldn't finish it!"
His breathing became rapid, his eyes gleaming with the light of gold dragons and silver deer. Another indispensable monopoly, his profits were growing more and more.
"Instead of having those six hundred people, those two hundred families, engage in high-risk, long-cycle animal husbandry, why not turn them into two large charcoal production plants!"
"Let them make charcoal!"
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, his plump body even beginning to tremble slightly.
"My Lord, how simple is the technique of making charcoal! It only requires an axe and enough manpower! And what we lack least right now is cheap labor converted from the refugee camp!"
"The investment is almost zero, yet the output is immediate!"
"My Lord, think again, what is charcoal? It is a necessity that every household cannot do without! For heating in winter, daily cooking, blacksmithing... Which of these can do without it?"
"This is an absolute rigid demand market! As long as we produce in large quantities, we will have no worries about sales! The profits in this are far greater than you can imagine!"
He paused, giving Arthur time to think, then threw out an even more enticing prospect.
"Moreover, we can not only use it ourselves! Once our production increases, we can completely dump it on the market!"
"Especially those plain territories to the south; they lack forests."
Arthur remained silent, standing before the map. The fat man's words were a bit exaggerated, but regardless of whether there were economic benefits, at least everyone would have their own work and tasks, and the territory would stabilize.
He turned to Olivier, issuing an unquestionable command: "Relay my order: the two planned animal farms are to be changed to charcoal production plants."
"The remaining two hundred-plus people in the refugee camp are to be converted into a rabbit farm."
"Charcoal is to be listed as the fifth lord's monopoly!"
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