Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1942 Trade Market
Zhou Xu plans to spend the next five years upgrading some of the equipment in their Great Zhou.

Of course, most of the existing equipment, as long as it does not suffer from serious malfunctions and become unusable, can actually be used for another ten or eight years without much problem.

Zhou Xu's current approach is not to deliberately pursue a comprehensive upgrade, but to produce a portion of the latest equipment for use by the border garrison.

Some of the old equipment that border troops replaced used to be exported to neighboring countries to recoup some of their costs.

But nowadays, there are no countries around the Great Zhou that can buy their military equipment.

Although these equipment had been replaced, they were not yet at the point of needing to be immediately phased out, so they were assigned to the city defense forces of various cities in the rear or to various military regions for use.

It can also be used for regular training. If it breaks and can't be repaired, just discard it.

In the past, when I could sell it, I had a plan to sell it; when I couldn't sell it, I also had a plan to not sell it.

Zhou Xu has already taken the time to discuss this matter with the Ministry of Military Affairs.

In addition, there is the issue of missionary funding for the national religious units in the new district.

On the way there, Zhou Xu had already decided that since proselytizing with those goblins wouldn't be effective no matter what, he might as well save that part of the budget.

In fact, the order was already in effect as soon as Zhou Xu arrived there.

And now...

Clearly, plans can't keep up with changes.

The missionary work did indeed suffer setbacks among the goblins in the new district, but conversely, Zhou Xu found that his ideas and concepts were unexpectedly effective among the elves.

Even Light, the Elf King, expressed his approval.

This is an opportunity. Could he use this as a starting point and make some appropriate moves?
The missionary content of the state religion was not limited to loyalty to the emperor and patriotism; it also included elements of loving life, working hard, and being positive.

This is undoubtedly what Wright wants. As the Elf King, Wright himself realized that if his people continued to be so lax, it would be detrimental to the development of the race. If the Elf race wanted a future and wanted to become better, it had to change this situation.

But before that, Wright had no idea where to start, or even had a single idea.

It wasn't until he heard the story of "The Annals of the Emperors" from Hilke that his thinking gradually opened up. His subsequent conversation with Zhou Xu made him feel as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining through.

Even at this point, compared to Zhou Xu, who was a practitioner, Wright could still only be considered a theorist who talked the talk but didn't walk the walk.

If you actually let him follow this line of thinking, he will find that implementation is not as easy as it sounds, and he will still find it very difficult.

The reason is simple: people who are used to being lazy won't become diligent just because of a few words from you.

Not to mention that the elves don't face any survival pressure at all.

You think you should work hard, but the people below you think it's unnecessary and that it's fine to just slack off.

You ask him to improve his work efficiency, and he can't refuse because of your position, but he still works slowly in private. When asked, he says he's already improving. What can you do?
If you hold a whip or a knife to his neck and force him to speed up, he will think you are threatening or exploiting him, which will ultimately damage your own reputation.

Faced with this situation, Zhou Xu had already directly told Wright how to break the deadlock.

That means creating demand for them.

Let them want something themselves, and then work to get it. But in reality, without the help of the Great Zhou, it would have been extremely difficult for Wright to implement this method on his own.

In a way, both sides got what they wanted in this round.

Among the elves, the Elf King and his royal family are like walking billboards.

Under their influence, the goods of Da Zhou have become famous among the elves.

Especially those highly praised winter gear, even elves feel cold. The forest environment here tends to be damp, and once winter arrives, it's definitely damp and cold, penetrating to the bone.

This made the elves even more eager to obtain equipment that could keep them warm during the winter.

Meanwhile, the Great Zhou acted swiftly, immediately setting up a trade market between the Elf Forest and the new district.

Due to time constraints, the market itself was rather simple, but it had everything it needed.

The elves don't have any absolute rule against stepping out of the elven forest; they just kept to themselves and were unwilling to move.

Even before its opening, the goods and market of Da Zhou had already garnered a lot of attention, and its location was right at their doorstep. More importantly, they had plenty of free time.

With the Elf King Light and the Elf Royal Family taking the initiative, the market welcomed a large number of elven customers on its opening day.

Although the elves are all handsome men and beautiful women, and it's pleasing to the eye, those who are sent to run the trade market on the edge of the elven forest are certainly not ordinary staff members.

These people were mostly from within their Great Zhou Dynasty who had already had a lot of contact with the elves, so they were immune to the beauty of the elves.

Now that they're working, they're not being sloppy at all.

Led by Wright, they had barely entered the market when he heard a crackling sound, followed by an indescribable sweet aroma that caught his attention.

Hello, may I ask what this is?

Despite being the Elf King, Wright maintained impeccable manners when interacting with ordinary staff members.

"It's a pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty the Elf King. This is called popcorn, a very popular snack in our Great Zhou Dynasty. One copper coin buys a whole bucket. You can try two pieces first."

In fact, just smelling its sweet aroma had already made Wright eager to try it. Now that the white popcorn was being offered to him, Wright couldn't resist picking one up and stuffing it into his mouth.

With a crisp 'crack', the freshly popped popcorn was still hot, fragrant, and crunchy, with a hint of sweetness, which seemed to brighten Wright's mood.

"Please give me one, thank you."

As he spoke, Wright handed over a copper coin.

When discussing these arrangements earlier, Zhou Xu mentioned to him that they could give each elf ten copper coins first.

Let everyone have a simple experience of the charm of Da Zhou's products, thereby further enhancing their desire to earn money and shop.

Of course, considering that trade between the two sides had not officially started yet, Wright did not have a single penny in his pocket.

So Zhou Xu generously lent Wright 10,000 silver coins, promising to repay him with goods of equal value, for which Wright would thank him.

(End of this chapter)