Chapter 750 The Plan
After Daneel's proclamation atop the Heavenly City of the Alliance, Eloise and Luther could only stare at his back and try to comprehend his words, while the king internally remarked about his own statement.
The truth was that what he was going to do was actually inspired by three separate things from Earth, but he hadn't told his sovereigns about the other two as it might not fit with the fake story he had spun regarding a book written about Earth.
And in fact, the second one wasn't even a scam- it was simply the way things were on Earth.
It could be explained with one word: oil.
Any earthling would know perfectly just how much their lives were tied to this resource which was becoming more and more scarce in the century that Daneel had transmigrated from. There were so many things made from oil that one would be surprised to find that it was present in their life so much, and of course, even the electricity that humans valued so much was made, in the most part by burning this resource.
Also, it didn't even need to be mentioned just how prevalent it was in the sphere of transport.
It could be said that one of the biggest revolutions of mankind was the change from having to use aanimal-drawn carriages or other means of transport which took long, long periods of time. With the invention of steam engines and other machines, humans could travel great distances in small amounts of time, and it could be said that this was one of the reasons behind the incredibly massive boom of development in the 21st century.
It was a unique viewpoint, but it would hold up to many arguments.
The point was that oil was also a commodity that was almost monopolized by a few organisations, and they were the richest in the world. Oil could even transform a desert into a paradise, so its power really could not be underestimated.
Finally, the third thing was related to the Industrial Revolution on Earth which changed a lot of things in the 20th century.
Up until that point, the major spendings of most households were mostly on utilitarian items rather than those that were more for luxury.
Although there did exist items which would allow them to save time and let them do things with less effort, they hadn't been very affordable, as they had all been newly invented and needed to be carefully assembled which resulted in them being so highly priced that only the rich could buy them freely.
The Industrial Revolution changed all that. With the advent of machines which would help in creating machines, prices kept going lower and lower, and with aggressive marketing that encouraged all households to spend, spend and spend, there was a massive boom in the amount of money spent in every house for things which became so common that if a house was found without them, then it would seem very strange.
These items were those that would be found, in the present day, in almost all middle-class and even lower-middle-class families: they were the washing machines, microwaves and, to a certain extent, even the cars that many took for granted.
Daneel had read many books which stated that that period of time was essential in changing the way that people even thought about life. Spending was forcibly made into a habit, and it was fascinating to study about the process that had resulted in that happening.
Many said that this had many adverse effects which slowly kept popping up throughout the subsequent years, and actually, these were the only reasons that Daneel had hesitated a bit before finally deciding on this anyway.
He had decided that even though he was choosing this, he would make sure from the beginning, itself, that the same negative things which were there on Earth would not be present here, too.
It was only by combining all three things and the memories of the Emperor that Daneel had gotten the idea, and he finally turned around to his sovereigns so that he could explain it and not keep them in the dark anymore.
Raising his palm, he made a trinket appear, and as the two of them saw it, they wondered why the hell the king had teleported over this commonplace item.
"What is this?", He asked, and Eloise answered right away.
"A steam trinket, found in most upper-class households. One can simply place clothes on it, and the steam will dry them all."
It was in the shape of a rectangular box that could fit in two hands, and there was a small spot on the bottom.
With a nod, Daneel turned around and pointed at that spot before asking, "And what is this part?"
Still unable to understand why the king was asking so many obvious questions but still wanting to get to the reveal, Eloise answered once again.
"The spot where Ether blocks should be placed to activate the trinket."
With another nod, Daneel made the trinket disappear, and an identical one appeared in his hands.
This time, he handed it over to Eloise and asked her to examine it, following which she turned it in her hands with a quizzical expression on her face. While she was doing so, Luther also walked towards her and joined in, and the both of them even opened the trinket and checked the formations.
Finally, after a few seconds, it was Luther who spoke up.
"It seems to be an identical copy of the trinket that you showed us, but for some reason, the part where the Ether block should be placed has been replaced with something else. It does not seem to have any other purpose except to power the trinket just like the before, and I cannot think what one would want to place there. Even though the replacement part vaguely has the shape for a Ker gem, I doubt that such a trinket will need Ker gems to activate."
It was to be expected that Luther would give such a detailed and succinct explanation, and Daneel smiled before asking the final question after which he could finally explain his idea.
"One last question. Why do you think this trinket hasn't proliferated into the lower class and normal households? Even though the trinket market is quite large and dominates the continent, most of the customers are either upper-middle-class individuals or those from the upper-class."
After thinking for a bit, and as if she had just gotten a slight clue which was evident by the expectation in her eyes, Eloise answered once again.
"The reason is that it is too costly to make Ether blocks smaller, and because Ether blocks are too expensive for common people to afford, they cannot use them to power these trinkets. On the other hand, the trinkets, themselves, are also expensive, and as for other kinds of trinkets in which Energy sources are placed beforehand, they also cost a lot to make. All in all, it just isn't economic, and anyone who would enter the business would find themselves going bankrupt. As far as I know, there have been eight specific attempts in selling trinkets like these to the lower classes, but all of them failed for multiple reasons. Some thought that they could force people to buy Ether blocks after first selling them the trinkets for cheap, but people resorted to just throwing out the trinkets and not endeavoring to buy Ether blocks to power them again. Others made both of them cheap before attempting to use volume to cover any initial losses, but their calculations made it so that they couldn't exactly lower the cost too much to attract the number of people that they needed to break even."
Daneel was quite pleased that Eloise had given such a long explanation which was clearly based on her studies where she had been taught to become someone who could manage the Empire. Although economics was not a regulated subject on Angaria, there were certain tutors who could cut to the essence of the topic and teach well.
Storing the random thought that he should make this course mandatory in the school, too, Daneel finally replied and answered the questions present the in gazes of both of his sovereigns.
"Imagine this. What if… There was a method to create a new Energy resource which is made from Ether blocks, but which can be sold in small quantities to power trinkets exactly like these? That resource will be economical to make, and it will be complex enough that others cannot copy the method that it is being made in. Also, it will not attract mosquitoes, so there will be no reason to spend money on anti-mosquito methods. If a certain force can monopolize the creation of this resource, what do you think will happen on the continent?"
These words made both Luther and Eloise freeze and imagine the scenario that the king had placed in front of them, and actually, even Daneel entered into deep thought as another idea along with this had occurred to him which fit in perfectly. While he listed its pros and cons, the thoughts of the sovereigns continued to swirl.
For the longest time, Energy was something that wasn't even related too much to common people exactly for the reason that Eloise had stated before: Ether blocks were too expensive, and although there was a method to cut down the blocks and make smaller ones, this method was costly to use, and there was also a lot of wastage in the process.
The king was essentially saying that this could be circumvented.
If so… Wouldn't the one who was able to do that become almost the hidden ruler of the entire continent?
Eloise had repeatedly been taught that if one controlled the flow of commerce, then they could control anything. Her teacher had always been adamant that money could also stand in the place of real power, because with it, one could do many things that even Fighters and Mages could not. For example, with money, one could recruit many more Fighters and Mages to wage their battles if they were smart enough.
Related to these lessons were also those which stated the importance of controlling resources. In Angaria, some kingdoms primarily even existed in the first place because their entire income revolved around mining the oh so important Ether that was present under the ground. Just being able to control a small tract of land under which a mine was present could allow one to gain enough riches to build a Kingdom, and in fact, many of the kingdoms that existed to this day had been created in that method.
But with that resource, it could be found in multiple places. What the king was speaking about was a monopoly, and a true one… Could really be terrifying.
Eloise didn't even want to think about everything that it meant, because doing so made her dizzy. It was easier to see such things rather than to think of them, and if the king had stated it, then she knew that they would soon probably be witnessing everything that would stem from this idea.
If an analogy had to be made, then a very simple one could be used. Mages and Fighters both required Energy resources to train, and if there was only one source for them to obtain them from, then the one who took control of that source would practically control the power of the entire continent.
Even though they weren't speaking of something so drastic, Eloise could tell that something similar might be possible if what the king was saying could be implemented in the right way.
After being done with his thoughts, Daneel was very pleased to see that Eloise, who had adopted quite a scheming attitude due to his influence, was already enthralled by the idea. She even seemed to be thinking of ways to perfectly bring it to reality, and Daneel was already looking forward to the discussions they would soon have.
As for Luther, although he was similarly impressed, he wasn't as struck dumb by its ramifications.
So, Daneel broke the silence so that they could begin right away. And for that, he assigned them the roles that he had picked them for.
"Let us begin planning and implementation right away. There is no time to waste. Eloise, you will be in charge of taking care of marketing and all the miscellaneous duties that are involved. Luther, you will be in charge of surveilling the continent and assessing feedback. In our recent assignment, I was able to see just how skilled you were in assessment, and I want you to bring forth all of those skills. No matter what we do, you are in charge of giving feedback on how it will affect common people, and it is also your duty to keep an eye on our enemies to find out just what they're thinking and how they will be reacting. Alright, folks, your duties have been assigned, and I am sure that we are going to have a very busy, but wild few weeks. Now… Let's go make Angaria great again."