The Royal Dilemma 6
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Catherine watched her sister explain, noticing the confidence radiating from Eileen. A subtle, indescribable aura began to gather around her, making the girl appear very dependable.
For a brief moment, she felt as if her sister had suddenly matured.
Catherine reminisced about their past.
"Big sister! Don't leave me behind! Play with me a little longer."
"Honestly, you little pest, I'm not your babysitter. Father needs me for work!"
Over the course of their years together, the two sisters had exchanged countless conversations like this.
Each time Catherine left Eileen, the little one would pout, gazing sadly at her sister's back until it disappeared from view.
Catherine didn't want to leave her like that; she wanted to spend more time with her sister.
But she was even more determined to prove her worth.
As the king's daughter, she didn't have a brother, only Eileen and herself—this was often a topic of discussion among the courtiers.
As Catherine grew up, she began to hear the murmurs: "If only Your Highness were a boy…"
Somewhere along the way, she solidified a belief in her heart: I must achieve results that are no less than a man's.
So, while her peers played with dolls, she practiced swordplay. While they indulged in heroic tales of rescuing princesses, she studied the official documents on her father's desk. While they danced in ballrooms with their suitors, she strategized military formations with the officers.
Catherine didn't aspire to inherit the throne; the Aldor Kingdom had no precedent for a female monarch, and she had an uncle—the king's brother.
All she wanted was recognition.
Finally, her efforts began to bear fruit, and now all the ministers and generals regarded her not as a caged canary but as a decisive and competent princess in military attire.
However, the price was a slight estrangement from her sister.
Their relationship began to mend after Eileen returned from her studies at the Scholar's Tower.
Eileen started to understand Catherine's busy life, but... the understanding was limited. Her sister had become increasingly withdrawn, entrenching herself in academia.
It wasn't until she went to the Northwest Bay and returned that things changed.
The Eileen who returned seemed to have shed the little girl's emotions and matured into someone more independent and composed.
As the elder sister, Catherine felt a sense of pride in Eileen's growth.
"Regarding the demand limitations, it can be divided into two aspects."
Unaware of Catherine's thoughts, Eileen continued her explanation.
"The first is the demand from merchants who wish to profit from industrial products. Merchants transport goods from one place to another to make money, but if they must pass through numerous checkpoints and pay taxes, they'll have to raise prices to offset their losses. These industrial products, derived from raw materials, are not as essential to people's lives as food. So, if prices rise, fewer people will buy, ultimately leading to losses for merchants. This erodes their desire—or motivation—to procure and produce industrial goods."
"The second is the demand from end consumers of industrial products. Even without the factor of merchants raising prices, ordinary citizens can't afford many industrial goods. But does this mean they lack the desire to buy? No, their weak financial status suppresses their purchasing power, and the low demand further reinforces the first limitation—fewer people are willing to sell industrial products."
"Father! Sister!"
Eileen's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
"If we can eliminate or reduce these three types of limitations, we can allow the second industry to flourish. This could attract nobles who have lost their lands to engage in this industry. Unlike agriculture, which requires vast tracts of farmland, industrial production can occur on relatively small plots, generating substantial wealth. This would provide a solution for resettling those nobles, wouldn't it?"
She clenched her dainty fists. "Based on my experiences in the Northwest Bay, this approach is feasible. The noble lords there have begun transitioning from landowners to industrialists."
"What a wonderful idea."
Eileen's proposals were fresh and intriguing to both King Rodney the Sixteenth and Catherine, who even applauded sincerely.
"However…" the king asked, "if we attract a large number of people to engage in… this second industry, who will stay behind to farm? If the harvest fails, won't we starve?"
A smile crept onto Eileen's face, her expression indicating she had anticipated this question.
"There is already a solution. In the Northwest Bay, agriculture has begun to adopt what is called a crop rotation system, where different crops are sequentially planted in the same field over the years. This method significantly increases land utilization efficiency. From what I've learned, farms using this system can yield at least double the original crop output, with oats sometimes tripling the yield."
The eyes of the king and Catherine suddenly brightened. While they had only regarded Eileen's concept of a second industry as a curious tale, the emergence of the crop rotation system captured their attention.
Every feudal ruler values agriculture.
Eileen excitedly waved her arms.
"We can also purchase various large agricultural machines from the Northwest Bay, such as harvesters, plows, cotton gins, threshers, and so on. The introduction of these machines significantly reduces manual labor, allowing us to release more people for the second industry without compromising agricultural output."
Are there really so many good things in the Northwest Bay?
This was the thought in the king's and Catherine's minds. Those machines sounded impressive, and they could guess their functions from their names, but were they really as effective as Eileen claimed?
In fact, Eileen occasionally mentioned topics related to industry and new agriculture during casual conversations, but she had never described them as systematically as she did today. Her comprehensive presentation caught the king's and Catherine's attention.
It seemed that something miraculous had occurred in the previously overlooked land of the Northwest Bay, the eldest princess silently concluded.
She thought of the young earl whose family name had only recently been restored by the royal family.
If she remembered correctly, Eileen had been by his side during her time in the Northwest Bay.
(End of the Chapter)
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