Adjusting his tone to be as soft as possible, Thranduil handed the wine to Edmund and asked, "Even if there is no timber to exchange in the country now, you can't choose the pearls from Kelery first, and you can buy a lesser variety, right?"

Considering that since the end of the war, the Woodland Kingdom had been working on repairing towns, reorganizing rivers, and planting trees, and that only the expenses had not been accounted for, Thranduil couldn't help but sit upright. He www.biquge.info was a little worried that the country's wealth would not be enough to last until a hundred years later. In a hundred years, the saplings planted now will grow long enough to restore the Great Green Forest to its former appearance, and it will be a hundred years before the Elven King intends to let his people start working—the most important job of the people of the woodlands today is to obtain gifts from God. (The elf sees the child as a gift from God)

When it comes to the country's finances, Edmund is finally a lot more confident, and even less afraid. With the help of the wine handed over by the Elven King, he regained his courage, and he replied to the Elven King: "The financial affairs of the forest land are definitely not a problem, and if you continue to spend like this, Your Majesty, it will be enough to spend more than three hundred years." ”

"It seems that this is my financial official who is indirectly expressing dissatisfaction with the intensity of my spending?" The relieved Elf King had a playful look on his face, and teased, "Do you mean that the Woodland Kingdom can spend more than three hundred years if it only spends and does not harvest?"

"More than that! 300 years is just a conservative estimate. Edmund, whose face was full of pride, stood up, bowed his waist and said: "Like now, the whole country only spends and does not make money, and it can last for more than three hundred years by holding banquets every night to entertain foreign guests!"

The thought of the great wealth of the woodlands coming from the Black Gate made Edmund want Sauron to be close at hand. In doing so, he would jump up and down and shout at the Dark Lord, "Isn't it sad to see the creatures of the woodland spend your money to enjoy your happiness? ”

It's a pity that Sauron is not in front of him, but the Elven King in front of him.

For Edmund, Thranduil could understand his thoughts about keeping money for himself. In front of him, he will ignore the agreement between the two parties and try his best to fight for the greatest interests of his country. On several occasions, Edmund pressed the other side of the trade too hard, and the other party had to negotiate directly with Thranduil at the national level, which made the Elven King feel a little ridiculous. Considering that Edmund was for the benefit of the woodland, the Elven King never blamed Edmund for this, but only told Edmund to abide by the spirit of trade and strictly follow the agreement. The Elven King, however, did not think that Edmund's habit of spending money on his own country was a good thing.

If the money spent in one's own country is also compressed, then the expenses and benefits of the people of that country will also be affected. This is something that the Elf King cannot tolerate.

"Now that the treasury is full, why did you change your past habit and exchange pearls for pearls purchased in Avari?" "I have not heard that after Serdan took over the kingdom of Linton, the Tellerians stopped selling pearls. Edmund, I can understand your desire to save money for the sake of your country. But it also depends on where the money is spent. The money of one's own country is used on oneself, and there is no need to be frugal. Please remember this sentence. ”

"Yes. I will write this sentence out, hang it on my bed, and recite it silently ten times a day when I open my eyes!"

It wasn't until he heard the elven king's "um" that Edmund dared to raise his eyelids and secretly look at the other party. Seeing that the Elf King's face softened slightly, he looked at himself with interest, obviously waiting for a reasonable explanation. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied, "After the war, life for the Avari became increasingly difficult. The highest officials came to me several times to consult with me about the pearl trade. I thought about the pearls used for the decoration of the exterior walls of the building, and the request would not be too high, and the price they gave was very reasonable, so I agreed. ”

By now, Edmund finally understood why the Elven King would bother with such a trivial matter as pearl procurement. The elven king's close use, Edmund never dared to be sloppy, and the pearl was from the hands of Celeri as always, so there would be no problem. The only problem was that the Elven King had seen the pearl from Avari and was not satisfied with its condition.

I've told you again and again that you have to make sure you're in good shape, so why don't they listen?" Edmund mercilessly scolded the highest officials of Avari, but the Elven King didn't give him much time.

"Lord Edmund thinks that the increasing hardship of the trading parties is a condition for facilitating trade?" the Elven King frowned and shook his head, and said with a little emotion, "As a financial official and a former follower of my father, you should know very well that the ultimate goal of trade is to obtain the most desired items for both parties. Influencing trade decisions because of the other side's predicament doesn't seem like what a good fiscal officer should do?"

With that, the Elf King put down the wine glass in his hand and began to think. Such behavior fell into Edmund's eyes, and it was natural that the king was thinking about how to punish himself for his negligence. However, Edmund was not flustered at all at this time. For when he raised his head, he could cast a supplicating look at the advisor sitting beside the king.

To his surprise, the king's advisor did not open his mouth to plead, but asked with concern: "Has the highest official of Avari mentioned the Silver Moon Princess?

When did Lord Advisor become overwhelmed?I'm not sure if Princess Silvermoon is okay now, but if you ask me like this, I'll soon be bad. Thinking that it was very likely that he would be punished for the kitchen account again, Edmund forced the sadness in his heart and slowly replied, "The princess should not be very good. I heard that in order to solve the country's financial problems, even the princess personally traveled to various countries for trade. ”

"Speaking of which, the princess gave me a lot of gifts, but I never gave them back. It's really guilty. Vernoll let out a long sigh, looked at the wine glass in his hand and said, "I don't know when I will have the opportunity to repay the princess's gift." ”

After a short silence, the Elven King actually waved his hand at Edmund: "Okay. You go get busy. ”

Is this what forgiveness means? Edmund couldn't believe it. But even if you forgive yourself, will the trade with Avari take place or not?

Truth be told, Edmund was selfish and wanted to carry it out. Considering that the old king of the Avari tribe had moved west with his queen to Valinor after the death of the High King, leaving only the two siblings Princess Silvermoon and Prince Gelt, Edmund inevitably disliked the siblings. Can you pretend that you don't know anything and continue to trade, in case the Elven King brings it up again one day?