The strongest prince in the fairy tale world

Chapter 157 Forbidden Salt
"Your Majesty, since the Norman Empire has withdrawn its troops, I think we should ease relations with the Cabel Kingdom." The chief minister persuaded Hans.

Hans was already very unhappy, but after hearing what the minister said, he was even more unhappy:
"Let me bow my head to them? Impossible! Isn't it just a small Cabel Kingdom? Are we still afraid that they will fail?"

Hans has always looked down on the Cabel Kingdom. First of all, the population is nearly 2000 million less than the Duke of Eaton, the area is also smaller, and the arable land resources are not as good as the Duke of Eaton.

In terms of comprehensive national strength, the Duke of Eaton is still slightly better now, and the trade deficit between the two countries is usually more favorable for the Duke of Eaton.

That's why Hans said that.

His Chief Minister, however, disagreed, saying:
"Although we are stronger than the Cabel Kingdom in all aspects, our country has a fatal flaw, that is, there is no outlet to the sea, and there are no salt fields. Almost all the salt in our Principality is purchased from the Cabel Kingdom."

Hans froze for a moment, then said again:
"The big deal is that we will buy salt from the Norman Empire in the future."

"But the salt fields of the Norman Empire are in the north, and the cost of transporting them is expensive, more than three times more expensive than buying them from the Cabel Kingdom. This is extremely detrimental to our trade!" The chief minister continued to persuade.

If two neighboring small countries cannot make good friends, then the two countries will fall into vicious competition and confrontation, which will hinder economic development.

But Hans, the new king of the Principality of Eaton, didn't care about the chief minister's suggestion, and muttered:

"Isn't it just three times more expensive? That's nothing. It's impossible for me to bow my head and apologize to the royal family of Cabel Kingdom for this!"

The Chief Minister sighed, he began to miss the late old king.

……

King Cabel's palace, because the Principality of Eaton not only did not cooperate, but also made trouble at critical times, contributing reasons for the Norman Empire's attack, clearing the way to welcome them, and preparing accompanying army materials for them.

Robert was very angry about this, and the Principality of Eaton said nothing afterwards.

So Robert immediately issued a ban on salt, prohibiting the sale of sea salt from the Cabel Kingdom to the Principality of Eaton.

As an important living substance, salt is closely related to the lives of civilians. If there is not enough salt, people will not only become impotent, but also may contract various diseases.

Therefore, low-priced salt is an important living material for all civilians.

The Cabel Kingdom suddenly ran out of salt. In fact, the people at the bottom of the Principality of Eaton were the most affected.

They were forced to pay high prices for the salt transported from the northern border of the Norman Empire, and the saltiness and price were completely overwhelmed by the Cabel Kingdom.

Invisibly, this has greatly increased the living burden of all civilians.

It's not that Izzy and Robert don't know this, but if the Duke of Eaton is not given some punishment, then the next time the Norman Empire invades, Hans will still jump to be a pawn.

"Auntie, the price of salt has increased recently, and it costs 80 copper coins a bag!" The clerk of the salt shop said to a regular customer.

"Why? Didn't you pay back 20 copper coins last month? How could you raise the price so arbitrarily? I bought it elsewhere." The aunt who bought salt said that she didn't expect that the store she frequented would suddenly increase the price.

"Hey, auntie, don't leave. The price of salt in the whole city has risen, and some of them are selling for 85 copper coins! I still say 80 copper coins because you are a regular customer."

"That's good, why is the price of sea salt going up?"

Many people around looked over, and after they learned that the price of salt had risen, they complained incessantly.

The guy at the salt shop had no choice but to explain:
"No way, it turns out that our salt is purchased from the Cabel Kingdom, but since the day before yesterday, the Cabel Kingdom announced that the salt merchants in the Cabel Kingdom are not allowed to sell salt to us." The man said truthfully.

Everyone was a little angry, "How can this Cabel Kingdom be like this? How can things like salt be cut off as soon as they are said? Isn't the money they earn every year not enough?"

Someone in the crowd said:
"Actually, I don't blame the Cabel Kingdom. I heard that our king combined with the Norman Empire to attack the Cabel Kingdom. Did you see the carts and carts of grain being transported to the border a while ago? It was all for war prepare for."

"I heard that it was because the Cabel Kingdom accidentally killed our civilians on the border, so our king asked the Norman Empire to send troops to help."

"You are so naive, how is this possible, that is just an excuse, the king of Kabel Kingdom must hate our current king, when I heard that the old king had promised to be independent together, but died suddenly, the new king directly rejected the cooperation The agreement, and secretly communicated with the Norman Empire, which made the Cabel Kingdom cut off our sea salt."

"How do you know so much?"

"Someone in my family is serving the princess in the palace, and he secretly told me these things."

……

The rise in the price of salt caused turmoil in the Principality of Eaton.

All kinds of rumors unfavorable to Hans came out.

The new king has just taken office, and the relationship with neighboring countries has become so stiff, which makes the common people have deep doubts about his ability to govern.

When Hans learned that his reputation among the common people had declined, he even blamed the reason on the royal family of Cabel Kingdom.

"Even if the Norman Empire withdraws, we can continue to attack, can't we?" Hans said at the court meeting the next day.

Most ministers were against it.

"Your Majesty, the Cabel Kingdom has no territorial disputes with us, and the trade between our two countries is very important to both parties."

"Yes, Your Majesty, part of our main army is being seconded by the Norman Empire. The overall military strength may not be stronger than that of the Cabel Kingdom!"

Of course, there are also some ministers who like to please the king, and they follow the king's wishes:
"Your Majesty, I think your idea is good. We are not going to invade them, but just to show them some color."

"That's right, Your Majesty, the other party even dared to cut off our important living supplies. This is completely looking down on all of us!"

……

Faithful words are harsh to the ear, and slander is comfortable.

Hans is such an emotional king, and he doesn't have much experience in governing, so his IQ is not as good as that of his father.

Naturally, it is easy to listen to those ministers who speak beautiful words, so soon, Hans decided to launch a war against the border cities of the Cabel Kingdom, and through the war, the Cabel Kingdom resumed the sale of sea salt.

……

When the letter of invitation from the Principality of Eaton was sent to the palace of the Cabel Kingdom, both Robert and Izzy were stunned for a moment, and then smiled at each other.

"It seems that the new king of the Principality of Eton is far inferior to his father."

Robert concluded.

(End of this chapter)