Published: March 11, 2025
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: Ambition and Crisis
Planting radishes is indeed more profitable than planting nut oil trees; the two sides' earnings simply do not compare. A season of radishes can sell for eight thousand gold coins, while the total monthly yield of a nut oil tree is only about two thousand seven hundred gold coins.
However, don't forget that the Majidel Trading Company, which Galen contacted this time, is one of the largest trading companies on the continent. They can only handle about four hundred thousand pounds of radishes a month, and any more than that won’t work. After all, for people on the continent, a silver coin per pound of radish is still unaffordable for many.
This means that Zhao Hai only needs to plant five seasons of radishes each month to meet their monthly consumption. If they plant more, they won't be able to sell them. For Zhao Hai, growing five seasons of radishes is just a forty-hour task, taking less than two days.
So, what should they plant with the remaining time? Ordinary vegetables from the mainland using their space? That’s out of the question; as soon as those vegetable seeds enter the space, they will immediately be cleared out, making it impossible to plant them. Can they plant vegetable seeds from the space? Right now, Zhao Hai doesn't even know which of those vegetables can fetch a good price on the mainland. Even if those vegetables are like radishes, considered magical vegetables here, if such vegetables do not exist on the continent, the locals would need time to accept them, and the demand wouldn’t be high. It would be better to plant nut oil trees.
Cooking on the continent requires oil, and since fruit oil is quite cheap, many households might not afford meat, but they can certainly afford oil. These households are typically lower-class; they engage in heavier labor and need more nutrition, making fruit oil their first choice. The daily consumption of fruit oil on the continent is astronomical, so it is a sustainable industry. Although the profit isn’t as high as with radishes, it will still make many nobles envious.
An income of two thousand seven hundred gold coins a month is an astonishing figure. Even a small principality may not have such monthly tax revenues. It is essential to note that gold coins have significant purchasing power on the continent.
One gold coin can be exchanged for ten silver coins, one silver coin can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins, and one copper coin can buy a pound of fruit oil or half a pound of rice.
Rice and oil are still very cheap on the continent; fruit oil is abundant due to high yield, and rice is generally consumed by slaves. Now, many commoners are also eating rice.
For Zhao Hai and their hundred-plus people, their monthly living expenses are not much. Even if they feed those slaves well every day, about one hundred gold coins is enough. They can save up to two thousand six hundred gold coins.
Moreover, don’t forget that they can also sell five seasons of radishes. Even if they can’t sell each season for eight thousand gold coins, they can still sell them for six thousand; five seasons would then yield thirty thousand gold coins. This means that Zhao Hai's space can generate a net profit of thirty-two thousand gold coins each month, which is quite impressive.
However, Zhao Hai still isn’t entirely satisfied. Having been accustomed to the radishes that can earn several thousand gold coins in a season, he naturally isn’t very interested in getting just over two thousand gold coins from nut oil.
But Galen thinks differently. After understanding the characteristics of the farm, he recalled what Zhao Hai had asked him to look into before, and he understood Zhao Hai's intent: he wanted the planting and breeding industries to develop in tandem.
Radishes yield radish leaves, which are perfect for feeding Blue-eyed Rabbits. But don't forget, Blue-eyed Rabbits can't just eat radish leaves; they occasionally need some additional feed. The leftover pulp from nut oil extraction is one of the best feeds. In the future, they won’t just use the pulp to raise Blue-eyed Rabbits; they can also raise other magical beasts. They can breed strong horses and cattle with this pulp.