Mizukage: I'm Rich (Really Dead)

By the same token, and following the same logic, the Land of Water had no reason to refuse.

Especially after seeing the Land of Wind sign an agreement with Konoha behind their backs and reap the benefits first—could the Land of Water really afford to be patient?

They were certainly anxious.

They were anxious to the point of desperation.

This was especially true while the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, and the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, were locked in a fierce conflict on the front lines.

Kirigakure was currently under the control of the Yuki clan and various other influential families.

Since these families held the reins, they certainly wouldn't be as prone to hacking people to pieces at every turn like Hozuki Gengetsu; they would prioritize securing any available benefits first.

And the benefits offered by Konoha were things they absolutely had to get their hands on.

Not even the heavens could stand in their way.

Of course, no one would stop them, as this was clearly a windfall of benefits.

Compared to the destitute Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, Kirigakure in the Land of Water had far more potential for development.

The market in the Land of Water was much larger than that of the impoverished Land of Wind, and the Land of Water had its own local merchants.

There is no need to elaborate on what a large market itself brings to the table.

If a market is large enough and you refuse to open it, other nations would be itching to use cannons and ammunition to force you to open the gates for free trade.

However, the Land of Water had never seen this kind of maneuver from Yuya; the benefits were all clearly written out in the regulations. In short, the Land of Water stood to gain immensely.

With the Second Mizukage fighting the Second Tsuchikage on the front lines, the administrative affairs of Kirigakure were entirely in the hands of those clans. Could you really expect these clans to be single-mindedly devoted to the village?

They would certainly fill their own pockets first before discussing anything else.

Yuya had arranged three steps for Kirigakure. The first step was to open their market, which had already been achieved thanks to their cooperation.

The second step was to vigorously develop the village's various manufacturing industries—building factories of all kinds: canneries, ham factories, soda plants. Of course, these were just side dishes; the most important factories were those that could generate massive revenue and strengthen the nation.

For example, steel mills, construction firms, and chemical plants.

This "chemical plant" did not refer to petrochemicals, but rather to pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

For some reason, this world lacked oil. If it did exist, it would likely be within the borders of the Land of Wind (a stereotype, as oil and deserts are often associated, though not necessarily in reality), and the Land of Wind would have taken off immediately.

Unfortunately, there was none.

If there were oil, many things would be much more convenient, and building houses wouldn't be such a hassle.

But if it wasn't there, it wasn't there.

The absence of oil also meant one less thing to cause global conflict.

Yuya treated Konoha's merchants exceptionally well, providing various subsidies that were highly beneficial to them.

Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to venture out.

They had to bring Konoha's goods to the outside world.

The factories currently operating in Konoha were sufficient for the village's own needs, with little surplus.

But Yuya understood one thing: the market was there, and if you didn't occupy it first, the local merchants would seize it once you finished your own development.

This was something Yuya could never accept.

He had used so many regulations to open the markets of two nations in the early stages, and he had indeed distributed tangible benefits.

He had even secretly exchanged 50 kilograms of gold on the black market just to ensure that the initial "money-burning" phase could continue.

Yuya didn't even dare let Senju Tobirama know about this. If he found out, he wouldn't necessarily stop him, but he would certainly demand that Yuya hand over dozens of kilograms of gold to distribute to the ninjas on the front lines.

It wasn't that Yuya didn't support subsidizing the front-line ninjas, but everything had to have a limit. If you gave it all away now, what would you do later?

Fortunately, when winter arrived, those muscle-bound men from Kumogakure started howling and clashing with Konoha again, so Tobirama didn't have the time to stay in Konoha and handle administrative affairs.

After dumping the village's financial matters onto Yuya and having Kagami Uchiha assist from the sidelines, Tobirama headed to the front lines.

Come to think of it, Kagami Uchiha now knew that Yuya was the same person who had once amazed him by directing the construction of the Wetland Bridge from scratch.

Nowadays, the wetlands near the Wetland Bridge provided Konoha with tons of resources every autumn—fruits, medicinal herbs, and all sorts of plump, healthy animals. That meant meat.

At this stage, the people of Konoha had no problem getting enough to eat, but for Yuya, it was still not enough.

Most ordinary people in Konoha still didn't have meat on their tables except during holidays and festivals.

For someone like Yuya, who possessed memories of his previous life's nation, this was simply unacceptable.

Not to mention having meat at every meal like in his past life, but at least once a month should be the bare minimum, right?

The ultimate goal was certainly to have the people of Konoha eating meat at every meal, but at this stage, that goal was a bit difficult.

However, Yuya was very flexible in his thinking. If pork, beef, and mutton were hard to come by, fish would do just fine.

The first batch of 3,000 catties of fish traded with Kirigakure had already arrived via their large ships.

This batch of 3,000 catties of fish was enough to feed the people of Konoha for a week.

Of course, when the Kirigakure ships arrived, they were loaded with fish. Once they reached Konoha, they would scoop out the water, let the holds dry for a few days, coat them in tung oil, and then they would be ready to purchase goods in Konoha.

The first choice was naturally Konoha's apparel.

Because of the trade regulations, the prices of the clothes sold by Konoha were the same as those in Konoha itself; for the people of Kirigakure, this price was about the same as having clothes made within their own village.

However, the quality was worlds apart.

After all, the humid environment of Kirigakure simply couldn't support silkworms, but Konoha could.

Yuya had specifically centralized the scale of production, organizing dozens of female workers to focus exclusively on sericulture, abandoning the old model where each household raised a single mulberry tree and a small batch of silkworms.

Why bother with individual workshops? He told them to get to work on collective sericulture instead.

Each worker was assigned five trees; they would turn in a portion of the yield when the time came, and the rest was theirs to keep—how much they earned depended entirely on their own efforts.

Regardless, those dozens of female workers were working with great enthusiasm.

Compared to the linen and woven grass-seed garments of Kirigakure, clothes made from silk were essentially a dimensional strike.

With the prices being roughly the same, what would a Kirigakure merchant think?

They would obviously buy from Konoha!

Then, Yuya also set up several breweries.

Yes, brewing could also be turned into a factory operation.

When Tobirama heard this news, he was completely dumbfounded. Wasn't brewing just a matter of grabbing a jar, tossing some things inside, and waiting? How could this be turned into a factory?

In fact, not only could it be turned into a factory, but the output was quite high.

If he weren't worried that purchasing too much grain might cause a famine, Yuya would have expanded the scale tenfold already.

However, there were benefits as well.

In a place like Kirigakure, the humid environment made them crave the silk clothing from Konoha, and they also longed for a glass of strong liquor to dispel the dampness in their bodies and break a sweat.

And these were things that Kirigakure did not have locally.

It was mainly due to the climate.

The wine brewed in Kirigakure even had a sweet taste, and as for the alcohol content, it was practically fruit juice.

But now that they were trading with Konoha, Kirigakure discovered that everything they wanted, Konoha had.

Consequently, their local wine merchants and clothing merchants were directly driven into bankruptcy under this competition. Furthermore, steel mills were established, recruiting many of their employees, and Kirigakure even opened a knock-off cola factory—though they didn't call it cola, but Joy Water.

After this series of operations, Kirigakure became visibly wealthier.

The Second Mizukage, who was fighting a heated battle against the Second Tsuchikage on the front lines, was very satisfied with the changes in his village.

Yet, he failed to notice that those who were being fattened up were entirely the ninja clans within his own village.

As for the common people...

They should just be grateful that we allow them to be fed and watered.

The following year, the spring of the 18th year of Konoha, the war had been going on for nearly a year.

But compared to the high intensity of the early stages, the intensity between Konoha and Kumogakure had decreased significantly, while the conflict between Iwagakure and Kirigakure had gradually evolved into a genuine blood feud.

The intensity grew ever greater, and both sides dispatched more and more ninjas.

Until...

In the late summer of the 18th year of Konoha, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage perished together.

I have to work during the day, usually during my lunch break, and I only have time to check comments after getting off work in the afternoon (or when slacking off at work). Please forgive me if my replies are slow, and please point out any typos; I will correct them once I see them, thank you. As for promoting this book... I'll let nature take its course. It will get recommended later anyway; if it survives the recommendation rounds, then it survives, and if it doesn't, I'll just slack off and be content with the 600 yuan monthly attendance bonus. Writing is just a hobby and a side job for me. If I put a huge amount of effort into promotion but still can't go full-time, I'd only be playing myself. --Oh, by the way, I should mention that even if this book gets recommended, I won't be doing mass releases, and I won't do them after it goes on sale either, because I have a job and am not a full-time writer, so I don't have the energy for mass releases. Please understand. (Sigh, I miss my college life from three years ago; working is just so boring...) Also, I have been hitting 4,000 words for half a month now. Dear readers, feel free to invest; in another half month, you'll be able to get dozens of coins for free.