Chapter 40: Rubber, and the Chosen One Who Wins by Lying Down

Su Na could easily see through Yulia’s little schemes; it was nothing more than declaring sovereignty in front of Caitlin. Su Na couldn’t care less about sovereignty or whatever—her main focus was on the mineral resources of the Duchy behind Yulia, especially rubber!

Heaven have mercy, she had been so excited the moment she discovered rubber products, and equally despairing when she found out the region of origin. From the moment she learned that the Duchy of Rose produced rubber, even if she disliked Yulia, she had to maintain a good relationship with her.

Rubber was simply too important. Its status could be summarized in a single sentence: ninety-nine percent of the national defense industry required rubber products, and it occupied an equally crucial position in civilian goods.

Its excellent insulation, heat resistance, and sealing properties provided unmatched material plasticity. The most important of these was its sealing capability. The vast majority of industrial equipment could not function without proper sealing, and it was precisely the lack of rubber that had prevented many of her construction plans from getting off the ground.

For example, the vitally important transportation system—without rubber, what was there to talk about?

Sigh, why are the good things always in someone else’s pockets? I have to find a way to smuggle the good stuff over…

“Oh, Nana, why are you being so heartless?”

Unbothered by having her hand shaken off, Yulia grinned and sidled up to her again.

She was truly covetous of the steam engine, and her demand for it was massive. However, every batch of steam engines put out by the Kortel Merchant Guild under the Church was snatched up instantly. The Duchy of Rose, waiting in the back of the line, never got a chance to buy any.

Su Na had placed no restrictions on the steam engines; modified versions adapted for mills, ironworks, and workshops were all sold.

To be honest, it couldn’t be restricted anyway. As long as there was a prototype for reference, capable people would naturally figure out how to modify the linkage mechanisms to adapt it for other equipment.

Because the steam engine provided stable power output, the environments it could be adapted to were virtually limitless, so there was no worry of finding buyers no matter how many were produced. The Church had even begun expanding the trade routes for steam engines to other kingdoms.

Yulia naturally had to find her own way to secure some goods, which was why she latched directly onto Su Na, the supplier. In a sense, the two were quite similar: both were the kind of people willing to sacrifice a little of themselves for the sake of profit.

Naturally, Su Na understood exactly what Yulia wanted. Returning to her dormitory, she pulled out a highly elastic spherical toy from the gifts Yulia had given her and handed it to her.

Yulia took it, slightly puzzled: “What is this?”

She looked down. It was a specialty toy from one of the regions within her fiefdom. She found it quite interesting and had prepared one for Su Na as well. After all, according to her previous investigations, Su Na seemed to have a strong interest in bizarre and unusual things.

“If you want steam engines, trade me the raw material used to make this. I’ll take as much as you have. As for the ratio, we can sit down and negotiate that slowly.”

Su Na wasn’t the least bit worried about Yulia guessing anything. Currently, only she knew how immensely useful this material was and how to use it. She didn’t fear Yulia jacking up the price; Yulia lacked the capital to do so.

Furthermore, it wasn’t yet time for rubber to fully flex its muscles; she was merely stockpiling. If Yulia dared to hoard it for a higher price, Su Na could easily set rubber aside for the time being and develop other things. A person couldn’t possibly suffocate just from needing to pee.

According to Su Na’s plan, she would only have Yulia harvest the rubber, not even teaching her the crude refining techniques. But Yulia didn’t care either. What she truly wanted was priority supply rights for steam engine equipment and an increased supply of coke from the Fafnir territory.

These two things were her most urgent needs at present. Without good equipment and energy supply, she lived a miserable life despite sitting on massive mineral resources, constantly suffering headaches from the protests of her subjects.

Ever since acquiring the steam engines and coke, she could produce high-quality iron normally. With increased profits, she could offer higher wages, and now those damned rioters were much better behaved.

Since both parties were willing, the signing of the contract went incredibly smoothly. Su Na and Yulia stamped it with their personal and family seals, making it effective. Although neither had inherited their titles yet, using the seals representing their families and themselves held legal weight, recognized by both their families and official authorities.

Su Na would supply steam engines and coke on a fixed schedule and in fixed quantities in exchange for an equivalent value of raw rubber sap. The Fafnir territory would instruct them on proper tapping and coagulation techniques, and would also pay extra to purchase a batch of high-quality rubber tree seeds.

It takes over six years for a rubber tree to grow large enough for tapping. Planting a batch was merely a precautionary bonus; Su Na didn’t care much about it.

Just as she handed the finalized contract to Levi to put away and picked up her black tea from the table, Yulia suddenly asked: “Are you… in urgent need of wool and cotton lately?”