Convert Rice to Mulberry

Makoto and Aunt Snake returned to the snake's nest with a few anxious ninjas.

After first dismissing the ninjas and letting them rest, Makoto and Aunt Snake came to her office and started writing documents.

It's not a big deal if something goes wrong, as long as it can be solved.

When thinking about it just now, Makoto roughly divided the plan into three parts.

Part one, stay alive.

The Land of Rice can be said to be a model of poverty and weakness, without even a clear monarch.

With the people in this state, there is no point in saying anything else to them. Now that winter has arrived, what Aunt Snake has to do is to distribute supplies to them first.

Ordinary hidden villages generally do not provide food to the people. Firstly, the military group naturally attaches great importance to food, and secondly, it does not have the ability.

But Aunt Snake doesn't have this problem.

The funds given to her by Konoha every month are excessive. There are not many people in the snake den now, and the funds and materials are very rich – Makoto had sent her a lot of miso before, but Aunt Snake seized the opportunity and sold it when the price was at its peak. She made a lot of money from just one purchase.

Keeping all the residents of Land of Rice fed is indeed a difficult job.

However, Aunt Snake does not need to do this now.

As long as most of the people can barely survive, Aunt Snake's relief plus a little of their own food reserves... It's a pity, but Land of Rice is still a country no matter how small it is.

Anyway, let's get through this winter first.

Shang Yang's plan to move trees to establish trust was a good move. Makoto couldn't think of any good ideas at the same level, so he chose to give food first to appease the people.

T/N: Shang Yang, originally surnamed Gongsun, was a Chinese jurist, philosopher, and politician born in the Warring States Period in Wei

The second step is to develop cash crops. Then rely on free trade agreements to sell these goods. Let everyone have a few more steel coins in their pockets and at the same time increase their trust in ninjas again.

Don't worry about no one buying.

In the next few years, with the high concentration of capital and technology, the Land of Fire became a black hole for trade. No matter how much you come, the Land of Fire can eat it all.

Seriously, bulrushes are not a particularly good cash crop. At the very least, Makoto didn't look down on its rate of return - the reason why he planted this thing first was because of the difficulty and the familiarity of the people.

Jiang Ziya has made it very clear that we must comply with the people's ideas instead of forcing them to do what they want.

T/N: Jiang Ziya was a Chinese military general, monarch, strategist, and writer who helped the kings of Wen and Wu overthrow the Shang

If you want to promote potatoes, the best way is not to let them buy them, but to plant them in the fields and put up a big sign next to them with the words "No Stealing Potatoes" written in big and bold letters.

Then wait for them to steal it.

Forcibly promoting a cash crop to the people of Land of Rice that has high economic benefits but requires a lot of technology and a lot of time. Who is willing to grow it?

But bulrushes are different.

Everyone is familiar with this stuff, and everyone knows that it can be made into tatami mats and sold, which can make a little money.

You don't have to worry about the shelf life of tatami mats like bananas, they will be fine if kept for a few more months. The only problem with it is that individual profits are not high. If this thing doesn't scale, no one will be willing to take the initiative.

And if it can be done on a large scale...what can't I do?

This was done by Makoto.

Tatami mats are a necessity, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them. As long as the price is right, you can definitely eat as much as you want in the Land of Fire.

The third step is to slowly carry out publicity among the villagers who are well fed and drunk with the help of the ninjas, change their impression of the ninjas, and then recruit troops.

Makoto knew that if he continued to do this, it would become poverty alleviation again.

But after learning the painful lesson before, he would rather go slower than skip steps.

If everyone was willing to believe in him as firmly as the Konoha ninjas and support him to the end no matter what, he would have beaten back those wealthy businessmen who were messing around. How could they have almost caused a big mess... …

From there, it's okay to go slow, but take it one step at a time.

Makoto didn't take action directly before because the more times he took action, the more flaws he would leave.

Nagato and Obito are not really that easy to deceive.

He originally thought that Aunt Snake's management ability was considered top-notch among ninjas, so it wouldn't be a big problem for her to solve it on her own. But now it seems...

Since he planted the cause, let him solve it.

There is no such thing as the best of both worlds.

Soon, the document was finished.

– The main reason is that Makoto has previous poverty alleviation experience in the Land of Grass. Doing this now can be said to be a familiar task.

"Do you have any other questions? –

"I'm going back to Konoha soon. If you have any questions, let's ask them together now."

Aunt Snake quickly browsed through the files and found no problems in the files that were clearly formatted and organized.

But Aunt Snake still looked at Makoto with distrust.

"You really... just want to help them?"

"Does that need to be said? You only get a few bucks from a poor man. If you want to make money, make money from a rich man."

"It does sound like what you said, but..."

Aunt Snake stretched out her pale-white fingers and started poking Makoto's forehead.

"Who is the one that delivers fruit baskets to the Land of Fire's tobacco factories door to door, and forcefully swallows up the entire Land of Fire's tobacco industry, leaving everyone with no business? If it weren't for Konoha behind you, how many times would you like to die? –

"Who is the one that owes the Land of Fire so many zeros in war bonds, and is obviously very rich, but only willing to pay interest –

"Who is the one that forcibly overturned the light industry in the Land of Grass, made them only grow bananas, and brought disaster to the banana industry in the Land of Earth? –

"Who is the one that initiated the Miso War in order to solve the problem of salary cuts, causing chaos in the world, and the miso industry has not recovered yet? –

"Who is the one that has joined forces with the four major ninja villages to create five major grain merchants, ready to take action when the time comes?"

Aunt Snake said this and pinched Makoto's face.

"You are such a heinous guy. Every time you take action, you cause chaos in the world. –

"Tell me the truth, who are you going to punish this time? –

"Don't you even trust me?"

Aunt Snake, stop scolding, stop scolding, the child will be stupid.

I am really not Soros!

Why is it so hard to do the next best thing!

... ...

Makoto rubbed his red face that was pinched by Aunt Snake and returned to Konoha.

He returned to the Hokage's office first.

Because he had not been gone for long, no one noticed anything strange. It's getting late now, and the streets are very quiet... There is a night market in Konoha's business district, but it opens a little later.

When Makoto came back, Kakashi had transformed into him, sitting on the sofa in the office eating bear biscuits and petting the dog.

This guy is a determined dog party.

Although he is famous for its low blue content, when the Earth-Style Wall is released, it is superfluous to engrave the statue of the pet dog on it.

T/N: low blue content = low mana, in this case, chakra

– Even if Kakashi is working as his Kage dancer now, he will never sit on that white plastic chair.

"Kakashi!"

Makoto called Kakashi, and Kakashi turned around and found that it was Makoto. He immediately released the transformation technique and transformed back into the large shota. The summoning beast in his arms also disappeared instantly.

But it was too late to hide the bear biscuit in his hand.

Makoto decided to test him.

"Kakashi, what are you eating?"

"Godaime-sama, I am conducting an experiment." Kakashi calmly put the bear biscuit jar in his hand on the table. Even though it was blocked by a towel, it still gave people a serious feeling, "This is a new product on the market. A new type of biscuit, I am testing its acceptance by younger age groups as well as older age groups. –

"As we all know, the most important thing about a product is finding the track first. –

"As the leaders of Konoha Enterprises, we should give them important opinions."

Very good, full marks.

Makoto sat on his own white plastic chair and took out the document he had written before.

"Land of Rice's plan needs to change slightly. This is the amendment I have re-drafted. Take a look."

The content of the document is very complicated, and it basically talks about planting bulrushes.

It's already winter this year and it's definitely too late. And because of the lack of some key data, it will take some time to complete it.

And these tasks are naturally completed by Kakashi, the Hokage's assistant.

"The next goal...is to plant bulrushes?"

"Yes."

As a ninja sectary and assistant, Kakashi didn't ask much about why Makoto suddenly changed his mind. He just asked some necessary questions that might be encountered when starting work.

"Are we going to destroy embankments and flood fields this time? This job is not difficult, but if it is done by our people...will it be done by those rouge ninjas from foreign countries? I understand. –

"...Why do we destroy embankments and flood fields? –

"Ah, don't you want to control the price of food on the one hand, and control the personal freedom of the people of Land of Rice on the other hand, so that they can eat both ends?"

Kakashi, do you also want to be the elder?

"We are now engaged in capital...not feudalism anymore...I beg you, even if it is just some capital..."

... ...

After chatting with Kakashi for a while, seeing that it was getting late, Makoto hurried home again.

He was indeed very happy after spending two days outside, but if he stayed out for too long without explaining to his wife, it would inevitably make her unhappy.

Minatsuki and Nono may not take the initiative to express these negative feelings, but as husbands, they must take their feelings into consideration.

Alas, what is a roadblock before marriage is a savior after marriage...

Makoto quickly returned to his kennel, but his kennel was particularly lively today. In addition to the three permanent residents, Minatsuki, Haku, and Temari, there were also a lot of people coming.

In addition to Nono who has been working in the orphanage, Uchiha Mikoto is here, the Hyuuga Clan's matriarch is here, the Kurama Clan's matriarch is also here, as well as the wives and daughters of the big and small clans in the village... The ladies except themselves In addition to coming, he also brought his own children.

Naruto, Sasuke, Yakumo...and some other names he remembered, or didn't remember...even Uchiha Itachi was there.

It's just that Uchiha Itachi looks very pitiful now.

He was meticulously dressed in beautiful little clothes, but his whole body was as stiff as wood – it turned out that he was a joshikai.

T/N: joshikai as in girls-only gathering

This can be considered an old tradition in the Naruto world.

While the men were having a meeting, the ladies were also having a meeting.

Madam socialize.

Minatsuki would not have attended such a meeting. However, if a joshikai is held, the nature is more personal... With a lot of ladies gathered together, it is easy for them to start showing off each other's babies, which is why it has become what it is now.

The ladies gathered together, talking and laughing. But when they saw Makoto coming back, everyone immediately stood up and saluted him.

"Hokage-sama!"

Amid everyone's response, Makoto walked to the center of the crowd. He took little Yakumo from Kurama-san, praised her several times, and then returned little Yakumo to Kurama-san.

It would be nice if Yakumo was a few years older, so that Makoto wouldn't have to think about how to defeat Obito's power, but instead try to delete him directly.

Now when Yakumo grows old enough to fight, he should have solved the problem of Obito and dance-chan... but that's fine.

It would also be a good thing if all the problems could be solved in their generation.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't know you were having a joshikai here. I suddenly thought of something and came back early... Didn't I disturb you?"

"How could it be? If you really want to talk about it, it's us who disturbed you."

"That's good..."

Makoto said this, and while Temari wasn't paying attention, he secretly pulled Nono and Minatsuki, and pulled them to his side.

Even in a more private women's gathering, the ladies' seats must not be messed up.

A fool like Temari must sit in the main seat.

And now, Makoto pulled the two women over.

Although it was only a small gesture, the ladies present saw it in their eyes, so there was no need to say anything more.

Everyone understood and skipped this section.

Makoto is not interested in the girls' club, but since he is here, it is inevitable to chat more.

"Hokage-sama has been very busy recently..."

"Well, indeed..." Makoto thought for a while and felt that now was an opportunity, so he told these ladies his purpose and gave them a thorough understanding, "Bulrush is a good thing, maybe it can be used for business. Now that the village is getting bigger and expenses are increasing, we must be cautious..."

Makoto was convinced that the ladies should be able to understand.

And this is indeed Makoto's consistent style.

He always thinks about other people, and others will naturally think about him, so everyone is in harmony.

It's just... the ladies seem to have over-understood...

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Hyuuga-san, and Hyuuga-san also looked at Uchiha Mikoto, and the two gradually understood everything.

– The Godaime Hokage, who the hell are you going to fight against again? Quit the bulrush industry first, and save yourself from being killed in a river of blood!