Chapter 7: Chapter 7:improving the economy
Rhaego already had the height of a seven years old. He had already learned how to ride a horse, to the admiration of his mother's khalasar. He also passed his time adventuring around Meeren, he passed his time learning or better relearning how to make wine. He found out why ghiscari wine is famed for its bad quality, so much so that the ghiscari nobles, do not drink it at all and import foreign wine instead.
The water in Skahazadhan, the river that lies north of Meereen is dirty because the Meereense throw their sewage there, so the rich drink the water from wells, while the poor drink the dirty water mixed with local wine to reduce the toxicity.
Similar to how the Romans would rather drink wine dissolved in water than Rome dirty water. Though, Rome's water was dirty for another reason because of being transported pipes by lead, if Rhaego's memory was accurate.
This cheap 'water' source is what is known as ghiscari wine. Ghiscari wine is made with small, pale, yellow grapes, and is widely considered to be an inferior vintage that leaves a metallic aftertaste, it is also waterly. The waterly problem was very easy for Rhaego to solve as he only had to avoid adding water to spoil the wine.
The metallic taste he guessed came from Brett which is a savage and healthy ferment. In low amounts, it may lead to earthy, savory aromas and flavors.
But he guessed that it was an excessive amount. To solve the problem, he used an extended decant to improve Brett's strength.
He wanted to make sparkling wine, even if he know he for sure would not be able to make one as good as champagne, as it was a perfect way to finance his mother's military campaign, even more considering how rich people in this world seem to be wine worshipers.
In Rhaego's impression, every real rich man or woman in this world has his own wine collection to brag about, even more in this era where one could not boast about his/her wealth with industrial products like cars... If one considers that the only alcoholic beverage with luxury standing in this world is wine, this is even more evident.
To make a sparkling wine he would have to decide which method to use: the traditional method; tank method; transfer method; ancestral method; continuous Method; and carbonation. He quickly discarded the carbonation, because although the method has benefits like its simplicity, he only heard of this method being used to produce inferior-quality sparkling wines. He discarded the ancestral method because of the need for icy temperatures.
The only solution he could think of was using saltpeter to lower the temperature. The only way he knows to make saltpeter involves urine and organic matter, and he did not understand the process very well, but he knew that it was a complicated process that takes very long. Rhaego was no chemistry nerd, he only understand the chemistry directly related to winemaking as a wine nerd.
The traditional method takes too long so he discarded it. The continuous method, which produced wines similar to the ones made by the traditional method seems interesting to him, but he did not know much about this, just that he would need a tank that could deal with a four to five-atmosphere pressure that for a medieval era was a no-no.
Between the tank method and the transfer one, he chooses the former because it seems easier. After this came the challenge of making the equipment for the method that came to be during the industrial advancements made in the early 20th century, in a word with technology in the middle ages to the renaissance level.
With some adaptation here and there and the efforts of Rhaego wine nerd and Meereen's best blacksmith, they could come up with the needed equipment. Rhaego was not knowledgeable about metallurgy, but he was able to find an alternative for industrial metal, which he called magic b*llsh*tt. By simply putting a dragon flame spark in the flames that melted metal to be forged he could obtain better metals. He did not get something like valyrian steel though. He thought he lacked the blood sacrifice that was probably used.
There was another challenge for Rhaego, however, the sugar needed for the wine's second fermentation.
There was no cane sugar being sold in this world strangely, so he have to look for a sugar alternative, which ended up being agave nectar.
It was a form of sugar much sweeter and less nutritious than cane sugar that came from a plant named agave. The agave plant is a plant native to slave pay making it much easier for him.
He ended up asking for forgiveness from the blacksmith he overworked by giving the man not only a generous payment but a whole barrel of the sparkling wine he produced.
This was a great gift in his eyes because he intends to sell the wine on it weight own saffron.
He was glad that sparkling wine has a high reputation in this world as is a lost recipe of a legendary rhoynar wine branch produced by Chroyane. He gave his wine as a gift to his mother, which allowed him to start his own brewery.
In the purple market, he was able to see some Yi Tish and Lengishi porcelain, which helped him with the new business idea he had.
The region did not lack clay, which is shown by the number of bricks used in construction in Slave Bay cities.
He was thinking that having the region's porcelain gain a reputation would take too long, so he came up with an alternative. He would falsify Yi Tish and Leng's porcelain style and sell it to unwarned merchants as original goods. After he gave a porcelain vase to his mom, he was able to convince her about the idea.
There was a major barrier, however. He was no porcelain expert and neither he could find an experienced craftsman in the region. So he used magic b*llsh*t again and by cooking clay with dragon flames, he could obtain porcelain of a quality that could pass as eastern porcelain. It was not the same, but similar enough.
Things have turned similar to the original timeline. A slave coalition was already brewing. They have already gotten themselves an alliance with the Lhazarene, which was not of much use because the Lhazarene was not a military strong ally and neither they were rich, because of the Dothraki raids.
Things goings that way was surprising to Rhaego, as he to the Lhazarene was basically a prophesized Anti-Christ. Maybe it was then taking their own national interest above their own disgust.
He guessed that the Lhazarene had already seen that a conflict between us and the Dothraki was inevitable, so they hope his mother dragons grew and burn some Dothraki for them reducing their burden.
Trading with Meereen was useful for the Lhazarene, because of their isolated position. To the north, the Lhazarene have the Dothraki, which they did not trade for obvious reasons. To the east and south, they have the Red Waste.
So without Meeeren, the Lhazarene can only trade among themselves, and in a route that passes through the south of the red waste to Port Yhos, where the quarteene ripped their caravans off in taxes.
Although it's a risky endeavor, because the d*mn Dothraki, Rhaego thinks exporting their goods from Lhazar to Port Yhos is a good idea.
Yes, the quartene were to become his enemies, and together with the rest of the coalition they surely would plan to isolate Meereen, but Qarth was a corrupt republic, with the Pure Blood, the Thirteen, Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Ancient Guild of Spicers fighting over influence, with a proper bribes mass smuggling would not be that hard, even more, if it was not directly done.
Rhaego also wanted to convince his mother to reopen the fighting pits, but only allow people that truly wanted to fight to their deaths there. He would say that risking one's life for gold was also a form of freedom.
He did not have many ideas about the economy of Yunkai and Astapor. Yunkai was a version of Lys with less reputation, which would make the city prosper as soon as sea trade, going to Meereen returned to the Bay.
Astapor the only idea he had about the city was to turn it into a new version of Tyrosh. He would only have to adapt the training of the Unsullied, tacking out things like castrating, to create a high-level mercenary company, taking maybe the golden company as a model. When the empire was at war he could rent his own company, while at peace he could rent it for other countries. In the east, he was sure there were opportunities for contracts as much as the free cities.
The Lhazarene, which were no warrior material, for example, contract mercenary companies and used to even buy Unsullied to defend Hesh, Lhazosh, and Kosrak their last three surviving cities thanks to the Dothraki. They may not be very rich contractors, but it was better than nothing. In the longer term, starting contracts with one of the Yi Tish disputing dynasties would not be a problem.
The Yi Tish not only have inner disputes, but they also have to defend against the Jogos Nhai raids; making them a good market. Kayakayanaya, Samyriana, and Bayasabhad also have to deal with Jogos Nhai raids making them another good market.
However, these other war markets would take much longer than his initial plans to make money.
He also wanted to profit from olive oil, but a big city like Meeren also consumes it a lot, and olives were part of the local diet. To make sure the city was well fed, as the slave bay cities import food from Tolos and Elyria, the city was already paying more attention to agriculture, a fit that the 'great' masters were not interested in doing.
As the city did not lack vinegar to preserve fish, Rhaego said they could pay more attention to fishing, which they were already doing. The city at least was free from the risk of hunger. Rhaego was not sure what he would do about the disease that would soon spread to Meereen.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone