Chapter 368: Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, New World (4)
Many say that music is the only drug sanctioned by the state.
But that’s just the delusion of a pretentious adolescent who thinks they have a deep artistic soul and are different from the rest. There’s a 99% chance that someone spouting such nonsense is in the midst of a full-blown teenage angst phase.
In reality, the only state-sanctioned drugs are tobacco and alcohol.
They’re addictive, sure, but rarely to the extent that they completely ruin one’s ability to function in daily life. Most cases result in nothing more than chronic dependence.
Rather than banning them outright and dealing with the inevitable consequences, most governments simply tolerate them.
"During Russia’s Prohibition, people diluted hand sanitizer to make alcohol, didn’t they?"
“As you may have already expected, my lord, cochineal and tobacco have taken the empire by storm. Nobles and merchants alike are sending people to the Maasai Confederation in search of a tribe they call the ‘Cherokee,’ believing them to be the source.”
“Are they looking for Prester John or something? They won’t find anything.”
“With cochineal and tobacco in such short supply, they think that making contact with the Cherokee will make them rich beyond their dreams.”
“To an outsider, it must look like there’s a gold mine over there. In reality, there’s nothing at all.”
“The fools who fall for the deception deserve to be swindled. Ignorance is a crime in its own right. So why don’t we sell them fake information on the Cherokee and, at the same time, sell them overpriced supplies necessary for their expeditions into Ifriqiya? They’ll never find cochineal or tobacco anyway, and they’ll all go bankrupt sooner or later. It’s only fair that we put their wasted money to good use.”
Sebastian is getting quite devious.