User blog:Tessitore/My Cunning Plan For Lancastrain Advancement

Okay, as a lot of us are aware, Lancaster isn't going to be getting any bigger in the forseeable future. This is unfortunate but I refuse to let the noble duchy fall pray to stagnation so I've decided to try for 'small but wealthy' status on the basis that money = power. Plus the idea of the two richest nations in the OBN being northerners is rather amusing. Problem is, I'm not sure how to go about putting Lancaster in a position where it'll make large amounts of cash, beyond something to do with the Lancaster Trading Company (who are more then a bit obcessed with outdoing the Singleton Clan) so I thought I'd ask for input on the matter.

Assets: Thoughts?
 * A rather large number of ports.
 * Lots of abandoned towns to break down for raw materials (copper, iron, aluminium, etc).
 * Coal mines.
 * Textile mills producing both woolen fabric and nettle cloth (the post-apocalyptic European answer to cotton).
 * Large amounts of wool.
 * Good farmland (well, the bits that didn't get too irradiated anyway).
 * A rural protectorate that's happy to play breadbasket.