Zhao Hai knew that Storm was probing him, but he didn't care. He was indeed going to Sky Water City to do business, so there was nothing to hide. He smiled and said, "As mister said, I'm going there to do business. But since it's my first time there, I'm just going there to take a look."
Storm smiled and said, "Sky Water City is really good. I don't know what kind of business mister is going to do there."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I have some business in the prairie, but I don't want to do it in the Purcell Duchy. I want to go to Sky Water City to take a look. I heard that there are ships going to the prairie from Sky Water City."
When he heard Zhao Hai, Storm didn't have any doubts. There were a lot of people from the Rosen Empire who went to the prairie to do business, so there was nothing strange about it. Moreover, doing business in the prairie from the Rosen Empire was allowed, and the taxes weren't very high. It wasn't like the Aksu Empire, where they had to smuggle goods. There were also a lot of people that needed to be taken care of. Therefore, doing business in the prairie from the Rosen Empire was cheaper than doing business in the Aksu Empire.
There was a reason for this. The Rosen Empire and the prairie were separated by the Aksu Empire. Even if the beastmen wanted to invade the south, the first place they would attack would be the Aksu Empire. For the Rosen Empire, this wasn't a big deal, so they naturally wouldn't restrict doing business in the prairie. On the other hand, the Aksu Empire needed to control their business, because if they didn't do well, they would end up supporting their enemies.
Therefore, every year, there would be a lot of merchants from the Aksu Empire who would go to the Rosen Empire and then enter the prairie from the Rosen Empire. In the end, most of these merchants settled down in the Rosen Empire and became citizens of the empire.
However, Storm was very interested in Zhao Hai's business. He looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Does mister have business in the prairie? Is mister very familiar with the beastmen? I wonder if the business on the prairie is good? "
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "It's easy, the business in the Prairie is very good. The Beastmen lack food, materials, and everything else. As long as you bring things to the Prairie, you can exchange them for cattle and sheep. However, the cattle and sheep of the Prairie would usually get sick when they reach the continent, making them very hard to raise. Because of this, the cattle and sheep that are brought back are usually killed immediately. The wool products in the Prairie are also very good, they are also very popular in the continent."
Storm's eyes lit up. He looked at Zhao Hai and asked, "Is there no risk in doing business on the grasslands?"
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Of course there's a risk, and it's very big. Those Beastmen can turn into bandits at any time. However, they usually only steal food and won't kill people. Of course, most of the Beastmen are still willing to do business with us. It's just that it's not as profitable as people say."
Storm nodded, he believed Zhao Hai's words. Although doing business with the Beastmen was very profitable, the risk wasn't small. He had seen a lot of merchants who did business with the Beastmen, but the best result was that they didn't have any good results.
Zhao Hai asked Storm about the Rosen Empire. Storm didn't hide anything from Zhao Hai, he told him about the Rosen Empire's situation in detail.
However, Shue had also told Zhao Hai about Storm. Because of this, Zhao Hai's harvest wasn't that big. The two chatted as they hurried forward. Along the way, they lived in peace.
Before long, their carriage slowed down. Storm didn't smile as he looked at Zhao Hai and said, "We must have arrived at Hundred Battles Fortress. Everyone is lining up to enter the city. I won't keep mister here, we still need to pay taxes and register. Mister should go back and make the necessary arrangements."
Zhao Hai stood up, he smiled faintly at Storm and said, "Then I'll take my leave. If mister has time to visit Sky Water City in the future, please come and look for me. However, I might need to go to Carson City first."
Storm smiled and said, "After passing through Hundred Battles Fortress, there are three roads. The one in the middle leads to Carson City, the one on the left leads to Sky Water City, and the one on the right leads to Yabli City. My destination is Yabli City. If mister wants to go there in the future, you must look for me. Once you reach Yabli City, you just need to look for the Freewind Trading Company. Ask around and you'll be able to find me."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Alright, I'll certainly go if I have the opportunity. Goodbye." Then he opened the door and returned to his carriage. However, he didn't immediately enter the carriage. Instead, he stood on top of the carriage and looked at Hundred Battles Fortress.
This Hundred Battles Fortress looked even more imposing than Cold Wind Fortress. With a height of 250 feet, it was like a giant beast entrenched at the entrance of Lifeline Canyon. The carriages below were like ants in front of this huge fortress, constantly crawling forward.
Zhao Hai didn't expect to see such a tall wall in the Ark Continent. He couldn't understand how the people of the Ark Continent managed to build such a tall wall.
However, when he thought of the mystical magic, he felt relieved. In this world, there were even mystical things like magic and special techniques. What else was impossible?
Looking at the carriages in front of them, there were still several thousand of them. Zhao Hai didn't know when their turn would arrive, but he didn't worry. He returned to the carriage where Laura and the others were chatting.
Seeing Zhao Hai return, Laura immediately asked, "Brother Hai, how was it? What did Storm talk to you about? "
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "He didn't say anything, we just chatted for a while. You're right, he really liked how I dealt with those thieves last night. But when he heard that I wanted to do business with the Beastmen, he didn't seem to be very enthusiastic. It's very strange."
Laura smiled and said, "Not all merchants in the continent like to do business with the Beastmen. Freewind Trading Company is one of them. I heard that ever since they were established, they haven't done business with the Beastmen. It seems like the first owner of Freewind Trading Company had a grudge against the Beastmen."
Zhao Hai frowned and said, "But today, Storm asked me about doing business in the Prairie. Could it be that they also have the intention to meddle in the business in the Prairie?"
Laura thought for a moment and said, "It's possible. In any case, in the eyes of most people, doing business in the Prairie would be very profitable. After so many years, it's normal for them to want to do business with the Beastmen."
Zhao Hai nodded and didn't say anything about this matter. For Zhao Hai, Storm was just a passerby in his life. He didn't know if he would encounter Storm again in the future. He looked at Laura and said, "I want to send Ruyen to Carson City first, then we'll go to Sky Water City. What do you think?"
Laura didn't oppose, she just nodded and said, "That's also good. No matter what, she's still Uncle Evan's daughter. We should take care of her. Sending her to Carson City and settling her down would be the most benevolent thing we can do."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "After Ruyen settles down, we'll send a letter to Uncle Evan. Even if we complete the mission, we can't control what happens in the academy. If Ruyen offends someone in the academy, I'm afraid that even Uncle Evan wouldn't be able to handle it."
Laura sighed and didn't say anything. Instead, it was Meg who said, "Young Master, I think we should go directly to Sky Water City. Letting her follow us here is already good enough. With what she did, we should've just left by ourselves. We shouldn't care about her at all."
Zhao Hai didn't say anything, he knew that Meg hated Ruyen more than Laura. This was because Ruyen first refused the marriage and then plotted against Zhao Hai. These were all reasons for Meg to hate Ruyen.
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'll help her to the end." Just as he said that, a voice was heard from outside, "The carriages in the back, listen up. You need to take the initiative to pay your taxes. If you're not a citizen of the Rosen Empire, you need to register here."
Zhao Hai didn't move, these matters were handed over to Shue and Shun, they didn't need to worry about it. The guards wouldn't make things difficult for them, no matter what, they were still nobles. Soldiers like them wouldn't dare go too far.
Shue paid two gold coins as tax and did a simple registration. Then they were let go by the guards. But in Zhao Hai's opinion, the two gold coins tax wasn't cheap. One must know that they only had two carriages, one gold coin per carriage was too high.
Actually, what he didn't know was that this was because they were citizens of the Aksu Empire. If they were citizens of the Rosen Empire, they would only need to pay one silver coin per carriage. Nobles would even be exempt from taxes. But Aksu Empire citizens couldn't, they had to pay a heavy tax.
Because of this, people from the Aksu Empire who came to the Rosen Empire to do business would have a status inside the empire. They would even spend money to buy a noble status inside the empire. This was one of the Rosen Empire's methods.
Before long, Zhao Hai's group entered Hundred Battles Fortress. Upon entering the fortress, Zhao Hai opened the window and looked outside. Compared to Cold Wind Fortress, Cold Wind Fortress's streets were very dilapidated. One could see armored mercenaries everywhere.
On the other hand, Hundred Battles Fortress's streets were very neat. There were many shops on both sides of the street, pedestrians were shuttling back and forth. It was very bustling, completely different from Cold Wind Fortress.
Zhao Hai didn't intend to leave Hundred Battles Fortress immediately. He wanted to rest here for the night and then leave tomorrow. He also wanted to understand the local customs and customs of the Rosen Empire.
If a place like Cold Wind Fortress had a Shelley Hotel, then it was impossible for Hundred Battles Fortress to not have one. Zhao Hai didn't choose another hotel to stay in, so he directly went to the Shelley Hotel.
However, upon arriving at the hotel, Zhao Hai felt that it was different. In Cold Wind Fortress, the Shelley Hotel's business was very good. Most of the merchants stayed there. But in Hundred Battles Fortress, the Shelley Hotel's business wasn't very good. There weren't many people inside, it gave people the impression that the business was very bleak.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
