As the greatest contributor to the increase in grain production, Leaf's story had long been written in the form of a comic strip in "The Witch Diaries". This kind of booklet was sold in the Convenience Market, so it was not unusual for foreign merchants to know of her existence.
However, he was the first one who specifically requested to cooperate with a witch. Unlike the adventurous Fjords, the Four Kingdoms on the mainland were more influenced by the church and had a much deeper prejudice against witches. Now that someone was willing to take the initiative to contact a witch, Roland was also a little interested.
After reading the letter, he touched his chin and said, "From the Kingdom of Dawn... You should know his address, right?"
"Yes," Barov said, "He has a record in the Administrative Office. I also asked Lady Scrolls to check his tax records and found that they dated back six years. But at that time, his business was mainly to buy raw gemstones and jewelry, and occasionally some furs, which had nothing to do with cotton. "
"Interesting." Roland knew very well how simple the tax system of this era was. It completely depended on the tax collector to record the tax. After a long time, even the tax collector could not calculate it clearly, let alone verify it. In addition, it was easy to deal with the permanent property owners, after all, the land was there and could not run away. However, frequent merchants had many ways to avoid the "exploitation" of the local lord. Keeping a tax record meant that the other party was honest and trustworthy, which was a rare quality among the merchants.
"Call Victor to the castle." He put down the letter and said, "I want to talk to him alone."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
...
Roland soon met the merchant in the reception hall.
He indeed had the characteristics of a person from the Kingdom of Dawn. Like Andrea, he had light blond hair. His facial features were upper-class, and his skin was well-maintained. His gestures were completely aristocratic, and his etiquette was just right. At first glance, one could tell that he came from a rich family.
It was hard to imagine that such a person needed to travel between the two countries to make a living. Even if it was a large trade, he could have trusted his subordinates to handle it instead of choosing to do it himself. After all, in this era, no matter how rich one was, long-distance travel was not an easy life.
The merchant also appropriately explained that it was a family dispute.
In order to avoid being bullied by his elder brother and to prove his ability, he had no choice but to leave his hometown and come to Graycastle to run his business.
Although this part of the description was rather vague, Roland did not continue asking. No matter what, it was someone else's private matter, and he wasn't very interested. Nightingale's lack of reaction meant that the merchant wasn't lying.
After listening to the introduction, Roland went straight to the point. "You want Leaf to cultivate high-yield cotton seeds, but your ultimate goal is to build a brand new clothing store and promote it to the whole kingdom with the advantage of low prices and high quality?"
This was also one of the reasons why he decided to summon Victor. It was not that his imagination was too rich, but it was written at the end of the letter. It was as if someone had submitted a business plan with a target of raising 1 billion RMB, and they were only short of 500 RMB.
"Not only Graycastle Kingdom," the merchant said, nodding. "I've calculated the price. Even if the final product is shipped to the Kingdom of Dawn, it will still be competitive."
Selling at a low price was indeed a magic weapon to seize the market, but … this was not an easy thing to achieve. "How can you guarantee that it will be of high quality and low price?"
"First of all, I need special cotton, Your Majesty." Victor said excitedly, "Since Miss Leaf can cultivate golden wheat with three times the yield, I think she can also triple the yield of cotton. If the price of raw materials can be lowered to one-third of the current price, then clothes will also be much cheaper."
Roland could not help but laugh. This logic seemed impeccable, but when he thought about it carefully, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. High-yield cotton was not a difficult thing for Leaf. With the support of the vast magic power of the Heart of Forest, she could further shorten the cultivation time. The problem was that the grain price was so low because it was stable, not because it could not be sold at a high price.
It would be a big problem if people could not afford to eat, but cotton was not like that. There were hemp, coarse cloth, and animal skins in front of it.
"Well … even if Leaf can really triple the yield of cotton, why don't I sell it to other merchants for triple the price instead of selling it to you at a low price?"
"Because I can help you save a lot of initial investment and provide more than 2,000 jobs." Victor did not pause at all. "In addition, you can receive endless and generous taxes, and the people can also benefit from it. You don't have to worry about all this. Just leave it to me."
Roland had to admit that this extremely modernized answer surprised him once again. After a while, he said, "These words … You read them in the newspaper?"
"And I carefully read every publicity announcement in Neverwinter. Although some of the words are a little hard to pronounce at first, they really let me see the significance of business from another aspect." Victor put his hand on his chest and said, "If it were another lord, such a proposal of lowering the price would only drive me out. But if it's you, I think it's possible."
This is a novel way of flattery … If I drive him out now, won't I become the "other lord" that he mentioned? Roland slightly raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Then tell me your plan."
Then Victor talked non-stop for nearly an hour. Obviously, he was well prepared in advance.
His idea was not complicated. In short, it was to build a business system that integrated planting, weaving, and sales. The Lothar Family had a long history of making clothes, so it was not a problem for them to have experience and technology. As long as the project was officially launched, it would soon be effective.
Of course, anyone could make a big deal out of it. The reason why Roland kept listening was that he had considered many details — Neverwinter was not suitable for planting cotton, so this part of the industry, together with the textile production, would be concentrated in the Southern Territory. The Southern Territory had abundant sunshine and a relatively high temperature all year round. At the same time, the Sand Nation would also bring a large number of laborers. All aspects of the conditions were very suitable. The sewing and garment departments were set up in Neverwinter, which had a higher purchasing power.
In the early stage, whether it was the rental of land, the recruitment of planters, or the investment of textile factories and equipment, all were borne by Victor, so Neverwinter did not have to bear any risks. In addition to providing high-yield seeds, the whole process was in a positive state.
In addition, because cotton only had a single use, it was easy to estimate the output from the purchase quantity. Therefore, the tax was very convenient, which would reduce the burden on both sides.
Among these details, there were two that Roland was interested in. First, the high-efficiency spinning tools that Victor had mentioned could handle the processing of cotton with three times the output. Second, the Lothar Family had a group of experienced tailors who often designed clothes for the nobles in the City of Glow, so the finished products would be popular among the people. Victor also admitted that he had come up with this idea after watching "The Wolf Princess" and finding that the people of Neverwinter were still very simple in their clothes, which was not the style that the king's city should have.
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