"This place is still so broken," Stronghold Ambassador Pérot stepped out of the cabin and was greeted by the smell of rotten wood. The surrounding air was damp and oppressive, making people feel uncomfortable. He sniffed and raised his head. The sky was gray, and it seemed that a heavy rain was brewing.
"The last time you came here was a year ago," the assistant attentively put a wool coat on the ambassador, "there is nothing here except stones."
"It was a year and a half ago," Pérot corrected, "His Excellency the Duke will send a different person every season. The last time I came to Border Town was in the summer. And in addition to stones, there are all kinds of good furs, and... "
"What?" The assistant showed a blank face.
Pérot shook his head and did not answer. He crossed the ship's side and stepped on the mossy dock, the planks under his feet creaking. In a few more years, he thought, this dock will fall to pieces. Border Town not only has stones, but also furs, and even... land. But it was meaningless to say this, the assistant was just an unknown clerk in City hall, he simply could not see this.
Between Border Town and Longsong Stronghold was a large area of uncultivated land, one side was the Impassable Mountain Range, the other side was the Redwater River, just like a long and narrow corridor. As the outpost of Longsong Stronghold, if it assumed the responsibility of the line of defense, a large area of land in the middle would fall into the hands of Longsong Stronghold. They were not cultivated, so they could be planted many times without fallow, and with the natural barriers on both sides, it would not take much effort to eat them. This could solve a series of problems caused by the increasing population of Longsong Stronghold, and Border Town would become a part of Longsong Stronghold, instead of being separated into two independent territories like it was now.
The only drawback was that it needed three to five years of operation, and a large amount of upfront investment.
Unfortunately, when it came to investment foresight, most nobles were not as good as a bad businessman.
"Hey, why is the yard empty?" The assistant pointed to an empty space in the distance and said, "Shouldn't they have prepared the ore?"
Pérot sighed softly, "Let's go to the castle to see His Highness."
"Wait... Mr. Ambassador, don't you wait for their reception team?"
He didn't know if there were any, he thought, but he didn't say it out loud. "Let's go, the stables are just ahead."
Now, the trouble of being divided into two independent territories had obviously come. The King's decree for the throne had thrown the 4th Prince into this desolate place. What would a normal noble or royal disciple do? Of course, it was to take everything here for himself. Exchanging ores and jewels for food and bread? The prince probably only had eyes for the Golden Dragon.
If it were him, he would do the same. No one would be willing to see their territory's output being exchanged at such a low price. Moreover, the Prince didn't necessarily have to go to the Longsong Stronghold. Most of the people in the family had forgotten the fact that the Redwater River didn't only pass through the Longsong Stronghold. He could sell the ores to Willow Town, Fallen Dragon Ridge, and Redwater City at the market price, and then take the people to these places to take refuge. It was just that the distance was longer.
What could Longsong Stronghold do then? Block the river and intercept the prince? That was a blatant defiance of the royal family of Graycastle! Everyone knew that the 4th Prince was not liked by the King, but there was no doubt that he was still the King's blood.
The two of them rode the rented horses, slowly moving along the flagstone road by the river. The horses in the stables were old, mixed colors, skinny as firewood. Even though they were walking slowly, their whole bodies trembled. And for these two stupid horses, he had to pay two Golden Dragon as a deposit.
"Look, sir, is that the boat from Willow Town?"
Hearing the assistant's shout, he looked in the direction pointed by the assistant and saw a single-masted sailboat with a green leaf and a scimitar flag slowly coming along the river. The hull's waterline was very high, indicating that it was loaded with goods.
Pérot nodded expressionlessly, but his heart sank. The other side's action was faster than he had imagined. If the Prince had already begun to contact the towns downstream of the Redwater River, he would have one less bargaining chip in his hands. He had originally intended to persuade his father to agree to buy the ores at a price lower than the normal price by 30%, so that he could still make a profit, not to mention the jewels, which after polishing could increase their value by several times. Unfortunately, this monopoly business was not up to him, nor was it up to the Honeysuckle Family. There were six noble families participating in the mining business in Border Town, and if they didn't get a majority, they couldn't form a decision.
But they were slow to react, thinking that the situation was still the same as before … Or, the output of the mining area was not worth their attention. Anyway, the other five families were indifferent, and his father confidently refused him. In fact, they were wrong. The main reason for the low output of the mining area was the barter model. If it became a normal trade, the more they sold, the more they earned, and the ore output was likely to rise to a higher level next year.
If they talked about the previous monopoly plan, it was very likely, no, it was definitely impossible to achieve. Pérot thought, from the empty dock yard, it could be seen that the Prince did not intend to exchange these stones for inferior wheat, he had already contacted other buyers.
If he still wanted to control this trade line, the 30% discount was his last bargaining chip. The distance between Willow Town and Border Town increased the cost of ore transportation, and Willow Town had more than one source of ore, so the price they offered was likely to be lower than the market price by half. As for Fallen Dragon Ridge and Redwater Castle, they would only offer a lower price, so that the 4th Prince might agree to let Longsong Stronghold monopolize – especially the gem trade.
But the problem was, if he signed the contract on his own initiative, would his father agree? What about the other five families, would they think that he was simply surrendering to Border Town, handing over the family's interests?
After all, in their eyes, Border Town was still under the control of their own people in Longsong Stronghold, and it was nothing more than a pasture for them to take whatever they wanted.
The two slowly crossed to the castle in the southeast corner of the town. It was not the first time for Pérot to come here, but this time, the owner had changed.
When the guards saw the ambassador's certificate, they immediately went in to inform the Lord.
The 4th Prince, Roland Wimbledon, quickly summoned Pérot. When the two were led into the reception hall, the prince was already waiting in the main seat.
"Mr. Ambassador, please sit down."
Roland clapped his hands and asked the maid to serve a sumptuous meal. There was a whole roast chicken, a wild boar's leg stewed with mushrooms, bread and butter, and a large bowl of vegetable soup. Obviously, in this border area, the personal enjoyment of the royal children was not the slightest bit affected.
Pérot naturally would not be polite. From Longsong Stronghold to Border Town by water, even if the wind was favorable, it would still take two days; if it was a multi-masted cargo ship, it would be even slower, it would take three to five days. There was no kitchen on the ship, so they generally ate their own dried meat strips or wheat cakes. Seeing the steaming dishes, he felt his own saliva surging in his throat.
However, many years of aristocratic cultivation allowed him to maintain perfect dining etiquette. On the contrary, His Highness' table manners were much worse – especially when it came to the use of knives and forks. Pérot noticed that in addition to the knife used by the 4th Prince when cutting meat, all other actions were completed with a pair of small wooden sticks. And it seemed that … two wooden sticks were much more convenient than forks.
"What do you think?" When the meal was almost over, Roland suddenly asked.
"Uh, what?" The ambassador did not come back to his senses for a moment.
"This," the other side shook the wooden stick in his hand, and without waiting for Pérot to answer, he said directly, "An iron fork, for most people, is a luxury, not to mention a silver fork. But if you use your hands to eat, it is easy to eat dirty things together with it. You know that diseases come from the mouth, don't you? "
The ambassador did not know how to answer, he did not quite understand the meaning of diseases come from the mouth, but according to the previous sentence, it probably meant that if dirty things stuck to the food, it would be easy to get sick. But everyone lived like this, and he did not see anyone die because of this disease.
"A pair of oak sticks, in the Concealing Forest, there are as many as you want, it is clean and easy to get. I intend to promote this in the town, "the prince took a sip of wine," Of course, now my people have almost no meat to eat, but it will slowly get better. "
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