Although he was cursing, the banquet still needed to be eaten.
The atmosphere of the dinner was quite harmonious, the 4th Prince did not talk about the ore, so it was not convenient for him to say anything.
When the Prince ordered the maid to change the dessert, Pérot tentatively said, "Your Royal Highness, according to the past practice, today should be the day to deliver the ore, but I did not see any ore in the dock yard."
Roland put down the small stick in his hand and nodded, "Unfortunately, a while ago the North Slope Mine collapsed, and for the past month my people have been trying to restore production. However, the gravel from the collapse has not been cleaned up, and according to this progress, I am afraid the mining operation will be delayed until next year. "
Collapse? Pérot froze for a moment, such a coincidence? But he quickly realized that the other side did not need to lie to him. Otherwise, he would have gone to the North Slope Mine to see clearly, telling such an obvious lie was tantamount to slapping his own face.
"Then … what about the last two months?"
"Not too much, according to the usual practice, such a small amount of stone can not support my people." Roland emphasized the word "usual", "Mr. Ambassador, you should remember the Months of Demons two years ago, right?"
Pérot certainly remembered, it lasted for four months, and nearly 20% of the people in Border Town starved to death, the reason was the insatiable greed of the mayor Reynold. The nobles were not without opposition, and some people even asked to punish Reynold afterwards. But in the end, this incident was left unsettled, just because he was the husband of the Duke's second daughter.
Now that the Prince mentioned this matter, Pérot's heart raised a bad feeling.
"This time it is even worse," Roland sighed, "If the previous delivery method is followed, I am afraid we can only exchange for two months of wheat. My people can not survive the winter, sir, the old way of trade must be abolished. "
Pérot opened his mouth, but did not know how to refute. He was not a professional diplomat, in the face of such a good reason, he really could not find a problem, so he had to delay, "Your Royal Highness, I express my regret for this matter, this time there will not be a repeat of the previous tragedy, I will let the six families jointly lend a month of food, your people can wait until the next year to restore production and slowly repay."
"If I sell to Willow Town, I don't have to repay slowly."
"But …"
"No buts," Roland interrupted. "They are willing to use the Golden Dragon to buy stones, and at the same time sell wheat, cheese, bread, honey at the market price … Anything that can be bought with the Golden Dragon, they will sell. Taking a step back, Mr. Ambassador, even if you were willing to lend them a month's worth of food, would the other five families agree with your decision? As far as I know, Duke Ryan isn't someone who can reach an agreement easily. "
Petrov was silent. The 4th Prince was right. Not only the other five families, he wasn't even sure if he could convince his own father. If he wanted to maintain his monopoly, he had to modify the transaction plan, but he didn't have the right to make the final decision. He was more like a mouthpiece than an ambassador. Maybe the Duke doesn't want anyone to reach an agreement with Border Town? It didn't matter if it was the previous lord or the fourth prince. That's why he appointed different people every season, and these people were never the ones in power in the family.
No matter what the result was, he had to try. Thinking of this, Pérot revealed his last card. "Thirty percent," he held out three fingers, "Stronghold will buy ores and raw gemstones at a price lower than the market price by thirty percent. I think this price should be higher than Willow Town's, Your Highness. "
Roland spread his hands, "It's indeed higher, but it's still the same old problem. Can your words become the unanimous decision of the six families?"
"Tomorrow I will set off back to Longsong Stronghold. After reaching an agreement, I will come back with a new contract."
"But my people can't wait that long. You should know that it usually takes a long time for the nobles to reach an agreement. "
"Your Highness, cooperating with Longsong Stronghold is a better choice for you and your people. Willow Town is too far away, although we can avoid the Months of the Demons there, "Pérot felt his throat was a little dry," but on the road it's easy to … encounter danger. "
My God, what am I doing? His heart was pounding, am I threatening a prince?
"Ha ha ha ha," unexpectedly, Roland didn't fly into a rage, but laughed, "Mr. Ambassador, you seem to be mistaken about something, I don't want to go to Willow Town."
"You mean …"
"Of course, I don't want to go to Longsong Stronghold," Roland looked at the ambassador with a playful look, "I'm not going anywhere."
For a moment, Pérot doubted whether his ears were playing tricks on him.
Fortunately, the prince didn't let this strange silence continue, he went on to explain, "This winter, I will stay in Border Town, Border Town will become the new border of the Graycastle Kingdom. Don't be so surprised, my friend, this is not nonsense, later I can take you to see the newly built wall, at the foot of the North Slope Mountain. "
"City … wall?"
"Yes, connecting the North Slope and the Redwater River, twelve feet high and four feet wide stone wall. With this, we can defeat the demonic beasts in Border Town. "
Pérot felt that his brain wasn't enough, last season when the ambassador went back, he didn't mention anything about the wall, no, at that time the Lord of Border Town was still a person of Longsong Stronghold, how could he send limited manpower to build this? In other words, as soon as the 4th Prince arrived here, he began to build the wall? Even so, it has only been three months, what can be built in such a short time?
Wait … what did His Royal Highness just say? Twelve feet high, four feet wide, and connecting the North Slope and the Redwater River? Pérot estimated in his heart, such a scale of the wall would take several years to complete, first of all, he didn't have enough stonemasons to cut the stone! Border Town wasn't Graycastle, most of the people living here could only do manual labor.
Before he could digest this news, Roland's next words also shocked him.
"As for the sale of ore, starting next year, I am willing to reduce the price to 50%, sir, but not all of it will be sold to Longsong Stronghold. Because you don't necessarily need so much ore. I think compared to the low profit of raw ore, you will be more interested in some metal products, such as shovels, shovels and so on. " At this point, he paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for Pérot to understand the meaning of his words, "As for the raw gemstones, they will be auctioned by the highest bidder. Although I also want to wait for the gemstones to be cut and then buy them at a good price, unfortunately, Border Town currently doesn't have such ability. "
Then do you have the ability to build a wall in a few months! Pérot roared in his heart, and what do you mean by not needing so much ore, a mere one thousand Golden Dragon stones a year, even if the output will increase, it will at most double! Two thousand Golden Dragon Stronghold won't be able to eat it? That's too arrogant!
He resisted the indignation in his heart, trying to maintain his last courtesy, "I will remember what you said, Your Royal Highness. When I go back, I will immediately negotiate with the six families. But, you said that the wall … I want to see it. "
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