The plump Padrick Bohm sat uneasily in the parlor of Cecil's' castle '. He adjusted the position of his bow tie for the third time.
He was not a man who had not seen the world, but it was difficult for anyone who had seen the world to have a private talk with a founding hero. He knew that the situation this time was completely different from the previous conversation in Kant Castle. Last time, he accepted the appointment of Duke Cecil as the representative of Kant Territory. But this time, it was Duke Cecil who called him over from Kant Territory for a private talk.
The pressure caused by these two talks was completely different.
At the same time, Padrick was also curiously sizing up this place that was extremely novel in his eyes.
This mansion was Duke Cecil's castle, but its style was completely different from the nobles' fortresses. Instead of calling it a castle, it was closer to the architectural style of the 'holiday manor' that some nobles in the central region had recently become popular. It was probably not as sturdy as a castle, but the environment inside was surprisingly comfortable: wide floor-to-ceiling windows, a bright parlor, and warm corridors and rooms. There was no damp and rotten smell in the air, which was really amazing.
Most of the walls here were painted white, and bright magic crystal lamps illuminated every corner of the building as if they were free. In fact, it was not only in this castle. Since entering Cecil's territory, Padrick had seen more magic crystal lamps than he had seen in the first half of his life.
God knew how this newly established territory could do this. In just a few months, tidy brick houses, wide and straight streets, docks, mills, and sawmills were built here. Among all these things, the most eye-catching ones were the magic crystal lamps that were lit just as dusk approached. They were placed in rows on both sides of the road and in front of the front door of the houses. They were not used to illuminate the lord's mansion, but the place where the commoners lived!
Padrick thought that it was already a great feat for half of the people in Kant Territory to light up the oil lamps at night. But when he saw the brightly lit Cecil's territory at night, he felt that the town he was familiar with suddenly became dull.
How rich was Cecil at the end of the day? Did they hire dozens or hundreds of official mages to charge the street lamps in front of the commoners' houses?
Furthermore, what was going on with their inconceivable construction speed? What was with the construction projects that were still going on in winter? And what was with the commoners who walked freely in the territory, talked and laughed loudly, and did not tremble in fear when they saw the patrolling soldiers? What were those large buildings that were called factories that were making strange noises?
This territory seemed to be shrouded in countless mysteries, but Padrick did not dare to delve deeper. He knew the owner of this land and the origin of Duke Gwen Cecil. He was a legend who had experienced the Gondor period and the Second Pioneer period. It was said that he had reached a secret agreement with the four Lords of Elements and had a close relationship with the royal family of elves and dwarves. Such a figure was almost "inhuman" in Padrick's eyes. Even if he borrowed the power of the Lords of Elements to build this territory, Padrick felt that there was no problem. But as a small figure, if he said too much, it would be a big problem.
When Padrick tidied up his bow tie for the fourth time, the little maid who looked dull came up again and filled the teacups on the round table for the umpteenth time. "Sir, have some tea."
"Oh, oh, thank you." Padrick burped, but this time he had learned his lesson. He just picked up the teacup and took a sip. He had realized that the little maid in front of him was not deliberately making things difficult for him, nor was she testing him on the orders of the duke. She probably did not learn how to receive guests from the senior maids or the head maid. She only knew how to fill the teacups of the guests again and again, and then stared at the guests as they drank. But if the guests were too honest or overthinking, like Padrick half an hour ago, it was very likely that she would drown them with tea.
"Excuse me … does the duke know that I'm here?" After putting down the teacup, Padrick looked at Betty cautiously and asked.
She was just a lowly maid. In terms of status, it was impossible for her to be compared to him, who was the advisor of the feudal lord. But only a fool would use such a simple method to compare. It was true that this little girl was just a maid, but she was the maid of the duke!
Then the "duke's maid" held her chin with her fingers and fell into a daze for a few seconds. After thinking hard, Betty shook her head and said, "I don't know!"
Padrick sighed and gave up trying to find out anything from Betty.
At this moment, the door of the reception hall was finally pushed open. A tall figure stood there, and Padrick, who had just sighed, stood up reflexively.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Gwen said with a smile as he walked into the room. "I was inspecting the alchemy factory, and it took me some time to sort out the samples. Betty, have you served the guests tea?"
Betty raised the big teapot in her hand and said, "Serve the tea!"
When Padrick heard the sound of water in the big teapot, he burped reflexively.
Gwen was stunned. Why did this fat man burp with an echo?
However, he did not delve into this matter. Instead, he was gratified by the growth of his little maid. After giving the little girl an approving smile, he looked at Mr. Padrick, who was a little nervous and burping with an echo, "Knight Philip praised you a lot. When he came back to report the situation last time, he mentioned that you had managed the finances of Kant Hill in an orderly manner. Not only did you ensure the supply of materials in the winter, but you also stabilized the merchants who trade with Kant Hill even after the death of the Lord, so that they can still do business with Kant Hill in the coming year?"
"I just did what I was supposed to do," Padrick nodded reservedly. "I've always been responsible for dealing with the Chamber of Commerce in the territory and making suggestions to the Lord in this regard. I'm ashamed to say that although I'm good at heraldry, grammar, and etiquette, I put more energy into money. This … is probably not very decent."
"It's really not decent when you're good at dealing with money but don't dare to admit it," Gwen said with a smile. "I'm here today to talk to you about money. I think you already know this, right?"
"Ah, yes, I saw your letter. Your territory has entered the stage of production, so you want me to contact the trade route?" Padrick nodded. "It's about alchemy potions, right?"
"Yes, alchemy potions. But I want to say in advance that the way Cecil Hill produces and sells alchemy potions is probably very different from what you think. I have a new trade model, and I need you to help me build and implement it."
"A new trade model?" Padrick frowned. He did not know what Gwen meant. "Are you talking about your commission as the Lord?"
"It's too troublesome to talk about it. It's better for you to take a look at the information," Gwen said as he gestured to Heti, who was beside him, to pass a book that was not too thick to Padrick. "This will tell you what the 'new trade model' is."
Padrick took the book. Although he was in awe of Gwen, he was still quite conceited when talking about his field of expertise. He knew that he had dealt with merchants for half his life, and he was very familiar with the business of paving trade routes, trading, selling, and storing. No matter how novel the trade model was, it would not be too complicated in his eyes. It was a bit of a fuss to use a book to explain it, but he dared not say it out loud. He could only nod respectfully. "Okay, I'll take a look. My Lord Duke, you can rest assured that I'm quite confident in business. "
As he spoke, he saw some key words in the book: chain distribution, regional agent, circulation network, profit sharing model, and market expansion.
Gawain didn't say anything. He just quietly watched Padrick quickly finish reading the book that wasn't very thick.
Padrick used a few minutes to skim through the first page, and then used three times the time to read it a second time.
When he was about to read it a third time, Gwen interrupted him. "Mr. Padrick, what do you think?"
Padrick rubbed his eyes and looked at Gwen blankly. He seemed to have forgotten that he was in the reception hall of the Duke's mansion. His mind was full of those incredible terms and specific operation plans. When he realized that it was Gwen who called him, he suddenly broke out in cold sweat. "Yes … Yes, my Lord Duke! I've finished reading it, I've finished reading it! "
"I know you've finished reading it. I want to know your thoughts."
"This … this …" Padrick looked down at the book in his hand, but suddenly found that he could not use the words. "These ideas are indeed something I've never thought of. They look strange … but they seem feasible. But … "
The fat gentleman hesitated for a long time before he finally took a deep breath. "Well, I admit that there is no problem logically. If it is really realized, then it will quickly grow into a business monster in the Southern Territory. No single merchant, merchant, or even regional chamber of commerce can fight against such a well-organized, efficient, unified group of merchants with the support of great nobles. But I also have to say that these ideas are almost impossible to realize. You want everyone in this sales system to be under a unified command. The shops at the bottom are under the command of the regional agents, and the regional agents are under the command of the general manager appointed by you. But no merchant has ever accepted this constraint before. Of course, this can be barely achieved through monetary benefits and contracts. But you also want the shops at the bottom to do business with civilians. This … "
Padrick spread out his hands. "The alchemy potion is not the smelly ointment made by the herbalist in the countryside. Even the poor mercenaries may not necessarily be able to afford it. How can the civilians afford it? Even if we sell it to the civilians, no one will buy it! "
"You don't have to worry about this. Since I said that the new alchemy potion can be sold to the civilians, then naturally, I have considered the price. I can guarantee that it will be cheap enough for the civilians to grit their teeth and bear with it. The nobles can also use this potion for their armies."
Gwen did not directly say too much. He did not promise that "even the serfs can afford the alchemy potion" because this was unrealistic. Not every territory was like Cecil's territory. In most places in the world, the serfs' private property was almost zero. Even if Gwen made the alchemy potion cheap, the serfs could not even afford a bottle cap. In this regard, Gwen was still powerless at the moment.
Making the alchemy potion affordable for the civilians in other territories was already his biggest goal at the moment.
Padrick's first reaction to Gwen's statement was to doubt that it was impossible. But seeing that Gwen's face did not waver, he wisely did not say this out loud. Instead, he simply commented on the trade model in the manual. "Well, then I have to say that the things written in the manual are full of wisdom. If what you want to sell is not alchemy potions but food and cloth, my evaluation of it will go up a level. But I have one last question … Do you have so many alchemy potions? "
The "business scholar" spread out his hands. "To 'feed' such a sales system, the number of alchemy potions needed is not small."
Gwen smiled and waved to the two attendants beside him. "Go and bring in the samples."
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