"How many ships are you planning to buy?" Fatty Shi asked.
He had no choice but to buy ships. Oxhorn Bay Shipyard could only produce seven ships a year at most. Currently, they were building two whaling ships and a three-masted sailing warship designed by Laurist himself. Laurist's plan was to build a whaling fleet of seven to eight ships specializing in whaling or fishing to provide fish products for the family's territory. The seas further north had yet to be developed and were rich in marine resources. This was a treasure land for the family's territory.
Next, the family needed a powerful armed fleet to protect the surrounding seas. This was the family's maritime territory. Even though they had yet to encounter enemies like pirates, the family needed to take precautions and ensure their safety. The three-masted sailing warship that was nearing completion was an attempt at a long-range attack warship. In the next two years, the plan was to build a small fleet of five warships to protect the family's maritime transportation and marine development.
With this, the Oxhorn Bay Shipyard's schedule was already full. Even though they planned to build a shipyard on Syrovas Island, this shipyard was mainly responsible for building small coastal fishing boats and small cargo ships. It could also repair the family's large fishing boats and warships. According to the schedule, it would take at least two years for the shipyard on Syrovas Island to see initial results.
After Laurist arrived at Syrovas Island, he captured six ships. They all belonged to the children of the nobles who occupied the Ocean Gazing Manor. There was also one that Viscount Aslan had commandeered to Syrovas Island to collect taxes. Now, it had become Laurist's spoils of war. Two small ships became the ferries from Syrovas Island to Port Qilin. The remaining four ships and two whaling ships formed a small cargo fleet from Oxhorn Bay to Syrovas Island.
The development of Syrovas Island required the support of the family's territory, which meant that they needed a large fleet of cargo ships. Since the family only owned the Oxhorn Bay shipyard, purchasing cargo ships was the only option they had. Morent City's Hidden Gold Bay was surrounded by shipyards. They would definitely be able to purchase suitable cargo ships there.
"I'm not sure either. I'll ask around when I get to Morent City before deciding," Laurist replied.
"That's another huge expenditure. The family's finances aren't looking good!" Fatty Shi sighed.
As the former head butler of the Norton family, Fatty Shi was well aware of the family's financial situation and capital reserves. Thanks to the family's caravan's raids and robberies along the way, as well as the ransacking of the Northern Grand Duchy, the family's capital reserve at its peak was more than four million gold coins. This was an astonishing and huge amount of wealth that could rival a nation's. It was enough for Laurist and the knights under him to enjoy themselves for two hundred years without doing anything.
However, Laurist invested these funds into the development of his family's territory and the improvement of his family's military strength. Resisting the wave of demonic beasts, settling down the refugees, and developing the Fengle Plains and Xingan Plains had cost nearly a million gold coins. Next, he would invest in the development of the Black Clay Swamp in his family's territory. The total investment was estimated to be close to a million gold coins. In addition, the Oxhorn Bay Shipyard and the Blade Peak Mountain Range's Darkiron Refining Base, Crossbow Factory, and Weapon Production Base had also cost no less than 500,000 gold coins.
With regards to the development of Syrovas Island, Laurist decided on a plan after some discussion. Fatty Shi's budget for the development was close to 800,000 gold fords. Now, Laurist wanted to purchase a large number of cargo ships, which were not cheap goods. A ship that cost four to five thousand gold coins was considered second-hand goods. In this way, the family's financial reserves were only around 500,000 gold coins, and the family's annual military expenditure and administrative expenses were close to 300,000 gold coins. Fatty Shi began to worry about this. .
"There's no need to worry about funds." Laurist smiled and comforted Fatty Shi. "Now that the development of the Fengle Plains and Xingan Plains is nearing its end, and judging from this year's tax collection, we can already be self-sufficient in terms of administrative and garrison expenses. The processing factories have also begun to make profits. Last year, the family earned a few thousand gold coins in this area, and this year, we'll have an estimated profit of more than 20,000 gold coins, which will be quite beneficial to the family.
"In terms of investment, the territory in the Black Clay Swamp near the family is already in our hands. Next, the main focus is to build the dam along the river and the port city. This has been decided long ago, and we don't have to worry about funds. The other big problem is the shipyard, which requires continuous investment. This has been arranged long ago. As for the few bases in the Blade Peak Mountain Range, they've already earned a lot of money for the family, and we don't need a lot of research funds. We just need to spend twenty to thirty thousand gold coins a year for them to research and improve.
The Snow Salt Merchant Guild, a joint venture with the three major families, can bring us tens of thousands of gold coins a year, and the family's military has been invested in building new guards and marines. The others have already been upgraded, and we only need to pay them. From the looks of it, we've reduced our military expenditure by close to 100,000 gold coins. I estimate that by next year, just the income from the Fengle Plains and Xingan Plains will be enough to cover the entire family's military expenditure and administrative expenses. "
"Impossible …" Fatty Shi shook his head in disbelief. "Even if we subtract 100,000 gold coins, the annual military expenditure and administrative expenses will still be close to 200,000 gold coins. The family's territory can't possibly have such a high income."
Laurist laughed loudly. "Why not? There are more than 12,000 residents on Sirovas Island, and a few years ago, 50% of the tax would still be around 5,000 gold coins. Every person would have to pay about half a gold coin in tax. Think about it, there are more than 800,000 people in the Fengle Plains and Xingan Plains. If each person pays a quarter of their tax, that'll be around 200,000 gold coins, and it'll be even more next year.
Besides, it's not like we can only export and not import. Although it'll cost a lot to buy a cargo ship from Moronte City, as long as we transport the major monster furs we've accumulated in the north over the past few years to Moronte City, we can sell them for more than a million gold coins. There's also the smoked major monster jerky and whale meat, which are all best-selling goods. Soon, we'll be able to earn back the money we invested in the development. "
"That's right. How could I forget that we can do commercial transactions?" Fatty Shi slapped his forehead. "But Locke, if you return all these captives to His Highness, the development of this place will be very tight. Sirovas Island needs a lot of labor. Are we really going to recruit refugees? What if His Highness doesn't agree? "
"He'll probably agree. Krisya said that he has a headache with these refugees as well. Every month, he has to consume a large amount of food to feed the refugees in the two southwestern provinces. If we recruit these refugees as laborers, we'll be reducing his burden, so he won't stop us. Krisya will bring us the authorization documents in two days. Don't worry, "Laurist replied after some thought.
"We've estimated that if we want to complete the initial development of Sirovas Island in two years, we'll need more than 30,000 young men. What we need to do now is to move White Bird Town, expand the docks, build defensive walls and facilities, reconstruct Ocean View Manor, rebuild the seven villages and develop the terraced fields, build the navy barracks and the fleet docks, choose the location of the shipyard, build the third battalion's fortress, and build the coastal embankment. All of these projects require sufficient labor … "
Fatty Shi shook his head and continued, "We need to invest too much money to develop Syrovas Island. According to the family's principle of choosing refugees as laborers, we will recruit those who have families. These refugees who come with their families will increase our expenses and food consumption. Locke, when you buy a ship, you'll also need to order a large amount of food as a reserve. Once the population on the island increases, we won't be able to produce enough food … "
Laurist thought for a moment and said, "I forgot to ask Krisya. I heard from her that things have been going well for the past few years. The Andinac Kingdom has harvested a lot of food. As taxes are paid with food, His Highness has plenty of food. I think we should buy a batch from him. I believe he'll be happy to do so. However, we'll need to store a large amount of food, the more the better. "
"Why?" Fatty Shi asked.
"It's simple. His Highness is waiting for the third prince to pass away. Krisya said that the third prince won't last more than three months. As soon as the third prince passes away, His Highness will definitely start a war to unify the empire. Once the war starts, if there are any setbacks or we lose, the Andinac Kingdom will probably be affected as well. If the war drags on, I'm afraid it'll be like the years of the empire's civil war. No one in the kingdom will be able to farm in peace. At that time, our food reserves were used to save the lives of these refugees. "
"You don't think highly of His Highness? If you ask me, 300,000 troops will be enough to wipe out half of the empire, not to mention unifying the entire empire. When that time comes, with those fence-sitters, His Highness will become more and more powerful. No one will be able to stop his army. "Fatty Shi didn't understand why Laurist didn't think highly of His Highness.
"I don't know either. It's just a gut feeling. I have a vague feeling that His Highness won't succeed. I don't know why I think that way. Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. If His Highness agrees to recruit talents and accept refugees in the capital, who are you going to put in charge of this? "Laurist asked.
"This time, the two stewards, Kordan and Hansk, will come with the ship. I want Steward Hansk to stay on the island to help me. I'll let Steward Kordan take Hikard to the capital. They can ask Karetok and Krisya to take care of them. As for recruiting refugees, I might personally make a trip to the two provinces in the southwest, "Fatty Shi answered.
"If that's the case, then I'll let Jim lead a team of 500 guards to protect your safety. I'll take the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn with Josk, El, Dorus, and the ten guards to Morent City. You'll be in charge of everything on Syrovas Island.
Also, you'll be in charge of buying food with His Highness. Also, Master Hikard's eldest son is going to explore the mines on Syrovas Island. It's November now, so don't let him go deep into the mountains in case he runs into danger. Let him spend the winter on the island. Next year, he'll take the guards to explore the entire island. "
Laurist patted Fatty Shi's shoulder and remembered something else. "Right, write a letter to your father. Let me take it to him."
"What for?" Fatty Shi asked.
"Buy glass. Isn't your father a glass dealer? If we buy a large amount of glass from him and ship it to the family's territory, the transportation costs will be reduced. Do you know that a piece of green glass that can be bought for a few copper coins in Morent City? We'll have to spend a large silver coin to buy it in the north. Many residents in the family's territory have wooden windows, so I've decided to buy glass after buying a cargo ship, "Laurist said eloquently.
Fatty Shi laughed. "Alright, I'll write it for you tonight. When are you leaving? "
"In two days. I have to wait for the family's ship to arrive. This time, the ship is shipping 500,000 gold coins, as well as some magical beast pelts and other goods. I'll bring 100,000 gold coins as a deposit and purchase price. I'll leave the remaining 400,000 here for you, "Laurist said.
… …
Three days later, the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn set sail once again, heading south.
The further south they went, the more ships they encountered. There were coastal fishing boats of all sizes, as well as all kinds of small cargo ships.
Captain Wilson said that the former Crimson Empire didn't pay much attention to the sea and didn't have any fleets. The main reason was that there weren't any good ports along the northern coast. Qilin Port was already the northernmost known port. Because the water was too deep, large merchant ships and warships couldn't be docked there. The small ships in the southern waters were basically owned by the coastal lords. They relied on their location to obtain wealth from the sea for themselves.
Laurist thought of Mr. Tim, whom he had met a few years ago. He didn't know how the illegitimate son he had pushed to the position of Viscount Terberi was doing. However, Fatty Shi had facilitated the cooperation between the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce and Viscount Terberi's territory. He had even helped Mr. Tim build a garrison. Now that he thought about it, he should be doing well. Perhaps he could get some information about the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce from him. This time, he would need President Peterson's help to go to Morent City.
"Head to Viscount Terberi's territory," Laurist ordered.
Seven days later, the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn appeared in the coastal waters of Viscount Terberi's territory. Dolus and Ell had followed Fatty Shi here a few times before, so they quickly found the cargo port of the viscount's territory. They also saw the Terberi family's flag fluttering on the manor castle built on the hillside in the distance.
There were only two small armed cargo ships docked at the port. There were no large cargo ships of the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce. Wilson directed the ship to approach the port and stopped.
A horn sounded from the manor castle in the distance. Not long after, a group of garrison soldiers rushed over, led by an old knight with a head full of white hair.
"Hehe, this is old Kemos. We've met him before," Dolus and Ell exclaimed.
Laurist had heard Tim mention this old knight before. He was the only surviving old knight of the Terberi family, but he had never met this old knight before. This old man should be in his sixties.
Old knight Kemos's eyes were not blurry. He still recognized Dolus and Ell. He got off his horse and laughed heartily as he walked up to them, hugged them one by one, and formally bowed to Laurist. However, when he heard that Laurist wanted to meet Mr. Tim, he apologized that it was not a coincidence. The viscount and his three children had accompanied the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce fleet to Morent City for the winter.
What? Mr. Tim already had three children? Laurist was very surprised.
Old knight Kemos expressed his gratitude. The marriage Laurist had arranged for Mr. Tim was very happy. The couple had a good relationship, and in the past six years, they had two sons and a daughter. Now, the viscount's wife was pregnant. Since the cooperation with the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce was very smooth, Mr. Tim had also earned a lot of money. He asked the Peterson's Chamber of Commerce to buy a house in Morent City.
Because of the viscount's wife's love, the viscount and his wife basically stayed in Morent City for half a year. They only returned to the viscount's territory in the summer, and they would go to Morent City again before winter.
Laurist said, "Then forget it. We are going to Morent City anyway. Give me the viscount's address, and I will pay him a visit when the time comes."
Old knight Kemos wrote down the address and gave it to Laurist. After thinking for a moment, he pointed at the swallowtail flag of the Andenac Kingdom on the Flying Fish and asked, "My lord, are you a noble of the Andenac Kingdom now?"
Laurist nodded. He looked at the hesitant expression on old knight Kemos's face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Forgive me for being presumptuous, my lord. You can fly your own family's flag, or the Terberi family's flag, but it's best not to fly the Andenac Kingdom's flag to Morent City. The people there do not like the Andenac Kingdom's ships entering Hidden Gold Bay, "Old knight Kemos said.
"Oh …" Laurist thought about it.
…
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