The banquet was a success. The dessert ice cream was a good way to soothe the heat during the meal.
This bit of ice cream used up all the ice in the kitchen. Liszt originally thought that the count's people would ask why the Flower Town could also produce ice cubes. Unexpectedly, no one asked. Probably because they were used to using ice in Tulip Castle, they simply didn't notice that there should be no ice here.
After the meal, the aristocrats chatted.
Liszt let Gort greet them on his behalf, while he and Levis went to the study.
"Brother, how many days before the Tulip Fleet returns?"
"According to the usual schedule, it should return to the Coral City's pier in about a week." Levis took out a cigar and lit it, "You want to talk about the slave trade?"
"Yes, the next time the Tulip Fleet goes to sea to trade, I hope that you can help me buy a batch of serfs."
"Sure, but how much can you pay?"
"Ten silver coins for a serf?"
"That was the price in the past. Nowadays, there is no fighting in the grand duchy, so the sale of serfs is rare and very difficult to find."
"But a while ago, I also heard that the lord of the Small Kerchief Island was killed by pirates and lost his fief."
"The Sapphire Grand Duke is very angry about this and has already spread the news to the major fiefs, asking for assistance in besieging the pirates. However, after the pirates destroyed the Small Kerchief Island, they disappeared without a trace. Some people think that this is not a pirate, but a lord in disguise. The Big Kerchief Island has offered a reward of three hundred gold coins for clues about the pirates. "
Levis gave a brief account of the repercussions of the Small Kerchief Island encountering the pirates, before continuing: "However, apart from this, the grand duchy is calm. The slave trade needs to be further away, preferably at the border between the Eagle Kingdom and the Steel Ridge Kingdom."
"Name a price. If I can accept it, then I will agree."
"Twenty silver coins for a serf, it cannot be lower than this price. Otherwise, I will not be able to make a profit." Levis gave his price, "Another thing, if the number of serfs is too large, then I need to pay the gold coins now. Otherwise, I will not be able to explain it to my father."
Liszt thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "100 gold coins, help me bring back 500 serfs."
"How refreshing."
"I have a small request. These 500 serfs should be mainly young people. Buy more female serfs. In addition, if there are serfs with skills, buy them first. "
"You mean blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, and such serfs? This won't be easy. Craftsmen are mostly freedmen, and the laws of every country protect freedmen. It's very difficult to sell them like serfs at will. "Every aspect of a city's operation was inseparable from freedmen, so the laws of the country protected them.
Liszt clenched his teeth: "I will add another 20 gold coins. Among the 500 serfs, at least 100 are craftsmen."
"Sure."
He painfully counted one hundred and twenty golden Naldas to Levis.
Looking at his shriveled wallet, Liszt felt a little melancholy. Originally, he had around 150 gold coins, but as he continued to pay the wages of the civilians, he had spent a lot of gold coins. Now, there were only 16 gold coins left in the wallet, which could dry up at any time.
Fortunately, the passage to the Thorns Ridge was about to be opened. So long as the caravan was established, the Flower Town's seafood could be sold to the Coral City.
He believed that the delicious seafood could create a good fortune for him.
… …
After digesting.
The count's convoy began to return. Liszt presented a batch of oysters and other seafood. This decision was made after Carter told him that the count had brought a lot of food.
Courtesy demanded reciprocity.
When the convoy left the Flower Town, the castle regained its tranquility. Although there were a lot of plates, wine glasses, and other things that needed to be cleaned up, and the small garden outside the castle was trampled out of shape by the Knights. But all of this, Carter could organize the servants to slowly clean it up without any pressure.
There were fifteen servants in the castle, which was enough.
"Teacher Gort, the festival is about to end. We need to free ourselves from the festive atmosphere. The town's construction progress cannot be stopped. Continue to expand the logging and gravel teams, as well as the fence construction teams, and strive to open the passage as soon as possible. "
Gort still wanted to continue: "As you wish."
At the banquet, he was like a fish in water, talking and laughing wittily with the count. He had not had such a good time in many years.
Over the next few days, besides supervising the logging work, Liszt also paid attention to another matter – the training of the fruit stealing monkeys.
At first, seven fruit stealing monkeys were caught alive, but they had all survived and recovered. However, two of them were lame, and it was not possible for them to climb trees.
The remaining five were given to the town's hunters for training.
Ropes, whips, and fruits were used together. Very soon, the unruly fruit stealing monkeys were tamed. They climbed trees and entered cages.
"Three female monkeys and four male monkeys. I believe that in the second half of the year, there will be ten fruit stealing monkeys." Monkeys generally gave birth to two babies a year, but each one usually gave birth to one baby.
Liszt looked at the fruit stealing monkeys that were becoming more and more obedient and was very satisfied: "Without the fruit stealing monkeys' destruction, this year's fragrant coconuts can ripen. I believe that in one or two months, we will be able to drink fresh and sweet coconut juice." Fragrant coconuts didn't have a seasonal pattern. Except for winter, they would continuously bear fruit in other seasons.
"The Coral City does not seem to have fragrant coconuts for sale. Perhaps, they will become a major specialty of the Flower Town. Unfortunately, no fragrant coconut sprite worm has been bred."
While he was outlining the future of the fragrant coconut tree, the hunters had already begun to train the fruit stealing monkeys to pick the fruits.
The fake fruits were tied to branches for the fruit stealing monkeys to pick. If they picked the fruits, they would be rewarded with a peanut. If they didn't pick the fruits, they would be whipped. The fruit stealing monkeys could not run away due to the ropes tied around their necks. If they dared to run, they would be whipped.
"Remember, animals can also bear grudges and throw tantrums. As long as they work diligently, do not whip them at will. If I find out that you have whipped the fruit stealing monkeys for no reason, then I will whip you. "Liszt emphasized with a serious expression. He did not want the fruit stealing monkeys to rebel in the future and smash a few fruit farmers to death.
"Sir Lord, please rest assured. We will not forget what you have instructed us to do." The part-time hunters understood that they would henceforth change from farmers to fruit farmers. They were all elated to have the fruit stealing monkeys work.
If it was not for training, Liszt would be reluctant to whip them. For fruit farmers, the fruit stealing monkeys were like Knight's horses.
After saying goodbye to the fruit stealing monkeys, Liszt returned to the castle and called over the few merchants among the new serfs.
"Old Grandet, Sherlock, Harpagon, you are merchants on the Smallkerchief Island?" Liszt repeated his question.
"Yes, Sir Lord."
"Is there a merchant on the Smallkerchief Island called Plushkin?"
Old Grandet replied: "Sir Lord, there are only three of us who specialize in peddling small goods on the Smallkerchief Island. Moreover, I know the names of everyone in the city, but there is no one called Plushkin."
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