Duke Linting was shocked at first, and then said angrily, "Count Søren, are you kidding me?"
More than a million gold coins? More than a year's worth of taxes? How could there be such a business in this world?
Well, there was such a business in this world. For example, Zhi Li's King City Gold Company. Because it had the power to issue gold notes, it could be said to be as rich as a country. The gold coins it controlled were even more than the public treasury of the Ministry of Revenue.
But the money in King City Gold Company did not belong to Zhi Li alone. It belonged to the nobles and dukes of the world. Zhi Li and Zhi Ning were only the managers and the biggest shareholders.
Duke Linting could be said to be as rich as a country. It was already very impressive to earn twenty or thirty thousand gold coins a year.
There was no business in this world that could earn more than fifty thousand gold coins a year. So it was no wonder that Duke Linting was angry and felt that he had been fooled.
Søren took out a bag from his bosom and slowly poured the salt in it on the table. "Your Excellency, this is the business we want to do."
"Isn't it just salt?" Duke Linting said dismissively. "I know that the Stony Island you are on was originally a secret saltworks of Gui Xingfu. He caught thousands of slaves to boil salt on it. It's just a saltworks. How much salt can a few thousand slaves boil in a year? More than a million kilograms is amazing. "
Salt was indeed a good business. Everyone in the world needed to eat salt, and there were only three countries that could produce salt: the Raging Wave Kingdom, the Yan Empire, and the Dongli Kingdom.
The reason was that these three countries were coastal. In this world, there was no well salt or rock salt, so they could only rely on boiling salt. Therefore, only coastal countries could cook salt.
Just the Raging Wave Kingdom alone had hundreds of large and small saltworks, producing about two to three hundred million kilograms of salt a year.
This salt not only supplied the tens of millions of people in the Raging Wave Kingdom, but also sold to the Western Liang Kingdom and dozens of countries, big and small, and even the southern barbarians.
That's right, the southern barbarians also needed to eat salt. Although they also cooked salt, they were barbarians after all, and their production efficiency was far inferior to the human kingdoms. Even though they were mortal enemies, as long as there was money to be made, they could do any business in this world.
What's more, the southern barbarians had many precious minerals that humans didn't have, so they could exchange them with each other.
Therefore, the seaside counties, nobles, and dukes were all doing the business of boiling salt. Moreover, in this world, there was no salt and iron monopoly system. Anyone with a little bit of power could cook salt, including Duke Fang Ting. He had two saltworks, and just like Gui Xingfu, he also used slaves to cook salt.
After all, using slaves to cook salt was the only way to make enough profit. If he really hired commoners to cook salt, the cost would be unimaginably high.
However, some nobles who cared about their reputation and the official salt works of the kingdom could only hire professional salt men.
Therefore, cooking salt was a good business, but even the largest salt works could only earn tens of thousands of gold coins a year.
The largest salt works in the entire Raging Wave Kingdom was in the Southeast Province, directly under the governor-general's office. It was tens of thousands of acres, and with tens of thousands of salt men, they could only cook tens of millions of kilograms of salt a year. This output was far from the ancient salt works in China.
Duke Fang Ting asked, "How big is your salt works?"
Søren said, "Only ten thousand acres for now, but as long as there are enough people, I can open up fifty thousand acres, or even a hundred thousand acres."
Duke Fang Ting snorted and said, "Not even a blade of grass grows on your deserted island. The trees on the mountain have long been cut down by Gui Xingfu. Where can you get wood to cook salt?"
This was the biggest problem in this era. Any salt works must meet two conditions: there must be enough trees, and it must be close to the sea. Therefore, there was a bottleneck in the scale of the salt works.
Duke Fang Ting said, "And even if you have enough trees, even if you open up a hundred thousand acres of salt works, you will need at least tens of thousands of slaves. Where can you get so many slaves? Even if you have so many slaves, how much salt can a hundred thousand acres of salt works produce in a year? Ten million kilograms at most. How much money can you make then? Ten thousand gold coins is the most you can make. "
Sauron looked at Duke Linting and said, "My salt works are 100,000 mu large, and I only need 5,000 salt workers. And the output is not ten million kilograms. "
"If not ten million kilograms, then how much?" Duke Fang Ting asked.
"More than a hundred million kilograms." Søren said.
Duke Fang Ting choked on his own saliva when he heard this. He dug his ears and said in surprise, "How much?"
"More than a hundred million kilograms." Søren said.
"Impossible!" Duke Fang Ting sneered, "Don't think I don't know anything. I have two salt works under me. Ten thousand acres of salt works can only produce about a million kilograms, and I need at least three thousand salt men. Your hundred thousand acres of salt works only need five thousand salt men to produce more than a hundred million kilograms of salt? That's a fool's dream. How much wood do you have on your rocky island? How much salt can you cook? "
Søren said, "I know Your Excellency doesn't believe me. So I asked you to send a confidant to my rocky island to take a look. Then you will understand everything."
Duke Fang Ting was stunned when he saw that Søren did not look like he was joking.
Sauron had created an earth-shattering miracle in King City, causing Jinning and Feng Li to suffer a great loss. Could it be that he really had some earth-shattering skill?
But a salt works that could produce more than a hundred million kilograms of salt a year was too shocking.
"Is what you said true?" Duke Fang Ting asked.
"Of course. How would I dare to lie to Your Excellency?" Søren said, "In fact, as long as there are enough people, my salt works can produce a hundred million kilograms, or even two hundred million kilograms of salt. Not only can I sell it to the Raging Wave Kingdom, but I can also sell it to the Western Liang Kingdom, Norland, and the Southern Barbarians. "
Duke Fang Ting held his breath and asked, "How much does it cost you to produce a kilogram of salt?"
"Almost nothing," Søren said, "because my salt is not boiled, so it doesn't need wood."
The salt in this world was coarse salt. Only the fine salt used by the nobles needed to be purified and crystallized. Therefore, it could be sold directly after it was dried.
Although Duke Fang Ting could not believe that the salt in this world did not need to be boiled. But this did not stop him from calculating in his mind.
If he could really produce a hundred million kilograms of salt a year, it would be a few billion copper coins. That was a hundred thousand gold coins. And if it was the two hundred million kilograms that Søren said, it would be two hundred thousand gold coins.
And as long as there was salt, Duke Fang Ting could sell as much as he had.
If the Raging Wave Kingdom could not sell it all, he could sell it to the Western Liang Kingdom, the Beifeng Kingdom, the Southern Barbarians, and so on.
In the entire Middle Earth alone, there were dozens of large and small countries, with hundreds of millions of people.
Let's put it this way, this world could only rely on seawater to boil salt, and there were only a few saltwater lakes inland. Salt had always been in a state of scarcity, so it could be sold for a sky-high price of eighty to ninety copper coins per kilogram.
Therefore, as long as there was salt, Duke Fang Ting could sell it no matter how much he had.
If he really had two hundred million kilograms of salt, he could earn a hundred to two hundred thousand gold coins a year. And this was a long-term business, which could last for generations.
In this way, he could earn more than a million gold coins in ten years, which was really more than the annual taxes of the kingdom.
Søren said, "Your Excellency, I will only do this business with you. I will be in charge of the production, and you will be in charge of the sales. We will split it fifty-fifty."
Suddenly, Duke Fang Ting could hardly breathe, and his eyes shone brightly.
"Is what you said true? You are not lying to me?" Duke Fang Ting asked in disbelief.
Søren said, "You are my benefactor, and my only backer in Royal City. How would I dare to lie to you?"
"Hehe, your only backer is not me," Duke Fang Ting said. "But, I really can't believe that your barren land can produce one or two hundred million kilograms of salt a year. I really can't believe it even in my dreams."
Søren said, "This is very simple. You only need to send a trusted aide to take a look at my rocky island, and you will know that everything I said is true."
Duke Fang Ting closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and said, "I will not send any trusted aide. This is such a big matter, I will go myself."
Søren was stunned, and said, "This is going to sea, and we may encounter Gui Xingfu's fleet, you …"
"I don't believe that Gui Xingfu would dare to attack me." Duke Fang Ting sneered, "Then it's decided. I will go with you to the rocky island. I want to see how you produce your salt."
…
That night, Duke Fang Ting secretly entered the palace.
The next day, Duke Fang Ting, who had never left Royal City, announced that he was going to the southeast of the kingdom to relax.
Suddenly, the nobles of Royal City rejoiced. This scourge was finally leaving, even if it was only for a short while.
As for the governor of the southeastern part of the Kingdom of Nu Lang, the governor, and the nobles, they were extremely worried. This pest, please don't come to my territory. This King City's biggest playboy was famous for being greedy for money and hard to serve.
Under the protection of a few thousand elite soldiers, Duke Fang Ting left Royal City in the most comfortable and luxurious carriage, and headed east along the official road.
Even though he was rushing, it still took him a full seven days to reach Chuyun County on the northeast coast of the Raging Wave Kingdom.
He chose to go out to sea here because Chuyun County was Duke Fang Ting's territory. The prefectural governor here, Zuo Daojin, was originally a destitute nobleman. He had climbed to the position of prefectural governor by shamelessly licking Duke Fang Ting's boots.
Of course, his official position had come to an end. Duke Fang Ting's power in the political field was limited.
Moreover, he had two saltworks in Chuyun County, which required Zuo Daojin's care. However, he was completely satisfied to be able to be the prefectural governor of Chuyun County for the rest of his life.
As for the fact that he had licked Duke Fang Ting's boots and was despised by the nobles of the world? So what? Compared to glory, splendor, wealth, reputation was nothing.
Hearing that his lord was coming, Zuo Daojin, the prefectural governor of Chuyun County, was both afraid and excited. He had already prepared the most exquisite food, the most luxurious manor, the most beautiful women, and even his wife and concubines.
Even so, he was still afraid that he had not prepared well enough, so he could not sleep for a night.
In the end, when Duke Fang Ting arrived at Chuyun County, he did not stop at all. He directly boarded a magnificent and huge ship and set out to sea with a fleet of ships.
Suddenly, the prefectural governor of Chuyun County knelt on the ground and was so scared that he almost peed his pants. He was scared out of his wits and felt cold all over his body.
"What, what did I do wrong to make His Highness unhappy? Am I going to be finished? "
He had always been looked down upon by all the noblemen, and his only support was Duke Fang Ting. If he was abandoned by Duke Fang Ting, his family would be completely finished.
Zuo Daojin returned to the prefectural governor's mansion in a state of panic. He was so scared that he hid in his bed and cried loudly.
Duke Fang Ting's fleet consisted of dozens of ships of various sizes. They were loaded with grains, vegetables, and cured meat as they sailed towards Rocky Island.
After sailing for hundreds of miles for a day and a night, Rocky Island was already in sight.
But what was that? Rocky Island was being besieged?
Gui Xingfu dared to risk universal condemnation by openly sending troops to attack Rocky Island?
Dozens of miles away, Søren saw dozens of ships surrounding the pier of Rocky Island.
…
To be precise, there were twenty-five ships and a total of two thousand soldiers. The elite navy of Linhai Town had turned out in full force.
Thousands of archers on the ships were nocking their bows and aiming at the island.
At this time, almost all the warriors and salt people on Rocky Island had turned out in full force, holding all kinds of weapons and confronting Gui Xingfu's army on the ships.
Suo Ningbing looked at the Gui fleet and said angrily, "This is the sacred territory of the Suo Clan. No outsider is allowed to set foot on Rocky Island without permission."
"Hahaha … What territory of the Suo Clan? It's just a rotten bone thrown out by my family. To think that the Suo Clan treats this barren land like a treasure." The leader of the Gui Clan's navy sneered.
He was Gui Xingfu's third son, Gui Qinzhong. He was a high-level warrior and the commander of Linhai Town's navy.
Suo Ningbing said, "Even so, the Gui Clan has no right to set foot on the island. Please leave quickly, or else …"
"Or else what?" Gui Qinzhong said coldly, "You want to block my army of a few thousand? A traitor escaped from the Linhai Town Lord's residence. Many people saw with their own eyes that he escaped to Rocky Island and hid. If you are not guilty, why don't you let me search the island? "
Suo Ningbing was so angry that her delicate body trembled. The Gui Clan was really shameless. They obviously wanted to explore the island, but they made up such a ridiculous reason.
Immediately, she didn't want to talk nonsense and directly ordered, "Everyone get ready. Once someone sets foot on the island, kill without mercy."
"Yes!" All the warriors and all the salt people present shouted in unison.
There were millions of kilograms of salt in the warehouse on the island, and the secret of the salt pans. Once these bandits set foot on the island, all the hard work of the past few months and all the hope of the Suo Clan's revival would be completely destroyed.
Moreover, these salt pans were opened up by everyone present. It was unknown how much blood and sweat they had shed. It was the condensation of all their hopes. They would rather die than let the bandits take it.
Therefore, despite the disparity in power, everyone on the island didn't hesitate to fight with their lives.
Looking at the more than a thousand salt people on the island with sticks and forks, Gui Qinzhong disdainfully smiled and said, "Rush forward, whoever stops me from searching for the traitor, kill without mercy."
Then, dozens of boats desperately rushed to the dock. Thousands of crossbowmen were ready to shoot arrows of slaughter at any time.
…
"Your territory is being robbed. What should we do?" Duke Yanting said.
Søren said, "Can I borrow the Duke's thousands of soldiers?"
"Of course." Yanting said, "If what you said is true, then half of the salt pans on the island belong to me. How can I let the bandits touch it?"
Søren said, "What if the people sent by our Gui Xingfu are all killed?"
Yanting trembled. If they were all killed, then … then it would not be a small problem.
Søren said, "The number of Gui Xingfu's soldiers who can go to sea is only a few thousand. If we kill all of them this time, there probably won't be any more large-scale attacks on Stony Island from the sea next time. It can be considered as once and for all. "
Duke Yanting said with a trembling voice, "Can your island really produce so much salt?"
Søren said, "Whether it is true or not, Your Excellency will see it in at most two hours."
Duke Yanting closed her eyes and hesitated. Finally, her eyes became cold and determined.
"All troops get ready. Full speed ahead and kill all the pirates in front." Duke Yanting said.
"Yes." The officers on the ship shouted in unison, "All ships speed up. All crossbowmen, get ready!"
In the darkness, Duke Yanting's fleet began to speed up, trying to outflank Gui Qinzhong's fleet.
…
"Third young master, what if we really kill them? What should we do? "A general asked.
Gui Qinzhong said, "What else can we do? Kill all the people on the island, leaving only Søren and Suo Ningbing alive."
"But …" The general said, "this is the Suo clan's territory. What we do is against the kingdom's laws."
Gui Qinzhong sneered, "Now Søren is like a stray dog. It's good enough that he doesn't starve to death on this deserted island. Do you think he can go to King's City to complain?"
Gui Qinzhong searched the crowd several times but did not see Søren.
Søren, this trash, really did not dare to appear at the critical moment. Father had always warned him not to go to the island without his orders and to be careful of his crafty plots.
Father was really too weak. This bastard dared to humiliate my Gui family and tarnish my sister's reputation. How could he tolerate it?
These two days, when his father was not around, his sister Gui Qinshao stole his father's commander's seal, and then his mother Turings came forward. Only then was he able to lead the two thousand navy of Waterfront to attack the island.
Yan Tingyi, that idiot, was so scared that he almost cried. He could not stop himself and immediately left Waterfront to complain to his father.
By the time his father returned, he had already finished his work. Not only did he find out the truth of the island, he also killed all the people on the island.
Humph, this family still had to rely on himself!
Then, Gui Qinzhong looked at Suo Ningbing in the firelight. She was really beautiful. That soft body, that beautiful face, that delicate temperament, it was a blessing that every man dreamed of.
"Sauron, you dared to humiliate my little sister. Today, I'll really humiliate your big sister. I'll let you experience a tragedy where even the heavens won't respond and the earth won't hear you." Gui Qinzhong looked at Suo Ningbing with eyes filled with greed and fanaticism.
"Third brother, where is that scoundrel Søren?" At this time, a woman's voice came into his ears. It was very pleasant to listen to, but it was full of hatred.
Then, a soldier came forward and took off his mask, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful face. If it was not Gui Qinshao, who else could it be?
Immediately, Gui Qinzhong was shocked and said: "Sister, you … … why are you here? If father knows, he will skin me alive. "
"Why can't I come? I stole the commander's seal. " Gui Qinshao was wearing a military uniform, looking at the direction of the island, said: "I have waited for this day for a long time. Today, I will make Søren beg for death. I will return the humiliation he gave me ten times, a hundred times. "
Then, Gui Qinshao's beautiful big eyes looked at Gui Qinzhong and said: "Third brother, what you do next, I don't care, what I do, you don't care."
Gui Qinzhong hesitated for a while, looking at Suo Ningbing on the island, his eyes gradually became evil, said: "Fine, I don't care what you do to Søren. But father said, Søren can't be killed. "
"Kill? I won't kill him. "Gui Qinshao said:" In this world, I don't know how many kinds of tortures are more terrible than death. "
Then, she directly overstepped her authority and said, "Charge forward and kill everyone on the island."
At the same time, Søren led Duke Ting's fleet, like a devil in the darkness, opened his big mouth towards Gui Qinzhong's fleet.
He still didn't know that Gui Qinshao was also in this big net.
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