Chapter 237:
After the Church of Wealth celebrated the Birthday of the Goddess, it was already Year 3263 of the Dawn Calendar.
Richard took his family to live in Heihe Fort for three days, took a few days to rest, and sorted out this year's work.
Margaret will be five years old in the next year. The little girl's IQ has obviously been inherited from her aunt and mother, and she is very smart. Despite being the youngest student at Riverside Elementary School, he can easily keep up with the curriculum.
Because she made many new friends at Riverside Primary School, Margaret's personality became much more cheerful.
After Philip was born, Margaret had a playmate and she was particularly happy during this time. As children grow up and have their own circle of friends, they gradually become less clingy.
After the birthday of the goddess, Richard took two squadrons of soldiers and 70,000 gold coins in cash to buy slaves in the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
Rather than going to the royal capital of Nolan, Richard preferred to go to the Grand Duchy of Stanik to buy slaves.
Because the Harland family has no competition with the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the nobles who control the Grand Duchy of Stanik will naturally not place people among the slaves. Relatively speaking, Richard also trusted the slaves purchased from the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
The caravans from the Harland Territory have been to the Grand Duchy of Stanik many times and are very familiar with this road.
Which lord is more friendly on the road, and where can I get water supplies? Are there any powerful bandits along the way?
Harland Caravan already knows these situations very well.
Because I was familiar with the road, the journey went very smoothly. After all, Richard's reputation has spread throughout Northern Xinjiang. No matter whether he is a bandit or a noble lord, he dare not easily provoke the Harland family and bring hatred to himself.
Moreover, there were a large number of soldiers escorting the caravan, with a total of two squadrons. The combat effectiveness of the two elite squadrons had exceeded that of the ordinary baron.
Although the two Dukes Edward and Fox were far more powerful than the Harland family, they had no reason to attack the Harland family caravan.
Although the relationship between the Harland family and the great nobles is not good, there is no hatred either.
There are a lot of trade exchanges between the two parties every year. The Harland family uses a wholesale agency system to do business with the great nobles. The territorial caravans basically do not operate in the territories of the great nobles.
There are no land conflicts or commercial conflicts, and the relationship can naturally be maintained.
As long as Dukes Edward and Fox don't send troops to make a sneak attack, this road will be very easy for the Harland family.
After passing through the territories of the two Dukes Edward and Fox, Richard once again came to the Grand Duchy of Stanek.
After entering Linus Castle, Richard found the Fender family, an old customer. Through the Fanta family's relationship in Linus, he exchanged part of the foreign exchange and began to buy a large number of slaves at Linus Castle.
Richard's grand gesture immediately caused a sensation in Venus Castle and attracted an unexpected guest.
This person is none other than Vera Watson, the priest of the Goddess of Fortune and the fourth heir to a great nobleman of the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
The Watson family is the fourth-ranked ducal family in the Grand Duchy of Stanik. It is also a noble family with very strong business power. They have been believers in the goddess of wealth for generations.
Because of the Watson family, the Church of Fortune also began to penetrate into the Grand Duchy of Stanik, exerting a very significant influence.
Although the Grand Duchy of Stanik is weak, it has four major churches in the country. In addition to the Church of Dawn and the Church of Royal Power, there are also the Church of Fortune and the Church of Light.
Compared with the Kingdom of Grant, the influence of the church in the Grand Duchy of Stanek is stronger.
After meeting, Vera said straight to the point: "Mr. Richard, we can finally meet. In fact, I wanted to visit you in Harland Territory last year. But I felt that it was a bit presumptuous to come to you rashly. This year I am just planning to go to Grant. Kingdom, I heard that Mr. Richard came to Linus Castle and came to the door without being invited. Please don't blame Mr. Richard." "
You are too polite. The priest of the goddess of wealth can come to the door. It is our Harland family. It's an honor. "
When Richard met the priest of the goddess of wealth, although he didn't know the purpose of his visit, he was very polite to him.
"I am here to visit this time, hoping to form a commercial alliance with Mr. Richard and the Harland family. I hope to be an agent for the specialty products of the Harland territory. If possible, I hope that Mr. Richard will grant me the Grand Duchy of Stanik. Exclusive agency right."
After hearing what Vera said, Richard nodded and said, "Can I take the liberty to ask, Miss Vera, who do you represent, the Watson family or the Church of the God of Wealth?" Vera smiled
. Liao smiled and said: "I can only represent myself, but my special identity can be borrowed from the names of the Watson family and the Church of Wealth, and I can also represent the Watson family and the Church of Wealth to a certain extent." "Miss Vera
, As you know, the special products produced in our Harland territory are mainly brown sugar, white wine, steel, and woolen cloth. Of course, the territory also has some super-magic specialties, such as hemostatic ointment, flame spider silk mage robes, and enchanted weapons made of blood steel. .
Ordinary goods have to travel 800 kilometers to the Grand Duchy of Stanik. After arriving in Linus, they will also face competition from similar goods. There is not much benefit in transporting thousands of miles to the Grand Duchy of Stanik. Could it be that Miss Vera
thought Are you going to be an agent for super magic products? But although the super magic products from Harland territory are very unique, they may not be competitive with the super magic products from Venus?" Richard said very clearly
, Although the price of brown sugar in Haaland territory has dropped to ten copper coins per kilogram, which is equivalent to one-third of honey.
However, when transporting it to Linus Castle, which is 800 miles away, you still have to pay lord taxes and duties along the way, and the selling price of brown sugar must be at least several times higher.
Lynas can also produce honey locally. Although the output is not as high as that of the southern province of Grant Kingdom, the price of honey is only twenty-six copper coins per kilogram.
The brown sugar transported from the Harland territory may not be able to compete with the local honey.
This is true for brown sugar, and the same is true for white wine, steel, and woolen cloth.
"Mr. Richard, you know, I can use the name of the Goddess of Wealth. Although our Church of the God of Wealth does not require the lords to pay tithes, the caravans of our Church of Wealth will not pay tithes when they pass by the lords' land. taxes, transit taxes and other miscellaneous taxes.
If the goods are shipped from Vicksburg and transported upstream along the Black River, they can go directly to the Duke of Edward. The next transportation line is only 200 kilometers. We have carefully calculated that bulk materials such as brown sugar, white wine, and woolen cloth will After deducting transportation costs, there is still a certain profit.
Besides, since we wholesale in large quantities, Mr. Richard should also give us some discounts. "
After listening to Vera's explanation, Richard thought to himself: "Without the messy taxes and fees, the chamber of commerce controlled by the Wealth Church will have a huge cost advantage. Relying on its huge cost advantage, the Church of Fortune can extend its reach into every territory through the Chamber of Commerce. It is difficult for ordinary noble chambers of commerce to compete with them.
Anyway, there is no loss to the territory by temporarily handing over the exclusive agency rights to the priest of the goddess of wealth. You can also use her hands to expand your market share. "
Li Cha suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart, nodded and said: "Of course the discount is available, and the exclusive agency rights that Miss Vera wants can also be given to you. But if our Haaland family wants to purchase some special goods, can we use the Fortune Church caravan as a channel? "
"As long as it's not a sensitive material, of course. "
After the two parties negotiated, they signed a business contract. This contract was stamped with the seal of the goddess of wealth and was very binding. Richard gave up the exclusive agency rights of the Grand Duchy of Stanik to Vera. It's a pity. After all, the Haaland family has no influence in the Grand Duchy of Stanek.
The strength of the Haaland family makes it impossible for the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stanek to bow their heads. It is
also impossible for the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stanek to give up the market. , allowing the Haaland family to profit.
By giving Vera the exclusive agency rights, relying on the channels of the Watson family and the Church of Fortune, the goods from the Haaland territory can enter the market of the Grand Duchy of Stanik and earn profits from the Grand Duchy of Stanik. .
This time when he came to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, he unexpectedly found a relationship with the Church of Fortune. Richard was very happy.
After discussing with Vera, Richard decided to start the first transaction after the autumn harvest this year. Richard will provide Thirty thousand bolts of woolen cloth, two hundred tons of brown sugar, and one hundred tons of liquor.
The output of brown sugar this year will exceed 500 tons. For first-level wholesalers like Vera and Richard, the brown sugar will be transported to Heihebao Wharf. The wholesale price of brown sugar will be reduced to seven copper coins per kilogram.
Including some packaging fees, transportation fees, and a slight discount, the price of 200 tons of brown sugar is about 3,800 gold coins.
The wholesale price of liquor is two copper coins per kilogram, and one hundred tons of liquor sells for five hundred and fifty gold coins. However, when the liquor is transported to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the retail price may skyrocket to six to eight copper coins per kilogram.
The wholesale price of woolen cloth is two silver coins a piece, and thirty thousand pieces of woolen cloth are worth five thousand gold coins.
Although it was only the first year, Vera had already ordered more than 9,000 gold coins in the market development period.
Richard earned these nine thousand gold coins very easily. He just had to transport the goods to Black River Castle for trading. He didn't need to worry about the market or fight with other nobles.
The only drawback is that the sales channels will be controlled by the Watson family and the Church of Wealth. Very passive in transactions between the two parties.
After reaching an agreement with Vera, Richard returned to Harland territory with 14,000 slaves.
This time, because Vera provided help, most of the way back was by water transport. It was much easier to travel by boat than to walk with a wheelbarrow.
In just twelve days, Richard returned to Harland Territory with 14,000 slaves.
After returning to the territory, Richard met with the important officials of the territory one by one in Fort Vick, explained the matter of opening up new sales channels, and then returned to Fort William.
In February, He'an Primary School started school again. This year, Richard lowered the tuition again, and the annual tuition dropped to four silver coins.
There are 300 new students enrolled this year, including six new apprentices with magic qualifications.
Now He'an Primary School has more than a thousand students, and the original classrooms and dormitories are no longer enough.
Richard has always attached great importance to education. After receiving Flora's application, he immediately allocated a sum of money to build new classrooms and expand the scale of Riverside Primary School.
Many new students come from other castles and need to live on campus every day. If Riverside Primary School continues to expand, it will become very troublesome to manage.
Richard decided to limit the size of He'an Primary School to 1,500 students.
This year, a second primary school was built, and the location was chosen in the Military Depot.
There are few outsiders in the Fort, and its location is in the center of Harland's territory. There are castles on all sides, so security is guaranteed.
In addition, the Fort is far away from the territories of other nobles, so building a school here will not cause too much noise.
It has been five years since Richard established the school. In these five years, He'an Primary School has trained many talents.
Especially the smart ones can learn the basic knowledge taught in primary school in one or two years and graduate from He'an Primary School.
These primary school students who have mastered basic knowledge will either become teachers, become grassroots officials in the territory, or join the army. They have played a positive role in the development of the territory and made certain contributions.
At least they learned discipline in primary school, learned commonly used words, learned numerical symbols, were able to do simple statistical work, and understood some new concepts.
After a period of training, these people who are proficient in writing can already serve as grassroots officials.
Because the Riverbank Primary School was established in Fort William and had little contact with outsiders, and the territory's laws prohibiting free movement, the outside lords did not know the details of the Harland Territory at all.
The neighboring lords only vaguely heard some rumors.
Although these rumors were against noble tradition, the nearby lords were not very happy to hear them and even complained in their hearts.
But now that the Harland family has a strong army, when the nearby nobles face the orc invasion, they need the support of the Harland family's army.
Under normal circumstances, although the nearby noble lords did not like the policies formulated by Richard, they would not offend the powerful Harland family because of such inconsequential matters.
Unless Richard directly touches their fundamental interests, or makes everyone in the neighborhood feel in danger, they will be able to come forward and join forces to deal with the Harland family.
Now the strength of the Harland family can intimidate some nobles and prevent them from having any objections.
The tragic situation of the Cisse family was enough to warn the nearby noble lords.
The Cisse family has a great business, and they can rely on huge compensation to make the Haaland family stop making peace and save their noble title and the lives of their clan members.
If the ordinary baron family offends the Harland family, and a war breaks out between the lords, a catastrophe will happen immediately and the whole family will die.
Even if the Harland family doesn't come forward, if they deliberately don't come to the rescue when the orcs invade, they can still easily kill people with a borrowed knife.
Today's Harland family, although they have not yet become a great noble, is already the most powerful viscount family in the Grant Kingdom in terms of strength. Especially the nobles of Geda Province did not dare to provoke them easily.
(End of chapter)