Chapter 327 Raising Funds
After two days of inspection around Tongshan Town, on the first day of November, Richard returned to Fort William.
Every year in early November, Harland Land holds a commodity fair. This year is the fifth Commodity Expo. After five years of promotion, the Harland Commodity Expo has become famous in the Grant Kingdom.
Especially since the third session, after selling alchemy bombs, it has become very popular among the nobles.
The commodity expo held this year not only involved the caravans from Grant Kingdom, but also nobles from Stanik, Delon Kingdom, East Coast United Kingdom, and even Lane Kingdom.
Richard had just returned to Fort William and was about to discuss preparations for the commodity expo with Rogge when an acquaintance came to his door. This person was Vera Watson from the Goddess of Wealth Church.
The last time there was civil strife in the Grand Duke Stanek, the Watson family took the correct political side and surrendered to Duke Jonathan in advance. Not only did it not suffer any losses after the war, it also expanded by a viscounty. The family's strength has also increased to the first among the four Stanik Dukes.
After the war, Duke Watson divided the new viscounty among his three children. Vera was very high in the line of succession and also inherited a barony, becoming a hereditary noble class.
According to the general situation in the Grant Kingdom, a duke often has a dozen or even dozens of children, and most of the children cannot become hereditary nobles. After all, it is impossible for a qualified territorial noble to issue a favor order on his own and divide the territory into dozens or dozens of pieces. If he did this, the surrounding nobles and even the Grant royal family would laugh out loud. If the duke does not have power in his hands, he will only be ignored by his vassals.
On the contrary, the viscount class, in order to hedge risks and diversify investments, many people allocate their territories to different sons.
The children of the duke, if their parents are still alive, are more favored, and their social status will generally exceed the baron and viscount classes. After all, they can use part of the duke's power, and their fake power can scare many people. But once their parents are gone and those who inherit the title become brother and sister, their social status will fall rapidly, and they will not be able to compare with the hereditary aristocracy.
Hereditary nobles are people who can control their own power, while the children of dukes can only rely on their fathers. Although Vera inherited a small barony, her status actually increased.
Vera is an important partner in Harland's business field. She is not only an important member of the Watson family, but also a high-level member of the Goddess of Wealth Church. Since she came to visit, Richard could only stop the meeting with Rogge and give priority to this person.
"Miss Vera, when I see you again, you are still as jeweled and beautiful as ever." "
Your Majesty the Duke, you are so polite."
The two exchanged a few words, and then Richard got straight to the point and asked, "Miss Vera came to see me overnight, what's going on? Something?"
"I want to buy some alchemy bombs, and I hope to get the Duke's approval."
Although the alchemy bombs were placed on the commodity expo booth, in fact, almost all the people who could buy the alchemy bombs were the nobles of northern Xinjiang. This unspoken rule cannot be hidden from a smart person like Vera.
The Grand Duchy of Stanik has the ability to produce alchemical bombs, but Richard has signed a strict contract with the Jonathan family. The alchemical bombs produced by the Jonathan family cannot be sold to outsiders.
Moreover, the four dukes have a certain competitive relationship with the Jonathan family. The Jonathan family has just started producing alchemical bombs, but the output is not high. It is not enough for itself, let alone selling alchemical bombs to others in breach of contract. After all, the price of breach of contract is very high. More than twenty guarantors will be attacked by the Royal Seal. These guarantors are all middle and high-level members of the Jonathan family.
The attack of the royal seal involves the power of gods, which directly affects the soul. Even if Duke Jonathan is a legend and his soul has transformed, he is not afraid of being attacked by the royal seal, and he cannot protect these people. "Can I ask a question, who is Miss Vera?
" Who are you buying the alchemy bomb for, the Watson family or the Church of the Goddess of Wealth?"
Vera's background is very complicated, so Richard asked this question.
After listening to Richard's words, Vera smiled and asked, "What's the difference between a purchase and a purchase that you and I are willing to do?" "I
am a believer in the Goddess of Dawn. If Miss Vera wants to purchase on behalf of the Wealth Church, I need to find Pastor Sanders. Ask. If the Church of the Goddess of Wealth purchased an alchemical bomb to fight a religious war and killed people from the Church of Dawn, I would regret it. I can only do this deal if the pastors of the Church of Dawn agree," Harland led
. The protection of Morningside Church is also an important reason for its development to this point.
The Roger Kingdom has felt this relationship very early, so he will not set up obstacles in the development of the Harland Territory. Richard is a smart man and of course knows the inside story. Richard will communicate with Pastor Sanders on all matters involving the church.
"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, I am buying the alchemy bomb on behalf of the Watson family, mainly to deal with the orcs."
After hearing Vera's answer, Richard was very happy and said: "Originally, based on our relationship, I should give it to Miss Vera Absolute trust. But when it comes to alchemy bombs, I need Miss Vera to sign a contract and have an agreement on the use of alchemy bombs. If Miss Vera is willing, I promise to sell two thousand alchemy bombs to Miss Vera." "
Duke Your Excellency is too cautious."
"Miss Vera, the situation in the Grand Duchy of Stanik cannot be done without caution. The four major churches are in serious conflict, and religious wars can easily break out. I don't want to sell weapons and upset the balance of church power." To
Li Vera said indifferently: "Duke, please rest assured that as long as there are orcs as a foreign enemy, there will always be cooperation rather than confrontation between the churches. The nobles in the country are not fools, let alone fanatics, and will not support the fight against religion." War. I will sign the agreement, please rest assured, Your Majesty the Duke."
Vera was willing to sign the contract, and the two parties quickly reached an agreement. Richard took out two thousand alchemical bombs from the treasury in exchange for Vera's funds.
Although a war broke out this year, the battle was not fierce. The alchemical bombs were not consumed too much. There was enough inventory in the Haaland Territory Treasury.
After seeing off Vera, the commodity expo was held as scheduled.
At the commodity expo, Harland learned about the low-price wholesale of territorial specialty products, ranging from daily consumer goods such as brown sugar, woolen cloth, liquor, fruit wine, soap, to steel products, weapons and armor, and even military supplies such as alchemy bombs. There are all kinds of products, and this year's commodity expo has added several new products.
The first type is exquisite porcelain. After Richard took over the territory, Harland Territory has begun to experiment with paper-burning porcelain. In the first few years, it was necessary to accumulate experience, and porcelain firing has not been very successful. As the craftsmen in the territory continued to accumulate skills, this year they finally mastered the formula of earthenware for firing porcelain, the temperature for firing porcelain, and began to sell this new product on a large scale.
The appearance of porcelain immediately caused a sensation at the commodity fair. The history of firing porcelain in the Dawn Plane has been more than a thousand years, and the porcelain firing technology is in the hands of the great nobles in the capital area of the Holy Glory Empire. Up to now, porcelain has become very popular in San Siro, the capital of the Holy Glory Empire. Ordinary people with a little extra money can buy a few pieces, and it has gradually become a bulk commodity in circulation.
But in a relatively remote area like the Grant Kingdom, the price of porcelain was very expensive. Only the relatively wealthy nobles had the financial resources to buy a few pieces and display them in a conspicuous living room to show off.
After all, the Kingdom of Grant is tens of thousands of kilometers away from the San Siro Castle, the capital of the Holy Glory Empire. It passes through many kingdoms, and the road is not peaceful. Porcelain is an easily broken commodity. It has been transported thousands of miles, and the price has increased almost a hundred times. An ordinary porcelain vase can cost as much as dozens of gold coins, which is equivalent to the annual expenses of a dozen ordinary households.
Although the porcelain produced by Harland is not as exquisite as the imported products, it is still authentic porcelain and is a hot commodity in surrounding countries. Moreover, the price of Harland collar porcelain is much lower than that of imported goods. The wholesale price of a 40-centimeter-high porcelain vase is only eight silver coins. Such prices have already benefited professional families.
The 30,000 pieces of porcelain that Rogge prepared for the commodity expo were quickly swept away. This batch of porcelain sold for a profit of 23,000 gold coins. The most expensive part of firing porcelain is labor, and the material consumption is relatively low. Most of the gold coins sold are net profits.
Porcelain firing is not a very high threshold technology. As long as you have seen it a few times, you can't hide it from really smart people. In order to protect the secret of porcelain firing, Richard placed the porcelain firing factory in the Losa Basin.
The Losa Basin is close to the front line and there are almost no outsiders. It is very suitable for keeping secrets. A squadron of soldiers is also placed near the factory to guard it to prevent irrelevant people from approaching. In addition, each of the batchers, kiln-burning workers and other skilled workers in the porcelain factory is strictly registered and is on the watch list of the intelligence agency, and is under the covert protection of the territory.
A monopolized technology and a monopolized product can bring extremely high profits to Harland's tie.
According to this year's situation, the annual profits from the sale of porcelain can allow the territory to raise 2,000 soldiers. With two thousand more soldiers, it is possible to win a war.
Every monopolized product is the lifeblood of the territory. The lessons learned from the leakage of liquor craftsmanship back then are something that Richard still keeps in mind.
The second type is new medicines. Harland's medicines are well-known in the Grant Kingdom. Hemostatic ointments and burn ointments are in short supply in the Grant Kingdom. However, due to limited production, it cannot serve ordinary people and can only be reserved for nobles and main legionnaires.
This year, Harland led the hatching of the third Purple-headed Peak King, and the production of hemostatic ointment increased significantly. Richard planned to sell 3,000 copies at the commodity expo, and continue to expand the reputation of the commodity expo.
Purple Head Peak royal jelly can be used to refine healing potions. After continuous research by the Mage Association in recent years, the new potion formula has finally been completed. Now there are four pharmacists in the Harland Leader Mage Association: Sophia, Anne, Caperson, and Connie. They all worked together to refine 300 copies of the new potion.
This potion can be used to increase vitality and treat internal injuries. The effect on internal injuries is equivalent to a fourth-level spell to treat serious injuries. It is considered a third-level healing potion.
The internal injury treatment potion requires not only the royal jelly from Zitou Peak, but also a second-level magic plant and four ordinary herbs. Refining a potion costs twenty-four gold coins.
Due to the limitation of materials, even if it is led by Harland, this medicine cannot be reserved for ordinary soldiers. It can only be used to treat professional officers. Just like the healing skills left by magicians, it cannot treat ordinary people. It should only be reserved for officers.
The annual output of internal injury treatment potions is only 300 copies. The number of magicians in Harland has exceeded that of other duchies. The strength of the hospital is also very good, and there is no shortage of treatment power. Richard plans to sell a hundred internal injury treatment potions at the commodity expo every year in exchange for funds.
After all, the territory is expanding to 14,000 troops this year, and the economic pressure is very heavy. Gold coins are needed everywhere. Richard also has to find ways to raise gold coins to reduce the deficit.
The internal injury potion is very expensive, one hundred gold coins each. However, one hundred internal injury potions were quickly swept away by several Stanik nobles. Nobles have always attached great importance to life-saving things.
In fact, the Stanik nobles who purchased the medicine are all from Northern Xinjiang. They are all vassals of Duke Jonathan. Now they have a business channel from Northern Xinjiang to Stanik, and they trade with Harland during the commodity expo every year. Various merchandise.
In addition to medicines for internal injuries, Harland Hospital has also launched a new medicine, Pain Relief Pills. Through human trials in the hospital, this medicine is very effective and can be used to relieve pain.
In fact, those who suffered from physical pain were mainly serfs and ordinary free people. They endured heavy labor and suffered the most serious physical injuries. Unfortunately, these people were penniless and could not afford medicines. The nobles would not pity their pain and buy medicine for the serfs.
The main customers of this new drug are retired soldiers. After soldiers are injured and retired, they often have severe sequelae on their bodies, including severe pain on cloudy and rainy days.
Nobles can get magic treatment, and can use the power of pain relief spells to treat pain. The effect is better than painkilling pills. This kind of medicine is not necessarily needed. The main buyers of this new medicine are various caravans, and their customers are They are ordinary people.
With the holding of the commodity expo, Harland's medicines became famous and appeared widely in the Grant Kingdom. Although the analgesic pill is a new drug, various caravans have great confidence in this new drug.
During the ten days of the commodity expo, hundreds of thousands of bottles of this new drug were sold.
The price of painkilling pills is very affordable. The wholesale price is only one silver coin per bottle. One bottle contains 60 pills, which is enough for a month. Such prices have brought the market down to ordinary people.
In fact, this new drug is already widely sold in Halland Territory. It has only been launched for three months and 60,000 bottles have been sold. Many of the buyers are older freedmen.
These people had been serfs for most of their lives, and their living conditions were very poor. Although they enjoyed the blessings of Harland in their later years, they already suffered from serious physical ailments and could only use painkillers to relieve the pain.
As sales increase and the economic situation improves, Richard plans to lower the price of painkillers in a few years to reduce the pressure on ordinary people. After all, one silver coin is equivalent to one week's salary, which is a burden for middle-aged and elderly people who have lost part of their working ability. Still heavy.
At this year’s commodity expo, Harland Leader will also have enchanted armor and force field shields in the showcase. Enchanted armor and force field shields are high-tech, high-threshold products. Richard has designed strict counterfeiting technology. Even if a magician wants to imitate it, it is extremely difficult. Violent disassembly will only destroy the internal inscriptions. Magic runes.
Moreover, when this kind of enchanted equipment is sold, the right people will be selected, and it will only be sold to northern Xinjiang nobles and territorial vassals. Foreign nobles want to buy it, but now it is simply out of stock. Things like enchanted armor and stance shields are placed on the stand mainly for advertising and to create gimmicks to attract people.
This year's commodity expo was very successful.
During the expo, Harland sold more than 300,000 gold coins in merchandise, which greatly promoted economic development and earned huge profits.
(End of chapter)