Chapter 90: Exchanging blueprints.
The first person who came to exchange blueprints for the heavy trebuchet was Richard's old acquaintance, Baron Rice.
During last year's battle, Baron Rice was an important commander under Richard.
The two worked well together, both made a fortune from the dirham territory, and finally dealt with the trouble of patrols sent by the superiors together.
With this relationship, Baron Rice believed in Richard very much.
After receiving the news that Richard was willing to trade the heavy trebuchet blueprints, Baron Rice was the first to come to Harland.
Baron Rice was very familiar with Richard and was straight to the point when he spoke.
"Baron Richard, what are you going to do in exchange?"
"The royal family is exchanging heavy trebuchet blueprints with an estimated price of one thousand gold coins. We cannot lower the price. But the items being traded are very flexible and can be exchanged for various materials, and the valuation can be raised. Some."
The royal family obtained the heavy trebuchet invented by Richard and exchanged it with hundreds of nobles at home and abroad, at least in exchange for financial resources worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
The Harland family is just a small noble in northern Xinjiang. Although it has some influence in Geda Province, it is unable to compete with the royal family for business.
If the low-price competition angered the royal family and entered King Charles's blacklist, there would be a hidden danger of ruining the family in the future.
Even if the royal family doesn't take action and doesn't send reinforcements when the orcs invade, no noble will be able to hold on for too long.
Even great nobles like Duke Edward and Duke Jonathan need the support of the royal family if they want to gain a foothold in northern Xinjiang.
Even though the heavy trebuchet was invented by Richard, the royal family made profits of hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
Richard cannot be jealous. The territory cannot compete with the royal family for business. This is the political correctness of the Grant Kingdom.
Only with the strength of the two Dukes of Jonathan and York can the royal family have the power to compromise.
How big a platform, how big a strength, and how big a thing you can do.
This is the truth that Richard has understood since he was a child.
Harland's territory has a small platform and weak strength. If he gets a lot of gold coins and makes people jealous, he will be in big trouble.
The barony of Les is relatively barren and has little output.
But last year he fought against the orcs and got a lot of gold coins.
But Baron Rice was reluctant to part with the gold coins and decided to exchange them with orc slaves.
"There are seven tauren, forty-six sheep-heads, and more than eighty kobolds in our territory. How much can you estimate?"
Orc slaves are relatively cheap, far less valuable than human slaves.
Although the tauren are strong and have brute strength, they are very difficult to manage. Only professionals can hold them down.
If the tauren are allowed to work in the wild, there is a risk of escaping at any time.
Sheep-headed people and kobolds are weaker, although their obedience is better.
But without understanding the orc language and without good management experience, their labor efficiency is appallingly low.
Especially kobolds, they have a relatively large appetite, so it is very uneconomical to use kobolds as slaves.
Ten kobold slaves are not as valuable as one human slave.
"You know, orc slaves are not valuable. If you add thirty households of serfs, plus these orc slaves, you can exchange them."
Thirty households of serfs, including the old and the weak, total about 150 people. Go to the slave market and buy it for more than 700 gold coins.
The average valuation of an orc slave is only about two gold coins, which is twice as expensive as the market value.
Baron Rice bargained with Richard, and finally used the orc slaves on hand, plus twenty-six families of serfs, to exchange for the blueprint of the heavy trebuchet.
Some lords cannot use orc slaves because they cannot understand the orc language. There are a large number of indentured slaves who are proficient in the orc language in Richard's territory. Through these humans who have lived in the orc empire for many years, Richard can manage the orc slaves.
The kobolds can be used for mining, the goatheads can be used for grazing, and the tauren are powerful and can not only mine, but can also be used to plow fields when cattle are in short supply.
The mine environment is closed, and there are troops stationed outside.
Let the kobolds go mining. A kobold must dig one hundred kilograms of iron ore every day in order to have food.
Using this new method, Harland Territory has accumulated some experience in managing orcs.
Because the sheep-headed man had a gentle temperament and helped Richard find the brown sugar tree, his treatment was much better.
Herding life is not too difficult, and the environment at the southern foot of the Eagle Mountain Range is much better than at the northern foot.
The sheep-headed people don't need to recruit soldiers to fight. They turn in some livestock every year, and their lives are better than in the orc empire.
The living conditions have improved, and the sheep-headed people are very satisfied with the status quo, and even feel like they are happy to be in the country.
Although the tauren resisted desperately, their numbers were small and they did not cause any trouble.
After the news of Richard's deal with Baron Rice spread, five or six more barons came one after another.
Including Duck and Baron Bazel, whom Richard was familiar with, they all used orc slaves, plus some human serfs, in exchange for heavy trebuchet blueprints.
The number of orc slaves they brought has exceeded a thousand.
The number of human serfs also increased by 500.
Richard arranged these five hundred serfs in the least important reclamation strongholds to prevent spies from being planted and infiltrating important departments.
After this wave of people passed, the number of nobles who traded heavy trebuchet blueprints with Richard suddenly decreased significantly.
News from the Grant Kingdom was not transmitted quickly, and many people did not know that Harland was the first to invent the heavy trebuchet.
Moreover, Richard did not have the royal seal in his hand, so he could not sign a binding contract with Baron Rice and the others.
These barons obtained heavy trebuchet blueprints, which can also be exchanged with nearby territories.
Richard thought that was it, but he didn't expect that a few days later, three barons, Paul, Harden, and Sharp would be welcomed.
These three baronies are not far from Richard.
The threat posed by counterweight trebuchets was also seen firsthand during the war.
They originally planned to trade with the royal family, but after hearing the news about Baron Rice's trade with Richard, they waited for a few days and decided to trade with Richard.
By trading with Richard, you can exchange low-value resources for high-value heavy trebuchet blueprints.
Baron Harden is relatively strong, and there are also people in the territory who are proficient in the orc language.
Orc slaves were equally valuable to him, so trading with Richard was slightly uneconomical.
However, there is no shortage of resources in Baron Harden's territory. Five hundred tons of old grain were used in exchange for heavy trebuchet blueprints.
Although Baron Sharp himself is not strong, his wife Baron Raphael is no less powerful than Baron Harden.
He directly used a breathing method and exchanged heavy trebuchet blueprints with Richard.
This breathing method is also collected by the Harland family, which is the incomplete copy of the Breathing Method of the Bull.
It's just that the Baron Breath Fabric brought by Baron Raphael is more complete than the Haaland family's collection, and can be cultivated to the third level of professional.
The scroll that Baron Paul used to exchange the heavy trebuchet blueprints is more precious. It records some enchanting knowledge and can be used to make magic bombs.
(End of chapter)