Chapter 723 Business and Enterprise

The silently running constant-temperature array shields the bleak cold wind outside the castle. The decorative shields on the walls are polished to shine. The gorgeous classical tapestries depict symbols about heroes, monsters and gods, which come from the hands of fairies. The precious incense quietly exudes a pleasant and elegant aroma in the copper incense box. The light of the magic crystal lamp shines from the roof and sprinkles into the gold-rimmed tea cup. The bright red liquid fills it. A layer of warm glow.

Wenna, the gray elf, held up the tea cup in front of her and gently swayed the liquid with a distinct texture. Tiny spots of light reflected in her light eyes: "Goods from the Typhon Empire? This... It is indeed a novelty, what exactly is it?”

“Textiles, mainly textiles, as well as dyes and white crystals,” Baldwin said with a smile, “High quality and sufficient supply - the tribes of the Western Plains. My friends will probably like it.”

“If nothing else, I am really interested in textiles,” Wenna raised her eyes, “Can I take a look at the samples?”

Baldwin stood up with a smile and nodded to the attendant next to him: "Of course, this is it - open."

The attendant opened the wooden box containing the samples, and the guests from the Ogure Tribal Nation Immediately casting his gaze with curiosity, Duke Baldwin stepped forward personally, took out a piece of white cloth from the wooden box, and handed it to the gray elf Wen Na: "Madam, please take a look."

Wen Na reached out and took the cloth, looking at it carefully with expectation and curiosity, but within a few seconds her expectant expression turned into a bit of shock and disappointment. After a brief silence, the gray elf tribe leader frowned and shook his head. : "My friend, just now I was praising the creativity of human craftsmen in the field of art... Now I am a little confused." As she spoke, she raised her head and looked at Bai curiously. Duke Devon: "With all due respect - is that distant Typhon Empire not good at craftsmanship? You should also be able to see that although this cloth is strong, it has no taste at all in terms of weaving and pattern. I just learned how to weave." An apprentice of cloth can weave something like this, it..."

"Sixteen silver shield coins," Baldwin said suddenly.

"What?" Wenna didn't react for a while.

"Sixteen silver shield coins," Baldwin smiled and patted the wooden box beside him, "a total of one hundred and sixty rulers."

Grey Elf Wenna's ears couldn't help but twitch: "...Are you kidding me?"

"You had the same expression and words last time when I reported the price of the alchemy potion to you." Baldwin shook his head and sat back on the high-backed chair with a serious expression on his face, "This is the real price - as you can see, these fabrics are indeed tasteless in terms of weave and pattern. , this is because they are woven by machines. With the current machine technology, we can only weave such fabrics. They are indeed not attractive to the upper class nobles, but in terms of price... they will definitely be popular among middle-class citizens and civilians. Very popular."

"Machine... This is not the first time I have heard this.The expression of surprise and disappointment on Wenna's face has disappeared, replaced by thinking, "If it is made by a machine, then I can understand its price, but I have a problem - even if it is made by a machine Yes, you also have to transport these fabrics from distant Typhon to the western border. After such a long journey, are the prices of these things still so low? In my understanding, even if a stone is transported from the east to the west of your country, the travel expenses alone are a huge number. ”

“We are building new roads, and new transportation technology can realize the rapid transportation of bulk goods-of course, even so transportation costs exist, and the profits of these cloths are very, very thin, but Franklin The family has always been looking for long-term business partners. Small profits but quick turnover are our principles. You should know this. "

Duke Baldwin said frankly, with a sincere and gentle smile on his face.

Wenna, the gray elf, looked at the smile on Baldwin's face and was slightly silent. After two seconds, he said: "You are really sincere when discussing business... So, you just transported the cheap cloth that Typhon sold you to the west and sold it to us... This is different from the previous alchemy potions. . "

"The essence of trade is to convert the journey into profit, and transportation also costs money," Baldwin nodded, "But no matter what, these fabrics will still produce huge value in your hands. , after all... Taste aside, their quality is still high and completely worthy of the price. "

The gray elf's eyes narrowed slightly, which is her habitual action when thinking.

"Elves love art, and delicacy and taste are elements that we value very much," After a few seconds of thinking, she slowly opened her eyes, with a shimmer in her light eyes, "My friend, there is no doubt that gold coins are the most tasteful thing in the world. "

"It's very much in line with your personal style - and mine," Baldwin's smile bloomed. "Then if everything goes well, we will be able to officially start accepting textile orders next spring. The specific amount will be discussed later, and the alchemy potion will be delivered according to the previously agreed delivery time and will not be affected by the textile order. As for settlement..."

"Half gold coins, half food and medicinal materials," Wenna said proactively, "Our king has agreed to your request, and we know that An... Cecil Empire In case of trouble, as old friends we are happy to help - the first order of grain will arrive at the border before winter. "

"Give me my gratitude to the Gray Elf King," Baldwin stood up and said sincerely, "We will never forget every help from our friends. "

Wenna stood up and returned the gift, then looked at the other boxes: "So, these should be other samples? "

"Yes, let me show you..."

...

The brilliance of the giant sun gradually sinks to the west, becoming more and more brilliant.The brilliant glow began to cover the earth along the clouds. Nameless birds were chirping in the background of clouds and sky, hurriedly returning to their nests. Wenna, who left the castle, raised her hand, lifted her hair from her forehead, and looked back. Take a look at the classical and gorgeous castle of the Franklin family.

"What a big deal..." Gray Elf said softly to himself.

The Honggu man walking next to him couldn't help but frown: "They must make more."

Wenna shook her head: "Don't stare at others when doing business No matter how much you earn, no one comes to do business with you just to lose money."

The gentle human said: "But no matter what, the price of those fabrics is still surprising. After a long period of transportation, their prices are still so low... It's really hard to imagine how cheap the Typhon Empire was when they exported these things to Cecil."

"Yes. ...It's really hard to imagine..." Wenna turned back again and glanced at the centuries-old castle.

A craftsman is busy on the platform on the side of the castle, installing a strange magic device with no apparent purpose on the platform. The magic device has a metal base and a huge crystal.

What an ancient castle. It feels almost as old as the land.

But she had a vague feeling that something young was growing in this land.

Commodities from the far east, on the other side of the continent... That's a really long journey.

......

Badwin Franklin stood in front of the window of the living room, watching the guests from the Ogure tribe get into their own carriages and gradually disappear in the At the corner of the road in the distance, he looked back.

A young man wearing a royal blue coat and a gold brooch walked into the room, stood behind Baldwin, and called respectfully: "Father."

The young man named Elaine stood up straight. As a young adult, he was still accustomed to obeying every instruction from his father, but he already had many thoughts and questions of his own: "Yes, Father— —Why did you confess that those fabrics came from Typhon in the first place?"

Bardwin looked at his eldest son quietly: "Why didn't you confess?"

" ...You have taught me that when we can monopolize the supply of goods, confidential supply channels are one of the important means to maintain the monopoly and ensure profits. We import textiles from Tifen and sell them to the Ogure Tribal Nation, which is essentially just reselling. , but if we don’t say it, the Augurei Tribal Nation won’t know this, and we can raise the price a little more - but now, the gray elves already know the source of those textiles, and sooner or later they will also confirm the Typhon Empire Approximate price, cost of exporting textilesTransparency is the biggest taboo in doing business..."

Bardwin waited patiently for the young man to finish speaking, then shook his head: "The fact that you can think of this means that you are really studying what I taught you seriously. But you can only think of these, which means you have only scratched the surface.

“The first point is that what we want to do is long-term business, and it is a country-to-country business. This kind of business requires stability, not temporary huge profits. The gray elves are not a closed group. One day we will know the origin of those textiles. Although from a business perspective, our behavior of keeping our supply channels secret is not cheating, if we use this to tamper with the prices too much, we will sooner or later hurt the feelings of our trading partners. , it will also damage future business.

“Second point, even if I disclose the source of goods, we don’t have to worry about this business falling apart, because Cecil maintains east-west trade in the northern part of the mainland. The only channel is the Gondor Wasteland to the south, and the wasteland, mountains, and cold winter to the north. The Typhon Empire's trade goods can only be transported to the Ogre Tribal Nation through our route - unless the gray elves or spirits The tribesmen found a way to break through the ocean blockade and restart the northern route around the continent.

"The third and most important point: Do you think our Emperor asked me to sell those things to the Ogure Tribal Nation at a price of almost zero profit, really just to sell textiles? ”

The young son of the Duke was at a loss for a moment, and then he looked thoughtful.

Baldwin Franklin laughed and shook his head: "What we really want to sell is the railway."

Elaine's eyes widened.

Badwin's eyes moved away from his eldest son and fell on the shelf not far away. On the shelf, there were the items before Gawain Cecil the Great left Saint-Sunil City. A gift for him.

A model of the first freight magic train.

Exquisite, ingenious and lifelike, it comes from the "hands" of Saint Nicholas Egg, the chief craftsman of the empire.

However, this model was so strange that neither its use nor its "artistic value" could be seen, so that Gray Elf Wenna's attention was completely attracted by the flashy magic pendulum. I failed to notice that this item truly symbolized the Imperial Age.

But he believes that it won’t be long before the kings of the Ogure tribe will notice it.

"Elaven, maybe I was too obsessed with cultivating you into a person like me, and I ignored your real expertise and interests."

"Father?" The young Duke's son was a little surprised, and then a little frightened, "Father, I'm not..."

"Don't be nervous, kid," Baldwin shook his head, "You are still impressive. I'm proud, but now you need to be more diligent to keep up with the era created by His Majesty. Magic technology, trains, magic network broadcasts, alchemy industry... There are too many new things in the new era, and these things, the teachers and teachers in the castle. The scholars in the territory don’t understand it themselves, let alone teach you.

"The Western Region is too far away from the center of the empire, far away from new technology and knowledge, and far away from the real 'civilized society'.

"We cannot just sit at home and wait for the arrival of civilized society, we must take the initiative to contact .

"His Majesty is building more educational facilities in the imperial capital Cecil City and building a new Imperial College. I have ordered that five hundred smart young people regardless of their origins be selected from the entire Western Territory to study. You can go too. ——As the leader of the school, go to the south together. The old aristocratic era has ended, and the Franklin family is no longer the direct ruler of this land, but you are still responsible for fighting for the interests of this land and the people on it. Responsibility.

“I believe that the Snow Duchess of the North is doing the same thing – we never lag behind. "

Elaven quietly met the Duke of the West's gaze, and after a long time he lowered his head deeply: "Yes, father. ”