Kant and Ma Nide had been together for quite some time. He could sense that under the fatigue expression of this genius merchant, there was some anxiety regarding the future.
It was obvious that this trip to the Stone pass had suffered a setback.
After all, Ma Nide was not only responsible for trade cooperation but also for gathering intelligence.
Although he had left the dukedom of Leo, Kant still needed to have a way to understand certain domestic intelligence, and the Stone pass was a good window. Every time Ma Nide would send people to inquire about it.
It was definitely not normal for him to be so anxious now.
That was indeed the truth.
Ma Nide made no concealment when he reported to Kant, “At first, Baron Dylan was rather polite, but just before I left, you announced the news of foreign trade at the central posthouse, this made my situation very awkward. The farewell dinner that would usually be held had been cancelled as well.”
“Yes, it’s predictable.” Kant nodded and rubbed the area between his eyebrows. “But this Uncle Dillard is really narrow-minded. After learning so many years of noble manners, he still acts like a warrior.”
“I won’t comment on this.”
Ma Nide said, “Lord Kant, my proposal for Baron Dylan to purchase arrows, crossbows, and military supplies has been rejected. At the same time, before I left, I received news that the trade of iron and grain in the Stone Pass has also been suspended by the noble’s official residence. Perhaps it’s also aimed at us.”
Kant snorted. “It should be aimed at us. I didn’t know that other than the large-scale iron and grain purchases, the noble families and merchants of the northern county would be willing to fork out more money to purchase these things at the Stone Pass.”
The northern county’s territory was remote. In terms of prosperity, they were not comparable to the southern county and the eastern county.
Even their production of materials and assets were quite scarce.
If a noble wanted to purchase materials on a large scale, they would send people to the southern county to purchase, including all kinds of ironware that were indispensable in daily necessities and some food to keep them survive.
As for the scattered commodities, they were bought in by the civilians of the villages and small towns.
The prices were naturally high.
But there was no other way. This was also the way for the noble of the northern county to earn money.
It was rare to see someone like Kant purchasing iron weapons on such a large scale. After all, these resources in the northern county were more than twice as valuable as in the southern county. It was definitely not worth it.
There were many ways to trade, and the unspoken rules were even more complicated.
Not to mention ordinary civilians, for newly promoted nobles if they don’t get a noble to lead their way, instead, they form a trade caravan to join the dukedom of Leo’s business by themselves, they probably would not have a good ending.
They would definitely encounter robbers and end up with their trade caravan being destroyed, or their trade payment would be scammed.
There had been such cases before.
Even Baron Dylan had encountered this.
The unspoken rules formed by the nobles had controlled everything in the dukedom of Leo. If outsiders and newly promoted nobles wanted to enter this market, it would be equivalent to snatching their jobs, this would definitely cause a conflict of interest.
Baron Dylan had suffered a heavy loss in the early stages.
It was only after he married the daughter of a merchant, by her family relationship his situation became much more stable.
Kant pondered for a moment.
Thinking of Baron Dylan’s current dependence on the table salt trade, he could guess how furious he would be when he announced the central posthouse could trade with foreign countries.
However, in just three months, Baron Dylan had already earned a huge profit.
If he wanted to give up.
It was a little difficult.
No, it should be said that it was very difficult!
It was easy to go from frugality to extravagance and difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
Baron Dylan had the wonderful feeling of being able to harvest thousands of great silver coins every month. It was simply a huge difference between heaven and earth, thinking about how his previous estate only produced less than 1,000 great silver coins every year!
It was impossible for him to give up on the table salt trade!
This was also the reason why Baron Dylan, like a noble warrior, gritted his teeth and willing to withstand the pressure from the dukedom of Leo and hold the frontline fire for Kant.
But now.
Kant’s opening of the trade was equivalent to giving up the foundation of their relationship.
It also violated the fundamental interest of Baron Dylan!
The Stone pass had been changing day by day since the opening of the table salt trade. It relied on the fine white salt produced in the depths of the Nahrin desert. They had been sold and resold, earning a huge profit margin with Baron Dylan as a hub.
Therefore, they obtained this crucial opportunity that was once unimaginable!
The conflict between both sides had become more and more intense under the ripping of their interests.
The final result would definitely not be too great.
Ma Nide understood this.
Kant was clear about this either.
When he decided to open the table salt trade and set the rules at the central posthouse, he had taken this into consideration.
Following this, both of them had to face increasing pressure. The greed and probing of the noble towards table salt, and even the secret revenge of Baron Dylan, who was originally tyrannical and narrow-minded!
Kant pondered for a moment.
He looked up at Ma Nide and said, “Next, I will discuss the strategic and tactical plans with Firentiss.”
“As it should be.”Ma Nide nodded.
The business was dirty.
Just like politics, they all had their own ulterior motives. They were all deceitful and dirty.
All these words could be used to describe a business.
After all, businessmen were mainly making money, they were capitalists. In their minds, they were thinking about benefits. The so-called morality was just a yardstick for them to measure how much money they could earn.
There was once a quote from a great man on Earth.
If capital had 50% profit, it would take risks. If it had 100% profit, it would dare to violate all the laws of the world. If it had 300% profit, it would dare to commit any crime, even if it has the risk of being hanged!
This was the truth, even in this fantasy world.
Cutting off people’s money was like killing their parents.
Kant had to brace himself to face the pressure from all sides, especially the bandit groups that were about to appear. They were like cats and dogs that smelled blood, constantly running over to bite him.
Fortunately, Kant’s power was no longer as it was in the past!
If they wanted to bite him.
They had to be prepared to break their teeth!
Kant and Ma Nide had a long discussion, they made tons of suggestions for the next central posthouse.
Most of them were about the economic exchange.
With Rolf, the scoundrel noble, suppressing the local, and three Swadian royal knights who were at the peak of the Grand Knight, there would probably be no big trouble, perhaps some minor disturbances.
In the early stages, even if there were probes or revenge from the nobles, at most they were some ordinary bandit groups.
It was still uncertain about their combat strength.
“In that case.”
Kant finally made a decision.
He turned his head and instructed Ma Nide, “Since the Stone pass is not acting naturally, there is no need for us to show our excessive passion to them. Since the salt mine is in our hands, we have the initiative.”
“But if that’s the case…”Ma Nide was slightly stunned and frowned. “It will break our relationship.”
“If it’s broken, then it’s broken.”
The corner of Kant’s mouth curled up slightly. “Politics is not business. There are not so many amicable ways to make money. There are only interests involved and interests broken. Moreover, when did my Uncle Dillard have a close relationship with us?”
Ma Nide still had a businessman’s mentality.
He was paying attention to build a good relationship, but he did not see the compromise between the two parties at the deepest level.
In the beginning, when Kant was weak, Baron Dylan was unable to enter the Nahrin Desert.
Following their mutualism phase, Kant grew stronger and stronger. Baron Dylan was building new things day by day as well and he had the confidence to enter the desert. Perhaps in the near future, or even this year, he would be able to organize an army to go deep into the Oasis Lookout, to protect Kant’s estate and solve the threat from the surrounding Jackalan.
Perhaps in one of the battles, Kant, the lord of the Nahrin desert will take the lead and assault the group of the Jackalan. His heroic and tragic death was worthy of the bloodline of the Lion Archduke, Cameron.
This was a palace drama that could easily be understood by just thinking about it.
“I understand.”
Ma Nide sighed softly. He understood deeply the struggles of the noble.
However, Kant had made an arrangement for him, “I opened up a secret trade caravan recently, it is heading to a place called the Fangorn forest to conduct trade with a group of Shu Ren. I think you can be the first leader of the trade caravan and lead a team to explore the way. This will provide a perfect start for our future business exchanges.”
“Shu Ren… of the Fangorn Forest?”
Ma Nide was slightly stunned as he looked at Kant.
Obviously, he could not understand this kind of fantasy race.
Kant simply explained, “It’s just a group of ancient trees that have souls, they can think and move. They are no different from the wisdom of ordinary people. Some of the ancient trees even have the wisdom of the wise among humans.”
“Uh…”Ma Nide nodded and accepted this explanation in his heart.
After all, this was a land of miracles.
This explanation was sufficient.
He could encounter anything. Even the wolves in the wilderness could transform into human-like forms.
Now that this group of ancient trees had gained intelligence, they could also accept human-like activities. Moreover, even rocks and water could transform into human-like forms. They could summon the so-called water and earth elemental warriors from thin paper and rampage on the battlefield. It was not surprising at all with Shu Ren.
Two of them chatted for a short while before Kant asked Ma Nide to have a rest after finishing his breakfast. After all, this young merchant was extremely tired after a long journey.
After the conversation ended, Kant went to the city wall for inspection.
The construction of the Drondheim castle was almost complete, but this was not the end.
Currently, in the system, the level of the castle has reached its limit.
But in terms of construction, it was still a small castle.
Kant could still build walls, towers, and arrow towers to strengthen the castle’s defence as Drondheim which stood in the Oasis Lookout, was the most eye-catching location in the desert. It was also equivalent to being the target of public criticism.
That was indeed the truth. The current Oasis Lookout really became the target of public criticism.
The news had already spread.
The noble families behind the merchants all began to size up the desert with their thoughts.
There was hostility, greed, and evil intentions.
At the same time, there was also hatred that would devour them.
For example, the Stone Pass.
Baron Dylan who had a bad temper was so mad and irritable.
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