After completing his revenge under the watchful eyes of the major families of Ascaltra, Bernard soon replaced his father and became the real controller of the family and the Chamber of Commerce.
There was no trouble or difficulty in the whole process, and even those who originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity have withdrawn their black hands.
In addition, the caravan brought back a large amount of specialties from the Calimshan and Tethyr regions in the south. At the same time, Old Bass also led a merchant ship to successfully dock in the harbor of Ascatla a few days later, bringing a large amount of expensive spices and sucrose.
, honey, silk, pearls, rare herbs and other goods are moved out and transported to the warehouse.
Suddenly, all the nobles and businessmen realized that instead of weakening due to this incident, the Roldan Chamber of Commerce had become richer and more powerful as a blessing in disguise.
Those who originally wanted to join forces to suppress Bernard and force him to sell some shops, merchant ships and trade routes at low prices in order to obtain working capital, immediately made a 180-degree turn in their attitude.
After all, no one in Amn has trouble with money.
Whether it is spices, cane sugar, honey, pearls, tobacco, silk and rare herbs, they are all in-demand commodities in the Amn region.
As long as you buy it and take it to a store for retail, you can immediately earn almost 30% profit.
If you go to Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep City, and Neverwinter City in the north, you can easily double or triple the amount.
Therefore, Bernard needs to meet a large number of customers every day and bargain with them every dollar to ensure that the benefits are maximized.
Of course, he did not sell all the goods, but only sold almost one-third, and the remaining part was slowly absorbed by his own chamber of commerce's shops and trade routes.
In about a week or so, the young businessman placed in front of Zuo Si a thick stack of bills of exchange that could be used directly as currency for transactions in most cities in Faerûn.
"Your Excellency Soth, here are 650,000 gold coins. Please take a look."
"Have you cleared all the goods?" Zuo Si asked in surprise.
Although the load capacity of a mere merchant ship of several hundred tons, coupled with the transportation capacity of more than two hundred heavy-duty carriages, is nothing in modern society on earth.
But in this world where technology and transportation capabilities are relatively backward, it can definitely be regarded as an out-and-out "bulk commodity".
If you don't want the price to plummet all of a sudden, it often takes a long time to deal with it.
Zuo Si thinks that being able to sell about half of the goods in one or two months is already quite impressive.
But now, the other party gave him a big surprise.
Bernard smiled and shook his head: "No, it's still far from it.
The funds you gave me in Calimport far exceeded the original plan.
Moreover, we made a lot of money at Manon, Mailatma, and Zazespo along the way.
Therefore, the income is several times higher than before.
This is just the first batch of profit sharing, and more will follow within the next year.
Especially lending money to the nobles and chamber of commerce in Mailatma City will continue to bring huge profits for a long time to come."
"Well done, I really didn't misjudge the person."
Appreciating the young businessman's high-spirited look after completing his transformation, Zuo Si showed a happy smile on his face.
Because his investment received an astonishing return.
If nothing else, you don’t have to worry about the initial funds to build a mage tower and go to Candlekeep to seek knowledge.
"Thank you for the compliment. If it weren't for your help and support, I probably wouldn't have been able to come back alive.
I will never forget this kindness.
And I hope that the close cooperative relationship between us can be maintained forever.
Oh, by the way, this is a Chamber of Commerce Equity Transfer Agreement promised to you, as well as a land deed, a noble identity certificate issued by the six-member council, and a permanently valid spellcasting license.
From now on you can call yourself Sir Soth.
In addition, the title deed is located outside the city of Ascatla, near the rivers and lakes to the west of Cremur, which is a very fertile land.
It has a beautiful castle and four large manors.
It was originally a retreat left by my father for his mistress and illegitimate son, and now it is given to you as a gift.
You don’t need to worry about business matters. There are dedicated housekeepers and servants to take care of it on weekdays.
Occasionally it can also be used as a place to relax, have fun and hunt."
After saying that, Bernard carefully took out the three parchment scrolls from the wooden box and placed them on the table.
Each scroll is blessed with a little magical power to prevent counterfeiting.
Especially for land deeds, although their value and the profits they can generate may not be too high, they belong to the category of real estate.
Moreover, after Amn has a noble title, the land owned under his name will automatically be converted into a territory.
The owner is equivalent to a small feudal lord in the territory. He not only has judicial power and taxation power, but also has certain military rights.
When you think it is necessary, you can arm all the young adults in the territory to resist attacks from monsters or kill invading enemies.
In short, as long as the bottom line of the six-person council is not openly touched, he is basically equivalent to a local emperor and can do whatever he wants.
After all, Amn's predecessor was the "Emirate of Kalisha".
It was originally a loose country formed by a group of small lords, so even after it was later transformed into a commercial empire, it still retained the rights of a large number of feudal lords.
In some of these places, famous scenes such as "sheep eating people" are even being staged.
"Sir Soth..."
Hearing this rather familiar name, Zuo Si's mind immediately thought of a certain death knight of the same name from the world of Klein, as well as the other person's charming way of speaking.
But soon, he smiled and shook his head to interrupt this casual and divergent thinking, and then asked: "About my application to build a mage tower in Ascaltra City, is it possible for the six-person council to
Hasn’t there been any response from the Masked Mage?”
"They gave a response, but I don't think you will like it." Bernard replied with a wry smile.
"Oh? What was their response?" A trace of curiosity flashed in Zuo Si's eyes.
"They gave two solutions. One is that you join the Masked Mage Guild, and then you can naturally obtain permission to build a magic tower in the city. The other is to use the temple of Talona, ​​the goddess of poison and plague, which is under construction.
You can modify the interior of the temple and use it as a mage tower."
Bernard calmly told the answer he got from the official exactly.
The second thing you know without asking is that Zuo Si would definitely not agree.
Because he didn't even have time to hide from Talona's church, how could he get on the pole and get involved with them?
Although the first one seems to be feasible on the surface, joining the Masked Mage Guild actually means fulfilling some responsibilities and obligations.
For example, if the masked mages of Ascatla are resisted during the enforcement process, or simply killed by the enemy, at this time all the masked mages will be summoned to the location of the incident ahead.
It’s nothing if it’s a “soft persimmon”.
Once you encounter a "tough guy" like Joan Irenicas, it will definitely be a disaster.
The most important thing is that the masked mage's foundation is too poor.
Not only has the entire organization been established for a short period of time, but the resources and knowledge at hand are also quite poor, not even a decent legendary caster.
In Faerûn, a spellcasting organization without a legendary mage is basically the same as a country without nuclear weapons on earth, and its deterrence is quite limited.
Zuo Si didn't feel that joining such an organization would bring any benefit to him at all, so he sneered and said sarcastically: "These guys really have a good idea. They actually tried to absorb me into the masked mage organization or the church and then use it. I guess they have affected me before."
The thief who wants to meet me must have similar intentions."
"Then what do you mean..." Bernard probed cautiously.
"Just reply to them and say that if I'm not allowed to build the mage tower in Askatra, then I will build it in Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep."
Zuo Si simply counterattacked the opponent's army.
You must know that Amn is in an out-and-out competitive relationship with Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep.
Not long ago, Baldur's Gate had a war with Amn on the border over the steel trade.
This is why a few years later, when Sarovok created an iron ore crisis and wanted to provoke a war, he did it almost easily.
The conflict of interests and hatred between the two parties were sown long ago.
As for Waterdeep, it has been in a hostile relationship with Amn for a long time.
The shadow thieves who were once banned and expelled by the lords of Waterdeep City have been trying to kill them back through various methods to complete their revenge.
If Zuo Si shows up as if he wants to join Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep, he can definitely force the Council of Six to make huge concessions.
To be continued...