In the prosperous town, Ryan was walking on the streets of Jean Town with his wife Sulia and housekeeper Katzenberg.
"My Earl, there are currently nearly 70,000 people in your territory. At present, in terms of village convenience and city, I have suspended the unlimited acceptance of population, and with the end of the war, there are currently escaped slaves from the north.
The number of serfs displaced during the war has been greatly reduced. After Duke Lawn became the regent of the kingdom, he decided to appropriately lower the tax rate and encourage the serfs to return to the territory to farm, so there were fewer serfs from the north." Katzenberg introduced to Ryan.
road.
"Duke Lawn's governing ability is actually very good. It's not surprising that he can achieve this level. In fact, the Lady Oracle ordered that three serfs be selected to be promoted to knights every year. Duke Lawn was the first one.
I agree." Ryan was wearing a count's dress. He held Sulia's little hand, and the couple walked on the stone-paved street.
Since the dwarves came to this town, the construction of the town has actually become the work of the dwarves, because the construction craftsmanship of the dwarves can always ensure beauty and practicality, and for the dwarves, as long as they have blueprints, there is nothing they cannot do
Built.
The beautiful Sulia is wearing a white diamond lace shirt and a black pleated skirt today, with a Brittania court light brown scented mink coat, and a pair of black silk long legs wearing black suede
Wearing high-heeled boots, the female knight's long golden hair hung straight down her waist. After listening to Ryan's words, Sulia said angrily:
"Ryan, look, there are so many things in your territory. In addition to the military camps and stables, pastures, and farms owned by all lords, you also have observation stations with wood elves, dwarf taverns and settlements, dwarf blacksmith workshops, and weapons.
, as well as the huge livestock farm, the lady's tower, Veronica's wizard tower..."
"They are all landmark buildings, hehehe." Ryan just smiled and continued: "In addition, there is Alfred's Chapel of Justice, and Teresa's Wizard Tower is also being built."
"My Earl and Countess, in addition to these, a new building is also being built. I plan to expand the market. The current market can no longer meet the current trade needs. We need to build more stalls and shops.
"Butler Katzenberg still has a big bald head. He wears a pair of round sunglasses. He puts his hands behind his back and follows Ryan: "In addition, there are new windmills and barns.
It needs construction, and we estimate it will cost another five hundred gold crowns."
"How many gold crowns are there in my vault?" Ryan asked in a low voice.
"A lot... Earl, even after deducting the budget for town expansion, there are still more than 55,000 gold crowns in the treasury." Katzenberg seemed quite confident when talking about this. He said with some pride: "Don't worry,
Count, last year our taxes totaled five thousand gold crowns, which is enough money no matter how you calculate it."
"You can't spend it arbitrarily... By the way, I plan to expand the Earl's Castle. You go find your dwarf friends and leave this project to them. I think the dwarves can coordinate it well as to how to hire manpower and arrange the work." Ryan continued.
He ordered towards Katzenberg.
"Understood." Katzenberg nodded in agreement.
"Katzenberg, don't force yourself. If you can't do so many things on your own, just say so and we will send more people to help you." Sulia's smile was like a flower blooming, and the female knight encouraged Katzenberg with gentle words.
Sunberg: "You have been a strong support to Ryan since he came here. We need your strength. You taking good care of yourself is the greatest reward for us."
"I am very grateful for Mrs. Sulia's concern! But I have no problem." The female knight's words made Katzenberg feel that his chest was filled with warmth. He quickly lowered his head to express humility and gratitude: "I will try my best to
It is my duty and responsibility to carry out the count's orders."
Katzenberg is extremely satisfied with the marriage between Ryan and Sulia. He graduated from Wynford College and bears the obvious imprint of the Principality of Wynford. To him, the marriage between his young lady and Ryan is what everyone expects, and he
I am also sincerely happy for my young lady’s current happiness.
Ryan nodded silently. Sulia conquered people's hearts with just a few words, and he relied more on his status as the champion of the Fairy in the Lake Goddess and his strong heroic aura to intimidate his subordinates. Although the methods were different, the results were good. Now the couple
As long as the two of them play their roles well, it shouldn't be a big problem to ensure the loyalty of their subordinates. This is Britannia, not the Empire. It's rare to hear of maintenance fees and supplies disappearing without any reason.
The couple continued to move along the snow-covered road. Farther down the street, the four-story tall wooden building of the Oliver Chamber of Commerce appeared in Ryan's sight. At the end of January, there were slightly fewer people in this chamber of commerce, because
This season, neither wood elves nor humans like to go out to do business. Even dwarves like to stay inside the thick stone walls and enjoy the fire and ale.
The cold wind blew so hard that the guard at the door was so cold that his noses ran down his nostrils. The guard thought that no one would come here in this weather, so he fished secretly. He found a place to sit down and put his halberd down.
On the side, he yawned and cursed the damn weather: "It's so cold, when will spring come?"
Ever since the imperial businessman Oliver rose to prominence in Britannia through Ryan's connections, he has gradually become another big businessman. He owns the Wood Elf goods franchise and half of the Veronica Wizard Tower's magic potion purchase channels. Oliver makes a lot of money.
After making huge profits, Schulz, the Grand Duke of Marienburg, also gave Oliver the green light on many issues.
Then, with the signing of trade agreements and defense alliances between Emperors Len and Karl-Franz and Elector Boris Todbringer, many high-end luxury goods from Reikland and animal skins from Middenland,
Timber and livestock can also be found here.
As a result, Oliver's identity and status have also risen. This big businessman has recently done a great thing. He tried his best to help the Principality of Carcassonne and the Principality of Belion pay a "fixed war tax" to the king at sea.
It was transported to Curona by land during the storm. The cunning Oliver even kept the money for two months, taking the opportunity to place many large orders with Marienburg, and then handed it over to Curona after the turnover was successful.
The guard at the door waited for a while, and was about to go in and hide in front of the stove to warm himself by the fire. He immediately noticed that several people were coming towards the Chamber of Commerce.
Those who can serve as guards are naturally very discerning people. He took a closer look and was so frightened that he ran towards the house: "Fake, Mr. Fake! The count is here!"
Farke, who used to be Oliver's personal bodyguard and has now been promoted to the rank of captain of the guard, was sitting around the hall on the first floor with several guards drinking fish soup. Hearing the doorman's call, Farke lazily asked: "Who's here?"
Now Oliver's status is different. As a guard who followed him in the early years, Falk also feels that he is a figure in Britannia, and his temper has become much louder in recent years.
"Count! It's Count Malcador who's here!" the guard said quickly.
"Quick, quick, quick!" After hearing this, Fak almost couldn't hold the bowl. He hurriedly led the guards to greet him, with a flattering smile on his face: "Your Excellency Ryan! Mrs. Sulia! What kind of wind blows you?
Coming?"
Ryan and Sulia walked in hand in hand, and Katzenberg followed them into the hall.
"It's such a cold day, Fake, but you really know how to enjoy yourself. You are hiding in a warm room and drinking fish soup." Ryan smiled. He thought about how weird the name of this guard was to be pronounced, and he had no intention of getting into trouble with him:
"Where's Oliver?"
"The president is checking the accounts upstairs, do you want me to take you up?" Fake's waist bent at a sixty degree angle.
Ryan didn't appreciate it. He shook his head and motioned for them to go up.
Going up the wooden stairs, Oliver had already received the news and stood at the stairs to greet him: "Sir Ryan! Mrs. Sulia! Mr. Katzenberg! Very, very welcome to my chamber of commerce. You want to
You didn’t even tell me in advance when you came.”
"We just want to make a surprise attack to see what you are doing, Mr. Oliver." Ryan held Sulia's little hand and smiled at the businessman.
"Hey, please sit down, please sit down!" After a year of not seeing each other, Oliver has become a little thinner. The big businessman seems to have realized that being too fat is not good for him. He works hard to lose weight and takes Veronica Dawn Wizard.
The expensive weight-loss pills produced by Tajikistan helped me lose weight.
Ryan and Sulia were sitting on the expensive leather sofa, and Katzenberg stood behind them. As a housekeeper, Katzenberg had practiced standing for long periods of time, but Ryan motioned for him to sit down too.
Oliver served three cups of hot coffee to the three people. This kind of coffee beans was imported from the Kingdom of Tyrell in the south and was valuable: "Sir Ryan, why do you come to the Chamber of Commerce in such a cold weather?"
"It's freezing cold now, so I went out for a walk when I saw nothing happened." Ryan picked up the coffee and drank it directly without adding sugar or milk. He liked the original bitter taste of the coffee and the aroma of charcoal.
"President Oliver has been our friend for a long time. We just came here to visit an old friend. This is like a greeting between friends. There is no need to be so outgoing." Sulia also said with a smile, and the female knight let him go in just a few words.
The big businessman felt like a spring breeze, and his slight nervousness and unconfidence immediately disappeared.
"Without the earl, there would be no current Oliver Chamber of Commerce." Oliver nodded repeatedly. His chamber's current trade network covers Britannia, the Empire, Tyrell and Estalia, and it also maintains cooperation with the dwarves and Ai of the Gray Mountains.
The wood elves of Solorun also have good trade relations, which are all the energy of Lion.
"Have you heard about Helmgart?" After a brief exchange of greetings, Ryan cut the topic to the point.
"I heard the news from the Axbite Pass. Duke Fourcade of Montfort has defeated the Skaven army that invaded Montfort Castle, but the destruction of Helmgart is an indisputable fact.
, It is expected that it will take one year to rebuild the entire city. During this year, Axbite Pass can only temporarily suspend trade." Oliver took out an unopened letter and handed it to Ryan: "Earl, this is
I just received the message."
Ryan received the letter, which contained news from the subordinates of the Chamber of Commerce that opened a store in Axe Pass. The trade route at Axe Pass would be suspended for at least a year. This is still a conservative estimate. The specific time for the resumption of trade will have to wait until Helmgart is rebuilt.
.
The Duke of Montfort, Fourcade, had a bad relationship with Ryan, but his relationship with the Empire was very good. After finally defeating the Skaven attack, Fourcade not only sent knights to help the Imperial army clean up the ground, but also took the initiative
Send craftsmen to help Helmgart rebuild.
Although Britannia and the Empire have never lacked border frictions and small wars in history, they once again chose to support each other when facing a common enemy.
Of course, Ryan thought that this could not be just a big talk like chivalry and the so-called community of a shared future for mankind. From a small perspective, the customs revenue from the Axebit Pass was the main tax revenue of his Montfort Principality, and the Axebite Pass was no longer open to trade.
, Duke Fourcade will soon have to live a tight life for more than a year. Simply looking at it this way, he must be the most anxious and hoping that the trade routes can be restored.
"How much impact will the interruption of the trade route at Axbite Pass have on our trade?" Ryan asked the question he was concerned about.
"Not too much, my Earl. The total trade volume of the Oliver Chamber of Commerce last year was about 54,000 gold crowns. After deducting costs, transportation fees and other necessary expenses, the profit was almost 6,000 gold crowns." Oliver then took out a list:
"Our main trade is still by sea, escorted by Duke Bordero's Poseidon Fleet to Marienburg for trade. The trade volume at Axbite Pass is less than nine thousand gold crowns."
Ryan took the bill and looked at it carefully. The total figures and accounts were very clear. There were no problems. Oliver was very serious about his work.
"I remember that the wood elves' goods were all huge profits." Ryan returned the account to Oliver and made a casual joke.
"That's right, but the shipment volume of Wood Elf goods is not high, and some products such as wood and food will be shipped relatively cheaply." Oliver habitually spoke in businessman's jargon: "The goods are selling well, but the scale is not.
It won’t get any bigger.”
Ryan nodded. The large caravans of wood elves usually come once every two or three weeks, with only a few cars of goods at a time. Small-scale trade does not stop, but his territory can be digested by itself.
"Dwarf weapons and equipment and many tools are very popular, but these things cannot be sold to the Empire and Marienburg. You know, Earl, there are many dwarves in the Empire, so the dwarf products are mainly sold in Breton.
Tanya is selling like hotcakes." Oliver continued his analysis.
The sales volume and different demands of many products have been determined. The popularity of wood elf medicines ranks first among all products, followed by several high-end Wenford red wines produced by the Sulia family, followed by the Lake God Witch Morgiana and
Veronica's Dawn Wizard Tower produces many magical potions.
Ryan took out a roll of parchment: "This is a new batch of magic ores and raw materials needed for Veronica's Dawn Wizard Tower. I leave it to you to go to the empire to purchase them."
"Understood." Oliver took the parchment. If you want to purchase these magic ores and raw materials from the empire, you have to go through special channels. Fortunately, Ryan has reached an agreement with Emperor Karl, otherwise Oliver would really have to scratch his scalp for this.
Veronica didn't care so much before. You have to get me what I want, otherwise the Witch of Gloria will report it to Ryan. Oliver was so worried that he lost a lot of his hair.
"Oh, by the way, my count, the Ugor Cavalry Regiment from Kislev has set off from Oerengrad and arrived at Marienburg to replenish supplies, preparing to bypass Lyonnais and land at Bordeaux.
In addition to a whole tribe of several hundred people, Mrs. Keesler also obtained several large bears according to your request and prepared to do a tour in Britannia." Oliver went on to talk about the next thing.
.
“The leader of this unit is a Ugor chief named Mikoyan Ivanovich Govorov, nicknamed ‘Ivan the Terrible’, also known as ‘Ivan the Great’.”