Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 324

2021-06-11

Chapter 324 Buying a Boat and Going Down
A venerable Mrs. Veneta was disturbed late at night , how would she react when she learned that her daughter had disappeared, and it was two?

I can't imagine it.

In the past, the Veneta used a poison-coated dagger to deal with such situations.

In recent years, the methods have become more civilized, and the poisoned dagger has been replaced by a reed gun hidden under a cloak.

In an empathy, Winters asked himself, what if a little bastard dared to kidnap Ella?
The result of thinking is that Winters' mood has become extraordinarily relaxed after repeatedly confirming to Anna that she has no brother.

All in all, he didn't want to meet Mr. Leo at all.

But considering that Mr. Leo came to Iron Peak with his adoptive father, Winters had a vague feeling that Mrs. Navarre's attitude might have softened.

Winters and Mrs. Navarre have met only a few times, and she can't even remember Mrs. Navarre's face, but she is a very gentle, kind, and kind lady.

The situation...perhaps not bad?

Extending the head is a knife, and retracting the head is also a knife. Winters dragged his head until he couldn't drag it any longer. Finally, bronze oneself met Mr. Leo.

The meeting was private, in a small living room around a fireplace, with only Winters, Antonio and Leo present, because Winters thought Leo was talking about "family matters."

But soon, the atmosphere becomes serious and formal.

The reason is very simple - Leo didn't come to find a daughter for Madame Navarre at all, and he didn't mention anything about Anna.

"Your Excellency the Tribunal." Mr. Leo's tone was formal and straight to the point, which directly set the tone of the whole conversation: "Can you provide me with the tariff collection standards for Iron Peak County?"

In the face of sudden questions, especially on irrelevant topics, people are often unable to respond immediately.

In order to keep the conversation going, the overwhelming majority subconsciously utter a monosyllable word:

“Huh?”

or “en?”

Or "What?"

This is a normal human reaction, and it is also the reason why many people have already heard the question clearly, but ask the other person to repeat the question again.

However, this performance also means falling into a weak position in negotiations.

While Winters has absolutely no idea what Mr. Leo is talking about, he has a unique way of coping with situations like this.

He didn't say a word, staring calmly into the other's eyes, waiting for Leo to take the initiative to explain.

Leo didn't intend to continue confrontation. He happily explained his intention: "We have a batch of wool that we want to transport back to Veneta via Iron Peak County."

……

Wool, walking white gold mine, Parato's biggest export.

Compared with the wool trade, horse trading has become a small business.

Many, many years ago, merchants from the Piedmont (Note: present-day United Province) first started the wool trade.

The merchants from the piedmont land traveled thousands of miles to Palatu, where they first bought wool from the herdsmen, and then bought wood from the nobles to make boats. In the end, they drove a large boat full of wool along the Jinliu River all the way to the east, to the inland sea, and back to the front of the mountain.

The wool is sent to the weaving workshop. Ships are dismantled and sold as lumber.

The merchants calculated their profits and paid off their debts, and then went to Palatu with their capital again to start a new year's journey.

This kind of circular trade is called "buying a boat to the east", and I don't know how many businessmen just rush around between [Mountain Piedmont-Palatu] day after day and year after year.

The wool continuously feeds the woolen textile industry in the piedmont, and the prosperity of the woolen textile industry creates more demand for wool.

In the era when Veneta commercial city-states such as Hailan and Baihuacheng monopolized the inland sea trade, the cities in the piedmont region earned the first pot of gold by virtue of the wool textile industry, and in the following days keep accumulating wealth.

It is interesting to say, because the entrepot trade is firmly controlled by the Veneta people, and the merchants in the piedmont have to find another way to become bigger and stronger.

Under desperation, the merchants in the piedmont area opened up a development route of "combining handicraft industry with commerce".

They are often both workshop owners and traders. And because they have a common enemy, the merchants of the Piedmont are far more united than the merchants of the Veneta city-states.

However, there is a huge difference in size after all. If there is no accident, the mountain front will continue to be suppressed by the Veneta city-states, and it will not be in the same position as the second child of Wannian.

However, fate Goddess gave a chance to the piedmont, and the Veneta city-states that entered the golden age seemed to recognize themselves as omnipotent, and then the city-states started a decision - hegemony.

The city-states of Veneta were constantly fighting, and the fortress attack and defense technology also developed in great strides during this period, and the piedmont land ushered in a beautiful spring.

When the city-state war ended, the victor—the honorable Ocean Blue Republic—was shocked to discover that the merchants in the piedmont area who had been submissive had already become giant sharks, and the inland sea trade that was originally exclusive to the Veneta merchants had already been transformed. Tear off most of it.

The Veneta city-states are in decline, and the Piedmont has officially entered its golden age.

At that time—that is, half a century ago, the Duchy of Piedmont was the richest land in the empire, the most dazzling diamond on the emperor's scepter.

In terms of area, the Duchy of Piedmont is almost insignificant. But this small delta provides one third to one half of the empire's annual tax.

However, the following story is familiar to everyone.

The Sovereign War broke out, and this time it was the turn of the piedmont - the Federal Republic - to be beaten to the ground.

The centuries-old accumulation of people in the mountains has turned into fuel for the war.

What are the Veneta city-states doing at the same time?
A: The Veneta people were watching and made a fortune by the way.

A large number of commoners and nobles from the provinces fled to Veneta with their families in order to escape the war - with wealth, technology and manpower.

While Ned Smith and the Duke Butcher tug-of-war in the Commonwealth, Veneta's woollen industry flourished.

The so-called "every war in the province, Veneta gets rich once" is the history.

All in all, after the end of the Sovereign War, the wool textile industry is no longer an industry monopolized by the Union Provinces, and the new Veneta Republic can already be on an equal footing with the Union Provinces.

Vinetta and the provinces, the rivalry between comrades and enemies continues to this day.

 …

What does it have to do with Winters?
Actually, it really does matter.

In addition to sales and looms, another major bottleneck restricting the wool textile industry is the raw material - wool.

Without wool, the loom would stop; without wool, the weaver would starve to death.

Buy Zhoudongxia has developed to today, and it is no longer the primordial form of "hawkers collect wool from the hands of herdsmen".

Competition drives the development of business models, with deep-pocketed wool merchants no longer limited to buying wool, but simply investing in flocks and even pastures.

Even so, the Veneta and Union Provinces still fight for wool every year.

The wool is continuously transported from the plateau to the shore of the inland sea, turned into cloth and sold to the whole continent.

Wine, precious metals, steel, and handicrafts flowed continuously into Palatu, against the wool's route.

If the Cenas Alliance is a giant, then the [Cinder River/River River], which carries the wool trade, is the artery and vein of the giant at the same time.

But here's the problem: the big artery of the league, was cut.

After the bloody night of the Kings Castle, Arpad's military government occupied the "Jiangbei Province" in the northwest of Palatu, and the remaining land south and northeast of the Ember River was taken over by the Second Republic. control.

After several rounds of offense and defense, neither side was able to break through the Jade River.

The proverb says: If the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat will suffer.

The Second Republic and the Third Republic faced off across the river, but it was the Veneta woolen merchants who grieved everywhere.

The wool trade is not like any other business. When crops fall, planters can change or not plant them; bottles and cans are not easy to sell, and workshops can stop producing them.

But not wool.

The sheep don't care who wins or loses, the sheep just graze, grow hair, and bleat. As long as they don't die, sheep will grow wool.

A part of last year's wool was not shipped back to China. Because the Jinliujiang shipping was completely strangled, this year's wool was all blocked in Palatu.

Wait until next summer, the new wool season, and there won't be even a place to store wool.

No, it's more likely - Veneta Woollens won't last until next year at all.

"Since you can't walk by water." Winters heard this and asked Mr. Leo for the first time: "Can you walk by land?"

"You asked the most interesting The place." Leo opened his eyes slightly, paused for a moment, and tilted his head looking towards Antonio: "Your Excellency General, please help me explain."

Antonio sighed: "With the United Province and the Victorian The territories of Palatu, bordered by Neta, are all controlled by the Second Republic, which has a strong pro-provincial leanings."

"It's also the most infuriating." Mr. Leo Said a wit: "It was the Palatus who fought, but only the Veneta were wounded."

"You mean..." Winters cleared his mind: "The Second Republic carried out some kind of The trade embargo, the wool sent to Veneta is blocked in Palato, while the wool sent to the provinces can travel by land without any obstruction?"

"That's it." Mr. Leo nodded .

"Why not just check your wool?" Winters frowned slightly.

"You have to do what you need to do." Mr. Leo laughed at himself: "In my opinion, my colleagues in the Federal Province are waiting."

" What are you waiting for?"

"When we surrender." Mr. Leo casually said, "When we beg to sell them shares of the flock."

See Winters no Understandably, Leo explained patiently: "The wool business is very risky. It costs money to shave, to transport, and to raise sheep. The land can also be listed for sale. If the sheep dies, they can only be sold. It’s a piece of meat. Therefore, it is said that [the family wealth is tens of millions, and the hairy ones are not counted].

It is better to sell the shares of the sheep directly to the cage instead of keeping the sheep in the face of a major epidemic. Funds. The gentlemen of the Union province are not in a hurry, the time is on their side, they can wait slowly."

Winters' eyebrows deepened: "But just based on the location of Tiefeng County, how can it help? This is the southwest end of Palatu, and the entire Palatu is separated from Veneta."

"The caravan carrying wool needs to enter the buffer zone, please allow it. As for the next step You don't have to worry about it." Mr. Leo smiled politely: "It's all connected."

All connected? Winters wondered.

From Tiefeng County to the east is Baishan County, then Bianjiang County, and then to the east is Xilin Province, and then you have to pass through Donglin Province to reach Veneta.

This route spans three whole provinces.
Yet another word in Leo's words suddenly woke Winters up - "buffer".

The buffer zone refers to the 100-kilometer no-man's land west of the Palatine border, and further west, it is the territory of the Heard tribes.

The cold hairs on Winters' back suddenly stood up, and he wanted to stand up abruptly, but in the end he sat firmly: "You want to enter through the buffer zone? Where did your wool... come from? ”

From Mr. Leo’s chubby face, Winters could see many emotions: curiosity, admiration, worry…

Leo met Winters’ eyes, and his smile grew brighter : "It's from where you think it is."

If any company commander dared to say such a thing, Winters would have kicked his boots in the past. He really wanted to grab Leo's collar and force Leo to make it clear.
But, for many reasons, his body movements were limited to leaning back slightly, leaning on the back of the chair, and squinting slightly. Eyes on Leo.

“You still smuggle wool from the Hurds?” Winters pierced the window paper directly.

"Besides the Platoons, who else in the world is better at raising sheep?" Mr. Leo put down his smile, and his attitude became respectful and restrained: "Besides, Veneta didn't treat the Hurds in the first place. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposes a trade embargo, so what is smuggling? The wool from last year is currently stored in the warehouses of the kings' castles. It is not cost-effective to transport it directly, and it will also alarm the gentlemen in the province."

"From He The Germans buy wool from the Germans." Winters asked back, "Is it easy to carry?"

"Please listen to my explanation - a considerable part of this year's wool is still on the sheep." Leo finally spat out A tip of the iceberg of his plan: "Moving the sheep is more cost effective if you can."

Winters blinked: "You may not know that there are meadows at least a hundred miles west of Iron Peak. , I have burned them all down."

Mr. Leo face doesn't change: "It doesn't matter, the shearing has to be in summer, and the grass will grow back at that time."

Winters thinks for a bit, since Leo claims to have his joints open, there's not much he needs to do, just let the wool in.

He has no reason to refuse to help the Veneta, and to please Madame Navarre by the way.

"Is it only wool?" Winters waved his hand and smiled for the first time: "Forget about customs duties and transit taxes and the like. After agreeing on a time and place, I will send people to set up a pontoon bridge to connect the caravan across. River."

Mr. Leo gave a strange smile: "No, you'd better provide the tariff collection standard. Because...when the time comes you will understand."

…

…

Winters neither saw nor sheared wool. Mr. Leo just came to the front and the mouse pulled the wedge - the big head behind.

But Mr. Leo, the fat man, really helped Winters solve a problem.

The question of old man, wolves, sheep and turnips.

[One chapter, one chapter still owed]
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(end of this chapter)