Release that Witch - Chapter 17

[Chapter 17 The Messenger (Part 1)]

“This place is still so dilapidated.” When Fortress Ambassador Pei Luo stepped out of the cabin, a smell of rotten wood came over his face.

The surrounding air is humid and dull, making people feel uncomfortable all over.

He sniffed and raised his head. The sky was gray, as if a heavy rain was brewing.

“The last time you came here was probably a year ago.” The assistant put the woolen coat on the ambassador graciously. “There is nothing here except stones.”

“It was a year and a half ago,” Pei Luo corrected, “The Lord Duke will draw different people every season. The last time I was in Border Town was summer. Besides stones, there are all kinds of high-quality furs here, and… …”

“What?” The assistant looked puzzled.

Pei Luo shook his head, but did not answer.

He stepped over the side of the ship and stepped onto the moss-covered pier, the boards creaking under his feet.

In a few more years, the pier will fall apart, he thought.

Border Town not only has stones, furs, and even… land.

But it doesn’t make sense to say these things. The assistant is just a little-known clerk in the city hall, so he can’t see this at all.

There is a large piece of uncultivated land between Border Town and Longsong Fortress. On one side is the Impassable Mountain Range, and on the other side is the Chishui River, like a long and narrow corridor.

As the outpost of the fortress, if it assumes the responsibility of the defense line, a large area of land in the middle will be brought into the hands of the fortress.

They have not been cultivated and can be planted many times without fallow. With the natural barriers on both sides, it does not take much effort to eat them.

This can just alleviate a series of problems caused by the increasing population of the fortress, and Border Town will also become an integral part of the fortress, instead of being separated into two independent territories as it is now.

The only disadvantage is that it requires three to five years of operation and a large upfront investment.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the foresight of investment, most nobles are not as good as a poor businessman.

“Hey, why is the storage yard empty?” The assistant pointed to an empty space in the distance, “Shouldn’t they have all the ore ready?”

Pei Luo sighed softly, “Let’s go to the castle to meet His Highness.”

“Wait…Mr. Ambassador, aren’t you waiting for their reception team?”

I don’t know if there is any, he thought in his heart but didn’t say it, “Let’s go, the stable is in front.”

Now, the trouble of splitting into two independent territories is obviously coming. The king threw the fourth prince to this remote place with an order to fight for the king. What would a normal nobleman or disciple of the royal family do?

Of course, take everything here as your own.

Ores and jewels for food and bread?

The prince probably only saw the golden dragon in his eyes.

If it was himself, he would do the same.

Seeing the output in their own territory being exchanged at such a low price, I am afraid no one is willing to accept it.

And the prince doesn’t have to go to the fortress. Most of the people in the family have forgotten the fact that the Chishui River doesn’t just pass through the Changsong Fortress.

He can sell the ore to Liuye Town, Zhuolongling, and Chishui City at the market price, and then take the people to these places for refuge—it’s nothing more than a longer journey.

Then what can Longsong Fortress do?

Block the river and stop the prince and his party?

That was an open confrontation with the Graycastle royal family!

Everyone knows that the fourth prince is not liked by the king, but no matter how bad he is, he is also the blood of the king, there is no doubt about it.

The two rode rented horses and walked slowly along the stone road by the river.

The stables are all old horses with mixed coats and skinny bones. Even if they walk slowly, their whole bodies tremble when they walk.

And for these two idiots, he had to pay two golden dragons as a deposit.

“Look, sir, is that the boat from Liuye Town?”

Hearing the assistant’s yelling, he looked in the direction pointed by the other party, and saw a single-pole sailboat with a flag of green leaves and a machete coming slowly along the river.

The waterline of the hull is very high, indicating that it is full of cargo.

Pei Luo nodded expressionlessly, but his heart sank. The other party moved faster than expected.

If the prince had already started contacting the towns in the lower reaches of the Chishui River, he would lose another bargaining chip in his hand.

He originally planned to persuade his father to agree to buy the ore at an amount lower than 30% of the normal price, so that he could still make money, not to mention jewelry, a luxury product whose value can be multiplied several times after polishing.

It’s a pity that he has the final say in this monopoly business, nor is it the Honeysuckle family.

There are six aristocrats participating in the mining industry in Border Town. Without the consent of the majority, no resolution can be reached.

But they were unresponsive, thinking that the situation was still the same as before… Or, the output of the mining area was not worthy of their attention.

Anyway, the other five families were indifferent, and my father rejected him confidently.

In fact, they were completely wrong. The main reason for the low output in the mining area is this barter mode. If it becomes a normal trade, the more you produce, the more you earn, and the ore output is likely to rise to a higher level next year.

If we talk about the previous monopoly plan, there are nine out of ten, no, it is definitely impossible to realize.

Pei Luo thought, from the empty pier yard, it can be seen that the prince has no intention of exchanging these stones for low-quality wheat, and he is already contacting other buyers.

If he still wants to hold on to this trade line, a 30% discount is his last bargaining chip.

The distance between Liuye Town and Border Town made the cost of ore transportation higher, and there was more than one source of ore in Liuye Town, so the price they offered was probably half of the market price.

As for Falling Dragon Ridge and Chishui Fort, they will only be opened lower, so that the fourth prince may agree that Longsong Fortress will still monopolize it—especially the gem trade.

But the question is, if I make my own claim to sign the contract, will my father agree with it?

As for the other five families, would they feel that their actions were simply surrendering to Border Town and handing over the interests of the family?

After all, in their eyes, Border Town is still just a pasture that is controlled by the fortress’s own people, and they can get whatever they want.

The two of them slowly crossed to the castle located in the southeast corner of the town. It was not the first time for Peiluo to come here, but this time, the owner had changed.

When the guard saw the ambassador’s certificate, he immediately went in and informed the lord.

The fourth prince, Roland Wimbledon, quickly summoned Pei Luo. When the two were introduced into the living room, the prince was already waiting on the main seat.

“Mr. Ambassador, please sit down.”

Roland clapped his hands and asked the maid to serve a sumptuous meal.

There was a whole roast chicken, wild boar shank braised with mushrooms, bread and butter, and a large vegetable soup.

Obviously, in this borderland, the personal enjoyment of the children of the royal family has not been compromised in the slightest.

Naturally, Pei Luo would not be polite. It would take two days to travel from the fortress to Border Town by water, even with a favorable wind; if it was a cargo ship with multiple masts and paddles, it would be even slower, and it would take three to five days.

There is no kitchen on board, and people usually eat their own dried meat strips or wheat cakes.

UU Reading www.sonicmtl.com Seeing the steaming dishes, he felt his saliva surging in his throat.

However, years of noble training allowed him to maintain perfect dining etiquette. On the contrary, His Royal Highness’s eating style is much worse – especially in the use of knives and forks.

Pei Luo noticed that, except that the fourth prince would use a table knife when cutting meat, other actions were performed with a pair of small wooden sticks.

And it seems… two sticks are much more convenient than a fork.

“What do you think?” Roland asked suddenly when the meal was almost over.

“Uh, what?” The ambassador didn’t recover for a while.

“This,” the other party shook the wooden stick in his hand, and without waiting for Pei Luo to answer, he said directly, “an iron fork is a luxury for most people, let alone a silver fork. If you grab and eat it directly, it is easy to eat the dirty things into your stomach. Disease comes from the mouth, you know?”

The ambassador didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t quite understand the meaning of disease from the mouth, but according to the understanding of the previous sentence, it probably means that dirty things stick to food and you can get sick easily.

But everyone came here like this, and no one died of illness because of it.

“A pair of oak sticks, you can find as much as you want in the Hidden Forest. They are clean and easy to get. I plan to promote this in the town.” The prince took a sip of his wine, “Of course, my subjects have almost no meat to eat now. Eat it, it will get better after you can.”

Pei Luo breathed a sigh of relief, he still understood how to answer this sentence.

After routinely expressing his approval and blessing, he didn’t take it seriously in his heart.

Let the citizens have meat to eat?

It’s simply whimsical, even Graycastle is far from capable of doing this, let alone a remote place like Border Town.

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[End of this Chapter]