Chapter 678: A New Order From the Fjords

At the end of autumn evening, Neverwinter welcomes a long-lost guest. ?

Businesswoman Margaery.

For this friend who came to the door first and brought rich rewards to the struggling Border Town, Roland gave him a very high level of courtesy. Not only did the First Army fire a cannon to welcome her, but he also went to the shallows to pick her up. castle.

"You are very polite, Your Majesty," Margaery said with a smile, "I am just an ordinary businessman."

"Without your help, it would be very difficult for the Western Territory to develop into what it is today," Roland replied easily, "Neverwinter will never disappoint friendship."

Whether it was the initial purchase of a large amount of food, or the subsequent transfer of refugees by renting many ships, it was all done with the great assistance of the Margaery Chamber of Commerce. Even Tasa could gain a firm foothold in the Old King's City without Margaery's contacts and support. Although these are not provided free of charge, Roland is very clear that many things cannot be done with money alone.

"It's my honor to be called your friend," Margaret said with a slight bow. "This time, in addition to fulfilling the perfume contract I signed earlier, I also brought you new business opportunities," she pointed behind her. "They are all the most prominent merchants in the fjords, and they are full of interest in your steam sailing plan."

"Really?" Roland smiled, "I'll trouble you to introduce it to me later."

According to his usual practice, dealing with businessmen is eating and talking. After entering the living room, the long table was already filled with all kinds of delicious food, and these overseas visitors seemed to be very satisfied with not having to eat fish. In addition, noble etiquette is not popular in the fjords, so they tried their best to control it at first. Take care of yourself and be as graceful as possible. After a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere became even more heated, and all the imitated etiquette was forgotten.

Roland didn't mind this at all, he preferred a lively dining environment to the complicated table rules in the court.

During the chat, he also had a general understanding of the visiting business group. In addition to Gamol and Marlan, the two merchants from Crescent Bay who first visited Border Town, there were also chambers of commerce from Sunset Island and Qianshui City. The two islands, one in the south and the other in the north, are adjacent to Crescent Bay, forming a closely connected business circle.

As the original residence of Fjord people, although the three islands are small in size, their population and strength are the top in the Fjords, and the competition among them is quite fierce. This can be seen from the size of the other two fleets . Every ship docked at the shallow port is a three-masted ship, each of which can carry nearly 300 people and the same weight of cargo-the price of such a sailing ship is close to five thousand gold dragons, not including sailors . Obviously, in terms of fighting for face and showing their strength, the two chambers of commerce do not want to lag behind Crescent Bay at all.

After the dessert is served, it means that the meeting has officially started.

"I heard from Margaery that you all want to buy a steam engine?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Nibelung, the person in charge of the Shallow Water City Chamber of Commerce, said first, "But it's not just a steam engine. We also very much hope to have the steamboat you sold to Crescent Moon Bay."

"I heard that the modification cost you offered earlier was 1,800 gold dragons? Sunset Island is willing to add another 200 to rebuild five ships at the price of 2,000 gold dragons," said the businessman of Sunset Island, Ai Tiye, who was not far behind, "The Chamber of Commerce You can pay half of the deposit first."

Apparently they were referring to the steam paddle steamer Crescent Bay bought a year ago. For Roland, this is a technology that is about to be phased out. It would be nice to be able to use this batch of orders to train workers and earn a lot of money by the way. A very good deal.

"It will take two to three months to transform one paddle steamer, and it will take about a year to rebuild five. If you can accept it, Barov, the head of the city hall, will sign this contract with you."

"There is no problem at all, but Sunset Island still has a small request." Etier cleared his throat, "We hope that you can use craftsmen from the fjords to complete the ship transformation."

"What do you mean?" Roland frowned.

"Just like the steam engine factory in Crescent Bay, we will provide you with a group of craftsmen. The ships they transform will be given priority to use on Sunset Island. After the ten-year period expires, they will be free to choose whether to stay or not."

"Shallow Water City also hopes to sign a contract in this way," Nibelung echoed. "Five sailing ships are the first batch of orders. If you can agree to our request, at least five ships will be remodeled every year."

That's it, Roland thought, so this is a big deal that lasts ten years, and the annual transaction price is as high as 10,000 gold dragons, and they will get a detailed transformation method after ten years, so they won't be controlled by others all the time.

But the fact is that he doesn't care about spreading this method at all. Compared with the steam turbine under development and the three-expansion steam engine that has been put into production, the paddle steamer is obviously behind the times.

His original purpose of signing the ten-year agreement with Crescent Bay was to use these ten years to allow the artisans to adapt to life in the western region, so that they would not want to return to the fjords, and eventually become a member of Neverwinter, not to prevent technology leakage .

Technology separated from the industrial foundation is nothing more than a seemingly beautiful castle in the air.

Thinking of this, Roland knocked on the table, "There is no problem in principle, but we may make some changes in details, such as changing ten years to five years..."

Speaking of this, the faces of the two big businessmen showed obvious joy. For them, it is naturally a better choice to master the steamship transformation technology earlier.

"As long as Qianshui City and Sunset Island are willing to keep the craftsmen in the west, I can give you a 20% discount on the price, how about it?"

"this……"

The two suddenly hesitated. After all, craftsmen are not so easy to train. They can't say for a while whether the deal is worthwhile.

"Your Majesty, can I give you an answer after discussing with other members of the chamber of commerce?" Nibelung said.

"Of course," Roland made a gesture of letting go.

"Also allow me to retire temporarily," Etier followed and left the living room.

"Then..." He looked at Gamol and Marlan, "The purpose of your trip doesn't seem to be a steamboat?"

When the two chambers of commerce were vying to discuss business first, the representative of Crescent Moon Bay kept a calm expression, and occasionally talked about the past transactions with Border Town, feeling that they were not here to discuss business, but to make things happen... This sentimental manner naturally aroused Roland's curiosity.

"No, Your Majesty, we are also here for the steamship," Jia Moore took a sip of white wine, "but not a wooden paddle steamer. Crescent Moon Bay wants an indestructible steel ship that can cut through the wind and waves—that's you The one built for Lord Thunder."

As soon as these words came out, Margaret's expression changed immediately. 8