Chapter 237: Church of Wealth
After the goddess's birthday, it was already the year 3263 of the Dawn Calendar.
Richard took his family to live in Heihe Fort for three days, took a few days to rest, and sorted out this year's work.
Margaret will be five years old in the next year. The little girl's IQ has obviously been inherited from her aunt and mother, and she is very smart. Despite being the youngest student at Riverside Elementary School, he can easily keep up with the curriculum.
Because she made many new friends at Riverside Primary School, Margaret's personality became much more cheerful.
After Philip was born, Margaret had a playmate and she was particularly happy during this time. As children grow up and have their own circle of friends, they gradually become less clingy.
After the birthday of the goddess, Richard took two squadrons of soldiers and 70,000 gold coins in cash to buy slaves in the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
Rather than going to the royal capital of Nolan, Richard preferred to go to the Grand Duchy of Stanik to buy slaves.
Because the Harland family has no competition with the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the nobles who control the Grand Duchy of Stanik will naturally not place people among the slaves. Relatively speaking, Richard also trusted the slaves purchased from the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
The caravans from the Harland Territory have been to the Grand Duchy of Stanik many times and are very familiar with this road.
Which lord is more friendly on the road, and where can I get water supplies? Are there any powerful bandits along the way?
The Haaland Caravan is already well aware of these situations.
Because I was familiar with the road, the journey went very smoothly. After all, Richard's reputation has spread throughout Northern Xinjiang. No matter whether he is a bandit or a noble lord, he dare not easily provoke the Harland family and bring hatred to himself.
Moreover, there were a large number of soldiers escorting the caravan, with a total of two squadrons. The combat effectiveness of the two elite squadrons had exceeded that of the ordinary baron.
Although the two Dukes Edward and Fox were far more powerful than the Harland family, they had no reason to attack the Harland family caravan.
Although the relationship between the Harland family and the great nobles is not good, there is no hatred either.
There are a lot of trade exchanges between the two parties every year. The Harland family uses a wholesale agency system to do business with the great nobles. The territorial caravans basically do not operate in the territories of the great nobles.
There are no land conflicts or commercial conflicts, and the relationship can naturally be maintained.
As long as Dukes Edward and Fox don't send troops to attack, this road will be very easy for the Harland family.
Passing through the territories of the two Dukes Edward and Fox, Richard once again came to the Grand Duchy of Stanek.
After entering Linus Castle, Richard found the Fanta family, an old customer. Through the Fanta family's relationship in Linus, he exchanged part of the foreign exchange and began to buy a large number of slaves at Linus Castle.
Richard's grand gesture immediately caused a sensation in Venus Castle and attracted an unexpected guest.
This person is none other than Vera Watson, the priest of the Goddess of Fortune and the fourth heir to a great nobleman of the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
The Watson family is the fourth-ranked ducal family in the Grand Duchy of Stanik. It is also a noble family with very strong business power. They have been believers in the goddess of wealth for generations.
Because of the Watson family, the Church of Fortune also began to penetrate into the Grand Duchy of Stanik, exerting a very significant influence.
Although the Grand Duchy of Stanik is weak, it has four major churches in the country. In addition to the Church of Dawn and the Church of Royal Power, there are also the Church of Fortune and the Church of Light.
Compared with the Kingdom of Grant, the influence of the church in the Grand Duchy of Stanek is stronger.
After meeting, Vera said straight to the point: "Mr. Richard, we can finally meet. In fact, I wanted to visit you in Harland Territory last year. But I felt that it was too presumptuous to come to you rashly. This year I am just planning to go to Grant. Kingdom, I heard that Mr. Richard came to Linus Castle and came to the door without being invited. Please don’t blame Mr. Richard.”
"You are too kind. It is an honor for our Haaland family to have the priest of the Goddess of Fortune come to our door."
When Richard met the priest of the goddess of wealth, although he didn't know the purpose of his visit, he was very polite to him.
"I am here to visit this time, hoping to form a commercial alliance with Mr. Richard and the Harland family. I hope to be an agent for the specialty products of the Harland territory. If possible, I hope that Mr. Richard will grant me the Grand Duchy of Stanik. Exclusive agency."
After hearing what Vera said, Richard nodded and said, "Can I take the liberty to ask, Miss Vera, who do you represent, the Watson family or the Church of the God of Wealth?"
Vera smiled and said: "I can only represent myself, but my special identity can borrow some names from the Watson family and the Church of Wealth, and to a certain extent, represent the Watson family and the Church of Wealth."
"Miss Vera, you know that the special products produced in our Harland territory are mainly brown sugar, white wine, steel, and woolen cloth. Of course, the territory also has some super-magic specialties, such as hemostatic ointment, flame spider silk mage robe, blood Enchanted weapon made of steel.
Ordinary goods have to travel eight hundred kilometers to the Grand Duchy of Stanik. After arriving at Linas, they will also face competition from similar goods. There is not much benefit in transporting thousands of miles to the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
Could it be that what Miss Vera wants to represent is a super magic product? But although the super magic products from Harland's territory are very unique, they may not be competitive with the super magic products from Venus? "
Richard made it clear that although the price of brown sugar in Harland territory has dropped to ten copper coins per kilogram, which is equivalent to one-third of honey.
But if it is transported to Linus Castle, 800 miles away, it will have to pay taxes and tariffs to the lords along the way, and the price of brown sugar will at least double.
Linus can also produce honey locally. Although the output is not as good as that of the southern province of the Kingdom of Grant, the price of honey is only 26 copper coins per kilogram.
The brown sugar transported from the Harland territory may not be able to compete with the local honey.
This is true for brown sugar, white wine, steel, and woolen cloth.
"Mr. Richard, you know I can use the name of the goddess of wealth. Although our Church of the God of Wealth does not require the lords to pay tithes, our caravans of the Church of Wealth will not pay lord taxes, transit taxes and other miscellaneous taxes when passing through the lord's land.
If the goods are shipped from Vickburg and go upstream along the Black River, they can go directly to the Duke Edward's territory. The transportation line on the road is only 200 kilometers. We have carefully calculated that bulk materials such as brown sugar, white wine, and woolen cloth still have a certain profit after deducting the transportation cost.
Besides, we are wholesale in large quantities, Mr. Richard should also give us some discounts."
After listening to Vera's explanation, Richard thought to himself: "Without messy taxes and fees, the Chamber of Commerce controlled by the Church of Wealth will have great cost advantages. Relying on the huge cost advantage, the Fortune Church can extend its tentacles into every territory through the Chamber of Commerce. It is difficult for ordinary noble chambers of commerce to compete with them.
Anyway, temporarily handing over the exclusive agency rights to the priest of the goddess of wealth will not cause any loss to the territory. It can also expand the market share through her hands. "
Richard suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart and nodded: "Of course, the discount is OK, and the exclusive agency rights that Miss Vera wants can also be given to you. But if our Harland family wants to buy some special goods, can we go through the channel of the Fortune Church caravan?"
"As long as it is not sensitive materials, of course. "
After the two sides negotiated, they signed a business contract, which was stamped with the seal of the goddess of wealth and had a very strong binding force.
Richard did not regret giving the exclusive agency rights of the Grand Duchy of Stannik to Vera. After all, the Harland family has no influence in the Grand Duchy of Stannik.
The strength of the Harland family is simply impossible to make the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stannik bow their heads.
The nobles of the Grand Duchy of Stannik are also unlikely to give up the market and let the Harland family profit.
By giving Vera the exclusive agency rights and relying on the channels of the Watson family and the Church of Fortune, the goods of the Harland Territory can enter the market of the Grand Duchy of Stanik and make profits from the Grand Duchy of Stanik.
This time when he came to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, he unexpectedly got in touch with the Church of Fortune, and Richard was very happy.
After discussing with Vera, Richard decided to start the first transaction after the autumn harvest this year. Richard will provide 30,000 pieces of woolen cloth, 200 tons of brown sugar, and 100 tons of white wine.
This year, the output of brown sugar will exceed 500 tons. For a first-level channel wholesaler like Vera, Richard will transport the brown sugar to the Black River Fort Pier, and the wholesale price of brown sugar will be reduced to seven copper coins per kilogram.
Adding part of the packaging fee and transportation fee, and a little discount, the price of 200 tons of brown sugar is about 3,800 gold coins.
The wholesale price of white wine is two copper coins per kilogram, and the price of 100 tons of white wine is 550 gold coins, but when the white wine is transported to the Grand Duchy of Stanik, the retail price may soar to six to eight copper coins per kilogram.
The wholesale price of woolen cloth is two silver coins per piece, and 30,000 pieces of woolen cloth are worth 5,000 gold coins.
Although it is only the first year and in the market development period, Vera has ordered more than 9,000 gold coins of goods.
Richard made these 9,000 gold coins very easily. He just needs to transport the goods to Black River Fort for trading. He does not need to worry about the market or fight with other nobles.
The only disadvantage is that the sales channels will be controlled by the Watson family and the Church of Wealth. It is very passive in the transaction between the two parties.
After negotiating with Vera, Richard returned to Harland Territory with 14,000 slaves.
This time, because Vera provided help, most of the way back was by water transport, and it was much easier to travel by boat than to walk with a wheelbarrow.
It took only twelve days for Richard to return to Harland Territory with 14,000 slaves.
After returning to the territory, Richard met with important officials of the territory in Fort Wick one by one, explained the matter of opening up new sales channels, and then returned to Fort William.
In February, Riverbank Primary School opened again. This year, Richard lowered the tuition fee again, and the annual tuition fee dropped to four silver coins.
This year, there are 300 new students enrolled, including 6 new apprentices with magic qualifications.
Now Riverbank Primary School has more than 1,000 students, and the original classrooms and dormitories are no longer enough.
Richard has always attached great importance to education. After receiving Flora's application, he immediately allocated a sum of money to build new classrooms and expand the scale of Riverbank Primary School.
Many new students come from other castles and need to live in the school every day. If Riverbank Primary School continues to expand, it will become very troublesome to manage.
Richard decided to limit the scale of Riverbank Primary School to 1,500 people.
This year, the second primary school was built, and the address was chosen in the military station fort.
There are few outsiders in the military station fort, and the geographical location is in the center of Harland's territory. There are castles on all sides, and there is enough security.
In addition, the military station fort is far away from the territories of other nobles, and building a school here will not cause too much noise.
Richard has established the school for five years, and in five years, Riverbank Primary School has cultivated many talents.
Especially the smart ones, they can finish the basic knowledge taught in primary school in one or two years and graduate from Riverbank Primary School.
These primary school students who have mastered the basic knowledge can become teachers, grassroots officials of the territory, or join the army. They have played a positive role in the development of the territory and made certain contributions.
At least they have learned discipline, common characters, and digital symbols in primary school, can do simple statistical work, and understand some new concepts.
These people who are roughly literate can already serve as grassroots officials after a period of training.
Because Riverbank Primary School was established in William Castle and rarely came into contact with outsiders, and the decree prohibiting free migration in the territory, the details of the Harland territory were not known to the outside lords at all.
The neighboring lords only heard some rumors vaguely.
Although these rumors were contrary to the tradition of the nobility, the nearby lords were not very happy to hear them, and even had complaints in their hearts.
But now the Harland family has a strong army, and the nearby nobles need the support of the Harland family's army when facing the invasion of orcs.
Under normal circumstances, although the noble lords nearby do not like the policies formulated by Richard, they will not offend the powerful Harland family for such an insignificant matter.
Unless Richard directly touches their fundamental interests or makes the neighbors feel insecure, they may come forward and join forces to deal with the Harland family.
Now the strength of the Harland family can already deter some nobles and make them dare not have any dissent.
The plight of the Sisse family is enough to warn the noble lords nearby.
The Sisse family is large and powerful, and can also rely on huge compensation to make the Harland family give up and make peace, saving the noble title and the lives of the clan members.
If an ordinary baron family offends the Harland family and a war between lords comes, it is likely that a disaster will come immediately and the whole family will die.
Even if the Harland family does not come forward, they deliberately do not come to rescue when the orcs invade, and they can also easily kill people with borrowed knives.
Although the Harland family has not yet become a great noble, it is already the most powerful viscount family in the Grant Kingdom in terms of strength. Especially the nobles of Geda Province, who did not dare to provoke them easily.