In the city of Cologne, Marin once again saw the manager Wright he had dealt with.
"Good day Baron, what can I do for you?" The Wiggins Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Hanseatic League, and Cologne is also an important commercial center of the Hanseatic League. Therefore, the news here is much better than that of Uncle Mark. Therefore, the news of Marin's knighthood can easily spread here. As the director of the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce, Wright naturally knew the identity of Marin.
However, Wright expressed disbelief that the boy who bribed him back then transformed into an empire baron and was still spreading heroic deeds within the empire.
"I'm here to hire a ship. I heard that the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce has a lot of free transport ships?" Marin cut to the chase, and the Germans were not used to being polite.
"Yeah, the economic situation is not very good now, and wars are happening everywhere in Europe, which has affected the business of our chamber of commerce."
"The war is a matter of Italy. How can it have anything to do with you?" Marin was surprised.
"My lord, Italy is not the only country that fights wars in Europe. For example, our Hanseatic League had conflicts with Denmark. In England, because of the 'War of the Roses', our business was also affected. Also, the great nobles in northern Germany , There are often frictions between them. In short, wars are raging in Europe... "
Marin was silent. In the fragmented Germany, it was not uncommon for nobles to attack and annex each other. Of course, no one dared to provoke the Hanseatic League easily. Because, whoever dares to war with the Hanseatic League, the Hanseatic League will block commercial activities in this noble territory. Moreover, many aristocrats are in poor financial condition and need to borrow money from the Hanseatic League.
The German region is now considered to be full of troubles, because Maximilian I of the Habsburg family is about to rise, but the German princes strongly resist the rise of the Habsburg family, and even seek to deprive the Habsburg family of monopoly on the throne Qualifications, back to the era when the princes elected the emperor.
However, the German princes were scattered and not very united. Maximilian I rose by relying on mercenaries, so he had the strength to deal with these princes. It is a pity that the ambitious Maximilian I encountered two powerful enemies, Hungary and France, and had no time to care about him. Therefore, a balance can still be maintained in Germany, otherwise, there would have been wars all over the place.
"I am looking for you this time because I hope that the transport ship of your chamber of commerce will help me transport a batch of serfs..."
"The Lord Baron's territory is short of people?"
"Yes, the area of Texel Island is not small, but the population is too small, only 800 people. So, I recruited 500 serfs and brought them to Texel Island to reclaim wasteland and develop."
"The baron is so bold. It takes a lot of money to raise so many people." Wright's meaning was very cryptic, in fact, he questioned Marin's ability to pay. He was also afraid that after Marin let the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce ship the people, he would not pay the money, or be in arrears, and would not pay it back for ten thousand years.
"Don't worry, I'm in Italy and made a fortune..."
"Hey..." Wright understood in seconds. In his opinion, Marin probably robbed a lot of property in Italy. In fact, Marin really didn't rob civilians very much, only robbed a few merchants. His wealth mainly came from selling spoils and captives to the Venetians.
"Okay, let's sign an agreement and pay 30% of the deposit first." Wright is a businessman and attaches great importance to the contract.
"Well, no problem. By the way, Manager Wright, I want to ask, does your Wiggins Chamber of Commerce do salt business?"
"Salt business?" Wright was stunned for a moment, but immediately realized.
"Salt business is done, but not very big. Our Chamber of Commerce's salt mainly comes from the salt mines in Luneburg. However, the salt mines in Luneburg are controlled by some big salt merchants, and we are not very able to get in touch Every year, we can only get a few thousand quarts of salt from the Lüneburg Salt Mine. Moreover, the salt is quite bitter and not very tasty. In general, the sale of salt is the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce One of the businesses, but because of the supply of goods, it has been unable to get up."
"Haven't thought about importing sea salt from England?"
"Sea salt? That's a good idea. However, British sea salt is in short supply, and the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce has no channels in the UK to get the salt there." Wright said honestly.
"What if I give you a large supply of sea salt?"
"Do you have sea salt?" Wright asked in surprise. But he thought about it again, isn't Texel an island? What's so strange about producing sea salt? But isn't there a shortage of fuel in the Netherlands? Otherwise, salt would not be imported from the opposite UK.
"Not yet, but soon."
"As far as I know, there is a shortage of firewood in the Netherlands..."
"What do we do at Hoffman Manor?" Marin asked rhetorically.
"Selling coal... Oh, I see, the last time you hired a boat was to transport coal and cook salt!" Wright suddenly realized.
"Well, it's good that you know. Then, are you interested in acting as an agent for our Texel sea salt? I heard that you are in charge of selling coal in Cologne. Do you want to add a salt business?"
"That... I have to ask my brother-in-law..." Wright said cautiously.
"Privately give you 3 Finneys for your hard work per quarter of salt!"
"Deal!" Wright stood up immediately. This guy is the most greedy, and when he heard the kickback, he immediately agreed. Anyway, the business is not his, but the kickback is his.
As the brother-in-law of the boss of the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce, he still has great rights in the Chamber of Commerce. The big boss of the Chamber of Commerce lives in Hamburg, and its main business is also in Hamburg. The business in Cologne is all decided by Wright.
Soon, Marin and Wright signed an agreement, and the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce purchased a large amount of sea salt from Texel at a wholesale price of 3 shillings and 6 pfennigs per quarter. This price cannot be considered high, because the price of salt in the inland areas of Germany is much higher than that in the coastal areas, reaching five or six shillings per quarter, or even more (mainly depending on the distance from the area to the salt production area).
Then, the two signed a private secret agreement, stipulating that for every quarter of salt, Wright actually paid Marin 3 shillings and 3 pfennigs. The extra 3 Finneys naturally went into Wright's pocket...
As for the supply volume, Marin has not yet determined. Because this requires actual production to know the specific output. However, neither Marin nor Wright are worried about sales.
Because the Wiggins Chamber of Commerce has a wide network of contacts and channels in the Rhine business circle, and can easily ship goods. And salt, in the Middle Ages, was also a very tight commodity. Because there were no means of refrigeration such as refrigerators in the Middle Ages. Many meats must be cured with salt in order to be preserved. In addition, the daily needs of ordinary people are very large. Therefore, the salt is still easy to sell. In particular, sea salt of better quality than Lüneburg mineral salt…