On the tail of Qiu Du, Neverwinter City welcomed 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 a very high level of courtesy. Not only did the First Army fire a cannon to welcome her, he also personally went to the shoal and picked her up. castle.
"You are very kind, Your Majesty," Margaery laughed. "I'm just an ordinary businessman."
"Without your help, it would be difficult for the Western Region to develop into what it is today," Roland replied easily, "Neverwinter will never fail its friendship."
Whether it was the initial large-scale purchase of food, or the subsequent lease of many ships to transport refugees, they were all done with the strong assistance of the Margery Chamber of Commerce. Even if Thassa could gain a firm foothold in the old capital, Margery's connections and support were inseparable. Although these are not provided for free, Roland is very clear that many things cannot be done with money alone.
"It's my honor to be called a friend by you," Margery said with a slight bow. "In addition to fulfilling the perfume contract I signed earlier this time, I also brought you new business opportunities," she pointed behind her. "They are the most prominent merchants in the fjords, and they are very interested in your steam sailing plans."
"Really?" Roland smiled, "I'll ask you to give me a good introduction later."
According to his custom, dealing with businessmen is all about 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, the fjords were not popular with noble etiquette, and 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 more and more high, and those imitated etiquettes were all forgotten.
Roland didn't mind this at all. Compared with the cumbersome table rules in the palace, he preferred a lively dining environment.
During the chat, he also gained a general understanding of the visiting business group. In addition to Gamore and Marlan, the two Crescent Moon Bay merchants who first visited Border Town, there were also merchants from Sunset Island and Shallow Water City. The two islands, one in the south and one in the north, are adjacent to Crescent Moon Bay, forming a closely linked business circle.
As the original residence of the fjord people, although the three islands are not large in size, their population and strength are the top among the fjords, and the competition between them is quite fierce. This can be seen from the scale of the other two fleets. . Every ship docked at the shoal port is a large three-masted ship, each of which can carry nearly 300 people, and the price of a sailboat of the same weight is close to 5,000 gold dragons, not including sailors. Obviously, these two chambers of commerce don't want to be behind Crescent Moon Bay at all when it comes to competing for face and showing strength.
When the dessert is served, it means that the meeting officially begins.
"Listen to Margery, you all want to buy a steam engine?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Nibelon, 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 kind of steamboat you sold to Crescent Moon Bay."
"I heard that the cost of the transformation you offered was 1,800 golden dragons? Sunset Island is willing to add another 200 to rebuild five ships at the price of 2,000 golden dragons." The merchant of Sunset Island, Aitiye, was not far behind. "The Chamber of Commerce You can pay half the deposit first."
Obviously they were referring to the steam paddle steamer purchased by Crescent Moon Bay a year ago. For Roland, this is a technology that is about to be eliminated. He can use this batch of orders to train workers and earn a lot of income by the way. A very good deal.
"It takes two to three months to transform one paddle steamer, and about a year for five. If you can accept it, Barov, the head of the city hall, will sign this contract with you."
"No problem at all, but Sunset Island has a small request." Etiere cleared his throat, "We hope that you can use the craftsmen of the fjord to complete the ship transformation."
"What do you mean?" Roland raised his brows.
"Just like the steam engine factory in Crescent Moon Bay, we provide you with a group of craftsmen. The ships they renovated are given priority to use in Sunset Island, and when the ten-year period expires, they will be free to choose to stay or stay."
"Shallow Water City also hopes to sign a contract in this way," Nibelung echoed. "The five sailboats are only the first order. If you can agree to our request, at least five ships will be remodeled every year."
So it turns out, Roland thought, so this is a ten-year-old large order with an annual transaction price of up to 10,000 golden dragons, and they will get a detailed transformation method after ten years, so that they will not 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 that is being developed and the three-expansion steam engine that has been put into production, the paddle steamer is obviously behind the times.
The purpose of his original ten-year contract with Crescent Moon Bay was to use these ten years to make the craftsmen adapt to life in the West, so that they would not want to return to the fjord and eventually become a member of Neverwinter, not to prevent technology leaks .
Technology that is separated from the industrial base is just a seemingly beautiful castle in the sky.
Thinking of this, Roland knocked on the table, "There is no problem in principle, but we may make some changes in the details, such as replacing ten years with five years..."
Speaking of which, the faces of the two big businessmen showed obvious joy. For them, it was naturally a better choice to master the steamboat transformation technology earlier.
"As long as Shallow Water 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 cultivate. Hundreds of people shortened the time by five years, and they saved two thousand gold dragons every year. They could not say for a while whether this deal was worthwhile.
"Your Majesty, can I discuss it with the rest of the Chamber of Commerce before giving you an answer?" Nibelon said.
"Of course," Roland made a gesture of indulgence.
"Allow me to retire for the time being," Etiere followed out of the living room.
"Then..." He looked at Garmore and Marland, "It seems that the purpose of your visit is not a steamship?"
Just as the two chambers of commerce were scrambling to talk about business, the representative of Crescent Moon Bay always had a calm expression. Occasionally, he talked about his past dealings with Border Town. He felt that they were not here to talk about business, but to have family affairs... This kind of The style of selling feelings naturally aroused Roland's curiosity.
"No, Your Majesty, we are also here for a steamboat," Gamore took a sip of white wine, "but not a paddle steamer made of wood. If Crescent Moon Bay wants an indestructible steel ship that can split the wind and waves, it is you for Thunder. The one made by adults."
As soon as these words came out, Margery's face changed suddenly. 8