Imperial Crown.

Chapter 199 Knight, who doesn’t want to be one?
The business alliance proposed by Raven was unanimously agreed upon. Every noble wanted to benefit from it and protect their own interests as much as possible.

So the meeting, or rather the bickering, began.

Raven was mentally prepared for this meeting. After all, it took more than ten days to discuss military merits.

But Raven still overestimated the efficiency of the nobles.

Although they said they would hold meetings, the actual time for serious discussions did not exceed two hours a day.

Breakfast should be delicious.

After eating, we chatted and talked a lot, but it was already lunch time without any result. After lunch, we took a nap and then went for a walk in Xiongying Town in the afternoon.

Dinner was rarely provided by Eagle Castle, because at this time the nobles would disperse into the streets and alleys of Eagle Town, dine at the Wallace Hotel, hang out at the Lion's Pride Tavern, and enjoy the fun brought to them by the Crystal Palace, Paramount Hall, and the Colosseum.

This process lasted for nearly a month until early February, when Raven gathered everyone around the conference table for a day to finally finalize the details of the business alliance.

The goods of the nobles of Xuefeng County must be sold through the alliance, and transactions within the alliance enjoy preferential prices, and the Mon'en City Chamber of Commerce is also considered a member of the alliance.

The headquarters was located in Xiongying Town, where various noble families jointly invested to build a commercial center.

For this reason, Raven even "cut his flesh and make concessions". The Angel's Tears, which originally cost 2.88 gold coins, only cost 2.6 gold coins if purchased by members within the alliance; the Angel's Kiss, which originally cost 99.99 gold coins, was reduced to 98 gold coins within the alliance; and the Angel's Embrace, which originally cost 6.9 silver coins, was reduced to 5.5 silver coins.

Everyone praised Raven's generosity.

Of course, the premise is that they have no idea about the production costs of these three products.

In contrast, although it is located in a remote area, the nobles in Snow Maple County also have their own specialties, such as flowers and fruits produced in Lady Doreen's territory; high-quality wood in Baron Kate's territory; copper ore produced in Viscount Bloka's territory; cotton cloth in Baron Wessacine's territory...

These things can be supplied to Eagle Territory at preferential prices, reducing Eagle Territory's production costs by at least 15%.

By eliminating tariffs and storage costs, not only will the purchase price be lower, but the actual profit earned by each company will also increase.

There are no middlemen making the difference.

However, the price to the outside world is different, and at this time, Raven is the middleman.

After all, it is better to be a platform than a channel.

After the details were decided, although many nobles were still reluctant to leave Eagle Town, they still had important things to do, so they all set out on their journey back home.

Raven was relieved after these people left. He finally had some free time to enjoy life and didn't have to think about how to deal with those cunning guys every day when he opened his eyes.

After sleeping for a whole day and night, Lei Wen, whose muscles and bones were relaxed, woke up from the bed.

Take a bath, change clothes and enjoy breakfast in your bedroom with Patty's help.

Thanks to the establishment of the Merchant Alliance, Baron Seleva sent rice, a specialty of his territory, and breakfast was made into white porridge with it.

The quality of this rice is quite good. It is crystal clear, each grain is distinct, and the rice body is slender. After boiling, it naturally emits a rich rice aroma. Even without eating it, just smelling it is a pleasure.

He blew away the hot steam on the bowl of porridge, scooped a spoonful into his mouth, and his saliva broke down the starch melted in the porridge into sugar, which was fragrant and sweet. After taking a bite, he couldn't help but take a second bite. Adding the pickled crisp cabbage, dried radish and wild garlic, Raven quickly filled the whole bowl of porridge.

Indeed, this kind of breakfast only contains carbohydrates and is not healthy.

But this is Raven’s taste, he can’t change it and doesn’t want to change it. After eating it this time, he will want it again next time.

After eating three bowls of porridge in a row, Raven felt full of energy. Suddenly, he noticed that Petty was secretly looking at him, so he asked, "Are you worried about something?"

Patty shook her head, then nodded: "I heard some rumors recently..."

Raven raised his eyebrows: "Tell me about it."

Petty whispered, "That is to say, you are going to confer a group of knights..."

"Oh, I see." Raven nodded calmly, but did not continue to express his opinion. Seeing this, Patty did not say anything more.

Raven did mention the canonization of a knight to others during the meeting.

The cause was that many nobles said in casual conversation that although Raven was a baron and his territory was larger than that of a viscount, he did not even have a knight under his command, which was really outrageous.

No one knows which servant or noble was so talkative that he spread the content of the gossip.

It's not just Petty. Now the entire Raven's territory, including the Snow Maple Territory and the Eagle Territory, has heard the news.

Xuefeng Town's political officer Kuman was also among them. After hearing the news, he sighed regretfully.

He knew that he had no chance. After all, he had been with Raven for too short a time and had not experienced any ups and downs together.

Despite this, he still mustered up his strength and continued to urge the construction of two new factories.

He definitely has no chance this time, but he may have a chance next time!
As a civil servant, Philip has different thoughts. Ever since he got the news, apart from dealing with his daily affairs, this is the only thing on his mind.

His family has been in business for generations, and because of this, he has a clearer understanding of the title.

No matter how successful a merchant is, he is just a pig or sheep to be slaughtered, while a knight has the right to eat meat at the table.

Philip's heart was burning with anger, but every time he returned home and saw his wife and daughter - although the two of them didn't pay much attention to Philip now - Philip would think of Baron Raven's restraint and calmness, and he would calm down and analyze whether he had the possibility of being canonized.

The final conclusion is that there is no conclusion.

Although he has followed Raven for a long time, his specific achievements are actually unremarkable.

If he could really get the title of knight, it would be a big surprise; if not, then Philip would not be surprised.

The road ahead is still long, Baron Raven is still young, and Fili can wait.

Old Gordon also heard the rumor.

At first, he didn't really take it too seriously.

Baron Raven would definitely discuss such an important matter with him. If he hadn't even heard of it, then this news must be groundless.

Moreover, there was no precedent in the history of the Griffith family to canonize a butler as a knight.

But after hearing it so many times, old Gordon couldn't help but be moved.

If Baron Raven really wanted to be knighted, he would always shamelessly fight for it.

At old Gordon's age, no matter how great his title or how much money he has, he can't take it with him when he is born or when he dies.

What he cares about is his granddaughter, Fiona.

This child is good in every way, smart and pretty, but she knows nothing about the ways of the world. With her personality, if she gets married, she will definitely be controlled by someone, whether she has a powerful family or not. If old Gordon can become a knight, then Fiona will be the child of a knight family, and her mate selection range can also be expanded to the aristocratic circle, which is a guarantee for her future.

Even if Fiona becomes an old maid and never gets married, old Gordon can still give the knighthood to Fiona to inherit.

Although this kind of thing is rare, there are precedents.

"Being looked down upon is nothing." At his age, Old Gordon has let go of many things: "Living well is the real thing."

As an "old man" who had followed Raven from the beginning, Eric did not have the meticulous mind like old Gordon. He stayed in the military camp and seldom contacted the outside world, and he did not even hear any news.

On this day, Eric returned home and saw his son Thor wearing a suit of armor that didn't fit him well. He held the sword in both hands and said to the mirror in a rough voice, "Hurry up and salute Sir Knight Thor!"

"Hello, Sir Knight."

"Well, that's a good point." After answering casually, Thor felt something was wrong. He turned around and saw Eric, his face froze: "Father, why are you back...?"

Eric said unhappily, "If I don't come back, you're probably going to be a king instead of a knight, right?"

"I told you that your basic skills are not up to par yet. It's too early to put on armor now. Take it off!"

Thor nodded immediately, took off his helmet, and began to remove his armor in a hurry.

He looks 60% similar to Eric, with a square face. Unlike Eric, he does not have one big eye and one small eye. Instead, he inherited his mother's big eyes.

Although he is only sixteen years old, he already looks a bit as powerful as his father.

"Father, I can't take off this breastplate."

Hearing this, Eric snorted, walked behind him and began to remove his armor, admonishing him: "It's a good thing that you have ambitions, but this is Eagle Castle, you can't say anything nonsense..."

"I'm not talking nonsense!" Thor defended, "It's spreading like wildfire outside now. It's said that the Baron is going to confer a group of knights - you must be one of them!"

"You are already a knight, so it's okay for me to call myself a knight..."

Eric stopped what he was doing and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Really! If you don't believe me, go ask my mother, she knows it too!" Thor said.

"Even if you know it, you can't say anything!" Eric said solemnly, "If you call yourself that now, what will people think? Will they think I'm taking advantage of my favor and using this to force the Baron to grant me the title of knight?"

"In this world, there are many people who are angry and many people who are not happy. Not to mention that this matter is just a rumor, even if it is true, it is not safe until the day when it is confirmed!"

At this point, Eric had already helped his son take off his breastplate. Seeing that he still didn't quite understand, he reached out and patted him on the back: "Take off the rest yourself, hang it on the rack, and maintain it again. Remember, don't talk nonsense!"

"Oh, okay!" Thor nodded, holding the breastplate and left.

After his son left, Eric stood in front of the bronze mirror, looked at himself, smiled, coughed, and whispered, "Hurry up and salute Sir Knight Eric!"

After saying that, he started laughing.

At the same time, in the city of Mon'en, as a batch of goods was transported from Xuefeng County, rumors about the canonization of knights also reached Weisdon.

Since becoming the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Denise, who was already very aloof, has become even more aloof. Not only does she never attend any private cocktail parties, she also rarely attends business cocktail parties.

In order to get closer to Denise and please her, the businessmen had to start with Weston. No matter where he went to consume or what he bought, there would always be people rushing to pay the bill.

And Visdon is no longer the playboy he used to be. He spends his own money on food and drinks and will never do favors for free.

As a result, many businessmen pushed their children towards Vesdon intentionally or unintentionally, accompanying him in eating, drinking and having fun. Vesdon was also happy to be praised on a pedestal, with a group of "lackeys" surrounding him.

As soon as the news came, before Visdon himself said anything, his friends started to support him.

"Knight Vesdon, oh my god, you're going to be a knight!"

"Sir Knight, do you need some followers? What do you think of me?"

"Forget it. Even if you want to pick, Weisdong should pick someone with a better figure, like the girl who was singing on the stage just now!"

A burst of laughter rang out, and someone asked, "Wesdon, are you really going to become a knight? This news can't be fake."

Someone immediately said, "How can this be false? Baron Raven likes Master Weisdong the most! He should be punished for saying this!"

Next, in the excitement, these playboys drank and enjoyed music, thus covering up the matter.

After drinking, Weisdon returned home and still felt uneasy.

The boast has already been made. It would be really shameful if he really was not knighted!
He wanted to ask, but didn't know who to ask. After thinking for a long time, he decided to write a letter to Raven.

This letter was written with great literary talent, using the rhetoric methods that he had studied seriously some time ago. The author was very modest, saying that he was not worthy of being knighted in terms of age, ability, or prestige.

Towards the last third of the article, Weisdon changed the subject and said that since his elder brother trusted him so much, he would definitely not disappoint him and would fulfill his duties as a knight. No matter how big or small, rich or poor the fiefdom was, he would manage it in an orderly manner!
He seemed to regard himself as a knight.

After finishing it, he read it carefully three times and copied it carefully from beginning to end. After making sure there were no mistakes or omissions, he put it in an envelope and handed it to the Mercenary Guild. He spent five gold coins and asked them to deliver it to Eagle Castle as soon as possible!
When Raven received this letter, it was just the beginning of February. After reading the contents, he couldn't help but feel a little amused.

Raven actually had plans for the knighthood a long time ago.

With the improvement of his status and the recovery and expansion of his territory, he was no longer the lord who could not even give out fiefs, and the frequency of his communication with other nobles was also increasing.

If you don't confer a few knights, it would be extremely rude to send commoners to communicate with other nobles every time.

More importantly, knighting is the best reward for followers' loyalty and dedication.

Originally, Raven planned to choose a suitable opportunity - such as when the new castle was completed, to announce this decision.

But now that the news has reached Mon'en City, it certainly can't be delayed that long, but Raven is not planning to confer the title immediately.

Firstly, he wanted to make his attitude clear and that he would not be swayed by so-called public opinion; secondly, the specific candidate for the title still needed to be carefully considered.

As time came to early March, the days gradually became longer than the nights, and the snow on the ground began to melt, but would quietly freeze into solid ice at night.

As Raven remained silent, the rumors about the knighthood gradually died down.

And Raven also received the first good news since the beginning of the year.

After a huge amount of gold coins were invested, the two new factories built in Xuefeng County from the end of July last year to now have finally been completed!

……

(End of this chapter)