Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 137: Funding the Halfling Caravan

In the evening, Baggins Brandy Gingerbread from the halfling family arrived safely at the edge of Lake Rafflin.

Manager Kurt looked at him unkindly. It was the appearance of this middle-aged half-orc that disrupted all the good plans of their West Chamber of Commerce!
Although Su Li invited Kurt to sponsor this half-orc, he was still very angry.

It is said that cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents.

Chief Kurt had no good feelings towards this halfling.

Baggins also sensed the ill will of the Chamber of Commerce leader. He carefully bowed to Su Li and said, "Greetings, Lord. May the gods bless you with health and strength, and many offspring."

Su Li waved at him and said, "No need to be so polite. I called you over because I heard you were organizing a caravan. How's the progress?"

Baggins is a middle-aged halfling, but he does not grow a beard, which makes his face look a little childish and difficult to be trusted.

But even such a naive person has extraordinary ambitions in his heart.

He knew this was his greatest opportunity, so he immediately explained it to Su Li in detail: "Yes, Lord, as you have heard, I am planning to organize a caravan. Several families in the Balan Autonomous Territory are very interested in this trip, and I have already raised two hundred gold crowns. As long as we can reach an agreement with the dwarves, we can set off soon with the goods."

"This time we will mainly be a team of halflings, and bring along powerful ogre mercenaries. I believe most lords will welcome us, especially since we carry a large amount of cabbage and carrots."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you planning to sell the crops from our territory along the way?"

In fact, Baggins had no such plan.

But after meeting Su Li, he immediately put forward this proposal emphatically. He was very smart and knew very well what could impress his lord.

So he immediately said, "That's right, Lord. I've noticed that the territory has a large harvest of grain, but it can't be stored properly. So I plan to sell it to those territories that have been hit by disasters along the way."

"This will greatly enhance our security. No territory will attack a caravan selling grain to them. Especially in this time of disaster, the caravans transporting grain are their only hope of survival."

"The nearby territories have all been affected by the disaster, and the grain in our territory will definitely sell for a high price. After arriving at Maleburg, we can use this high price to purchase another batch of grain and food and transport it back to the territory, which will greatly alleviate the crisis of grain storage in the territory."

Su Li smiled. It turned out that people still needed to pool their wisdom to develop their territory well.

Baggins' suggestion can indeed greatly solve the problem of difficult storage of cabbage and carrots.

Under normal circumstances, if these grains are transported, their value will not be enough to cover the shipping costs.

You have to know that once a team of more than a hundred people sets out, food for people and horses will be a huge expense.

No lord would do such a thankless task.

Foods that are difficult to store, such as cabbage, are more suitable for circulation within a feudal territory or a small town.

Once it has traveled a thousand miles, to be honest, more of it is sold than rotted.

But the situation is different now. The siphon effect brought by Hurricane Tal is still in effect.

The strong can still reap the wealth of other territories from this hurricane.

At this time, the value of cabbage and carrots sold to the territories along the way can be multiplied several times or even dozens of times.

In the past, a cabbage cost one copper coin, but now it can be sold for one silver coin or one gold coin, depending on the conscience of the caravan.

This wasn't the unified Eastern Dynasty. In a capitalist society, hoarding goods was a common practice among chambers of commerce. Even the deceitful god Lanold encouraged this behavior.

Therefore, it is normal for prices to be outrageous during a disaster.

At the same time, relying on the "talent" of the halflings, it is not impossible for them to bring back a large number of rune props and magic props.

After all, halflings always have these kinds of "chance encounters" that allow them to collect magical items into their dominions.

So Su Li said: "Your idea is very good. I have decided to support your caravan. What do you need?"

At this point, Chief Kurt was truly anxious. He said to Su Li, "Lord Su Li, you can't just take his one-sided story. I've traveled through the border princely territories and know full well that there are a large number of looters and peasant thugs along this journey. While the territories certainly won't attack them, those looters will certainly swarm around them like hungry wolves. Given the opportunity, someone will pounce and bite them fiercely."

As competitors, they certainly didn't want this caravan to succeed. Every time they expanded, the interests of the West High Chamber of Commerce would be weakened.

Baggins immediately said, "My Lord, please trust us halflings and ogre mercenaries. We have a long tradition of traveling and wandering. The more chaotic the situation, the more suitable it is for us to travel. Without this ability, how could the empire be filled with ogres and halflings? At the same time, we can absorb refugees along the way and have them join our ranks, thereby increasing the territory's population."

"We don't need much. As long as you give us a little financial support, we can expand the caravan as we go. We can share the profits according to the original ratio."

Su Li thought for a moment and said, "I believe in your racial talents."

Then Su Li turned to Manager Kurt and said, "If they just need a little financial support, I think we can form this caravan together. No matter what, your caravan will not leave the Hessen Territory for the time being. In your words, so many gold coins that can't be circulated are just a pile of scrap metal, right?" After hearing this, Manager Kurt finally calmed down. He thought carefully for a while, then shook his head and said, "This caravan is too risky. Our West High Chamber of Commerce cannot invest in it."

"But as your friend, Lord, I have great faith in your vision, so I am personally investing 500 gold crowns. Regardless of whether the caravan is ultimately successful, I will bear the risk myself."

Su Li smiled, patted Baggins' shoulder, and said, "Then I will also invest 500 gold crowns in you. Counting the chamber of commerce you set up, the guards and goods, and most importantly, your own talents, the risks and benefits of this caravan will be shared equally among the three of us."

"But there's one thing I need to change. I don't want a share of the profits, I want a share of the final cargo. In other words, whatever you gain on this caravan trip, we must divide it equally."

Su Li didn't ask him whether he agreed or not.

This is a notification, not a discussion.

Baggins was a little surprised, then decisively agreed to Su Li's request.

He felt as if he were being blessed by the Hyacinth God.

He had just decided to form a caravan yesterday, and at night he was still worrying about whether the caravan could be successfully formed.

As a result, today, everything has been successfully accomplished.

It was a perfect success! Everything was much better than he had expected.

An investment of 1000 gold crowns is a capital that many knights and barons of the kingdom cannot afford!
Moreover, with the support of the lord, he can obtain all kinds of rare materials in the territory.

He purchased 20 sets of dwarven heavy armor, brought 10 crimson pearls, and even had 3 powerful water elemental hearts in his hands!
This is a treasure that can directly create an apprentice knight.

The reason why Su Li gave him such a precious item was to maximize the value of this caravan.

In fact, using water elements to directly create knights is a very wasteful practice.

The value of a water element heart can buy back two or three apprentice knights, and when the market is good, you can even buy back an elite knight.

If Baggins could travel far enough to successfully reach the city of Modheim, the value of the water element would continue to increase in that holy city of knights.

This thing is mainly in short supply and very rare.

Noble ladies and large families were willing to spend money to train their sons. After all, no matter how many apprentice knight slaves a family had, it was nothing compared to having their own son awaken and become an apprentice knight.

All of this didn't matter to Su Li. He didn't care who awakened and became an apprentice knight. After selling this thing, he could buy more apprentice knight slaves, so of course he was very happy to sell it.

Su Li also had a hunch that during this trip, Baggins would be able to obtain a batch of rune props from many lords.

In fact, most of the pioneering lords are not poor. When they set out from their families, they can usually get a certain amount of family sponsorship.

Like Su Li obtained a glorious holy relic, three pieces of vibranium rune armor and a half-griffin from his family.

This is just the sponsorship of a count's family.

The other pioneering lords all have some treasures to varying degrees.

It’s just that they can’t trade it on weekdays.

After this storm, they may have to give up some of their precious resources in order to survive.

Tal, the God of the Wilderness, is indeed as fierce and wild as his divine power.

Those who cannot receive his divine grace can only fall into the mud and become fertilizer in the wilderness.

But if one can receive his divine grace, the wealth he brings will be even more generous than that of the Goddess of Dawn.

It was a summer solstice celebration that was thrilling, passionate and wild, but fortunately it ended smoothly in the end.

The next day, when the giant herder arrived in the Hessen Territory, all plans for the territory were put into action.

Baggins set off with the wealth of the territory and began his business journey to Marlayburg.

After a brief stop, the West High Chamber of Commerce officially began its journey towards the Blood Pine Forest. Their trade was merely a side activity; mining the blood pine wood was their primary goal.

The Bjorn Bay reclamation project that the Hessen Lords had been planning for nearly two months was finally put on the agenda!

Under the personal supervision of Su Li, Minister of Seals Laun, and Minister of Agriculture Fandral, the serfs began to cultivate farmland on a large scale below.

(End of this chapter)