"Captain, Captain Elaine, you're so kind. The good lord of Cork looked at two chests full of the finest furs and handicrafts from exotic lands, and special bacon, and his face was full of enthusiasm.

The three of them sat down.

Elaine said, "Dear Lord of Cork, we are leaving Astapo and heading to Quiles. ”

"Oh, you're going to Quells?" said Cork, who was a little surprised.

"Good lord, during our time in the harbor, the captain of Quells invited us to visit Quells, saying that there were many fine tapestries that we had never seen before, monkey wine, prostitutes, and fine spices at very cheap prices. ”

Cork's eyes blinked several times and he smiled dryly, "Which captain?"

"Clark has just left Astapor, and he has a very beautiful lady named Cherie. ”

"Oh!" said Cork, a blank look.

Clark is a giant merchant from Quells, who personally owns more than a hundred large ships, and he is one of the thirteen giants of Quells's big city. Cork and Clark knew each other and had a lot of business collaborations. Much of the spices, silks, and porcelain that Slave Bay supplied to the western city-states and Westeros came from Quells. Among them, Clark is one of the main suppliers.

Captain said, "I heard that Lord Good and Master Clark are also somewhat familiar, is this person reliable?"

"There are thirteen giants living in the big city of Quells, and Clark is one of the thirteen giants, and he has his own palace comparable to the royal family. The wealth of the thirteen giants is accumulated like the stars in the sky, but those dazzling riches are said to have been accumulated by the white bones of people. There is a proverb in Quells that says that the foundations beneath Quells' three-storey, sturdy granite walls contain the bones of an unknown number of exotic people. ”

Captain and Captain Elaine's faces changed slightly.

"The foundations of the walls are littered with the bones of the Outlanders, what does that mean?" asked Captain Elaine, with a heavy face.

"People who go out of town to do business in Quells often disappear completely, even with people and boats. "Unless you have friends you can trust or have tried and tested business channels, the strangers who rush to Quells will often encounter misfortunes. And those who don't have a chance will come down to storms or pirates. On the sea, no one is immune to storms and pirates, but the storms and pirates of Quells are not really storms and pirates in many cases. ”

Captain and Captain Elaine's faces became even more solemn.

"Captain Cork, you ......"

"We, the Thirteen Giants of Astapol and Quel, have long established a safe and stable commercial channel, and our good lord of Astapo once led his legion to Quells, and the two sides invited the blue-lipped wizard of the immortal eagle in the port, and concluded a trade agreement under the witness of the gods. If you are going to Quells for business, unless the king of Westeros goes to Quells with his navy, and then the two sides sign a trade agreement in the name of the gods in the presence of wizards and priests...... Hehe, just to be on the safe side, I advise you to give up. The good lord of Cork had a sincere face.

and Elaine exchanged glances. There was a palpable caution and vigilance in their eyes.

"Good Lord, even if we give up going to Quells, it's time to leave Astapor. ”

"Oh, as far as I know, most of your cargo hasn't been unloaded yet. ”

"Yes, we have come to see the good lord this time, just to hope that the good lord can come and unload the goods you paid the deposit on the ship and complete the transaction. Captain said.

"There's no problem closing the deal, but we've heard you're asking us to use Klegane notes?"

"Yes, we are Westeros, ordered by His Majesty King Gregor Clegane, and we had to comply. All you need to do is go to the Klegane Bank and exchange the gold and silver for the equivalent amount of banknotes, and we'll be able to complete the transaction. ”

"I'm sorry, my two most respected friends, but I can't do that. ”

"Oh? Why. It doesn't matter if you use gold or paper money, you don't lose anything, and the price is the same as before. Don't you want to make a deal with us?"

"We in Astapor oppose His Majesty Gregor Clegane's Clegane banknotes, because it would be unfair that the Klegane banknotes would then be equal to our gold and silver. ”

Captain Elaine said, "Good Lord, it is the Iron Vault that supports the banknotes of the Clegane Bank, and the Iron Vault lacks everything, that is, no gold. As long as the banknotes in hand can be exchanged for the equivalent of gold at any time, it is more convenient and faster to actually use the banknotes. In Westeros, paper money has gradually replaced gold. Our continent is not as vast as the continent of Essos, and the gold in the field is very limited, and the gold consumed can never be recovered. His Majesty's Western Frontier is the richest place in the country to produce gold, but the mining of gold has also reached the last moment. ”

"Two captains, we will definitely not use the banknotes of the Klegane Bank. You have to hurry back, we can complete the transaction today, but we will not pay paper money, we will only pay you gold and silver, or barter. ”

"Good lord, can't you help us this time for the sake of our many years of friendship? If you refuse to go to the bank to exchange it for paper money, we will never dare to trade with you. We are the people of Westeros, and we must obey the orders of His Majesty the King. Breaking orders and deceiving the king is a capital offense. Captain Elaine said, "Good Lord, please help us this time, in the name of the Harpy." ”

"I'm sorry, two captains. If I let go of helping you this time, I will be killed by the good lords of Astapor. The good lord of Cork looked grim.

and Elaine's faces turned a little pale.

The two sat in silence on the brocade bench for a long time, and Captain Elaine said in a deep voice, "Good lord, since we cannot reach this cooperation, please allow me to return your deposit to you. ”

Cork looked at Elaine, "Captain, are you going to leave here with your cargo?"

"Good lord, if you refuse to help us, we can only leave, otherwise, what's the point of staying?"

"You're going to Quells?" said Lord Cork, worried about this. If Westeros' merchant ships were to go straight to Quells and cross Slave Bay, it would be a serious trade danger to Slave Bay. Slave Bay served as an important transit point in the trade between East and West, and the good lords and merchants made a lot of money as a result. Ninety percent of the silk, porcelain, wine, tapestries, and spices of the Orientals were brought to Slave Bay, while almost all the goods from the Western cities and the Westeros continent were brought to Slave Bay.

"Quells we won't go, we don't want to be the skeleton of the Thirteen Giants of Quells. Captain said.

The hanging heart of the good lord of Cork suddenly fell to the ground.

In the past, they would not have been afraid of and Elaine heading east, and with a single signal, the warships of Slaver's Bay could disguise themselves as pirates to block the sea routes, rob them of their cargo, and then drive people away. Once the pirates of the sea have stolen their possessions, they will not kill the captain and sailors, but only the mercenaries and knights who dare to fight. This is the consensus of the pirates. If the pirates ask for money and life, they will soon find that the number of ships they can loot on the seas will drop dramatically. Their days will be harder and harder.

But now it was different, Her Majesty ruled Astapor, receiving the allegiance of the Unsullied Legion. The navy is also under Her Majesty's jurisdiction, and the normal way for the good lords to mobilize the navy and have it disguised as pirates to rob foreign ships that dare to trade in the East no longer exists.

"Captains, we'd love to make a deal with you, but this time it's too special. We, the good Lord, have united our front, as long as you accept our gold, we can complete the transaction immediately, if you insist on using paper money, sorry, we cannot complete this transaction. ”

and Elaine's faces turned even paler, they got up and asked their men to take out a bag of gold, and Elaine gently put the gold on the table: "Good lord, this is your deposit, we will return it to you now." Excuse me, we're going to visit Christine and Achill, and if they insist on not trading with paper money, we'll have to refund the deposit. ”56

"Captains, we need you to stand with us against the Klegane Bank banknotes. "Think about it, you have compromised this time, but what about the future?"

"Good lord, we can't think about the future, we have to think about this difficult issue first. said.

The two captains took their leave, and the good lord of Cork sent them to the door, and after seeing them walk away into the shadow of the pyramid of the Christine family, he returned to the pyramid with peace of mind, and asked the guards to close the door.

*

Three days later.

The good lord of Cork was lying by the pool of his house enjoying the services of a prostitute, when the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside, and he opened his eyes to see Christine and Archer hurrying towards him. Cork sat up hurriedly, and the two guests looked a little angry and unkind.

"What's wrong?"

"Goods. Christine said.

"What cargo?"

"and Elaine's cargo. ”

"What's the matter? We didn't say we would rather not do this trade as long as they insisted that we pay for the banknotes. It only takes a few times for Her Majesty the Queen and Her Majesty the King to have to make concessions to us. ”

"We lost. Archill gasped.

"Lost? Did the good lord exchange the paper money to trade with and them?"

"It's not the good guys, it's the small merchants. ”

"How dare they?" said Lord Cork sat up at once.

"Behind those small businesses, there are other good lords to support them. Christine said viciously.

"Those good masters don't want to live anymore?

"It's all small good guys. ”

"Oh?!Then how dare they?, the little good lord, dare to betray us?"

"Her Majesty the Queen and Her Majesty the King have their back. The demon mountain personally came to the door one by one to threaten. He intimidated the little good masters. But that's not the most important thing, and Captain Elaine have lowered the price by half in order to exchange paper money for the little good lords and small merchants, and whatever is traded in gold will remain our original price, but as long as you are willing to trade in paper money, the price of his goods will be half lower than our lowest price, half sold and half given. Christine said hatefully.

Cork's face changed suddenly.

They have inventory in their warehouses, so they are not afraid to compete with Magic Mountain and Daenerys, but if there are half the same goods on the market for sale, their interests will be immediately damaged.

"In addition to the lower prices of goods from Westeros, the trade fleets from the nine free trade city-states have started to lower their prices, as long as they trade with paper money," Achill said. ”

Cork was dumbfounded.

"At the moment, only the trade fleet from the East Quells and Yasha and the trade fleet from the continent of Sothros have not been reduced, but they have all started asking us to trade with paper money. Otherwise, the Navy will refuse to allow them to dock into the harbor and will never be allowed to enter the waters of Slave Bay for any commercial trade. Once inside, the navy will take away their ships and cargo, and kill the captain. ”

Cork suddenly felt his breath suffocated!

The two major sources of profiteering for the good owners of Slave Bay and the wealthy merchants are the slave trade, which was strictly forbidden on the day Her Majesty regained the throne, and the second is to trade with the world's trading fleets, but if the world's trading fleets require paper money to trade, and if they can reduce the price by half to get the goods by paper money, they will be completely marginalized.

Regardless of where the trade fleet came from, they did not dare to disobey the jurisdiction of the navies as long as they entered the waters of Slave Bay. If they don't ask the good lords to trade with paper money, they will lose even the right to enter the port, let alone do business.

and Elaine took the lead in reducing prices, and Magic Mountain and Daenerys used the navy, these two moves together were too powerful.

Either the good owners go to the Klegane Bank to exchange paper money to continue to maintain their commercial advantages and maintain their wealth status, or they will become poor day by day, and finally they will become real poor commoners, and some small merchants and good owners will quickly rise and replace their status, fame and wealth accumulation.

"We shouldn't have accepted the deposit refund from and Elaine so that we could drag it out, and and Elaine didn't dare to sell the goods to other small merchants and good owners at a reduced price. Achill said.

"It's useless to talk too much, we have to go to the port now. Cork said categorically after a moment's pause.

"What are you going to do?"

"Exchange paper money and take back the trade rights that belong to us. The fleets of trade have a long-term friendship with us, and the little merchants and good lords want to take away our status and wealth. Cork said.

"But we will be killed by other good lords. ”

"No, it won't. Cork said.

"Why?"

"Her Majesty's Unsullied and His Majesty's Dragons will protect us. The good lords who have lost the army, all that is left is the son of the harpy, but if the son of the harpy dares to come forward, the good lord and the family of the harpy warrior will be killed by the demon mountain. ”

"But we ......"

"If we hesitate any longer, we will lose everything. Christine, Achill, we lost to the King, but at the cost of only one gold coin. But if we win, we are about to lose everything, haven't you understood yet? The magic mountain has already broken our united front. ”