At Tarburg, northwest of the enemy outpost, Bass, the leader of the first squad left behind in the fort, was busy organizing men to transport the baggage captured from the enemy territory to the fort warehouse.

"Old butler, Steward Salter, you have worked hard all the way, and you have just arrived here, go down and rest first, there is Kazak and Lawrence to help." Bas said to Cooper and Salter, who were stacking and counting supplies in the storeroom.

"We're fine, we're in charge here. You should bring more people and go to the cave again, and bring all the supplies back sooner. Although those carriages can't be brought back for a while, don't destroy them, find a place to hide them, and then we will find a way to get them back, and the lord will definitely need a lot of carriages to expand the caravan in the future. Also, if you can see the master, let him come back quickly, for he is wounded by an arrow and cannot take any chances. ”

Bas nodded and exited the storeroom, organizing the men to return to the cave on the border to carry the goods again.

After counting the baggage in the warehouse, Salter handed the birch bark in his hand to Cooper, and said, "Old steward, if we had known that the Lord would be able to seize so much food and weapons, we should have bought a batch of other northern goods in Besançon and sold them along the way, so that we could make another profit." ”

Cooper took the birch bark and looked at the names and numbers of the goods densely packed on the bark, this birch bark is full of the purchase and sale of goods and the income and expenditure of money and money with the army caravan since the expedition, although Cooper is literate, but he has never experienced business travel, so he can't read Salter's records, he just glanced at the approximate amount of income and expenditure coins and returned the birch bark to Salter, "Salter, the lord is now a sleeping lion who has just woken up, just look at his layout in the valley and the southern border, you know that his plan is not small, I can see that the lord still values you very much, otherwise you wouldn't have just joined and become the steward of the wooden castle and the caravan, you remember that as long as you do things well, the lord will definitely not treat you badly. ”

Salt nodded and said, "The old butler is right, I am a down-and-out person, and it was the adults who gave me a chance to turn over, and I will definitely take advantage of the ......."

While the two were talking in the storeroom, Buzz rushed in and told them the news of Art's triumphant return with his troops, "My lord, they have seized another batch of baggage at the outpost, all of them with fine weapons and armor......"

When Cooper and Salter arrived in the Inner Castle, Art was lying in the Inner Castle and Spencer was cleaning and changing the dressing for his broken wound.

"Sir, is the arrow wound serious?" Cooper hurried over to Art and examined the wound on his left shoulder.

"No problem, no bones, it had already begun to heal, and there were some cracks on the way back." Art said, glancing at the linen bandage that was still oozing blood.

"Master, don't be careless, you have to recuperate in the castle these days, wait for the wound to heal before you go out, the weather is starting to heat up, if the wound festers, you will not be able to save your life." Cooper said worriedly.

Art looked at the few subordinates around the house with his right hand and said, "It's okay, I'll rest in Tar Fort for a few days to heal from the arrow wound."

"Otto, you should bring more people to bring back all the supplies in the cave, pay attention to your whereabouts, and try not to be discovered. After returning, a military reward was given to the soldiers and officers who participated in the battle and stayed in the fort, and in the evening some sumptuous food was made for everyone. ”

"Sergeant Major, you are responsible for arranging the sentry posts around Talfort, and both mounted and foot sentry must be set up."

"Ron, you assist the sergeant major in setting up the sentry, and in addition, keep an eye on the captured enemy soldiers, and don't let them run away or cause chaos."

"Cooper, we have repaired the basic defense of this military fort, but there are still many loopholes, you will take someone to strengthen the military fort when you come now, especially the outer fort. I'm not going to hold on here, and I'm not going to stay there for long, but we're going to have to be able to hold off the enemy in a small way. The enemy has not yet noticed the fort, but it will definitely be exposed after a long time. ”

At this time, Bas stepped forward and said, "My lord, I am afraid that we have been exposed, and yesterday afternoon, the sentry saw that there were people snooping on the southeast hill, and when I led people to climb up, there was no one on the hill. We guess it's a hunter, but it's also an enemy sentry. ”

After hearing this, Art pondered for a while, and said, "Recently, move the sentry post two miles out of all directions, and report back immediately if there is any enemy."

"I already arranged it yesterday." Bass replied.

"Fabulous!" Art complimented Bass.

"Cooper, it looks like you can't rest, you need to hurry up and strengthen the fort." Art turned to the half-old man, who had been traveling with the caravan for more than a month.

"No problem, sir, I can do it." Old Cooper's wrinkled face was full of fortitude.

"Salter stays and talks about the caravan, and the others go their separate jobs."

Hearing this, everyone left the inner fort one after another, and they were busy.

After the others had left, Art called the caravan steward Salter and said, "Salter, sit down." ”

At this time, Salter was no longer the dejected appearance that Art had rescued from the edge of the Aosta war zone a few months ago, he was a businessman, he was more concerned about dressing, and after the salary was paid, he first bought himself a suitable outfit, and now he looks quite wealthy.

Salter handed a piece of birch bark to Art, who took it and glanced at it.

"Sarter, it's been a good trip, isn't it?" Art asked.

"My lord, with the old butler personally in charge and the assistance of Zakak and Lawrence, this journey has been smooth." Salter said a few polite words.

"Salter, I've always felt that you are a straightforward person, so there is no need to say more about these nonsense. The old butler has never been a businessman, where can he manage the caravan, and I let the old butler follow the caravan mainly because I can't fully trust you yet. You know that my family is too thin now, and I am counting on the encouragement and support of this caravan with the army. Although war raiding can obtain much-needed money and materials in a short period of time, war capture is not a long-term thing after all, and such opportunities do not always come by, so I attach great importance to trade, and I need more money to support it in the future, and my caravan will continue to expand. If you can help me do a good job in business, you will naturally have a share. ”

Salter sat up straight, looked into Art's eyes and replied, "My lord, the old butler just talked to me about this in the storeroom just now, and he said that you are a sleeping lion who has just woken up, let me do things for you, and you will not treat me badly." ”

Salter paused, and continued: "I'm thirty-five years old, and I'm not going to be able to stand the toss, and I'm disheartened after the last time the caravan was destroyed in Provence. But I met you again, and asked me to manage the caravan, and this time I learned that money is safe only when it stays with swords in troubled times. So I'll definitely run the caravan for my lords. But~" Salt was a little hard to speak.

Art moved his body and asked, "But what?" Say. ”

"However, I am a businessman from the bottom of my heart, and businessmen are for money, so I want to~"

"You want me to give you a raise?" Art interrupted.

"No, my lord, as a steward of a caravan, the salary you give me now is not low. It's just ~ I want to get a share of your trade in the future. ”

"Divided?" Art was surprised by the request of the merchant in front of him, and he didn't know much about the commerce and trade of this era.

"Yes, my lord, you are a military nobleman, and marching and fighting are what you are good at; And I'm a businessman, and doing business is what I'm good at. A military aristocrat who wants to do business without being despised by the world needs an agent, and I have been in business for many years, and although my family fortune eventually runs out, I know how to turn a copper finnig into a silver mark. And I need your promise that when I run your caravan you will have to make me one of the partners of the caravan and share in the profits of the caravan. ”

"Shared? With the current scale of the caravan, you can earn nearly 10,000 pfennig in a trip to the north-south trade, how much do you want to share? Art looked a little unhappy, now he gave Salter the same salary as the squad leader's salary, but the merchant wanted to take a few percent of the caravan's profits, and he was too greedy. In the future, an employee who has just joined the company would never make such a stupid request.

"My lord, I think you misunderstood." Salter sensed the displeasure on Art's face and quickly explained.

"I'm talking about a caravan. For the time being, the trade between the north and the south has been temporarily stagnant due to the war, so the caravan with the army can make a lot of money on a trade trip, but such a war will not last forever, once the trade route between the north and the south is unblocked, there will be countless merchants to resume the trade between the north and the south, and then your caravan may not be able to compete with those big caravans and big merchants, and you will not be able to make money like now. ”

Art thought about Salter's words for a moment, felt that there was some truth, recovered some of his face, and asked, "You mean that once the war stops, I will be suppressed by other caravans or trading houses?" ”

"There is this possibility, if you maintain the current size of the caravan, naturally no one will suppress you, but if you continue to expand the caravan, or even want to rely on the caravan to maintain the expansion of your army, just those giants and rich merchants will try their best to squeeze you out, not to mention those viscounts and the giants of the guild, now they have all stopped because of the war, but once the war stops, they will swarm up, desperately squeezing the empty market due to the war."

Art tapped lightly on the broken table in front of him with his right hand, thinking about Salter's words, and after a while, he raised his head and asked, "I will think about what you said, but what does this have to do with what you said?" ”

The tension on Salter's face eased a little, and he replied, "My lord, I mean two things. The first layer is out of selfishness, I am a businessman, and I think I still know a little about how to make money in business. If I don't have a chance to turn over, it's fine, now you give me a chance to turn over, I must still want to fight hard, but if you just give me a fixed salary every week, the amount is a lot, but for a businessman, receiving a monthly salary is not likely to arouse my enthusiasm for working hard. But if the caravan I serve has my own share, then of course I will try to make the caravan earn more, because the more the caravan earns, the more I can get myself. ”

Seeing that Art was a little puzzled, Salter used a figurative analogy: "You now give me a salary of one pfennig a week, and I can earn a hundred pfennigs a week with your caravan." But if you give me a hundred and one share, I can earn you a thousand fennig. In that case, even if I get nine more pfennigs, you will get nine hundred pfenniels more. ”

Art knew what Salter meant, but he intended to listen more to the thinking of merchants in this era, and pretended not to understand Salter's words, and asked, "What if I give you ten pfennigs a week directly?" ”

"Then I'll earn you back five hundred fennigs at most. My lord, this has nothing to do with the salary you offer, it is a difference in status, and doing business is different from marching and fighting......"

Art interrupted Salter's words and said, "I roughly understand what you mean, give you a share, you are doing things for yourself, so you feel energetic, and naturally work harder; If I give you a fixed salary, you will feel that you are always doing things for others, and you will not care too much about making more and less money. That means you don't want to be loyal to me at all, do you? ”

Salter quickly stood up and waved his hand again and again to deny: "My lord, you misunderstood, I didn't mean that, I mean ......"

Art smiled and waved for Salter to sit down, "Don't take it seriously, I'm just kidding." ”

Salter sat down slowly, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead.

"I probably understand the first meaning of what you mean, but I still have to think about it again. Let's talk about the second meaning. ”

Seeing that Art really didn't mean to be angry, Salter continued to say the second meaning, "My lord, the second meaning I mean is from the development of the caravan and the development of your army. ”

Art was even more intrigued when he heard this, and he sat up straight and listened intently.

"I just said that your caravan will lose its advantage after the war, and may even be squeezed out by other caravan guilds, that is because your foundation is not deep, the business network is too shallow, the north-south trade from Geara in the south to Avr in the north, thousands of miles away, every trade route, every city has many merchants in operation, our caravans can still come out to trade when they are dormant for the time being, once the war stops, they will stop all the wild wolves who compete with them for meat, and your army cannot fight against all the caravan guilds."

The sub-head is called yes.

Encouraging, Salter continued: "So you need a business partnership, so that the merchants who own the market will accept you and invest in your caravan and make a profit, I know a lot of merchants, some of them are workshop owners who can provide you with the cheapest goods, some are shop owners who can sell the goods of your caravan, some are city guild leaders whose goods must be allowed to enter their city, some of them are by lending money to merchants, if you want to make more money, In the future, you must also have your own shop, and the shop needs to be managed, and you must give the person who manages the shop a good reason to make a higher profit for you......"

Salter explained a lot of things about business for Art, and Arte sighed that this was the transcendence of the thinking of businessmen in the times, and these business ideas hundreds of thousands of years later would actually come out of the mouth of a down-and-out businessman, and Artton felt a huge pressure......

"I just talked about the development of caravans, and I will talk about the development of the army. During the time I followed you, I found a problem, you pay a large amount of military pay to your officers and soldiers every week, but your officers and soldiers do not know how to spend this money, there is no place to spend money in the valley wooden fort, there is no time to spend money when you go out to fight, you do not need to spend money on food, clothing, shelter and transportation on weekdays, and most of your officers and soldiers are single men. Their salaries could only be carried in money bags and kept around them to be moldy. If they can put a part of their salary into the caravan, the caravan will give them a corresponding share of the profits according to their share, so that their military pay can be useful, and they can also rely on the profits earned by the military salary to support themselves and their families. And for those officers, you can even determine their share of the caravan directly based on the size of their rank. In this way, as long as the caravan can make money, they can also keep making profits, their vital interests are tightly tied to you, and they are naturally more loyal to you, and you don't have to worry about the land allocated to them in the future~ Of course, these are just afterwords, provided that your caravan and army can have enough strength. At present, our main task is to take advantage of this war to make a lot of money, and only when we have money can we expand the size of the caravan and have the qualifications for development......"

…………

All afternoon, Art had been listening to Salter explain the development blueprint of the caravan, and he really felt that he was shallow this time.