Although Alexander described it well, Sophia really didn't know what Agri meant to him.

Years of wandering had made Sophia more accustomed to following the tribe's convoy from place to place, and it was hard for her to imagine what anyone who stayed in one place for too long thought, let alone how those who lived in fortified palaces and seemingly airtight stone dwellings could endure such oppression.

So when Alexander told her that maybe she could meet Nashan in Agri, she was really happy and had a good impression of Agri.

Of course, the elated Sophia did not know that when it came to Agri, there must be another place called Kosenza.

Kesel's rebellion did not cause much damage to Cosencha, and apart from the punishment of a group of those who followed him in rebellion, the only thing that was difficult for the Kosenca to accept was the loss of control of the Agri Plain.

But seeing that their Countess seemed to be unconcerned about this obviously unbearable loss, the people stopped talking.

She was very clear about the gossip about her subordinates, but she wouldn't explain it to them.

Not to mention that while it appeared that Kosenza had lost custody of the grain storage area of the Agri Plain, her own relationship with Agri had actually become more complicated.

It was before he came to Naples that he discovered that Alexander had ambitions greater than he had said.

For almost the whole of August, Alexander ran from village to village in Agri, and he took people from village to village to get a sense of the local situation, and at the same time sent men whom he selected to be credible to the farms, large and small, to check the fields and record the yields, and at the same time sent Carlo, with a group of hunters recruited from the villages, to begin a careful inspection of the mountains and forests near Agri.

At first, she thought that Alexander couldn't wait to know how much benefit he had gained, which made him look down on him a little, but then Alexander made her gradually understand that her "brother" didn't seem to be satisfied with the land of Agri, although as long as he was honest and willing to provide the food they needed for those city-states here, no one would take the initiative to provoke him for the time being.

Alexander gathered all the numbers he could and began to analyze them carefully, and then he came up with a result that made him slightly dismayed.

Agri had an abundance of food and livestock resources, as evidenced by the fact that there were more cattle sheds, sheep pens and pig barns in the various farms and villages than in other places, but Agri also had a very bad flaw, that is, there was a lack of enough copper, iron and coal mines, which were obviously very important.

This forced Alexander to send for Elliot, who liked to fool around with the village maidens in the haystacks, and after a long night of deep conversations with him, the two sides signed a secret agreement with which Shosha testified.

It was also from that time that Jossa discovered Alexander's ambitions.

He was by no means a man who would be content to hide in the plains of Agri, and that was the verdict that Zhisa had made to Alexander.

What moved him a little was that when Elliot offered to use his father's marriage to him to guarantee the closeness of the agreement, Alexander flatly refused.

"Either we sign an agreement that is beneficial to both of us, or we all just do our usual business, and I won't use sacrificing my sister's marriage as a bargaining chip." At that time, Alexander's words touched Josha, although even she did not think that it was a sacrifice to maintain an agreement through marriage.

Elliott chose the former, knowing that the agreement was too important for Taranto, and that his father would be happy even without a marriage contract.

Taranto is an important city on the southern coast of Italy, one of the most important ports at the southern tip of the Apennine Peninsula, and although it does not have the long-standing traditions and rich commercial atmosphere of Venice, Taranto stands out for being a key hub to the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, respectively.

Especially now, when the shadow of the Ottoman Empire from across the Mediterranean seems to loom over the continent at any moment, Taranto is even more remarkable.

Like Venice at the tip of the Adriatic Sea, Taranto had a very strong navy, but unlike Venice, Taranto's maritime trade was not so strong, and despite its large port and favorable position, Taranto still relied mostly on land transportation, and because it was located in the southernmost hills of the Apennines, Taranto relied almost entirely on other places for food.

Because of this, Elliot was eager to sign an agreement with Alexander, according to which Alexander would ensure that Taranto would be provided with enough food to sustain the local life, especially during the irritating winter months, when the grain ships could not arrive on time due to the weather, and when there were various accidents on land, the price of food in the city would fluctuate a lot, which was the most headache for the rulers of Taranto, and such an agreement would ensure that Taranto would be given priority in purchasing food from Agri.

In return, Taranto was to allow Agri to set up an office in the port of Taranto, and then to allow the Agri to do business with the merchants who came and went in the port.

At first, neither Elliot nor Elliott understood Alexander's purpose, after all, he suffered in this agreement, which is one of the reasons why Elliot didn't care much when Alexander refused to marry, but as time passed and letters about Agri and Taranto arrived, Hellota seemed to faintly discover some of the mysteries.

Breakfast was eaten in a very awkward atmosphere, looking at the girls who were sitting at opposite ends of the table, even if they spoke quietly, Alexander, who was sitting in the middle of the long table, picked up a green apple and took a bite hard.

"Are you still going to look for those merchants in Naples?" Jisha asked, seeing Sophia on the other side immediately pricked up her ears but looked dazed, Miss Countess proudly picked up a piece of meat roll with a knife and put it in her mouth, "There aren't many people you sent out over there in Taranto, and they are all stupid, after all, whether it is Agri or Kosenza, there are too few real businessmen." ”

"Yes, that's what gives me a headache," Alexander said helplessly, "I know a lot of nobles now, knights and generals, and even a lot of drunkards in the tavern, but I know too few merchants, but what I lack now is ......."

Alexander stopped suddenly, he knew that he actually knew a businessman, and he should still be a businessman who looked very powerful, but could such a person really be his business partner?

Alexander looked over to Sophia, and although Groningen had assured him that Sophia had not been harmed, he still didn't want to mention that person in front of her, but he knew that it was impossible to send her away.

"I'll find a way," Alexandre could only say, "I'll try to find some suitable businessmen to go to Taranto's office, and it's easier to do it on the Naples side." ”

As he spoke, Alexander couldn't help but look back at the harbor outside the window behind him.

Although it is late autumn, the port of Santa Lucia is not only not idle, but it is busy, and the merchants must finish the trip before the winter, otherwise once the winter monsoon season arrives, many routes will become much more difficult.

There are always a large number of merchants in the port of Naples, except for those large hoarders who have long dealings with the shipowners, these bulk merchants are often small in their own power, and they do not have the strength to buy large quantities of goods, and the only hope is to meet merchant ships that also make money by transporting bulk cargo, or small fleets of only one or two ships, so that they can get some goods from them, and then sell them in Naples or further inland land.

Alexander didn't need a lot of money from these people, in fact, he just wanted a few people who knew how to do business, because his "office" in Taranto was not doing business in the local area at all.

The first to discover this "secret" was Tsusa.

When Alexander signed a quota of food in exchange for an office in the port of Taranto, Zhisa felt that the deal had been a big loss.

She even thought about stopping Alexander, and although she didn't give up in the end, for nearly two months, she was obsessed with it.

Pride makes Josa intolerant of being seen as a fool by others, even if it is only her "brother" who is treated as such.

But some of the letters sent from Tarento were recently sent by a special courier, some of which were brought by merchants from Totaranto.

The contents of the letters, though varied, were more or less mentioned about the office in the port of Taranto, and they always said that they had "piggybacked" goods on Naples, or that some goods had been sorted out of the goods originally sent to Taranto and sent to Naples.

Seeming to notice something different in the letters, she began to inquire with interest about some news, and then heard from some nobles about things that she had not noticed before.

For example, according to the practice of all ports today, all goods arriving in the port, whether from other countries or the ships of the Taranto merchants themselves, are subject to a landing tax based on the ship's waterline, and the deeper the waterline, the higher the tax.

Therefore, in order to pay less, many businessmen often let people throw away a large amount of ballast when they are about to enter the port.

And that's not even that, when the ship docks, everything that disembarks from the ship or is brought onto the ship will be taxed according to its weight or kind, and any goods to be transported out of the port will have to pay a different price of the internal tax.

While the profits of maritime trade were staggering, they were a headache for many merchants, and for cities deep inland, the taxes and fees at the checkpoints along the way made otherwise cheap goods so expensive that in some places the same weight of gold was exchanged for a small bottle of spices.

She wasn't interested in any of these before, she thought it was all the ones that only those philistines cared about, but now that she found out that her "brother" seemed to be doing what only those philistines did, she couldn't help but feel curious.

"What exactly are you doing in that office?" After enduring it for a long time, Tsusha finally asked, "They seem to be stealing business with the Taranto." ”

"That's not a business robbery," Alexander felt the need to explain, and it also reminded him that if even his sister thought that he was robbing business, then he really had to pay attention to it, after all, he didn't want to have a bad relationship with the Taranto people now, "I call this free trade, after all, those merchant ships didn't really enter Taranto's territory, I just sent people to their ships, or our people negotiated a deal with them in the port, and then they directly reloaded the goods that were still piled up in the port and transported them to Naples." So that the merchants only had to pay a tax to the Taranto people to enter the port and store the goods, and they didn't have to pay the high inland taxes, not to mention the various checkpoints along the way, and some merchant ships could negotiate deals without even having to dock, but this required those who were really capable of negotiating well, so I needed people to do that now. ”

"But isn't this just a business grab?" Jisha asked strangely, "Those merchants did not pay taxes to the Taranto people, let alone unload their goods in Taranto, they did not even make a penny of profit, of course this is robbing their business, don't you worry that the Taranto people will tear up the agreement with you because of this, don't forget that the grain you sold to them, part of it is bartered, this will make you unable to get money for a long time, if they tear up the agreement, it will be a big loss for you." ”

Speaking of this, Susha glanced at Sophia, who was dark-faced on the other side of the table, she had already heard that Sophia had torn up a ticket with nearly 10,000 Durant in a fit of anger, which strengthened Susha's opinion.

The girl in front of her is really useless except for wasting her "brother's" money.

"Of course not," Alexander felt compelled to explain to his sister, and it made him realize that he needed to make some things clear to the Taranto people as well, "know that I am only providing an opportunity for the merchants to sell their goods without having to pay a higher cost than usual, and this low cost will ensure that they will make more profits, and I can also provide the Taranto people with the same convenience, and they can also get a bargain from me without adding more taxes, At the same time, I can even give the farmers a certain amount of compensation, so that they can sell their grain to the people of Taranto at a lower price, which I call free trade. ”

"You're crazy," said Susha in astonishment, "are you going to give those peasants money and then let them sell your grain cheaply?" ”

"Actually, that's not mine," Alexander whispered to himself, before raising his voice and saying to Tsuna, "don't just look at the little money given to the farmers, know that if our grain is sold at a lower price than elsewhere, the people of Taranto will only buy us, and then we can have the whole grain market in Taranto, which is exciting enough to think about." ”

"But I don't make much money." Jisha was still a little dissatisfied.

"Not necessarily," Alexander shook his head, and he felt the need to give his little sister a simple lesson in economics, "we take possession of Taranto's market with low-priced grain, and at the same time get from them the right to free trade, which I have mentioned earlier, and the people of Taranto are not at a loss, they buy cheap grain, and then they can have spare money to buy from us the goods that are also obtained through free trade." ”

As if an inspiration had struck him, Alexander simply pushed away the soup plate in front of him, and at the same time ordered Ulliu, who was standing in the corner ready to serve, to bring him a pen and paper.

"I'll have to write a letter to Elliott, and although the man has always wanted you to be his stepmother, I think this person is pretty good."

Alexander joked as he began to write quickly on the letterhead.

Josha stood up and walked over to Alexander and looked down at the contents of his letter, and when she saw that he had just said everything in it, the corners of her mouth curled slightly, and she glanced at Sophia, who was staring at the plate in front of her, as if she wanted to burn the chicken on the plate with her eyes.

“…… I hope to reach some kind of agreement with your father that the merchants of Cosenza and Agri will receive preferential treatment from Taranto in terms of customs duties and taxes, and that the merchants of Taranto will be treated the same as Agri in Cosenza. At the same time, it is hoped that this preferential approach will eventually be recognized by Naples and Taranto, and that it will be a good governance for the benefit of the people, and that all the beneficiary merchant guilds will be grateful for your kindness and wisdom. ”

Alexander read the letter lightly and, after a slight revision, asked Ullius to call a monk who was spending a lot of his money.

Alexander could not help but admit that Massimo was still of some use, at least the beautiful calligraphy in his hand was much better than what he wrote.

So as long as it was a more formal document, he would ask Massimo to transcribe it for him after he had finished writing it.

"Do you think Count Horsen of Taranto will grant your suggestion?" Seeing that Alexander became a little excited, Jisha asked hesitantly.

"Why didn't you say yes?" Alexander smiled and asked, "You must know that once this kind of mutually favorable agreement is reached, whether it is Taranto or Naples, the merchants of both sides will occupy each other's market at a much lower price than other places, and the merchants of other places will have to accept this kind of agreement if they want to squeeze into these places to do business, and the more cities that accept the agreement, the larger the market for everyone to do business, this is a suggestion that is beneficial to both the lord and the merchant." I'm sure Earl Hornen would have agreed if he had known of my idea. Know that a ruler who is not too stupid will never give up the opportunity to make his people rich with him, unless he ......"

Seeing the strange look on Alexander's face, Jisha couldn't help but ask curiously, "Unless what?" Sophia, who had been silent, couldn't help but look at Alexander with wide eyes, as if waiting for him to answer.

"Unless it's people like Savonarola, who think that the only way to control is to make the people endure poverty, and who seem to them to have wealth will become disobedient and even a threat to them, so any ruler who calls for poverty as a virtue is hypocritical."

Listening to Alexander's words, Zhisa looked at him thoughtfully.

Ji Sha always thought that there was something wrong with this "brother", but she couldn't say what was wrong.

But what he said just now made Jisha seem to have found the answer.

Tsusha can be sure that whether he is his brother or not, he is a completely different person.

"But I have to admit that all this is your inspiration to me," said Alexander with some smugness, "I didn't even think of anything more than you brought it up, and now my mind is a little confused, you know, I have a new idea, I am going to propose to the Taranto people to set up a special place near their port for Neapolitans to store their goods, and all goods stored in that area should be tax-free, And I hope to convince the Count to establish a corresponding area on the Naples side, so that there is no need for too many complicated procedures, so that the merchants on both sides can complete the transfer of goods smoothly and save a lot of money. ”

Alexander stood up as he spoke, he took two steps back and forth and said excitedly: "I even thought of the name of this place, it's called Free Trade Zone!" ”

But just as he raised his hands to hug his adorable sister, who had inspired him, a crisp "gaba" sound came from behind him.

Alexander turned his head slowly, and then he saw Sophia, who was holding a half-broken wooden spoon in each hand, staring at him fiercely with an eye that was about to eat both of them.