Food and wine At present, William IV, who is a gourmand, unsurprisingly eats and supports. Portman hurriedly ordered someone to bring lemonade and honey water to help him digest it. Marlin had long expected that there would be people to eat it, so he prepared a lot of lemon and honey. The lemonade effect is good, but the taste is not complimentary. Europeans were not accustomed to the taste of lemons in this era, so Marin had people add honey to the lemonade to harmonize the taste.

In fact, Marin was going to use hawthorn water. Unfortunately, hawthorn is a Chinese specialty. In desperation, he had to use lemonade instead. Moreover, the lemonade effect is also very good. It's just that this taste ...... If you don't add honey, it's just undrinkable......

Even with the addition of honey, William IV was not very accustomed to this sour taste. But Portman pointed out that lemonade aided digestion, and William IV insisted on drinking it.

"It was so delicious! By the way, Mr. Portman, where did you get all this food? Why haven't I heard of it? ”

Portman, of course, was prepared, and he replied:

"It was our Grand Duke's teacher, Albert Einstein, who learned it there when he traveled to the Chinese Empire in the East."

"Oh, it turns out to be the ...... of that mysterious country in the East," William IV suddenly realized.

"I heard our Grand Duke say that many of the delicacies in Italy were brought back from the Orient by Marco Polo. Like pasta, and pizza......"

"So powerful?" William IV was shocked.

Well, Marco Polo wasn't proficient in cooking, so he only brought back a handful of cooking methods like pasta and pizza. But our Grand Duke's teacher was different, and he gave us Grand Duke a complete cooking recipe. Currently, this recipe is one of the top secrets of the Grand Duchy of the North Sea......" Portman said with a serious nonsense.

Marin originally wanted to use Chinese food to fool William IV, and Chinese food was the only bargaining chip in his hand. That being the case, Portman naturally wanted to boast up this only bargaining chip to the sky according to Marin's instructions. And, there's a bit of mystery to be made...... Only in this way can William IV be truly impressed......

"Recipes can also be confidential?" William IV was a little dumbfounded - do you want to be so?

Portman nodded solemnly, then asked rhetorically:

"The Duke has also tasted all kinds of delicacies, and he has a wide range of knowledge in food. But has the Duke ever eaten such delicious food before? ”

William IV shook his head blankly, which he could not deny......

"Isn't that it? Can't the recipe for a delicacy that can be enjoyed by a well-informed person like the Duke be kept secret? ”

William IV smiled and said:

"It's really like this...... "It is indeed not easy to make a foodie eat enough for an old gourmet, and it is not uncommon for the secret recipe to be kept secret.

Thinking of this, William IV sighed and said:

"What if I still want to eat it in the future?"

Portman smiled and said:

"It's simple, we can let a few royal chefs stay and teach your palace chef by hand."

"On what terms?" William IV was also a statesman, and he did not think that the other party would give it away in vain.

"If you could sell Mülheim to ......"

"No, it can't be ......," William IV shook his head repeatedly.

"We in Beihai will offer a price that you are satisfied with!" Portman said hurriedly.

"It's not a matter of money, although I'm not a wise man, I also know that the inheritance left by my ancestors can't be corrupted at will. In particular, land cannot be sold at will. At the very least, during my reign, the territories of Hulich and Berg could not be reduced. ”

"But......" Portman opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.

In fact, Wilhelm IV was also very fond of good food and wine. Now, he has refused to sell Mülheim, which means saying goodbye to the good food and wine. Even though the cooks were now in the city of Lich, he could have kidnapped them and forced them to hand over the recipes. However, the consequences of offending Marin ......

Portman was taking on a big role for the first time and didn't want to fail. Because he understands that if he fails this time, he may not have such a good opportunity in the future. After all, he was not Marin's cronies or relatives......

Taking advantage of the fact that William IV could not move, Portman desperately thought of a way. Finally, before William IV left, Portman came up with a solution:

"Lord Duke, why don't we trade Mülheim in another way? For example, the ...... of the territorial exchange"Portman remembered that Marin's request was to obtain the land between the Ruhr and Lippe rivers. That is, the land south of the Ruhr can be exchanged? He decided to give it a try......

"Territory exchange?"

"Well, can we take an equal area of land from the southern part of the country of Macbeth and the Duchy of Berg and exchange it with Mülheim? What you are worried about is only the shrinking of the territory, and if the area is exchanged, there will be no such concerns......"

"That's a solution...... "Wilhelm IV's eyes lit up. But after hesitating, he said:

"If the area is exchanged, my country will suffer a little! You know, Mülheim is a tax collection station on the Ruhr River, and you receive a lot of toll taxes every year......"

Portman rolled his eyes - who would buy your land if it weren't for the fact that you wouldn't be extorted from collecting toll taxes for river transportation in the future?

Of course, this was Marin and Portman's rhetoric. After all, Marin is not good to say about the problem of coal in the Ruhr area, nor about his ambitions for Essen. Therefore, when explaining things to Portman, this reason was used. Of course, this reason is not false. After all, it would be unpleasant for the transport of coal on the Ruhr to be levied on every ship by the river tariff card set up by the Duchy of Berg in Mülheim. Especially since the beginning of the industrial age, the number of ships must have increased dramatically, and it would be very troublesome if every ship was taxed.

Portman thought for a moment and said:

"In this case, for the problem of collecting taxes on the river, I will ask our Grand Duke to see if he has any compensation."

"It's good!" William IV went back satisfied. Before leaving, I packed and took away the unfinished bowl of sausage and egg fried rice.

……

After receiving Portman's quick request, Marin quickly responded by agreeing to the territorial exchange plan. In exchange for an equal area of territory in the southwestern part of the country and the Duchy of Berg, Marin was willing to pay a lump sum of 20,000 gold worth of grain...... The last thing Marin lacks now is food, and if you pay in cash, you may be a little short of money. If he deliberately pays for food, his ability to pay will become superb......

After receiving Marin's reply, Portman quickly asked William IV to tell him about the reply. After thinking about it carefully, William IV added another condition—that is, the area that Marin took to exchange territory with him must have a market town about the size of Mülheim...... After all, the European lords of this era, in addition to their own estates, mainly relied on collecting commercial taxes in cities and market towns.

In addition, William IV demanded that the grain used for payment must be new grain harvested this autumn, and cannot be offset with old grain. After all, new grain can be stored for a longer period of time. If it's old grain, who knows how many years it has been stored? If it deteriorates soon after pulling it back, it will be a big loss......

To this, Marin's reply was - it is completely ......

As a result, William IV, a "difficult bone", was finally successfully taken. After that, the two sides will formally sign an agreement on the exchange of the Mülheim region.

Of course, this is not the end, but only the beginning. Because, there are more "difficult bones" behind it - the large area east of the Rhine, north of the Ruhr and south of the Lipper in the Duchy of Clive has to be negotiated......