The chubby Patrick Pommer sat in the drawing room of Lord Cecil's "castle" with a little restraint and adjusted his bow tie for the third time.

He is not a person who has not seen the world, but it is difficult for people in this world to have a secret conversation with a founding hero, and he knows that this time the situation is completely different from the previous conversation at Kant Castle, the last time, he accepted the appointment of Duke Cecil in the crowd as a representative of Kant, and this time, it was Duke Cecil who called him from Kant to have a private face-to-face meeting.

The stress caused by these two types of conversation is very different.

At the same time, Padraic was also curiously looking at this place that seemed to him to be very strange.

This mansion is the castle of the Duke of Cecil, but its style is very different from the public impression of the aristocratic fortress, not so much a castle, but closer to the "holiday manor" architectural style that some nobles in the central region have recently emerged, it is probably not as solid as the castle, but the environment inside is surprisingly comfortable: wide floor-to-ceiling windows, bright living rooms, warm corridors and rooms, and the air does not smell the damp and rotten smell that often in castles. It's an amazing thing.

Most of the walls were whitewashed, and the bright Magic Crystal Lamps illuminated every corner of the building as if they didn't need any money—in fact, not only in this castle, but since entering Cecil's Domain, Padraic had seen more Magic Crystal Lamps than he had ever seen in the first half of his life.

God knows how the newly established pioneer was able to do just that—in just a few months, neat brick houses had been erected, wide, straight streets, docks, mills, sawmills, and in between, the most striking thing was the magic crystal lamps that had been lit just before dusk, and they were placed in rows on both sides of the road and in front of the main entrances of the houses, not to illuminate the lord's mansion, but to illuminate the common people's dwellings!

Originally, Padraic thought that it would be a great feat for Kant to be able to make half of the people light the oil lamps after dark, but when he saw the brightly lit Cecil territory after nightfall, he felt that the town he was familiar with instantly dimmed.

How rich is Cecil's collar? Could it be that they have hired dozens or hundreds of official mages to charge the street lamps at the gates of the common people?

And what's going on with their unbelievable pace of construction? What about engineering projects that don't stop in the winter? And what about the civilians who walk around their territory at will, talk and laugh loudly, and don't tremble with fear at the sight of patrolling soldiers? What are those big buildings that make weird noises, called factories?

This territory seems to be shrouded in countless mysteries, but Padraic does not dare to delve deeper, he knows the owner of this land, knows the origin of the Grand Duke Gawain Cecil - a legend who has lived through the Gondor period and the second exploration, and is said to have reached a secret agreement with the four elemental lords, and has close relations with the royal families of elves and dwarves, such a figure is almost "inhuman" in Padraric's eyes, even if he borrowed the power of the elemental lords to build this territory, Padraic felt that there was no problem- But if he, as a small person, talks a lot in this regard, then it will be a big problem.

When Padraic was arranging his bow tie for the fourth time, the little maid who looked dazed came up again, and I don't know how many times she filled the teacup on the round table: "Sir, drink tea." ”

"Oh, oh, thank you." Padraic hiccuped, but this time he had learned wisely, and just picked up the teacup and took a small sip - he had realized that the little maid girl in front of him was not deliberately making things difficult for herself, nor was she instructed by the duke to test herself, but she probably hadn't really learned how to receive guests from the senior maid or the head maid, she only knew that she was stunned to fill the guest's teacup again and again, and then stared at the guest to drink tea, but if the guest was too sincere or thought too much—like herself half an hour ago— Then it is very likely that she will be poured to death with tea.

"Excuse me...... Does the Duke know I'm coming? After putting down the teacup, Padraic asked as he looked at Betty cautiously.

The other party is just a little maid, and it is impossible to compare with herself as a lord advisor (former) in terms of status, but only a fool would use such a simple method to compare - this little girl is just a maid, but she is the duke's maid!

Then the "duke's maid" put her finger on her chin and fell into a stunned state for a few seconds, and after thinking hard, Betty shook her head: "I don't know! ”

Padraic sighed and gave up asking about anything from Betty.

At this moment, the door to the parlor was finally pushed open, and a tall figure stood there, allowing Padralick, who had just finished sighing, to stand up reflexively.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Gawain said with a smile as he walked into the room, "I'm inspecting the alchemy factory, and it's taken some time to sort out the samples—Betty, have you poured tea for the guests?" ”

Betty lifted the large teapot in her hand: "Pour tea!" ”

Padraic reflexively hiccuped at the sound of water in the large teapot......

Gao Wen was stunned: Why did this fat gentleman hiccup and still bring an echo?

However, he did not delve into the matter, but was pleased with the growth of his little maid, and after giving the little girl an approving smile, he looked at Mr. Padraic, who was a little nervous and hiccuped: "Knight Philip has a lot of praise for you, and the last time he came back to report the situation, he mentioned that you kept the finances of the Kant Territory in order, not only ensuring the supply of supplies for the winter, but also stabilizing the merchants who had trade with the Kant Domain even after the death of the lord, Let them still do business with Kant in the coming year? ”

"I've only done my part," Padraic nodded reservedly, "I've always been in charge of dealing with the chambers of commerce in my realm, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm good at heraldry, grammar, and etiquette, but I'm more invested in money, ...... Probably not very decent. ”

"It's really indecent when you're good at dealing with money but don't dare to admit it," Gawain smiled, "I came to you today to talk to you about money, I think you should already know this, right?" ”

"Ah, yes, I saw your letter, your territory has entered the stage of production, so you want to contact me for a trade route?" Padraic nodded, "It's an alchemy potion, right?" ”

"That's right, alchemy potions, but I'll state up front that the way Cecil produces and sells alchemy potions is probably very different from what you think, I have a new trade model, and I need you to help me build and implement it."

"A new trade model?" Padraic frowned, he didn't know what Gawain meant, "Are you talking about your take as a lord?" ”

"It's too troublesome to say, it's better for you to look at the information directly," Gawain said as he motioned to Hetty, who was following him, to hand a booklet that was not too thick to Padraic in front of him, "It will tell you what a 'new trade model' is." ”

Padraic took the booklet, but although he was in awe of Gawain, he was still a little conceited when talking about what he was good at, he asked himself that he had dealt with merchants for half his life, and was extremely familiar with the set of things that laid the trade routes, bought and sold and stocked, and no matter how novel the trade model was, it would not be complicated in his eyes, and it was a bit of a fuss to use a booklet to explain it - but he did not dare to say it explicitly, but could only nod respectfully: "Okay, I'll take a look." Rest assured, Lord Duke, I am quite confident in business. ”

As he spoke, he saw some key words in the booklet: chain distribution, regional agency, distribution network, sharing model and market expansion......

Gawain didn't say anything, just quietly watched as Padraic quickly read the booklet, which was not very thick.

It took Padraic a few minutes to skim through the first pass, and then tripled as long to see the second pass.

As he was about to watch it for the third time, Gawain interrupted him, "Mr. Padraic, what do you think?" ”

Padraic rubbed his eyes and looked at Gawain a little blankly, as if he had forgotten for a moment that he was in the living room of the Duke's Palace, his mind was full of those unbelievable terms and specific operation plans, and when he realized that Gawain was calling himself, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "Yes...... Yes, Lord Duke! I'm done, I'm done! ”

"I know you're done, I want to know what you think."

"This ...... This," Padraic glanced down at the booklet in his hand, only to find that he had no words to use, "these ideas are indeed something I had never thought of, and they seem strange...... But it seems feasible? But ......"

The fat gentleman took a long time, and finally took a deep breath: "Okay, I admit that it is logically fine, if it does come to fruition, then it will quickly grow into a commercial monster in the southern region - no single merchant, merchant or even regional chamber of commerce can fight against such a well-organized, efficient circulation, unified action and backed by the big nobles, but I also have to be honest, these ideas are almost impossible to realize." You want everyone in this sales system to be under the unified control, the bottom shops are under the command of the regional agents, and the regional agents are under the command of the general manager you appointed, but no merchant has ever accepted this kind of restraint before - of course, we can grudge this by monetary interests and contracts, but you also ask the lowest shops to do business to the common people, which is ......"

Padraic spread his hands: "Alchemy potions are not stinky ointments made by country herbalists, even poorer mercenaries may not be able to afford them, how can civilians afford to use them?" Even if we sell it to civilians, they won't buy it! ”

"You don't have to worry about this, since I said that the new type of alchemy potion can be sold to civilians, then I have naturally considered the price, I can guarantee that they are so cheap that the ordinary civilian class can afford it through gritting their teeth, and the nobles everywhere can also use this potion for their armies."

Gawain didn't say too much directly, didn't promise anything that "even serfs could afford to use alchemical potions" - because it was unrealistic. Not every territory is the same as Cecil's territory, in most parts of the world, the private property of serfs is almost zero, even if Gawain makes alchemy potions cheaper, those serfs still can't even afford to buy a bottle cap, in this regard, the current Gawain is still powerless.

Being able to make the medium-condition civilians (or citizens) in other territories able to afford alchemy potions is already his biggest goal at present.

Padraic's first reaction to Gawain's statement was to question the impossibility, but seeing the unwavering expression on the other party's face, he wisely did not say it, but simply commented on the trade model in the manual: "Okay, then I will say, what is written on it is full of wisdom - if you want to sell not alchemy potions, but grain cloth, my evaluation of it will go up a notch." But I have one last question...... Do you have so many alchemical potions? ”

The "business scholar" spread his hands: "To 'feed' such a sales system, the alchemy potion needed is not a small amount. ”

Gao Wen smiled slightly, and waved his hand to the two attendants who followed him: "Go and bring in those boxes of samples." ”

"How many ...... How many boxes? ”