Although Powell had heard the name of Elf Black Tea, he had never drunk it.

Before becoming hereditary nobles, the three William brothers together could earn a few hundred gold coins a year, which was already very considerable in a professional family. Their social status, their level of income, was already second only to the hereditary barons.

But if they want to become hereditary nobles, they must save money to develop their territory, and their ordinary life is very frugal.

In the first few years of becoming a hereditary nobleman, the territory was still unable to make ends meet, and life was more difficult.

It wasn't until last summer that the Haaland family was a little more affluent with a steady stream of income from liquor and steel.

Powell also wanted to taste the taste of elf black tea, he opened his mouth to take a sip, and immediately frowned, his face was a little ugly.

"What, can't get used to it?"

"The taste is too bitter, and I really can't get used to it. Maybe I'm just a turtle, and I feel that brown sugar water is the best. ”

"Last winter, the brown sugar production increased by 60 percent, I will bring you a few packets in a while, Wendy and Sophia will continue to raise seedlings, and in a year or two, brown sugar can also be exchanged for money."

"I look forward to the rapid expansion of the brown sugar plantation, if I can drink brown sugar water every day, I will have no regrets even if I die in my life."

"Second uncle, your request is too low, the output of brown sugar may double this year, and your request will be fulfilled by then."

"That's really good news. Richard's mind really turned fast, and he could think of all kinds of ways to make a fortune. The development and growth of our Haaland territory depends on your whimsical ideas and business strategies.

In recent days, there has been a shortage of table salt in the territory. I went to Heihebao to buy it, and found that the price of salt in Heihebao had increased by 60 percent, and more than 20,000 people and more than 100,000 livestock in the territory needed salt. ”

The most scarce goods in the territory were cloth and salt.

Northern Xinjiang is not very short of salt.

However, the three provinces directly under the central government, which are directly controlled by the royal family, have not found salt mines.

The salt needed on a daily basis is mainly traded with other provinces.

The three major salt-producing regions of the Kingdom of Grant.

The first is Haiyan, which is located in the four major eastern provinces. The four eastern marquisates were close to the sea, and they used a lot of manpower to cut down trees and boil seawater to obtain salt.

The second is the mineral salt in the Dukedom of Jonathan, which has a salt mine that can be used to mine a large amount of salt.

The third is the well salt of the Dukedom of Loraine.

Of these three types of table salt, well salt is the most expensive and of the highest quality, and it is the salt used by the nobility.

The salt business in Geda Province was monopolized by Jeram Holland, and the sea salt from the four eastern marquisates was used.

After listening to Powell's account, Richard's face showed some worry.

"We use such a large amount of salt, can we talk to Archon Jerram? Lower the price a bit. ”

"Jeram's butler Savile made it clear that this was the consul's request, and there was no way to talk about it."

Richard took a sip of elf black tea, weighed the pros and cons and said: "Since Jeram is unwilling to talk, we have to figure out our own way, salt is a necessity of life, and we must not let people pinch their eggs."

I'm going to organize a caravan to take people to the Duke of Jonathan, not only to buy salt, but also to sell some of the specialties of my own territory.

The purple head peak in Vicburg can already produce a lot of honey, and there are also some royal jelly, in addition to 200 catties of brown sugar, 300 urns of liquor, and 2 tons of steel arrowheads.

It was worth more than 800 gold coins, enough to organize a caravan. ”

"In this way, it is equivalent to us finding another salt channel, and I am afraid that we will offend the Archon Jerram."

Although the consul of Jerram was high, he could not control the hereditary baron. Besides, the consul is a rogue official, and he can't work in northern Xinjiang for a few years.

Although the provincial consuls could use all kinds of legal and illegal means to suppress the hereditary aristocracy.

However, hereditary nobles could also use the method of flipping the table and go to the council of nobles in the royal capital to sue the provincial consuls.

If the provincial consuls do not take advantage of the situation and cause anger and resentment, they may be overthrown in the noble council.

The Council of Nobles made a decision that was difficult for the royal family to violate.

Although the Grant royal family is the most powerful, it is not as strong as one-third of the noble alliance.

If the royal family really provokes the anger of the public, it is possible that it will be overthrown by the big nobles below.

This is how the throne of the Grant royal family came about, Duke Jonathan next door, there was a dumb king, and the regime was overthrown in the Grand Duchy of Starnik.

The main reason why the Haaland family is reluctant to offend Jeram is that Jerlam's sister Agnes Holland.

This Lady Holland was King Charles's favorite woman, and although she was over forty years old, her figure was still graceful and her complexion was as white as snow.

Mrs. Holland bore three children to King Charles.

It is rumored that King Charles is not very satisfied with his eldest son, and has already planned to replace him.

As long as he doesn't push too hard, Richard doesn't want to offend Jeram Holland.

The relationship between the Haaland family and the Archon Jelam is very ordinary, and last time, in order to obtain a good fief, William found the legion commander Zachary and asked Zachary to communicate, and William gave the Archon Jelam a sum of money.

Archon Jerram's money to do things, plus Zachary's face, things went well.

The two sides had a deal, and William's relationship at Blackriver Fort was mainly in the Northern Legion.

The 60 per cent increase in salt prices is a big burden for the Haaland family.

Richard had no choice but to reopen a channel.

As for whether it will affect Jerham's interests? I don't care too much about it now.

Since Zachary doesn't give face to the Haaland family, don't blame the Haaland family for influencing his business and slapping him in the face.

After sending off his second uncle Powell, Richard personally stepped forward and began to draw supplies and form caravans.

The sixth squadron of Haaland's territory is based on the mercenaries under the command of his uncle Soros. Just enough to take on the task of protection, anyway, they have experience.

In addition, there is a need for some trade-savvy merchants in the caravan. This kind of talent is more difficult to find, and large-scale trade in goods must be proficient in mathematics.

The vast majority of ordinary people in the Dawn Continent are illiterate, and it is very rare to understand mathematics.

Not everyone has the vision to spend a lot of money to train their children to go to church schools.

The caravans controlled by the hereditary aristocracy were chosen from among the branches of the nobility, the sons of slave families.

The Harland family has been around for a short time, and there is a lack of suitable talents, so they can only be selected from indentured slaves.

Fortunately, there are all kinds of characters in the indentured slaves, especially the more than 2,000 indentured slaves who escaped from the orc empire, and their quality is higher.

Richard quickly selected seven or eight indentured servants who were proficient in basic mathematics and turned them into merchants to serve as the backbone of the caravan.

(End of chapter)