After two days of inspection around the town of Copper Mountain, on the first day of November, Richard returned to Fort William.

Every year in early November, Haaland Collar holds a trade fair. This year is already the fifth commodity fair, and after five years of promotion, the Haaland Collar Commodity Expo has become famous in the Kingdom of Grant.

Especially from the third session, after the sale of alchemy bombs, it was very popular with the nobility.

This year's commodity fair was attended not only by caravans from the Kingdom of Grant, but also by nobles from the Kingdom of Stanik, the Kingdom of Delong, the United Kingdom of the East Coast, and even the Kingdom of Lane.

No sooner had Richard returned to Fort William to discuss with Rogge about the preparation of the Fair, when an acquaintance approached him, and it was none other than Vera Watson of the Church of Fortune.

Last time the Grand Duchy of Starnik was in turmoil, the Watson family was politically on the right side and defected to Duke Jonathan in advance. After the war, not only did it not suffer losses, but it also expanded a viscount. The strength of the family has also been improved to the first place of the four dukes of Starnik.

After the war, Duke Watson divided the new viscount among his three children, and Vera succeeded to a barony, becoming a hereditary nobility.

According to the general situation in the Grant Kingdom, a duke often has a dozen or even dozens of children, and the vast majority of children cannot become hereditary nobles. After all, it is impossible for a qualified territorial nobleman to make a decree of grace and divide the territory into a dozen or dozens of pieces, and if he does so, the surrounding nobles and even the Grant royal family will wake up laughing. If the duke has no power in his hands, he will only be hollowed out by the vassals.

On the contrary, it is the viscount class, in order to hedge risks and diversify investments, many people divide their territories to different sons.

The children of the duke, if their parents are still alive and they are more favored, their social status will generally exceed that of the baron and viscount class, after all, they can use the power of some dukes, and the fox and the tiger can scare many people. But once the parents are gone, and the successors to the title become brothers and sisters, their social status will fall rapidly, and they will not be as good as the hereditary aristocracy.

The hereditary nobility was the one who could wield power on his own, while the children of the duke could only rely on their father. Although Vera inherited a small barony, her de facto status rose.

Vera is an important partner in the business field of Haaland, not only an important member of the Watson family, but also a senior member of the Goddess of Fortune Church. Since she had come to visit, Richard had no choice but to stop the meeting with Rogge and give priority to the person.

"Miss Vera, when I see you again, you are still bejeweled and beautiful."

"The Duke is so polite."

The two exchanged a few words, and Richard got straight to the point and asked, "Miss Vera came to see me overnight, what is the matter?" ”

"I want to buy a portion of the alchemy bomb, hoping to get the duke's approval."

Although the alchemy bomb was placed on the booth of the commodity fair, almost all of the people who could buy the alchemy bomb were the nobles of Northern Xinjiang. This unspoken rule can't hide a smart person like Vera at all.

The Grand Duchy of Starnik has the ability to produce alchemy bombs, but Richard has signed a strict contract with the Jonathan family, and the alchemy bombs produced by the Jonathan family cannot be sold to outsiders.

Moreover, the four dukes have a certain competitive relationship with the Jonathan family, and the Jonathan family has just started to produce alchemy bombs, and the output is not high, and they are not enough, let alone sell alchemy bombs to others in default. After all, the cost of default is high, and more than twenty guarantors will be attacked by the royal seal, and these guarantors are all middle and high-level members of the Jonathan family.

The attack of the royal seal involves the power of the gods, which directly acts on the soul, even if Duke Jonathan is a legend and his soul has been transformed, he is not afraid of being attacked by the royal seal, and he can't keep these people,

"May I ask a question, who exactly did Miss Vera buy the alchemy bomb for, the Watson family or the Church of the Goddess of Wealth?"

Vera's background is very complicated, which is why Richard asked.

After listening to Richard's words, Vera smiled and asked, "What is the difference between you and me?" ”

"I'm a believer in the goddess of the dawn, and if Miss Vera is buying on behalf of the Fortune Church, I'll need to ask Pastor Sanders. If the Church of the Goddess of Fortune had bought an alchemy bomb to fight a religious war and killed the people of the Dawn Church, I would have regretted it. I can only make this deal if the pastors of the Dawn church agree. ”

The development of the Harland Collar to the present, and the protection of the Dawn Church is also an important reason.

Roger's kingdom felt this relationship very early, so he would not put obstacles in the way of Haaland's development, Richard is a smart person, of course he knows the inside story. Whenever it came to the church, Richard would communicate with Pastor Sanders.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, I purchased the alchemy bomb on behalf of the Watson family, mainly to deal with the orcs."

Hearing Vera's answer, Richard was very happy and said, "Originally, with our relationship, I should have given Miss Vera absolute trust. But when it comes to the Alchemy Bomb, I need Miss Vera to sign a contract to make a pact regarding the use of the Alchemy Bomb. If Miss Vera wishes, I promise to sell two thousand alchemy bombs to Miss Vera. ”

"Your Excellency the Duke is too cautious."

"Miss Vera, the situation in your Grand Duchy of Starnik is not careful. The four major churches are in serious conflict and are prone to religious wars. I don't want to sell weapons and upset the balance of power in the church. ”

Regarding Richard's worries, Vera said indifferently: "Duke, please rest assured, as long as there is an orc as a foreign enemy, there will always be more cooperation than confrontation between the churches." The aristocracy of the country is not a fool, let alone a fanatic, and will not support the war of religion. I will sign the agreement, please rest assured. ”

Vera was willing to sign the contract, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement, and Richard took out 2,000 alchemy bombs from the treasury in exchange for a sum of money for Vera.

Although a war broke out this year, the battle was not tragic, the alchemy bomb was not consumed, and there was enough inventory in the treasury of Haaland's territory.

Sending Vera away, the trade fair was held as scheduled.

At the fair, Haaland received low-cost wholesale goods from the territory's specialties, from everyday consumer goods such as brown sugar, woolen cloth, liquor, fruit wine, and soap, to steel products, weapons and armor, and even alchemical bombs and other military supplies. A wide variety of goods are available, and several new products have been added to this year's Commodity Expo.

The first is fine porcelain, and after Richard took over the territory, Haaland Collar has begun to experiment with paper-fired porcelain, and in the first few years, it takes experience to accumulate experience, and porcelain firing has not been very successful. With the continuous accumulation of skills of craftsmen in the territory, this year they finally mastered the recipe of porcelain firing clay materials, and the heat of firing porcelain, and began to sell this new product on a large scale.

The appearance of porcelain immediately caused a sensation at the commodity fair.

The Dawn Plane has been firing porcelain for more than a thousand years, and the technology of porcelain firing is in the hands of the great nobles of the capital region of the Divine Radiance Empire. Up to now, porcelain has become very popular in San Siro, the capital of the Divine Radiance Empire, and ordinary people with a little surplus can buy a few pieces, and it has gradually become a bulk circulation commodity.

But in a relatively remote area such as the Grant Kingdom, the price of porcelain was very expensive, and only the relatively wealthy nobles had the financial resources to buy a few pieces and display them in a conspicuous living room.

After all, the Kingdom of Grant is tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Castle of San Siro, the capital of the Divine Radiance Empire, passing through many kingdoms, and it is not too peaceful along the way, and porcelain is a commodity that is easy to break, and the price has almost increased by hundreds of times when it is transported over thousands of miles. The price of an ordinary porcelain vase can be as high as dozens of gold coins, which is equivalent to the cost of a dozen ordinary people for a year.

The porcelain produced by Haaland collar is not as fine as the imported goods, but it is also authentic porcelain, and it is a sought-after commodity in the surrounding countries. Moreover, the price of Haaland porcelain is far lower than that of imported goods, and the wholesale price of a 40-centimeter porcelain vase is only eight silver coins, which has already benefited professional families.

The 30,000 pieces of porcelain that Rogge had prepared at the trade fair were quickly swept away. This batch of porcelain was sold for a profit of 23,000 gold coins. The most expensive thing to fire porcelain is labor, the material consumption is relatively low, and the vast majority of gold coins sold are net profits.

Porcelain firing is not a very high threshold technology, as long as you have seen it a few times, you can't hide it from the really smart people, in order to protect the secret of porcelain firing, Richard put the porcelain firing factory in the Lothar Basin.

The proximity of the Lossa basin to the front line, with few outsiders, was ideal for secrecy, and a squadron of soldiers was arranged near the factory to guard it from unrelated people. In addition, the porcelain factory's ingredient workers, kiln workers and other skilled workers, each of which was closely registered, was on the surveillance list of the intelligence department, and was under the secret protection of the territory.

A monopoly technology, a monopoly commodity, can bring extremely high profits to Haaland.

According to this year's situation, the profit from the sale of porcelain every year can allow the territory to raise 2,000 soldiers. With 2,000 more soldiers, it is possible to win a war.

Every monopoly commodity is the lifeblood of the territory, and the lessons of the liquor process leakage back then make Richard remember it now.

The second is a new medicine, Haland's medicine is well-known in the Grant Kingdom, and hemostatic ointment and burn ointment are all in demand in the Grant Kingdom. It's just that it is limited by production and cannot serve ordinary people, so it can only be left to nobles and main legionnaires.

This year, Haaland led the hatching of a third Purple Head Peak King, and the production of hemostatic ointment has increased significantly, and Richard is ready to take out 3,000 copies to sell at the Commodity Expo, and continue to expand the reputation of the Commodity Expo.

Purple Head Peak Royal Jelly can be used to refine healing potions, and in recent years, after continuous research by the Mage Guild, the new potion formula has finally been completed. Today, there are four pharmacists, Sophia, Annie, Capeson, and Connie, who have worked together to refine 300 copies of the new potion.

This potion can be used to increase vitality and treat internal injuries, and the effect on internal injuries is equivalent to a four-ring spell to treat serious injuries, which is considered a third-order healing potion.

The internal injury healing potion not only requires the royal jelly of Purple Head Peak, but also needs to use a second-order magic plant, and with four ordinary herbs, refining one potion costs twenty-four gold coins.

Due to the limitations of materials, even if it is Harland, this potion cannot be reserved for ordinary soldiers, and can only be used to treat professional officers, just like the healing techniques left by magicians, it is impossible to treat ordinary people, and can only be reserved for officers.

The annual output of internal injury healing potions is only three hundred, and the number of magicians under the Haaland Command has exceeded that of other dukedoms, and the strength of the hospital is also very good, and there is no shortage of healing power. Richard was going to take out a hundred copies of the internal injury treatment potion every year and sell them at the trade fair in exchange for money.

After all, the territory has expanded its army by 14,000 people this year, and the economic pressure is very heavy, and gold coins are needed everywhere, and Richard must also find a way to raise gold coins to reduce the deficit.

The price of the internal injury potion was very expensive, one hundred gold coins each, but the hundred internal injury potions were quickly swept away by several Starnik nobles. The aristocracy has always attached great importance to life-saving things.

In fact, the Stanic nobles who bought the potion were all from the North, they were all vassals of Duke Jonathan, and now they have a commercial channel from the North to Starnik, and they trade various goods with Harland Collar during the trade fair every year.

In addition to internal injury drugs, Haaland Collar Hospital has also launched a new drug, painkillers, which have been shown to be effective in human trials at the hospital and can be used to relieve pain.

In fact, it was mainly the serfs and ordinary freemen who suffered from heavy labor, and their bodies were the most painful, but unfortunately they were penniless and could not afford to consume medicines. The nobles would not pity their wounds and buy medicines for the serfs.

The main customers of this new drug are retired soldiers, who are injured and discharged from the army, often leaving serious sequelae on their bodies, and severe pain occurs on cloudy days and rain.

The nobles were able to get spell healing, and they could use the power of spells such as pain relief to treat pain, and the effect was better than that of painkillers, and they did not necessarily need this medicine, and it was various caravans that mainly bought this new medicine, and their customers were ordinary people.

With the holding of the commodity fair, Haaland led the medicine to become famous and widely appeared in the kingdom of Grant. Although the painkiller pill is a new medicine, various caravans are confident in this new medicine.

In the ten days during the trade fair, more than 100,000 bottles of this new drug were sold.

The price of painkillers is very affordable, the wholesale price is only one silver coin per bottle, and one bottle contains sixty pills, which is enough to eat for a month. Such a price has sunk the market to ordinary people.

In fact, the new drug has been widely sold in Haaland's collar for only three months, and 60,000 bottles have already been sold, many of which are purchased by the older freedmen.

These people have been serfs for most of their lives, and their living conditions are very poor, and although they have enjoyed happiness in Haaland in their later years, they have developed serious physical pain, and can only use painkillers to relieve the pain.

With the increase in sales and the improvement of the economic situation, Richard is ready to reduce the price of painkillers in a few years to reduce the pressure on ordinary people, after all, one silver coin is equivalent to a week's salary, and the burden is still very heavy for middle-aged and elderly people who have lost part of their ability to work.

At this year's trade fair, Harland Collar will also enchant armor and force field shields in the display case. Enchanted armor and force field shields are all high-tech and high-threshold commodities, and Richard has designed a strict anti-copycat technology, even if the magician wants to imitate it, it is an extremely difficult thing, and violent dismantling will only destroy the magic runes engraved inside.

Moreover, when this kind of enchanted equipment is sold, the right person will also be selected, and it will only be sold to the nobles of Northern Xinjiang, territorial vassals, and foreign nobles who want to buy it, but now there is no stock at all. Enchanted armor, stand shields, etc., are mainly placed on the booth for advertising and creating gimmicks to attract people.

This year's trade fair was a great success.

During the fair, Haaland led the sale of more than 300,000 gold coins of goods, which greatly promoted the development of the economy and made huge profits.

(End of chapter)