Chapter 590 Don’t put rabbits and eggs in the same cage
"Hey, cheer up."
Sitting in a box by the window on the third floor of the tavern, Venise shook Abaz's shoulders, while Abaz was lost.
Pulling off Venise's hand, he leaned his head against the wool tapestry on the wall and sighed.
Brown sugar refining technology and Wang Family Trading Company, if these two words are put together, nothing good will happen.
The princes of Hongyeqiu drove away the lord, and the upstarts of Lilac Corridor poisoned four royal agents to death, just for sugar.
The nobles of Hongyeqiu and Lilac Corridor even formed an alliance and basically monopolized the sugar trade in the entire empire.
But now, the French royal family quietly opened a gap in Qianhe River Valley, and even miraculously emerged with a technology for refining brown sugar.
The good old days are gone forever.
Let's not talk about whether our family can climb up by clinging to the Larkin family, but whether we can keep our current position is another question.
"Have you noticed that Ruphiel's attitude towards Armand is not quite right recently?"
"A child with a half-beard... Why are you so suspicious?" Abaz was upset, pushed Venise away, and continued to flip through the booklet.
Seeing that Abaz could not persuade him, Venise had no choice but to sit down sullenly.
At this time, Lu Feier walked in from the door: "Sister Catherine will have to come later, she has to deal with the church property auction."
In fact, the Gallen guest house where they were staying was originally the church's St. Gallen monastery.
It was once used by the local church to serve foreign nobles and bishops, and the monks were famous for their superb winemaking and cooking skills.
The internal facilities of the monastery are even more luxurious, even comparable to the banquet halls of noble families.
When Horn and Meliati entered Feiliu Castle, in accordance with the principle of "returning religious property to the public", the two parties divided up the religious property left by the church.
Meliati obtained a large number of the church's workshops, real estate and manor outside the city, while Horn mainly divided up the church's real estate and shops.
This high-end place that cannot be entered without a title is now open to everyone, and the hall is full of workshop owners and ordinary citizens from all over the Qianhe River Valley who come to try it out.
"This place is different from before." Rufei wrinkled her nose, "We have lost the singing of hymns and the melodious choir, and only the folk tunes and the harsh bagpipes are left."
It's just that this is the only restaurant left in the city that barely meets Lu Feier's requirements.
If it weren't for Catherine, Rufeil and the others wouldn't even be able to book a room on the clean third floor.
Venise chuckled softly: "You can't blame others for this. The saint's grandson's eyes fell on the gold, and the poems naturally lay at the bottom of the box."
As soon as Venise finished speaking, Lu Feier stared at him with an evil look: "Today is embarrassing enough. If you continue to be rude, I won't say a single word to you for the next year."
"I promise." Venise quickly swore.
While the three of them were talking in low voices, they heard the waiter knock on the door gently: "Three distinguished guests, your Excellencies have arrived."
After giving a threatening look, Lufer asked the waiter to open the door. The first person who came in was Armand, who was wearing an off-white shirt and a burgundy linen jacket. Behind him was a man wearing a long-sleeved navy blue tweed jacket in late spring and early summer. Rene of the coat.
As they walked in together, there was also the sound of two people talking.
"Sister Jeanne's recent behavior is a bit strange. She actually thinks that the relationship between the Despot and His Majesty the Pope is too close."
"Maybe Sister Jeanna's magic power has grown too fast, and the pressure on her nerves has become more and more serious."
"She is not yet twenty years old, so there shouldn't be a problem with her mana overflowing and compressing her nerves, right?"
Seeing them standing up to greet Ruphire and others, Armand and Rene immediately put on their trained polite smiles and nodded to the three of them.
"I almost forgot to introduce you. This is Rene, Rene Gallar, my friend." After the five people sat down, Armand took the lead in introducing Rene to them.
"Galar...ah, you must be a member of the Orphan Guards in "The Expedition of the Saint", right?"
Rene just nodded politely: "Yes."
The three of them, Lu Feier, all looked at this unattractive young man. He had shaved his temples. He was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. However, when he was stared at by those eyes, he always felt uncomfortable.
"Are you very interested in "The Expedition of Saint Sun"?" Armand interrupted at the right time.
"Yes." Lu Feier picked up a small book from the side, "I just finished reading this book. It's very interesting."
Venise interjected: "It's like a story told by a country bard."
Lufer elbowed Venise in the ribs under the table: "I don't think I saw you in "The Expedition of the Saint Sun"?" Armand laughed: "I was too young at the time, and this book contained a total of There are only five characters, and of course they won’t write about a small character like me.”
"Ahem." At this time, Abaz couldn't hold back and suddenly asked, "Brother Armand, is the brown sugar refining technology you mentioned true?"
"Of course." Armand looked at the young Al man up and down, "I just went back to Fort Joan and the Palace of Holy Arms last month. Five sugar workshops have been built around Fort Joan and are recruiting workers.
When summer is over and the raw materials for brown sugar from Black Snake Bay arrive, production can begin. ”
Abaz still couldn't believe it: "We have been studying the purification of brown sugar for hundreds of years, and you have developed it in such a short time?"
"The holy grandson has his own divine right." He said deliberately, and Armand's eyes turned on Abaz's face, "It doesn't hurt to tell you, it is an alchemical method. In the world of alchemy, everything has two attributes, upper and lower. You It is difficult to purify brown sugar simply by looking at its properties.”
Sure enough, it is indeed an alchemical method!
Abaz was even a little exhausted. If they had used other methods, they could have sent commercial spies to steal the formula, but alchemy, damn, they used alchemy!
Looking at the sweaty Arbaaz, Armand suddenly laughed and asked, "Does Mr. Arbaaz's family run the sugar trade?"
"Uh." Abaz opened his mouth, but still didn't hide anything and smiled bitterly, "My father is in this industry."
"Really?" Leaning back on the chair, Armand pretended to wipe his nose and looked at Rene next to him. Rene had already narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the side of Arbaaz's face.
Currently, there are several large-scale projects under construction in Langsand County, and funds are already stretched thin, and His Majesty the Pope does not want to put all his eggs in the French Royal Trading Company.
And this Abaz is obviously a new aristocrat who has risen through the sugar trade. No wonder Her Excellency Catherine wants to invite them.
Rene silently memorized Arbaaz's face and name.
Ruphiel's eyes moved around the faces of Armand and Abaz, and her eyebrows wrinkled slightly.
Generally speaking, as the only daughter of the Larkin family, she is always the protagonist of banquets and cocktail parties. Why are these two people focusing all their attention on Abaz.
"I heard that the family has been running a tobacco business recently, and it is said that the profit is comparable to that of sugar." Lufei tried to bring the topic back to herself.
"Mr. Abaz, do you have any idea to go to Fort Joan to have a look? Maybe you can give some guidance to our sugar workshop."
Lu Feier did not believe in evil: "Where is Castle Joan of Arc? I thought the Salvation Army was stationed in the Holy Arms."
"Castle Joan of Arc is where the Salvation Army is stationed, and the Holy Arms is where the Patriarch is stationed. The two are not far apart. I dare say that the Holy Arms is the only classical revivalist city in the Thousand Valleys, and it has a very strong business atmosphere. Mr. Abaz If you want, I can accompany you personally.”
"...My dowry is twenty-five thousand gold pounds." After suddenly saying something, Lufei regretted it as soon as she said it. She didn't even know why she said this.
"Oh?" Glancing at Ruphire, who was blushing in surprise, Armand nodded, "It is indeed a huge sum of money, which is almost more than the tax revenue of Langsand County in one year. However, according to our current development plan, in two years It’s not difficult to double it, Mr. Arbaaz, what do you think?”
In Venise's secretly delighted look, Lufeier started to warm up inexplicably, but the red warm up was interrupted by the sound of the door opening just as it started.
"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm late." Catherine smiled and took off the wide hat on her head, "It's a little hot, open the windows - look, Lu Feier's face is red with heat."
"We heard Mr. Armand talk about a lot of things about the Holy Armament Court." In order to divert Catherine's attention, Ruphiel quickly changed the subject.
"Are you interested in the Holy Armory? Anyway, Leia is in the civil war and you can't go to school. Why not go and have a look?"
Go to the Sacred Armament Court? Rufeil recalled what Armand mentioned in the conversation with Arbaaz and the slang words Catherine taught her.
A city where wizards and alchemists could operate openly?
When Rufei hesitated, Catherine had already walked to the dining table, and she quickly followed and sat down.
"I'm really sorry, Your Excellency Armand, I was so rude at the meeting today." Catherine pulled out a chair and sat down, "His Majesty the Cabinet is also here."
"Haha, I'm just here to eat." Rene forced a smile.
Armand waved his hand: "It's nothing. Even if they don't ask, I will take the initiative to tell you."
"Your Excellency is so generous. Sure enough, the Foreign Secretary can fit a fleet in his belly."
"Hahaha, I haven't reached that level yet."
After chatting and laughing for a while, Catherine sat down.
Rufeel beside her couldn't help but put up the menu, leaned her head, and asked in a low voice: "Sister Catherine, why do you call them Your Excellency? Aren't they members of the Orphan Guards?"
"Oh, I haven't had time to introduce you yet." Catherine raised her head with a smile and pointed at Rene with her right hand. "This is the general manager of the Cheka of the Thousand Valley Patriarchate, His Excellency Rene Gallar."
"This is the Chief Privy Councilor of the Thousand Valley Patriarchate, His Excellency Armand-Jean Richelieu Cosset."
(End of chapter)