Chapter 433 The Earl’s Banquet
Despite all the twists and turns, Liszt finally arrived at Collins without any danger.
After entering the city, the name of Earl Bridges came into effect, and he met the nobleman smoothly.
"Hahahaha! Mr. Liszt, I'm sorry to frighten you."
After talking about business in the study, Earl Bridges patted Liszt on the shoulder cheerfully laughing out loud.
"But there is nothing we can do about it. You know, the recent situation is a bit uneasy."
Liszt could only smile bitterly in return.
"Well, I have a banquet here tonight. You can come and join me, so I can introduce you to some of Collins' leading figures."
The Earl extended an invitation to him.
Liszt stood up in a hurry and bowed to him, "Ha, thank you, Earl."
This kind of high-class banquet was of great help to him in expanding his business, and the earl gave him a huge favor.
According to the count's suggestion, Liszt went out for a walk first and experienced the local customs.
At sunset, he returned to Earl Bridges' mansion.
After changing into a local-style dress, he was guided by the servant to the hall where the banquet was held.
At this time, many torches and candles had been lit in the hall, lighting up the place as bright as day, and bursts of sweet music floated in it. The Earl specially invited artists to the banquet to add to the fun.
There were already many guests inside, both men and women, all dressed in gorgeous and well-dressed clothes. Some of them gathered together to talk, and some of them danced to the music on the dance floor.
A long, expensive carpet was laid on the central axis of the hall. It was quiet and comfortable to stand on. Liszt followed the carpet, passing by twos and threes of guests, and came to the center of the hall. Next to a square dining table formed by four long tables.
"Oh! Look, our Aldo guest is here."
Seeing Liszt walking over, Earl Bridges stood up.
“Everyone, please allow me to introduce to you, this is Mr. Friedrich List, the trade representative of Aldo’s northwest bay shipping company in Cape Bay. Let us welcome them together. The merchant ships are large and numerous, much better than the shabby sampans of the coastal people.”
As soon as the earl finished speaking, there was a burst of applause from around him.
“Thank you all, it’s an honor to visit your beautiful country.”
Liszt felt relieved, even though he was still very nervous before.
As a commoner, he has always maintained a high degree of respect for the nobles. Before entering the hall, he was worried that he would be looked down upon. Now it seems that he is a bit worried.
Earl Bridges introduced him to the people around him one by one. As expected, there were many big shots. These people were either rich or noble, either high-ranking officials in the palace or high-ranking priests in the church.
This made Liszt feel a little flattered. It was the first time for him to see such a big battle.
Although Corinth can only be regarded as a small country compared to Aldo, its territory only includes the main city-state of Corinth and several subsidiary cities as well as villages and towns scattered in between. It may not be as large as Alda and Bailding combined. , but size is also a kingdom. Although a sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs.
I suddenly came into contact with the upper class of a country.
But Liszt soon understood why these big shots treated him so politely.
"Todd Shipping Company? I've heard of it. It's a big shipping company."
"Mr. Lister, you are the first Aldo merchant to arrive in Collins. Please go back and tell your compatriots not to endure the exploitation of those coastal people anymore, bypass those greedy guys, and come directly to us for business. ”
“I’ve seen your products, they are all great. We don’t think they are too expensive, but the way those coastal people raise prices is clearly to rip off customers. ”
More than one. People express such strong will. "Uh... I will try my best to convey it to them, haha."
Liszt could only respond vaguely.
But he knew in his heart that if he wanted to do business with these inland countries, he could not go around the coastal countries no matter what. Although Aldo had a land route to the interior of Cape Bay, the land transportation capacity was small and the cost was high. Secondly, there are many territories in Aldo, and it can be said that there are many checkpoints from north to south, especially when you have to pass through the territories of the two rebel families, the Giles family or the Veblen family.
In this case, I wonder if those coastal countries in the Bay will impose heavy taxes on Todd Shipping Company, an inland pioneer in the Bay, to set an example. After all, these countries can prosper by relying on middlemen. identity.
However, the good news is that Aldo (Northwest Bay)'s commercial ability has already made a name for itself in the Cape Bay area, and even Collins, who is located inland, knows about it.
After all, Earl Bridges's banquet was not held for Liszt. Everyone quickly formed small circles in twos and threes and went off to play their own things.
Liszt tried to join the conversations in some small circles, but he soon found that he and the different classes of these nobles formed a natural barrier. Sometimes someone would tell a joke and make the people around him laugh. He laughed, but he didn't know where the laughter was from the beginning to the end.
Due to the development of commerce in the coastal countries of the Horn, Liszt could still cope with the deeper integration between the nobles and the wealthy civilians, but the nobles in these inland countries obviously still formed their own small societies, and he could not adapt.
In order to avoid embarrassment, he had no choice but to shuttle between various delicacies with a wine glass.
Exquisite food, silver utensils, and mellow wine all show that the quality of life of the nobles here is no different from that of the upper class along the coast.
Although due to geographical reasons, the economy here is not as developed as along the coast, it has not affected the sensuality of the ruling class at all.
Soon he found someone who was somewhat similar to him.
A young man, tall and thin, with curly brown hair, dressed very plainly compared with the well-dressed guests, was sitting alone at the dining table, out of tune with the surrounding environment.
His eyes were staring into the distance, with an anxious look in his eyes.
Liszt guessed, was he spying on the opposite sex he liked?
A poor young man entered the upper class by chance, met an aristocratic girl and fell in love with her. However, the huge gap in identity between the two parties forced him to guard her silently from a distance - Liszt Moment I made up a series of common novel plots in my mind.
He couldn't help but follow the other person's gaze, but he only saw a group of old men talking.
Okay, it looks like I guessed wrong.
"Hey! Hello, my name is Friedrich List, let me meet you."
Because they were all incompatible, he inexplicably wanted to make friends, so he walked over greet.
"Uh, hello...ah, you are the guest from Aldo just now. Nice to meet you. My name is Cable."
The young man obviously had something on his mind and answered. Somewhat absent-minded.
He realized something was wrong and took the initiative to explain: "I'm sorry, Mr. Liszt. I'm in a mess right now, so..."
Liszt waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, what's bothering you? Talk to me, maybe I can give you some advice."
"This..."
The young man pondered for a while, and finally said it.
"Well, this kind of thing makes me feel uncomfortable, so I will tell you. Maybe you, a foreigner, can understand the injustice I feel."
"Injustice?" Liszt frowned. It seemed that the matter was not simple, but what did this have to do with his status as a foreigner?
Just listen to Cable continue:
"Specifically, it is the injustice done to my mother. She...she was accused of being a witch."
Witch?
Liszt’s frown deepened. At this sensitive time, it was a fatal word.
But at the same time, a beautiful figure also appeared in his mind.
(End of this chapter)