Chapter 25 First Arrival in Weissenburg
The port of Weissenburg is different from other places. The moat is like a centipede surrounding the city, the river is the trunk, and piers that can accommodate two boats are dug on both sides of the river bank. , like legs on both sides of the torso, and colorful flags to distinguish areas are hung on the riverside.
Boats sail directly from the Swabian Rezat River into the moat. At this time, you will see a huge wooden sign like a city wall on the riverside. The words half a person high on it tell you what goods go to which area. unloading at the port.
A cargo ship loaded with chickpeas and salt is about to dock at a dock in the blue area, and the three passengers on board are also preparing to disembark.
Armand, who came from the Kingdom of Gaul, said to his two followers: "Now the Wesson Territory is only headed by the eight-year-old Baron Friedrich von Wesson. There should be chaos in the territory. You must Be careful, don’t be afraid of trouble, and don’t cause trouble.”
The fat red-haired man and the short blond man behind him immediately agreed.
The cargo ship quickly docked at the dock, and the planks for disembarkation had just been laid. Immediately, tax officials boarded the ship to inspect the goods. The intermediary brother, known as the "Ninety-Eight People", led the foreman of the dock workers. The captain was waiting on the shore to disembark and discuss business.
Armand was not in a hurry to get off the ship. He followed the cargo owner and the captain to see how the taxes were here.
This is the first time for the cargo owner to do business here in Weissenburg. He has a few silver coins ready in his pocket. If necessary, he can do a trick and the silver coins will appear in the tax official's pocket.
As long as the tax officials count less goods and share the saved tax, the owner of the goods will make a profit.
When the tax official got on the ship, he saw that there were only chickpeas and salt. He took out a piece of parchment from his bag and handed it to the cargo owner. He said with a smile: "Wesen now claims that all the grain, salt and oil entering the customs are tax-free. You just need to Just go through the process.”
The cargo owner had a bright smile on his face. The tax exemption was not a small amount, so he filled out the form immediately.
The agent brother off the boat knew what the boat was carrying when he saw the tax official's gestures when he got off the boat. By the time he got on the boat, he had already taken out several orders from his wallet.
Armand and the cargo owner were studying the list, which showed the price at which the Weisenberg local chamber of commerce purchased chickpeas, as well as warehouse rent and handling fees. Even the 2% commission from the agent was clearly marked.
Table salt is simple, exclusively sold by the Wesson family.
The prices of bulk commodities are all determined by internal negotiations within the local chamber of commerce. They are all the same price, but each chamber of commerce has its own advantages and can purchase the chamber's flagship goods at a discount.
The cargo owner was very interested in Wesson syrup and kept asking the agent. Armand was surprised that the steel ingots were so cheap, only 60% of those in the Kingdom of Gaul.
In addition, Armand also felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong at the moment.
The owner decided to purchase a batch of Wesson syrup. At this time, the agency man took out another order and said to him: "I suggest you find a mill to grind the beans into powder and then change them into syrup. This way you can get more."
"A big customer came from the south recently, and the syrup has been out of stock for the past two days. You can go to the Yelena Chamber of Commerce with me with the mill contract. I still have some face there. , you can queue up first, and when the soybean powder is ground, you will be in line, handing over the soybean powder in one hand and the syrup in the other.”
The cargo owner thought for a while that this would save the cost of renting a warehouse and moving multiple times, so he agreed.
At this time Armand coughed twice slightly.
The owner of the cargo immediately said to the intermediary brother according to the pre-arranged caliber: "This is the young master of our family, come out together this time."
The intermediary brother's eyes lit up, just now When he saw Armand, he thought the young man was an accountant, but he didn't expect him to be a big shot.
When he took another look, he realized that he had made a mistake. Although this young man was in his early twenties, plain-looking and wearing ordinary clothes, his bookish air could not be concealed upon closer inspection. same as the scholars.
"Nice to meet you!" He immediately took out a wooden sign and handed it to him with both hands, "Your Excellency, you can enjoy discounts in Wesson as long as you go to pubs and hotels with this sign."
Armand took it Looking at the wooden sign, it was the size of a palm and was polished very smooth. The words and patterns on it were all stamped with fire. The pattern on the front was a hand with a thumb extended, and on the back it read "Welcome to Wesenland, here." It feels like coming home” and there is a series of numbers in the lower right corner. The young people still don't know that Weisen's tricks are so deep that they can save money when they go out, so they happily put away the card.
Armand asked the agent: "Why is the price of the mill so low and it is kept for free for two days? Is there some hidden secret that we don't know about?"
Although he had never done business, there was a mill in his family's territory, and he was a top student who graduated from a military school and another academy. After calculating the currency exchange rate, he found that the price of the mill on the list was half the normal price.
The agent immediately shook his head nervously and denied: "No, no! There is absolutely no hidden secret!!"
"Since the time of Little Master Butler, it has been a law to clearly mark the price. If the price is not suitable, you can negotiate, but the price You will be fined a lot of money if you charge money for items that are not on the list."
Arman was shocked, and his view of Frederick changed a little, thinking: "Maybe there is something behind him! Master."
But that doesn't explain why the cost of milling here is so cheap.
"With the young master here, isn't it normal that our waterwheel is very powerful?" the agency man said matter-of-factly.
Bearings are no secret to the people of Weissenburg, but ordinary people's ability to express and understand is limited. After spreading it several times, everyone only knows that the young master and the scholars who came to him have made something very powerful.
Armand decided not to visit Frederick first. His intuition told him that he should look around here first.
Mills are cheap if they are cheap, and no one will have trouble with money.
Then the cargo ship began to transport the goods.
The foreman of the dock workers took a look at the goods on the ship, immediately quoted the price, and began to arrange manpower after the cargo owner agreed.
Armand and his two followers stood at the bow of the ship, watching the dock workers on the shore unloading materials from the carriage, building a human crane, and then began to unload the goods.
After a while, the cargo owner suddenly shouted to the dock worker: "Enough, enough! Don't be greedy, make two more trips, don't throw away my salt!"
His ship of salt was all packed in wine barrels, because he had heard that there was a lot of demand for wine barrels and other containers in Wesenland. Once the salt was sold out, the wine barrels could also be sold.
Now there is a cart full of salt on the carriage, and the barrels are stacked on two levels. It was not even loaded with that much when it was loaded on the ship.
If there are too many things in a cart and the horse cannot move, pulling hard may cause the goods to fall.
The driver looked back at the goods on the car and said: "It's okay, it's just a little thing, I can pull it."
The agent man said a little proudly: "Don't worry, because I have the little master, I can pull it." Our carriage pulls more things than other places!"
Armand frowned and realized what was wrong just now.
Not only is the mill here cheap, but the freight is also ridiculously cheap.
It would make sense if the carriages here could pull more things than elsewhere, but what is the secret behind the increased transportation capacity.
Armand couldn't figure it out unless he got under the car.
(End of this chapter)