Chapter 131: Chapter 72: High-Stakes Trade

Su Li lavishly spent a fortune to buy these over two hundred slaves. The territory indeed expanded, but the money spent truly made his heart ache.

Just purchasing these slaves nearly drained his small treasury, consuming a total of 4,192 Golden Crowns!

Handing over so many Golden Crowns to the caravan, the treasury in Su Li’s castle immediately sounded emptily.

The remaining small pile of Gold Coins was even less than the height of an hourglass.

Even so, it benefited from the addition of the Half-Elf Race, whose purchase of land provided him with a great deal of wealth.

Otherwise, his little Pioneer Territory could never have produced so many Golden Crowns.

Buying over two hundred slaves at once, including about one-fifth who were Transcendents, was a significant expense even for a prosperous Count’s Territory, a sensational event to buy so many in one year within the territory.

However, merely buying slaves was far from enough to solve the current crisis of the territory. As a Pioneer Territory, resources were scarce, livelihood was difficult, and everything was in need of rejuvenation, requiring purchases from the Merchant Association to satisfy all territorial needs.

The Merchant Association also brought a large amount of resources, not just to supplement general store demands but also including more than a thousand pieces of pottery, such as pots, bowls, basins, pitchers, and cups.

These were all urgently needed in the territory, whether in dairy farming, cheese production, or all aspects of handicraft production and household life required these items.

Su Li was here to develop the territory, not to live in the wild. Thus, there was no need to detach from the Empire society and construct everything from scratch when he could directly buy mature goods.

Given the current limited manpower in the territory, it’s imperative to prioritize developing those industries essential to the territory and high-profit industries.

Once they’ve found their footing, they could slowly spread out, addressing all aspects.

The most taboo thing in territorial development is to aim too high. Trying to do everything at once will only choke you.

Additionally, the caravan sold some high-grade goods that the territory currently couldn’t produce, including twenty sets of exquisite porcelain, two hundred exquisite carpets, three hundred bolts of cloth, over five hundred pairs of shoes, and two thousand pounds of salt!

Su Li urgently needed to buy these items; salt and cloth were indispensable in his territory.

And these things could not be quickly produced and were very labor-intensive; producing them independently would waste a lot of manpower.

With only about a thousand slaves, even opening up farmland wasn’t enough. Farming was the top priority, ensuring enough food supply to keep the people alive before thinking about living well.

If relying solely on ordinary serfs to create wealth, even if Su Li was eager for the items brought by the caravan, they would remain out of reach.

But thankfully, this magical world always had some mysterious items that could bring significant earnings to Su Li.

First was the “Anti-Cold Necklace” sold to Su Li by the Beautiful Witch, which the West Merchant Association had an unusually intense interest in.

Su Li thought such a small talisman-like item would be good if it could earn the territory 2 Golden Crowns.

Unexpectedly, the people from the West High Merchant were willing to spend 20 Golden Crowns to buy it, and if Su Li was willing to sign an exclusive agreement with them, the price could be negotiated, reaching 25 Gold Coins with no problem.

This price shocked Minister of the Seal Lauren negotiating with them so much that Lauren deliberately interrupted the negotiation process to return to the castle and consult Su Li.

Because the profit from this item already surpassed the fine heavy armor of the dwarves!

West High Merchant Association knew well that the specialty of the Hesse Territory was dwarf heavy armor, and this item was challenging to sell, so they pressed the price down, only willing to offer 23 Golden Crowns.

But for such a small Anti-Cold Necklace, they were willing to offer 25 Golden Crowns.

This left Lauren and Su Li utterly baffled about the value of goods.

How could such a small trinket sell for such a high price equivalent to a set of dwarf heavy armor?

The value of the Witch’s Hut was rapidly rising!

Every cycle, this little thing could be sold to the territory by the Witch’s Hut.

Su Li initially thought the witch hut could bring in one hundred Golden Crowns a year to the territory; now, it seemed she could bring in one hundred Golden Crowns a month to the territory.

Through analysis by Lauren and Su Li, the two speculated that this seemingly useless witchcraft trinket might have some luxury goods attributes.

West Highlands was located north of the Empire’s hinterland, and the plateau terrain caused their climate to be relatively cold.

So, in the autumn and winter seasons, local people had to wear thick cotton and leather coats and woolen overcoats.

But when everyone else wore bulky, pungent wool overcoats, a noble wearing this “Anti-Cold Necklace,” just in a luxurious robe or cloak, wouldn’t the elegant and noble demeanor make them stand out immediately?

Nobles are willing to spend a fortune to flaunt and compare. If this Anti-Cold Necklace was smoothly brought back to the West Highlands by the merchant association, the profit margin could reach 400% or even 500%.

Though merely analysis and speculation, Su Li and Lauren both believed it was likely very close to the truth.

So after receiving instructions from Su Li, Lauren returned to negotiate and raised the price to 30 Golden Crowns.

However, the West Merchant Association was only willing to pay a maximum of 25 Golden Crowns. After a fierce contest, both parties took a step back, but they couldn’t agree on 28 Golden Crowns.

Because of this, the agreement reached a stalemate, and on the first day, both parties only managed to finalize a trade catalog covering weapons, enchanted arrows, potions, and gold.

Hesse Territory sold 200 fine-level weapons to the association for 800 Golden Crowns.

These weapons were all re-forged and tempered by the dwarves.

The fragility of weapons exceeds most people’s imagination. Swords, long lances, and battle halberds all experience varying degrees of damage during fierce battles, especially when hacking and piercing heavy armor. Weapons easily develop nicks, chips, and breakages.

The last battle between the territory and the Broken Toe Tribe was intense, with over 800 people involved, resulting in many casualties.

Thus, the dwarves prioritized remelting the chipped and damaged equipment, as the territory’s armory had many dwarven weapons.

The knights and armed attendants in the territory are currently replacing their regular and fine-level equipment.

Due to the shortage of dwarven heavy armor and the price suppression by the West Merchant Association, Su Li did not sell externally.

However, under Lauren’s negotiation, these weapons sold at a very good price, varying from 3 to 6 Gold Coins depending on the type.

Even the fine dwarven weapons are consumables on the battlefield during large-scale conflicts.

The idea of using a weapon until death is something only wandering knights would entertain.

A qualified lord, a powerful knight clan, will inevitably stockpile fine weapons in the armory and arsenal.

Dwarven weapons are the most sought-after products on the continent. Su Li benefits from the geographic advantage in the northeast of the Border Prince’s Territory, where there are many mountain dwarves in the Gray Mountain Range, resulting in a large stock of fine dwarven weapons in the armory.

This is something Hesse Territory does not lack, and they sell very well within the Empire, so the West Merchant Association did not haggle over prices. They offered the high price of an average of 4 Golden Crowns per weapon.

This is their bulk purchase price, and they will take them back to the Empire for distribution and sale, where the price cannot exceed 10 Golden Crowns. A purchase price of 4 Golden Crowns is not low.

The other type of weapon they purchased is the explosive arrows made in the territory, crafted as refined-level rune weapons using the venom of the Anaric giant spider and two-legged flying dragon.

The Rune Master in the territory used the last bit of Vibranium to produce 150 arrows.

This item is especially favored by the elves and followers of the Fiery Sun Goddess, and members of the Flame Sun Knight Order use bows and arrows.

Flying Horse Knight Fastrick managed to coax 50 arrows from Su Li, and he pledged to reward Su Li by hunting a shapely, long-legged, buxom dark elf maiden in return for his generosity.

Dark elves are known as the cousins of high elves and forest elves, famous for their evil, cruelty, and lewdness. It’s said their bedroom skills can even seduce the most steadfast Holy Knights.

Su Li couldn’t withstand the temptation and agreed to Fastrick’s request. Knights value their vows, and before completing this vow, they won’t leave the territory, thus firmly binding him to Hesse Territory.

Su Li initially did not plan to sell the remaining 100 arrows, but Master Kote’s high bid of 5 Golden Crowns per arrow was irresistible. One such rune arrow is equivalent to a year’s output for five farmers.

Golden Crowns are almost enough to buy half a set of Vibranium Rune Armor!

Thus, when Master Kote presented Su Li with an elven quiver as a gift, Su Li could no longer refuse.

[Quiver of the Nameless], it is said to be equipment used by a forest elf prince, blessed by forest elves, allowing endless storage of arrows inside.

If used for trading or transportation, the arrows inside can never be retrieved.

However, used in battle to slay enemies, once aimed at them, after shooting one arrow, another appears, continuing until all stored arrows are gone.

The original intent behind the forest elf blessing was the hope that elves would use this quiver to protect the forest rather than engage in despicable trading. Now this quiver has become part of Su Li’s collection, and it was gifted to Fastrick, successfully convincing the Flying Horse Knight to stay in the territory. He spent 10 Golden Crowns that very night to buy a new house in Hesse Town as his future home.

Plus, with the transactions of potions and gold, Su Li earned 1731 Gold Coins from the association on the first day.

Of course, these 1731 Gold Coins didn’t stay with him for long; 427 Gold Coins went back to the association.

Since Su Li purchased a large amount of essential items from them.

In general, upon settling the transactions of the first day, both parties were very satisfied, each obtaining what they wanted.

Although some details remain unresolved, Su Li is not anxious. The association will stay in the territory for over a month, providing ample time to negotiate and finalize further deals, amassing considerable wealth from them.

That night, Lauren reported to Su Li that the brothels and taverns were packed, with generous spending visitors earning the territory over 40 Golden Crowns, with average spending exceeding 20 Silver Coins per person—a substantial figure equivalent to a month’s wages for a regular guard, also indicative of their trip’s generous bonuses.

Lauren had already urgently dispatched two ogre construction crews to work overnight, constructing a new brothel and two taverns in Hesse Town.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep