Riding and Slashing

Chapter 129 A Very Difficult Goal
The business of Changhe Express has been very good since its inception.

After all, Godric's White Hart Castle and Leofric's Castle of Valor are the major shareholders of Maixiang International.Adding Charles and Ralph, these insiders have a lot of business to do.

White Hart Castle needs to transport food and ordnance, Yongshield Castle needs to transport horses and supplies for war preparations, Mai Xiangling needs to transfer food to various subordinate territories, and also needs to go to Kewen Village to transport the food gathered by those noble manors...

These are obviously the immediate initial boilerplate business.

It's just that the passenger transportation has not yet started - the existing carriages are not suitable for transporting people, so the carpenters and blacksmiths in the territory have to work together to create a box carriage.

"Teacher, why did you spend a lot of money to buy so many carriages? Is the transportation business so profitable? Why do I think it may lose money..."

Amy is most concerned about the economy. She thinks the speed at which her teacher spends money is too frightening—more than [-] dinars were thrown out within five days. quick……

Now almost all the carriages in Changhe Town have been stamped with the mark of Griffin, and all the cars running on the road are Changhe Express vehicles.

But to pay wages to more than 500 people, and to maintain nearly [-] horses, the expenditure is obviously huge-the expenditure of White Hart Castle is not so large.

This method of operation seems to be quite uneconomical in this era - a large number of carriages and horses are floating money, and the people in those convoys are not the leaders of Maixiangling, and they have not sworn allegiance.

In the eyes of the nobles of Pendor Continent, this is the behavior of a prodigal.

Because the field is the root of a lord.

One hundred thousand dinars is enough to buy [-] mu of fertile land, and even a few large manor houses—if any fool is willing to sell it.

"Amy, loss and gain cannot be measured simply by money... What kind of business do you think can allow a lord to gain a strong comprehensive strength in the shortest possible time?"

The lord just finished enjoying the pleasure of spending a lot of money, and while riding a horse, twisting a silver coin and looking around, he asked casually.

"What does comprehensive strength mean?"

Amy had never heard the word.

"It refers to the strength of a comprehensive assessment of money, food, population, technical level, and war potential.

For example, your father, as far as he is concerned, in a normal year, he can earn more than 2 dinars a year, and he can also receive about 40 pounds in grain taxes every harvest season.

There are more than 50 knights in the area of ​​White Hart Castle, and there are nearly [-] civilians in all the territories. Although the population is small, most of the border counties are young and strong.

Therefore, he can mobilize more than 1000 troops at any time now, and the equipment level and combat effectiveness of the troops are not bad.

Even if his status as chief of military affairs is excluded, as a lord, his current comprehensive strength can still rank among the top four in the entire Lion Kingdom.Apart from King Ulrik and Duke Brennus of Cliff Bay, only the Horton family of Lion Lake City should be stronger than him. "

After Li Ang finished speaking, he calculated his family fortune and shook his head: "As for my territory, the population is only a few hundred, the troops are only over 100, and the food tax is not even enough for the citizens to eat. Even if we fully mobilize, we can't gather 200 people In terms of overall strength, it is probably the last among the barons in the kingdom, and once I lose a battle, I will lose everything."

"Then you should reclaim more land and absorb the population. With your ability, you will definitely become one of the top nobles in ten or eight years!"

Amy still has confidence in her teacher's ability.

"The problem is that, using the traditional method, I have to develop slowly for many years. The population base is small and the territory is also small. No matter how rich you are, you cannot develop a strong war potential in a short period of time. But I have Too many powerful enemies..."

There was some worry in Li Ang's words.

Amy can understand that her teacher has offended many people.

The Horton family will definitely deal with him after they recover, and the Three Prophets may also make a comeback, plus the Bacchus Empire-the two governors, Agathon and others may all retaliate against him.

And Amy also knew that no matter what, she would definitely stand by Li Ang's side—the teacher saved her twice...

In Amy's view, most of Li Ang's enemies are related to his saving himself, so his troubles are also his own troubles.

But Amy also knows that only in fantasy stories, there will be a situation where a powerful enemy watches the protagonist develop slowly, but never kills the protagonist.

In the real world, who would give the enemy time to develop?In less than a year, after those enemies solve the trouble Li Ang caused them, they will start to retaliate.

Li Ang had been desperately fighting for time and space for himself before. He had offended so many people, not for Amy, but for himself. His enemies were far more than those on the surface.

And he only has half a year to a year at most.

"Amy, I must make myself as strong as the Duke within a year. So now, the criterion for measuring whether a thing is worthwhile is not whether it makes money, but whether it can achieve this goal."

Amy froze for a while before making sure that the teacher was not talking nonsense, he was serious.

However, she felt that her teacher might still be a little drifting - look, what is this talking about?

Will be equal to the Duke within a year?
Is this goal too difficult?

Which duke has not been developed through the continuous efforts of several generations for hundreds of years?
But thinking about her teacher's Maixiang Group, she felt that there was some possibility.

"So... you want to use this transportation business to achieve this goal? But this..."

Amy was a little confused. After all, she was talented. No matter how talented she was, she couldn't think of more aspects.

In fact, it is indeed possible for the transportation business to achieve such goals quickly.

Although it is true that there may be losses in the early stage-but the lord doesn't care, even if he spends all the money, he will continue to do it!

Deliberately making this kind of business bigger, how could it be just for money...

With just such a business, you can get money, food, people, and troops together.

Reality is not a game, if you can’t bring your team around the map to make money, people, and troops, then you can only let the transport team run around the map instead of you...

The problem of food is actually a problem of transportation—of course, in the final analysis, it is necessary to cultivate the land, but the effect of farming is slow, and it takes several years at every turn, and it depends on the weather.But doing a good job in transportation will pay off very quickly. As long as you have the ability to transport bulk commodities over long distances, you don't need to rely on land in the short term. When you have to rely on land, you will have enough time to develop.

As for people - this does not only refer to the population, but also to other special talents, such as technical personnel.

The place that the footprint of the Changhe Express can cover is the place that Li Ang's hand can reach, that is, the place that can recruit people.

You can recruit people all over the continent, which is much more reliable than squatting in a small Maixiang collar to get taller from the leaders.

With a transportation company with footprints all over the mainland, Li Ang can bring back more technical personnel and more advanced experience.

Some things are impossible for people who have never seen them to make directly, such as muskets and the like, and the lord can't draw blueprints—even if he can, he can't make them.

You know, in a poor place where there is no standard scale for a ruler, even if you have a precise longitudinal and section structure diagram, it is impossible for ordinary blacksmiths who have never seen these things to hand-craft things.

It is not as simple as simply doing what you want, it is a whole industrial line, starting from the standard vernier caliper...

There must be measuring tools with higher precision, qualified steel, and reliable drills, lathes, and boring stands, and finally they can be made by skilled blacksmiths.

This is a complete system, even with the help of various professionals, it will take many years to build.

In a place where there is neither industrial foundation nor industrial standards, the vast majority of people in the territory can't even read words, what to do?
The only way is to let the transport team go to the coastal commercial city to buy.Or get samples from Barkley or other technologically developed areas, and then modify them according to cats and dogs, so that it is possible to develop technical strength in a short period of time.

As for the military strength-the armed security personnel of Changhe Express, this is a ready-made army, all of them are young and experienced.

And this is an unobtrusive army. They are not in the territory, so they are not easily tabooed.

The lord of King Ulrik's train of thought has already seen it clearly—he will attack whoever has the most powerful troops... If he wants to have the strength of a duke, he will definitely be suppressed by the king.

After all, any king is eager to achieve centralization, and Ulrik is obviously paying attention to Leon-the appointment of the governor of Aire County is a warning, telling him not to form cliques and engage in liaison.

The king will worry that the lord under him is too strong or form an alliance, but if the lord is not strong enough, he will be bullied by others...

So Li Ang has developed insignificantly, and he maintains an army that fits the status of a barony on the surface, so he won't be taboo, right?

As for the company getting bigger and having more employees - that is called the legal property of the nobility and should be protected by the kingdom.

But the lord will not simply rely on a single business system, he still has a backup.

"The transportation company's business is just a premise. To achieve the goal, you need to control more rigid demands, such as grain trading. This requires your help."

The lord twirled the center of the silver coin with two fingers, blew on the silver coin in his hand, and listened to it.

The purity of the silver coins is quite high, and the buzzing sound is very pleasant.

"What can I do to help you?"

Hearing that Li Ang said that he needed his help, Amy cheered up.

She does wish she could help - she's actually kind of guilty of getting herself into trouble with a swear word last time.

Although Li Ang controlled the final result fairly well, after all, she made a big enemy because of it, and she was actually more nervous than Li Ang and Godric.

"I need your help to negotiate some food procurement business. I want to ensure that we will never be short of food in the future."

Li Ang threw the silver coin to Amy.

"This is exactly what we should do. Although we have enough food now, there is no guarantee that there will be no shortage in the future. It is right to stock up on more food."

Amy took the silver coin and nodded.

It was a Buckley silver dollar, a large silver coin weighing one ounce, and it was also a dinar, equivalent to the small gold coin in Pendor Continent.

(In the troy system, one ounce weighs about 31 grams, which is equivalent to one tael of silver in the hexadecimal period of the Chinese Dynasty.)
On the front of the silver dollar is the head of Emperor Buckley, with a circle of wheat ears on the edge, without any holes or bubbles. It seems that it has been pressed and polished again after casting, and the level of craftsmanship is quite high.

This wheat ear is probably used for anti-counterfeiting, the grain is very fine, it is difficult for ordinary small workshops to imitate on a large scale.

"It's not just for storing food, Amy... You may not understand it now, but you will soon know."

In fact, Li Ang already had quite a lot of food, which would not be used up anytime soon. Even with the hundreds of elderly people that Sir Roland was about to bring back, it would not be used up.

Most of the employees of Changhe Express will travel frequently and do not need to take care of meals.

And unless they swear allegiance to Li Ang, join Mai Xiangling, and become non-commissioned officers according to Mai Xiangling's requirements, there is no need to take care of them.

However, for future planning, the lord still intends to make the 'Griffin Grain and Oil Company' bigger and stronger.

If a lord wants to enhance his strength, he can actually have many ideas.

There are many paths to the goal, but the one that suits you best is certainly different from the ones that have been taken by the predecessors.

The one chosen by the lord is the most suitable for him.It just so happens that it also matches Amy's business talent.

The Duke of Alma is good at scheming, so he uses the way of seizing more territories to control the jurisdiction by controlling power, which is the normal way of thinking of nobles.

Earl Oden is good at fighting. He uses the army and knights to strengthen his strength, and controls the place by controlling the army. This is also a way.

And Li Ang is good at making money, so he will naturally take the commercial route and use commercial monopoly to kidnap the entire region.

If Li Ang has money, food, soldiers, and has the power to price grain in the eastern region, and monopolizes transportation...

So who could do anything to him, even if he was still a little village baron?

Unless he was assassinated, the king would not dare to touch him.

It is not necessary to have a large amount of land and farmers to be called a powerful lord, it is still possible to be a wealthy merchant lord.

After arranging the affairs of the transportation company, the lord and Amy took a convoy to Kewen Village - there are more than 20 pounds of grain waiting for him to receive.

It was the food that Kewen's nobles gathered together to give to Li Ang to express their gratitude. It would not be appropriate to send other people there. Anyway, it was all free of charge, and the lord had to come forward in person.

Of course, if you want to talk about long-term business, you must come in person.

He brought Amy here on purpose to deal with the nobles of Kewen—he wanted to negotiate all the surplus food that Kewen Village would produce in the future.

Food is a strategic material, and it is controlled by the nobles. Li Ang already knew how troublesome it was to buy food last time, so he didn't think about eating it to make him fat.

He can only take his time, first take Amy to negotiate deals with various villages and towns, and use the contract to receive all future grain output into his hands.

And their own territory also continued to open up a large number of land reclamation and planting to increase output.

Then, next season, at harvest time in the fall, see if I can make myself the largest grain merchant in the East.

The lord wants to rely on his ability to transport large quantities of grain, and try to control the grain trade in the area.

Not to control output, but to control transactions.

The business in Kewen Village went very smoothly. They have a certain relationship foundation, and with the face of Amy's parents, the nobles were very polite, and none of them refused.

Since Li Ang said that the transportation team will come to the door to undertake all the loading and delivery work, which will avoid causing trouble to the nobles, so naturally there is no need for the excess output in the noble manor to be moldy in the warehouse.

A few days later, the 30-pound grain business for the next season was settled, and the settlement was very simple, and even the accounts could be kept.

Amy's face is still good, those nobles don't care too much about her, in fact, many of the small gifts those old nobles gave her are worth a hundred and ten dinars-noble, beautiful and lively, such a girl is in the old man's eyes. Front is always welcome.

Feeling that such a deal would work, the confidence of the two people increased greatly, and they asked the convoy to deliver food and return by themselves. They planned to cross the river to the north from the bridge in Kewen Village, and try to talk to other nobles in the north along the way.

Crossing the river is actually the northern part of the kingdom, but the vicinity of the Tongtian River does not belong to the Horton family's sphere of influence, after all, it is too far away from Lion Lake City.

Although the location of any villages and towns is not marked on the map, there are actually quite a few noble manors in this area.

The Tongtian River itself is really dangerous due to the rapid water and high waves, but the fields near the river are quite fertile, especially around the gentle big lake behind Changhe Town. The area across the lake from Changhe Town was developed a lot decades ago settled by nobles.

Now, most of those places are the manors of small nobles, and they usually use boats to fish, or cross the lake to and from Changhe Town.

For Li Ang, the more food transactions that can be negotiated in advance, the better. The spirit of the contract in Pender Continent is very strong, and the nobles will not openly break the contract - because this is equivalent to breaking the oath, which is the biggest priority of the nobles. reputation.

Once the contract is broken even once, it means that the person's oath and covenant are all untrustworthy, and the king, his subordinates, and allies will abandon such a person.

As long as there is a transaction contract in hand, even if the other party is short of food in the next season, they will find a way to gather enough food to complete the transaction.

If we can negotiate deals with more large manor owners, it is indeed possible to quickly realize the goal of becoming the largest grain merchant in Changhe Town. After all, the lord's offer is very generous.

Li Ang's business idea has always been to monopolize if he can monopolize, and to get a leading position if he can't monopolize. A successful enterprise can only formulate industry rules by itself.

The two discussed how to be a reliable profiteer all the way, and gradually came to a large lakeside manor. There are at least several thousand acres of wheat fields around the manor, which have already been harvested.

"Whose manor is this? Amy, do you know?"

"I've never been here...wait..."

Amy's expression changed after only one glance, and she even pulled out her sword: "Red Brotherhood?"

The lord looked at the manor in surprise.

There is a seal in front of the manor, but the lord doesn't know what that means.

It looked like a red cross painted on the side of the stone archway at the manor gate, as if smeared with blood.

A vertical black long sword is drawn inside the cross.

"Teacher, this is the mark of the Red Brotherhood... Is this manor their stronghold? But such a large manor, it's not enough..."

(End of this chapter)