Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 325

  Chapter 325 Negotiations

  The angle of view turned back to the see-off guild, and in the ocean of the Palatine dialect, the three Veneta people who used "Sea Blue Yayin" seemed to be talking encrypted.

  Mr. Leo was obviously confused by Andre's metaphor, and he looked at Winters.

   Winters sighed and told Mr. Leo the puzzle.

   "Wonderful parable." Mr. Leo couldn't stop laughing: "The first step is to take the sheep across the river?"

   "That's right." Andrei suddenly became interested: "How did you know?"

Mr.   Leo seemed to have great enthusiasm for solving the problem: "The second step? Bring the sheep back? Well, no, the sheep will eat the turnips..."

   "Of course not." Andrei was quite proud: "The second step is the key, and it took me a long time to figure it out."

   Winters' brain was aching. He has already seen that Philip Leo has always talked about people and ghosts.

  If necessary, this Navarre firm partner can discuss with Andre about crossing the river for three days and three nights without revealing any valuable information.

   "What a mess of old men and wolves!" Winters put down his glass and told Andre bluntly: "Everyone gets what they need."

   Mr. Leo picked up his glass and took a sip.

   Now it was Andre's turn to not understand.

   "What are we missing the most right now?" Winters asked Andre.

   "Does that need to be said?" Andre replied without hesitation: "Eat."

  Because the peasants fled and led to a lot of land waste, Tiefeng County had already stood on the brink of famine.

  According to Senior Mason's calculations, if the grain rationing system is strictly implemented, Tiefeng County may barely be able to last until next summer's harvest.

   However, the massive attack of the Teltown Department was equivalent to pushing Iron Peak County down the cliff again.

  Now, Senior Mason is holding the ledger and sighing all day long. Counting the hair on the pillow has become a necessary homework for the senior every morning.

   Winters felt nothing.

   Last year, when he checked the warehouse and learned that the food might be insufficient, he was still a little anxious.

   Now that it is confirmed that there is not enough food to eat, Winters let go of his hands and feet.

  Is there not enough food in Xiaoshi Town? Allocate rations.

   Is the price of Gervodan flour still rising? Then give free bread to the poor all over the city.

  According to the current consumption rate, the grain storage in Tiefeng County will not last until next summer, not to mention this winter.

   "Originally, I was going to buy food from Baishan County." Winters looked at the golden liquid in the cup—the fermentation broth was also made from bread, which was really extravagant.

   "Buy a fart." Andre snorted: "How can we have money? Just - um, that's it."

  Mr. Leo looked at his nose and mouth, holding the wine glass, as if he heard nothing, as if it did not exist.

   "Funds can be raised." Winters blinked: "Besides, don't we still have 'that'."

  Andre thought for a while and said, "It doesn't work if you have money. We want to buy it, what if they don't sell it?"

  Winters took a sip of the fermentation broth: "They will definitely sell it."

  Andre was stunned for a while, then laughed angrily: "This...isn't it the same thing?"

   "No, blackmail and robbery are two different things in nature." Winters replied sincerely: "If you give money, it's not a robbery, but a forced buy."

   "Hi!" Andre said in a gruff voice: "What do I say! The army has not been disbanded until now, so there must be something wrong! It's okay, I have seen our strength, forgive the bald guy and don't dare to wrestle with us."

   The militia troops recruited from Central Tiefeng County and Lower Tiefeng County are currently implementing the "freedom to stay policy".

   That is: if the recruited militia wants to go home, they can get a piece of dry food to register to leave; if they don't want to leave, they can stay in the military camp and have a piece of ration to eat.

   There are quite a few militiamen who choose to stay in the barracks temporarily, such as Monkey and Doug.

   Winters' eyes dimmed a little, and he didn't intend to explain too much.

   On the side, Mr. Leo took the initiative to say: "In my opinion, many militiamen in your army are homeless."

   "So what?" Andre raised his eyebrows.

   "Young and middle-aged men with no family, no property, no food, and have seen the battlefield." Mr. Leo shrugged: "Forcibly drive them away, I'm afraid something big will happen."

  Andre sneered and looked straight at Mr. Leo: "You said you've settled, what's your business here?"

   "Me?" Mr. Leo replied with a smile: "I am a sheep—or a cabbage."

   "Okay." Winters didn't want to see Andre be led away by Mr. Leo again, so he explained it to Andre directly.

  The matter is actually not complicated. There are currently four players at the table:

   First is Tiefeng County, Tiefeng County holds horses and desperately needs food;

  The second is the Veneta woolen textile merchants represented by Mr. Leo, who have money and are in urgent need of wool and a trade route to transport wool;

   Once again, it is the Veneta Army. The amount of funds of the Veneta Army is unknown, but it can provide food and needs war horses;

   In the end, it was the territorial officials of Palatu. They had everything, but they would not take it out for nothing.

   Winters' original plan was to raise funds and force food purchases. If necessary, horses are exchanged for food. There were so many horses seized that they could not afford to keep them anyway.

Mr.   Leo felt that the project was too slow to turn around and was a one-shot deal to continue importing grain for Iron Peak.

  Leo offered Winters an imaginative solution—stepped transportation.

   In the past, Leo was actively involved in the traditional business of Veneta and Palato: the mule and horse trade.

   is the so-called "East comes from oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and sugar, and from the west comes cattle, horses, mules, and sheep". Horse dealers know that a herd of horses cannot travel directly from the high-altitude Palato to the low-altitude Veneta.

  If the horses are transported directly to Veneta by boat, the horses will suffer from severe loss of fat in mild cases, or die of illness in severe cases.

   Therefore, the commonly used method is to set up a series of horse farms along the trend of decreasing altitude, and drive the horses all the way down the plateau like descending stairs.

   First, let the horse gradually adapt to the air and environment of the lowland, and secondly, gradually change the feed to the horse.

   It's just that, it means "there are always some horses in transit" that can't be sold.

  It's nothing to pony dealers, because pony dealers sell a bunch of horses at a time, all in one go.

   But for the big mule and horse dealers, "there are always some horses in the process of transportation" means "there is always a part of the funds occupied", resulting in a greatly compressed cash flow.

   Over time, the well-funded mule and horse merchants simply stopped buying horses from the higher-altitude western part of Palatu, but bought horses directly from the lower-altitude eastern part of Palatu.

  Although the price is more expensive, it saves a lot of transportation time and the funds are returned faster.

  Individual mule and horse merchants with hands and eyes can even buy horses directly from the military horse farm in Palatu and even the garrison.

   The horse farms that sell the horses get the money, and then they buy horses from the west at a low price to make up the stock, and easily earn the difference.

  These information are only the tip of the iceberg of the inside story of the "Plateau-Vinetta" horse trading business. It is not a secret to the insider, but to the uninitiated it is like a big mountain.

   Without Mr. Leo's explanation, Winters would never have imagined that someone would be so daring and dare to smuggle military horses.

   The information that shocked Winters is still to come. According to Mr. Leo, most of the warhorses of the Veneta Army were bought like this.

   Finally, Mr. Leo asked Winters to ask Antonio a few questions: "How many horses does the Veneta Army need? How do you want to buy them? What are you willing to provide?"

  Antonio's tent.

  Leo didn't know the number "three thousand", but Winters did.

So the answer Winters got was: "Three thousand horses is a figure that takes into account the long-distance and short-term transport losses of horses. The more warhorses that Iron Peak can provide, the better, but the minimum amount of one transaction should be able to Arm two squadrons—that's four hundred horses."

   As for what the Veneta Army can put on the balance: "In terms of money, the annual budget of the Army and Navy is shrinking (Antonio sighs deeply). If it is food... Maybe another account can be taken."

   Mr. Leo's guest room.

   "The food is not good." Leo slapped the table heavily, becoming a little excited, and his fat face flushed red: "Food is not something that can be transported long distances, unless it is by water! What is the use of food? Ordnance! Ordnance is almost the same!"

   Then, Leo gave Winters a set of formulas that merchants used to estimate shipping costs.

   There is a sentence "Three hundred miles to transport food, cry and go home".

The meaning of    is "for grain trafficked by land, every 150 kilometers traveled, the freight will be equal to the grain itself. The grain traffickers have lost their money and went home crying."

  This is a lesson from the blood and tears of the traders - food cannot be traded over long distances, except by water.

   "You go and ask General Serbiati." Leo pondered: "Can you bring out the ordnance? How about the price?"

  Antonio's tent.

   "Arms?" Antonio looked at Winters and pondered: "No."

   Mr. Leo's guest room.

   "No?" Leo sneered: "Then there is no talk. You tell General Serbiatti that without armament, there is no war horse!"

"Wait first." Winters stopped Mr. Leo, who was in the play, and asked with a frown, "Every time you want me to be a microphone? Well, how about you negotiate with General Serbia on behalf of me? "

  Mr. Leo was suddenly discouraged and shook his head vigorously: "No, no, if I come forward, it will not be a negotiation, and there will be no negotiation. Only when you come forward can you sit in an equal position."

  Antonio's tent.

   "Cough cough." Winters took courage and looked directly at his adoptive father: "Without armament! There is no warhorse! Go back and take it for my auntie."

   Mr. Leo's guest room.

   "Half food." Winters told Leo: "Half ordnance, no room for negotiation."

  Leo paced, scratching his cheek with his right hand unconsciously. Even though it was winter, he was sweating profusely: "Mixed in half? It's not impossible, but the food has to be discounted!"

  Antonio's tent.

"You may not know that for every 150 kilometers of grain, the freight is more expensive than the grain." Winters took out his notebook and earnestly settled the account for his adoptive father: "If the grain is not discounted, I will be at a loss. "

  Antonio couldn't help but reached out and knocked on Winters' forehead.

   Winters was stunned, because no one had done such an intimate gesture to him for a long time.

"You, silly boy!" Antonio didn't notice Winters' mood swings, and was a little bit resentful: "Mr. Leo is Madam Navarre's partner, not your partner! You haven't given the He's become a son-in-law!"

   "Oh?" Winters didn't come back to his senses: "Huh?!"

Antonio pointed out: "You think Mr. Leo is your person, but in fact he is also a negotiator. The carriage is fully loaded, will it go back empty? Let him stop hiding behind you and talk about it. Bar."

Winters dawdled out of the tent and walked to the curtain. Just as he was about to lift the curtain, he stopped. He looked back at his adoptive father and asked awkwardly, "Mrs. Navarre...what's your attitude... What do you think of Anna..."

  Antonio's movements stopped, his smile was very complicated, mixed with the relief of "I will finally bow the cabbage" and the blame of "how to beat the cabbage".

  Antonio put down the cup and sighed: "What do I think? What else can I look at? Do you know how much trouble you have gotten into?"

   Winters stood dejectedly.

   Note that things like free love are generally a concoction of married life.

  From noble families to artisans and farmers, marriage has always been a contract of property, status and power, not the end of love.

   "abducted" an unmarried woman of school age—to be precise, two women. The nature is too bad, enough for the two families to forge a blood feud that lasted for several generations or even a dozen generations, even "refilling the ticket" is useless.

   Madame Navarre might even send the killer outright to kill Winters—a proud tradition in Veneta.

   And Winters would never say "Anna did it herself, not me kidnapping her".

"Kesha went to apologize to Mrs. Navarre herself." Antonio sighed again: "You may not know, the two of them haven't seen each other for almost 20 years... Hey, this is all about us. It's an old thing of the generation, so let's not mention it.”

   Winters didn't know what to say.

"This kind of thing, for a man, may become a love affair that can be boasted for a lifetime. For a woman's reputation, it is a devastating blow." Antonio reached out his hand to heat the fire, not looking directly at it. Winters: "So, what do you think?"

   "Now please go to Navarre's house to propose marriage." Winters asked bitterly: "Is it too late?"

  Antonio glared at his son: "That would have to be agreed."

   Winters was startled, because he was aware of the second meaning of his adoptive father: "You mean, this matter ... there is still room for relaxation?"

  Antonio fiddled with the fire: "Nominally, both Miss Navarre and Miss Catherine are currently serving as apprentice nuns at the Blue Mountains Convent."

   For a split second, Winters just wanted to shout three hoorays for Madame Navarre.

   "But I'm afraid it won't be too long." Antonio sighed heavily: "You still have to talk to Mr. Leo about this matter. His presence here means that he has full authority to represent Madame Navarre."

   "But..." Winters said hesitantly, "Mr. Leo didn't mention anything about Anna."

  Antonio half-smiled: "He didn't take the initiative to mention it, so this matter doesn't exist? Have you ever thought that maybe he's waiting for you to speak?"

   Winters was at a loss for words.

   He would rather jump naked into the icy water than face this kind of troublesome and incomprehensible trouble.

  Thinking about it, Winters felt that he still used the easiest way. He carefully sat next to his adoptive father: "You said... What should I do?"

  Antonio gave a strange answer: "It depends on you, and Ms. Navarre."

   "I don't understand." Winters wondered.

"In the final analysis, this is a matter between you and Ms. Navarre." Antonio's face showed a nostalgic smile: "If you are determined to combine, how the process, the result, and how others see it will be irrelevant. important."

  Antonio patted his son on the shoulder: "In contrast, I'm more worried that the two of you will eventually get tired of seeing each other, and lovers will become enemies. You know, married life is not always so happy."

   Winters' cheeks were hot, and he retorted: "Aren't you and Auntie very happy?"

   "Silly boy." Antonio set off the campfire and said leisurely, "That only shows that you don't know how much sacrifice we made."

[Heavy! new! Certainly! righteous! Of! technique! ]

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   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end