The Knight's Journey to the Empire

Beibao Changfeng Salt Field is the largest, oldest and highest-producing salt field in the entire Kingdom of Midburg!

Beibao Changfeng Salt Field is located in a C-shaped bay four kilometers north of Haiou Castle. It is an exclusive property of the Earl of Katis family!

The sand salt produced from the Beibao Changfeng Salt Field every year can be sold throughout the Kingdom of Midburg through the connections of the Earl of Katis's family!

It is even exported abroad through the port of Ganise!

The sea salt business of Count Katis's family accounts for nearly half of the salt production and sales in the Kingdom of Midburg!

So you can imagine how rich this family is with the gold coins they earned!

Of course, the Beibao Changfeng Salt Field mainly produces sand salt, and its consumers are mainly civilians at the bottom of society and some servants serving the minor nobles.

As for the salt resources needed by wealthy civilians and real nobles, with the quality of sea salt that the Beibao Changfeng Salt Farm can currently produce, they cannot get a share of this market!

But now, Soran's innovative sea salt refining and purification process can purify sand salt quality sea salt to the level of fine salt!

Even further, sea salt can be refined and purified to the quality of refined salt!

Moreover, Sauron’s protection of this technology was very strict. They had no way to start, let alone know the truth!

So in this case, the Countess of Katis said that she was just curious and wanted to ask?

How could Soran believe such talk?

"I'm sorry! Lord Earl, this is a secret of my territory! So I don't want to talk about it too much! Please forgive me!" After hesitating for a while, Sauron figured out the key point.

So he directly rejected Countess Katis's question and did not reveal any information to her!

Countess Katis was not angry when she saw this, because this was within her expectations.

So she said with understanding: "Haha! It doesn't matter, Baron Soran! Since it is a secret of your territory, it doesn't matter if you don't tell it!"

"Thank you very much for your understanding, Lord Earl!" Soran thanked him politely.

He was really afraid that the Countess of Curtis would use her power to "force a confession."

After all, with the strength of this Countess, if she really wanted to "force a confession", I wouldn't be able to resist, right?

then……

Then the two of them fell into a silent silence, as if the warmth and familiarity just now were no longer there!

The two seemed to have a tacit understanding, and both took a sip of warm tea with a little embarrassment to cover up their embarrassment!

……

Soon, it was Countess Katis who spoke first and broke the silence:

"Baron Soran, I heard that you are in a relationship with Viscount Ayudukai's daughter, Miss Vivian, recently?"

"Ah?" Soran was shocked!

Unexpectedly, this news was also heard by Countess Katis!

This made Soran feel even more embarrassed!

But think about it, maybe Countess Curtis knew that I had innovated the process of refining and purifying sea salt and planned to invite me to Seagull Castle to discuss cooperation!

It is possible that he has already found out all the information about himself!

For example, the student life at Donbass College, the family life in Connahte, the honorary awards in the Western War, the construction and development of White Bear Territory, etc.

Soran believed that the Earl had this ability!

"Actually not! Lord Earl, Miss Vivian and I are just confidants of each other! I treat her like my own sister! I don't have any improper thoughts!" Soran said somewhat angrily.

"Oh? Really?" Countess Katis obviously didn't believe Soran's explanation.

"Yes!" Although saying this might make him look like a scumbag, Sauron still admitted it!

Because now, he really doesn't have any improper thoughts about little girls like Vivian.

What's more, he met this elegant, noble and charming Countess today!

In fact, if you think about it carefully, Soran feels that the main reason he has such thoughts is because he is "old"!

In this life, Soran's soul was transported to the Knight Continent!

If the age of the previous life is added, then the current soul age is over 40 years old!

Soran is not a pedophile pervert!

How could a forty-year-old man like an eighteen-year-old young girl?

And to be honest, Soran felt that mature women like Countess Katis were more charming, with skin so plump that it seemed like water could be squeezed out of it!

It's really addictive!

"Haha! If Miss Vivian heard what Baron Soran said, she would be sad for a long time!" Countess Katis covered her lips with her hand and said in a teasing tone.

Soran didn't dare to reply after hearing this, and could only continue to drink tea to hide his embarrassment!

Seeing this, Countess Katis did not continue to dwell on this topic.

So she got straight to the point and said, "Baron Soran, the reason I invited you to visit Seagull Castle today is mainly to see if there is any opportunity for cooperation between us!"

"You also know that the main business of my Earl Katis family is the production and sales of sea salt! However, due to the lack of technical support for refining and purification, the sea salt business has not made any major breakthroughs!"

"So if we can cooperate, we can definitely earn more gold coins! I just don't know if you are willing to cooperate?"

At this point, Soran already knew that he could not avoid this topic!

Because this is a matter that concerns one’s own interests!

Moreover, at present, White Bear Leader’s snowflake sea salt business has actually reached a bottleneck period!

The business of Snowflake Sea Salt can radiate to the entire Ganise County. This is not the limit of Snowflake Sea Salt, but the limit of White Bear Territory!

This is mainly due to the shortcomings of Sauron’s own influence and various sales channels!

So he also has some desire to reach cooperation between the two parties!

After all, as a large noble family, the Earl of Katis's family possesses channels and connections that are definitely beyond the reach of a newly promoted baron like himself!

Soran quickly adjusted his state, looked directly into the eyes of Countess Katis, and said in a very calm tone:

"Then may I ask, Lord Earl, if I agree to cooperate, how will we cooperate?"

Countess Katis saw that Soran was able to quickly adjust his state and was no longer as shy as before, and she nodded slightly!

Because it can be seen from this that Sauron's self-discipline and self-control are still very good!

"It's very simple! Baron Soran, I will give you two choices!" Countess Katis had obviously thought about these two options long ago, so she said it without hesitation:

"First, I will directly use a large amount of gold coins to buy the process of refining and purifying sea salt;"

"Second, will you contribute the sea salt refining and purification process and participate in the final profit sharing?"

Just as Soran expected, these are the two methods!

"What if I sell the sea salt refining and purification process directly to you? How many gold coins will the Earl give me?" Soran asked with some anticipation!

Countess Katis looked at Soran's expression, thought about it seriously, and then said firmly: "800,000 gold coins!"

"What? Eight hundred thousand gold coins?" Soran exclaimed, but then frowned again.

"Why, Baron Sauron thinks it's not enough?" Countess Katis also frowned!

Because she felt that Soran was a little greedy!

Eight hundred thousand gold coins is indeed a lot!

This is close to one-tenth of the wealth of Count Curtis's family!

If it weren’t for the current sea salt business of the Count of Curtis’ family, it would be facing an extreme dilemma in market competition!

Moreover, this sea salt refining and purification process has brought a qualitative improvement to the sea salt business of the Count Curtis family!

Otherwise, Countess Katis wouldn't be so generous!

Of course, there is another important reason, that is, the current Earl of Curtis family is actually dead in name only!

She is the only one left!

That's why she has such great power to directly use large sums of gold coins to purchase this special craft!

From this, we can also see how courageous the Countess of Katis is!

Countess Katis frowned!

This was the first time that Soran saw any expression other than a smile on her pretty face after meeting her for so long!

This made Sauron feel a little pity!

So he quickly explained: "My Lord Earl, I don't mean to complain about the small amount, but I am shocked by the process of refining and purifying sea salt. It is so valuable!"

Of course, that’s all!

It is impossible to make Sauron back down and ask for less gold coins!

Because Sauron knew very well that no matter whether it was a person or a gold coin, only what he received in his arms was his!

Otherwise, everything is just flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water!

Therefore, Sauron should still do his best to fight for his own interests!

And eight hundred thousand gold coins is indeed a huge amount of wealth!

The snowflake sea salt business that Bai Xiong Ling is currently running has reached a bottleneck period!

And with White Bear Leader’s influence, if he wants to develop further in the future, it will be difficult to make progress unless there is some great opportunity!

Nowadays, White Bear’s monthly profit from Snowflake Sea Salt is only about 10,000 gold coins!

In other words, if Soran wants to earn these 800,000 gold coins, it will take at least 80 months, or six and a half years!

Moreover, this is the case when the snowflake sea salt business is not under any suppression, so there is such a huge profit to be made!

Soran had every reason to believe that if he rejected Countess Katis's proposal for cooperation today, she would immediately use all her connections to severely suppress his snowflake sea salt business!

Because the sea salt business in Ganise County has always been the vested interest and delicacy of the Count of Curtis's family!

Now I want to take food from other people's bowls, and without their consent!

How is this possible!

Besides, if I can’t get it, no one else can get it!

This is what most people think!

Of course, the most important thing is that Sauron’s current strength and power are not strong enough!

That's why it's so passive!

However, if Sauron could obtain these 800,000 gold coins, his territory would receive a large amount of capital injection!

By then, the development and construction of the White Bear Territory will surely achieve an extraordinary speed of development, and its own strength and influence will also be enhanced rapidly!

The most important thing is that in Sauron's mind, there are more businesses that can make big money than just refining and purifying sea salt!

"If I choose to contribute the process of refining and purifying sea salt, how much profit share can I get?" Sauron continued to ask!

"One and a half percent!" Countess Katis said with a smile.

"So little?" Soran was a little unbelievable!

"One and a half percent is not a small amount! This is already a lot!" Countess Katis said with emotion:

"Baron Soran, you have to know! After you contributed the process of refining and purifying sea salt, the work of drying, refining, selling and promoting sea salt were all carried out by my Earl of Katis family!"

"And the connections and channels needed for this are the most valuable!"

Soran nodded in agreement. It was indeed true!

After all, no matter how good something is, it is useless if no one knows about it and there is no channel to buy it!

In the past, the fruits of farmers’ hard work rotted in the fields as fertilizer due to unsale, and were not delivered to consumers in need. Isn’t it because of the sales channels?

“Then may I ask, Lord Earl, if the snowflake sea salt business is handed over to the Earl of Katis’s family, how much profit can we make every month?” Soran continued to ask.

He believed that Countess Curtis must have done market research before inviting him as a guest!

So she is very clear about the market prospects and profit margins of snowflake sea salt!

Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to talk to me in person!

Upon hearing this, Countess Katis shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Baron Soran! This is a business secret of the Count Katis family. I can't tell you directly now!"

"But I can tell you this! The net profit will not be less than 80,000 gold coins per month!"

What?

Eighty thousand gold coins per month?

Soran didn't believe it at all!

Because currently it is just a snowflake sea salt business in Ganise County, and the monthly profit is 10,000 gold coins!

If it is promoted nationwide at that time, the monthly net profit will definitely double the base of 80,000 gold!

If it can be exported overseas, the profit will be multiplied several times!

So from this point of view, we can’t trust everything the Countess says!

"My Lord Earl, you are not honest!" Soran said with a frown.

But Countess Katis just smiled and didn't say anything or make any explanation!

Sauron realized that he couldn't get anything out of the other party, so he just sat there and started thinking!

He is really thinking seriously about the pros and cons of these two methods!

..............................

It’s not easy to write code, please give me some good comments!