Medieval: Kingdom Come: Deliverance

April 19th, a new day begins.

As the morning light pierced the forest mist, the clamor of the camp replaced the embers of yesterday's campfire. The sounds of sawing wood, chiseling axes, and shouts mingled together, creating a symphony of construction for the new camp.

Doug stood with his hands on his hips in front of the oak grove on the east side, looking like a miniature foreman. He held in his hand the "Carpentry Foreman" token that Lord Peter had personally bestowed upon him the night before—which was actually just a scratched piece of wood—and spat as he spoke to John's group of eight:

"See that? This whole grove! Today! Five trees per person!" He held up five fingers and shook them vigorously. "Thick ones! Straight ones! No crooked trees! Clear away the stumps! You hear me! If you don't finish, no dinner tonight! All your points will be deducted!"

John remained silent, his face grim. His elbow wound still throbbed, but compared to the frustration in his heart, the pain was nothing. He silently swung his axe, hacking hard at an oak tree as thick as a bowl. Wood chips flew everywhere, venting his anger. Andrei and the others, though full of complaints, could only grumble and follow along when they saw their leader had taken action.

Charlie's group of seven was diligently cutting down trees in another part of the forest to the west. They each only had 50 trees left to complete their tasks, so the pressure wasn't too great. Then Doug walked up to them, hands behind his back, and suddenly yelled, "Get to work! Haven't you eaten? You're supposed to be veterans of the camp, and you're working slower than the newbies! Five trees each, whoever doesn't finish, loses points!"

After he finished speaking, he gave a special glance to handsome Charlie.

"That bastard!"

Charlie's Seven were furious. Their physical condition was far inferior to John's gang of thugs; each of them could only manage three trees a day, let alone five! That would be suicidal!

"Doug, you can't..."

"Shut up! Use your job title when you're at work!"

"Team Leader Doug..."

"Shut up! If you have the energy to call me by my title, you should swing the axe a few more times."

"..."

The seven men were so enraged that they swung their axes with three times more force, cursing under their breath as they chopped.

Just then, Peter walked over and waved to Doug.

"Sir, you called me!"

The arrogant Doug immediately scurried over to fawn over him.

Peter ordered, "Go and fetch John the Big Mouth. I need to take him out today. Consider today's task complete."

"Yes, yes, sir, please go inside and rest. It's too messy here. I'll go and fetch John right away and bring him over to you."

Doug said respectfully.

"Hmm." Peter patted Doug on the shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Well done. Keep up the good work and try to build another Viking longhouse and a food storage room within three days."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely finish it on time."

Doug nodded repeatedly and respectfully saw Peter off.

When handsome Charlie and the others saw Peter appear, they wanted to take the opportunity to complain and accuse Doug of abusing his power and increasing his workload. However, before they could get close, Doug sent Peter away.

"What a cunning little dog!"

"He shouldn't be called Doug, he should be called Fox!"

Everyone cursed under their breath, but Doug didn't care at all. He ran to find John the Big Mouth and took him to Peter's cabin.

"Lord Peter, you wanted to see me?"

John the Big Mouth was soaked in sweat, with sweat stains still visible on his forehead.

"Yes, some business issues require your business acumen."

Peter asked John to sit down and poured him a beer in a wooden cup.

"Business acumen? Sir, you've got it wrong. I'm just a rude highway robber; I have no business sense whatsoever."

John the Big Mouth held his beer, looking conflicted, unsure whether to drink it or not. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to tell the truth.

"Yes, that's right. I want to take advantage of your abilities in 'that area'."

Peter gestured for the thirsty John to drink his beer, then raised an eyebrow and said...

"In which aspect?"

Seeing Peter's friendly attitude, John the Big Mouth didn't stand on ceremony and gulped down his beer, letting out a hearty sigh, but he was still puzzled.

"For example, you should have a lot of experience with which roads have the most frequent business travelers, and which areas are easiest to stop them in, right?"

Peter had no choice but to speak frankly.

"Um, sir, didn't you say that robbing merchants on the highway is our sin? Why are you asking this?"

John the Big Mouth was speechless. So this was what they wanted to talk to him about. He was indeed experienced, but could he really do this?

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to rob merchants; I just want to have a fair trade with them."

Peter quickly corrected the other person's thinking.

The main reason is that as the camp's population increases and various projects develop, the need for funds grows. Peter can't sustain himself for long with the money he seizes from the bandit camp. He needs to find new sources of income.

After a night of deliberation, and discussions with Romeo, Bodina, and Pavlina, we decided to launch four of the easiest-to-make medicines—chamomile potion, calendula potion, hemostatic potion, and blood-activating potion—as our flagship products to see how they perform in the market.

Currently, the prices of medicines on the market are very expensive. A bottle of chamomile medicine costs 10 groshins, calendula medicine costs 15 groshins, hemostatic medicine costs 8 groshins, and blood-activating medicine costs 12 groshins.

An ordinary person can't even earn 1 pfennig a day, but a bottle of chamomile potion is equivalent to the wages of an ordinary person for 100 days without eating or drinking.

But what is the actual cost? The herbs are harvested naturally, which requires knowledge and labor. The basic ingredients such as wine, water, and oil, plus coal and earthenware bottles, after spreading out the cost, amount to no more than 2 groschen.

This is the exorbitant profit brought about by the monopoly of knowledge.

But Peter decided to sell it to the public at half the market price, thus waging a price war.

Troski Village is off-limits; it's within the territory of the Emeric family, herbalists who have been in business for three generations. Nebakov is also out of the question; there's a very good herbalist there named Clara. The nomad camp is also out of the question; the camp leader's wife is an excellent herbalist.

The remaining villages are Semi, Takhov, Draviko, Zheleyov, the coachman's post station, two suburban farms, and two riverside mills. These places have a combined population of over a thousand, so the potion should sell well. However, everyone needs to actively promote it and open up the market.

Besides these, there was another route for export: the merchant travelers led by Trossky. They traveled far and wide, selling their goods in all directions. Their purchasing power should have been greater than that of the local villagers.

Peter planned to have Jerry protect Romeo as they went to several villages to sell their products domestically. He and John the Big Mouth would handle foreign trade. Bodina and Pavlina continued gathering herbs and stockpiling supplies.

"Selling medicines at low prices benefits ordinary people. As our pharmaceutical technology advances further, I will continue to lower prices. With our efforts, everyone will have food to eat and everyone will have access to medicine."

After explaining, Peter even shouted two slogans.

"Is that so? I'm sorry, sir, I dared to use such despicable thoughts to speculate about your noble character. I deserve to die."

John apologized in shame.

"It's alright, I still need your help."

As Peter was speaking, there was a knock on the door, and Jerry and Romeo peeked in and said, "Sir, the medicine is ready. We have prepared four baskets."

"Very good. Promoting cheap drugs is our duty. Let's go."

The four men carried four baskets filled with medicine bottles on their backs, passed through the entrance to Devil's Canyon, and embarked on the north-south thoroughfare.

Just then, the sound of wheels rolling and hooves approached from afar. A caravan consisting of three wagons and five or six guards was slowly making its way along the main road. The caravan leader, a lean middle-aged man, rode at the head of the way on a ponies, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

When his gaze swept over the four people who had just come out of the mountains by the roadside, especially when he saw the big guy whose fierce aura could not be concealed even though he was wearing coarse clothes, his pupils suddenly contracted and his body instantly stiffened!

"Big...Big Mouth John!" The boss's voice trembled, filled with obvious terror. The guards behind him tensed up instantly, their hands gripping their weapons.

John instinctively wanted to lower his head, but Peter gently patted his shoulder and comforted him, "We're respectable people now, so don't be afraid of other people's strange looks. I think that merchant seems to know you, why don't you go and say hello?"

John the Big Mouth looked troubled and whispered, "Sir, I've robbed his caravan before. If I go up there... wouldn't that ruin your sales plans?"

"Sigh, that's where you're wrong. We're the sellers, and they're the customers. How can you be picky about your customers? Be nicer, smile, and show us your goodwill."

Peter encouraged him.

"Okay then."

John the Big Mouth awkwardly stepped forward and gave the caravan a very forced smile.

But to the caravan members, it appeared as the bandit leader revealing his gleaming white teeth.

The caravan owner practically tumbled off his horse, scrambling to the roadside with a fawning smile that looked more like a grimace: "Boss John! It's you! You've come out in person to 'inspect' us? What an honor! Same old rules! I know the rules!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly pulled a heavy money bag from his pocket, pouring out a small pile of silver and copper coins, roughly a third of the total payment. He presented it respectfully to John with both hands: "One-third, please have a drink with your brothers! Wishing Boss John good health!"

John's face flushed red and then darkened. "I've already reformed and am trying to atone for my sins, and you're still trying to tempt me with money! Besides, I'm not in charge here!" He didn't know whether to accept the money or not. He felt like a duck being roasted over a fire, and looked to Peter for help.

Peter's face broke into a knowing, slightly mischievous smile. He stood up, very naturally reached out and took the pile of coins from John, weighed them in his hand, and laughed, "The boss is really straightforward! We'll accept this 'payment'."

The caravan owner was taken aback: "The goods...payment?"

Only then did he notice the bottles and jars in their baskets.

Peter selected a few potions of equal value, packed them up, and handed them to the shopkeeper: "Here, this is an equal exchange. We at 'Big Mouth John' believe in fairness and justice! We not only take money, but we also give gifts! This chamomile potion greatly enhances recovery, this blood-activating potion is incredibly effective in treating ailments, sprains, and strains, and this calendula potion is essential for fighting, self-defense, and traveling! And all of them are buy one get one free. Boss, please try them. If you like them, come back next time, or recommend them to your friends!"

The caravan owner opened the cloth bag, glanced at the bottled medicine inside, then at John, who looked utterly embarrassed and wished he could disappear on the spot, and then at Peter's beaming smile. His mind was completely blank. Big-mouthed John… he'd switched to selling medicine? Buy one get one free? The world has changed so fast!

"Uh...okay...okay! Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!"

The shopkeeper, dazed, took the medicine bottle, not bothering to examine it closely, only wanting to leave this eerie place as quickly as possible. He climbed back onto his horse and waved to the guards, "Quick! Let's go!"

The caravan, like startled rabbits, quickly disappeared at the end of the road, raising a cloud of dust in its wake.

John only breathed a long sigh of relief when the caravan had completely disappeared from sight. He looked at Peter with a complicated expression: "Sir... this..."

Peter toyed with the silver coin in his hand, making a crisp clinking sound, his smile as bright as the morning sun over Devil's Canyon: "Look, John, haven't we opened up the sales channels? Free medicine, precise customer targeting, and even start-up capital. Next time a caravan passes by, hearing the reputation of 'Big Mouth John is so generous, he not only takes money but also gives gifts,' will they be worried about our medicine not selling? That's called the celebrity effect."

John's face darkened further. Celebrity effect? ​​More like infamy effect! Compared to the psychological torment of selling medicine, the physical labor of chopping trees was much more appealing.