What did you do with the dice?

During the meal, Rusalka introduced Knight Ono to the mayor and told him, "This is Ono, the captain of my guard regiment. From now on, you will assist him in managing Ropa Town. He represents me, the Lord of Pearl Tears. His opinions are my opinions. Understand?"

The mayor nodded and said, "Okay, Lord Ono, from now on, everything in this town will be under your control. If you have anything you want to do, just send me."

So, the handover procedure, which was originally thought to be very complicated, was completed within a few bites of noodles. It turned out that if you don't deal with nobles, things will be done faster.

After dinner, Rusalka asked them to familiarize themselves with Ropa Town first, and then he went back to prepare a batch of additional development materials for them. He also told them not to forget to build city defense fortifications, as he was worried that the Ranger Squadron would attack at any time.

Knight Ono is a senior paladin of the Order of the Star. He told Rukasha that he was a soldier who had participated in many operations to eliminate evil spirits. Although he was not talented in leading troops in battle, he still understood the basic knowledge, which made Sani Tieta feel much more at ease.

After completing the formalities, Rusalka followed Sanita back and finally delivered the supplies over, which was equivalent to completely handing over the Ropa territory to the trusteeship, and the matter came to a temporary end.

The refugees who followed were also settled down and a temporary camp was built around them. Although they were considered a group of inferior people in the eyes of the people of Ropa Territory before, they would be driven away even if they came to the vicinity of Ropa Town on weekdays, let alone camping nearby: the temporary residence permit means that you can survive and be self-reliant in the wilderness of Ropa Territory, but it does not mean that you can enter the living area of ​​the official people of Ropa Territory.

But now they have also come with Rusalka. Before knowing Rusalka's attitude, the mayor can't neglect them. He can only take out the supplies in the town warehouse and supply them to them so that they can settle down near the town.

Being close to a bustling area is always good, as it is convenient for both business and work. This is common sense for every refugee at the bottom of society. If refugees are left to fend for themselves, the final results are often one of two:

1. The original villages and towns continue to expand until the resources are saturated.

2. A new gathering place was established near the nearest water source.

The influx of labor will make the town develop rapidly, but it will inevitably cause public security problems. Lord Ropa and Sanita use different methods.

Lord Ropa was not concerned with how to resettle the refugees, but chose to defend the small town area and let them develop freely into the second stage. This would greatly avoid destroying the original ecological order of the territory, and he could also get a group of cheap labor for free to build new facilities for himself, or hire them to engage in work such as mining.

His approach was a classic aristocratic approach. It could make money and develop without affecting public order or causing resentment among the older generation of subjects.

Sanita was different. He chose to plan the living area in advance, and provided the refugees with the minimum living supplies out of his own pocket (about 40 silver coins per person per year), assigned them new jobs to the greatest extent possible, used circulating materials as a substitute for currency, opened up trade relations between the new and old settlements, and then selected a group of guards from the newcomers to manage public security.

The advantage of doing this is that it can help refugees quickly integrate into the life of Pearl Tear Territory, and public security issues can be alleviated to a certain extent. After all, as long as they have enough food to eat and a full job every day, most people will not think about causing trouble. The disadvantage is that it costs money, and it costs a lot of money.

After all, it is winter now, and farming is impossible. Food must be imported, and it is impossible to produce so many daily necessities at once. The population expansion of Zhulei Territory by nearly 5 times has almost caused the basic supplies to be out of supply. All of these require Sani Iron Tower to communicate with some major chambers of commerce and ask them to supply them in large quantities urgently.

We have to mention Crown at this point. Surprisingly, he did not take advantage of the situation this time. He and Sanita won a win-win situation in the initial cooperation. He also promised to introduce Zhu Leiling to the chamber of commerce he recently joined after returning.

Rusalka was very satisfied and felt that Crown was a suitable friend, but Sanitta always felt unhappy: because the other party seemed to have become smarter and began to understand the value of human feelings.

Due to the influx of a large number of refugees and the expansion of the army, excluding one-time expenses, the recent long-term cash flow of Zhulei Territory has actually begun to be negative. This is undoubtedly a bad signal, which means that the big mine, this small gold mine, can no longer afford the operation of "the government taking action to maintain the operation of the territory."

But this is a difficult matter. Sanita has discussed it with Rusalka, and the conclusion they came to is not that the productivity is insufficient. The productivity of this world is sufficient, and there is no shortage of food.

It’s simply because there are too many immigrants in the short term.

Moreover, winter is coming soon, so the number of refugees is still increasing. The other viscounts next door have probably given up and are driving the extra people in their own territories to the border in large numbers.

The territory of Consenat is the "demilitarized zone" closest to the border. If you rush any further, you will have to cross the border and the military zone to get to the country of Esdi. The border between the two countries is very far away. Even if you take that hidden and difficult path, it will take a month.

Even if the border guards on both sides gave them the green light, these refugees certainly did not have the ability to accomplish the feat of crossing the border in winter. Therefore, they have been driven here and will definitely not be driven away before the beginning of spring next year.

Therefore, Lord Consent was forced to take in these people. Otherwise, Viscount Consent would not have been able to spare the time to deal with Lord Pearl Tear. Instead of making a decision to kill Lord Pearl Tear, which would only bring negative benefits, he would definitely focus his attention and troops on areas related to his own interests. He was worried that this group of refugees would affect the order of Consent City and its surrounding areas - this was his lifeblood, and nothing could go wrong.

Even after the diversion, there will always be more and more people in the Pearl Tears Territory. Sani Tieta thought that instead of letting them fend for themselves, it would be better to spend some money to absorb them and expand the Pearl Tears Territory.

These people have no material output for life and can only rely on relief, but this is not a solution. Of the 900 gold coins they had saved before, 600 were spent during the one-month preparation period. Although this is a one-time expense for long-term stockpiling, no one can guarantee that this amount of money will be enough to last a year.

Just like now, a few days after the annexation of Luopa Town, after continuously transporting resources there, Rusalka was surprised to find that he seemed to have become even poorer: those refugees in Luopa Territory who did not require him to spend money to manage, now became people of Zhulei Territory, and he had to spend money to resettle them.

Now, the supplies worth 600 gold coins have been reduced by half. It will be a problem to last for 3 months, let alone a year.

Fortunately, those refugees still had some conscience, and most of them were willing to take the initiative to help build city defenses for Luopa Town. They also used wooden chevaux de frise made from local materials, saving a lot of hiring fees and material costs, which would otherwise be another expense.

Rusalka thought that it would not be a big deal to throw gold coins into this bottomless pit.

Question Lord Ropa, attack Lord Ropa, and understand Lord Ropa.

But he didn't want to become Lord Ropa and collect the "transient residence tax" that deducted the good deeds of eight generations of his proletarian ancestors. He could only turn to the almighty Sanita for help: "Brother, what's going on? Didn't you say you were going to make money from the war? Why am I getting poorer and poorer now?"

Sanita: "Expansion works like this. You have to understand that war is only profitable when there's excess productivity, like pouring milk into a river, because that allows a large amount of excess materials to be consumed in the war, which is equivalent to removing the stone stuck in the gears and re-energizing the domestic economic cycle. But obviously, the problem we face now is a temporary lack of productivity and overpopulation. In this situation, if we continue to expand and increase our size, we will of course only become poorer and poorer. For a specific reference, see the Soviet Union. They were quite large, but in the end, they collapsed because they ran out of money."

Rusalka: "Who understands these technical terms? Just tell me how to solve it."

Sanita: "There are several options. First, we take over the city of Consonant. There must be a lot of money there."

Rusalka clenched his fists and said, "Okay, buddy. I will lead my undefeated light infantry squad to attack the city."

Sanita: "Are you kidding?"

Rusalka: "You were the one who joked first."

Sanita: "I'm just trying to liven things up. Secondly, let's learn from the old nobles and continue to support those who are currently receiving aid, and let all new arrivals go free. These creatures will find their own way out. This way, we'll have enough funds to last until next autumn's harvest."

Rusalka: "If you let me go on the battlefield, I can kill as many people as I want, but I can't bring myself to do this kind of bloodless killing."

Sanita: "You are such a nice person."

Rusalka: "Hey, I know you must have other ideas, buddy. Want to find a way to take down the Viscount?"

Sanita: "Then it seems that there is only the third method left."

Rusalka: "What method?"

Sani Tower: "The oldest, simplest, and most direct means of primitive capital accumulation..."

Rusalka learned to answer quickly: "Robbery?"

Sanita rolled his eyes: "It's a loan!"

Chapter 39: Overcoming the Difficulties

How to borrow money is a science. If you say to the creditor, "I am out of money. Can you lend me some money to spend while I get through this difficult time? I guarantee that I will return you 90% of the money I have borrowed," then there is no hope.

So the first thing to do is to change the name of the word "borrowing money". Sanita told Rukasa that from now on, you can't show any poor appearance. Remember, our current situation is not called poverty, this is called the trough period of asset structural reform.

Rusalka: "Six, master, even if you shout it out beautifully, you'll still have to borrow money from someone in the end, right?"

Sunny Tower: "You are totally wrong! This is not called borrowing money, it's called going public."

Rusalka, who was a bit more knowledgeable, said with a smile, "How dare you, a legal representative, list your non-performing assets? Aren't you afraid that the CSRC will invite you for tea?"

Sanitta: "If Sinidi Country has a Securities Regulatory Commission, then we should stop messing around and just go find the senior executives who developed the financial market here and tell them, 'Sir, odd numbers change, even numbers don't change, and the sign depends on the quadrant.' Everything will be solved. Why would we even need to borrow money?"

Rusalka thought what Sanita said made sense: "Then how do you plan to go public? You need to raise funds first. Who are you going to find to invest in our Pearl Tear Territory?"

Sanita: "In my opinion, there are too many people who are being taken advantage of. If you issue temporary residence permits, the common people will be taken advantage of. If you increase tariffs, the merchants will be taken advantage of. If you issue an armed permit, adventurers and mercenaries will be taken advantage of. Money is not hard to make. The key is that we have to choose the easiest ones to offend."

Rusalka thought: Are they trying to continue exploiting the Kate Chamber of Commerce? But they have the divine contract as their trump card. Although they suffered a huge loss at the time, Sanita Tower promised to give them a portion of the mining development benefits. This thing is definitely untouchable now.

As for the other half of the newly seized mine, it was originally under the autonomous jurisdiction of the Luopa Territory. Now it has simply changed owners, and the output has not decreased at all, so there is nothing to reform.

Originally, a part of it would be delivered to the Viscount on a regular basis. Now, Sani Iron Tower simply stopped paying this part of the tax, so there is still a lot of surplus. But even so, it is still not enough now. The mining speed is too slow, unless one uses cheats, such as "harvest all minerals with one click" or something like that.

Sani Tieta seemed to want to keep the secret here again, and he said: Just find the next businessman who comes to visit Zhulei Territory.

Now Rusalka understood: You should just report Clown’s ID card directly. Are you really trying to pull a sheep out of your clutches?

Sani Tieta: This sheep is doing well now. It has entered the farmer's sheep pen. I am going to install a bomb on this sheep and explode the farmer's rice.

Rusalka: Brothers are really cruel and ruthless.

----

Crown has been feeling very proud recently. Ever since he joined the Doug Chamber of Commerce with the boasted identity of "exclusive supplier of daily necessities" for the Pearl Tear Territory, his status in the business world has changed.

If Rusalka were here, she would definitely shout out "Crown Passes the Imperial Examination."

I brew a cup of fragrant tea, then think about it and sprinkle a handful of wolfberries; I am already a settled merchant, and those poor traveling merchants are just ants~

There is a huge difference between being backed by a chamber of commerce and being a traveling merchant. Although 30% of the profits from traveling merchants must be handed over to the chamber of commerce, you will no longer be like traveling merchants who have to bear the profits and losses every time they travel, and you also have to bear the risks of freight, and have to work hard to open up sales channels and bribe local snakeheads.

The formal regional partners of large chambers of commerce, also known as fixed merchants, can not only enjoy the fixed business locations and preferential policies brought by the friendly relations established between the chamber of commerce and other forces, but also freely use the name of the chamber of commerce to deter villains, hire the bodyguards of the chamber of commerce at extremely low preferential prices, and even not solicit customers to sell goods themselves, but accept some "transportation orders" or "market development orders" posted in the chamber of commerce. The profit and loss of such orders are borne by the chamber of commerce, and then a fixed remuneration is paid to the merchants who take the orders. The only cost they need to pay is the time cost.

Although the profit is certainly not as much as that of working alone, the advantage is stability and monopoly. Generally, such business orders are stable supply orders from a big sponsor. There is no rush in terms of time, but the supply is more frequent and the supply volume is larger.

Some big businessmen who have won orders do not want to waste time to make such supply orders themselves, so they list them in the chamber of commerce and let small businessmen transport them, and take a part of the commission themselves.

To put it simply, it comes down to two words: outsourcing.

This kind of order is what most merchants who are worried about their next meal are eager to get. They are trying their best to join the Chamber of Commerce just to be qualified to take this kind of order that can guarantee a profit regardless of the market conditions.

But the contradiction lies here. If a merchant just wants to make a living and have enough to eat and wear, the Chamber of Commerce will not accept him. The Chamber of Commerce will only accept those who are capable, have made a certain reputation, or at least have close relations and frequent trade with a certain force to ensure stable tax payments. Those merchants do business in the direction of "making big money" and rarely accept small orders except in the off-season.

When Crown first entered the Doug Chamber of Commerce, he felt that the Chamber of Commerce was blind. How could they let him, a merchant who had only been running the business for two years, in? The thrilling jungle battle with Rusalka seemed to have wiped out his passion. He felt that the weight of money was about to be surpassed by his life, and he was determined to become the "Chamber of Commerce Outsourcing King".

It doesn't matter if I'm looked down upon by other colleagues in the Chamber of Commerce. As long as I can get by, that's all. When I go out, I'm still the well-known merchant that the small merchants envy.

As a result, before he could accept the outsourcing order, the envoy of Zhulei Territory, Sani Tieta, first approached him to purchase a large quantity of daily necessities. Then, after learning that he had joined the Chamber of Commerce, he said that he wanted to negotiate with him about a long-term large-scale material supply cooperation relationship with Zhulei Territory.

Oh my god, pie in the sky?

Before he had even started outsourcing, he suddenly became the general contractor. For a moment, Crown felt overwhelmed by happiness. Is this the benefit of joining the Chamber of Commerce? Before he even took any real action, a big order came in.

In the past, Clown's most successful and largest business deal was salt, which could be sold for 20 gold coins per trip with 5 carriages, with a net profit of 16 gold coins.

This time, Sanita said that the budget for this single Pearl Tear Territory was at least 500 gold coins, and more would be added depending on the sincerity of the Chamber of Commerce.

Before Crown floated up, he suddenly had an idea.

It seems that this salt was also an order that Sanita made him profitable, but while making money, Teacher Sa also taught him a truth that has always existed in the business association but basically no one cares about: the higher the profit, the greater the risk.

For those dozens of gold coins, he even went to the battlefield. Although Lord Pearl Tear was indeed too powerful, being able to withstand the rain of arrows from more than a dozen heavy crossbows and chase after dozens of fully armed elite mercenaries, that did not mean that he, who was hiding behind the carriage, would be unscathed like him if accidentally hit by an arrow.

You say it's different from reality?

That’s right, the above content was what Crown said when he was bragging to his colleagues. Although the number and equipment of the enemies were exaggerated a little bit, it could well reflect the horror of the battlefield and highlight his bravery.

He even boasted that he had stepped forward to help Rusalka defeat an enemy who was pretending to be dead and preparing for a sneak attack, in exchange for the friendship and business orders of the Lord of Pearl Tears.

This result is indeed the case, but he told this nonsense so many times that he even believed it himself because the process was unverifiable.

Most businessmen don't understand war, but they know how to brag. They would ask their own guild's mercenaries what they thought. As soon as the mercenaries heard it, they knew that Klauen was bragging. At least he definitely didn't kill anyone. At most, it was done by the hired guards, and he just watched from the side.

After all, his eyes and the way he does things don't look like someone who has seen blood.

However, they could not guarantee that the part about Rusalka was pure bragging. After all, a great knight lord appointed by the kingdom "annihilated" the neighboring barony in just half a year. No one could tell how powerful such a ruthless person was. In any case, mercenaries like them could not do it.

Besides, I'm not fighting him, so what's wrong with praising him? This would make the bar for becoming a Grand Knight seem too high, which would explain why I can't become a proper knight. It's not that I'm incompetent, it's that the kingdom's requirements are too high, understand? When you wonder why you don't hire those knights, reflect on whether you're worthy enough. You only deserve someone like me.

But Clown certainly wouldn't dare not go. After all, he got into the Chamber of Commerce by bragging about his close friendship with Lord Pearl Tear. A few days ago, in order to show that what he said was true, he even gave some books to Sani Tieta and received a large order for purchasing daily necessities.

The reason why he didn't raise the price at that time was because he was bragging too much. He was afraid that if he asked for too high a price, Sunny Tower would not cooperate with him, and wouldn't his future be ruined?

So he didn't make any money from the goods on that order. At most, he collected some labor and shipping costs. If you add in the expenses for carriage maintenance and giving books and gifts, it's almost like a wasted trip. He might as well earn more by mining for a month.

If Sanitta knew that he didn't raise the price because of this idea, he would definitely be very upset: Why did he think that Crown had become wise after being taught a lesson?

So when faced with Teacher Sa's second invitation to teach, Crown, who knew that it was difficult to change one's nature, had no reason not to want to go to Zhulei Territory to make a fortune.

So, now he was sitting in the reception room of the Pearl Tears Villa.

Phoenix first served tea and biscuits to Rusalka, then poured tea and biscuits on the plates of Sanitita and Crown, who were sitting on the left and right of the table.

After doing all this, there were still a lot of cookies left in the basket, so she poured all the remaining cookies onto the large plate in front of Rusalka, who was sitting in the main seat, piling them up like a small hill of cookies, just enough so that nothing would fall out.

Rusalka was stunned. What does this mean? Are you dissatisfied with me for eating too much?

Before Rusalka could try to use her eyes to question her inexplicable behavior, Phoenix had already placed a large fruit plate in the middle of the table, bowed slightly, and leisurely pushed the small dining cart out of the room.

As expected of the head maid, her movements were crisp and clear, and her posture and sequence were impeccable.

Sanita ate a biscuit and smiled at Crown. "Mr. Crown, it looks like you've gotten rich recently. This outfit must be quite expensive."

Clown tugged at the collar of his expensive-looking black robe, adjusted his bow tie, and waved his hand with a modest smile. "This is all thanks to the tax exemption order Lord Pearl Tear gave me. Otherwise, how could I have possibly joined the Doug Chamber of Commerce with my previous status as a solitary merchant?"

Rusalka ate rather hurriedly. After taking a sip of tea, she managed to swallow the biscuit stuck in her throat. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You deserve it."

Clown smiled and replied, "Your Excellency, you are very kind."

Sani Tieta: "I don't know if the messenger told you before, but I took the initiative to come to you this time because I want to discuss a big business. I need a reliable merchant who can provide a stable supply and sufficient goods."

"Emissary of the Sani Tower, you've found the right person. I wouldn't call myself an excellent merchant, but my new patron, the Doug Chamber of Commerce, is well-known to everyone in the know for its reliability. Their business spans almost the entire Western Continent. When it comes to stable supply and ample inventory, I dare say there's no other chamber of commerce more reliable than theirs."

Sanita: "That's good. Actually, that's why we're here to discuss this. Of course, the integrity you've demonstrated in our previous cooperation is also indispensable. Let's get straight to the point. The purchase price for my first batch of goods this time is approximately 2000 gold coins. Do you have the final say?"

"Sorry, how much did you say just now?" Crown was a little incredulous.

Damn, brother, how much did you just say? Rusalka couldn't believe it either.

Did we dig up a dragon's cave in our mine?

Chapter 40: Mr. Sa's Business Studies

Of the previous 600 gold coins worth of supplies purchased, Clown actually only had a share of 400 gold coins, and the remaining 200 gold coins were purchased in bulk from other merchants. Based on the price that 2 gold coins can provide for the annual expenses of a family of 3-5 people, if 600 gold coins were used to buy only rice, it could fill the entire Pearl Tears Villa and every crack in the wall, and it would still not be able to fit in.

2000 gold coins, if placed in the God's Council, could be exchanged for a lot of good things if those people were willing to trade at the market price. No wonder Clown was so surprised. Even for a viscount, this number would be the total tax revenue for two years or even longer, and it would take two horse-drawn carriages just to transport it.