What did you do with the dice?

Rusalka: "I don't understand what you're saying anymore. If this is a game of Monopoly, I really don't understand the point of you building a park on your own vast land. After I bought the salt, you said we have to sell it to the people at the same low price as before. I don't even need to round it up to know that we are doing charity. So since you are doing charity, why not go all the way and give the salt away for free? Maybe they will kowtow to us and build us a memorial archway."

Sanita sighed: "First of all, it's called a shrine, not a memorial archway, you cultural desert."

Rusalka: "Okay, whatever you say. It's my money anyway. Damn, this inferior product cost me 20 gold coins. Those polite bandits should help me transport the goods instead of him robbing the woods. That's what we call professional matching."

At this moment, Phoenix walked up to the two of them like a ghost, lifted her skirt slightly and bowed, then asked, "Master of the family, welcome back. Do you want to tell the kitchen to cook?"

"Yes, I'm hungry." Rusalka then switched to the PL channel and sent a private message: "It's a wasted trip, but I can't let my stomach suffer any more."

"Okay." She nodded, along with the cat ears on her head, and turned and walked away along the corridor normally. No one could figure out where she came from.

Rusalka watched her figure disappear around the corner and murmured, "She reminds me to eat every day. No other maid is as punctual and proactive as her. She's worthy of being my top priority. She cares about me."

Sanitta patted Rusalka on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Brother Desert, let me give you another piece of knowledge. Servants in noble families can only start eating after the head of the family has finished his meal. Although they can choose not to eat leftovers, this time sequence cannot be changed.

Even if you don't want to eat today, or you're on a hunger strike, as the head of the household, you must agree to let the kitchen cook, otherwise they'll have to go hungry. This question is usually only asked by servants who are generally recognized as having the highest status, or who have the best relationship with the head of the household.

So, maybe she's not really concerned about you, she's just hungry and wants to eat. If you've ever had a cat at home, you'll know that they jump onto your bed every morning, not to show affection, but to remind you to get up and put out the cat food."

Rusalka put her hand to her forehead and said, "Can't you just let me indulge in fantasy for a while?"

Chapter 6 Salt and Merchants

Sanitieta: "Brother Xiao, I know you definitely don't understand what I did today, so I'll give you some knowledge while we're eating."

Although to outsiders it seemed that the two of them were eating their own food at the table and were silent with each other, and the atmosphere looked very bad, but in private they were communicating animatedly on a PL channel.

Rusalka: "Dude, I've graduated from college, please stop teaching me. I'm a science and engineering major, please let me go."

Sanita: "Then I won't say anything."

Rusalka: "Well, you better tell me about it."

Sanita: "No more."

Rusalka: "Please, tell me. You've already told me halfway. If you don't tell me, you're really a scoundrel. You're keeping me in suspense and I won't be able to sleep well tonight. If I don't rest well, my combat condition will be poor, and if I'm in poor combat condition, I'll die suddenly. If I die suddenly, we'll both go to heaven. You see, it's all your fault for keeping me in suspense. You've put us both in the grave."

Sanita: "You are such a cheap person."

Rusalka: "Hey."

Sanitta: "First, let me talk about the merchant. If he only agrees to deliver a cart of salt, then it won't actually help us at all. In the short term, we can indeed do business with other merchants, but we can't just act as guest guards for everyone, right? Then what about our reputation as lords? You have to know that in this world's system, the reputation and reputation of a noble is like credit currency. It can be used for transactions, sales, negotiations, and cooperation. In short, it is very important."

Rusalka: "Oh, then if I don't protect the convoy, how can I fight the enemy?"

Sani Tower: "Trust me, if you follow my plan, I guarantee that the tower will drive you until you vomit."

Rusalka: "If someone else said this, I would believe it, but if it's you..."

Sanita: "I'm not in the mood anymore. I won't say anymore."

Rusalka: "No, no, no, I believe you, isn't that enough? Please continue."

Sanitta: "So, we have to find an idiot and sign a contract with him. Ideally, a contract for a certain number of times, giving him monopoly rights. This way, we can become a business partner, which sounds very formal. If you help in person, it will also be in line with the etiquette of the nobility, and you will also gain a good reputation for being personally dedicated to the cooperation."

Rusalka: "I don't quite understand the difference. Anyway, you're good at this, so just do it your way."

Sanitta: "The most brilliant point of this contract is its monopoly. Once they monopolize the salt route, the other merchants who have previously enjoyed huge profits selling salt on our side due to the market imbalance will see their profits reduced to zero, which will make them feel very unbalanced. However, they won't take direct action. Instead, they will first inquire about one thing: 'Why didn't the lord cooperate with me?' and 'Why didn't I hear about this before?' Of course, you can imagine what will happen."

Rusalka: "I understand. Human imagination and jealousy are terrible."

Sanita: "They won't know even if they rack their brains. After all, I picked this candidate randomly after a few days of market research. The main point is that he looks very smart but lacks experience as a businessman.

I admit that as a businessman, this guy is mercenary and cunning. He is very good at selling inferior products as good ones and using negotiation extortion as an excuse. He is well aware of our current situation and shortcomings, so it is difficult for me to beat him in bargaining, resulting in unsatisfactory salt prices and quality.

He is a very good businessman. As for business, his intelligence is probably 16.

But this was completely within my expectations. After all, he can't even touch the edge of political science and economics. He's an amateur among amateurs. My assessment of his political intelligence is 5."

"What do you mean? Intelligence 5 ate your salt?"

Rusalka was so angry that he laughed and spat out the meat in his mouth. To the maid next to him, he was just choked and his expression was very funny. The maid wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh openly. She could only laugh secretly with her head down.

Sanita didn't notice the maid's expression, but instead solemnly corrected his words on the PL channel: "Then IQ 4 will be fine. Give Brother Xiao some face."

Rusalka: "Okay, I think I understand. You want to use him as bait to lure out those who want to sabotage our territory's salt market. Whoever sends someone to assassinate the merchant first will be the culprit."

Sanitta: "Are you so obsessed with the idea that assassination is the only way to solve problems? If the neighboring leader really wanted to deal with us, he would never assassinate the merchant."

Rusalka: "Why? This will not only affect our contract, but also make other businessmen afraid to cooperate with us. It's a win-win situation. If it were me, I would definitely do the same."

Sanitieta sighed, picked up his chopsticks and put some food into his mouth. "You've forgotten what I just told you. For aristocrats, face and reputation are the most important things, you know. His method of assassinating the merchant is indeed a two-pronged approach, just as you said, and it can be said to maximize short-term benefits. But the problem is, if they are exposed, what do you think will happen to them?"

Rusalka: "Well, you'll be despised."

Sanitta: "Even when the two countries were at war, they didn't kill envoys. If they dared to kill merchants who openly cooperated with us, it would mean they were completely shameless. Once this matter was exposed, not only the salt merchants, but most regular caravans would cut ties with them and ban the transportation of goods. The royal family might even strip their noble titles to eliminate this stain. Although the status of nobles in the Kingdom of Sinidi is indeed superior to that of merchants, and they can use their power to exploit the other party's money, it doesn't mean they can arbitrarily take people's lives just for political reasons."

Rusalka suddenly realized, "Is this why those bandits only stole salt and didn't kill people?"

Sani Tieta: "To be honest, perhaps because my intelligence is only 16, I only figured this out not long ago. If that were the case, even if the truth came to light later, the most they would do would be to pay some money and then play around with the law, saying that the "enclose 2 and release 1" policy was a trial run for local salt tax collection.

In this shabby world, there might still be places where people still have the right of first night. Adding more taxes is just political wordplay."

Rusalka: "Then what are you waiting for? Since we already know that this mess was done by our neighbor next door, come with me to the next door to shoot."

Sanita: "I didn't say it was the neighbor next door. You're a lousy Paladin, but why don't you consider that it might be someone higher up testing your faction? If you go and shoot your neighbor, it will only make the outside world think you staged it yourself, which will damage your reputation."

Rusalka: "I'm impressed. This lousy noble isn't even as free as an adventurer. If I were a retail investor, I would have already picked up my 2d6 two-handed greatsword and shield and gone over to gain experience."

Sani Tieta: "If you were a retail investor, after gaining experience, you'd now be wanted by the kingdom, and then be pursued by dozens of light cavalry. Do you think you're powerful? It's useless. They'll surround you without attacking you. First, they'll kill your horse, restricting your movement speed, then they'll take turns harassing you, preventing you from resting, and finally wear you down to death, forcing you to give up in humiliation.

Besides, you don’t think we can escape to the neighboring country on foot without supplies outside, right?”

Rusalka: "That makes sense. Every time you say that, it makes me feel like my build isn't perfect. Can you give me a chance to rebuild it? This time I'll spend some points on mobility and run faster than a horse."

Sanita: "Silly dog, don't think about those things. Now you are a noble, and we are the ones who will disgust the enemy with light cavalry."

Rusalka: "Where did I get the light cavalry?"

Sanitta: "You have no ambition, can't you have some hope? You are now a legitimate Grand Knight. If you can find a way to gain some fame and achievements, recruiting followers will be easy. Wouldn't it be easy to get a light cavalry squad?"

Rusalka: "Oh, are you just kidding me? How long have we known each other? Do you think I'm that businessman?"

Sani Tieta: "If we don't consider the time cost of equipment distribution, riding training, and the storage of warhorses, at least a light infantry squad can definitely be quickly assembled."

Rusalka: "Good fellow, you turned cavalry into infantry in a second. My horse is gone in your mouth. Brother, have you been thinking about entering the porn film market recently?"

Phoenix walked in quietly as always. She seemed to be on time, always appearing within the 30-minute timeframe. "Master, have you finished your meal?"

Sanita joked on the PL channel: "No, I'm here to urge you to pour out the cat food."

Rusalka, who had lost interest after his previous popular science lecture, felt that the cat girl maid was not so attractive anymore. His mind was now full of thoughts about whether he could return the product and exchange these 10 points for speed talents so that he could run faster than a horse and not be dragged to death by the light cavalry.

"I'm done eating." Rusalka waved her hand impatiently.

"Okay." Phoenix made a gesture, and the two maids standing beside came up. One pushed a cart to the door, and the other cleaned up the dishes with Phoenix, and then they pushed the full cart away together.

Rusalka: "Continuing with the previous topic, what does this have to do with your charity and selling salt?"

Sani Tieta: "That's using the planned economy to forcibly control market prices and push salt prices back down. You don't really think you can monopolize the salt market just by talking. The people are not your sons, and neither are the merchants. To put it bluntly, you're just a broken lord in front of others, but who knows what people will say behind your backs. Just wait and see. When you go to the market again in a while, you'll be surprised to find that the quality of the salt circulating on the market has improved.

The reason, of course, isn't that your rotten salt has been purified, but that some merchants, ignoring your monopoly laws, are secretly selling private salt. Their prices might be slightly lower than yours, not much, or perhaps even the same, but their quality is definitely better than yours, otherwise they wouldn't sell. The locals aren't fools either; given the same price, they'll definitely choose their high-quality salt over your sandy salt.

If you don't order an investigation into the source of this salt and punish the smugglers, they will become even more unscrupulous and dominate the market. Soon, the garbage salt you're eating will be eliminated from the market. At that time, we won't need a planned economy anymore. If we open up the market, salt prices will stabilize on their own, and all their years of price control efforts will be in vain.

Rusalka: "You cow?"

Sani Tieta: "The most crucial point is that salt is worth this price. The macro market is not man-made. They can indeed temporarily use means to separate our market from the macro market and cause a premium, but as soon as we connect it back, it will readjust the price and return to the equilibrium point."

Rusalka: "Master, then, Gul'dan, what is the price?"

Sanita: "Do you really want to ask, or are you just making a bad joke?"

Rusalka: "Well, I am humble and eager to learn."

Sunny Tower: "Oh, there is a price to pay. Your face. You came up with a monopoly law, but in the end no one paid any attention to you, and you didn't do anything about it. Next time you want to make a law, in the game terms, it will be like 'raising the difficulty by one level'."

Rusalka: "So what? But let me think about it. If I can make my subjects live happy just by using my looks, then I don't need my looks anymore. I probably won't be making laws here anyway."

Sanita: "That won't do. We are the knights of the Zhenghuang Banner. How can we lose face in vain? I'll teach you a trick. Let's trade face for face. We haven't officially started looking for people to sell salt yet. Now watch me operate it and let them see the panic of price reduction."

Rusalka: “Huh?”

----

A few days later, in the manor village.

"Hey, have you heard? The new lord said that he will bring the price of salt here back to its previous level in 10 days."

"Hey, that's all bragging. I heard he bought a large batch of salt from the south this time, but he's not making any money from it. Who knows, he might just want to sell it to us at a high price like those profiteers? There's nothing we can do about it. After all, every household needs salt."

"Yes, you see, the price of salt hasn't come down at all recently. In my opinion, this noble lord is just a knight. He's good at fighting, but he knows nothing about business. How can he beat those merchants?"

"That's right, oh, when will these hard times end?"

----

Day 5:

"Hey, have you heard? I recently discovered that the salt on the market is indeed much cheaper. Although the quality is a bit lower, it can be used after filtering."

"Isn't that all salt the lord bought? The wool comes from the sheep."

"Hey, it's different. I saw it on a stall here a while ago. The price is about the same as the recent drop, but the quality of the salt is much better. Thanks to my son's quick eyes and hands and strong body, he can put the salt he eats so much on weekdays to use. He even bought a few small bags."

"real or fake?"

"Really? How could I lie to you?"

"It seems that on the tenth day, the price of salt may return to its original value."

----

Day 10:

Rusalka: "Oh my god, the second batch of salt came back, and no one robbed it. Now I can't sell it. It's all stuck in my hands. I've only sold half of the salt I bought from both shipments. So you also took some of the refined salt from my warehouse and sold it as cheap salt."

Sani Tieta: "But the market is now full of illegal salt. Thanks to that batch of refined salt, those suspicious merchants began to suspect each other and took the initiative."

Rusalka: "But I lost so much money and the salt. Well, the only good thing is that now the people think I'm honest. I said ten days and it happened. Although the price is not as high as before, the quality has improved a lot. Everyone doesn't care anymore."

Sanitta smiled and said something that made Rusalka a little confused.

"You were selling refined salt at a high price to confuse the public. Now that the price has dropped, why don't you find someone to go to the market and buy it back at a low price? Those merchants will make money and will smuggle more actively, and you will also make a profit from the price difference, which is considered to be a return on your investment.

"Silly dog, you are the manipulator of the market. You don't really think that the manipulators who enter the market first to manipulate the stock price don't make the most money, do you? Before the price drop, no other merchants can throw salt as fast as you, understand?"

Rusalka had to admit that an IQ of 16 might be a bit of a stretch.

Chapter 7 Double-Sided Contract

After the second cooperation ended, the businessman named Crown was so happy that his face was full of smiles.

The reason was simple. He had learned that the price of salt in the Pearl Tears Territory had plummeted, and everyone was rushing to clear out the small stocks they had during this period.

In this wave of price cuts and sell-offs, he was the only one who remained calm, like an eagle high above mocking the ants that had to migrate because their nests were destroyed by a flood.

Because he had a monopoly contract that all merchants envied, the prices of the three salt shipments would be calculated according to the "market price" set previously.

In other words, even though the price of salt has plummeted to one-fifth of its previous price, his price remains unchanged, with a profit of 460%.

With such profits, plus the nice compliments from the lord's envoy who came to negotiate before, and his vision of the future, he would not even dare to walk on the forest path where there were kind robbers, let alone walk on the edge of a knife.

Thank you to this foolishly honest Great Knight Lord, Rusalka? For the first time in his life, Clown praised this so-called knightly virtue. After all, a simple statement of chivalry could make them willing to do such a business that would even cost them their ancestors money. How foolish!

Thinking about it this way, it's such a waste of money in the hands of these old-fashioned idiots in armor. It would be great if the money was given to me.

Well, since the other party is so trustworthy, I will put less sand in the salt next time. Even if I am taking a risk to help someone in need, I am willing to sacrifice a little profit to maintain friendly relations between the two sides.

Who made me a businessman who understands long-term development and sincere cooperation?

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Master Knight. You are my bread and butter. Don't worry, Master. Even after this partnership ends, I will never forget your kindness. If you need anything in the future, just tell me, Crown. As long as it's available on the market, I promise to deliver it to you as soon as possible. The price is negotiable. If you ask me, your messenger is absolutely fair."

Rusalka sneered on the PL channel: "Oh no, he thought you took a kickback."

Sanitieta: "Of course. After all, I have many identities outside. With the help of disguise, I can be a bard, an information dealer, and a rumor monger behind the scenes. But in front of others, I am just your advisor and messenger. What's wrong with the procurement department taking some kickbacks?"

Rusalka: "I get angry when I think of this guy's smiling face. He said such nice things and acted so vividly, he almost knelt down and acknowledged me as his father on the spot. He must be cursing me in his heart for being a sucker. Although I made a small profit by reselling salt, I lost a lot of money by buying this cheap stuff!

I spent 40 gold coins, but only got 5 back from selling salt. I have to pay him another 20 gold coins for the next cooperation. Who will make up for the 55 gold coins I need? Is it the sandy salt in my warehouse at home? I think if I melted it and crystallized it, I could immediately free up one-sixth of the warehouse space.

I hate him. Do you think I can kill him? This guy who is making money from the national disaster."

Sanitta: "It's always useful to keep this villain around, and how can I let you suffer any loss? After all, you are a legitimate Zhenghuangqi..."