“You can try it with some wine,” the Prince joked. “And after you’ve drunk from it, you can pretend to be drunk and throw it on the ground to break it apart.
“It works, gee, this really is very excellent… But, I’m afraid you won’t be able to guarantee that every cup will have such a quality, right?” The big bellied Hogg had already poured himself a cup full of wine and threw it back at this time, “Hey, it’s really still dry.”
Of course, it was still dry, it was essentially just an ordinary wooden cup merely coated with one of Soraya’s paintings. The pattern on top of it was of her own design. “It does not conflict with the usage of crystal cup, those are for more of a formal court banquet while my cups are more suited for the personal chambers of the daughters of wealthy houses.” Roland said, “As far as I know, they like bright colors, and can’t resist things with such a beautiful appearance.”
“I believe it is as you’ve said,” Margaret said while nodding in interest. “You seem to have a lot of experience in this field.”
“Keke,” the Prince coughed twice, “and now, please fix your eyes on this one. The thickness of the breastplate is entirely uniform, and the back and front are made out of wrought iron. I don’t think I even have to mention that it is lighter than a knight’s plate armor, and it is possible to put it on without assistance. After it is closed, there doesn’t exist even the smallest crack; it is perfectly suitable for the guards escorting caravans. But the most crucial point is that it is cheaper than plate armor… ”
…
After the presentation of all the goods, the merchants began whispering to one another. To allow them some privacy, Roland offered them some time for discussion and left the hall, going over to the flower garden at a side corridor to get some fresh air.
“Your Royal Highness, I was only away for a month, and you already have a lot of new things here.” Margaret had stood to come follow him.
“Don’t you want to exchange your opinions with them?”
“No, the moment I set my eyes on something it’s unnecessary for me to try and listen to other people’s thoughts. When there is good merchandise to be had, whether other people see its worth or not, it’s all the same to me.”
She smiled and shook her head, “Our caravan will be staying here for three to four days, so could you… Let me see Lightning again?”
“Although she does not recognize you, at least she didn’t express any sentiment of dislike towards you, so I think that there won’t be a problem.
“Thank you,” Margaret said gratefully.
“If you’re going to stay for so long, you might as well come see a play. Three days from now, Border Town will hold its first theatrical performance.”
“You were able to build a theater in one month?” Margaret exclaimed, shocked at the idea.
“Of course not, it will be an open-air performance right in the middle of town square. I think it will be different than what you are used to.”
“I will do so right away. Deference is no substitute for obedience, Your Highness,” Margaret placed her hand on her chest and performed a low bow.
Chapter 188 “On with the show!”
Two days later, after the visit to the North Slope Mine, Roland agreed to a new trade contract with Hogg and the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan.
Hogg’s eyeballs had nearly fallen out after he saw the smoothly operating railway-transport mining system. He even put forth an application to build a factory in Border Town, which would specialize in the construction of rail lines and their supplementary equipment, while the profits he obtained would be split in half, but Roland refused his investment offer as it would need even more of his people. After all, right now Border Town wasn’t lacking in money, but people.
Hogg, after all, was just a mining businessman. Although he possessed several mines, and managed an open-air silver mine for Count Kanbara at Silver City. The men below him were only miners. Which was on an entirely different scale compared with the strength of an entire island like Crescent Moon Bay.
In the end, he put his name under a contract ordering ten steam engines and a full set for the mine transportation system (including their track and tub), set to be delivered in six months from the date. The first half were to be delivered before the Months of Demons, and the second half around the start of the coming year.
The contract with the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan was of a much larger scale than his previous deals, including even a ten years contract with them. Next time the caravan arrived, it would bring a team of 300 people with it, mainly composed of blacksmiths and carpenters.
These people’s salaries would be paid for by the Crescent Moon Bay, while Roland only had to provide for their food and accommodation. The steam engines produced by them would be sold with the highest priority given to Crescent Moon Bay, and then after the ten years, the worker could decide for themselves if they wanted to stay or go back. This was a point that Roland had brought up several times during the negotiation.
Without a doubt, the people sent with the next caravan would be some of their most trustworthy supporters, even for the people shipped in later with the caravans, they were bound to try choosing people with the highest degree of loyalty to the Crescent Moon Bay.
So when it then came for them to making their decision, it was unknown if even half of them would decide to stay. However Roland could never have enough skilled workers, so even if only one of them decided to stay behind, he would still have made a profit. Something he always worried about was that, even though he had the technical advantage, he might not have enough people to bring the technology to reality.
Apart from the steam engine, the second largest order was for the transformation of their vessels.
Along with the three hundred craftsmen, the Crescent Moon Caravan would bring two inland sailing ships in the hope that Border Town would convert them into ships that could be driven by steam engine. Each ship’s conversion would come with a fee of one thousand eight hundred gold royals, which meant that the two ships would come up to directly exceed Margaret’s steam engine order. In contrast, despite that all three sides ordering the mugs, the total amount of the order was still less than 300 gold royals, even though Roland had already increased the price of the mugs to what it was in his convenience store by ten times. This let him feel the gap in the profit between civilian merchandise and industrial products. If you are unable to mass produce, it would be better to only satisfy the requirements of Border Towns inhabitants.
What surprised the Prince a little was that his iron breastplates, and the iron farming tools were completely disregarded. But later, during dinner, Margaret offered him the answer to his doubts, “Although your breastplates are indeed cheaper, however its yield is too small, if we want to resell it, we have to include the transportation cost together with the tax. So, in the end we would only make a profit of 5 to 6 gold royals. Moreover, your armor is either forged with a hydraulic hammer or by using the steam engine… In either case, with that method, the price of the armor will stay fixed, and the majority of the expense will come from the quality of the material, rather than the quality of its production.”
After a short pause she continued, “And buying them for our own usage, is even more unnecessary. On the sea, whether it be the sailors or the guards, they rarely wear heavy armor, which would only make them sink more quickly in the case they were to fall into the water. Most of the time, they see armor as fetters and handcuffs, not as protection.”
“It’s the same with your farming tools, if you cannot obtain an enormous amount of cheaply-priced iron, they will be cheaper but not by much when compared to similar local goods, which makes it difficult to make a profit off them. While the situation with those colorful cups it completely differently, their price isn’t at a fixed number, it can’t be said for sure that the nobility will fond of them, but it is still possible to earn several times our initial investment.”