Chapter 76: Chapter 18: The Chamber of Commerce’s Massive Investment
Upon hearing Su Li mention a small issue requiring his assistance, Master Kote was delighted. After all, isn’t that what friendship is about? You help me, I help you, eventually turning into inseparable partners.
He immediately gave a slight bow and said, "At your service, the mighty Lord Su Li."
Su Li said, "If you’re heading to Marle Castle, could you help me contact a few slave capture teams and inform them there’s a deal worth 2000 Golden Crowns here in Hesse Territory. They’re welcome to bring enough slaves here."
These slave capture teams usually have their own networks. They capture slaves everywhere and then transport them to various towns. If they’re willing to come to Hesse Territory, it would be much more convenient than Su Li traveling to Marle Castle to buy them.
After all, if he personally sets off with a batch of slaves from Marle Castle, he’s easily susceptible to attacks from pioneer lords along the way.
And to defend against these raiders, he would need to bring a large army, which would be an immense waste of wealth and time. Su Li is not afraid of battle, but leading a vast army and slaves on a long journey would indeed be too burdensome for a small Pioneer Territory.
Without sufficient financial resources, it’s impossible to sustain an army of a thousand men marching over a thousand miles. So, the best approach is for the slave capture teams to arrive at the territory one by one, with each team bringing dozens or even hundreds of people. After all, these slave capture teams are naturally inclined to move between various territories.
Hearing the figure of 2000 Gold Coins, Master Kote’s eyes brightened, secretly raising his estimation of this emerging territory.
He said with some surprise, "The Bauhinia family’s Eagle Banner Association is surely honored by your presence, Lord Su Li. 2000 Gold Coins, that’s quite a remarkable figure. From what I know, most baron’s territories can’t muster such wealth. Our West High Merchant association will partake in this feast and take our share. Upon reaching Marle Castle, I’ll contact the slave capture teams within the Commerce Alliance to come to Hesse Territory."
This wasn’t just flattery from Master Kote. Even buying slaves, 2000 Gold Coins could secure 10 Elite Knights. Many baron’s territories genuinely can’t accumulate such an amount. Most of Su Li’s over a thousand gold coins also came from pillaging a wealthy Half-Elf family.
Su Li smiled serenely and said, "We naturally welcome the West High Merchant association’s arrival. If you’re willing to operate in our territory, I’ll even offer you special incentives, with tax subsidies."
To attract business and investments, you obviously need to offer some tax incentives. However, the extent of the incentives won’t be too high, at most twenty to thirty percent. Reduce the Nineteen Taxes a bit.
Master Kote instantly became intrigued, not waiting for Su Li to gloss over, he pressed, "May I know how much tax incentive the Lord is offering us? This will determine the scale of our operations here."
Su Li originally intended for Lauren to discuss this, but since it was brought up, Su Li directly replied, saying, "I’ve decided to give you a forty percent tax rebate, Ten Taxes Five."
The common tax rate among Empire noblemen is Ten Taxes Six or Seven, and this is quite common in many other powers as well. For example, in the price of a luxury item priced at 100, sixty to seventy percent of it could be taxes, especially with imports where a 75% tax isn’t unheard of.
Su Li needs to develop his territory, and since he verbally promised them extra tax incentives to attract investment, he simply reduced it by another ten percent to demonstrate his sincerity.
Anyway, even with Ten Taxes Five, that’s still an increase in tax revenue. If they don’t come to invest, Su Li wouldn’t collect even a Copper Coin in taxes.
Su Li’s investment incentives immediately caught Master Kote’s interest. After contemplating, he solemnly promised, "The specific projects we plan to invest in will require discussions with the higher-ups in our association. But I can assure you that, within my authority, our first round of investments will be no less than 50 Golden Crowns. We’ll establish a general store, a carpenter’s workshop, a furniture shop, an herbal store, and two mills."
This is quite a rich outcome. It’s clear Master Kote has considered the future supply needs for logging in the Blood Pine Forest. A commercial presence in a territory near the Blood Pine Forest will greatly aid their future logging endeavors.
As the Lord of the territory, Su Li naturally welcomes the association’s investment in his territory. He stood up with a smile, shook Master Kote’s right hand, and said, "As the Lord of Hesse Territory, I welcome your arrival and promise that your operations here will be treated fairly."
"We are a burgeoning territory, interested in everything about your caravans. For example, the bottles you use to manufacture potions, or the rare seeds you encounter in the forest."
Master Kote pondered for a moment, took a pouch made of leather from his waist, and handed it to Su Li, saying, "Bottles for manufacturing potions aren’t scarce. Once we establish the general store, they will be sold in your territory. As for rare seeds, we haven’t had much luck this trip. These are three-leaf clover seeds I gathered in Lawrence Forest before leaving the West Territory."
"People from our homeland are quite superstitious. There’s a legend that within patches of three-leaf clovers, a mutated four-leaf clover seed might briefly appear when a certain Goddess of Luck bestows her divine grace upon the Mortal World. The person who finds this four-leaf clover will receive good fortune. I give this bag of seeds to you, Lord Su Li, as a testament to our friendship."
The attendant and officials accompanying Su Li all had their eyes sparkle, as it was well known in the territory that the Goddess of Luck favored their Lord immensely. It wasn’t just lifting her skirt, it felt she might even send her undergarments to the Lord!
Su Li was also very pleased. If a four-leaf clover were to appear, with his daily intelligence capabilities, he surely wouldn’t miss it.
So Su Li thought for a moment, removed a Dragon Blood Stone from his waist, and handed it to Master Kote, saying, "We are a bit remote here and don’t have much of value, just a little specialty mineral, as a gift, to witness our friendship."
"Dragon Blood Stone?!" Master Kote’s eyes widened instantly, realizing the value. He wanted to decline, but truly couldn’t let go.
After all, this is a Dragon Blood Stone; what man wouldn’t like it?
Eastern nobles wear jade around their waists, while the Empire’s nobles must adorn themselves with Dragon Blood Stones!
This is a symbol of wealth and status.
Su Li has experienced the powerful effects of the Dragon Blood Stone during this period; he feels that both he and his little brother have grown taller by about one or two centimeters.
Every time during his Knight’s training, when he looks down at Hilude and Avril kissing and serving him on either side, the heroic posture and strong sense of conquest always fill him with pride.
He understands all too well the allure of this Dragon Blood Stone over men.
One could say that gifting a Dragon Blood Stone between friends is nothing short of a foster father’s grace!
Master Kote’s face flushed with excitement. He gazed greedily at the Dragon Blood Stone for a long time, unable to resist the temptation, before finally putting it into his bag and then turning to Su Li, saying, "Lord Su Li, my visit this time was in haste. When I visit your territory again, I will certainly bring you a precious local specialty to thank you for this grand gift."
Su Li waved his hand dismissively, as he had more than a hundred pieces of it now. Were it not for ensuring rarity, he could have taken out dozens for trade at once.
"Master Kote, I would be overjoyed if you could visit our territory again. The gift is unimportant."
Though that’s what he said, Master Kote knew he had to make a gesture. He was already thinking about how to persuade the higher-ups of the Commerce Alliance to make a larger investment in this territory.
A territory that can casually gift Dragon Blood Stones surely possesses extraordinary powerful capabilities, and its development prospects are immeasurable.
While they were speaking, urgent footsteps were heard from outside the castle. Avril’s voice preceded her entrance into the castle hall. It was the first time Avril behaved so unladylike.
"Lord, Lord, we’ve retrieved the Hail Crystals, but they’re wrapped in cotton cloth inside the iron box, and the insulation is not very good; they’re starting to melt. We need to bury them in the ground as soon as possible."
As her voice trailed off, Avril anxiously entered the hall.
Su Li had already picked a spot for burying the Hail Crystals right in the square north of the castle. He planned to plant the more precious Spirit Plants directly in the castle garden, which would be decorated with the magnificent glow of unusual plants, making it look very fantastical and sophisticated.
On the other hand, it would effectively protect these precious plants.
The castle provides good protection, in situations like Raider War Gangs or Beastman plundering territory; they typically do not attack a well-defended castle.
If Su Li were to be defeated in battles against other forces, the enemy could raid the residential area at the river crossing’s south bank, but they would fail to capture the castle. This ensures his ability to restore his strength.
Seeing Avril returning alone, Su Li immediately asked, "Where are the Hail Crystals? Why are you the only one back?"
Avril quickly replied, "The attendants are carrying the boxes behind; I returned ahead to notify you. If we’ve chosen a location, it will save us the time of moving back and forth."
Su Li nodded with satisfaction, praising her, "You have thought it through nicely, follow me."
Master Kote, also filled with curiosity, followed Su Li to the open land on the north side of the castle that had been prepared.
He had traveled to many territories in commerce and had seen much, but he had never seen or even heard of something like Hail Crystals.
This seemingly unremarkable territory does hide many unusual items.
Under Su Li’s command, Armed Attendants quickly arrived with a four-wheeled carriage carrying two heavy iron boxes full of Hail Crystals, to the chosen spot on the territory.
Both iron boxes were wrapped thickly with white cotton cloth, functioning like makeshift insulation used by street vendors selling ice cream in tough conditions.
This could only provide basic sealing and insulation effects, keeping the ice blocks at a low temperature. But it certainly couldn’t fully insulate them, so the attendants sped up to bury them in the ground as quickly as possible.