There are Iron Ore in the Frozen Earth Territory, but Ryan did not choose to send people to mine them, which meant that he did not have the source of the greatest wealth that was common among the nobles of the Northwind Province.
Baron who sells his mines can earn two to three thousand Gold Coin a year, but Ryan, who doesn't sell his mines, accumulates his wealth little by little.
In the past few years, including now, the company has almost always maintained its facade through one large-scale transaction after another.
For now, these transactions can still be maintained because the threat of the Orcs still exists, causing a sense of tension in both the two eastern kingdoms and other parts of the empire. Naturally, the weapons produced in the Frozen Earth Territory are from high-end brands.
Not only did they sell like hotcakes in the Imperial Capital, but the merchant guilds in Zero Crossing City would ask Butler Bilder every month if there were any extra weapons they could sell to them.
The Bard's story and a discussion in the Imperial Capital made the weapon engraved with the mark of Rhino Horn Mountain a bestseller.
This is a very important source of income, accounting for 40% of the total income of the Frozen Earth Territory.
The rest were occupied by collectibles from Otherworld, as well as high-end foods such as fruits.
Firewood, ice cellars, crops produced by artisans, Mountain Forest products, and various unconventional resources such as warhorses occupy a small portion of the market.
In general, the resources produced within the Frozen Earth Territory are primarily used for domestic consumption.
Self-production and self-consumption are not feasible. Even now, when self-production and self-consumption are insufficient, Ryan has subtly and gradually made the resources and wealth of the nobles circulate in the market through various means. There is no reason why he himself could not do this.
After the merchant guilds in Zero Crossing City delivered a large amount of supplies to the three villages, Ryan readily instructed his steward Bilder, to hand over the Gold Coin to the merchant guilds who had brought stones to exchange for Gold Coin.
Next, we need to discuss more with these chambers of commerce.
He said he would help those people establish village settlements, and in this process, all these newcomers need to do is reclaim wasteland.
All Ryan could do was spend money to use the Chamber of Commerce to establish these three villages and towns. The construction teams from the Frozen Earth Territory would make the initial plans, but the subsequent construction of the wasteland would actually belong to these people themselves.
"I will pay you enough Gold Coin so that you can transport enough food and warm clothes from the South, as well as materials such as stones and wood from the interior of the Northwind Province."
"The seeds for next spring, and we've also arranged for people to help survey the land around the three villages and towns to find suitable soil areas for growing crops."
Ryan took out some of the money that the Chamber of Commerce had previously given him.
After reaching a deal with half of them, Ryan retained that half of the chamber of commerce and made new deals.
This made the merchants who hadn't agreed to Ryan's offer regretful. When they tried to find out what the deal was, the castle servants saw them off.
Looking at the five or six people still standing in front of him, Ryan put down the towel he was using to wipe his hands and had the maid bring the fruit to these business leaders.
"You all know my story to some extent, especially about the war in the Andara Kingdom."
"You may also know that after that war, I received a city, Dawn City, which still brings me a great deal of wealth and authority. But in addition to that, King of Andara also gave me several manors."
"My plan is to grow Extraordinary Crops in those places to facilitate trade between extraordinary individuals."
Compared to transactions between ordinary people, trade between extraordinary individuals is where the real wealth lies. Mages use gold and Mithril as common units of exchange, and the wealth gained between mortals is sustainable and accumulates in large quantities.
However, the difference between the extraordinary and the supernatural is direct.
"Not only in the kingdom, but also in some places in the Northwind Province, Thundercloud County and Iron Mountain County, there are lands that I have marked, and those lands can grow suitable Extraordinary Crops."
"However, I am not sure what kind of magical materials are suitable. I think you would know what kind of crops are more suitable for those lands. The deal this time is that I would like to invite some people behind your guild to help me conduct surveys and then give me a list."
"After that, I will purchase the seeds of these crops from you and promise you that a portion of these crops will be sold to you."
All six of them fell into thought. Although what Baron Ryan said seemed to pose no difficulty for them, but rather be quite advantageous, and would bring them even closer to Baron Ryan.
But things are not that simple.
Ordinary goods, such as food, metal weapons, tools, and antique collectibles, have a very large market. The massive amount of iron weapons brought by the Iron Ore in the Northwind Province will not affect the sale of the same weapons in other parts of the empire.
However, the circle of extraordinary people is very small, like a mountain peak. Ordinary people live at the bottom like dust, and they will never see what the rocks on the other side of the mountain look like in their entire lives.
The extraordinary and dazzling are the Mages. Ordinary Mages are adventurers who travel everywhere. They need to see if their training is correct and to explore the truth of this world. Truth exists in every corner of the world, even in Otherworld.
Moreover, there are not many extraordinary beings.
In wars like those in the Northwind Province, the battlefields for ordinary people are fought by armies from the Northwind Province. However, in the realm of the extraordinary, there are powerful Legendary like Lady Rosalind, who are renowned throughout the entire empire and come from the heart of it. Their activities extend beyond a small province, and even beyond the empire itself.
Why are these two things related?
The reason is that extraordinary crops will eventually circulate among the extraordinary as products such as Magic Potion, and the extraordinary rely heavily on repeat customers.
If a Mages trusts a merchant guild, it is unlikely that he would buy the same Magic Potion from another merchant guild under the same conditions.
Because he couldn't be sure if the other merchant's Magic Potion was the same as the one he knew, nor did he know if there were subtle variations in the Magic Factor in that Magic Potion. In fact, Magic Potion made by different Mage's Hand all had subtle differences.
This slight difference could cause their years of hard work to go to waste.
Therefore, caution and trust are very important.
Baron Ryan wants to break into the world of the supernatural and enable the merchant guild to trade with them. There are only two possible outcomes.
One reason was failure: Baron Ryan failed to gain the trust of many supernatural beings because they were unsure about the supernatural potions and other such products he manufactured, and thus chose to reject them.
The cultivation, sustainable production, and sale of Extraordinary Crops require enormous wealth; throwing in millions of Gold Coin is merely the initial planning stage.
If he fails, Baron Ryan will lose millions or even more Gold Coin.
If he were to blame the seeds and crop selections provided to him by these chambers of commerce, that would be a real problem.
This wasn't a sign of doubt about Ryan, but rather a serious consideration of the millions of Gold Coin Gold Coin. No one could remain calm and collected when faced with such a figure. The annual support of one million Gold Coin that the Imperial Capital previously provided to the Northwind Province was the result of months of continuous discussions.
An investment of millions of Gold Coin, ending in failure... someone has to bear Baron Ryan's wrath, right?
They also wanted to demonstrate their abilities to the powerful nobles behind them in Zero Crossing City, a gold rush town, thereby enhancing their status within the merchant guild and the nobles' territories.
Therefore, this matter is of great importance; it concerns the future of these chamber of commerce leaders stationed in Northwind Province and determines whether they can advance further.
This is risky.
That's the outcome of failure; there's a second outcome, which is success.
Baron Ryan succeeded, successfully penetrating the market of the supernatural. The Magic Potion of the Frozen Earth Territory were as popular as the metal weapons here, thus gaining the trust and choice of a large number of supernatural beings.
Then we returned to that topic.
The circle of extraordinary individuals is not large; those from the Northwind Province and those from the Thousand Lakes Province in the south of the empire can all be friends.
The number of extraordinary beings is relatively small compared to ordinary people.
Since the cultivation of Extraordinary Crops can be carried out sustainably and on a large scale, it means that these Extraordinary Crops, as well as extraordinary products such as Magic Potion related to Extraordinary Crops, are not exclusive.
In other words, there is no uniqueness.
Berserker Potion, Magic Potion used for knights to unleash their power. It is the most common but not the lowest grade potion. Every major merchant guild in the empire carries this potion.
The raw materials come from different places and from different Mages.
Every merchant guild had them, but the knights chose to buy from a merchant guild they trusted.
Trust has its limitations. If you trust one company, can you still trust another different company?
That's impossible.
In other words, if Baron Ryan succeeds, it will lead to a large number of extraordinary beings purchasing the extraordinary products under Baron Ryan control.
Does this have anything to do with them? Of course.
Because they will lose a group of loyal customers. The Berserker Potion originally had a hundred knights buying from them, but now only fifty are left, and their income has been reduced by half.
The income from fifty extraordinary individuals is vastly different from that from fifty ordinary people. Ordinary people use copper coins for transactions, while extraordinary individuals use Gold Coin.
The reduced income of the Chamber of Commerce will result in a loss of Gold Coin, which will eventually end up on the desks of high-ranking nobles.
If Baron Ryan fails, then someone will have to bear Ryan's wrath.
But Baron Ryan succeeded, and those positions that suffered reduced incomes had to bear the wrath of the powerful nobles who discovered their loss of wealth.
For example, the countess behind the Blade Rose, and the Imperial House behind the Imperial Merchant Guild.
The great nobles wouldn't directly confront those in charge like them, but their anger was never openly displayed.
They only need to furrow their brows, and it's like a stone on a mountaintop shifting its body, moving a piece of rubble beneath it to the outer edge, causing it to fall from the mountaintop and shatter on the ground.
During the process, trees may be broken, bushes may collapse, and rivers may change course...
Those chamber leaders who directly participated in Ryan's success or failure were either the pebbles or the trees and bushes along the way.
There are risks involved in participating.
They were already standing on the edge of a precipice of risk, but this incident was still far too thrilling and exciting.
A single misstep could lead to a gruesome death. Why were these guild managers so shrewd? Because those former managers who were not shrewd, who could not bring wealth to the nobles but instead caused their wealth to shrink, all met with ambiguous and bloody ends.
It was precisely because of this shrewdness that these people did not respond immediately after hearing Ryan's words, not even Irina, the new head of the Blade Rose Merchant Guild who had the best relationship with Ryan.
An ordinary person might act impulsively, trust Baron Ryan, and agree to the deal in exchange for immediate rewards.
However, businessmen with a long-term vision saw the risks involved and what they needed to confront.
So three people immediately chose to retreat. They were already satisfied with what Zero Crossing City had given them, and they were able to exchange it for their own and their families' future in front of the powerful nobles behind them.
But if you take one more step forward, you'll actually be walking off the cliff.
Her heart was pounding. Irina couldn't help but want to throw herself at Ryan and ask him more questions, but she was covered in sweat. Since she had come to Ryan's castle, she had taken off her outer cloak, and the thin clothes now revealed her inner strength.
She was nervous, partly because she knew that if she refused, all her previous efforts would be in vain, and she would have to compete for business opportunities in the Northwind Province just like other chambers of commerce.
But if she agreed, she didn't know if those two pounds of flesh on her body would be enough, and most likely not, because the nobleman behind her was a woman who wouldn't hesitate to bring down the butcher's knife because of those two pounds of flesh.
"I... I..."
Irina hesitated for a long time, then suddenly saw Avril walking by outside. The Baroness seemed to have come to the Baron's study for some business, and it couldn't possibly be for a thrill.
Irina suddenly realized what she was about to say and blurted out "yes."
" The Blade Rose Merchant Guild will agree to your deal and follow your wishes, Lord Ryan."
After saying this, Irina felt weak and wanted to collapse in front of Ryan, but thankfully she managed to stand firm.
On the other side, Frank of the Lantern Merchant Guild glanced at the woman in surprise. His gaze was firm, seemingly oblivious to Irina's current flirtatiousness.
He was not afraid, as he was a member of a noble family and his family was somewhat different from other merchant guilds.
" The Lantern Merchant Guild has agreed to your deal, but some resources unique to the Lantern Merchant Guild will be removed from the final list. Of course, if you are willing to trade all the resources in those plantations to the Lantern Merchant Guild, that is something we can consider."
Ryan looked at the last person, who gritted his teeth, still intending to take a gamble here.
He was all alone.
"Alright, the three of you can go back and prepare for the matters in the villages and towns."
Ryan addressed the three who refused, and everyone looked at him in shock, realizing they were about to face the same situation as the first group to leave.
The first deal, the second deal, and now the third deal, but only three people are left who are qualified to hear Ryan explain the details of the deal.
" Lord Ryan, no wonder Viscount Miles said you were a devil who manipulates people's hearts."
"You scared my heart so much it almost jumped out of my chest."
"Shall I press it for you?"
The one who answered her was Avril, who walked in. Irina's face turned pale. How could she have forgotten again? She lowered her head and dared not say anything.
Ryan smiled and pulled Avril to sit down next to him, then addressed the three heads of the merchant guilds:
"This time, I'm going to talk about the same thing."
"Within the Sera Kingdom, I can't persuade too many people, after all, their King is the powerful ' Wind Emperor '."
"However, in the Andara Kingdom, it was already decided after the war that some nobles would help me cultivate Extraordinary Crops."
"So what I was talking about wasn't just a few plots of land, but most of the Andara Kingdom."
As soon as Ryan finished speaking, all three of them widened their eyes and began to breathe rapidly.
If the previous transaction involved huge risks, now, huge profits are laid out before them.
Regardless of whether Baron Ryan's foray into the realm of the extraordinary is successful or not, and what the consequences may be, at least for now, they have gained a market for an entire kingdom for their merchant guilds.
This is a kingdom. Regardless of the situation of the Andara Kingdom, it is one of the nine kingdoms of the one empire on the Norris Avenue. Such enormous wealth has just been dumped on them.
"The war brought immense destruction to the Andara Kingdom, and the nobles there needed to reclaim their territories and wealth, as well as use more means to strengthen themselves and fight against the Orcs in the Northlands."
"They promised me, but I can't send suitable personnel to explore this area."
"You can trade with them, but the amount of trade cannot exceed 50%."
"Because at least half of them belong to the Northern Territory Merchant Guild."
Policies determine the market economy, and Ryan, as a nobleman, is the policy of this land.
Ryan waved for the three to leave and then looked at Avril.
"Why are you here?"
Avril said with some concern:
"My father wrote to say that the eldest son of Grand Duke Mayers in the Imperial Capital proposed to the emperor to mine Iron Ore on a large scale in the Northwind Province in order to rebuild the fleet that the empire had lost in the bay of the Thousand Lakes Province in the West Sea."
"The emperor has agreed."
Ryan looked toward the doorway. The butler, Bilder, was also standing there without coming in. The letter was addressed to Avril, but it would also be sent to the Frozen Earth Territory.
"What's the big deal? The emperor wants the Iron Ore of the Northwind Province, and he has to pay for them..."
Ryan suddenly realized what he was saying halfway through his sentence.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty:
" The Elector?"
"Yes, the Emperor has put His Prince Volvo, one of the Elector, in charge of rebuilding the West Sea fleet. This is the first test for the Elector."
Ryan suddenly laughed.
"This isn't the first one."
"The fact that the Elector appeared in the Andara Kingdom to mourn the Old King is probably related to this matter. That prince was personally inspecting the Iron Ore resources of the Northwind Province. As someone who wants to become emperor, he is eager to know what is buried under every piece of land in his territory."
"Moreover, the key point your father told us about this wasn't the Iron Ore, but rather that it was somehow connected to Meyers?"
Of the Four Grand Dukes of the Empire, Grand Duke Fleming had the best relationship with the current Emperor Columbus III, which resulted in this group of nobles consistently enjoying the most food during this era.
It is quite obvious that the other three dukes will be vying for the next era.
Even if this era is a hundred or two hundred years from now, they must start striving now.
There were three Elector and four grand dukes in the empire; this number, this sudden convergence of political forces.
Oh, I see.
Why would Viscount Melendez tell Ryan all this? Was it because Ryan was his son-in-law, the other in this political marriage?
No, it's because Melendez Family has just Grand Duke Fleming who are benefiting from the policies of this era, and Ryan is also a member of this faction, but he is the closest to him.
If Ryan's policies apply to the Northlands lands, then the Emperor's policies apply to the entire empire, encompassing half of Norris.
When policies are favorable, everything else falls into place.
Although it is still far off, since the emperor has given the Elector a test, it is only natural that he should grant the Elector the rights after successfully passing the test.
Power and interests.