Mr. Bennett Todd who lives in Franklin Harbor is a wealthy man. In his prime, he is the owner of five cargo ships.
Bennett's grandfather was originally a land-based trader who accumulated a lot of money by traveling around the country for many years. In his father's generation, the family began to set its sights on the sea.
Under the puzzled eyes of relatives, my father used the money left by his grandfather to buy Todd Family's first galley, recruited a sufficient number of sailors, and started running a shipping business on the Northwest Bay sea.
By the time Bennett took over, Todd Family already owned five cargo ships.
The existence of pirates has not greatly affected the business of ship merchants. It is distressing to pay a protection fee every year, but since the rise of the great pirate Edward, the pirates have learned that they cannot kill the hens that lay golden eggs. Only by fattening the hens can they get more golden eggs.
Only the tough and unlucky ones will be robbed by pirates.
And even if this money is not given to the pirates as protection fees, it must be paid to the lord as taxes.
That's right, the only losses are the lords whose territories are close to the sea. On the overall level, if the pirates charge more protection fees, the lords will have to collect less taxes. After all, you can't peel off two skins from a sheep.
But this year, Northwest Bay is in a state of flux.
The pirate leader Edward and his main fleet suddenly disappeared, and the remaining scattered Pirate Crew guys lost their restraints and began to act unscrupulously regardless of the previous rules.
This caused the maritime merchants to suffer considerable losses.
Then several Pirate Crew groups came ashore one after another to plunder, and one Pirate Crew group whose leader was called "Shark" still occupied Franklin Harbor and refused to leave. What's even more surprising is that they also ambush and kill Arda's lord, old Earl Greiman.
Local businessmen, including Bennett, were extorted a large sum of money by the pirates.
However, the good days of pirates did not last long. The new lord Paul Greiman who succeeded him quickly recruited troops to fight back against the pirates. Shark and other pirates were hanged in the square of Franklin Harbor after being famous for a few months.
At first, in the eyes of Mr. Todd, the young Greiman was an ambitious person, and of course he was very ambitious.
After he regained Franklin Harbor, he summoned businessmen to talk about it, saying that he would build a "Ocean Trade Company" in the future, and hoped that everyone could participate together.
In the prospect he described, merchants' business will no longer be limited to the Northwest Bay area, but will reach further places, such as the kingdom West Coast, such as the Horn Bay in the south, or even bypass the Horn Bay and then go east.
At that time, everyone thought that the lord was either dazzled by the victory in destroying the pirates, or he was trying to ask them for money in other ways. How long would it take to travel to such a far place by boat?
However, what happened to this lord recently made Mr. Todd and some of his business friends feel that he was not bragging or deceiving everyone.
Little Greiman Earl did not force everyone to "invest" in any company as everyone speculated at the time. Instead, he first came up with a few novel things that sold well.
Cheap New Type Paper sheets, exquisite porcelain, and harvesters that attracted landowners to order all came from the hands of this young lord.
So it doesn't seem impossible for him to invent a ship that can sail across the ocean.
But even so, is there anything in the remote northwest that can be used as a commodity to arouse the interest of people in the wealthy areas of the south? Oh, right! The things Earl Greiman created by himself can be sold. No wonder he wants to set up some kind of "Ocean Trade Company".
No, the earl came to Franklin Harbor again and summoned businessmen to the Government Affairs Hall for a meeting.
Bennett came to the Government Affairs Hall at the specified time. The original church has been renovated and turned into a place where the mayor and other Affairs Officer handle daily government affairs.
He entered the original chapel, which has now been converted into a conference room with ready-made tables and chairs.
There were already many familiar faces sitting there, and it was not just businessmen who were present. They all greeted Bennett when they saw him.
The lord hasn't arrived yet, and everyone is talking about what tricks the earl is going to do this time.
"Earl Greiman is here!"
After hearing the loud announcement from the guard standing at the door, everyone immediately fell silent.
I saw the lord walking in from the side door with Franklin Harbor's mayor Theodore and the mayor's adviser old Peter.
After the three of them sat down one after another, Earl Greiman came up and went straight to the topic.
"Gentlemen, I have called you here this time for no other reason than to discuss a good way to make you rich."
Make us rich? The merchants below looked at each other, didn't the nobles treat them as fat sheep? When you are short of money, kill someone with a knife.
"When you get rich, I can collect more taxes!" the earl said without any concealment.
It turns out that the sheep must be fattened first and then slaughtered.
But that's okay, at least I can have more meat left on my body, and many businessmen are starting to become more active.
The lord continued, "Everyone must know that there is a war in the south. What does war mean? War means making a fortune!"
As a vassal of His Majesty the King, he said such words when his old man was in such big trouble. Everyone complained in their hearts, but they all agreed on the point of getting rich.
"The ocean-going trade I mentioned before is not ready yet, but my shipyard is building ships suitable for ocean-going voyages. I believe the results will be produced soon. I will need everyone's support then!"
After hearing these words, Bennett thought to himself, "It seems that Earl Greiman should be prepared."
If a ship suitable for ocean voyages could really be built, Todd Family, as a ship merchant, would not be left behind under any circumstances.
Of course, Bennett is not the only one here who has similar thoughts.
The lord was heard to say, "Although the conditions for sea transportation are not available for the time being, we can still transport it by land. Even if there are many checkpoints on the road, we can still make a profit."
The merchants didn't think so. It's not like what the lord said just now has been tried by everyone, it's just that they all suffered miserably.
There are very few specialties in the Northwest Bay area. Most of the things produced are also produced in other places. They are transported over long distances and peeled off at various territorial checkpoints. In order not to lose money, there is no way to set a too low price at the destination.
And because the price is too high, it naturally cannot compete with similar local products. In the end, it cannot be sold and still loses money.
Therefore, for a long time, businessmen here have either produced and sold local products on their own territory, or sold specialties from other places to Northwest Bay.
The outflow of wealth caused by the trade deficit has become one of the important reasons for the economic decline in the Northwest Bay region. If it were not for the support of grain and some small quantities of specialties, the situation would be unimaginable.
"I know what everyone is thinking, so I decided to develop several kinds of 'Fist Industry' for our Arda."
"Fist Industry"? A new term came out of the lord's mouth, and the merchants pricked up their ears.
"For example, the recent New Type Paper, porcelain, and harvesters, we can make them but others can't, or we can make them with better quality, more quantity, and cheaper prices."
The businessmen suddenly realized that the paper, porcelain, and harvesters that had appeared recently could indeed be regarded as the specialties of the Northwest Bay region.
There is only one company in the world, there is no semicolon, this company is Greiman Family.
Many people here have already purchased paper and porcelain from Lord Earl's "factory" and then sold them elsewhere.
Only the harvester is strictly restricted by the Lord's Manor, and Agricultural Machinery Factory is only allowed to be sold directly to indigenous customers in Arda and Bairdin.
However, the output of these things is still too small to be called an industry.
Many people have an idea that they think is a bit ridiculous: Could it be...
Could it be...
Earl Greiman is going to share the manufacturing technology of these things with everyone to expand their production?