Chapter 68: Trade 2

“You have white sugar here?” Robert exclaimed in surprise.

“Of course,” Chris nodded. “Didn’t you just drink some?”

Robert stared at Chris in shock. This pioneering territory, deep in the wilderness, actually possessed white sugar. He knew that in the Florence Kingdom, places producing brown sugar were rare, and white sugar was even scarcer. Yet this small settlement of just a thousand people produced white sugar.

Robert quickly regained his calmness. He realized he was about to hit luck this time. After composing himself, he continued, “Then, Miss Chris, how do you intend to trade this white sugar?”

“Why don’t you tell me your thoughts first?” Chris replied, toying with her small leather whip without looking up.

“We are willing to buy all the white sugar your territory produces,” Robert stated. “We can sign a contract guaranteeing we’ll buy all future white sugar from Lord Su Lun’s land at a premium price. Additionally, we’ll give you a twenty percent discount on all the supplies your territory requires.”

“All the white sugar? Robert, the Skylark Chamber of Commerce has quite an appetite,” Chris shook her head. “Trying to monopolize the white sugar trade? Forget that idea right now.”

Robert wasn’t surprised. Only a fool would grant a single Chamber of Commerce a monopoly on white sugar. Still, he felt a pang of regret. “Then how much white sugar can you sell us?”

“This time, there are fifty pounds of white sugar for trade,” Chris said with a smile. “The price is one hundred and fifty Gold Nars per pound.”

“Fifty pounds of white sugar?” Robert thought to himself in astonishment. Fifty pounds wasn’t much, but Karlt City only received sixty to seventy pounds of white sugar in a whole year. This was almost double.

“No, that’s far too little,” Robert shook his head. “And the price is too high. Do you know in Karlt City, white sugar costs only eighty Gold Nars? At that price, we wouldn’t earn a single Copper Nale – we’d lose money!”

“Mr. Robert, do you think I don’t know the market for white sugar?” Chris glanced at him and continued. “Eighty Gold Nars may be the standard price… but that’s for allotted sugar. You know perfectly well how much allotted sugar there is, right? Thirty pounds a year. That’s the entire allotment for all the Nobles of Karlent City. What’s the price for white sugar beyond that allocation?”

Because white sugar production was very low in the Florence Kingdom, half of it was directly allotted to various Nobles. Each Noble received a fixed portion of this allotted sugar, ensuring every one got some. The price for this allotted sugar was also fixed.

Karlent City had over a hundred Nobles. For these many Nobles to share just thirty pounds meant less than half a pound each on average. This meager amount was naturally insufficient. Anyone wanting more had to buy from the open market, where prices were much higher – easily doubling the allotted price, with demand far exceeding supply.

“And do you think we lack potential partners?” Chris pressed on. “Just put the word out about the white sugar, and all those Chambers of Commerce will come rushing in. So know your position.”

The White Sugar Trade officially began at Northguard Keep. Ji En also headed to Karlent City with the caravan. The territory’s development needed massive amounts of supplies and people, and Su Lun planned to rely on the White Sugar Trade to get them.

In truth, only stable trade could truly drive a territory’s development. Take Su Lun’s territory: with trade, more caravans would come. But traveling to Northguard Keep required crossing dangerous wilderness, meaning guards had to be hired. This forced each caravan to be large, with at least a hundred people.

These people boosted local spending. Before long, various inns and taverns would spring up in the town. Economic prosperity naturally drew more people. Those wanting to develop businesses here would invest, making the houses and land Su Lun had built beforehand highly sought-after property.

The influx of people also provided the territory with significant taxes. This way, Su Lun’s territory entered a healthy cycle. Only like this could the territory be considered successfully established.

At noon, people busy all morning took a break. Women and children had prepared a hearty lunch. Barbarian women weren’t the best cooks. Their specialty was stew – tossing various meats and vegetables into one large pot with water and salt and letting it simmer.

The most abundant food in the territory was Potatoes. Thankfully. With the Barbarian women’s cooking, any other stew would have been a disaster. Potato-fish stew, Potato-beef stew, Potato-mutton stew… these were common.

Barbarian Warriors weren’t picky about food. As for the Goblin, Kobold, and Gnoll slaves, having anything to eat was fine. Su Lun deeply missed the delicious food from his previous life.

The rain of the past two days left the territory muddy. The continuous autumn rain brought a slight chill. Under orders from the Lord, the Serfs hurried to plough the fields.

The Lord’s promise had renewed the Serfs’ hope. People of their class in this era had very low expectations. Su Lun giving them even a small hope made them strive harder for it.

Working hard meant full bellies. Although houses meant sharing rooms with several others, the dwellings were dry and warm, without leaks. They had shelters against the wind and rain. And the Lord promised that anyone working diligently for five years would gain their freedom.

Keep working beyond that, and even land and houses could be granted. For Serfs starting with nothing, this was a blessing.

Early autumn. After continuous rain, much of the lingering summer heat faded from the air. Potatoes planted in the fields had sprouted; the earliest shoots now showed vibrant green leaves. These Potatoes were vital for Northguard Keep’s survival over winter. Besides these, the keep’s warehouse contained mostly salted dried fish.

These dried fish cured in salt were specially made to supplement meat during winter. There was also some prepared dried meat. But with Autumn’s arrival, suitable sunny days for drying fish were becoming fewer.

By now, Northguard Keep had been officially recognized by his System. Even some nearby resource points were incorporated into the System. On the System’s Strategic Map, Su Lun’s territory displayed only a few marked resources: timber, iron ore, and fish.

Other unidentified resources weren’t listed yet.

Currently, the only resources tradeable from the territory were various iron weapons and white sugar. As for timber, the journey from Su Lun’s territory to Blackstone City was too distant. Transporting it would only result in losses.