80 – Blueport trade hub plan start (3)
The king and I sneaked out of the banquet hall and into a corner room with an old butler.
Unlike the luxurious banquet hall with all sorts of colorful paintings and gold patterns, the room had only a profound black desk, chair, and bookshelf with a few books on it.
The butler confirmed that I and the king had entered, and then quietly left the room.
Then the king looked at me and smiled.
“As the King of the Alliance, the outward appearance must be dignified and splendid, but I want the workplace to be a bit simple. Aren’t you like that too?”
“Yes, it is. If the office is flashy, you will go blind.”
“Thank you for noticing. Other ministers said that the office should be lacquered with gold for the sake of His Majesty’s dignity…”
Hearing that, I imagined my office being plastered with gold or other colorful murals.
A chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a portrait or a beautiful painting on the wall would be fine, but…
If the desk was engraved with fancy gold patterns, and the walls were engraved with pictures from all sorts of Deus anecdotes, I wouldn’t be able to work because it would be burdensome.
“That doesn’t seem like much, Your Majesty.”
“I thought you would tell me that.”
“It’s as harsh as telling women to go about their daily lives wearing a corset and a saggy dress for a banquet.”
The king in front of me laughed loudly at the words mixed with a slightly sexual joke.
“hahahaha, you are right. What could you do in such a gorgeous place?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
And we talked for a while about why the office should have a simple interior.
Small talk like this may seem pointless, but talking pointlessly and appealing to each other that I’m not as urgent as you are.
There is a hidden intention to make the other person feel impatient and induce them to bow first and come in.
In fact, in the used market, the price is different when I need it and when I buy something someone is selling in a hurry.
Since he bowed first, he could give us more unfavorable conditions.
So we talked for quite a while, and the king spoke to me first in a voice mixed with admiration.
“Today’s banquet was wonderful. Dishes not just filled with spices, but elegant and simple, delicious sweets and ice cream with lots of sugar, and touching plays… I feel like I enjoyed a luxury I never imagined in my life.”
“It is an honor, Your Majesty. I didn’t think I would be able to hold a banquet like this with His Majesty the King of the Northern Alliance. It is a family honor.”
Hearing that, the king said in a slightly dissatisfied voice, as if he was displeased that I did not reveal my intentions even though I had bowed so far.
“It would be nice if we could hold banquets like this often. If so, the nobles gathered in my palace would bow to my dignity.”
Although I didn’t ask for ice cream, various desserts, and people who could act, the situation was already over when I directly asked for it.
So I opened my mouth to restore the king’s pride and flatter him at the same time.
“In fact, I came to introduce the specialties of our territory and to establish good relations with the Northern Alliance. I brought a small gift because I wanted to make an alliance with Your Majesty, the head of the brave knights and warriors of the north, and I am grateful that you like it this much.”
“The most beautiful banquet in my life is a small gift from you… Then I will ask. What gift have you brought me?”
After hearing that, I opened my mouth to tell the story I had prepared for the king.
“I will tell you directly. What I would like to give to Your Highness is a culture that can lead them and the exclusive sales right in the Northern Alliance for the cornerstone of making ice cream.”
“It’s a monopoly on culture and cornerstone… I think it’s definitely okay, but how much do you think it’s worth?”
“It must be a valuable offer that cannot be exchanged even for a thousand dollars. Would you like to hear?”
Hearing that, the king listened to me with interest.
“First of all, if Your Majesty holds a banquet more splendid than anyone else, all nobles will be stunned by Your Majesty’s wealth and dignity. Even though they were the nobles and lords of the highest rank in their own lands, when they stood in front of His Majesty, they would think of them as weak beings like a moth.”
“I guess so. I was in awe of Ciel von Kreuttel as I watched your banquets, food and performances. So, the nobles with lesser power than me have no choice but to lose heart when they see the luxurious banquet I hold and know the limits of their abilities.”
“Not only that, Peha. Aristocrats who acknowledged the limits of their abilities will at least try their best not to lose to opponents of equal or lower rank. In the process, you will want to receive better dances, more beautiful music, and more emotionally stimulating stories from His Majesty than the other person. Only then will their dignity be maintained.”
And France in the era of absolute monarchy was like that.
Although the emperor did not have the power to supply all cultures, the emperor continued to live a splendid life to show dignity to his nobles even while in debt.
He enjoyed colorful clothes, elegant music, and luxurious and delicious food that was hard for humans to describe, and overwhelmed his subordinates with his appearance.
As a result, the nobles only struggled to obtain a part of the emperor’s power and wealth, and did not rebel against the situation.
and at the same time…
The king opened his eyes wide and said.
“It’s an unimaginable way. I can’t believe I thought of controlling the aristocracy as a nobleman in our country. Even if their power is taken away by other means, they will stick together, but since this is their voluntary choice to win over other nobles, I can’t even think of rebelling.”
At the level of the king of a country, you can grasp the scariest aspect of luxurious culture with only the fragmentary information I gave you.
In fact, from the Renaissance, when culture developed rapidly and consumption increased, lords tried to collect more taxes than necessary to overwhelm other lords.
As commerce developed, the cities that were able to afford it gradually became free cities as they paid the tax for 10 or 20 years.
Here, the king and the city will take the price of taking the culture to the nobles, so the nobles who are in debt will have no choice but to give up their power…
Cities, for their own benefit, will push the king, the greatest patron of commerce.
If this happens, it will be a step on the way from the King of the United Kingdom to the Emperor.
Since strengthening the power of the United Kingdom coincides with my current interests, I may be of greater help.
Then I handed the king a scroll containing the cost and details of the prepared banquet and said.
“The type and amount of items used for this ball, and the cost accordingly, are written. Read it.”
“Can you reveal this to me? After all, isn’t that your bottom line?”
To that, I answered skillfully.
“It’s an opportunity to partner with the person who will become the emperor of this kingdom, so how can I hide my money? No, if I can gain the trust of ‘His Majesty the Emperor of the United Kingdom’ by showing my sincerity, I will benefit.”
“Okay, then I’ll try reading this. Sit down for a while and have some tea and some snacks.”
Following that, I ate the snacks and tea in front of me while the emperor read the contents of the scroll.
Sweets made with honey and fruits in a thin crepe-like dough and bitter tea went really well together.
By the time I finished eating all the snacks that had accumulated quite a bit, the emperor cleared his throat and said,
“Only the material cost for the meal provided to the nobles was 1 gold coin and 5 silver coins per person, the cost of directing the play and the cost of calling the band was 120 gold coins… the total cost… ”
I interrupted the emperor in a firm voice and replied.
“It’s 2000 gold coins.”
“Gold, 2,000 gold coins… Roughly half a year’s worth of a small Baron’s budget went into it.”
“Yes that’s right. A lot of money went into it. Of course, I will cover all of this banquet, so please rest assured.”
“Isn’t that natural? It is your name, not my name, that has spread widely at this banquet. Count Kreuttel.”
And now I went on to persuade the emperor.
“Music bands and theater actors cover their living expenses by holding two or three big events like this, which are not done a few times a year. Therefore, they charge far more than they actually ransom, like mercenaries.”
“Certainly, if you serve the same period, a mercenary of the same class is much more expensive than a knight who receives a salary with a domain of 1 mars…”
“So if you’re going to have a lot of banquets… formally hire them and provide them with furnishings and costumes. Then you can host a banquet for much less money. If you were to hold a banquet once a month… 40 or 30 gold coins would be enough.”
“Go on.”
And now I’m starting to spit out a scheme to suck the profits by sticking straws into the United Kingdom in earnest.
“First of all, I will leave all the bands and actors I brought here, so use them as the best actors in the United Kingdom. And after bards and musicians who want to become other actors are educated by these friends… I recommend that you sell them as patronage to nobles of counts or higher after about a year.”
“It’s that I dare to set aside a period of one year to make the highest-ranking nobles look at me and envy me. If that’s how you sell the orchestra and the actors at the right price… I’ll touch a lot of money.”
“Yes, it is. I’ll leave them free, but Your Majesty could probably make six thousand gold coins just by selling the band and actors.”
Hearing those words, the emperor said with twinkling eyes.
“It’s ecstasy, to imagine those proud nobles asking me to pay me so much money for a band and actors.”
“And this is still just the beginning, once you sell the orchestra and actors, it will be over… but the various ingredients needed for cooking will continue to be used. In fact, since we started selling sugar, haven’t your majesty and other nobles been buying it in huge quantities? I know that His Majesty also made huge profits in the middle…”
“Since you started selling sugar, the Minister of Finance has been talking ear to ear that the amount of trade in the capital has increased by 1.2 times and taxes have increased by 1.3 times. Thanks to me, I was able to mobilize a lot of soldiers during my last Western expedition.”
No matter how much sugar is said to be as addictive as drugs in this era with a little exaggeration, I never thought that indirect trade would have a ripple effect that would raise taxes by 30%.
Oh, of course, if you believe that 20% of the trade volume and 30% of the tax are being processed as sugar brokerage trade because you said that, you are a hogu.
Because the merchants who come to buy sugar usually buy other things besides sugar.
Certainly, it was possible because the various upper ranks of the Northern Alliance came here anyway to buy ‘sugar’, and a market was formed in which various special products were brought and sold.
“great. Then, how about buying various luxurious ingredients such as cornerstone, agar-agar, and tofu, which are needed to make the most popular ice cream at this banquet, and herring, which is good for selling to peasants? I’m sure you’ll get a huge income that will tear the mouth of your Excellency Secretary…”
“I will lower the tariffs you pay when you import goods here, so I will do that. However, there is no need to sell tofu here, since it has no taste other than the savory taste.
Certainly, tofu is savory and light, but I had strong likes and dislikes for the unique taste of the beans…
Then I’ll have to sell it as if it’s medicinal food… What should I do…
After thinking about it for a while, I whispered to the king in front of me.
“I will only tell His Majesty, so please listen carefully. Tofu has a special effect… Listen carefully.”
“Tell me.”
And I added a lie and told the king in front of me.
“I took Ella when I was really young, but at that time, Ella had a rather small chest. However, after eating a dish I made with tofu, it grew like that.”
Upon hearing this, the king asked with a serious expression.
“If that’s true, nobles who are passionate about marriage would feed tofu like medicine every day for their daughter’s beauty… If you’re a man, you’ll know, but at least it’s because of her big breasts…”
“I agree. I really agree.”
“As expected, this is a culturally well-rounded count’s answer, by the way… It seems you haven’t talked about something important yet…”
I couldn’t guess what the king wanted to say, so I asked casually.
“What do you mean?”
“If it was simply a transaction to make money, if I were you, I don’t think I would have taken the risk of emptying the territory and entered a potential enemy country. Because if I kill you right now, and join hands with Maxburg, I can drop Nantes. There’s no way a smart person like you would have come this far with a thousand gold coins. Instead of this, let’s talk about the core story.”
At that, I took out a map to answer seriously.
And…