Chapter 192: Choices and Troubles

After clarifying the situation, Jier calculated and felt that taking the traditional middle route was the most economical in terms of time and fees.

He originally did not want to pay these people, but Captain Gulisiman persuaded him, because if one did not travel along routes opened up by these influential people and organizations, the entry fees paid to various local villages and towns, along with the overcharged supply costs along the way, would be far more than the money paid at the start.

You could say that merchants running trade on the trade routes are weak when facing powerful forces, but you cannot ignore their sensitivity to money and profit.

At first, some people also felt that spending a large sum of money to buy a voucher was not worth it, but after traveling a round and comparing, these people regretted it one after another.

"Without these vouchers, at some key points on the road, you won't even be able to get supplies, and some villages won't let you in to rest. And some bridges will also refuse you passage. Unless you force your way through or kill your way through, but I can guarantee that even if everyone knows that those who set up toll checkpoints at bridges and intersections privately are all trash, the one who ends up being wanted by the local authorities for killing them will still be you."

"I am a Knight! A Knight from the Northwest Province! I will also be wanted?" Jier said, opening his mouth. He perhaps had not yet realized that although he was favored by Kendall Baron and his teacher was the formidable Knight Doddell Klao, he had not truly been recognized and knighted by the Baron, so naturally, he had no fief, no personal knightly crest, and had not been recorded by the Xīběi Hangsheng Noble Yihui where the Baron was located.

Of course, here in the Southern Province, if you go and ask Kendall Baron if Jier is a young Knight under his command, the Baron would only say yes. After all, leading two Knights to support the Southern Province war versus leading three Knights to support it results in very different gains.

Even if Jier had only recently accepted Knight Training, Kendall Baron would still grit his teeth and admit it to outsiders.

"Hmph, just as I said, Ke'er Shan Jun is exactly that kind of place. You can choose not to believe it, but Knight Jier, once things actually happen, you will likely have to believe it then." Captain Gulisiman smiled, his face full of a mischievous grin, as if he had been treated this way by the locals before, and seeing others about to face the same fate made him very happy.

"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you. I choose to take the middle route. So, where at 【Libie Guanka】 should I find someone to spend money to buy such a voucher?" Jier compromised, spreading his palms helplessly as he spoke.

This Ke'er Shan Jun sounded like it had a complicated situation, and without understanding it, he felt it was better to pay money and follow the method recommended by this Captain to pass through here. If it were some time ago, when Jier was not so wealthy, he would never have paid this unjust sum of money; even if it meant forcing his way through and being wanted by the locals, he would have relied on the gear in his hands to forcefully pass through the entire territory without paying a cent.

But now it was different; Jier was extremely well-off. Hundreds of Gold Coins were stored in the Spirit's dream camp, and there were plenty of Silver Coins and Copper Coins. The caravan's supplies were also sufficient, so there was no need to make things so tense for a few pennies.

Captain Gulisiman brought Jier to the window of the second-floor hall outside. Relying on the height of the wooden tower, his gaze crossed the barracks wall and pointed to a place near the checkpoint gate in the distance: "On the square inside the checkpoint gate, there is a 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】. Don't let the sweet name fool you; this merchant guild is actually the one operated by the neighboring county's Ke'er Baron family to manage 'safe' trade routes. You can go there yourself, or send your subordinates. Go in and explain that you want to obtain a passage voucher for traveling through Ke'er Shan Jun. They will naturally send someone to check the size of your team and charge you according to the team's size."

"They will give you the fee amount, and once you pay the money, they will give the caravan a physical voucher of considerable size. With this thing, the villages and towns you pass along the way will open up to you, and some checkpoints and bridges you pass will not charge extra fees. Hmph, but I must say, the people there are very greedy, you must be careful. There will definitely still be people looking for trouble with your team, Knight Jier. It's best to have the people in your team stay sharp and handle things flexibly along the way."

Facing Captain Gulisiman's reminder, Jier nodded to show he understood.

Having settled these matters, Jier bid farewell and returned to his camp in a hurry (during the time they were talking, the Warriors in the team had already set up Jier's tent one step ahead). Relying on his still-vivid memory, he used an ink pen to mark the terrain, villages, mountains, forests, rivers, bridges, and checkpoints on the west side of the neighboring county in a blank book.

And he marked out three routes with different directions and different fees.

Afterwards, he took out a sum of money and found Xueya Site and the old Dwarf, and even called for the several caravan Stewards accompanying them to come over.

The first two were in the overnight camp next to the barracks and were easy to find, while the latter were not with Jier and his group because each caravan was not large, so they had found inns inside the checkpoint to stay in themselves.

But they naturally would send Shop Assistants to stay in the camp at any time, so that Jier would not be unable to find them when he looked for them.

Before long, everyone was present, gathered in Jier's tent. Jier had already informed Xueya Site and the old Dwarf about the matter beforehand, and both agreed with Jier's judgment. Jier handed the money bag and the task to Xueya Site, telling him to take the old Dwarf to that 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】 in a moment to calculate the team's fees. Interestingly, the old Dwarf insisted that they, the Dwarves, would pay their own fees and did not need Jier to pay on their behalf.

After the accompanying merchants arrived, Jier informed them of his choice to take the middle route. These people often ran trade and naturally knew what kind of wretched place Ke'er Shan Jun was, so they were supportive of Jier's choice to spend a little more money to buy a passage voucher.

However, there was a slight disagreement among them regarding the route.

"Lord Jier, actually I think taking the lower route saves more time. I have an urgent order here that needs to be completed as soon as possible; otherwise, violating the contract will require paying the other party a large sum of money. Taking the lower route can be two days faster than the middle route—no, it can be three days faster! Saving three days of time would allow me to have a flexible time buffer later on," a certain caravan Steward said anxiously.

But this person was anxious, and naturally there were caravan Stewards who were not: "What's the rush? Our journey has already been very fast, especially saving a day or two in Suishi Cheng. Because the caravan speed has been fast along the way, we've saved at least another two days from Suishi Cheng to here. Later, we will only save more time by relying on the full carriage team. So, I am not willing to spend so much extra money just to save two days on the lower route! Why don't you make up the extra money for everyone, then I will agree to take the lower route! Otherwise, I do not agree with your suggestion!"

This was, of course, impossible. The caravan had dozens of carriages and over a hundred people. Just based on the Kale Jiazu's greedy nature, how much more money would that cost?

Who would be willing!

Another caravan Steward interjected: "Actually, everyone might as well take the north route. The cost there is the lowest. Although it looks like it takes four days longer than the lower route, we are all carriage caravans, and our daily travel speed is already much faster than ordinary caravans. I estimate that taking the upper route won't take twelve days, maybe about ten days? It saves money and doesn't take much more time. This is the best way."

"Just take the middle route! Our merchant guild has connections in several villages along the middle route; taking the middle route won't be a loss! Listen to me," another caravan Steward said loudly.

Several merchants had their own ideas. In the end, after arguing for a while, they chose to listen to Jier. After all, by following Jier's team, they would not need to spend more on caravan guards along the way, which could save a lot of money.

Not to mention that the importance of arriving safely was far greater than money. Their teams basically all had reasons that required them to depart as soon as possible, and they could not tolerate the caravan being looted by Bandits, detained by local authorities, or delayed on the road due to accidents.

But once everyone reached a consensus and agreed to take the middle route, and after going to find the 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】 with Xueya Site in a while, these merchants still had things to say to Jier.

"If you have anything to say, just say it. I am not a harsh or unreasonable person." Jier sat on a chair, taking off his weapons and equipment one by one. He did not ask Xueya Site to help; putting on and taking off armor and equipment independently was also a form of training.

"It's like this, my Lord. There are some acquaintances at the checkpoint who want to follow our caravan. They didn't dare to contact your subordinates, so they found us just now," the four caravan Stewards said the situation with a shy, low voice.

"That's fine, what's wrong? Is there a problem?" Jier asked.

"Many people found us. They all want to follow behind our team and accept the protection of you and your team to save on the cost of guards along the way. This will inevitably harm the interests of many caravan guards at the checkpoint."

Jier glanced at Xueya Site, who was also a caravan guard. His partner shrugged, clearly not caring whether the business of these local people in the same profession was good or not. And that was right; Xueya Site was from the Western Province, and if he hadn't followed Jier all the way here this time, he might never have entered the Southern Province in his life.

The business of these local caravan guards naturally had nothing to do with him.

"So, you are worried that if I allow those caravans about to depart to join our team, I will be troubled by the local caravan guards at the checkpoint?"

Jier looked at these merchants with surprise: "After the incident of wiping out a large group of Bandits on the road, you are still worried about this?"

Hearing Jier say this, the merchants laughed sheepishly, not daring to say that while people might not come to trouble a Knight openly, they would always make things difficult behind the scenes, right?

Seeing Jier so confident, although it made them feel much more at ease, they still felt that something would inevitably happen along the way.

"Also, my Lord, the current daily travel speed of the caravan is a bit faster than usual. But if we take on other newly joined caravans from the checkpoint, because their caravan sizes vary and their preparations and equipment are different, our caravan's movement speed will slow down, right?"

After the merchants' reminder, Jier also realized this. So he asked them how to solve it. He wanted to take these newly joined caravans to make a small profit, but it would not be good to slow down the team's speed for this.

Several merchants naturally had a way and immediately suggested only inviting light caravans that moved entirely by carriage and did not have too many goods to delay the journey. Although this screened out most of the caravans that came to them, the impact of the newly joined caravans on the team would be much smaller.

Jier nodded: "Then let's screen them like that. You bring the newly joined caravan Stewards to see me tonight so I can get to know them. At the same time, let them make preparations for departure now. We will only spend one night at 【Libie Guanka】 and depart early tomorrow morning."

After speaking, Jier waved a paper document in his hand: "This is the passage order given by Captain Gulisiman of the local barracks. With this, we can pass through 【Libie Guanka】 without inspection and without paying the customs tax! This is a privilege only available to armies and teams supporting this war!"

When the caravan Stewards saw this thin document, their breathing became heavy one by one. The slightly yellowed paper looked even more tempting to them than a woman's milky-white skin.

As part of Knight Jier's caravan, the goods in their caravans could naturally be tax-exempt this time too! The taxes saved were all pure profit!

—

Before dark, the 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】 under the Ke'er Baron family inspected the size of Jier's caravan and, based on the principle of paying more for a larger amount, charged Jier's caravan a fee of eleven Gold Coins and two Silver Coins. Of course, this included the Dwarf team, so it wasn't much when split up.

At least Jier could accept this price. Although he originally didn't want to spend any money at all.

As the people from the 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】 carried out their work, and other caravans were also looking for the 【Tian Guo Merchant Guild】 at the same time, everyone at 【Libie Guanka】 knew that today's large caravan intended to take the middle route through Ke'er Shan Jun to cross the entire region.

But those caravan guards who originally thought they had work only felt excited for a short while before they heard that because today's newly arrived large caravan was led by a Knight, not only would the caravan itself not hire new caravan guards locally, but even some caravans that were originally going to depart were also being sheltered under Knight Jier's caravan and did not intend to hire more caravan guards.

This made the caravan guards waiting for work furious. They smashed the wine glasses in their hands one after another, gathered in groups of three or five outside the barracks, and stared at Jier's overnight camp with unkind eyes.

Although the sight of many armored Human Warriors in the camp made them shrink back slightly, and the Dwarves wearing heavy armor in the Dwarf team were also exceptionally terrifying, because it involved everyone's livelihood, these people still did not leave and gradually gathered. And as several famous caravan guards invited a middle-aged Priest from the Church of the God of Wealth at the checkpoint to help them reason, these people gradually gained some courage to come forward.

Just then, the accompanying caravan Stewards happened to bring the new caravan Stewards who had joined Jier's team to meet these people.

When the merchants saw these gathered caravan guards, their expressions were not very good. After all, they were the ones who first broke the rules of the checkpoint and deliberately did not hire caravan guards in order to save money.

And seeing the God of Wealth Church Priest invited by the caravan guards to reason, they were all familiar faces, so their expressions became even worse. Some people wanted to shrink back, give up this opportunity, and turn to the usual methods and procedures.

But naturally, there were merchants who were unhappy with the behavior of the caravan guards at this time. They were the employers, the ones paying the money; how they chose was their right. How did these guards who were begging for money have the right to unite and pressure them?

Therefore, before they had even approached Jier's Yingdi, these people began to argue!

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