Chapter 228: Eating and Drinking, Merchants' Business, and Niusi's Proposal

The group then chatted about some interesting things they had encountered on the road, and after eating and drinking for a while, the topic turned to what everyone had been doing since they parted ways.

"As for me, I've made contact with a familiar friend. He has some good wood over there that can be used to craft high-spec, expensive furniture. Does anyone here have any interest in cooperating? After all, the other party's scale is quite large, and I might not be able to take on all the timber he produced this year."

A certain Merchant picked up his wine glass and brought up a business deal, and it sounded quite interesting.

Jier asked curiously: "Is this thing very profitable?"

"Hahahaha, Knight Jier, in the current situation, everything is profitable. As long as you have the guts to run trade outside, you can make money. But if you want to earn more wealth, you have to find businesses in this current situation that were originally expensive but are now difficult to sell," someone explained.

"Like this timber business?" Jier was still puzzled, and Xueya Site and Weier, who were with him, were also unclear and wore curious expressions.

Seeing that the three of them really didn't understand, the Merchant who brought up the topic explained to their table in a low voice: "Yes, my lord. Let me explain it to you, and you will understand immediately."

Jier nodded and listened quietly.

"It's like this: all along, collecting rare timber like this and then finding skilled wood Craftsmen to craft furniture that fits current trends—well, this business has always been very profitable. After all, everyone understands that the final products of this business are sold to those Noble lords and wealthy Merchants who simply don't care about money."

"Hey, our Southern Province couldn't compare to other places before, especially before those mineral veins that triggered the war were discovered on a large scale. What we are most famous for here is all kinds of tall, deep mountains and forests. In those places where no one had ever set foot before, there were the most rare, thick, and towering precious trees."

This Merchant stretched out his hand to gesture: "A piece of precious timber of this size, even if it's just raw wood, is worth at least this much!"

He obscurely gestured a number to their table; needless to say, it was definitely the base price calculated in Gold Coins.

"High-end furniture made from similar precious timber, even if it's just a very common wooden chair, wooden table, or wooden cabinet, is never hard to sell. And you don't have to worry about this stuff going bad after it's made; you can always find a time when the price is high to sell it off. Hehe, and besides..."

This Merchant took a sip of wine and deliberately stopped speaking.

The other Merchants at the table just smiled, said nothing, and made no move, silently eating and drinking as well, while Jier and his two companions asked curiously: "And besides what?"

Xueya Site was the most excited. Listening to these Merchants who were relatively successful and had connections, he felt that the few times he had tried doing business in the past were just small-time play; he hadn't even officially stepped through the door of commerce and trade, just lingering outside.

"Hehe, and everyone knows the situation with the current times. The familiar faces who used to run this kind of business have all run off to get involved in war-related trades. Similar traditional trades like this, on the contrary, have no one paying attention to them. The price of related timber will also drop because there are fewer Merchants buying. The drop in raw material prices—isn't that the perfect time to pool money and buy in bulk? Buy heavily in a short period, then gradually find Craftsmen to make them into currently popular furniture styles, and you can earn a huge amount of money with a very high return!"

Quite a few people nodded; there was basically nothing wrong with what this Merchant said, which was why no one at the scene refuted it.

"And the risk of doing this is also low. When the war ends in two years—if it ever ends—the price of timber will return to normal. At that time, even if you sell the timber you bought now at the average market price—if it hasn't been made into furniture—you can still make a small, risk-free profit. So, gentlemen, are you interested in doing this with me?"

This Merchant leaned on the table with both hands, looking at the others at the table with great interest.

Xueya Site's eyes were shining; he was clearly tempted, but he didn't have much money, so he could only be tempted but unable to help.

Weier was not interested in this. Although earning a sum of money would help his future revenge, if the amount of money was below a certain threshold, it basically wouldn't be of much help to his revenge. After all, you couldn't just spend money to hire assassins to kill people from the enemy family, right? They weren't stupid; wouldn't they hire assassins to kill back? To take revenge, one must possess sufficient personal martial strength. This was Weier's judgment.

Jier had no reaction. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in making money—no one would be unexcited about having more and more money in their hands—he just felt that this was too slow. After all, compared to his speed of making money, this business method of buying raw timber at a low price, finding Craftsmen to craft high-end furniture according to trends, and then selling it at an opportune time was still too slow compared to his method of specifically looking for trouble with long-standing Bandit Groups entrenched on trade routes and then collecting bounties. Not to mention hunting down some powerful Monsters and selling Monster materials.

The other Merchants present also had little interest in this, which was contrary to the expectations of the Merchant who made the proposal.

"Oh, it seems everyone has better channels in mind? Is it possible to say it out loud so we can all hear it? Especially Knight Jier, who seems a bit interested?" this Merchant suggested.

Immediately, a Merchant chuckled, and after attracting the attention of others, he spoke: "I do have a business here, though I don't know if everyone will be interested."

"Let's hear it," the others said.

After this Merchant deliberated for a moment, he spoke: "The war with the south this time was triggered precisely because a large number of mineral veins were discovered in the Southern Mountains, right?"

Everyone nodded; this was something even a child on the roadside knew.

"To put it bluntly, no matter who wins or loses, those mineral veins will have to be developed, right? Of course, I'm not looking down on the massive army gathered by the lords of our Southern Province; I believe that after learning the lessons from last year, having gathered for such a long time this year, whether it's the scale of the army, the various resources raised, or the understanding of the battlefield, they should be able to completely defeat the army of that small country in the south."

"I'm saying, after the war ends, those mineral veins that were the cause of the war have to be developed, right? Then what about the corresponding mining tools? I've heard that those mineral veins aren't something where you can just take a shovel, dig a hole in the ground, and get Mineral Ore. You need mature mining tools that can stand the test, right? And speaking of such mining tools, the Central Province has many old coal mines distributed there. They have complete sets of mining tools, and a mine that has been operating for many years couldn't possibly have only one set of mining tools in use."

"What do you mean?" Someone caught on and asked with an interested smile on their face.

"Go now, go to the Central Province and think of all kinds of ways, whether it's spending money to buy, hiring people to steal, or even robbing—as long as you can get complete sets of mining tools and equipment, the value of such a set after the war is something you all can understand, right? Those are tools that can immediately bring war profits to the victor! Selling a set for a few hundred Gold Coins shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Once these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up, but Jier soon shrugged and gave up on the idea because this business obviously had nothing to do with him. To be able to produce a full set of mining equipment and tools immediately after the war, one would have to head to those long-operating coal mines in the Central Province right now to carry out the corresponding work.

This was the opposite of his current mission, not to mention that this Merchant made it sound easy; how to get these valuable equipment and tools into one's hands, and how to transport them safely and in a timely manner to the Southern Province, was a significant problem.

Without support behind you, it was almost impossible to accomplish such a thing.

So, having figured this out, everyone shook their heads: "Your idea and the profit are both okay, but how should I put it, it's too difficult. There are risks everywhere in between."

The Merchant who made the proposal immediately argued: "Of course I know there are risks, but if you want to make big money, you have to take some risks, don't you? Otherwise, how could such a situation where you can earn enough money to last a lifetime in one go fall into your own hands?"

He then said angrily: "I won't rush everyone. Those who are interested later can come to me privately. There is no rush for time now; we can calculate and analyze it carefully."

The Merchant who brought up the timber business earlier also spoke: "Same here for me. Friends who want to join can come to me privately. Anyway, we are all staying at the same inn, aren't we?"

Then Jier and his two companions looked at the other two Merchants: "Do you two have any special skills? If you do, why not say them out loud for us to hear?"

These two looked embarrassed: "Not really. We usually only run a few familiar trade routes and just earn some hard-earned money. Although the Caravans are our own, the Shop Assistants in the Caravans might not necessarily want to follow us out to make big money."

"Cowards."

"No ambition."

The two Merchants who made the proposals cursed in low voices, but soon they were enthusiastically telling others about the reliability of their businesses. The former hoped someone would invest together to take the opportunity to buy more low-priced, expensive timber and make a big profit. The latter needed a partner who was also daring enough to go to the unfamiliar Central Province together, use all their skills, and get a few sets of mining equipment and tools.

The group ate and drank, chatting for a while, and then the topic turned to Jier, asking what his goal was after arriving at this checkpoint.

"Me? Of course, I need to immediately find the trail of our Kendall Army. I was found by the Agricultural God Church before and separated from the army to carry out an urgent mission. Now that the mission is complete, I need to immediately rendezvous with the Kendall Army."

Jier took a sip of ale and smacked his lips: "But I only know they must be heading toward the Province Capital. However, when I was at Suishi Cheng, the county seat of Cuikuang, I only knew they hadn't passed through Ke'er Shan Jun, but had gone north from Suishi Cheng and bypassed the entire Ke'er Shan Jun. Now I can only try to find them by heading east along the main road; I estimate I'll be able to find them before the Province Capital."

Jier, who spoke of his distress with a helpless look, drank the entire large mug of ale at his hand, then picked up a new mug of ale specially reserved for him.

The few Merchants at the table nodded understandingly after hearing Jier's distress. They hadn't expected that this young Knight from another province actually had a connection with the Agricultural God Church. When they were in the convoy, they had heard that Knight Jier had some special relationship with the Sun God Church, but they hadn't expected this young Knight's religious connections to be so complex.

A Merchant's eyes lit up, and he whispered a suggestion to Jier: "Knight, if you are just distressed about not being able to find the whereabouts of your own army, why not try asking someone?"

This person was the adventurous Merchant who planned to go to the Central Province to get mining equipment and tools. Judging from this person's plans and self-proclaimed methods, this person usually had many channels, and the methods were not very scrupulous.

Of course, Merchants who run trade outside come in all kinds; as long as you can run trade and make money, no one cares how you make the money.

"Ask someone? Is this something you can get a reliable answer to by asking someone? I might not have made it clear: the Kendall Army I belong to went north from Suishi Cheng at that time, bypassed the difficult Ke'er Shan Jun, and never reached this... uh, what was it called?"

Jier looked at the others, and the others immediately replied: "Wierstu Checkpoint!"

"Right, the Kendall Army has never been to this Wierstu Checkpoint. Asking someone, can you get an accurate answer?" Jier said, waving his hand.

Unexpectedly, this Merchant leaned over and whispered in Jier's ear: "Knight, how do you know it won't work if you don't try? The person I'm recommending is no ordinary person; the other party is a guy with a lot of energy and well-informed. As long as you have money, you can find out about things happening far away from him. I believe it shouldn't be hard to find out about the tracks of an army passing by nearby. You can go and try."

Jier took a sip of ale, glanced at the person, and asked in a low voice: "Have you tried it yourself? Is it reliable? Is it troublesome?"

"Rest assured, of course I've tried it. Several big troubles that I got entangled in were all resolved by this gentleman for me. Very reliable, not troublesome. If you are interested, you can go to the red house called 【Hanshui Linli】 at this checkpoint we are standing on, find the famous 【Flower】 inside, and just say I referred you to ask for information. You remember my name, right? This is a referral-based information circle. As long as you report my name and complete a purchase of intelligence information, you can do me a small favor! Hehe, this is good for you and for me. Remember, 【Hanshui Linli】 red house, look for the most famous Ms. 【Flower】."

Jier raised his eyebrows. Seeing that this person was so enthusiastic, he nodded: "I'll consider it. If there's really no other way, I'll go over tonight to ask. Also, rest assured, Mr. Niusi, right? I remember your name."

This Merchant named Niusi nodded with a smile, retreated to his own chair, and continued to eat, drink, and talk with the others. Although the others were curious about what he had just whispered to Jier, they guessed it had to do with his recent proposal. This was Knight Jier's own business, and the others did not want to get involved because they really could not be of any help.

"Jier, what did Niusi just say to you? You need to be vigilant; I see this guy as someone who doesn't play by the rules, and who knows how many suspicious characters he knows." Xueya Site also whispered a word to Jier.

"I know. Hurry up and eat more; these are all good things that aren't easy to come by usually. I, for one, haven't eaten such delicious food in a few days. The last time was when I was invited by the Bostafa Family in Suishi Cheng, but as it turned out, I didn't eat well that day either."

After Jier finished speaking, he shook his head; clearly, the situation that day did not make him happy.

Weier had later heard Jier briefly mention the invitation banquet of the Bostafa Family during casual conversation. Although Jier spoke of it lightly, Weier later carefully recalled and pondered it, feeling that it was a very dangerous situation. It was far more dangerous than running into some Bandit Group of hundreds of people or a powerful Monster attacking at night.

However, he leaned close to Jier's ear and whispered: "My lord, if it concerns the matter of you being unable to obtain news about the Kendall Army, I guess that Merchant Niusi just provided you with a not-so-reliable opportunity to inquire, right? Why not give it a try, provided it doesn't delay tomorrow's journey."

"It won't delay it; it can be settled overnight. Hmm, since you've suggested trying it, then shall I give it a try?"

Jier looked at his two subordinates and friends and asked in a low voice.

"Jier, decide for yourself," Xueya Site responded.

"You should try it," was Weier's suggestion.

Thus, Jier silently recited the method for finding people that Niusi had just given him, deciding to rest for a while after eating before going to inquire for information. If he could find the latest news on the Kendall Army, that would be best; if he couldn't, he would just consider it a small sum of money spent.

?? The updates continue. I've been reading a manga these past two days, which is also about fantasy; it's the recently famous "Dungeon Meshi". Actually, when the manga was being serialized, around 2010-something, I saw it online up to the Killer Rabbit part, but I didn't read it carefully. I watched the anime of the same name last year, but the anime adaptation is quite slow. This time, I read the entire manga in one go and felt very satisfied. Compared to others, the fantasy world I've constructed is indeed several orders of magnitude worse. Can't compare.