Chapter 276: Tariff Negotiations

"This..." Seeing that Sinuoli was unmoved, the high-ranking members of the caravan all wore troubled expressions. In truth, their core intention was not to sell goods to the Dwarfs; the caravans traveling the Changya Zhilu and those traveling by sea directly to the Old World had already gained some understanding of the Dwarfs, knowing that they were also a race that exported goods.

Sinuoli already understood their thoughts through prior reconnaissance: to use his territory as a springboard to develop a relatively safe trade route to the Old World, so as to sell goods to the Humans in the Old World.

"Your race can be self-sufficient, but aren't there other powers in the Western Lands that have a demand for our goods? That place called Tilea—hundreds of years ago, they produced an explorer named Makeboluo who traveled ten thousand miles to reach our country."

The Cathayans deliberated for a moment, and in the end, they stated their true needs directly.

"What? You want to trade with the Old World through my territory?" Sinuoli curled his lips; these half-military, half-merchant fellows had finally been cornered by him. "Why should I grant you such convenience, hmm?"

"We will pay you taxes. May we ask how you intend to levy them?" The merchants knew that Dwarfs loved gold, and paying taxes was within their plans.

"Let us look at my advantages." Sinuoli used a confident smile to cover up his lack of economic knowledge; in his past life, he was a science student and only knew the basics of how tariffs were collected.

"First is safety. I have already cleared the route from Gaoyuanbao to Everpeak. I will be responsible for the safety of the Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai, my father, the High King, can be responsible for the safety in the Old World, and as for safety on the sea, the Ironclad of Balake-Wa'er are peerless in the world." Sinuoli took out his map and sketched lightly with a charcoal pencil.

"Then what about the Land of the Dead? Nehekhara was once a land of abundance, but now there is not a single living soul left." Linghu Zhengde looked at the waterway on the Great Mortis River and asked; from yesterday's meeting, Sinuoli knew that the Cathayans seemed to have had some connection with Nehekhara in the past.

"I will handle the Land of the Dead. The Immortal Emperor has granted me convenience, but you should know that bribing the Tomb Kings is very costly."

"On the other hand, as far as I know, the Changya Zhilu must pass through the Dark Lands and the Aishang Shanmai, and fewer than one in ten caravans can pass through safely."

The Changya Zhilu starts at Karak-Kadrin, but in reality, more merchants assemble at the trade hub of Everpeak. However, due to massive losses, it had been a long time since a team of sufficient scale was willing to gamble their lives.

For a trade route, the more it is used, the higher the threat it faces. This is not hard to understand; in the first few times, one might sneak through while the power controlling it is off-guard, but after sneaking through too many times, there will always be a time when one is caught, and once the enemy gets a taste of the benefits, they will naturally be more diligent in catching people.

However, everything has a relativity to it. As there have been no caravans connecting the East and West for a long time, the scarcity of specialty goods continues to increase, prices rise, and the huge profits will eventually turn greed into courage. At the same time, raiders will relax their vigilance because they have had no harvest.

"If those fallen kin of yours were half as reasonable as you, sigh!" The Chaos Dwarf and the Ogre are important raiders on the Changya Zhilu.

"Second is speed. It currently takes over a month to get from my city to the Old World, but I am currently building a massive project, and once it is completed, reaching the Sea Gate within half a month will not be a problem." Sinuoli brought out the selling point of the railway again.

"Finally, there is the network." Sinuoli signaled his subordinates to swap in a sketch map of the Mountain Kingdom.

"I believe that after your goods endure hardships to reach the Old World, they still encounter resistance and extortion from local powers during the distribution process." Sinuoli took a sip of tea and smiled at the Humans.

In this world, capital naturally generates domestic trade protection, which complements external expansion to find markets. As far as Sinuoli knew, the resistance Cathayan goods faced in the Old World included the influence of the Dwarf Realms.

"If you cooperate with me, I can facilitate the sale of your goods in various strongholds and settlements; we have complete transportation and sales channels." Sinuoli pointed at the map and said.

"It's perfect!"

"We only need to transport the goods here and we can sit back and collect the money!"

"Once this deal is done, getting promoted and getting rich upon returning will be a matter of course!"

Sinuoli's three points of advantage struck the pain points of the Cathayans, and they burst into cheers. However, the Governor-General remained very calm; he knew that such thorough service would not come cheap.

"Ask how much they want in taxes?" The Cathayan Governor-General's hand, resting on the armrest, had veins popping out; the dark blue Dragon pattern on his clothes seemed to be shaking its head and wagging its tail along with his breathing.

"You name a price! I hope to see your sincerity; this is the foundation of cooperation." Sinuoli said with a smile. In a situation where he was unsure, letting others propose first was never a mistake.

"We need to discuss this first!" Linghu Zhengde saw the Governor-General's gesture and decided to buy some time.

"Eh, that's not right. Discussing behind my back—is that a lack of trust in us Sons of the Mountains, or are you looking down on us?" Sinuoli put on an angry expression; he was certain that the Cathayans had no way to verify things at this juncture.

"Westerners once said that the customs of the Dwarfs are quite different from other races."

"Western barbarians do not read poetry or books, do not understand etiquette, and the language is different; it should be fine."

Zou Qilin thought it over and decided not to anger Sinuoli over this small matter. The heads of the caravan gathered together to start discussing, and Sinuoli pricked up his ears to hear their conversation clearly.

This could not be blamed on their negligence. Firstly, they were blinded by potential profits, and secondly, they knew that Dwarfs had their own language. The common language Sinuoli and Linghu Zhengde used to communicate was already considered a foreign language; the possibility of mastering another foreign language that was almost never used on top of that could be ignored.

"How about we charge by the carriage? We will give you fifty gold coins per carriage, and you only need to be responsible for counting them. It's simple and convenient. What do you think?"

The Cathayans proposed a method of specific duty, which reduced the pressure on customs work and sounded quite good. But Sinuoli had scouted the goods in advance; how could he be fooled here?

"Hahaha, do you take me for a fool? Spices, tea, silk, firearms—a full carriage is worth over a thousand gold coins, and you give me fifty? Are you trying to dismiss a Goblin?" Sinuoli laughed very cunningly.

"How about one hundred?"

"That's not even enough for you to get out of the Aishang Shanmai!"

"One hundred and fifty!"

"Those fallen kin of mine are always lacking slaves!"

"This..." The bottom line of the Cathayans had been probed by Sinuoli, and they had no choice but to continue making concessions.