Chapter 511: Trade Is the Accelerant!

Are you kidding? This isn’t about conditions, is it?

It’s practically giving them another favor.

They hadn’t been to the border, but they knew the price of furs there was surely several times cheaper than here in the interior.

So if Gervas truly sold these supplies to them at half the interior price…

Then they would definitely not lose out.

Even if they didn’t keep them for themselves, just reselling them outright, there would surely be plenty of buyers.

Moreover, Gervas only demanded one-fifth of the payment be used to offset these supplies—the quantity isn’t even much.

…

And the situation that followed was predictable: the minor nobles rushed to strike a deal with Gervas.

Gervas didn’t delay; he immediately had Andrew summon the steward and began drafting the contract in front of everyone.

For instance, Gervas promised to purchase all the nobles’ grain at no less than a thirty percent premium over the current market price.

In return, the nobles had to guarantee the quality of their grain output, refrain from selling to anyone else during this period, and allow one-fifth of the payment to be settled in supplies instead of coin.

As for the types of supplies, Gervas would provide a list, and the nobles could choose for themselves.

As long as the total reached one-fifth of the payment, it was fine.

The prices of the supplies were calculated at half the interior market rate, and Gervas guaranteed their quality would be no worse than what was available on the open market.

Thus, both sides meticulously listed a long set of terms, and when no objections remained, they signed the cooperation contract.

The contract’s term was temporarily set at five years.

During this period, unless an act of God occurred—such as a raid on their lands or the destruction of their family—they were forbidden to breach the contract for any reason.

Otherwise, they would pay a penalty exceeding five times the previous year’s payment.

Upon receiving the contract, the minor nobles immediately cheered and prepared to leave.

Before departing, Pat patted his chest and assured Gervas that the Pat family and the Gail family were now true allies.

Should the Gail family face any trouble, Pat would never stand idly by.

Gervas naturally nodded with a smile and saw Pat, the Viscount, off.

They all needed to return to prepare and inventory their grain, as Gervas had informed them.

Once he returned to his domain, he would immediately send a team to purchase this year’s harvest.

Gervas planned to transport the grain back to Storm Ridge before the full severity of the Winter Frost arrived.

Of course, even then, overland transport might not be feasible.

The weather was growing colder by the day; according to Mi Gen and others’ estimates, snow would begin falling in the southern borderlands within no more than half a month.

By then, roads would be muddy, frozen solid, and even walking would be difficult, let alone transporting goods.

But Gervas had never intended to transport grain overland.

“Gervas, you could’ve signed the contract with Viscount Pat and the others at the normal price—they’d have agreed anyway!”

After Pat and the others left, Andrew finally couldn’t hold back.

His words carried no blame, but he was clearly pained.

Though some of those nobles were his personal friends.

Even brothers must settle accounts clearly—business deals must never be tainted by sentiment.

Gervas had anticipated his father’s concern: “Father, even if I raised the price by thirty percent, it’s still a massive profit compared to border prices.”

“Ask Viscount Mil and Viscount Ian if you don’t believe me.”

Upon hearing this, Mil and the others immediately nodded: “Baron Andrew, Gervas is right—the normal price for southern grain is ten copper coins.”

“And in border regions, it’s even higher!”

Yet Andrew remained uneasy: “Gervas, I understand the price gap in the south, but the eastern interior is far from the south—won’t transportation and losses erase the advantage?”

“Father, if we transported overland, the advantage would indeed be small—perhaps just a bit of hard-earned profit.”

“But what if we used sea transport instead?”

“Sea transport?” Andrew blinked.

If it were sea transport, then yes, there would be real profit.

He’d heard that the great noble families made fortunes daily through sea trade.

But could anyone just sail the seas?

Not to mention storms—the sea beasts within were every ship’s nightmare.

Without a large vessel bearing Sea God Stone, the cargo might as well be tossed into the ocean.

“Father! I have five sea vessels—all equipped with Sea God Stone! One I found by chance on the shore; the others I seized from pirates!”

Gervas knew exactly what his father was thinking, so before he could ask, he revealed the truth.

“Gervas, you have five sea vessels?!” Before Andrew could speak, Ernst, the elder brother, was already stunned, his jaw nearly dropping.

Even a viscount’s family, if it owned one or two sea vessels, was already among the elite.

And Gervas had five.

Though he was now a count, he’d only just become one—this was too lucky!

“That’s right, Ernst. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have considered paying a premium for the grain!”

“Also, Father, didn’t I tell Pat and the others that one-fifth of the payment could be settled in supplies?”

“Those supplies are worthless at the border, but in the interior, their value triples or quadruples.”

“For example, a common rabbit pelt costs five or six copper coins at the border, but in the interior, it’s over thirty.”

“Even at half-price offset, I still make ten copper coins more than I would at the border!”

“And I’m certain that once Viscount Pat and the others taste the profit, they won’t want just one-fifth of the supplies next time!”

“They might demand half, all of it—even supplies exceeding the payment value!”

“In that case, I won’t need to spend a single gold coin to acquire their grain in the future!”

Thus, Gervas’s premium was merely a hook.

The real focus wasn’t just buying grain—it was trading his domain’s specialties with Pat and the others.

Though the Tulip Trading House also purchased goods in its own territories.

But their prices were too low—as he said, a qualified rabbit pelt fetched only five copper coins.

Yet they resold it for five times that price.

Though the Tulip Trading House had powerful sales channels that made liquidation easy.

But if Gervas didn’t want to remain forever the lowest-tier supplier, exploited like a scallion by the Tulip Trading House…

Then he had to change.

So, seizing this opportunity, he intended to start with Viscount Pat and the others.

His greatest advantage? His sea vessels—this eastern region bordered the sea, making it ideal for trade routes.

Once Pat and the others tasted the profit, this trade would only grow larger.

When Storm Ridge’s goods gained a stable sales channel, Gervas could build a far vaster trade network.

Farming was merely the foundation.

For a domain to truly rise, trade was the accelerant!