[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-511":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338974,4572,"Chapter 511: Trade Is the Accelerant!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-511",511,"\u003Cp>Are you kidding? This isn’t about conditions, is it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s practically giving them another favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if Gervas truly sold these supplies to them at half the interior price…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they would definitely not lose out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they didn’t keep them for themselves, just reselling them outright, there would surely be plenty of buyers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Gervas only demanded one-fifth of the payment be used to offset these supplies—the quantity isn’t even much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the situation that followed was predictable: the minor nobles rushed to strike a deal with Gervas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas didn’t delay; he immediately had Andrew summon the steward and began drafting the contract in front of everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, Gervas promised to purchase all the nobles’ grain at no less than a thirty percent premium over the current market price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the types of supplies, Gervas would provide a list, and the nobles could choose for themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as the total reached one-fifth of the payment, it was fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, both sides meticulously listed a long set of terms, and when no objections remained, they signed the cooperation contract.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The contract’s term was temporarily set at five years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, they would pay a penalty exceeding five times the previous year’s payment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon receiving the contract, the minor nobles immediately cheered and prepared to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before departing, Pat patted his chest and assured Gervas that the Pat family and the Gail family were now true allies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should the Gail family face any trouble, Pat would never stand idly by.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas naturally nodded with a smile and saw Pat, the Viscount, off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all needed to return to prepare and inventory their grain, as Gervas had informed them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he returned to his domain, he would immediately send a team to purchase this year’s harvest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas planned to transport the grain back to Storm Ridge before the full severity of the Winter Frost arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, even then, overland transport might not be feasible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By then, roads would be muddy, frozen solid, and even walking would be difficult, let alone transporting goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gervas had never intended to transport grain overland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gervas, you could’ve signed the contract with Viscount Pat and the others at the normal price—they’d have agreed anyway!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Pat and the others left, Andrew finally couldn’t hold back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words carried no blame, but he was clearly pained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though some of those nobles were his personal friends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even brothers must settle accounts clearly—business deals must never be tainted by sentiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ask Viscount Mil and Viscount Ian if you don’t believe me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Mil and the others immediately nodded: “Baron Andrew, Gervas is right—the normal price for southern grain is ten copper coins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And in border regions, it’s even higher!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Father, if we transported overland, the advantage would indeed be small—perhaps just a bit of hard-earned profit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But what if we used sea transport instead?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sea transport?” Andrew blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were sea transport, then yes, there would be real profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d heard that the great noble families made fortunes daily through sea trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But could anyone just sail the seas?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention storms—the sea beasts within were every ship’s nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without a large vessel bearing Sea God Stone, the cargo might as well be tossed into the ocean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas knew exactly what his father was thinking, so before he could ask, he revealed the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gervas, you have five sea vessels?!” Before Andrew could speak, Ernst, the elder brother, was already stunned, his jaw nearly dropping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a viscount’s family, if it owned one or two sea vessels, was already among the elite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Gervas had five.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he was now a count, he’d only just become one—this was too lucky!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s right, Ernst. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have considered paying a premium for the grain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, Father, didn’t I tell Pat and the others that one-fifth of the payment could be settled in supplies?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those supplies are worthless at the border, but in the interior, their value triples or quadruples.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For example, a common rabbit pelt costs five or six copper coins at the border, but in the interior, it’s over thirty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even at half-price offset, I still make ten copper coins more than I would at the border!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They might demand half, all of it—even supplies exceeding the payment value!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In that case, I won’t need to spend a single gold coin to acquire their grain in the future!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Gervas’s premium was merely a hook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The real focus wasn’t just buying grain—it was trading his domain’s specialties with Pat and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the Tulip Trading House also purchased goods in its own territories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their prices were too low—as he said, a qualified rabbit pelt fetched only five copper coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet they resold it for five times that price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the Tulip Trading House had powerful sales channels that made liquidation easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if Gervas didn’t want to remain forever the lowest-tier supplier, exploited like a scallion by the Tulip Trading House…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he had to change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, seizing this opportunity, he intended to start with Viscount Pat and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His greatest advantage? His sea vessels—this eastern region bordered the sea, making it ideal for trade routes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Pat and the others tasted the profit, this trade would only grow larger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Storm Ridge’s goods gained a stable sales channel, Gervas could build a far vaster trade network.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Farming was merely the foundation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a domain to truly rise, trade was the accelerant!\u003C\u002Fp>",1167,"2026-06-20T22:44:02.688Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","96daf317f628bb19cf5a0790f668ae5b7cebf16e5d4eea5d320ccaa21c79f720","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-512","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-510",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]