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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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“As far as I know, you are selling 10 kilograms of sugar for 25 silver coins, and sometimes even for 30 coins when the supply is low.”
“That’s right, you know the market price well.”
“Thank you.”
The Doge now looked at me as if to test me and asked with a voice full of curiosity.
“Then, do you happen to know how much sugar is imported here?”
For a moment, I wanted to answer, “About 100 tons, I think.”
But since I had already answered the exact market price, answering off-handedly…
No matter how I thought about it, it wouldn’t look good, and for something like “sugar,” which is almost a strategic resource of this era, there’s no way I could know unless I had access to confidential documents.
It would be best to answer that I don’t know.
“I don’t know.
However, judging from the enormous amount of sugar being traded in the market outside, I think a considerable amount is being traded.”
The Doge seemed to like that answer and replied with a smile.
“Of course you couldn’t know.
Because no one except me, a few senators, and the executives of the Spice Guild can know how much sugar is being traded.”
“Is that so?”
Although I tried to appear calm on the outside, I felt a sense of relief that I had escaped the crisis by giving a good answer.
Ignoring my reaction, the Doge said,
“That’s right. From what I’ve heard, the amount of sugar you brought is equivalent to 4 carts.
With the income of your territory that I know of, you wouldn’t be able to purchase that much sugar without going through us… How did you obtain it?”
“I developed a method to make sugar.
That’s how I was able to bring such a large amount.”
Upon hearing those words, the Doge showed an extremely shocked expression in front of me for the first time.
It had to be, because exaggerating a bit, what I had done was equivalent to achieving the miracle of making gold using “unknown ingredients.”
Of course, even if he didn’t know what the ingredients were, if I had made “gold,” it was as if I had achieved a miracle.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?”
I deliberately answered nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders.
“You know that no matter how hard we try, we ‘absolutely’ cannot import sugar without going through Hamburg, right?”
After pondering for a moment, the Doge sighed and grumbled,
“… Well, those Spenian bastards could smuggle, but if they were to smuggle this much sugar, it would be 3 times cheaper to just buy it from me.
There’s no way they would do such a crazy thing.”
“Yes, will you believe me now?”
“Alright, if it were 2 carts, I would suspect that you were hastily disposing of smuggled goods, but 4 carts is a different story.
It’s a whopping 2 tons of sugar, isn’t it?
Even a duchy wouldn’t smuggle that.
Let’s get to the point. How much will you sell it for?”
I pondered for a moment and then spoke in a voice mixed with bluff.
“25 silver coins for 10 kilograms, but I’ll give you as much as you want.
I swear I won’t jack up the price with lies about a bad harvest like those Spenian bastards, Your Excellency.”
“Cut the nonsense. I don’t know how much money you spent to make the sugar, but you brought it to me because you made it at a price cheaper than 25 silver coins, right?”
The Doge thought for a moment, then looked at me and said with a smile,
“Alright, I’ll be especially generous. Let’s make it 17 silver coins for 10 kilograms, but in return, I’ll exempt all the tariffs when you sell it here and purchase as much as you want.”
Upon hearing these words, I barely suppressed the smile that was about to escape from my mouth.
Even if I sell at that price, 15 silver coins per 10 kilograms is a huge sum that makes it a profitable business.
However, if I don’t manage my expression here, the other party might say, “Alright then, I’ll lower it to 10 coins,” and haggle, so I have to act as if it’s nothing.
This is also a profit, but it’s the basics of business to sell at the highest price possible if you can.
Therefore, to obtain the maximum profit, I decided to give up my pride to some extent.
Even the great Chinese general Han Xin crawled under the crotch of a local thug when he was poor.
“… That price is absolutely not possible… Even if we have secured a way to make sugar cheaply, we also need to make a living.
Your Excellency, how about 23 coins instead?”
“23 coins? Not bad, but isn’t that too much profit for you guys?
Even so, 23 coins, ha. It’s cheaper than buying from Spenia, but for guys who acquired a new method…
Alright, I’ll be generous.
I’ll buy it at 18 coins.”
“18 coins? Please raise it to at least 20 coins. I beg you.”
Then, I lowered my heavy head and took a posture as if begging for mercy from the Doge.
As I continued to show this servile attitude, the Doge seemed to feel that he had gained the upper hand in the negotiation and showed a bright expression.
It is the way of nobles to never bow their heads to other nobles except the king and liege lord in any situation, but since I bowed my head this much…
In this situation, no one would think that I have the leisure to scheme.
The Doge then smiled and said,
“No, hahaha… Let’s just make it 18 coins.
But in return, we’ll take special care of your territory.
And we will also reduce the tariffs when trading with us?
There won’t be any better conditions than this.”
Then he grabbed my hand and started shaking it with a truly evil smile.
….
At times like this, what did successful negotiators in history do, no, before that, a senior who earned a doctorate degree said something about “Im Sang-ok”…
“The scene where Im Sang-ok sells red ginseng to the Qing bastards is always a good read.
To those bastards who haggled, saying they wouldn’t buy the red ginseng that they absolutely had to take, he said, okay, if you don’t buy it at this price, I’ll burn it all, and he burned it.
But the reason he was able to do that was…”
Because Im Sang-ok had a monopoly on the red ginseng that the Chinese couldn’t live without.
I’m not monopolizing all of the sugar, but if I say I’ll destroy all the sugar production factories that this person doesn’t know about…
I could sufficiently sell it at around 20 silver coins while putting on all sorts of airs.
And no matter how I think about it, if I accept it at 18 coins here, it seems like they will gradually suck us dry later, saying 17 coins and so on.
Just like how large corporations gradually reduce the unit price and exploit subcontractors…
I closed my eyes for a moment, strengthened my resolve, and then declared in a quiet voice,
“Your Excellency, I absolutely cannot sell for less than 20 coins.
Even selling like this, it’s 5 silver coins cheaper per 10 kilograms than sold in Spenia.
If this is just 1 ton, it’s equivalent to 50 gold coins, and I roughly estimate that the amount sold to Frantz, Elaine, Britannia, and Romania exceeds 200 tons.
If we supply all of this amount… Honestly, there’s too little left for us.”
The Doge, who had been bowing until just now, was taken aback for a moment when I spoke in such a confident voice.
“I-is that so?”
“Yes, and if this doesn’t work out… There’s no choice.
I will sell it through Salzburg to the east of the duchy of Nantes.
I should be able to get around 22 coins there.
Even if I pay tariffs, I will make about as much as selling it here at 19 coins.”
I said that, but even if I try to sell sugar to Salzburg, there are limitations to selling it because there are no ships to get there.
No matter how much the Doge of Hamburg tries to gather all the information, he probably doesn’t know the road conditions and maritime trade situation of our rural marquisate.
Taking advantage of the Doge’s continued inability to speak, I argued even more strongly.
“I think you can also choose the method of forming an alliance with Salzburg and not purchasing from us for about 1-2 years.
In that case, we will…”
“What will you do?
Are you saying you won’t make sugar or something?”
At those words, I grabbed the Doge’s hand first and said,
“Yes, we will burn everything. Including the technology, because if we can’t sell this, we don’t have the ability to maintain this technology for even a year.
Ah, and don’t even think about luring away the technicians from our territory.
We will kill them all if necessary to make sure you can’t take them.
I, Ciel von Kreutel, have a personality that would rather destroy everything than yield to others what I can’t have.”
I said that, but even if this deal is canceled, I’m not a crazy bastard who has developed a taste for killing people.
I have no intention of killing the peasants who have learned the “method of making sugar” even if I have to.
But the Doge, who couldn’t know my true intentions, looked at me with eyes full of shock and said,
“Are you saying you’re prepared to fight me if the situation doesn’t improve?”
I didn’t say anything.
After a brief silence, the Doge sighed and said,
“Alright, alright. I’ll purchase the sugar in the 4 carts and continue to purchase at the price of 20 silver coins per 10 kilograms as you said.
I can’t make any more concessions.
Sugar is a product that nobles blinded by banquets will all buy as soon as it’s brought in, but we also need to make a living, don’t we?”
The Doge’s eyes were filled with the will to interpret it as a will to fight if I asked for more concessions.
“Good. I will sell at that price.
So how much should I bring until next year?”
“Bring 40 carts of sugar.
I’ll give you 2,500 gold coins as an advance payment, and 3,500 coins when I receive the goods. Make sure to bring it.”
My mind went blank at the unimaginable amount.
With this money, I could prepare 100 sets of plate mail worn by ordinary knights, 100 war horses, and various weapons.
Ah, with this money, I could run an army of about 1,000 for 2 months and still have some left over money.
If I receive the balance, it would be equivalent to the 2-year budget of the duchy of Nantes.
Expanding the facilities will be a problem, but…
Well, I’ll have to buy slaves here and produce…
With the current facilities, 100 carts are produced annually…
Considering the construction period, I’ll have to increase the manpower by 3 times.
Fortunately, I planted 3 times more in the fields for cultivating sugar beets in case of an emergency.
Therefore, I tried hard to hide my smile, but in the end, I answered without being able to hide my smile.
“How could there be an objection?”
“Go right away.”
**
A few days later, an elderly steward working for the Doge’s family came with a cart.
When I checked all the gold coins in the cart, as expected, there were 2,500 gold coins.
Using those gold coins, I…
To make more money with sugar, I hired slaves and technicians to install various equipment, and at the same time, I purchased many weapons and armor.
According to the settings in the novel, a crisis that would be difficult to endure if not prepared soon would come.
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