Chapter 383 Doing Business with the Undead
Mia is an unmarried textile worker with an ugly blue birthmark on her face.
Collins was a cotton worker who broke his leg on a cotton farm and was sent home to die.
Like the civilians in the Town of the Dead, they are refugees abandoned by the Town of Camor.
Finding out who the people of Westham were grateful to, Earl Dimos was fine, but Joyce Andre's face felt like it was burning.
About two and a half years ago, he was the one who believed the words of the Kamoer nobles and led the holy priests to chase Yang, almost killing these abandoned civilians...
The militiaman leading the way
The Logistics Department headed by Ms. Mia arranged jobs for countless Westham people. The grassroots rural cadres brought up by Mr. Collins, a group of veteran national team cadres, organized and led more than 20 villages in Westham to improve grain varieties, improve sowing methods, dig ditches, and mediate water disputes in villages... The militiamen who were composed of rural youth were no less grateful to these prosperous believers than to the dead.
"I'm from Lakeside Village. Our village was so poor in the past that many families couldn't even find two complete pairs of trousers. After Mr. Collins and Mr. Tom came to us, they taught us to grow rushes and reeds by the Horseshoe Lake and to enclose the reeds to raise ducks. Now our villagers make almost as much as they did from farming in previous years just by selling rush mats, straw sandals, straw huts and ducks."
When passing through the main road in the town, a militiaman who was originally a villager of Lakeside Village excitedly pointed at a roast duck restaurant and shouted: "Look, the duck over there is provided by our village, the Undead Specialty Roast Duck Restaurant, half a duck only costs eight copper coins."
The noble young man following Count Dimos saw clearly that there was indeed a banner hanging under the shop's sign that read "Half a duck for eight copper coins, a whole duck for sixteen copper coins" and asked in surprise, "So cheap? How can you make money with such a price?"
The militiaman was even more proud when he saw that the person asking the question was a young nobleman who looked dusty but had a good family background. He said, "A duck has more than just meat to sell for money , young master. The duck down and duck feathers will be collected by people from the town's industrial zone. The duck heads and duck feet will be purchased by the buyers from the canteen department of the Logistics Department to make snacks. The easy-to-handle parts of the duck's internal organs will also be collected by the Logistics Department, and the difficult-to-handle parts will also be collected by people from the industrial zone and ground into feed... They will be sold bit by bit, and the final duck meat will be sent to the roast duck restaurant."
"There are several villages like our Lakeside Village that raise ducks, but the ducks we raise are not enough to sell. Now even Innadera can't supply them all. I heard from Village Chief Sharp that starting this year, the Undead Mayor will allocate a special fund to support breeding and expand the scale of duck breeding. We will strive to expand our Westham duck breeding industry to a point where we can guarantee the supply of duck meat in Innadera within three years..."
The more the noble young man listened to the militiaman's chatter, the more shocked he was. He secretly looked up and down at the chattering militiaman several times.
He rode a common horse instead of a terrestrial steed or other mixed-breed horse. He was short and stocky, and dressed ordinary. There were some mud spots on his riding boots and trouser legs. Apart from the uniform, sword, and half leather armor, he had no extra decorations on his body. His hair was a little oily, and his skin was tanned from long-term patrols. His skin was quite rough, and there were large freckles on his face.
No matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem to be born in a good family. He must be telling the truth when he claims to be a villager.
This shocked the young nobleman... How could a militiaman who came from the countryside be so knowledgeable about local government affairs and be able to introduce the local economic industry in a clear and logical manner?
While the noble young man was staring at the chattering militia in doubt and astonishment, Count Dimos was also frowning at the militia.
He had the same confusion as Master Lance of the Lowell family.
In Count Dimos's common sense, country people are definitely not the kind of freaks who can calmly lead the fully armed cavalry of holy priests and speak eloquently in front of noble guests without being humble or arrogant.
This is not just a question of courage - for a country bumpkin who generally doesn't even know his own name and is considered smart if he can speak clearly and coherently, it is really a bit unbelievable that he can understand and introduce a local industry to others.
Count Dimos thought more deeply than Master Lance...
Militiamen whose conversation and speech are no less eloquent than those of middle-class gentlemen, weaving women who can serve as high-ranking officials in the Logistics Department, cotton workers who can organize villagers to plant and raise crops - how do these undead archons recruited by the Nightmare Butcher manage to accurately select the available talents from the mediocre civilians?
Noble families select clever young men from among their hereditary servants and train them from an early age, but they may not be able to train two decent deacons out of a group of them - most of the hereditary servants can only do menial tasks like their parents.
The more Count Dimos pondered, the more he found it difficult to understand...
Amid the militia's endless chatter, the group crossed the town's main street and arrived at the town hall.
Count Dimos, the Paladin Joyce Andre, and the young man of the new generation of the Lowell family, Master Lance, who came from afar, finally saw the black-robed ascetic monk they had been thinking about.
"Thank you for all the hard work along the way."
Brother Lowell happily greeted Count Dimos and his former subordinate Andre. When he saw the excited Master Lance in the crowd, he was stunned for a moment and said hesitantly: "You are... Lance?"
Master Lance pulled down his cloak, took two quick steps forward, put his hand on his chest, bowed and saluted: "Long time no see, great-great-grandfather."
"It's really Lance." Brother Lowell quickly supported the young man whose eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to his own, and said with emotion, "The last time we met, you were just a little boy. In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so much. How is your father?"
Ji Tang, who accompanied Brother Lowell to greet the guests, looked back and forth between Brother Lowell's face and Master Lance's face with a confused look.
Ji Tang did not have Zhao Zhenzhen's ability to communicate with the natives without obstacles by pronouncing words, so he could not understand what Master Lance was saying. He only felt that this young guest looked a lot like Brother Lowell.
"My father is very good, and my grandfather is also very good." Young Master Lance looked at his living ancestor with admiration and said excitedly, "Before I came, my grandfather asked me to give his regards to you."
"Okay, very good." Brother Lowell smiled and patted Lance on the shoulder. "Count, let's go inside and talk. Andre, take the people and settle them down first and then come back. The people from the Logistics Department have prepared accommodation for you."
Andre nodded in agreement, and the logistics officer waiting nearby came over enthusiastically and invited the priests to follow him.
Westham also receives caravans from the south in summer and autumn. There are many hotels and inns directly operated by the Logistics Department on the main street in the town, and guests can be accommodated by freeing up two rooms.
Brother Lowell invited the visiting group into the reception room of the town hall. The two sides sat down and exchanged a few words. Then he signaled Ji Tang to take out the azalea badge and distribute it to Count Dimos, the Count's personal butler, and the official members of the visiting group including his great-great-grandson.
After more than ten guests had received their badges, Brother Lowell stretched out his hand to Ji Tang and said to his compatriots, "This is the Undead Archon of Westram, Ji Tang."
Ji Tang smiled brightly at the delegation: "Hello, everyone."
The members of the visiting group who heard the voices of the undead for the first time all nodded to Ji Tang curiously - Ji Tang's identity was not surprising to them. The undead who came in and out with Brother Lowell must have an extraordinary identity.
Brother Lowell introduced the members of the visiting group to Ji Tang. When he introduced Lance, this monk who looked a little younger than Master Lance said with a little pride: "This is my eleventh-generation great-grandson, Lance Jermay Lowell. He looks a bit like me. Ji Tang, you should have noticed it, right?"
Ji Tang: “???”
Wait a minute, which generation, what grandson? !
Brother Lowell assumed that the Tarantan undead were all thousand-year-old souls who had experienced a long sleep. He did not realize how much of a mental shock his eleventh-generation great-grandson had caused to Ji Tang, so he naturally continued to introduce the next person...
The members of the visiting delegation carefully selected by the Shiga royal family and the Church of Prosperity are all acquaintances of Brother Lowell. Count Dimos once led his troops to resist the threat of the Death God System in the western border of the Principality and fought side by side with Brother Lowell. The other members have also met Brother Lowell to some extent.
It was the first meeting between the visiting delegation and the Undead Regime, and Lowell was not in a hurry to discuss business; the envoy, Count Dimos, also needed to test the bottom line of the Undead Regime. After the two sides got to know each other, they tacitly exchanged pleasantries on unimportant topics.
"I heard that Innadri has a kind of dead cloth that is famous all over the world, and even the Kenyan Empire attaches great importance to it?" Count Dimos first brought up the first topic he had been considering for a long time.
The Principality of Shiga attaches great importance to farming, and the mining, metallurgy and textile industries are relatively declining. Nearly half of the country's textiles are imported from the north. If the fabrics can be obtained nearby, most of the transportation costs can be reduced.
"That's true." Ji Tang had previously discussed with Lowell about the trade issues with the Principality of Shiga. He immediately took out a stack of samples and showed them to the guests while introducing the export types and unit prices.
The total population of the Rhine Kingdom is only around 20 million, so it cannot pursue full industrialization in a short period of time. It would be good enough if it can develop livelihood industries such as agriculture and animal husbandry. Since industrialization is impossible in the short term, importing synthetic fiber fabrics from Earth will not have any impact on local industries. The only territory of Odysseus capable of producing its own fabrics cannot avoid importing undead cloth from Innadri.
Of course...now the undead cloth is not only the curtain cloth that Yang Qiu bought from the bottom stocks in Province G, Province D, and Province K, but also the synthetic fiber cloth that the national team directly pulled from the chemical production areas.
Synthetic fibers, a by-product of the petrochemical industry, were introduced into this alien world, which was truly a dimensionality reduction attack - if it were not for the limitations on transportation conditions, the textile industry of the Kenyan Empire would not have lasted for more than a few years.
China already produces more than 70% of the fabrics needed for daily life on Earth, so it wouldn't be a big deal if the alien world could take over a few dozen countries.
Polyester (Dacron) with strong wrinkle resistance, high elasticity, durability, and especially suitable for making clothing jackets and tents; cotton (nylon) with wear-resistant, high fatigue resistance, and excellent thermal stability; acrylic with high heat resistance, bright coloring, and cold-proof and warm-keeping properties dazzled the group of Shijia nobles.
What made the Shiga nobles even more irresistible was the price - no matter what kind of cloth it was, it was so cheap that it was the same price as the lowest grade white cotton cloth in the Kenyan Empire (including transportation costs)!
Ji Tang made the guests fully aware of the quality and price advantages of the Undead Cloth, and also thoughtfully mentioned the transportation matters... The progress of building railways in the Tarantan Wasteland was too slow, and it was not cost-effective to transport goods from Innadri, so the Shiga people could pick up the goods directly from the Exile Town - just ask someone to change the delivery location of the goods to the Exile Town, which would be no difficulty.
It is more than 200 kilometers from the Exile Town to the eastern border of the Principality of Shiga. The goods are pulled by six-legged lizards, which are the most commonly used land transportation nowadays. As long as you bring supplies and maps for the road, there will be no problem.
As for the most difficult wandering monsters and demon attacks that pose the greatest threat to the transport team, the Exile Town can provide undead mercenary guards - bring an extra iron plate summoning array, and when encountering danger, just summon the undead on the spot like the prisoner road repair team!
Count Dimos was still trying to resist the temptation of the undead cloth, wondering why the undead regime was willing to provide such considerate pre-sales and after-sales services. The other members of the delegation could not help but sign the order with Ji Tang on the spot...
After Joyce Andre settled the holy priests, she hurried to the town hall, where she saw the members of the visiting group signing undead cloth trading orders with Ji Tang on behalf of their families.
Andre: “……???”
Brother Lowell invited Andre to sit down and introduced his former subordinate to Ji Tang. Before the two sides had even exchanged a few words, a member of the visiting group took the initiative to ask about Innadeli's import intentions and inquired about the possibility of exchanging food or minerals for undead cloth.
Tarantan is inconvenient to transport and grain is not easy to transfer, but Ji Tang is very interested in the minerals and immediately started a lively conversation with the other party.
Andre was stunned and looked at Count Dimos silently.
If he remembered correctly, the main purpose of this visit was not to do business with the undead, right?
Count Dimos did not notice Andre's gaze and still kept his head down, carefully looking through the samples of the undead cloth.
