Volume 3: Fellow villagers, let’s farm together~ Chapter 82 St. Bridge Maritime Logistics
The magic adaptation of dark fairy tales is used to entertain everyone, so that a small number of people can understand why others do certain things and what the consequences of doing so are; ghost stories are used to stimulate everyone and at the same time instill in them what not to do.
All the folk tales and popular stories on the earth were initially created to guide positive public order and good customs (in line with the background of the times and social values at the time), but they inevitably evolved from multiple angles in the middle and late stages, becoming vulgar, erotic, sensational, curious, and so on, with good and bad mixed together, and some are rotten... For example, The Decameron and the unbeautified One Thousand and One Nights, it's nonsense to say how much educational significance these have in public order and good customs.
There are also a lot of random things in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and Notes from the Yuewei Cottage that are imagined by over-eager literati... Only Mengxi Bitan, written by Shen Kuo, an ancient agent worker, is reliable.
But no matter whether they are reliable or fantasy, popular stories are very easy to be passed on and have strong vitality. More people have read Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio than those who have read Zizhi Tongjian. This shows that spiritual art based on folk legends has a wider audience than serious literature that is difficult to understand. Therefore, if Xiao Yun wants to improve the spiritual height and ideological armament of the grassland people, he must start from this aspect.
Well... For now, the ghost story of the mountain farmer has indeed scared everyone, but at least it has left two deep impressions in everyone's mind: one is to be wary of people who look harmless when you go out, and the other is not to think that you can do bad things when it is dark and windy and there is no one around...
It was really painful that night when I was hugged by my roommate Qingyan while sleeping... This guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes was pretending to be cool, but his true colors were revealed when there were many people around. He clung to Xiao Yun like an octopus and made Xiao Yun unable to sleep well that night.
When Xiao Yun woke up the next day, he saw that everyone, including the grassroots tribe leader, had black spots under their eyes. He almost spit out laughter - do you really need to do that?
We have only lit candles a few times in our tribe, and we can do whatever we want in the dark without any hindrance. Is it reasonable to be afraid of the dark?
There was no other way, Xiao Yun had to tell ghost stories only once every ten days or so, to avoid telling them too frequently and scaring these furry guys into having problems...
The weather gradually warmed up. When the daytime temperature reached an average of 20 degrees and rice seedlings could be grown and transplanted, a fleet of 20 ships crossed the inland sea and arrived near a natural harbor with a deeper draft in the middle of the southwestern border of the grassland.
Dan Claudy stood on the deck and looked towards the coastline. After a long while of intense gaze, he turned to look at the leather-armored archer holding a monocular beside him and asked, "Have you seen the elves? Can we dock?"
The human ranger wearing leather armor and carrying a longbow tilted his head and looked at Dan for a moment: "...I thought you could see clearly from such a distance."
"What a joke, I don't have Hawkeye, I'm just pretending." Dan Claudy said confidently.
The human ranger was too lazy to pay attention to the shameless knight and raised his binoculars again to look towards the coastline.
"Got it, it's the flag of the elves, report it to His Royal Highness the Prince!"
Soon, Prince Carlisle, dressed in neat casual clothes, came out of the cabin and strode onto the deck: "Have you found the elves to pick you up?"
"Found it, it's right there." The ranger handed the telescope to Carlisle and pointed out the direction.
Seeing the elves' pennant on the coast through the telescope, Carlisle immediately ordered the flag bearer: "Send the flag and dock in the direction of our allies!"
It was not a difficult matter for Prince Carlisle to contact the forest elves. He did not need to run around to the forest elves' territory to try his luck. He could just entrust the Elf Bards Association that was active on the continent... In comparison, it was more troublesome to negotiate cooperation with the forest elves, because these light green-skinned, pointy-eared people were accustomed to being self-sufficient and rather arrogant. In their eyes, the kings and princes of small human countries were of little value.
Fortunately, hard work pays off. After receiving the guidance and education from Teacher Ayun, Prince Carlisle also understood what it means to play the long game and to adapt to local conditions. He simply did not focus on trading with the grassland, but instead used the channels for communication and trade between the forest elves and the sea people as a bargaining chip - the elves and the sea people are both famous for producing high-quality works of art, but the sea people live in the tropics and the elves live in the temperate zone, separated by mountains and seas, and both sides are relatively homebodies... The Saint Bridge Kingdom Merchants Group volunteered to be this cheap courier. The condition for cooperation is that the forest elves only help them provide a port for their fleet to dock, and the Queen of the Forest Elf will open her mouth.
It was also troublesome to dock at a relatively unfamiliar port. The forest elves had no experience in sailing. The ports they helped guard were all based on the coordinates sent by Prince Carlisle to the Bards Guild. Even the docks built at the ports were very strange... So after another day and night of tossing and turning, twenty ships finally managed to dock. They had to rely on small boats to land and let the sailors on the ships come down to build a dock that could allow the large ships to unload...
Prince Carlisle wiped his sweat. Fortunately, he did not wait until summer to set sail, otherwise he would definitely be too late...
The dock was a mess, but the forest elves in the port living area had done a good job, providing cabins for the crew to rest and live, square platforms for trading, and even supporting inns, hotels and small shops. Obviously, these pointy-eared guys were not just stupid people, they saw the long-term value of this cooperation from the importance the Kingdom of St. Bridget attached to maritime trade, and were ready to make a small fortune.
Carlisle took a small boat to the shore, asked people to speed up the repair of the dock, and then rushed to meet with the forest elves - traveling with him were an elf ranger sent by the Bards' Guild, four officials sent by the Adventurers' Guild to conduct research, and six sea nobles. These three groups of people were important bargaining chips for Prince Carlisle to negotiate cooperation with the forest elves.
The Queen of Forest Elf would certainly not come to the coastline to meet a prince from a small human country, nor would she bother to send out more important elders. The only one who came to cooperate with Carlisle was a general from an elven tribe.
The elven general led a hundred or so elven warriors and openly circled a large stretch of coastline on the grassland, leaving the Lamia Caravan's coast patrols in a state of dismay. When Prince Carlisle and his party passed through the trading square that was being built by the vassal elves' humans, orcs, and dwarves, and entered the elven-run hotel where the elven general was staying, a group of people sitting in the lobby and wearing Lamia Caravan's standard armor cast angry glances over.
Prince Carlisle looked straight ahead, his heart as steady as an old dog... Fortunately, I cleverly clung to the elves' thighs! What can you do to me!
"Welcome." The elven general walked out of the inner door with two guards, holding the long sword at his waist, and nodded slightly with elegance and reserve, "Prince Carlisle Harvey Ferdinand?"
"General Chryst." Carlisle saluted formally.
It was not known whether the elven general was intentionally showing off the elven power or what, but he did not even mention taking Prince Carlisle and the others to talk somewhere else. Instead, he simply extended his hand and gestured for invitation to the rest area on the other side of the lobby, then walked over and sat down first.
What else could Carlisle do? Of course he led his men over and sat down steadily under the watchful eyes of the enemy soldiers next door who were killing people.
"The Queen sent me to negotiate the transaction." The Elf General Crest took off the sword from his waist and stood it in front of him. When he sat down, he folded his hands and lightly placed them on the hilt. His attitude was arrogant... But his tone when he spoke was very elegant and polite. You couldn't help but be dissatisfied. "Prince Carlisle, can you introduce these guests?"
"Of course." Carlisle quickly turned to the important companion he brought with him and said solemnly, "This is Earl Winston of the Sea Clan."
The largest group of the sea tribe is mermaids, and this Earl Winston is naturally a mermaid... Of course, after coming ashore, the mermaids still look very similar to humans, but the details are a little different. The auricle of the ear is a layer of translucent blue film, and the second knuckle of the finger is also connected by a layer of film; in terms of physiognomy... It can't be said to be ugly, but the noses of the mermaids are rather awkward, with a high, flat and straight nose bridge (imagine the nose of Avatar), and the eyes appear a little cross-eyed...
Earl Winston placed his hand on his chest and saluted the Elf General with dignity, and the Elf General returned the salute slightly.
This cannot be said that the elves are so arrogant that they do not take the nobles of other tribes seriously. The main reason is that there are too many nobles in the sea tribe... Anyone who occupies a sea area and has tens of thousands of people can be considered a noble. The sea is so big, and the nobles of the sea tribe are simply as numerous as the hairs on a cow. If you want to respect them all, you will not be able to respect them all. Anyway, the sea tribe does not care much about these things, so it doesn't matter if they are all similar.
"This is Ms. Benjamin, an officer of the Research Department of the Adventurer's Guild."
The Adventurer's Guild is a non-governmental organization. Although it has a large number of members and a large scale, it is not as strict as an official organization after all. Most of the officials are hired. Benjamin is a commoner in status. He is not as arrogant as Earl Winston, who can salute while sitting. He stood up respectfully and squatted with his skirt lifted... Although he was not wearing a skirt, no one would criticize a woman's salute for disrupting the class.
"I'll do it myself." The Elf Ranger of the Bards Guild stood up with a smile, touched his chest and bowed, "I am Leo Sylvester of the Bards Guild."
"Are you a plains elf?" asked General Crest.
"Yes, I'm from the continent of Bradrick." Leo Sylvester said respectfully.
Crest nodded and turned his gaze to Carlisle.
Prince Carlisle has made many speeches overtly and covertly over the past year, connecting... uh, jointly winning over most of the nobles in the country to support his political views, and has seized the two major allies of the Bards Guild and the Sea Clan. He also used his status as a prince to win over the Adventurer's Guild, a non-governmental organization. He has already practiced this skill, and immediately smiled like a spring breeze and spoke like pearls falling on a plate: "The Kingdom of Saint Bridge hopes that the communication between our southern country and the northern continent can be established on the premise of friendship, mutual assistance, and win-win. As I said in my letter to Her Majesty the Queen of Elf, I hope that our fleet can become a bridge of friendship between our two sides. In the process of deepening in-depth understanding, while achieving the first goal of information flow, we can also establish opportunities for all-round cooperation for both sides..."
In a word, we in Saint Bridge don't eat alone! We definitely don't have such ugly eating habits as the Lamia Merchants. You see, I brought the sea people here directly, and also brought the bards who can flatter us to increase our popularity and reputation, and the Adventurer Guild that can make you forest elves sell all the non-mass-produced high-end, medium-end and low-end products!
By the way, I am trying to flatter the forest elves and elevate myself - we in Saint Bridget regard ourselves as the spokespersons of the southern part of the (human kingdom), and you forest elves are also the spokespersons of the northern continent in our eyes. Anyway, I believe it so shamelessly, you can believe it or not, anyway, we respect and value you very much!
And the most important point is… it’s too vulgar to talk about business right away! We are friends, and we talked about business in the process of making friends. The order of priority cannot be messed up!
General Crest's expression suddenly became very kind - yes, the forest elves are proud and noble, but the queen also needs to eat and drink, and we also have material needs, otherwise who would be so idle to bring a vassal race out to build a port for you~
Prince Carlisle boasted a lot to elevate the status of this informal meeting, then changed the subject to mention the actual details of the cooperation, and enumerated the benefits that the forest elves could get from the cooperation... You can't just talk without doing, or just do without talking. Especially when giving benefits to others, you can't be too proud, you must make it clear!
The first thing is what best demonstrates Saint Bridge’s sincerity - Saint Bridge Merchant Group does not interfere in the direct trade between the forest elves and the sea people, but only takes over the logistics business in the middle. The sea people transport the goods, and Saint Bridge charges a transportation fee. When the forest elves’ goods are transported to the sea people, Saint Bridge also only charges the transportation fee, and all the net profits belong to you!
The same goes for the transactions between the Forest
They will definitely not take all the benefits and kill both sides like the Lamia Merchants Group!
Anyway, these two collaborations can ensure that Saint Bridge's merchant ships are safe and sound whether they are sailing in the sea or after landing. If the Lamia caravan wants to attack Saint Bridge's merchant ships in the sea, it should ask the sea people first. If it wants to deal with Saint Bridge's merchant group on the shore, it should also ask the elves and those unruly adventurers whether they agree.
Prince Carlisle made such a clear and formal statement. Not only did Earl Winston and Ms. Benjamin look upon him as if he were divine, but General Crest also found this prince of the small human kingdom particularly pleasing to the eye...
Across the hall, the Lamia Caravan Coast Guard, who had come to block Prince Carlisle's way and threatened him, was confused... Damn, is this guy crazy? You've given up all the benefits of maritime trade, who are you working so hard for? !
If Prince Carlisle could hear the enemy's voice, he would definitely laugh three times - it sounds good to kill two pigs, but the question is, has your Lamia Merchant Group succeeded in doing business with the forest elves and the sea people over the years? Are they willing to be pigs for you to kill?
The benefits that can be obtained are the benefits. The benefits that cannot be obtained are just illusions no matter how good they are.
After the very pleasant meeting, General Crest immediately arranged for people to send the research officials of the Sea Clan and the Adventurer's Guild to meet the Elf Queen... Well, the Elf Queen may not necessarily meet her, but the elders will still come out for them to have a look. The handicrafts, special weapons and armor, and forest specialties produced by the forest elves are just garbage taking up space if they are not sold. If they are sold, they will be profits. If Ms. Benjamin thinks that the forest has adventurous value, then in view of the wealth brought by adventurers, the forest elves will not mind opening a convenient door - the benefits of popular adventure destinations are obvious. The Orc Empire has built several adventure cities in the York Mountains!
No one had ever done this seriously before, but now that Prince Carlisle is willing to use the power of a country to guarantee maritime transportation, there is no reason for the forest elves to refuse.
After the meeting was concluded, Prince Carlisle shook hands with General Crest with a smile, walked out with his head held high to arrange his own fleet... After this talk, if the Lamia Merchant Group dared to cause trouble on the land of the elven warriors again, Prince Carlisle would admire them.
"I really want to meet the teacher!" After allocating the wooden house provided by the elves and sitting down to take a breath, Prince Carlisle unconsciously cast his gaze into the depths of the grassland. Unfortunately... he knew very well that he must not leave this port under the eyes of the Lamia Coast Patrol, otherwise others would definitely assassinate him at all costs.
It was necessary to contact the Snow Wolf Tribe. We couldn't risk sending our own people out, so we had to ask the elves for help. Prince Carlisle rested for a night, and the next day he found General Crest and raised the matter. General Crest immediately sent two warriors to escort... The forest elves didn't plan to eat this batch of goods. They would buy a little bit of spices, but they were not interested in anything else.
The elf warrior Kai, who had participated in the defense of the Ice and Snow King City and had just fought head-on with the Beast King's army, and his companion Hailin, who was more vicious in his words, were called over by General Crest...
"Contact the Snow Wolf Tribe?!"
Upon hearing the request made by Prince Carlisle, the elf warrior Kai was suddenly shocked.
"Yes, my teacher Ayun's tribe, the chief is Huoyan, they live in the southwest of the grassland, about... five days away from the coast." Prince Carlisle said, "Please send my friend safely to teacher Ayun. The cargo on the ship will be transported to the depths of the grassland by teacher Ayun's tribe."
Knight Dan Claudy, alchemist Tim Humphrey, and greatsword warrior Darren smiled at the two warriors in a friendly manner... As for the female mage Yumi Hockley, she was locked in the wooden house by His Royal Highness the Prince. One reason was to prevent her from harassing the snow werewolf Dahe, and the other was to prevent her from harassing the elven warriors - these elven warriors were strong in martial arts and had high average looks. The group of humans were worried that Yumi would cause trouble, but they were also very upset.
Kai: "...Are you serious? Why don't you trade with the cat tribe?"
"There are also cats in Teacher Ayun's tribe ." Prince Carlisle explained.
Kaihu's body trembled again: "???"
"Kai, Hailin, you must protect the safety of our three human friends." General Crest did not understand his subordinates' complicated feelings at all and gave the orders irresponsibly.
Can Kai still be so nagging? As a soldier, is he really going to disobey orders...
This time, with two elf warriors leading the way, the group avoided a lot of detours, especially the long detour around the forest, and could go straight through. After only three days of walking, the group of five saw the Snow Wolf engineering team working hard to dig an artificial river channel to the south canyon.
Kai, Helene, Dan, Tim, Darren: “???”
The three humans and two elves rubbed their eyes vigorously, and then looked over there intently - they were not mistaken, there really was a large group of snow werewolves, mixed with some gray dwarves, and even goblins... They were digging a pit, a very long, narrow pit with no end in sight.
Five people: “?!”
They came from the downwind direction, and when they saw the snow werewolves, the snow werewolves also saw them. The two snow werewolves dropped their hoes, climbed out of the strange long pit, and ran towards them grunting.
After running a few steps, the two snow wolves stopped again, looking at them in confusion, and seemed to be whispering something to each other. They didn't dare to get close... What was going on? Were humans and forest elves mixing together?
Alchemist Tim was very annoyed... The first thing he thought of was the reputation of the elves on the grassland, or the reputation of the people all over the world towards the elves...
"Um... I'm Tim, a friend of Mr. Ayun's student. Is Hongye here?"
"Ayun? Hongye?" Ayan's eyes lit up, and he quickly dragged his tribesmen over and trotted over, "Are you friends from the Huoyan tribe?"
"Yes, yes." Tim and the other three nodded quickly, looking at the two snow wolves they didn't know in surprise. This shouldn't be the case. They lived in the Fire Tribe for more than half a month last year, so they should be familiar with each other.
"Hongye is behind us." Ah Yan pointed backwards, blinked at the two elves, then turned back to look at Tim and asked directly in a pure and simple tone, "Why are you with the elves?"
"..." The three humans had deep expressions.
"..."The two elves also had deep expressions.
The five guests were brought into the river construction site by A Yan and his companion. The five were so shocked by the river project that looked very well dug. The two elves who were mixing with the humans were so shocked that the gray dwarves and goblins forgot to dig.
"Hey, Tim, Darren, you're here?" Hongye jumped out of the river and waved at them in surprise.
"Hongye~~" Dan Claudy pounced forward with his tongue sticking out, but Hongye grabbed his head with his big hand and moved to the side.
Tim and Darren pretended not to know Dan.
"Ayun mentioned you a few days ago. Did the fleet arrive smoothly? Where is Carlisle?" Hongye held down the funny knight who was trying to struggle with one hand, smiling.
"Carlisle has reached a cooperation agreement with the Sea Clan. With the Sea Clan on board, the voyage is going smoothly. Our fleet is entering the Elf Clan's port, and Carlisle asked us to inform Teacher Ayun." Tim said, "These two Elf warriors are friends of the Elf Clan, and they came here specially to escort us."
"Well, now you are the guest. Our lunch will be delivered soon. Let's eat together, and then I will take you back to the tribe." Hongye knew the instructions that Ayun gave to Carlisle, and was not surprised that an elf followed.
Tim and Darren rubbed their hands in anticipation. The food of the Snow Wolf Tribe was indeed delicious, especially the fried pancakes with water and oil. They missed the crispy crust for a long time after they returned home.
"...We don't need that. Let's go hunt for some prey ourselves." Kai refused without hesitation. He declined the food from the grassland tribe.
Then Kai saw three humans looking at him in surprise...
