Volume 3: Fellow villagers, let’s farm together~ Chapter 86: The Growth History of His Royal Highness the Prince
To be honest, Xiao Yun's mind was full of conspiracy theories at that time.
He stared at the tree lying flat on the flatbed. From the crown to the roots wrapped in mud, it looked very ordinary, but it looked very evil. All he could think about was what the forest elves were planning.
Glancing at the group of shocked elves out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Yun suddenly understood something.
"Hailin, come here."
Hailin walked over while staring at Lan Guo and the others. Her surprised and doubtful look really revealed a lot.
Xiao Yun gestured to Hailin to walk towards the treetops. Hailin hesitated before taking a step... He was also wondering why the tree suddenly stopped looking down on people; but when he got within three meters of it, the branches facing him parted as if they were avoiding something dirty...
Hailin: “…” She stepped back with a disheartened look on her face. The blessing tree was still the same blessing tree.
Xiao Yun let out a breath, feeling a little more confident, and pointed at the strange tree: "Is there something strange about this tree? You didn't tell us directly?"
"Really? I've already told you that the Blessing Tree has certain requirements for watering, growing area, and caregivers. Only people with pure hearts can make the Blessing Tree bear fruit..." Hailin couldn't admit that there was something fishy about this gift, so she said, "Well, your tribe seems to be very suitable for cultivating Blessing Trees..."
"How do the elves grow this strange tree?" Veins popped out on Xiao Yun's forehead, with a smile on his lips.
"Emmmm... a young elf less than a hundred years old..."
Xiao Yun looked at Hailin with a smile.
Hailin silently looked away.
It seems like you don’t think the Snow Wolf Tribe can grow the forest elf specialty that you are so proud of - you’re slapped in the face, brother!
See the truth but don't say it out loud. Everyone will be better off if they give each other some face.
In other words, the forest elves did not give the emperor new clothes, but instead gave him the strange tree in a serious manner. This is very straightforward... at least, more straightforward than the people on Earth.
But it is not possible to trust the forest elves so much. Xiao Yun just feels that these green-skinned pointy-eared people are holding back their farts.
Pulling Hailin aside, Xiao Yun lowered his voice and said, "We are old friends, Hailin, tell me something honest. The requirements for you 'pure' tree planters are to be silly and have empty minds, right?"
Hailin looked at Xiao Yun with a somewhat blunt gaze. Is it really okay to speak so bluntly?
"Don't think I didn't notice that the elves you escorted were quite far away from those two strange trees." Xiao Yun added, none of us would seriously think that stupidity equals kindness. If you dare to say that, then you elves are the same as me. You are as bad as I am.
"..." Hailin really had nothing to say, so she could only explain dryly, "It's a blessing tree."
"Whatever." Xiao Yun squinted his eyes and said, "I can understand that you forest elves don't want to be friends with us snow werewolves, so you give us some high-end sweet things to get rid of us. We have nothing to say about this. No matter what you give us, we will happily accept it... But as a friend, don't you have to tell me whether there are any hidden dangers in planting this tree?"
This tactic of first shutting people up, then playing the emotional card, and finally asking questions... In fact, Blessing Tree did not wrongly accuse Xiao Yun.
Hailin struggled for a while, but still told the truth: "--at most it won't bear fruit." You can definitely grow it.
"That's fine." Xiao Yun nodded, then thought about it and felt something was wrong, "Wait, where are those fruit trees? This can't be a trick, right?"
"Of course not." Hailin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "So what you value are actually those fruit trees?"
"Otherwise, stable production is much more reliable than things that talk about probability." Xiao Yun was relieved, and said, "I treat you as a friend, but you didn't say anything to make things clear earlier, waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves? Aren't you bored?"
Helin actually felt a little guilty about what he said, but he refused to accept it: "When the dwarf king asked our queen for the blessing tree, our queen didn't give it to him. Besides, although this tree only accepts young ones for care like unicorns, it can't be said that ordinary people will scare the tree to death if they get close to it."
Xiao Yun stared at him expressionlessly for two seconds, then suddenly turned around and strode towards Kai: "Kai, long time no see. Do you like the flower spirit statue from last time? I have also prepared exquisite gifts for you this time~"
"——Wait!" Hailin was confused and put her hand on Erkang. Damn, why are you turning against me so quickly!
The elves ate and drank delicious food and took many gifts. They left happily. The Snow Wolf Tribe also planted the gift tree they received.
Then... Xiao Yun pulled everyone in the tribe over to experiment:
All the Snow Wolf tribe members are very popular with the strange trees. The dumber and cuter they are, the more popular they are. When the Blue Fruit Grass Roots get close, the leaves just rub against them. When the Bull Horn Flame gets close, even the branches bend down to get close to them...
The difference among the cat clan is more obvious. The treatment of the manul cubs is comparable to that of the snow werewolves. When Qingyan and Qiu get close, they just rub against them with a few leaves to show their closeness. As for the leopard Xia... before he gets within two meters, a branch suddenly swings over and hits him in the face.
Xia was so angry that he wanted to scratch the tree, so Xiao Yun quickly asked Niu Jiao to drag him away.
Balke...it's better not to say anything.
Finally, Xiao Yun waited until there was no one around and sneaked closer to the strange tree again... The branches didn't hit him, but they just withered.
"You've become a spirit!" Xiao Yun kicked the strange tree.
There was a rustling sound, and a large number of yellow leaves fell down.
Xiao Yun turned around and left, too lazy to bother with this broken thing...whatever.
The two teams that set out separately to be the grassland couriers returned one after another after two months of running around, bringing back a large amount of fur and monster parts, as well as a few rare flowers and fruits that are unique to the grassland - they even brought back two special fruits that grow near the snow beast's nest. The skin of this thing is golden and hard like metal. The Snow Wolf tribe that picked it up used it as a tool to smash bones and suck marrow. Hongye thought this thing was beautiful, so she exchanged it for two bags of spices...
"The Wind and Thunder Fruit contains wind and thunder elements, and can be used to refine elemental stones." Balk recognized the thing, played with it in his hand, and handed it to Xiao Yun, "The Snow Werewolves don't need this thing, but the Tiger Tribe will not let it go if they see it."
"Why are they so rare? The tiger tribe also came from the Orc Empire. They know magic but we don't?" Xiao Yun stuffed the two metal balls into the bag. "Hey, come to think of it, how come the cat tribe doesn't know magic? Aren't they close relatives of the tiger tribe?"
"They have affinity with magic," Balk asked curiously. "Didn't you notice that the snow leopard Rosemary has affinity with water, Qingyan and the cheetah have affinity with wind, and Qiuqiu has affinity with it too. He should be a dark element, which is what humans call black magic..."
"Wait a minute! How did you know that?!" Xiao Yun was shocked.
"It's hard for me to explain this to you since you can't feel it." Balke pretended.
"Then can you teach them to be magicians? I will make you a statue of the Goddess of Life that is ten times bigger." Xiao Yun immediately put his big face against Balke's small face, his tone excited.
Balk was also very excited, but after being so excited for a long time, he said: "The magic of our dragon race comes from inheritance. I don't know how to teach other races..."
Xiao Yun stepped back expressionlessly and walked out, as heartless as a scumbag.
"We can find a way. Don't you always say that there are more solutions than problems? At worst, we can go find a mentor - hey, my ten-times-larger statue of the goddess!" Balkel held out his hand.
After more than two months of sleeping in the open air, the soldiers had lost weight. After returning, they washed themselves and had a good sleep. When they got up, they began to sort out the supplies they had exchanged for. It must be said that this was a great harvest. They exchanged for furs of various cattle, sheep, wild animals and magical beasts to fill two warehouses. There were also a lot of miscellaneous specialties that were of no use on the grassland but could be transported away and made a lot of money.
The working soldier Ayan diligently ran to the river with the furs collected from various tribes . These furs with varying degrees of processing technology had to be manually cleaned and classified by grade. The furs of wild beasts and magical beasts had to be picked out and put aside... On the grassland, all the furs were mixed together, but with the experience of the last transaction, everyone knew that the furs of wild beasts were more valuable than the furs of their own cattle and sheep, and the furs of magical beasts were even more valuable. The price difference was ten times or even a hundred times.
"This piece of unicorn viper shed skin picked up by the cat tribe is really complete. It has not been bitten by any insects. The horn skin on the snake head is also there. Those humans will definitely be willing to exchange it for ten boxes of peppercorns." The working chief of the Li tribe had the joy of an old farmer with a good harvest on his face. He shook and spread out his hands, and a large snake shed skin as thick as two people hugged together floated in the waves. The flowing river water washed away the garbage mixed in the snake skin.
"Yes, last time, two humans almost fought over the skin of the pale lizard beast's abdomen that was missing half." A migrant worker from another tribe nodded. "In the end, they raised the price to five bags of ginger and ten bags of garlic. I really don't know what you can do with that piece of skin. It's just enough to make a pair of pants?"
"They won't use it to make pants. I heard those humans talking about belts, armor, and... bags made from Warcraft skins. I think that's what they said. These things are very valuable. Humans like these things made from Warcraft skins very much."
"What are those things for?"
“I don’t know…”
"By the way, I also heard from a human warrior that his wife likes gloves and boots made of deerskin. Hongye, deerskin should be picked out from cow and sheep skins?" A Yan thought of something and said it quickly.
"Yes, yes, I forgot. I think Sal also said that deerskin has a better price before." Hongye slapped his head, "Ayan, pick out all the deerskins...ah, the crocodile skin is also counted separately, the crocodile is also a ferocious beast."
"Hey, do humans like crocodiles with such ugly skin?"
"Never mind. They also like the shells of thorn-backed beetles. That thing is even worse..."
Xiao Yun ran to the river to check on the fur sorting, and was very satisfied with the atmosphere - it turned out that doing business is the most challenging thing. Look at these silly guys, they have learned how to count.
After resting in the tribe for ten days and helping to harvest a crop of alfalfa, the warriors set out again to deliver the packed goods to the Elf Port... This batch of goods was larger than the last time, and it could not be delivered in one trip, so at least two trips were required. This time, Xiao Yun also followed the delivery team.
At the same time, in the southern part of Bloomfield continent, at the port of the Kingdom of Saint Bridge, merchant ships escorted by the royal navy were loading.
Prince Carlisle, dressed in plain clothes, patrolled the dock with his guards. Following him were some nouveau riche aristocrats with shallow roots. Although these people were easy to use, they were also short-sighted and dishonest. Prince Carlisle had to guard against these guys who were greedy and would pass off inferior goods as good ones.
After just turning around half a circle, Prince Carlisle discovered something wrong... The loading area assigned to the Conrad family was not handled by the dock coolies he designated but by the Conrad family's servants. He immediately strode over.
Viscount Conrad's butler saw His Royal Highness approaching from a distance, his face changed slightly, and he turned around and tried to slip away. But after taking a few steps, His Royal Highness stopped him and said, "Where are you going?"
"Your Highness..." The butler had to stop, his voice trembling.
Prince Carlisle winked at the guards, who stepped forward to restrain the butler who was trying to escape, while the others dispersed to check the goods piled around.
These guards were young men selected by Prince Carlisle from the kingdom's knight families who only had fiefdoms (not actual control, half of the local taxes belonged to them) and knighthoods, but no real power. They had limited ties with the noble circle of St. Bridget and were only loyal to Carlisle. They reported the abnormality without any concealment: "Your Highness, the bottoms of the bags here are all damp."
Prince Carlisle walked over and kicked one of the bags, and the garlic, which was moldy and rotten and oozing with water, rolled out of the bag.
Prince Carlisle took a deep breath and tried to suppress the anger that was rushing to the top of his head… The Conrad family made enough profit for a normal year in just one trip on the sea trade last time, but such huge profits did not win the loyalty of this upstart. His Royal Highness was furious - but he could not be angry.
Teacher Ayun said that if anger cannot solve the problem, it is just impotent rage.
Carlisle had never heard of this tongue-twisting word before. It took him a long time to figure it out. Then he was no longer as impulsive as before... Anger without any meaning was incompetence. Prince Carlisle's proud self-esteem hidden under his humble appearance would not allow him to do such a stupid thing.
Venting anger must be meaningful. In the right occasion and context, anger can help push things in the direction you want. However, in inappropriate occasions, anger is just a waste of energy and a display of your shallowness.
So Prince Carlisle did not lose control nor get angry. He calmly ordered the guards to control Conrad's housekeeper and servants, and ordered someone to call the people from the dock management office, asking the foreman who had formally signed a contract with the merchant group to arrange coolies to unload the goods that Conrad's family had already loaded into the warehouse.
The families that were loading goods watched as Conrad's goods were being unloaded under the watchful eyes of the prince's guards, with His Royal Highness the prince himself standing nearby. They were all terrified... Among them, a few people secretly signaled to their own people and secretly transported away some of the inferior goods that were about to be mixed in.
"Your Highness..." A young guard who couldn't bear to watch came up to Carlaire, but Prince Carlaire shook his head and signaled him not to say anything.
Carlisle was not blind. Although the dock was in chaos, he could still see some of the little movements. However, he was unmoved and still made the attitude of solving the Conrad family's problem before searching the next family - if you want to solve a problem, you must not expand the scope of the attack. Tolerance is absolutely necessary.
If he really wanted to ruthlessly crack down on this kind of behavior that undermines the reputation of maritime trade, he would not have come with only the guards... Maritime trade was the foundation of his career, how could he go against his own career? He would first kill Conrad, the most unrefined and dishonorable person, as a deterrent, and then conduct random checks on other families. This kind of unhealthy trend can always be eliminated, or at least controlled to the lowest level of damage.
The young guard stood beside the prince unwillingly, constantly glaring at those who were making small moves; after unloading Conrad's goods and having the coolies move them outside the dock to be taken in by the guards, His Royal Highness the Prince actually ended his inspection of the dock and withdrew his guards back to the city. The guard became anxious.
"Your Highness, why don't you search other cabins?"
"We can come back tomorrow." Prince Carlisle still admired this kind of energetic young man, and explained in a low voice, "After returning to the city, you might as well relax and have fun in the city... If someone invites you to drink and asks about the situation at the dock today, you might as well convey my attitude. I will not let the Conrad family go. I will not allow anyone to damage the reputation of the St. Bridget Royal Merchant Group."
Not to mention the impulsive young guards, everyone else was confused...
Prince Carlisle smiled without saying anything. He returned to the city and disbanded the guards, allowing the young men to go out and experience the enthusiasm and vitality of the port city.
Prince Carlisle lived in the branch of the Merchant Corps and played chess leisurely with Yumi for an entire afternoon... After all, she was the daughter of the Hockley family, and when there was no particularly handsome man in front of her, she was still a good friend.
Before it got dark, nobles came to visit Prince Carlisle one after another...
If Prince Carlisle, as a member of the royal family, wanted to suppress the nobles, no matter whether they were nouveau riche or old nobles, they would certainly unite to resist; but since Prince Carlisle targeted the "most unlucky" Viscount Conrad, before the nobles felt grief for the loss of the rabbit, the first thing they would think of must be:
Conrad's "legacy", I can take its place~
Not only those who have made it to a position in the merchant group want to expand their own trading scale, but those who have not made it to the group also want to have a name~
You have to know that the sensation caused by the merchant ship's return two months ago was nationwide. Not to mention the cattle and sheep on the ship, the large amount of high-quality furs fed countless leather craftsmen and emptied the pockets of many noble ladies. Those magical beast symbols that were rarely seen even in the Adventurer's Guild were even more impressive artifacts - the nouveau riche viscount of the royal city actually exchanged a dozen bags of garlic and ginger for half a piece of pale lizard beast skin. That piece of skin went through a circle under the hands of a master leather craftsman and was transformed into the most exquisite and luxurious women's handbag, winning the favor of the Countess and making a group of old and young men who couldn't buy the Countess's smile beat their chests and stamp their feet...
Not to mention a bastard who got a complete set of parts for a Manticore. This guy hung the set of Warcraft parts at home and held tea parties for half a month, and the ladies were all willing to honor him!
Obviously, maritime trade should be enjoyed by the nobles in the port area, but all those who boarded His Royal Highness the Prince's ship were nobles from the royal city. How can this not be infuriating?
Carlisle, with a modest smile, pleasant demeanor, and elegant temperament, successively received more than a dozen nobles from the port area...
The next morning, His Royal Highness dressed up in his best clothes and took the port nobles to the dock to visit the merchant ships of the Royal Merchant Corps and the powerful (er...) navy. He also publicly stated the official words that the royal family very much hopes to maintain close ties with nobles from all over the country and jointly boost the national strength of St. Bridget.
When His Royal Highness the Prince came to inspect the dock again in plain clothes with his guards in the afternoon, the workers who loaded the cargo had been replaced by dock laborers, and there were few servants to be seen.
"Haha." His Royal Highness the Prince smiled like a spring breeze on the surface, but sneered in his heart. It was just like what Teacher Ayun said. If he was only nice to those who followed him, it would be easy to spoil these bastards. If he put appropriate pressure on them and let them know that they had a wide range of choices, they would be more honest.
Well... Of course, Mr. Ayun's original words were too vulgar... Although they were very practical, His Royal Highness couldn't use the same words to teach the people around him, so he changed the way of description and said to the guards he valued and trained silently: "When I want someone to execute my orders, I must know that others cannot implement all of my orders. How much can be implemented depends not only on the personal ability of the executor, but also on my supervision."
"And the so-called supervision cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach. If that were the case, I would have no one to rely on, so I have to allow the executors to make mistakes." Prince Carlisle let out a long sigh, "Although I am also very angry... I have to give others a chance to correct their mistakes. As long as it is not an irreparable mistake and it is corrected before any damage is caused, I can forgive it."
The young guards who were selected from the kingdom's knight families looked at His Royal Highness with confusion and reverence, or seemed to be thinking about something.
Prince Carlisle did not observe their reactions, but calmly felt the summer sea breeze with his hands behind his back. Compared with Teacher Ayun, his conditions were much better. St. Bridges, with a population of tens of millions, had many outstanding young people waiting for him to select, train, and train into a new generation of management that met his expectations.
The children of aristocratic families can only be won over but not be made his confidants, because these people must bear the family interests and it is impossible for them to be absolutely united with him. When he chose Tim and Darren from his companions and put aside Dan and Yumi, he understood this... The descendants of aristocrats who are already vested interests are by no means as reliable as the lower class who were supported by him personally.
This was a very cold and indecent way of thinking, but when Carlisle took off his princely formal attire and walked out of the royal city, he had no other choice.
"Who is my friend... Teacher Ayun, this question may seem like a simple one, but it is actually a test of one's heart."
Prince Carlisle sighed inwardly.
