Volume 3: Fellow villagers, let’s farm together~ Chapter 87 Food Guide
The most obvious behavioral characteristic of short-sighted people is that they are particularly superstitious about achieving success once and for all, and they can't wait to make a big profit and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor for a few years.
It is quite disgusting to cooperate with such people. They will remember their contributions clearly and will keep their achievements in mind for the rest of their lives. It is impossible for them to continue to work hard and reach new heights, but they must get more and more benefits. Anyway, they are very contradictory and difficult to serve.
So this kind of people are often "not served"...
Viscount Conrad is such a typical type of teammate who is a pig. He made a lot of money in the first half of the year after three months of sailing. At the same time, he also felt that his efforts were enough. As a noble lord, he had to blow the sea breeze on the ship for two months. This was a great hardship. He could have just lied down to sleep and eat. So when the fleet returned home, he kept running back to his manor to enjoy his vacation and asked the butler to take care of the maritime trade affairs. He thought that since he had worked hard, His Royal Highness the Prince should give him face, so he carelessly asked the butler to bring the moldy spices that had been accumulated two years ago to the port to make up for the number...
Master Conrad, who was drinking wine with his mistress in his arms, only received the news that he was kicked out of the Royal Chamber of Commerce after the fleet went out to sea. He almost choked on the peanuts on the spot.
Conrad was so angry that he hurried to his old friend's family, who was also a nouveau riche family of the third generation. But when he arrived there, he found that...his old friend, who had returned to enjoy his life after returning to his country like him, had secretly avoided him and returned to the port, and was now on the fleet going out to sea.
Even though Conrad was stupid, he realized that he had fallen into a trap, and hurried to find other nobles who had participated in the Royal Chamber of Commerce - well, except for him, those gentlemen all went to the sea.
...This is also normal. After all, there are only a few fools who want to be "content with a small fortune" and also want a lot of money.
After struggling for several days and finally getting the exact news from the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, Conrad fell on his butt, realizing that he was the most unlucky fool - His Royal Highness the Prince found out about his trick of selling inferior goods as good ones and kicked him out without mercy. Others were too busy trying to grab his share to even bother to communicate with him. The royal family only accounted for 40% of the goods on the Chamber of Commerce fleet, and 60% was shared among the people who followed Prince Carlisle. Everyone had a few estates and plantations, so they would only complain that the cabin couldn't hold everything, not that there was too much space.
A long voyage requires at least ten times the profit. It would be too costly to talk about feelings at this juncture!
Master Conrad returned to his own mansion in the noble district of the royal city in a state of despair, racking his brains to think of how to win back Prince Carlisle's heart. As he was grimacing and pulling his hair, the guards of the eldest prince, His Royal Highness Anthony, came to visit.
This guard, who was from an aristocratic family but not a descendant of an inherited noble, chatted with Master Conrad for a long time about the weather and famous ladies in the royal city. He then changed the subject and began to ask Master Conrad whether he remembered the route of Prince Carlisle's fleet, the location of the port on the northern continent, whether he had any friendship with the elves he was meeting with, etc.
Conrad was confused. Route? He didn't know because Prince Carlisle didn't allow him to bring his mistress on board and he stayed in the cabin drinking wine all day. Elves? Those pointy-eared people were arrogant and didn't like to talk to people. Conrad didn't know them.
The guard rolled his eyes, patted his butt and left...
"Are all the incompetent trash that Carlisle recruits such as this?!"
In the castle, in the eldest prince's study, His Royal Highness Anthony slammed the table in anger.
The captain of the guards of His Royal Highness the Prince swallowed his saliva and dared not say a word. If he wasn't such a waste, he wouldn't have been kicked out by the Second Prince so quickly.
"Well... Since Yumi from the Hockley family didn't go out to sea with us this time, please send an invitation letter to the Hockley family and invite her to attend the tea party tomorrow." Prince Anthony said in a bad tone, "I don't believe the Hockley family has the courage to reject me... If they dare to be so ignorant, Councillor Hockley's next bill will never be passed!"
The tea party in the side hall of the royal city was a popular social gathering for noble ladies and gentlemen, and Prince Anthony was still the most popular host in the royal family at least a year ago. After receiving the invitation, Yumi Hockley dressed herself up beautifully and rushed there in a carriage the next day.
As the most beautiful woman in the royal city, Yumi is always the center of attention when she appears, making other young ladies present at the same time envious and jealous. Prince Anthony, who wants to talk to Yumi, can't find a chance to talk about "private" topics for a long time... He has to hide in the corner of the venue, and every now and then there are always playboys who want to get close to Yumi and come over to disturb him.
"Are you talking about the customs of the northern continent? Of course, it's very interesting. Those elves with pointy ears are beautiful and handsome, but unfortunately some of them don't understand customs, and their skin color is not quite to my liking... Ah, Vic, long time no see. Okay, I will definitely come to Mrs. Blythe's cocktail party next time."
"Sea people? No, no, no, Your Highness Anthony, I don't like dealing with those wide-nosed clowns... Hey, Brady, you look stronger... Really, you became a knight, oh, I knew you could do it, baby..."
"The person I care about most on the grassland? Of course it's my beloved Dahe! It's true, Your Highness Anthony, I swear that there is no man in the world who is more handsome and more graceful than Dahe. My God, everyone will fall in love with Dahe at first sight. Believe me, he is the highest masterpiece of the goddess of life, unique and irreplaceable, BALABALABALABALA——"
When Yumi held her hands to her heart and started to act infatuated with him, His Highness Anthony felt a darkness before his eyes... Obviously, he would not be able to get more information out of Yumi during this meeting.
Prince Anthony forced himself to smile and cheer himself up to get through this boring tea party, then fled from the side hall at almost flying speed. Otherwise, those noble ladies who wanted to have a second spring in life would have eaten him alive... The appearance of the St. Brigid royal family is still quite high after being improved by the genes of many generations of beautiful women, but not so high that Yumi would go crazy for them.
"Damn it, who exactly is this 'Teacher Ayun' that Carlisle is talking about?"
Prince Anthony slammed the table in anger and was so angry that he wanted to hit someone: "Carlisle has studied under so many famous teachers on the continent, but no one has taught him to be as difficult as he is now. Who is that Ayun?"
"Uh... Your Highness, why don't we summon Dan Claudy to ask him?" The captain of the guards suggested reluctantly .
Prince Anthony's mind immediately flashed with his most profound impression of the funny knight Dan Claudy - before he graduated from the Royal Academy, Claudy, a junior, was a prominent figure who chased after a specially hired foreign teacher and wanted him to be his mount, but ended up being beaten up by the foreign teacher.
"No, I don't want to make a fool of myself!" Prince Anthony's face turned black, but he regretted it as soon as he said it, and immediately changed his words, "No, send someone to Claude's house and tell them that I want to summon Dan to the royal stables."
"Yes, sir." The captain of the guards responded and immediately sent a guard out of the palace and rode a horse towards Claudi's house.
Then... I didn't see him. They said Master Dan had gone out of town to hunt, and I didn't know when he would be back...
That night, the table in Anthony's study was once again HP-1, HP-1, HP-1, HP-1...
On the same night, in the noble hunting area outside the royal city, Dan Claudy and Yumi Hockley met each other at some point and sat face to face, sprinkling spices on the greasy barbecue.
"The eldest prince's guards went to my house this afternoon. Did you anger His Highness Anthony at the tea party at noon?" Dan spoke while chewing on a leg of lamb, and his saliva spurted out so much that Yumi moved the small stool back in disgust.
"How dare I anger His Highness Anthony? I answered whatever he asked. I was very obedient." Yumi tore the shredded meat with her hands and ate it like a lady. "I just praised Da He, and his face turned so ugly. Really, they are allowed to talk about beautiful women, but I am not allowed to talk about handsome men?"
"Hmm... I guess I can't go back for a while." Dan licked his fingers, "Let the eldest prince's guards make a few more trips. Anyway, others don't like me very much."
"Anthony is so different from Carlisle. Carlisle would go to someone's house in person, but he just sent a guard to the house. Who would believe his sincerity?" Yumi shrugged. "Let's not talk about him. How many people have come to you?"
Dan chuckled and counted out a few noble families.
"They are just some insignificant little nobles." Yumi frowned.
"When the fleet comes back, we should start doing what needs to be done." Dan said carelessly, "If it is inconvenient for His Royal Highness to come back, we two will select a reliable family for him. All we have to do is wait."
After sending out several groups of guards and waiting for two days without seeing Dan Claudy, the eldest prince simply replaced the desk in his study with another one...
Anthony walked around the newly changed table like a headless fly twice, and suddenly stopped: "Wait... the butler boy named Tim and the civilian named Darren did not return home - Carlisle left them in the north?"
"It should be." Faced with the eldest prince's increasingly bad temper, the captain of the guards couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
"So, Carlisle values them?" Anthony sneered, "Very good... Contact the Humphreys for me."
"Yes." The captain of the guards felt his scalp tighten.
Xiao Yun leaned his hands on the pergola and looked forward. This coastline was quite far from where he had boiled salt before, at least twenty or thirty kilometers away. The coastline here was flat, with few common low mountains. Walking out of the forest area that blocked the view, he could see the sea and the newly built port on the beach at a glance.
Several patrolling elf warriors spotted the group of snow werewolves and approached them. One of them recognized Yu and waved with a smile: "You guys came pretty quickly. The merchant ship hasn't arrived yet."
"Let's transport the things here first." Yu nodded, turned around and introduced Xiao Yun, "Ayun, this is Alan. Alan, this is Ayun from our tribe."
"Hello……"
"You are the one who told those ghost stories!" Elf Allen pointed at Ayun and shouted righteously.
Xiao Yun: “???”
The other elf warriors were all amused: "It's obviously you who are afraid and love to hear it, yet you blame others."
"Alan, don't scare other people 's cubs."
"Hahaha, idiot!"
"..." Xiao Yun's mouth twitched, and he squinted at Yu, "Maomao, can you tell the story to others?"
"They came to listen when we were telling stories. I didn't mean to scare them." Yu scratched his scalp.
Xiao Yun was too lazy to explain what he actually wanted to say: "...Okay."
The elf warriors kindly brought the Snow Wolf people to the port. The elf named Allen even showed them the newly built wooden house: "This wooden house is built for you Snow Wolf people. The door frame is higher than the wooden house where humans live, so you won't hit your head so easily."
Xiao Yun touched his chin... these pointy ears are surprisingly kind.
"That's the warehouse. The warehouse with the green door is for you to use." The elf warrior pointed to another row of larger and simpler wooden houses.
"How is the rent calculated?" Xiao Yun asked naturally.
"...Huh?" Alan was stunned.
"We live in the wooden house you provided and borrow the warehouse you built, so of course we have to pay rental fees." Xiao Yun said as a matter of course.
"This... the general didn't say." Alan scratched his head.
"Please help me apply for an audience with the general of your tribe. I hope the rental fee can be settled as soon as possible." Xiao Yun said immediately. The pursuit of doing business is to reduce costs, but necessary expenses cannot be exempted. If you use the venue provided by others, they can stop you from using it at any time. If you pay the money, it is reasonable and legal. You can make some reasonable requests.
The countless commercial scams invented by humans on Earth have proven countless times that the most expensive thing is teeth.
"Okay." The elf warrior couldn't understand why the cub was so insistent, but they had no right to refuse when someone offered to pay.
The elves were very efficient, and Xiao Yun soon met the elf general Crest. The first time he saw this man... a not very polite thought came to Xiao Yun's mind: it would be a waste if this guy didn't get to COS Reinhardt.
He had long curly golden hair, thin eyebrows, long eyes, a high nose and thin lips, and was handsome and delicate. He was wearing a straight elven uniform made of sun cloth, dragging a cloak, and a sword with a gem sheath on his waist. If it weren't for the pointy ears on both sides of his head and the light green skin that looked a bit out of place, Xiao Yun couldn't help but praise him for being handsome...
Well, of course, even this elf general is not as handsome as Taiga.
"Ayun, the little cub of the Snow Wolf Clan, it was you who offered to pay the rent?" Crest said in a friendly manner. It had nothing to do with race. Being polite and kind to cubs and young children was part of the elves' upbringing. But it was another matter for elves like Kai who had a second-year syndrome.
"Yes, General." Xiao Yun said respectfully...putting himself in the shoes of a junior. "It is already very unacceptable for my tribe to borrow your tribe's port. If we shamelessly use the wooden houses and warehouses provided by your tribe, it would be too ungrateful."
Crest seemed to find the cub's serious look very interesting, and said with a smile: "So how much rent do you think we should pay?"
"One-thirtieth of the transaction amount." Xiao Yun said, "One-thirtieth of the total amount of spices, white cotton cloth and other goods we traded with Saint Bridge will be used as the fee for our tribe to rent your tribal site. General, do you think it is feasible?"
Crest's narrow eyes widened a little, and his gaze was a little straight... Wait, why does this sound like... the taxes that the Snow Wolf Tribe pays to their forest elves?
"Is this the opinion of your tribe?" Crest said in disbelief. Could it be that this cub was talking nonsense?
"Yes, in fact, I came here on the request of the two clan leaders." Xiao Yun said modestly, "The two clan leaders agreed that our Snow Wolf Clan cannot use the port built and maintained by your tribe for free to trade, and we should pay a certain share of the fees."
Crest frowned slightly and tapped his fingers on the armrest... The elves put in the effort to build and maintain the port for the purpose of trading with the sea people and humans, and they don't really care whether the Snow Wolf Tribe comes to use it... Anyway, the land on the grassland didn't originally belong to the forest elves, and the main labor force for construction and maintenance was also a vassal race. It wasn't a big deal to provide some convenience if they were in a good mood and liked the Snow Wolf Tribe.
However, the Snow Wolf Tribe proposed that their transactions be regarded as "tax payments" under the protection of the Elves, which was a bit beyond expectations...
But no matter how he looked at it, there was no reason for Crest to refuse. Although he did not think highly of the spices and white cotton cloth traded by the Snow Wolf Tribe, the Snow Wolf Tribe's attitude of treating the forest elves as "the sovereign owners of the port" was quite comforting. The lion does not care whether the ant flatters him, but if the ant is smart and flatters well, the lion can also smile.
"Okay." General Crest nodded slightly. "My tribe will collect one thirty percent of the tax you pay, provide you with a place for the Snow Wolf tribe to trade, accommodation and warehouses during the transaction, and prohibit anyone from harming the Snow Wolf tribe in the port area. Are you satisfied with this promise?" At the end, the Elf General laughed. In the eyes of a man like him who was over 500 years old, the serious look of this Snow Wolf cub who might have only lived for a dozen years was indeed a bit funny.
"Thank you so much, General." Xiao Yun bowed happily. It was just a way of trying to please others. It was simple.
It's a bit cheap to make a special trip just to give money to others... But Xiao Yun doesn't want to confront the Lamia Merchants Group head-on because of the grassland trade. You can just wander around on the grassland, but the port is a deadly place. Fighting in the port will kill people. With this calculation, this small fortune of thirty percent tax is still worthwhile~
General Crest rarely...personally escorted the visitor out of the Elf Hotel, and finally patted Xiao Yun's dog head.
Xiao Yun: “…” If he could get away with it, he would definitely slap this guy’s claws away.
Xiao Yun returned to the wooden house of the Snow Wolf Clan, rubbing his old face which was a little stiff from pretending to be young. Before Xiao Yun could even take a break, Hai Lin pounced on him...
"Mr. Ayun, have you brought the cook? Who's here with Dahe Niujiao?!" Hailin grabbed Xiao Yun's shoulders and shook them hard without any elf image.
Xiao Yun shook his head.
"Eh——" Hailin suddenly became exhausted and her facial features wrinkled.
Xiao Yun pointed at his nose with his finger and said, "I was the one who taught Dahe Niujiao how to cook."
"Teacher Ayun, teach me!" Hailin knelt down on the spot.
"Let go, I'm not driving a Lanxiang!" Xiao Yun scolded, "Why are you stuttering like that?"
Hailin stood up, put her arm around Xiao Yun's shoulders, and lowered her voice: "This month, the soldiers guarding the port have been rotated. Sabrina, the most beautiful soldier in our Ananas City, has also been rotated... Ah Yun, we are friends, yes, shouldn't you help me?"
"...That's right, it should be." Xiao Yun stared with dead fish eyes. It was true that men's IQ would drop infinitely when they acted as bootlickers, no matter what race they were.
"So I want to learn cooking from you. Is that reasonable?" Hailin's voice became heavy.
"What you said makes sense, Hailin, but Kai is also my friend. I remember Kai is single, right." Xiao Yun said expressionlessly.
"Are you a monster?" Hailin held her head in her hands. "No, Kai has hardly ever taken the initiative to talk to you. When did you become friends?!"
"Of course...friends who have a spiritual connection and a mutual understanding." Xiao Yun said uprightly.
Hailin: “…”
After teasing Hailin to deepen their friendship (?!), Xiao Yun pulled Hailin back to the cabin and stuffed him with two canned fruits in glass bottles, a small bag of meat floss, and a bottle of maltose - these things could not be mass-produced in the tribe, but it was okay to make some canned fruits and meat floss for retail (maltose could not be used as a commodity because it did not have a long shelf life). The target customers were Carlisle's merchant group, and a ship would take at least a month to sail on the sea, so canned fruits that had a long shelf life would definitely be popular.
Anyway, the cost of canned fruit is the cost of making glass bottles, the wild fruits that are too sour to eat when picked, and the "gifts" from the forest elves, which is almost nothing... Except for the trouble of breaking the sealed bottle mouth when opening the bottle, there are no disadvantages.
After sending Hailin away, Xiao Yun gathered the warriors together, whispered to each other for a while, and asked the others to get fresh seafood and game, and Yu and Mumu helped him to find stones to build a big stove - the Snow Wolf Tribe was not qualified to engage in diplomacy with the Elves at the moment, but it would be okay to use some food strategies to lay the foundation of friendship between the two sides!
"Bonfire party?" General Kleist, who had changed into casual clothes and was sitting in the room reading a book, turned back curiously when he heard this.
"Yes, yes, it's hosted by Ayun, on the beach east of the port, and we're invited to attend." Hailin nodded vigorously, "General, are you coming too? Ayun cooks the food himself. He is the teacher of the chefs of the Snow Wolf Tribe, and the food their chefs cook is delicious!"
"Wait, isn't Ayun the name of the Snow Wolf Cub?" General Crest asked curiously, "Isn't that cub also good at making delicious food?"
"Yes, General. Everyone who went there to deliver gifts last time has eaten their food. It's really delicious!" Hailin clasped her hands together and faced forward.
"Alright, alright..." General Kleist leaned back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You guys can go if you want to. Those who are taking off the shift can go first and come back to replace those on duty. I won't go."
Hailin turned around and left without saying a word... He could drag his goddess to enjoy the food~
"Kai has become much more obedient, but Helin has become more lively." General Kleist shook his head and turned around to continue reading.
The cultural heritage of the elves is second to none on the continent. The Bards Guild, which is composed of elves who love to travel, has published various miscellaneous notes, travel notes, records of experiences, biographies of legendary figures, etc., which occupy half of the publicly published and distributed reading materials in the world... Conversely, adult elves (over 100 years old) naturally have their own habits.
General Crest was reading the new travelogue of the continent published by the Bards' Guild. This travelogue mentioned the trade between the forest elves and the sea people, and used a lot of space to praise the forest elves' artistic achievements... Well, although it was just one's own people praising one's own people, Crest just loved it.
General Kleist, who was immersed in the flowery flattery, suddenly smelled a fragrance that made his internal organs stir...
