"This..." Seeing that Snorri's oil and salt were not coming in, the senior management of the caravan looked embarrassed. In fact, their core idea was not to sell goods to the dwarves. The caravan taking the Tusk Road was directly connected to the sea route.
The caravans in the old world have some understanding of the dwarves, and know that they are also a commodity-exporting race.
Snorri already knew their idea through advance spying - to use their own territory as a springboard to develop a relatively safe trade route to the old world so that they could sell goods to humans in the old world.
"Your race can be self-sufficient, but aren't there other forces in the West that have demand for our products? What about the Tyrells? They had an explorer named Marco Polo hundreds of years ago, who traveled thousands of miles to come to our country."
The Cathayans put it all together and finally stated their true needs.
"What? You want to go to the Old World for trade through my territory?" Snorri raised his lips. These half-military, half-business guys were finally manipulated by him. "Why should I give you such convenience, huh?"
"
"We will pay you taxes. How do you plan to collect them?" The merchants know that dwarves like gold, and paying taxes is within their plan.
"Let's take a look at my advantages." Snorri used a confident smile to cover up his lack of economic knowledge. He was a science student in his previous life and only knew a rough idea of how to collect tariffs.
"The first is safety. I have opened the way from Plateau Castle to the Eternal Peak. I am responsible for the safety of the mountains on the edge of the southern world. My father, His Majesty the Supreme King, can be responsible for the safety of the old world. Is it Balak's responsibility for the safety of the sea?"
Val's ironclads are unparalleled in the world." Snorri took out his map and traced it lightly with charcoal.
"So what about the land of the dead? Nehekhara used to be a place with rich water and soil, but now there is no living person." Linghu Zhengde asked while looking at the waterway on the Great Styx. Lisnoli knew about yesterday's meeting
The Cathayans seem to have some previous connection with Nehekhara.
"I will solve the Land of the Dead. The Immortal Emperor has given me convenience, but you should know that it costs a lot to bribe the kings of the ancient tombs."
"On the other hand, as far as I know, the Tusk Road has to pass through the Dark Land and the Mountains of Mourn, and less than one caravan can pass through safely."
The Tusk Road starts from Karak Kaderin, but in fact more merchants will gather at the Eternal Peak, the trade center. But due to the huge losses, there has been no team of sufficient size willing to gamble for a long time.
Dead.
For a trade route, the more it is used, the higher the threat it will be. This is not difficult to understand. In the first few times, it is possible to sneak past the forces that control it unprepared, but once it has been sneaked too much, it will be difficult to understand.
When someone is caught, the enemy will naturally try their best to capture him as he tastes the benefits.
However, there is a relative nature in everything. With the absence of caravans connecting the East and the West for a long time, the scarcity of specialty products continues to increase, and prices rise. Huge profits will eventually turn greed into bravery. At the same time, plunderers will relax their vigilance because they have no harvest.
"If only your fallen brethren were half as sensible as you, alas!" Chaos dwarves and ogres are important raiders on the Tusk Road.
"The second is speed. It now takes more than a month to get from my city to the old world. But now I am building a huge project. It will not be a problem to arrive at Haimen Pass within half a month after completion." Snorri once again mentioned the railway as a selling point.
Took it out.
"Last, it's the network." Snorri motioned to his subordinates to bring out a sketch of the Kingdom of the Mountains.
"I believe that after your products went through many hardships to reach the Old World, they encountered resistance and exploitation by many local forces during the distribution process." Snorri took a sip of tea and looked at the humans with a smile.
In this world, capital will naturally produce internal trade protection, which is complementary to external expansion in search of markets. According to Snorri's knowledge, the dwarf nations have a part in the resistance to Cathay's products in the old world.
"If you cooperate with me, I can promote the sale of your products in various fortresses and settlements. We have complete transportation and sales channels." Snorri pointed at the map and said.
“Absolutely perfect!”
“We just need to ship the goods and wait to collect the money!”
"Once this vote is made, promotion and wealth will not come naturally!"
Snorri's three-point advantage directly hit the Cathayans' pain point, and they burst into cheers. However, the Governor was still very calm. He knew that such a comprehensive service would not be cheap.
"Ask how much tax he wants to donate?" Veins popped out of the hand of the Governor of Cathay on the armrest, and the dark blue dragon pattern on his clothes seemed to move its head and tail with his breathing.
"Please quote a price! I hope to see your sincerity, which is the basis of cooperation." Snorri said with a smile. It is not a big mistake to let others propose it first when you are not sure.
"We need to discuss it first!" Linghu Zhengde saw the governor's gesture and decided to buy some time.
"Hey, this is wrong. You are discussing behind my back whether you don't trust our sons of the mountains or look down on us?" Snorri put on an angry expression. He was sure that the Cathayans had no way to verify it at this juncture.
.
"Westerners once said that the habits of dwarves are quite different from those of other races."
"Western barbarians do not read poetry and books, do not understand etiquette and meaning, and do not understand the language, so there is no problem in getting the information."
Zou Qilin thought about it and decided not to offend Snorri over this small matter. The heads of the caravan got together and started talking. Snorri listened clearly to their conversation.
This is no wonder they were careless. Firstly, they were dazzled by the potential benefits. Secondly, they knew that the dwarves had their own language. The common language used by Snorri and Linghu Zhengde just now was already considered a foreign language. Here,
The possibility of mastering a foreign language that is almost useless is negligible.
"How about we charge according to the carriage? We will give you fifty gold coins for each carriage, and you only need to be responsible for the points. It is simple and convenient. What do you think?"
The people of Cathay proposed a method of specific tariffs, which reduced the work pressure of the customs, which sounded good. But Snorri had arranged the goods in advance, so how could he be fooled here.
"Hahaha, you think I don't know? The spices, tea, silk, and firearms are all worth more than a thousand gold coins to fill a carriage. Why don't you just give me fifty to send the goblins away?" Snorri smiled treacherously.
"Where's a hundred?"
"This is not enough for you to get out of the Mountains of Mourn!"
"one hundred fifty!"
"My depraved kin are forever short of slaves!"
"This..." The bottom line of the people of Cathay was discovered by Snorri, and they had to continue to make concessions.
