Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 881 - 9 Negotiation

Chapter 881: Chapter 9 Negotiation Chapter 881: Chapter 9 Negotiation The perspective shifted back to the farewell meeting, situated in the oceanic dialect of Paratu, three Venetians using the “Sea Blue Elegance” sounded as if they were in encrypted communication.

Mr. Leo clearly found Andre’s analogy puzzling, and he looked to Winters.

Winters sighed and explained the riddle to Mr. Leo.

“What a wonderful analogy,” Mr. Leo laughed uncontrollably, “The first step is to bring the sheep across the river?”

“That’s right,” Andre suddenly grew excited, “How do you know?”

Mr. Leo seemed to have a great enthusiasm for solving the problem, “The second step? Bring the sheep back? Hmm, no, the sheep will eat the turnips…”

“Of course not,” Andre said with some pride, “The second step is the key, it took me a long time to figure it out.”

...

Winters’ temples throbbed faintly. He had realized that Philip Leo always spoke differently depending on who he was talking to, seemingly flowing like a river of words, yet revealing nothing of substance.

If necessary, this partner of Navarre Commerce could discuss the problem of crossing the river with Andre for three days and nights without revealing a single piece of valuable information.

“What nonsense with the old man and the wolf!” Winters put down his wine cup and bluntly told Andre, “It’s just a matter of each taking what they need.”

Mr. Leo picked up his wine glass and sipped a small amount.

Now it was Andre’s turn not to understand.

“What are we short of now?” Winters asked Andre.

“Do we even need to talk about it?” Andre replied without hesitation, “Food.”

The flight of the peasants had left vast swaths of land fallow, placing Iron Peak County on the brink of famine.

According to calculations by Senior Mason, if the food rationing system were strictly enforced, Iron Peak County might barely endure until the next summer harvest.

However, the aggressive arrival of the Terdon Tribe had pushed Iron Peak County even closer to the cliff’s edge.

Nowadays, Senior Mason spent his days clutching the ledger and sighing deeply, counting the hairs on his pillow each morning had become his necessary routine.

But Winters felt nothing anymore.

Last year, when he checked the warehouses and learned the food might not be enough, he was anxious.

Now that he was certain there wasn’t enough food, Winters had actually thrown caution to the wind.

Not enough food in Shizhen? Divert military rations there.

Revodan flour prices still rising? Then distribute free bread to all the poor of the city.

With the current rate of consumption, Iron Peak County’s food stores, let alone last until next summer’s harvest, wouldn’t make it through this winter.

“Originally, I was planning to buy food from Mont Blanc County,” Winters gazed at the golden liquid in his cup — even the ferment was made with bread, a thought that seemed extravagant.

“Buy, my ass,” Andre grunted, “Where do we have the money? Just—well, you know.”

Mr. Leo watched his nose, his nose watched his mouth, clutching the wine glass as if he heard nothing, as if he did not exist.

“We can find ways to raise the funds,” Winters blinked, “Besides, we still have ‘that’, right?”

Andre thought for a moment, then said, “It’s not just about having the money. What if we want to buy, but they don’t want to sell?”

“They will definitely sell,” Winters sipped his ferment.

Andre was stunned for a moment, then laughed in exasperation, “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No, by nature, extortion and robbery are different,” Winters earnestly replied, “If you pay, it’s not considered robbery, only forced buying.”

“Hey!” Andre said gruffly, “I thought so! The troops haven’t disbanded until now, there must be something up! Good. After seeing our strength, I reckon even the bald guys wouldn’t dare arm-wrestle us.”

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The militia troops conscripted from Middle and Lower Iron Peak County were currently operating under a “free to stay or go policy.”

Meaning: conscripted militiamen who wanted to go home could take some dry food, register, and leave; if they didn’t want to leave, they could stay in the barracks and also get military rations.

A considerable number of militiamen had chosen to stay in the barracks for the time being, such as Monkey and Doug.

The light in Winters’ eyes dimmed a little, and he did not plan to explain much further.

Mr. Leo, sitting beside him, took the initiative to speak up, “From what I see, quite a few of your militiamen are left without homes.”

“And so?” Andre raised an eyebrow.

“Men of able bodies with no homes, no possessions, no food, and who have seen battle,” Mr. Leo shrugged, “Forcing them away might actually cause greater trouble.”

Andre scoffed, eyeing Mr. Leo straight on, “You said you had everything settled, so what business do you have here?”

“Me?” Mr. Leo replied with a smile, “I am the sheep—Or shall we say, the cabbage.”

“Enough,” Winters, not wanting Andre to be led by Mr. Leo any longer, went ahead and explained everything to Andre in detail.

The matter was, in fact, not complicated; there were currently four players at the table:

First was Iron Peak County, holding horses, desperately in need of food;

Next was Mr. Leo, representing the Venetian wool textile merchants, who had money and urgently needed wool as well as the trade routes to transport it;

Then, the Veneta Army, their funds were unknown, but they could provide food and needed warhorses;

Lastly, the Paratu’s territorial governors, who had everything but would not give it away freely.

Winters’ original plan was to raise funds and forcefully buy food. If necessary, he would exchange food with horses. There were too many warhorses captured, and they couldn’t afford to keep them anyway.

Mr. Leo thought this plan was too slow to turn around and was a one-off deal, unable to sustain the importation of food for Iron Peak County.