Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 902 - 16 Speculative Business_3
Chapter 902: Chapter 16 Speculative Business_3 Chapter 902: Chapter 16 Speculative Business_3 Two gold plates or twelve silver plates could buy a Malte weight of flour, but it takes fifteen silver coins to exchange for two Gold Coins.
This is because the shadow of war has not yet dissipated, and people generally prefer to collect gold, which is easier to preserve and has a more stable value.
Little Priskin tried every trick in the book and finally managed to get six thousand silver plates—the silver coins minted by the Republic of Palatu.
With this start-up capital, little Priskin didn’t directly buy severed heads; instead, he first bought a batch of flour at a low price in the name of the Priskin Trading Company from Revodan grain merchants.
He was cunning; he first hired some vagrants to walk through the slums carrying barbarian severed heads for sale, pricing them unusually low.
Even so, the residents of the slums couldn’t afford them, let alone dare to buy them.
After successfully lowering the estimated value of the severed heads in people’s minds, little Priskin started to trade flour for heads.
...
Initially, little Priskin bought severed heads in Revodan.
But he quickly discovered that due to the Blood Wolf allocating military rations for civilian use, the demand for flour among the Revodan civilians wasn’t significant except for families with many children.
What Revodan civilians actually needed most were side dishes, such as smoked meat, vegetables. Some were even willing to trade a severed head for a bottle of wine.
By contrast, villages and towns that were more severely affected by the war needed food more and were distributed extremely evenly.
Some villages had their grain silos tightly hidden, leaving the Herders empty-handed;
Some villages had all their grain looted, and when farmers returned to their homes, they had no choice but to flee famine again.
Little Priskin smelled an opportunity.
Revodan civilians temporarily did not lack grain, but the military was short of it. The military had to consider the future, not just the present.
On one hand, little Priskin exchanged grain for horse carcasses, using the trading company’s caravans to haul back warhorse bodies from the battlefield in batches, then traded these for severed heads from the Revodan militia.
On the other hand, he spared no effort to hire people to promote the “uselessness of severed heads” theory in Revodan and desperately lowered the purchase price of severed heads.
Things went smoothly, but little Priskin soon encountered a problem: he was out of money.
Buying grain, dispatching horse carriages, hiring laborers; every single activity cost money.
Some severed heads were collected, but the purse was running on fumes. As little Priskin tried hard to lower the price of severed heads, the purchase price dropped day by day, leaving no way to bring in funds.
Logically, this should have been the end of it.
But just at this moment, other speculators entered the scene.
From “not daring to buy” to “gingerly buying,” there were many reasons affecting the mentality of Revodan merchants.
For example: the garrison repeatedly announcing the effectiveness of the “Beheading Order.”
Another example: the aggressive buying of severed heads by the Priskin Trading Company, which deeply offended the restless speculators.
Severed heads became a sought-after item in Revodan overnight, with speculative investors holding gold and silver flooding into the slums and barracks, pestering the militia to exchange those twisted, bluish dead heads.
Little Megan came to find little Priskin: “Did you borrow money from me to buy severed heads?”
“Yes.”
“How many have you bought now?”
Little Priskin mentioned a number.
Little Megan nearly dropped her jaw: “This… you… then you’ve made a fortune this time?”
Little Priskin was somewhat listless: “Perhaps.”
“Then can you pay me back first?” Little Megan asked pitifully.
“Why? Do you need the money urgently?” Little Priskin knew his friend was not a person of strong jealousy.
“The price of severed heads has recently risen a lot.” Little Megan fiddled with her fingers: “I want to buy a few too.”
A lightbulb went off for little Priskin, he took a breath: “I’m afraid paying back is not possible; all my money has turned into severed heads, and I don’t have any cash.”
“Oh.” Little Megan looked a bit disappointed.
“But I have another way.”
“What?”
Little Priskin patted his good buddy’s shoulder: “How about I count you in as a shareholder?”
…
In Revodan, at the workshop of goldsmith Yile.
“Mr. Yile!” Little Priskin pushed open the door with force: “Do you know what I exchanged the money for?”
…
In Revodan, at the home of builder Tom.
“Aunty!” Little Priskin ran into the house excitedly: “Do you know what I borrowed the money for?”
…
In the study of old Priskin.
Old Priskin, without reproach, applause, or surprise, slowly smoked his pipe and only after listening up to this point asked the first question: “Is this how you borrowed the second sum of money?”
“I borrowed some, but not much.” Little Priskin did not dare to show any smugness.
“Continue.”
…
This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.
After more merchants started to participate in this speculative business, the price of severed heads in Revodan rose dramatically.
It became very difficult to trade grain or side dishes for severed heads as before, and the cost kept climbing.
The partners of little Priskin thought, “Sell the severed heads, then go to remote villages to buy again. The heads outside of Revodan should still be cheap, and we can make a profit margin.”
“Going to villages to buy severed heads is fine, but selling them is not.” Little Priskin categorically refused: “A severed head is not just a dead man’s head; it’s a hundred acres of land. How much is a hundred acres worth? How much is a severed head worth now? The price of severed heads will definitely rise even higher in the future, it’s too much of a loss to sell now!”
“What should we do, then?” Little Megan spread her hands: “We only have so much money.”
