Chapter 257: Today, Morbihan is Better than Han

It was early morning, the time when the docks began to bustle with activity. Merchants from the Northern Lands’ Deep City, the Southern Shallow Water City, and even the distant Isle of Eternal Gathering were transferring goods from the ships of others to their own. These goods were for contracts signed and payments made the night before. The most common method was to unload the cargo from a ship at one end of the dock and load it onto another ship at the other end. This short distance of a few hundred yards still forced the merchants to pay a trade tax based on the total value of their transaction.

A Tax Collector adjusted his bow tie, watching the busy scene at the docks. Over a thousand laborers were working in an orderly fashion. Simple rope and pulley systems had been built next to some berths to make it easier to move square or rectangular crates. Most of the other cargo was packed in oak barrels. By laying two wooden planks across the deck, sailors and laborers could easily roll the goods off the ship and onto carts pulled by horses or oxen.

In the early years, this dock did not exist. To be more precise, this place was just a vast expanse of tidal flats outside a small fishing village—a unique wetland resembling a brackish swamp. Scattered sandy beaches and rocky slopes at the foot of cliffs could not be used to build a dock.

With the help of massive amounts of labor combined with Arcane and Divine Arts, the rocks were cut and rolled into this muddy pit to fill in a new piece of land. Then, hard granite and slate were laid on top of this foundation to create the solid base where the dock stands today. The entire project took nearly ten years, but it seemed all the effort was not wasted.

Now, many city-states in the Northern Lands, the Kingdom of Coruz to the south, and the distant Elf Kingdom overseas all treat this place as an important transit hub. Just looking at the map, Morbihan is located slightly east of the intersection of the trade routes connecting these places. Of course, if it were only the superior location, it would not have attracted so many merchant ships to trade here. Safety was the true reason why merchant caravans from several countries put aside their worries and chose this place.

Because the vast grasslands to the northwest of the Duchy of Nohan were still held by barbarian tribes who did not believe in the True God, the Goblin thief gangs under Maglubiyet of the Acheron Battlefield, along with other bandits, successfully threatened the land traffic along the narrow strip of the Inner Sea coast from Kisok to Claudien. In addition, Dark Elves had been appearing and disappearing on land recently. Therefore, this sea trade route became the best way for the countries of the Western Continent to communicate with each other.

A large number of merchant caravans from these three countries stopped at Morbihan Port to restock or trade goods. This even attracted some merchants from the Kingdom of Lucia and Saxony. These sharp-witted merchants discovered that the cost of transporting goods to the aforementioned countries from here was three-fifths less than taking the land route directly. It seemed as if half of the supplies were lost during that long land journey.

Because of this, Morbihan also became an important trading port. From a certain angle, the fact that this former fishing village could become such a bustling market today can be said to be the result of long-term accumulation leading to a sudden breakthrough. For the first hundred years after the port was built, although merchant caravans occasionally passed through, it remained an obscure place. At that time, catching fish to get food to supplement the meat for the Territory was probably its most important function.

Between conservatism and adventure, most large Merchant Guilds would safely choose the former. Occasionally, a few successful adventurers who became sudden rich men treated this as their secret path to wealth. True prosperity only happened in the last twenty years, especially after George took over and made reforms, laying a solid foundation for expansion. As soon as the news of the dragon slaying spread, the situation was like a dragon soaring through the clouds.

The tax on one pound of pure brewed wine was about 7 Silver Coins, and one pound of sugar was 5 Silver Coins. Recently, because the Territory was acquiring grain on a large scale, these slightly price-increased goods received tax reductions when sold within the Territory. Only the Bolerum Territory could afford to charge a tax of only 5 Copper Coins per hundred pounds.

In fact, even including these other cheap goods, the average tax per pound of cargo should be around 2 Silver Coins. This is because high-value goods were always the main source of profit in this era. According to statistics, this dock could create about 500 Gold Coins in direct tax revenue for the Bolerum Territory in just one day!

Even so, many merchants still praised the generosity and kindness of House Bolerum. In their eyes, this was a rare low tax rate among many ports.

As for why other ports had such unbearable taxes, it was because they needed to transfer losses. Let us first forget how the Tax Collector embezzled funds for himself. No matter how corrupt they were, they could not carry bags holding over a hundred Gold Coins.

The real reason for the significant reduction in taxes was the flags flying on the sailing ships. In the morning mist of many ports, the tall masts of single-masted and three-masted ships looked like a forest of Spears. Amidst the chanting of dock laborers, they stood quietly like cavalry formations waiting to charge.

Just like on a real battlefield, the lances of these horse teams waved proudly, displaying the crests of their respective families: lions, bears, elk, horses, eagles, larks, and various flowers in an artistic style. Every flag here represented a huge tax black hole, because the cargo ships of these noble lords did not have to pay taxes.

They only needed to pay a pitifully small docking fee and supply costs to transport a shipload of goods worth over a thousand Gold Coins to the place with the highest prices.

Except for the Commercial Republics in the South and the Duchy of Nohan, it seemed only the Kingdom of Lucia also taxed nobles a certain percentage of their trade taxes. However, the latter had been seeking an outlet to the sea for hundreds of years but had never succeeded. But with such huge tax loopholes, the Lords who could not tear flesh from their own class naturally had to transfer the burden to other goods.

After the hearty call of “Mr. Bertrand,”

The Tax Collector who was explaining to a merchant why the cargo loading was not as fast as the merchant expected turned around. Seeing the visitor’s somewhat out-of-place attire, he nodded, then turned back to briefly say a few words to the merchant.

Ignoring the merchant’s complaints with a southern accent, he jogged over to the next group of guests and said with a broad smile: “Mr. Bachhaus, you are very early. However, the officials acquiring grain are currently counting the morning stock. How about you go to the bar by the dock to have some breakfast first?”

“No need! Let’s settle the taxes we owe first! Otherwise, we might have to trouble you again later.” The leader named Bachhaus answered cheerfully.

So, Bachhaus and a few others followed Tax Collector Bertrand toward a three-masted ship in the style of the Northern Sea in the distance. The ship was docked at a berth at the far north of the pier. The section of the dock reserved for grain ships these months seemed independent from the noise. The figurehead at the bow was a wise dolphin splashing with waves.

These wise dolphins of the Storm Strait, for some unknown reason, would spontaneously save people. When storms came and ships were wrecked, these wise dolphins would rescue those who fell into the water. Therefore, everyone who made a living at sea, whether pirates or fleets, protected the wise dolphins for their own safety. Because of this, the wise dolphins lived happily in that ocean without being hunted.

Many merchant caravans from there treated them as their lucky charms, so seeing such statues on ships was a fairly common phenomenon.

What was surprising was that the ship named the “Sea Gull” had many small square holes on both sides of its hull, sealed with copper plates and wooden plugs, looking like many patches on the ship. These should have originally been oar ports for human-powered rowing. It seemed this sea vessel had been converted from a warship. It was unknown if the owner had bought a seized pirate ship at a low price from the governor of a certain port.

With the help of a wooden portable hoist, bags of grain were easily unloaded from the merchant ship in large nets. A pilot nearby was supervising the counting of this batch of goods.

Next to the nearly stacked bags at the edge of the dock, Bachhaus patted one and then used his small knife to poke a small hole. Golden wheat poured out like flowing water.

Bachhaus threw some of the grain into his mouth, chewed it, then turned to the Tax Collector and said: “This is top-quality grain! If I didn’t know that your Duchy of Nohan might fight a war with the Kingdom of Lucia, obtaining a license to export such goods would not be so easy.”

“A great war! Such a thing is unlikely to happen so easily!” Tax Collector Bertrand quickly wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

“Although their first target might not be the Duchy of Nohan, the conflict between your two countries is absolutely about to ignite.” Bachhaus immediately showed an expression that said, “You don’t need to hide anything from me.” For his leader’s bad taste, the two servants standing behind him did their best to ignore it.

Tax Collector Bertrand showed an expression of sudden realization: “Right! When that incident happened, you must have been at sea, right? You had no contact with the Continent at that time, did you?”

“Did something happen on the Continent during this time?” Now it was Bachhaus’s turn to be completely confused.

Tax Collector Bertrand stated this fact very calmly: “A large number of Dark Elves have appeared within the Kingdom of Lucia. It is said that the Northern Military District has been completely wiped out. It seems they have no ability to launch an external war until those Black Skin are dealt with.”

“What a damn situation! I didn’t know this good news beforehand! Let that big bear and the Black Skin have fun together!” Bachhaus slapped his own head and cheered. At the same time, his joy affected his companions, who all smiled.

Although “he who follows the right path has many helpers, while he who abandons it has few” is not always true, the domineering style of the Kingdom of Lucia making enemies everywhere in recent years did indeed bring it a lot of trouble.

This situation was just a small interlude in the daily life of Morbihan Port. The reason why Tax Collector Bertrand looked at Mr. Bachhaus with special favor was most importantly because the latter brought a large amount of grain urgently needed by the Bolerum Territory. In this era where grain was the most important strategic resource, bringing such a huge quantity of goods was absolutely not something an ordinary person could achieve. No other proof was needed; this single fact surpassed many documents and seals.

Near the docks of Morbihan Port, there was a warehouse right at the end of the man-made breakwater. This was a relatively remote place where few people would pass by even during the day. The owners of these warehouses were naturally House Bolerum. George would never sell such a steady source of income all at once.

However, medium-to-short-term rental contracts of one or two months were quite common. Inside one of the warehouses, a certain brother was lying on a hammock suspended between two pillars. A wide-brimmed hat covered his face, blocking the faint light shining down from the skylight. The person who was idle due to guard duty was sleeping soundly with his pet cat. Several empty wine bottles were scattered on the ground below the hammock, showing that he had not drunk less last night.

Not far from this warehouse was the dry goods area of the dock, where all kinds of seafood products were sold. Those seaweed, laver, fish slices, dried fish, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and shrimp paste were all wrapped in clay jars, small bamboo baskets, or straw and stacked on shelves. The main reason they were placed in such a remote location was that no one could stand the unique smell. Although George always found this statement strange, knowing that the nauseating smell on the ships was dozens of times worse than this.

“Oh! Why is this batch of goods so much less than when I came before?” An outsider customer wandering in front of the stall asked with some confusion, looking at the goods before him.

“It’s because the Lord recently found a big customer who bought all those fish products in one go. And it is said there are follow-up orders! If that is really the case, I might have to change my trade for a short time in the coming months.” The stall owner answered while fanning himself with his conical hat.

Someone who was originally hesitating suddenly called out quite sensitively: “Are you saying there might be a stockout next?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what will happen until then! But it looks like the possibility of a stockout is quite high. Although fish sauce, oyster sauce, and shrimp paste, these three specialty condiments of the Territory, probably won’t run out. But this stall cannot open just for these three items!” The stall owner showed his yellow teeth.

The customer immediately threw his money bag and said cheerfully: “Then give me thirty pounds of dried fish right away. I need to buy something else next.”

Far away in the Duchy, George was also experiencing pain mixed with joy during this time. The rations he named Lambas due to his bad taste were selling like hotcakes.

As time passed, more and more Adventurers came to this passage to seek gold. Especially when news spread that someone had found rare metal ores or gems, it attracted a massive crowd. Although George did not know if this news was true or false, someone was clearly pushing the situation behind the scenes.

The food, clothing, housing, and transportation of two thousand people were not a small amount in this era; it was equivalent to the population of a relatively prosperous small town. In addition, mercenaries were often the type who lived for the moment and got drunk today. This formed a distorted prosperous economic circle here. A large amount of basic living materials were consumed here, bringing a steady stream of wealth to the Duchy. At the same time, as the maps were continuously completed, the Duchy also spent wealth. The inflow and outflow drove production and consumption within the Duchy.

This was a bit like issuing government bonds and launching a series of large-scale engineering projects during an economic recession. Hiring workers to build bridges and roads was the government exchanging future profits for the right to spend the rich people’s money now. When workers got their wages, they could immediately turn that into purchasing power. It had a similar effect to the New Deal for polio.

Of course, this world did not yet have the economic crisis caused by overcapacity and insufficient purchasing power in a capitalist economy. However, many nobles’ warehouses still stored grain that was about to mold and wine that was about to spoil. Taking advantage of this time to clear out a batch of such goods to exchange for rare materials from the Underground and future stability was undoubtedly a highly profitable business.

Of course, at such times, not only did the inevitable prostitutes, the oldest profession of humanity, appear, but even the Dwarves who had previously fled had built blacksmith shops outside the camp. Adventurers who faced danger at all times would not be stingy with their weapons and armor.

Of course, the massive sales of George’s rations also brought some unexpected issues. Now George was worried: “Damn it! I was previously worried about the grain issue, but it has been solved by the continuous arrival of merchant caravans. But now it seems that seafood, used as protein supplements, is also showing signs of shortage. And even vegetables seem to be having problems.”

The problem was either insufficient supply from other places or inconvenient transportation. In short, these were materials that could not be quickly obtained via trade routes in this time and space.

“How about trying to farm oysters? Although it is too late for now, it can serve as a precaution for the future.” A thought popped into George’s mind.

Generally, oyster shells are tied with coarse ropes and left quietly in the seawater to be farmed in oyster beds on the coastal tidal flats. Because oysters are oviparous, during the breeding season, the parents release mature sperm and eggs into the water. The sperm and eggs fertilize in the seawater. After a period of planktonic life, they attach to other objects. After settling, they undergo metamorphosis into juvenile shells. Most farming species belong to this type. And oyster shells themselves are the best attachment objects.

This experience from before crossing seemed worth a try, but a new problem arose: “Damn it! I don’t even know the price of seawater-corrosion-resistant ropes in this world! No, I don’t even know how to get them!”

Just as George was scratching his head, the voice of Sir Bart came from outside the tent: “George! Lord Viscount wants you to return to the Territory immediately.”