Arcane Lord

"spices?!"

Chateau was shocked, but then felt a little relieved. In the past, he and Lord Collins from the mainland had been smuggling spices into Cormanthor.

From the first two common spices, ivory pepper and bay leaf, which were widely used and produced in huge quantities, to later some ancient spices that were almost extinct in the elven kingdom.

This business is indeed quite big. Even if Xia Duo doesn't get the big share, he still has a net income of nearly 400,000 gold coins every year. This would have been completely unimaginable in the Tower of Time in the past.

If Collins's production wasn't really limited, and he didn't want to alert Comanso, this revenue could have been doubled!

Of all the profits, Xia Duocai only accounted for less than 20%. One can imagine how much profit is hidden in this smuggling business!

For Lord Collins, it is almost a pure profit of a mage tower every year.

If this business can continue for a long time, it is estimated that all the buildings in Collins' territory will be replaced by magic buildings in the future.

But obviously, now that Goering mentioned spices, Comanso must not have known about it until now. It was just that for some reasons, it has been delayed until now.

And since the other party has taken the initiative to mention it, I am afraid that this business will not be able to continue in the future.

In fact, Xia Duo had already realized this. After all, smuggling was not a good thing. He was more inclined to reach a formal trade agreement with Comanso, but he was reluctant to part with the nearly 400,000 yuan in dividends every year.

After all, once trade normalized, what reason would Collins have to bring him with him?

However, Chateau was not stupid enough to admit smuggling in front of Goering. He just smiled and said nothing, but this performance was equivalent to acquiescence. If not, he should deny it.

So Goering continued:

"Lord Chateau, don't worry. Cormanso has not investigated or banned your spice trade before, and it is unlikely in the future. Our domestic demand for spices is currently huge, especially high-grade spices."

Here, Goering directly used "trade" to characterize the previous actions of Chateau and Collins, which allowed Chateau to roughly guess what the other party was thinking.

Next, Golin's statement was exactly what he expected: "As long as Lord Chateau can agree to our two conditions, then I can issue a formal spice trade certificate to you on behalf of King Mian, and you can enter the country normally through Tessa Port. No need to find other middlemen.”

"What are the conditions?" Although Xia Duo couldn't agree to anything for Lord Collins, it wasn't a big deal to ask about the conditions first.

"First Evolution"

"It's very simple. It's not difficult for Lord Xia Duo to do it!"

There was a hint of joy in Goering's eyes. If he could accomplish this, the pressure from the country would be much lessened. Then he told Comanso's request——

“First, all spices sold to Comanso must have good plants introduced to Comanso;

“Secondly, some spices can only be sold to Cormanso and not elsewhere.

"In addition to issuing formal and legal spice trade certificates, our guarantee also guarantees that the price will never be lower than the market price."

After hearing the conditions proposed by Goering, Xia Duo couldn't help but shake his head. These two conditions seemed normal, but they were full of pitfalls.

He guessed that what Comanso wanted more was the ancient spices. However, the common spices that were now widely cultivated were not as profitable as expected after Comanso recovered from the war.

Chateau can receive shipments of spices from Oripus almost every week. The most significant point is that among all smuggled spices, the proportion of ancient spices has become higher and higher.

But now, Comanso requires that all spices sold there must provide high-quality plants. It is conceivable that once the cultivation and processing methods of those spices are mastered by Comanso, the spices from Collinsland can still be sold. ?

Even if you don't sell it to Comanso, you will still have to face competition from competing products in other countries that may have higher craftsmanship than Comanso!

Even with Comanso's influence, other countries may not allow the spices from Collins territory to enter the market at all. Will they have to smuggle them again?

As for the condition that it can only be sold to Comanso, it is obviously the first guarantee payment. Even if Comanso continues to acquire, as long as it signs an exclusive agreement, it can turn around and export the acquired spices. Go to other countries.

In this way, Collins will be all part-time workers. The more he sells, the more Cormanso will make.

Although Sha Duo was not Lord Collins, he could basically predict that as a party that had mastered the "core technology", Lord Collins would never agree to such a condition.

That is simply a deed of betrayal, but the name sounds a little nicer than a deed of betrayal directly, but the essence is still the same.

Of course, Chateau himself would not be able to agree to such conditions, and now he is even more likely to agree on behalf of Collins.

After thinking about it, he felt that since the other party already knew about spice smuggling, he must also know who the participants were, so he said:

"Governor Goering must know that the real supplier of those spices is not me. Although I would like to normalize these businesses, I really don't have much say in this matter."

"That's it!"

The joy in Golin's eyes disappeared instantly. Although he knew in advance that the source of the spices was not Sha Duo, in his opinion, Sha Duo, as the Grand Arcanist, should have most of the say.

Of course, because it also involves the smuggling agents in Cormanthor, Golin is not naive enough to think that Shado alone can handle it all. There must be elves who are familiar with the situation in Cormanthor.

After pondering for a moment, Golin did not embarrass Chateau. He just said: "I hope Lord Chateau can introduce us to the real supplier of those spices. Of course, those businesses need to stop before normalization."

Until now, Goering has not used smuggling to refer to "those businesses", but Chateau saw in it the determination to win, and the other party said to stop first, I am afraid that relevant actions have already begun in Comanso.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo couldn't help but frowned. It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with the annual income of 400,000 yuan, but that Comanso's behavior made him feel a little uncomfortable.

However, from an objective and neutral perspective, no matter what the other party's real purpose is, it is completely reasonable and reasonable to investigate the smuggling. If it were him, he might be more decisive.

This is actually the part of human nature that is "strict in disciplining others and being lenient in disciplining oneself".

Gradually calming down the inner turmoil, Chateau asked Goering: "There is a saying in my hometown that 'business cannot be done without justice.' If your country takes any action, I hope it can ensure the safety of our personnel."

What Xia Duo was actually talking about was the Silverleaf family. The number of humans involved in smuggling was very small, and most of them were operating within the territory of Nese.

But many matters in Comanso were handled by the Silverleaf family. When Xia Duo used other people, he naturally had to protect them. As for those agents and middlemen, he didn't need to worry about them. They were pure transactions.

If you have the determination and courage to participate in smuggling, you must be prepared to be caught.

However, based on Xia Duo's judgment, those agents and middlemen probably have a lot of connections behind them. If they really have to be severely punished and liquidated, I'm afraid it could lead to a big scandal.

Maybe part of the smuggling profits will be handed over to King Yin Lisel!

Golin just smiled indifferently at Chateau's request. "For the first violation of the law, we usually give you a warning first, and then punish you if you don't obey. Lord Chateau doesn't have to worry."

"In that case, what about the entry permit?"

"I will leave it to Lord Xia Duo. I also ask Lord Xia Duo to convey our sincerity to the spice supplier. If the conditions are not satisfactory, we can negotiate again."

Sha Duo nodded and then said goodbye. When getting off the ship, Golin's men gave him a lamp-like ornament and briefly explained how to use it.