Imperial Crown

Earl Jonah's question is not unreasonable. The price of food itself may not be high, but it is irreplaceable.

Twelve million pounds of grain is enough to feed 30,000 people for a year. If it is just enough to keep people from starving to death, it can feed 50,000 to 80,000 people.

And Raven not only provided it readily, but also took the initiative to lower the price, which was obviously up to him.

But Raven smiled and said: "Count Jonah, you are a distinguished guest from afar. It is a great rudeness for us not to entertain you well. It is already good that you can forget the fault. How can I dare to put any additional conditions? ?”

"This..." Count Jonah looked surprised and couldn't help but start to look at Raven, as if he was looking at a rare monster.

There are many shrewd nobles, and young and humble nobles are not rare either.

But nobles who are not greedy are even rarer than dragons!

"Baron Raven, you confused me." Jonah said: "Do you really not want anything?"

"I'm selling you food, not giving it away for free." Lei Wen said relaxedly: "And when it comes to plans, I do have a little bit of a plan."

Jonah asked, "What is it?"

"That's your friendship." Raven spread his hands: "What could be more valuable than the friendship of an amiable and noble earl?"

This sentence was completely unexpected by Jonah because it was too straightforward and did not conform to the usual tone of aristocratic communication.

But it’s just what I want!

"Okay!" Earl Jonah smiled heartily: "It seems that this trip to the Eagle Leader has really gained a lot. Not only did I see wonderful games, I received food, but I also got a new year-round friend!"

As he spoke, he raised his glass: "Come, drink to our friendship!"

"cheers!"

Drinking is not the end of a meal, but the real beginning. This principle is the same everywhere.

As they drank more and more wine, the two of them began to chat, chatting about the East and West, which made Raven gain a lot of knowledge and heard a lot about the gossip and customs of the Molinier Province.

For example, because they all have beards, a certain noble lady mistakenly recognized her husband's twin brother, and the love affair was sudden; a certain female noble lost her moral integrity after drinking, and went out for a run naked on a snowy day, and was caught by her own knight; a certain male noble used a sheep The intestines serve as a contraceptive device, although the sheep is still alive.

By the end, the wine was so full that Earl Jonah even held Raven's hand to introduce him to several coquettish ladies.

If Nancy hadn't been watching, Raven would have really agreed.

The banquet ended in the evening. Earl Jonah left by car and returned to his residence. Raven finally had time to untie his collar, returned to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

Nancy sat next to him, took off her heavy long skirt, and revealed her sweaty undershirt. She frowned and complained: "It's true, the clothes are all smell of alcohol. It's true that Count Jonah is holding you back." Let go, you don’t look like a count at all!”

Raven stretched, turned around, hugged Nancy's slender waist, and put his head on the thigh wearing delicate white silk.

Turning red, Nancy pushed Raven's shoulder gently: "...I haven't showered yet."

"Well... we'll wash it together later." Raven muttered.

"You, it's true, why did you drink so much?" Nancy couldn't push, so her hand movements changed from pushing to stroking: "Jonah looked like a big boss at first glance, and he really made me wait for an hour in vain. ”

Raven chuckled.

"What, did I say something wrong?" Nancy asked.

Without answering, Raven twisted his body and got deeper into Nancy's arms.

Nancy grabbed Raven's ear: "Don't be weird, I said something wrong, you should tell me!"

"Spare your life, spare your life." Raven raised his face with a smile and looked at Nancy: "Do you really think Jonah is shallow-minded?"

"Isn't it...?"

"Of course not." Raven adjusted his posture and relaxed and said: "When he first came here, he intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the drought issue, just to let Earl Tyrone and your father hear."

"But he still accepted our invitation and mentioned it at the banquet. Why do you think it was?"

"Because...he didn't buy it?" Nancy said.

"Yes, that's not right either." Raven said: "To be precise, it's not that he didn't buy it, but that although your father or Earl Tyrone agreed to him, the price was very high, probably more than twice the market price."

"That's why he offered a price of 1.3 times. This was leaving room for me to raise the price. If I guessed correctly, he would agree as long as it was within 1.7 times."

Nancy half understood: "But... isn't it just food? 12 million pounds, which is about 10,000 gold coins. Even if it is twice the market price, it is only 20,000 gold coins."

"Why is he so happy when you say 10% off? The price difference of 10,000 gold coins is not big, right?"

"Oh, you are really a eldest lady!" Raven was heartbroken to give up the profit of nearly 10,000 gold coins, which meant that Nancy was not sensitive to this:

"Do you think that one person would be singled out for something like drought? His territory was hit, and other nobles in Molinier Province were not affected either. The more than 40 people who came this time were probably food buyers from various counties. represent."

"Earl Jonah doesn't care about the price of food, but what about the other nobles?"

"My 12 million pounds of grain basically belong to Count Jonah alone, but the 10% discount price offered serves as a demonstration. If other nobles in the Molinier Province buy it, the local nobles will not be able to open their mouths. ”

"And this, in their opinion, is Earl Jonah's contribution."

At this point, Raven stopped.

Nancy's mind was running and thinking, and she slowly realized: "Oh - I understand!"

"Your 10% discount on food allows Count Jonah to gain the favor and reputation of the nobles in the province, which is why he is so kind to us!"

But immediately, she frowned again: "But... can't my father or Earl Tyrone see this? Why don't they do this?"

Raven said: "Because they are all 'counts' who herd lambs for His Majesty the King."

The count's status is too noble and his influence is too great.

The authority in the territory is no different from that of a king, and his influence can radiate to most of the province.

The close relationship between two counts from neighboring provinces is enough to shake the foundation of the empire's local rule. This will undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of His Majesty the King.

"Earl... that's why you received Jonah so grandly." Nancy bit her lip: "But one day, you will also become an earl."

"Can I do that?"

"Definitely!"

…

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. On the afternoon of the day before the finals, Eric found Raven.

"Sit down." Raven greeted Eric, stood up and asked, "Tea or coffee?"

"Anything is fine." Eric said a little cautiously, sitting half-assed on the chair.

Raven raised an eyebrow: "Tsk, just choose if I let you choose, there is so much nonsense!"

"Then tea."

"What a good choice." Raven took out the tea leaves from the porcelain pot beside the bed, and kept talking while brewing: "This is the 'blood tea' of the orc clan that Earl Jonah sent just yesterday. It is said that the young buds They are all picked by the girls of the civet tribe.”

As Raven's hands moved, the aroma of tea filled the air. He poured half a cup of slightly brown tea soup and placed it in front of Eric. Raven sat opposite him, raised his hand and said, "Try it."

Eric blew on the hot air and took a gentle sip.

"How about it?"

“Good tea, good tea!”

"What's so good about it?"

"this……"

Seeing Eric looking a little embarrassed, Raven shook his head: "You!"

But he wasn't angry either. It was normal for Eric to not be able to taste the quality of the tea. After all, although there was so-called black tea in this world, the tea was bland and needed a lethal amount of sucrose to have some flavor. Some people still tasted it after drinking it. Spices such as cloves and cinnamon are added.

But the blood tea of ​​the orcs is really a good thing. It tastes mellow and mellow, with not only a slight sweetness, but also a freshness of fruit. Even if it is placed before time travel, it is still a good product.

Of course, the price is not cheap either. A can of less than 1 pound, which is about 0.4 kilograms, is worth 200 gold coins, and there are almost none on the market.

"How are you doing at home recently?" Raven asked after taking a sip of black tea.

Eric smiled: "It's all good, but my son is not very easy to worry about. Since he got a servant, he won't even dress himself, so I took the opportunity to give him a good scolding!"

"Then this is your fault." Raven said: "Although a strict father can discipline a good son, after all, this is the standard for a nobleman. Let alone him, you have to adapt."

"Now that you are a knight, don't keep doing what you did before."

Eric nodded in agreement. He didn't know if he heard it, but he seemed to feel the taste of it, and the tea in the cup poured down quickly.

"A lot of nobles have come to Eagle Town recently." Raven refilled the cup of tea for him: "Have you explored any of your children?"

"I have been preparing for the competition, so I don't have much chance." Eric said: "And to tell you the truth, I really despise those noble children 99% of the time. They talk in a pretentious manner, as if they are such gentlemen. Like, but that look, that manner...hey!"

Eric's tone was full of disdain: "If I want to marry them, I might as well find someone locally who knows everything about them."

I have to say that today's aristocratic atmosphere is really not that good. In comparison, Raven during the Little Bee period was considered conservative.

No wonder Eric looked down on them.

"Speaking of which, in fact, I came today to ask Lord Baron about the finals of the athletic conference." Eric hesitated and said, "Should I have an exhibition match with Mr. Gul'dan?"

"Have the Fox family looked for you?"

"No."

"Then just go ahead and fight." Raven waved his hand and said: "Anyway, you may not be Gul'dan's opponent. Try your best and work hard. Don't feel pressured if you don't win."

After all, Eric has just been promoted to the third level. Although he has a second level enchanted armor to protect him, Gul'dan's equipment is not bad. He has 8 stars in the third level of Dou Qi realm, and he has awakened his martial spirit. The gap between the two is really too big. .

Eric was at a loss for a moment. He took a sip of tea and said, "But what if I hurt Gul'dan..."

Raven said indifferently: "In the arena, anything can happen. As long as you don't kill him or be killed by him, anything will work."

Seeing that Eric still didn't understand, Raven turned over the four teacups and placed them on the table, and clicked them one by one: "These four are us, Fox, Slater, and Anthony."

He pushed away two of them: "Now, Anthony has left in anger, Slater has also been eliminated, and the only ones left are us and the Fox family."

"At this point in this competitive tournament, whether we win or Fox wins the championship, it will be considered a good thing."

"So, you must do your best in this game. The better you perform, the more pressure you can put on Gul'dan, and the more we can show the outside world how powerful we are!"

Eric nodded slowly, gradually understanding what Raven meant.

Although Raven is powerful, it has risen too fast after all, which inevitably gives the outside world the impression that its foundation is unstable.

It is because of this that Vesasi is dissatisfied with Raven, and Seleva is always jumping up and down.

There are more than two people who are dissatisfied among the 11 nobles in Xuefeng County, but most of them do not show it obviously.

The world of nobles is almost the same as the jungle. The strong eat meat and the weak drink soup.

Before that, the Griffith family declined and their territory was cut up and could not be taken back; now that the Griffith family is strong and occupies the Gray Mountain Town of Judela, he dare not say a word.

"I understand, Lord Baron." Eric nodded heavily: "I will not embarrass you in this competition."

"Look at you, you start to say this again." Raven shook his head and smiled: "Your previous performance was already quite good, and now this game is the icing on the cake, don't put so much pressure on yourself."

"People should relax when they should, and you are just short of this. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't been home during the three-day offseason, right?"

Eric nodded awkwardly.

"Are you afraid of your wife?" Raven raised his eyebrows.

"That's definitely not possible!" Eric patted his chest and said, "I'm going home now, and she has to take people to serve me carefully!"

"But my Lord Baron, this woman is really strange. I have been married to her for 20 years, and I have watched her become a yellow-faced woman little by little. But now that she has become the wife of a knight, she seems to have become a different person. I don't know why she is so beautiful."

"I'm not bragging to you. Although I am over 40, I am full of energy now. I will show my masculinity as soon as I go back."

Raven sounded like bragging: "Well, I believe it."

"I'm really not bragging. You don't know that what I like most now is..." Eric opened his arms and began to straighten his chest and move his waist: " This posture, half an hour without stopping!"

"I don't know what posture you usually use?"

"Half an hour is too much? I usually..." Raven answered smoothly, then his face turned embarrassed: "Don't ask! What do you want to learn?"

Eric smiled and said: "That's not impossible."

"Get lost!" Raven scolded with a smile: "If you have nothing to do, go back and have a good rest. I'll see how you perform tomorrow."

"This..." Eric twisted his beard subconsciously: "Actually, there is another thing this time."

"That is, the construction of the castle in my territory is a bit slow, I want to borrow some from you..."

The more he spoke, the weaker his voice became, and his face became redder and redder.

Although he had saved about 400 gold coins before, and then followed Raven for a few years and made a lot of money, and the gold coins in his hand were close to 1,000, it was really a bit stretched to build a castle.

After all, the castle is not easy to renovate after it is built. He and his wife want to make it perfect, so the expenses are a bit uncontrollable.

Raven pondered for a moment and asked, "How much do you need?"

"800...500 gold coins will be enough!" Eric said.

"I'll give you 1,000." Raven said readily, "20% interest per year."

"Great, thank you, Lord Baron!" Eric breathed a sigh of relief.

Asking for money from others, especially from Lord Baron, really put a lot of pressure on him.

But there was no other way. Colleagues with some money, like Old Gordon, Simon, and Link, were all building castles, and none of them had much money.

If he borrowed from outsiders, the interest would be 40% or 50% per year, which he really couldn't afford.

Now Raven was willing to lend him money, and only 20% interest, which was like a timely help.

After saying goodbye and leaving with many thanks, Eric returned to the barracks and practiced with Simon until midnight before he began to rest.

The next day, September 4, the final of the first competition conference, which was remembered by later generations, began.

Because the process of this game was beyond everyone's expectations.

…