Sword of Dawn

Victoria frowned: "Is that so..."

The black-haired maid asked curiously: "Vicky, do you suspect that there is something wrong with those Holy Light priests?"

"No... just a little concerned about their recent movements, they suddenly became active," Victoria shook her head, "but it should be my illusion, after all, now the cultists are suddenly making trouble everywhere, and those who can wipe out those cultists head-on Only the Church of the God of War and the Church of the Holy Light, among which the divine magic of the Holy Light is the most effective against sorcery," Victoria said lightly, "We have no reason to interfere with their activities within the legal scope - just continue to pay more attention, If they have any unreasonable thoughts, they will always show their feet."

"Yes."

……

After winter, the circulation of news also became difficult and slow as the number of traveling merchants decreased.

In this era when cutting-edge technology is scarce and popular, and ordinary society still maintains a primitive and backward situation, the transmission of information is an embarrassing and inefficient thing.Although there are magics and props such as the communication technique and the ring of mithril, but because the people who master these communication techniques are extremely rare and there is no effective way to share information with each other, these techniques cannot make people understand the distant places in a timely and comprehensive manner. What happened, for most commoners and even nobles, was that the main means of dissemination of information remained traveling caravans, and commissioners who delivered letters.

And for the remote New Cecil Territory, which is not very attractive to business travelers, the slow transmission of information is even more of a problem.

In the territory, Gao Wen established a simple courier team. In addition, the main population settlements of Lord Cecil are only towns, western logging villages, and eastern mining villages (which have almost developed into small towns). There is no place, so internal information transmission is not a problem, but if you want to communicate with the outside world, with the current manpower and material resources of the territory, there is no way to set up your own channel. The only thing you can rely on is extremely limited, selling food and cloth from Tanzan Town. Or slave traders, as well as expatriates specially sent to Kant and Leslie to collect information.

So when Gao Wen learned that signs of cultists' activities were found in various parts of the kingdom, it was already a month after he issued a warning to the capital.

This is the result of using Viscount Andrew Leslie's information channel - if there is no fast griffin messenger, it will take more than a month to travel from the royal capital to the southern border with just a pair of legs of a traveling merchant.

Looking at the information in front of him, Gao Wen frowned tightly.

But Amber didn't know what was written in the letter sent from Tanzan Town early in the morning. She was boringly carving a piece of wood with a dagger next to her. When she looked up and saw Gawain's expression, she asked casually: "What's wrong? Has the price of rice gone up?"

"No, heretics."

Amber immediately jumped up from the chair: "You want to hit the cultist again?! Hey, can I have a stomachache in time?"

"It's not here." Gawain glanced at Amber, "except for the southern border, heretics are appearing all over the kingdom."

Amber was relieved when she heard this, and sat down with her head down to continue carving her own wood: "Oh, as long as it doesn't interfere with our business."

Gawain looked helplessly at this elf's shame, but he couldn't feel as relaxed as the other party.

The situation was exactly as I had expected—the heretics had infiltrated every aspect of the kingdom, not only the border lords' territory, but even near the capital, there were signs of their troubles on the Holy Spirit Plain.

A large number of cultist lairs have been discovered and uprooted, but more have just found a little trace, and then lost the clue.

Or it was too late to find out, the cultists had already completed their evil sacrifices, and what the local nobles found was only the bloody scene after the ceremony.

Apart from these disturbing information, another thing also made Gao Wen feel urgent and... cramped.

All the information is seriously outdated, the news from the capital is a month ago, and the situation in the northern border has not yet been obtained.

He needs to establish his own information channel, which must be in his own hands, and it must be more efficient and reasonable than various contemporary information channels.

At present, the spell model of the communication technique has not been analyzed yet, and the attempt of electromagnetic wave communication has also encountered failure. Technically, it will not be possible to realize the "modern communication network" envisioned by Gao Wen for a while, but even if there is no cheap instant messaging He can also come up with a framework first.

The potions in the alchemy factory made him think of a way.

Chapter 0215 Industrial Products

With the support of sufficient manpower and material resources, the alchemy factory on the edge of the town was finally officially completed. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the factory, Gawain also agreed for the first time to let Rebecca throw a few big fireballs into the sky from a safe distance. To add to the fun, the magical flames that exploded in the sky are not only a celebration, but also a message to the people. Soon the people on this land will know that their survival has been further guaranteed-there is no shortage of food, no shortage of clothing, and no shortage of food. There is no shortage of firewood for heating, and now they will have no shortage of medicines.

Most people don't understand the principle of the new "alchemy factory", nor do they understand the connection between the metal pipes and pots brought into the factory and the magical art of alchemy, but the poster posted on the central square of the town The announcement can clearly tell them that with this new facility, there will be no shortage of all healing potions and druid potions needed for farming in the entire territory, and the newly opened alchemy shop on Trade Street will sell cheap All kinds of medicine, the price is so low that even the poorest people can afford it, which is undoubtedly very exciting news for everyone.

In the workshop of the alchemy factory, Gao Wen was inspecting the first batch of rejuvenation potions produced.

These medicines are packed in finger-sized man-made crystal bottles, neatly packed in a wooden box with many grids, and soft wood chips are filled around the medicine bottles to prevent collision damage during transportation. According to Gao Wen's request, these alchemy potions were neatly packaged, and a matching "label" was affixed - a small piece of paper was attached to each crystal bottle, on which was written the name of the potion, its effect , the date of production and the date of expiration, and the emblem of Cecil collar is printed on it.

This unified label is particularly novel to many people, especially the "expiration date" mark on it is even more fresh, because traditional alchemy potions actually rarely consider the issue of "expiration" - alchemy potions are made by extraordinary Handmade by professionals, the output is very limited, and the supply will always be in short supply. Their users are usually nobles of all sizes or superhumans who need to go to the battlefield. The former naturally have their own cronies or magic advisors to manage the treasure house. They don’t need to think about the expiration of the potion, and the potion in the latter’s hands often doesn’t expire when it expires, so those traditional alchemists will at most put a name on the bottle after preparing the potion, and the expiration date... Leave it to the "users" to care about themselves.

But of course the products produced by the factory cannot be like this. Gao Wen must instill standardized ideas in the people on the territory from the very beginning.

Now everything is in the initial stage, and the content on the label is of course very crude, but even so, the neat and uniform labels and pleasing packaging of the mass-produced potion still left a deep impression on the people present, Rui Becca looked at the potions neatly stacked on the table with wide eyes, and couldn't help scratching her hair: "It's so strange... It's an inexplicable pleasure to see these bottles neatly placed together..."

"Your obsessive-compulsive disorder has been satisfied," Amber standing aside explained with a very understanding face, and then pointed to Gao Wen, "I didn't say you were sick, these words are yours. What my ancestors said."

"It's the first time I've seen precious alchemy potions piled up in this way..." Hetty also said with emotion, "Suddenly it feels like they're worthless."

"In fact, compared with ordinary alchemy potions, they are indeed 'worthless', ma'am," Pittman said proudly standing by the table, "Originally the biggest cost of alchemy potions was the caster, but now the reaction tank The magic device matched with it has replaced the position of the caster, and the amount of potion that can be produced by this big guy running once is not comparable to a few flasks and test tubes on a small alchemy table. In fact, these potions in front of you The most valuable part of it is not the liquid inside at all, but something that none of you can imagine."

"The most valuable part?" Rebecca blinked, "The potion itself is not worth much, so what is it worth?"

"Bottles," Pittman spread his hands, "the cost of these crystal bottles is even higher than the liquid medicine inside, if a bottle of medicine sells for [-] copper coins, then at least [-] copper coins inside are actually buying bottles. "

Amber was taken aback: "Bottles are so expensive?!"

"The bottle hasn't become more expensive, but the production cost of the potion is too low." Rebecca had already realized it, and she looked at Gao Wen thoughtfully, "My lord ancestor, I remember you mentioned before that there is a A man-made crystal called 'glass' would be cheaper than all the man-made crystals we have today..."

Gao Wen coughed in embarrassment: "Ahem, glass...don't think about it for now, I haven't found an alternative production material yet."

It is said that the three treasures of the time traveler, paper-making glass and black gunpowder, but Gao Wen didn't catch any of these three things-this world already has paper-making technology. Although there is room for improvement, it is already a mature technology. When he came to "invent" it again, black powder was a project that failed in the early stages of the territory's construction, and as for glass...

This world has the special technology of "artificial crystal". According to Gao Wen's judgment, the most common "white crystal" in artificial crystal is actually "glass" that can be realized in this world. The main material of this artificial crystal is quartz sand And colorless crystal rock, and these two things... are magic materials.

Fortunately, quartz sand is the cheapest magic material, but colorless crystal rock... Although it cannot be said to be expensive, it is definitely more expensive than sand. Before a substitute is found, crystal rock is the process of making artificial crystals highest cost.

"It's actually good. The smaller the artificial crystal vessel, the easier it is to manufacture, and the bottle of the alchemy potion uses the cheapest crystal bottle, which is already very cheap," Pittman explained, "Our alchemy potion is already expensive in terms of cost. There are unimaginable advantages, the bottle is a little more expensive...it doesn't matter much."

Hetty nodded: "That makes sense. But I'm a little worried, the alchemy potion made with these metal jars and magic circles... the effect can really be as good as the potion prepared by druids, alchemists, and mages. Is it?"

"You don't have to worry about this at all," Pittman laughed proudly when he heard this, "In fact, in my opinion, the potions produced in the alchemy factory are much more reliable than those produced on the alchemy table ——These reaction tanks and magic circles have been precisely adjusted. As long as the initial settings are correct, the raw materials are correct, and the reaction vessels themselves are not faulty, then they can guarantee that every bottle of potion will be produced no matter whether they produce one bottle or ten thousand bottles. A bottle of potion is not bad, but traditional alchemists have high or low skills, and even the best alchemists sometimes miss it. This is actually the reason for many so-called side effects of alchemy potions——I don’t rule out excellent alchemists. Under the right conditions, they will make a potion that is more effective than the factory potion, but can you imagine how many defective products will flow out of their colleagues' workshops while they are making a good bottle of potion? And in this process, how much quality potion can our factory produce?"

Pittman's face was full of red light, and even his beard was blown up. Seeing this, Amber couldn't help muttering: "That's like a slapstick...that old and unscrupulous person has been talking more and more like an old rice dumpling recently..."

Immediately, all the non-deaf people at the scene looked at her, and several voices said in unison, "What did you say?"

Amber's pointed ears tensed up suddenly, and she jumped two or three meters: "Are you an elf or am I an elf! Why are everyone's ears so sharp!"

"I'm focusing on your mouth. As soon as you open your mouth, I'll sieve the sand out." Gawain glared at the half-elf who was running the train with his mouth full, and then looked at Heidi. "These potions are given priority to meet the supply and sales within the territory." , In addition, the army also needs to distribute the potion to each soldier, to ensure that each soldier has three rejuvenation potions and three disease-dispelling potions in reserve under any circumstances. You can count them and reserve them after meeting these requirements 50.00% of the medicine reserves, everything else is packed, and Cecil's first signature product is them."

Hetty sighed from the bottom of her heart: "Based on this alone, Cecil's combat regiment is probably the most extravagant army in the world."

Gawain smiled: "From the time we distributed the enchanted equipment to everyone, they already have it."

At this moment, the door of the workshop was suddenly opened, and an apprentice walked in quickly. He came to Gao Wen and others to salute respectfully, and reported: "Masters, the carriage from Kant has passed the bridge. .”

"It seems that Mr. Patrick has arrived." Gawain turned around and patted the packing box of the alchemy potion. "Pack up this batch of samples and send them to the Lord's Mansion. I want to talk to that person personally." Speak to the gentleman who has been praised by Philip Cavalier."

And when Cecil's alchemy potion trade line kicked off on this historic day, a special gathering was being held in an unknown hidden temple within the Typhon Empire.

The hidden temple is shrouded in a dignified atmosphere. A circle of seats is placed in the center of the main circular hall. The surfaces of those seats are carved with patterns of closed eyes that represent dreams. Part of the chairs are like living creatures in the dark. The center was wriggling slightly, while a large number of nerve cords extended from the holes in the ground and walls, connecting with the biological parts of those seats.

More than a dozen people in white or black robes stood around the seats, with weird smooth masks on their faces, which made it impossible to judge the identity of each of them from their faces, nor could they see any of their faces. Expression changes.

One of the men in white robes stood up, looked around, and heard a low and indisputable voice from under the mask: "Very well, everyone is here, so 22, you will preside over this ceremony."

The white-robed man and the black-robed man took their seats in front of their seats, and a black-robed man raised his hand: "Then, let's start the No. 17 'deep dive test' to try to crack Gawain Se The memory fragments released by Syl. Nightmare bishops, send a signal to your 'lower node group', and the connection will start after 1 minute.

"Everyone, safety first."

Chapter 0216 Business Plan

The chubby Padraic Boom sat a little uneasy in the drawing room of Lord Cecil's "castle", and adjusted the position of his bow tie for the third time.

He is not a person who has not seen the world, but it is very difficult for people who have seen the world in this world to have the opportunity to have a secret conversation with a founding hero. He knows that the situation this time is completely different from the previous conversation in Kant Castle Last time, he accepted Duke Cecil's appointment in the crowd as a representative of Kant Land, but this time, it was Duke Cecil who called him from Kant Land to have a private face-to-face meeting .

The stress created by these two conversations is very different.

At the same time, Patrick was also curiously looking at this place that was extremely novel in his eyes.

This mansion is the castle of Duke Cecil, but its shape is completely different from the aristocratic fortress in the public impression. Rather than being a castle, it is closer to the "holiday manor" architectural style recently popularized by some nobles in the central region , it is probably not as strong as a castle, but the environment inside is surprisingly comfortable: wide floor-to-ceiling windows, a bright living room, and warm corridors and rooms, and the air does not smell at all like that often found in castles. Soggy, putrid smelling, it's an amazing thing indeed.

Most of the walls here are whitewashed and spotless, and the bright magic crystal lamps illuminate every corner of the building as if they don’t need money-in fact, not only in this castle, since entering the After Silling, the number of magic spar lamps Patrick saw even exceeded the sum of the magic spar lamps he had seen in the previous half of his life.

God knows how this newly established pioneering territory has done such a thing-in just a few months, neat brick houses have been built here, wide and straight streets have been built, wharves, There are mills and sawmills, and among all these things, the most striking thing is the magic spar lamps that are lit just before dusk, and they are placed in rows on both sides of the road. And in front of the main entrance of the folk house, it is not used to illuminate the mansion of the lord, but to illuminate the place where the common people live!

Originally, Padraic thought that it was a great feat that half of the people in Kant could light up oil lamps after nightfall, but when he saw the brightly lit Cecil Territory after nightfall, he felt that he was familiar with it. The town instantly dimmed.

How rich is Cecil?Did they hire dozens or hundreds of official mages to recharge the street lamps at the door of the common people?

And what happened to their incredible construction speed?And what about engineering projects that still don't stop during the winter?And what about those civilians who walk around the territory at will, talk and laugh loudly, and don't tremble with fear when they see patrolling soldiers?What are those huge buildings called factories that make strange noises?

This territory seems to be shrouded in countless mysteries, but Patrick did not dare to delve into it. He knew the owner of this land and the origin of the Grand Duke Gawain Cecil—a man who had experienced the Gondor period and The legend developed for the second time is said to have reached a secret agreement with the lord of the four elements, and has close contacts with the royal families of elves and dwarves. Such a character is almost "inhuman" in Padrik's view, even if he Padraic felt that there was no problem with borrowing the power of the elemental lord to build this territory - but if he was a small person talking too much in this regard, then the problem would be big.

When Padraic was adjusting his bow tie for the fourth time, the stupid-looking little maid came up again, filling up the teacup on the round table for an unknown number of times: "Sir, have some tea."

"Oh, oh, thank you." Padraic hiccupped with the sound of water, but this time he had learned to be smart, and just picked up the teacup and took a small sip-he had already realized that the little maid in front of him The girl is not trying to make things difficult for herself, nor is she being instructed by the duke to test herself, but I am afraid that she has never learned how to receive guests from senior maids or head maids. If the guest is full, and then stares at the guest drinking tea, but if the guest is too honest or thinks too much—such as himself half an hour ago—then it is very likely that she will drink tea to death.

"Excuse me...does the Duke know that I'm coming?" After putting down the teacup, Patrick looked at Betty carefully and asked.

The other party is just a little maid, and it is impossible to compare with myself as the lord's advisor (former) in terms of status, but only a fool would use such a simple method to compare - this little girl is just a maid. False, but she is the Duke's maid!

Then the "Duke's Maid" put her finger on her chin and fell into a dazed state for a few seconds. After thinking hard, Betty shook her head: "I don't know!"

Padraic sighed, giving up on asking anything from Betty.

And at this moment, the door of the living room was finally pushed open, and a tall figure stood there, making Patrick, who had just sighed, stand up reflexively.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Gawain said with a smile as he walked into the room, "I'm inspecting the alchemy factory, and it took me a while to sort out the samples—Betty, have you poured tea for the guests?"

Betty raised the big teapot in her hand: "Pour tea!"

Padraic hiccupped reflexively as soon as he heard the water in the big teapot...

Gao Wen was taken aback: Why did the fat man hiccup and still hear the sound?

However, he didn't delve into this matter, but was very pleased with the growth of his little maid. After showing an approving smile to the little girl, he looked at Mr. Patrick who was a little nervous and hiccupped. : "Knight Philip praised you very much. When he came back to report the situation last time, he mentioned that you managed Kant's finances in an orderly manner. Still stabilize the merchants who have trade relations with Kant Land, so that they will still do business with Kant Land in the coming year?"

"I just did what I was supposed to do," Patrick nodded reservedly, "I have always been in charge of dealing with the chambers of commerce in the territory and making suggestions to the lord in this regard. I am ashamed to say that although I am proficient in heraldry And grammar and etiquette, but put more energy into the money, it's probably not very respectable."

"It's really disrespectful when you are good at dealing with money but dare not admit it," Gao Wen smiled, "I came to you today to talk about money matters, I think you You should already know, right?"

"Ah, yes, I saw your letter. Your territory has entered a productive stage, so you want me to contact the trade route?" Patrick nodded, "Is it the alchemy potion?"

"Yes, alchemy potion, but I want to declare in advance that the way Cecil collar produces and sells alchemy potion is probably quite different from what you imagined. I have a brand new trade model, and I need you to help me form and sell it. Realize it."

"A brand new trade model?" Patrick frowned, he didn't know what Gawain meant, "Are you talking about your commission as a lord?"

"It's too troublesome to talk about. It's better for you to read the information directly," Gawain said while motioning for Hetty, who was following him, to pass a not-too-thick booklet to Patrick, " This will tell you what the 'new trade model' is."

Padraic took over the brochure, but although he was quite in awe of Gao Wen, he was still somewhat conceited when talking about his field of expertise. He asked himself that he had dealt with merchants for half his life, how would he be interested in laying commercial roads, buying, selling, and selling? That set of things is very familiar, and no matter how novel the trade model is, it will not be too complicated in his eyes. It is a bit of a fuss to use a booklet to explain it - but he dare not say it clearly, but can only respectfully Nodded: "Okay, I'll take a look now. Your Excellency, you can rest assured that I am quite confident in doing business."

As he was talking, he saw some key words in the brochure: chain distribution, regional agency, distribution network, sharing model and market expansion...

Gawain didn't say anything, just watched quietly as Patrick quickly read through the not very thick booklet.

Padraic skimmed through the first pass for a few minutes, then tripled the time for the second.

When he was about to watch it for the third time, Gawain interrupted him: "Mr. Patrick, what do you think?"

Patrick rubbed his eyes, looked at Gao Wen blankly, and seemed to forget that he was in the living room of the Duke's mansion for a moment, his mind was full of those unimaginable nouns and specific operation plans, until he realized It was when Gao Wen called himself that he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "Yes... yes, Your Excellency Duke! I'm done, I'm done!"

"I know you've finished reading it, and I want to know what you think."

"This... this..." Patrick looked down at the booklet in his hand, but suddenly realized that he had no words to use, "These thoughts are really something I have never thought of, they seem weird...but Seems to work? But..."

The fat gentleman waited for a long time, and finally took a deep breath: "Well, I admit that there is no problem logically, if it is really realized, then it will quickly grow into a commercial monster in the southern region - without any A single merchant, local merchant or even a regional chamber of commerce can fight against such a well-organized, highly efficient, unified merchant group with the support of a large noble behind it, but I must also be honest, it is almost impossible to realize these ideas. You ask All the people in this sales system are under the unified dispatch, the ground-floor stores are under the command of the regional agent, and the regional agent is under the command of the general manager appointed by you, but no merchant has ever accepted this kind of restraint before—of course, we It can be achieved by money interests and contracts, but you also ask the lowest-level shops to do business to civilians, which..."

Patrick spread his hands: "Alchemy potions are not stinky ointments made by rural herbalists. Even poorer mercenaries may not be able to use them. How can civilians afford them? Even if we sell them to civilians, they will No one bought it either!"

"You don't have to worry about this. Since I said that the new alchemy potions can be sold to civilians, I have naturally considered the price. I can guarantee that they are so cheap that ordinary civilians can afford them, and nobles from all over the world can afford them. This potion can be given to their army."

Gao Wen didn't say too much directly, and didn't promise that "even serfs can afford alchemy potions" - because this is unrealistic.Not every territory is the same as the Cecil Territory. In most places in the world, the private property of serfs is almost zero. Can't afford it. In this regard, the current Gao Wen can't do anything.

Making alchemy potions affordable for civilians (or citizens) with moderate conditions in other territories is already his biggest goal right now.

Regarding Gao Wen's statement, Patrick's first reaction was to doubt that this was impossible, but seeing the unshakable expression on the other party's face, he wisely did not say this, but simply carried out a review of the trade model in the manual. Evaluation: "Okay, then I will say that what is written on it is full of wisdom-if you are not selling alchemy potions, but grain cloth, my evaluation of it will go up a notch. But I There is one last question...do you have so many alchemy potions?"

The "business scholar" spread his hands: "To 'feed' such a sales system, the amount of alchemy potions needed is not a small amount."

Gao Wen smiled slightly, and waved to the two attendants who followed him: "Go and bring those boxes of samples in."

"How many... How many boxes?"

Chapter 0217 Establishment of the Cecil Chamber of Commerce

Before today, Patrick never thought that the packaging unit of alchemy potions could be "boxes".

How are alchemy potions packaged and sold?Ordinary small businessmen don't even think about this at all, because all alchemy items are products of extraordinary power. The so-called magic items loaded by the bottom-level traveling merchants on their carriages are just a few pieces of iron with runes carved on them and dried Sheepskin - the main function of this kind of thing is psychological comfort, the promotional slogan is "my grandma said this is useful" - the real alchemy potion is a business that only middle and upper class businessmen can afford.

And even the upper-middle-class merchants can get at most a dozen bottles of alchemy potions in one trip or stockpiling—they will be packed in exquisite crystal bottles, filled with velvet and high-grade silk around them, and then sold separately. Served in an exquisite wooden box, it is almost the same price as the most expensive red wine.

It is said that there was once a well-known mercenary expert who was ordered to destroy a mutant monster that endangered the border. This mercenary expert relied on his extraordinary skills and a dozen bottles of alchemy potions to forcibly grind to death a monster that was three times stronger than himself. The enemy, after the victory, looked back at the potion bottle he threw on the ground, and died on the spot with a "crack"...

Of course, there are exaggerations in this story. The merchants used excessively gorgeous packaging to hold the alchemy potion in order to raise the price of the potion in front of the ignorant nobles and rookie mercenaries, but the preciousness of the alchemy potion itself is still evident, but Now Gao Wen had someone bring several large boxes—the box was opened, and it was full of alchemy potions, and the small neat crystal bottles were filled with sawdust for collision protection.

"Each box has three floors, and each floor has 233 bottles. This box is for weak mana potions, this box is for healing potions, and the rest of these boxes are all rejuvenation potions," Gawain pointed to those big boxes and told Patrick. Introduction, and then took out a piece of paper, "here is the specific price and sharing method, you can take a look. My initial price for the rejuvenation potion is sixty Cecil copper coins, or one ansu shield-shaped silver coin, and the mana potion is They are two shield-shaped silver coins, and the price of the disease-dispelling mixture and the rejuvenation potion are the same."

Padraic took the price list in a daze, and blinked after hearing the number reported by Gao Wen, as if he didn't understand the connection between this price and the potion in front of him.