Unknown Knight

Nearing noon, the newly arrived local products such as salt and smoked fish were all bought up by Aix. He was sure that when Grans' caravan arrived in Tiha in a few days, these goods would be at least 30% to 50% more expensive than usual, so their profit on the return trip would be almost zero.

Looking at the sun, Aix decided not to stay any longer and led the caravan out of Tiha. Although they would not be able to make it to the next village if they set out now, this area was the heartland of the Nordic Kingdom, so they did not have to worry about camping in the wild.

Sitting in the swaying carriage, Aix tossed a few salt blocks in his hand and thought. This time, the business war with Grans was mainly focused on the prices of two commodities, salt and smoked fish, in Tiha City. Smoked fish was easy to say, this thing was air-dried seafood, not easy to deteriorate and lose, that is, food can also be used as a substitute for salt, the price was relatively stable in various places, and there was no worry about sales, but the profit margin was relatively small. But salt was different. It could be sold at a high price in places where there was no output, but Nord was a coastal country, and it was impossible to sell salt at a good price in Sagos. This time, Tiha stockpiled goods to suppress the opponent, so the average purchase price reached 180 copper coins per bag. If each bag of salt could not be sold for more than 220 copper coins in Sagos, this trip would have to pay for it. Although the caravan that had just made a fortune did not care about this little profit, in business, in the spirit of maximizing profits, if this trip could not make a profit, then it would be a shame for a businessman, so all the way Aix had been studying how to sell his salt at a good price.

In fact, the idea has almost been thought out, that is, to find a way to turn this batch of crude salt into refined salt. In this era, people have two ways to obtain salt, one is the sea salt sun-dried on the beach, and the other is the mineral salt excavated in the mine. This kind of sea salt produced in the Nord has large particles, and even hardened into blocks. It is dark yellow in color and mixed with sand. It is said that eating too much will cause swelling and disease. It is usually fed to livestock. Only very poor people eat this salt. Slightly richer people generally use smoked fish, which is cost-effective and harmless, as a salt supplement. The nobles eat mineral salt produced in Kugit and Sarand. It is said that this salt can be sold for more than 500 copper coins per bag.

To make refined salt from crude salt, you only need to dissolve the salt in water and then boil the brine dry to leave pure salt. When passing by a small river with clear water, Aix decided not to leave and boil the salt here.

Bandak was puzzled as to why they were not leaving since it was only afternoon and there were still nearly two hours before dark, so he came over to ask. Aix smiled and did not answer him but asked him:

"Is there any place around here that is relatively secluded and has plenty of wood?"

"There is an abandoned logging camp not far upstream of this river, but it has been abandoned for many years."

Bandak said casually.

As soon as Aix heard about this place, he liked it, so he ordered everyone to drive the convoy to the abandoned logging site, and then divided the personnel into two groups, one group to collect wood, and the other group to fetch river water to dilute the coarse salt into brine in wooden barrels. The large iron pot seized from the bandits was just right for boiling salt.

After learning of Aix's plan, Bandak and others were also very supportive and directed everyone to quickly complete the preparations. However, Aix still thought the problem was simple. First of all, it would take a long time to boil the brine dry, and a lot of firewood would be used. Fortunately, there was no shortage of firewood nearby, and Bandak specially sent two people to collect firewood to supply it; secondly, the salt blocks deposited after boiling once still had a lot of impurities, and some were yellow, so they had to boil them repeatedly several times to get white salt blocks. It was said that the ancients could use soy milk to precipitate impurities in brine, but this was in the wilderness, where could they get soy milk; thirdly, the salt that was boiled dry was in blocks, which did not look good, and needed to be broken into refined salt. In this wilderness, they had to smash it with stones, but the stone fragments caused secondary pollution to the purified refined salt, so they had to give up. After searching for a long time, the only hard thing that would not cause pollution was the counterweight ball at the end of the sword handle, so a funny scene appeared. Seven or eight guys sat on a piece of rawhide, holding the sword handle with both hands and smashing the salt blocks up and down. Those who didn't know would think they were holding some kind of ceremony. The efficiency of using a weighted ball that is not even as big as a hammer head can be imagined. Everyone worked in shifts all night and a day to barely make a bag of refined salt that met Aix's requirements. It would take a long time to make the remaining coarse salt into refined salt. It seems that nothing is easy when you start doing it. It's not like a time traveler can make refined salt or burn glass by just thinking about it. To mass-produce refined salt, more professional tools and a suitable site are needed.

Seeing everyone's red eyes and arms that could not be lifted, Aix had no choice but to call a halt. If he did not, he would probably lose all the prestige he had accumulated in the past. Besides, he could not declare the salt production a failure yet. He had to give himself a high-sounding way out. After thinking for a while, he said:

"It's done, it's done. Thank you for your hard work. The refined salt we made has met our needs. This time we just need to make samples and promote them to the nobles in Sagos. Everyone, hurry up and have a meal and rest, and try to get to Sagos City tomorrow. Thank you for your hard work."

When everyone heard that it was finally over and that all their hard work for a day and a night had not been in vain, but that they had achieved their goal and received recognition from their leader, they all shouted in celebration. The sense of accomplishment from the recognition swept away any resentment in their hearts, and they all packed up and prepared for dinner.

In order to boost morale, Aix personally cooked for everyone and prepared a portion of shredded cabbage and a pot of Northeastern stew. Fatis, who was eating these two delicacies for the first time, actually changed his previous reservedness and wolfed down two large pots. When he couldn't eat any more, he stared at the pot and muttered:

"It's beautiful and delicious. My teacher didn't lie to me."

That night, the campsite at the abandoned logging site was filled with snoring. Everyone was very tired after a day and night of hard work, but there was one person who just couldn't fall asleep, and that was our protagonist Aix.

There were many things that worried him. He could talk to those rough people with some simple words, but how to push his experience to the nobles of Sagos was a big problem. Moreover, the production of refined salt did not involve much technical content. If the confidentiality was not done well, all efforts would be in vain. Another problem was how to improve the efficiency of salt production. If these three points were not done well, the plan to make a lot of money from refined salt would be in vain. He had no idea for a while and his head hurt.

The next day, on the way to Sagos, Aix was leaning on the salt bag in the carriage, thinking hard. He didn't sleep well the night before, so his eyes were dark and he looked tired. Bandak couldn't bear to see his miserable appearance, so he took the lead in telling jokes to everyone. Aix didn't care at first. He was worried about how to sell refined salt to the nobles of Sagos. He was thinking about some classic marketing cases in the original world, such as diamonds are forever, and one will last forever; selling shoes to barefoot Africans, whether to take tea eggs and how many tea eggs to take, etc. When thinking about the fact that Cuban cigars must be tanned on the thighs of girls in order to enhance their fragrance and charm, Bandak was telling everyone that the girls in a small village called Nimega were very beautiful and white, especially their buttocks were white and shiny. Aix, who was distracted and listening with his ears propped up, suddenly thought of a wonderful marketing plan, so he sat up straight and said to Bandak:

"Master, stop talking nonsense. Come here and I want to ask you something serious."

When Bandak heard what Aix said, he immediately covered his mouth and shrank his head, changing his usual ruthless and sophisticated look and ran over with a smile. Aix knew that he did it on purpose. He pretended to be submissive and funny in front of others just to highlight himself as a new leader with a slightly immature face. He was very grateful to him in his heart. When he saw him coming, he pulled him into the car and patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Is the Nimega you're talking about remote? Where is it?"

"Well, more or less. The village is in a valley near the border of the Rhodok Kingdom. Caravans like ours only go to that village to sell things when there is really no business to do. Apart from us, there are almost no other caravans that patronize that place."

Bandak blurted out.

“Oh, are the women there really beautiful?”

Axe then asked.

"Of course."

Bandak, who was grinning mischievously, saw Aix's serious expression and knew that they were talking about serious matters, so he stopped laughing and said seriously:

"I can't say they are very pretty, but their skin is really good, especially the girls. They all have fair skin. And the people in that village have very white teeth, unlike people in other places who have mouths full of rotten yellow teeth. I heard from the old village chief that it is because the water from a spring in the back mountain in their village is so moist. The spring water is very sweet. I have drunk it. Drinking a sip of the spring water and then chewing a bite of the local boiled beef is so delicious, wow."

After listening to Bandak's description, Aix had a clear idea in his mind. After lunch, he called everyone together for a meeting. The meaning was only one: caravan members were not allowed to discuss refined salt with people outside the caravan, and were not allowed to discuss refined salt when there were outsiders, especially in towns. Those who violated the rules would be expelled from the caravan and all wages would be deducted. The whole caravan immediately became nervous, and the members who didn't know the truth didn't dare to say anything for a while. Instead, they sped up their pace and arrived at the capital of the Nord Kingdom, Sagos, before dark.

After entering the city, the caravan rented a hotel and checked into it. Aix asked Fatis, Catherine and Atiman to keep everyone under control and not allow them to go out for drinking or hang out. They all had to eat in the house, and then he took Bandak out to do some work.

It has been a while since he came to this world. Through his understanding of this world, Aix knows that the medieval countries can be described as small countries with few people. The entire kingdom has a total of hundreds of thousands of people, and the aristocratic feudal system is still implemented. Each territory has an owner. As long as the king and the nobles fulfill the agreed obligations, the king basically will not interfere in the territorial affairs of his nobles. Extensive management is implemented. The rulers usually do not have so many official duties to be busy. Many strange and interesting stories are caused by the idle nobles. Unlike us who are unified, power affairs are intertwined and complicated, and it is difficult to meet a prefect.

Sure enough, they arrived outside the palace and stuffed five silver coins into the captain of the guard on duty, asking him to hand over a letter for an audience, saying that they were ready to meet the great King Ragnar the next morning and present valuable gifts. They successfully obtained an appointment for an audience. Then they bought a gorgeous jewelry box and a square meter of velvet from a local jeweler.

After finishing all these, I returned to the hotel and went to rest directly after dinner. The plan was already made and it was just waiting for tomorrow. Aix had a good sleep without any worries.

The next day, after washing up, Aix came to the palace of Sagos to meet the king wearing neat striped armor and holding a velvet box. On his left and right were the guards Bandak and Fatis wearing red smocks and chain mail.

Although it is called a royal palace, it is actually not much bigger than the slightly larger landlord's compound in the past. The main body of the building is as always in line with the style of the Nordic Kingdom and is entirely built of wood. After giving the captain of the guard five more silver coins, Aix and his party successfully met the famous King Ragnar.

This was a big man with brown hair and a big beard. He was 1.8 meters tall and very strong. He looked very oppressive. He stood up from the throne and walked towards Aix, saying as he walked:

"Are you the Sunuo merchant who wanted to make the tribute?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please accept my respect as the authorized merchant of Marquis Craggs in Suno City. The gift I present will bring you endless wealth."

Holding the wooden box, Aix bowed slightly humbly and saluted the other party.

"Oh?"

After hearing what Aix said that he could bring him wealth, the king seemed very interested. He drew out the long sword he was wearing with a clang, picked up the velvet covering it, and then opened the jewelry box. His movements were smooth and accurate, and it was obvious that he was a master swordsman.

"what is this?"

Seeing the box of crystal white stuff, Ragnar asked in confusion. He had never seen something like snow and sand before.

"My respected highness, this is snow salt."

"Salt?"

"No, Your Highness, salt is salt, and snow salt is snow salt."

Frightened by X's move, Ragnar took a step forward, picked up some with his fingers and put it in his mouth. He immediately snorted after tasting it, took a step back, put the long sword on X's neck and said angrily:

"This is obviously salt, and you're offering it to me?"

This guy still has a bad temper. Fortunately, Aix had a plan in advance and said calmly:

"Your Highness, this is not called salt, this is very precious snow salt."

"What's the difference? If you can't explain it today, you won't be able to walk out of here intact."

He was so strong that he seemed to see a large sum of silver coins confiscated on the pretext of something arriving in his account.

"Please allow me to introduce snow salt to you in detail, my respected king."

Seeing that Aix was calm and confident, Ragnar chose to believe him temporarily. He turned back to his throne, leaning on his sword with both hands, his chin resting on the back of his hands, staring at Aix with a fierce look, as if he would pounce on him and kill him with a sword if anything went wrong. Seeing this, Aix couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and continued with forced calmness:

"In a remote valley in the Kingdom of Swadia, there is a village where all the girls have fair and beautiful skin, the men are strong and powerful, and the old people are long-lived and healthy. This anomaly attracted the attention of our caravan, and after some investigation, we finally discovered the secret of all this."

"What secret? Is it all because of the snow salt?"

Ragnar raised his chin and placed it on the back of his hand.