Chapter 227.1
Herman Trading
Gran Herman, president of Herman Trading, is a merchant of Solhoss Kingdom. A merchant is a title that does not exist in Cleydale, and is a lower-ranking noble title given to merchants who have made a certain number of contributions to the country.
Currently, a title can be purchased through donations to the country, but a merchant title not only gives certain rights in the area, but also responsibilities.
The foreign trade department of Solhoss Kingdom was approached by Duke Helton of Cleydale, with whom they had a long-standing connection, about importing wheat, and chose Herman Trading, which is based near the border with Cleydale.
Solhoss Kingdom has large farmland, so wheat is cheaper than Cleydale. However, considering the transportation costs, it cannot be visibly cheaper, and considering the possibility of accidents passing through the marshes, there is little profit for Solhoss Kingdom, but Solhoss Kingdom still agreed to Duke Helton’s request.
What Solhoss Kingdom ordered Gran to do was not trade. Rather than just selling moderately low-quality wheat, he planned to make the Solhoss Kingdom dependent by lowering its productivity in the western part of Cleydale, and to increase his influence and economic invasion.
“The people in the country are too lenient.”
Gran Herman, a man in his fifties, laughs at his country’s plan while drinking in his mansion in Duke Helton’s territory.
Gran is a low-ranking noble in Solhoss Kingdom, but is treated as a commoner in Cleydale. However, Gran does not show any dissatisfaction with this, and the mansion he is currently in and the alcohol he is drinking are much better than when he was in Solhoss.
If he just does what his country says, he will be able to make the Solhoss Kingdom dependent on him as he intended. However, even though Gran is a low-ranking noble in Solhoss, he has no loyalty to the country, and as a merchant, he naturally seeks profit.
As long as the plan goes ahead, there will be subsidies. He was also able to build connections with high-ranking nobles using information from the country. He planned to use it to drive out other trading companies like slash-and-burn, lend money to villages with declining productivity that they could not repay, and make the people of the Kingdom of Cleydale slaves in mines and brothels, thereby gaining enormous wealth.
Gran was not laughing at the country’s policies, but at the foolishness of a merchant like himself who thought he could act for the country.
However, if you try to gain wealth by borderline illegal activities, you will naturally make enemies. It is fine to appease organizations like the local thieves’ guild with money, but he could not let the noble families, who were cornered because they could not repay the money, and especially the dark side of the Kingdom of Cleydale, know about his connection with Solhoss Kingdom.