Chapter 588 - 30: Greenfield Knights Headquarters and the New Female Courtier Candidate (Part 3)
Last year alone, the brothels provided Su Li with a pure profit of 1,980 Golden Crowns!
This number simply stunned the ministers and knights of the territory.
So much so that after the end-of-year meeting, knights rushed to various places to buy prostitutes this year.
1,980 Golden Crowns, equivalent to the income of a Kingdom Knight’s Territory!
If relying solely on farming, it would take thousands of people to create such wealth for a single Knight Lord, whereas prostitutes, with just a few dozen, at most over a hundred, can do it by just lying there.
It’s not like the Knight Lords haven’t been to the brothels in various towns and villages; on the contrary, they’re regulars, visiting brothels as frequently as they do taverns.
As one of the three major buildings found in every village of the Empire, prostitution is one of the most common female occupations in the Empire.
The price for their service per time is not much higher than the price of a dinner provided by a tavern, just dozens of Copper Coins, even high-end prostitutes cost only one or two Silver Coins.
The Knight Lords couldn’t figure out how these prostitutes, even if they served a hundred customers a day, could not generate the profit of a single Golden Crown.
How did the Lord receive 1,980 Golden Crowns?
Actually, these brothels are so profitable because their main customers are not the common people of the territory; from the beginning, they followed the high-end route, targeting guilds, slave capture teams, and adventurers.
These people are transient and are truly willing to spend money. Many of them live on the edge, and the profit from a single trip to Hesse Territory might be spent entirely before leaving.
In this dark and desperate world, the philosophy of living for the moment is shared by many. As for long-term planning, considering matters decades later is too distant.
Who knows if they will still be alive next month after this month? So when they meet a woman who genuinely seems affectionate to them (at least until they walk out the door), they’re willing to spend a fortune to buy the girl some happiness.
That’s why the four brothels under Su Li’s name can generate such high profits. Their good reputation has even spread to other cities through the guilds.
Many Ranger Knights, Rogue Knights, and Minstrels, without any special affair, visit Hesse Territory on purpose just to experience the seductive charm of the territory.
And after these people have spent all their money, quite a number simply join Hesse’s Provincial Legion or Free People’s Corps.
For instance, the Blue Heron Mercenary Corps, their Mercenary Base, recruited a large number of personnel from there.
The base of the Blue Heron Mercenary Corps is just below the Rainbow Terraces in Hesse Territory.
The Rainbow Terraces were built after the victory over Green Dragon Aeliria during a full-scale development and serve as a landmark, developed concurrently with the Frosty Wheat Whistle in the Blood Pine Forest.
This structure is southwest of the Green Leaf Hills Farm, about 5 miles from Rainbow Falls, allowing the wheat fields to bask in the sunlight refracted through rainbows all through the day thanks to its circular structure.
From the terraces, one can also see the giant stele peak next to Rainbow Falls and the water mist drifting up.
The Blue Heron Mercenary Corps originally wanted their mercenary base beside Rainbow Falls. After all, mercenaries are quite superstitious, believing rainbows can bring good luck and hoping that through the rainbow and luck before heading out, they could return safely.
Unfortunately, they encountered the territory’s Iron-blood Chancellor Oliver, and the negotiation did not go smoothly. Unable to alter Oliver’s firm stance, they had to settle for alternatives and continue to seek locations elsewhere.
Eventually, after a series of negotiations, they chose their station just under the Rainbow Terraces.
After a series of constructions, expansions, and recruitment, this large mercenary group at Hesse Territory’s sub-base now has more than 300 people, including 120 Long Halberd Soldiers, 80 Crossbowmen, 40 Dwarf Rangers, 30 Walking Knights, and their renowned 75 Heavy Cavalry Corps (60 people).
With the addition of office staff, logistics, warehouse management, chefs, and financial treasurers, the size of this sub-base has already surpassed 500 people.
The three villages and farms around the territory all serve these powerful mercenaries, with a large number of merchants, workers, apprentices, and prostitutes traveling around this base, providing them with various furniture, living utensils, food materials, and other services.
In terms of combat power, their strength is not weaker than the Greenfield Knights.
When the harvest season’s sport competition arrives, perhaps they can also invite them to participate along with the Greenfield Knights and the Fallen Wolf Mercenary Corps.
As Su Li was thinking, a voice filled with suppressed anger came from the female knight beside, her fists clenching with a cracking sound: "Victor! You fool, being driven by your loins; you’ve ruined our Greenfield Knights’ reputation completely! Who talks about those lowly professions on a first meeting?"
Eh? There might be someone who does?
Su Li remembered, not sure if it was historical fact or literary embellishment, that every time Cao Cao conquered a city, the first thing he did upon entering was to ask if there were any prostitutes there?
So, is this Victor some sort of a hero akin to Cao Cao?
Victor was unfazed, spreading his hands and saying: "How are prostitutes lowly? In my heart, they’re all troubled souls with various hardships. Comforting them fits perfectly with the Goddess’s teachings of caring for all mankind. Surely, one can care for everyone without having prejudice against my caring for prostitutes, right?"
