Chapter 277: Golden Trilogy
The commoners standing outside the glass windows reached the ears of the individuals sitting on the benches in the main hall.
Ragnar remained seated on his chair, and he turned his head to the side to look directly at his wife, who was sitting on a similar chair placed immediately adjacent to his position.
"Oh my God, he really said 100,000..."
Gyda moved her head slightly, "Of course they’d bid that much... After all, you make up some truly crazy things..."
After all, the other kings seated in the room did not even think twice before deciding to continue the bidding process for the hand cannon.
King Aedh MacNeill raised his right hand into the air and shouted a new number toward the auctioneer.
"110,000!"
Erik stood up from his wooden bench and loudly announced his counteroffer to the room.
"123,000!"
With all these massive numeric values being shouted across the room, it became a factual reality that only kings could bid on sums like that during this specific time period.
Even if twenty dukes joined forces and combined the entirety of their collected resources into a single pool of wealth, they wouldn’t raise that amount of gold in their lifetimes.
The kings quickly became frustrated by the continuous increase in the price of the iron weapon.
King Donald II pointed his finger directly at Erik, "Your men lack the courage to fight in an open field, and you only steal from coastal villages that lack stone walls!"
King Aedh MacNeill also joined the argument. The room filled with loud voices as the monarchs debated their past military victories, their lineage, and their capability to lead men into combat, entirely ignoring the auctioneer and the hand cannon resting on the table...
The guards stationed along the walls of the room adjusted their grips on their long iron spears, anticipating that the verbal argument might transition into a physical confrontation between the foreign leaders.
Ragnar stood up from his chair. When they saw this movement, the arguing kings immediately stopped speaking and fell silent.
And so, Ragnar remained standing on the elevated platform and looked down at the seated monarchs.
Ahem~ Ahem~
"Thank you for your generosity..."
Ragnar deduced that if he sold the hand cannon to only one king, the other kings would leave the city feeling resentful and vulnerable to attack. However, if he allowed all the high bidders to purchase the item, he would collect hundreds of thousands of gold coins from multiple sources, and the balance of power among his allies would remain equal.
"I really don’t want anyone to leave here feeling uneasy, so the highest bidders will take the weapon, not just one."
Ragnar paused his speech for several seconds. He then raised his hand, "Of course, this exception will only apply to this weapon, and it requires everyone’s consent. You can disagree and vote to do this for another piece."
The kings looked at each other and nodded their heads, they understood that voting to apply this exception to a different item would force them to restart the bidding process, which would consume more time and potentially result in even higher financial costs.
The auctioneer recorded the names of the three kings in his paper ledger, noting that each ruler owed the Iron Kingdom the exact sum of one hundred and twenty-three thousand gold coins.
Despite the resolution of the hand cannon sale, Ragnar did not immediately sit back down on his chair.
He lowered his arm and looked directly at the crowd of noblemen and military commanders.
"Of course, you don’t know..."
Ragnar smiled briefly, pointing toward the remaining linen cloths covering the other wooden boxes on the floor.
"What weapons are coming next? But let me give you a hint... there’s something much better than this."
The kings looked at each other. The princes, who were the male children of the kings and the designated heirs to their respective territories, sat on the benches next to their fathers.
They advised their fathers to secure the weapon immediately, a proven weapon was a safer choice than waiting for an unknown item that might not serve their specific methods of warfare.
While this whispering was happening among the Scottish and Irish rulers, Erik, the king of Norway, made his decision without consulting any of the younger men in his group.
Erik stood up from his bench, "I don’t care about the other pieces... I vote!"
And so, the other kings recognized that if Erik acquired the iron tube and they did not, they would face a severe disadvantage in any future conflicts against his forces.
King Aedh MacNeill nodded his head and looked at Ragnar.
"I also vote to accept the condition."
King Donald the Second raised his right hand into the air to signal his agreement.
"I vote to take the weapon now."
’They chose the cannon exactly as I predicted they would...’ Ragnar thought to himself.
Despite their belief that they had acquired the most powerful weapon in the world, the kings were actually securing their position as subordinate allies to Ragnar.
The kings would return to their territories, give the hand cannons to their blacksmiths, and spend years trying to copy the design and manufacture the black powder.
Ragnar laughed, expressing his satisfaction with the outcome, and he spoke to the rulers in the room.
"As you wish..."
The guards who stood near the table moved forward to secure the hand cannon. They picked up the thick iron tube and the wooden handle and placed them back inside the wooden box.
The guards then moved the wooden box to a designated area near the back wall of the room, where the purchased items were stored until the kings arranged for their safe transport back to their respective kingdoms.
While the attendees prepared for the next phase of the auction, Gyda and Leofric stood near the display table and prepared to reveal the next item.
They communicated through brief hand signals, confirming that the guards were ready to move the next wooden box into the center of the room.
Leofric adjusted his posture and looked at the crowd.
The commoners outside the windows continued to watch the movements of the nobility, while the guards inside the room maintained their positions.