Chapter 383: Simon’s Condition
Steam slowly rose from the teacup.
Prince Gerad’s eyes kept darting around; clearly, he was calculating the purpose behind these demands.
After a long pause, he hesitantly asked. "Is that the only condition?"
"Yes, only that. But not just you, Third Uncle; no one in your Region may block Brambleford goods." Simon said calmly. His only goal was to make sure Brambleford goods could enter Gerad’s Region freely and that Prince Gerad couldn’t collect any taxes from the Brambleford Chamber of Commerce.
Prince Gerad nodded. The truth was, he had been placing tax checkpoints all along the route of Brambleford goods, which made cheap products become very expensive by the time they reached their destination.
But this wasn’t something he did only to Simon; throughout the Eldorian Empire, taxing merchants like this was standard. After all, why not grab money from businessmen if you could?
Now that Simon had proposed this condition, it meant Prince Gerad could no longer charge any tax on Brambleford goods. He would lose a huge amount of silver, and the more goods Simon sent, the bigger the loss.
After thinking for a while, Prince Gerad said. "Dear nephew, you’re really ruthless with this. Isn’t this just letting you earn all the money in my Region?"
"Since this is compensation, do you expect me to pay you instead, Uncle? Think it over. If you agree, we’ll draft the agreement. If not, we’ll settle it in court." Simon replied.
Prince Gerad grew anxious. "Nephew, can’t the condition be changed? I’ll pay you three million caps of silver, how about that?"
Simon shook his head.
"Five million caps!" Prince Gerad raised five fingers.
Simon still shook his head.
Biting his teeth, Prince Gerad finally shouted. "Ten million caps worth of goods!"
Hearing that number, Simon lifted his eyes slightly, a bit surprised. Yet he still shook his head. What surprised him most was that Prince Gerad actually understood how damaging this agreement would be to his territory, enough that he would rather pay ten million in goods than sign it.
"Third Uncle, I only have this one condition. It’s up to you whether to accept it." Simon said, drawing the line.
Prince Gerad was completely deflated now. His expression kept changing. Finally, he said. "Nephew, can you give me two days to think?"
"Of course. Please, take your time. I won’t see you off." Simon said coolly.
Prince Gerad stood up, gave Simon a complicated look, and then walked out.
Watching him leave, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Simon’s mouth.
He had thought this through before even arriving in Eldora. This trade agreement was his strategic economic weapon.
Over the past two years, Brambleford’s products had become popular across the Eldorian Empire. But one thing that annoyed him was how heavily they were taxed every time they crossed a region.
These high taxes forced the Chamber of Commerce to raise prices, or face losses.
Under such targeted treatment, Brambleford’s foreign trade income from taxes alone was enormous, but the high prices reduced customer demand.
When Simon added it all up, it was as if all these regional lords were sucking his blood like mosquitoes. Worst of all, this behaviour seriously harmed the development of Brambleford’s local industry.
That’s why, after identifying the problem, he created this agreement, with the goal of spreading it.
Forget the other royal lords for now. His immediate neighbours, Prince Gerad and Prince Augustus, needed to be locked into this agreement first. The others he would deal with one by one.
He admitted that when he learned Prince Gerad had sent the useless army troops, he actually felt a bit happy. It meant Prince Gerad had delivered himself on a silver platter. The only part Simon miscalculated was just how useless those troops were.
"Next will be Prince Augustus."
Simon pulled out a stack of documents from his coat. These were the trade agreements he had written up, filled with dozens of clauses. Once signed, it would mean that Prince Gerad’s Regional markets would be completely open to him. With Brambleford’s high-quality and low-priced goods, it wouldn’t take long to completely crush Prince Gerad’s Region’s low-level trade system.
Eventually, the Region would become just a supplier of raw materials to him. This was a classic example of unfair trade, selling rice to get cannons.
Outside the mansion, Prince Gerad’s carriage slowly rolled away.
Inside the carriage, Prince Gerad looked furious. His fists were clenched like a beast ready to bite.
After some distance, he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted. "Simon, you’ve gone too far!"
Then he turned to look at a young man inside the carriage, Gordon. He had stayed in the carriage the whole time.
Seeing Prince Gerad’s dark expression, Gordon had wisely said nothing earlier. Now that Prince Gerad had exploded, he sighed and said. "Third Uncle, I told you not to send that army. I said you should’ve helped Simon defeat the reavers, but you didn’t listen. Now you’ve given him leverage, and he’s squeezing us for it."
Prince Gerad deeply regretted it. "If I’d known it would turn out like this... I just wanted Simon to fight to the death with the tribes while we profited from the sidelines."
Gordon sighed again. Back then, Prince Gerad had mobilised 150,000 troops, just waiting for the tribes to invade Brambleford and capture Simon. Then, he could march in and defeat the tired enemy.
Not only would he get credit for defeating the reavers, but if Simon were killed, he could take over Brambleford and the fortress-like Dunmere City that Simon had built.
But all those plans had failed.
"So what’s the condition Simon offered?" Gordon asked.
Prince Gerad explained the terms of the agreement. Gordon was stunned. "Third Uncle, that agreement is really vicious."
Prince Gerad gave a bitter laugh. "Of course I know that. Even our local goods are taxed, but Simon wants to earn without paying a single coin."
Gordon sighed again. "What do we do then?"
"I’m still troubled about it. Most of our Region’s tax income comes from farming, but this is a huge risk. Still, if we don’t agree, this might become an all-out war. Now that the Reaver threat in West Ham is gone, I fear Simon may soon have free time to come for us."
Gordon’s eyes flickered. He said. "Third Uncle, either way it’s a blade to the neck. We may not be able to avoid signing this agreement. But since it’s a negotiation, even if we sign, we shouldn’t lose everything. What about the weapons Simon used against the Reavers, the guns and hot air balloons?"
Prince Gerad’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Gordon with admiration. "Yes! You really think things through."