Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 103 - 7: Expensive Friendship

Chapter 103: Chapter 7: Expensive Friendship

Morry finally made up his mind.

"Respected Lord Roman, I do not want any rewards, please allow me to make a request."

"I wish to gain your friendship."

This request prompted Roman to reassess Morry.

"Why would you choose me?"

The status of merchants was relatively high, on par with that of lawyers, judges, senior blacksmiths, veteran carpenters, and other such professionals.

A key characteristic of this stratum was the lack of self-protection.

Only governors from Free City-states and members of the Commercial Guild could engage in dialogue with the Nobles as equals.

Nobles couldn’t even afford armies, let alone the merchant class.

Mercenaries were unreliable, so the Conquest Knights under the nobles’ banners became the preferred option for merchants.

Thus, merchants would seek the friendship of certain Nobles, looking for support and protection.

But Roman didn’t have the military resources to spare for Morry; he treasured Green and Aaron as if they were gems, and Jet and Dick, being sensitive in status, could not be dispatched either.

With Morry’s conditions, even finding a Great Lord or a Baron to ally with wouldn’t be difficult.

From any angle, Roman wasn’t the best candidate for dependency.

Morry spoke candidly, "I’m looking for a way out."

Selin’s children would each receive a remark from him upon reaching adulthood.

Selin’s remark for Morry was—hesitant and indecisive, unlikely to accomplish great things.

Selin thought Morry was too cautious before acting, missing opportunities, and too regretful afterward, always feeling he made mistakes.

But this tentative nature had allowed him a fairly smooth life.

Sometimes earning less was preferable to lower the risks.

His father believed that such an attitude was bound to prevent him from achieving great things.

Every time Morry thought of this saying, it felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

The remark had followed Morry for years.

Now, he felt he could not go on like this.

Great deeds could be foregone!

But life must be safeguarded!

Roman chuckled lightly, "Do you believe Sige Town could serve as your escape route?"

"I see no fault with that notion."

Roman was not particularly pleased by flattery.

The so-called friendship of the Nobles was not just lip service but required tangible assistance.

For instance, if Morry gained Roman’s friendship, he could henceforth conduct business under Roman’s banner and insignia.

Imagine, a merchant travels to unfamiliar territory to conduct business and says to the local Lord, "I am a friend of Grand Duke Fury, and I have his endorsement."

How would that Lord respond to him?

He would receive various preferential treatments, and the Lord might even lower the commercial tax for him.

The reputation of the three Grand Dukes was enough to allow merchants to travel freely throughout Black Iron Land and most surrounding nations.

Should these merchants encounter trouble, the Nobles who had extended friendship would not stand by idly.

Otherwise, it would damage their reputations.

To provoke a merchant who was a friend of a Noble was essentially the same as provoking the Noble himself.

Of course, the extent of the actions taken by the Nobles would be proportional to the importance they placed on the merchant.

If a merchant gained the friendship of a Baron, one could hardly expect the Baron to attack an Earl just because the merchant faced difficulties from him.

At most, the Baron would voice his condemnation and wait for an opportunity to settle scores in the future.

A competent merchant would have several Nobles as friends. If one were to mess with these merchants, it would mean making enemies of those Nobles. Offend a few too many, and they might just band together to form an alliance and come for you, then plunder you.

Roman did not realize that his reputation was so renowned that it could obtain advantages for Morry.

Among the three Grand Dukes, Grand Duke Riptide had the most merchant friends.

In recent years, some merchants didn’t even have to meet Grand Duke Riptide in person; they simply paid a friends’ fee amounting to hundreds of Gold Coins, then proudly wielded the Riptide Family banner far and wide.

One or two were scarce resources, deserving of attention.

But more than ten would be an overabundance.

Roman had even heard, before leaving Duke Domain, of merchants fabricating Grand Duke Riptide’s banners to swindle and bluff.

After all, it was difficult for Nobles everywhere to discern true from false.

The offspring of Grand Duke Riptide were righteously indignant about this.

RNM! Pay up!!

Roman couldn’t help but chuckle.

He said to Morry, "My friendship is quite expensive."

Roman believed this to be true. Even though his reputation wasn’t outstanding and he remained hidden in the wilderness, he still regarded himself as exceptionally noble, unrivaled under the heavens and on earth.

Morry’s face showed his difficulty.

He had thought that high-quality slaves at a discount would be enough to earn Roman’s friendship, but the result was not as he had hoped.

But since he had already brought it up, he couldn’t back down now.

Morry, finding himself in a dilemma, could only say, "Please, just state your demands."

Roman smiled faintly and said, "At least 300 slaves must be sent to me each month."

This demand virtually stopped Morry’s heart.

One slave was worth one silver coin, so 300 slaves were worth 30 gold coins.

And that was just in theory.

In the Northern Land, along the coast, on the Eastern Plateau, in the western forests...

It’s worth noting that in all these places, human life was exceedingly cheap.

If one could trade a life for 10 pounds of salt, or 5 pounds of iron, or even a hundred-plus pounds of wheat,

They would not hesitate to use the stones in their hands to smash someone else’s head in or capture them, especially in the most destitute areas.

But could they make such trades?

Clearly, they could not.

Dead people were worthless; it was the living who were precious.

Yet, transportation costs were too high.

Those low-quality slaves weren’t even fit to board a ship.

This agreement meant Morry would have to allocate half of his merchant ships to the transportation of these slaves, and in case of any mishaps, he might even need to deploy his entire fleet.

And he did not like transporting slaves.

In particular, because the Black Iron Land had been stable for too long, having not seen any significant warfare for a while, the demand for slaves wasn’t that great.

Unless they were special slaves, slave traders in the Black Iron Land usually only made a slim profit, nowhere near a fortune.

Moreover, possession of slaves didn’t necessarily equate to having qualified labor.

If you were too harsh on the slaves, they would either deliberately underperform or revolt, and die right before your eyes.

If Roman required only a few slaves, one could always find them by looking around.

To acquire them in large quantities, one would have to travel to war-torn or impoverished regions and arrange transactions with the slave traders there in advance.

This meant traversing a distance of a thousand miles.

If going by land transport, how many wagons would be needed?

If the slaves were to march on foot, how many days would it take to cover those thousand-plus miles?

Could they cover 50 miles a day?

How much food would be consumed during the journey?

Without enough food, would they have the energy to walk?

Water transport was certainly more convenient and faster, but it also involved boarding sailing ships and rowing against the current. When encountering rivers that didn’t connect, they would even have to carry the ships overland.

What if two railway tracks weren’t connected? Then they’d have to lift the train over.

A ship was much lighter than a train, but how many slaves could one ship carry?

Why bother transporting such a product when there were so many others that could be shipped?

Sometimes the transport fees even exceeded the price of the slaves themselves.

Some orchards saw their fruit rot on the ground, while some people never got to taste that fruit. How could one explain such a paradox?

By agreeing to this treaty, Morry meant his caravan was tied to death with Sige Town.

From that point on, he could only engage in the slave trade with Sige Town, and there was no guarantee he could fulfill this task.

Morry found the condition difficult to accept.

He was a merchant seeking a friend, not a stray dog looking for a master.

But Roman’s next words dispelled Morry’s concerns.

"You can also help me contact other slave traders. As long as you keep the slaves coming regularly, I will raise the purchasing price."

It wasn’t about freeloading; it was a purchase.

It wasn’t about his caravan doing the job; he could act as an intermediary.

Morry belatedly realized his heart had started to beat again.