King
Chapter 146 - 146 107 A Mountain Cannot Contain Two Tigers_2

146: Chapter 107, A Mountain Cannot Contain Two Tigers_2 146: Chapter 107, A Mountain Cannot Contain Two Tigers_2 According to this situation, the revenue from the territory will inevitably decline sharply next year.

For Master Hudson, who is deeply in debt, a decrease in revenue is undoubtedly dangerous.

Although the creditors will not knock on the door for repayment anytime soon, there is a stark difference between borrowing when one has money and borrowing when one has none.

As the situation stabilizes and explosive trends start to fade away, a transformation of our family’s products is essential.

We must not abandon the weapons business, but its share must inevitably be reduced.

The main reason is our weak capacity, forcing us to operate only in the low-end market.

Although the market for serf soldiers seems strikingly large, only a few nobles are willing to foot the bill.

Most would only place orders after experiencing a palpable threat.

It appears that the nobles from the less affluent counties of Layton and Wharton have contributed to seventy percent of the weapons orders.

If the Skeleton Society hadn’t stirred up trouble in Qiaomu County, frightening the local nobility into bolstering their military strength, this percentage would have been even higher.

Relatively speaking, the sales of agricultural tools and daily necessities are more balanced.

Most of the sales still come from Layton and Wharton Counties, but this is primarily an issue of market development.

since the outbreak of the rebellion by the Skeleton Society, the Salam Mining Area ceased external iron sales.

Due to supply and demand dynamics, iron prices in the Southeastern Province started to skyrocket.

At one point, prices doubled.

Even though they later dropped, they remained thirty percent higher than before.

Despite this, the market was still short of supply.

Under these circumstances, buying finished iron goods became the new choice for the lords.

Orders even came to their doorstep while they sat at home.

If they had actively distributed goods, things would presumably have been better.

The best choice to weather the storm brought by the drop in orders and the impact on the income from the territory is undoubtedly to build a sales network and distribute goods province-wide.

Without a doubt, constructing such a network is not easy.

At present, the only entity in the Southeastern Province with a complete commercial network is the salt sales of the Dalton Family.

Master Hudson does not know how profitable it is.

Regardless, the profit from just one of their counties surpasses the total output of the Mountain Domain.

Indeed, iron products can be replaced by bronze, pottery, wood tools, and other tools.

But salt has no substitute.

From lords to slaves, everyone needs salt.

Not only is it necessary for humans, but even livestock need a small supplement of salt.

The inherent demand for such products, coupled with monopoly operation, naturally leads to huge profits.

Master Hudson has to often offer discounts to big clients when selling iron products, but the Dalton family’s salt has never been discounted.

Not only do they not offer any concession, but they also frequently adulterate their salt.

The low-quality crude salt consumed by civilians, not only is yellow in color but one can also visibly see sand, dirt, sawdust, and other impurities.

If you want quality salt, there’s no problem, just pay more.

The refined salt, costing two silver coins per pound, is much better quality.

Not only are there no impurities, but even the color turns white.

If you continuously raise the price, to one gold coin per pound, you get Magic Salt, which is superior in quality.

It is said to contain a magic active factor.

Consuming it is said to slightly improve one’s affinity with magic elements, making it a favorite among mages.

As a pseudo-mage, Hudson can solemnly declare that these are false claims.

Theoretically, it indeed can enhance elemental activity and affinity, but that’s only if consumed in huge quantities.

If you can eat a few pounds of Magic Salt every day, it’s estimated you could slightly increase your magic affinity, but only temporarily.

The issue is, how can anyone consume such vast amounts of salt?

Ignoring the financial strain, your body won’t allow it either!

You could say it’s an intelligence tax, present in every world.

The difference is, in the Continent of Aslante the intelligence tax is only levied on the rich.

Frankly speaking, considering the broad distribution of Koslow Family members, establishing a commercial network wouldn’t be difficult.

Master Hudson always remembered one truth—never go into business with friends or relatives.

A one-time transaction wouldn’t matter, but a long-term business partnership inevitably leads to conflicts of interest.

One misstep not only harms the business but might also disrupt relations with friends and relatives.

If he couldn’t turn to friends or relatives, he certainly couldn’t look to other nobles.

After all, this was a profitable venture, if he gave outsiders a share instead of his friends or relatives, what would they think?

In fact, even if Master Hudson was willing to cross that line and partner with his own people, it would still be extraordinarily tricky.

How could it not be, given his numerous friends and relatives?

When it came to profitable transactions, everyone would be happy to get involved.

Deciding who to include and who to exclude, no matter how it’s handled, someone is bound to be offended in the end.

The best method was for him to employ his own people.

Without a doubt, running a direct sales business in the feudal era was inherently challenging.

Safety was secondary, the key point was personnel allocation.

Countless salespeople who could potentially interact with nobles at any time couldn’t just be any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

“I understand, continue to organize production according to plan.

I’ll handle the rest,” replied Master Hudson expressionlessly.

He decided to leave such complex matters for himself to handle.

One’s stance can be determined by their identity, and it wouldn’t be a good thing for anyone if our borrowed steward carried back some information he shouldn’t have known.