Chapter 778 The Polite Businessman
In the backyard of the lord's mansion not far from the port dock, Spencer, the Minister of Radiation and Heavy Duty, rushed here after receiving the order from the Chinese Army and brought more than 40 of his subordinates to the Radiation Regiment.
After several hours of careful preparation, the food and drinks required for the dinner have been basically prepared.
".——You guys, take the barrels of wine from the warehouse next to the lord's hall. The banquet will start soon. Please be quick. "Spencer put down the wooden spoon in his hand and gave some instructions to the men around him.
Hence, he took out a large piece of stewed meat from the pot, picked up the dagger on the side, cut off a small piece from it, and stuffed it into his mouth. The soft and glutinous stewed meat almost melted in the mouth and was very delicious.
As the chief of the Legion, he has already become adept at preparing food for banquets. From vegetable and fruit purchasing, to food cooking, to wine selection, changes are made accordingly with each stay.
But the only thing that remains unchanged is Art’s requirements for the taste of food.
As a hunter who has lived in deserted valleys and dense forests for many years, Art is particularly fond of stewed meat. As a result, this dish has become an essential dish at every banquet.
When it was dark, the merchants and nobles from the guild of Tila City who were invited to attend the banquet arrived as promised. They were accompanied by a mountain of exquisite gifts in the front yard.
Bob, the secretary of the Chinese Army, sat at a wooden table in the corner. The quill in his hand was spinning rapidly, and he quickly recorded the list of gifts on the parchment.
After a while, the parchment was filled with dense numbers.
When Art returned to the mansion from the dock, nearly half of the registered gifts in the courtyard had been sent to the warehouse in the backyard for storage by the officials.
"——Sir, you are back." At this time, Bob, who raised his head and saw Art entering the door, immediately stood up and walked towards Art.
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Matt pointed to the gifts wrapped in wooden boxes on the ground, "Reporting to your lord, these are brought by the guests who came to the banquet." After Bob said this, he glanced around, leaned into Matt's ear and whispered softly: "It has been registered so far. The amount of gold and silver used to make the book has exceeded two million pfennigs, not including those precious porcelain and fine silks that cannot be valued at the moment."
After listening to Bob's report, Art couldn't help but widen his eyes. The wealth of these Lombardy Southern Businessmen completely exceeded his imagination. You must know that two million pfennigs are enough to support the wartime expenses of the gold-swallowing beast of the Legion for several months. But this is just a little thought of the merchants and nobles of these conquered territories.
Previously, he only knew that the southern territory of Lombardy was prosperous in commerce and very wealthy. But he didn't know until today that there was such a big gap between what others said about wealth and his own understanding. This made him feel that the European trading company under his name was simply not worth mentioning.
These southerners, who can recruit thousands of mercenaries from overseas at any time, can be described as extremely wealthy. Even Lavati, an autonomous city-state located on the Po River plain, cannot compare with this place.
At once again looked at the gifts piled high aside, and sighed, "How rich!" Then he walked swaggering towards the lord's hall. At this time, the spacious, bright and luxurious lord's hall was filled with dignitaries from Tira City.
If it is said that the more wealth a person has, the higher his quality will be, then these wealthy nobles in Tila City will definitely be able to match their status.
Different from those in the north who accumulated wealth by exploiting the lower-class citizens and merchants in their own territories, these noble merchants who made their fortunes by relying on their shrewd minds and hard-working hands were dressed gorgeously but not ostentatiously. The conversation between them was soft and calm, a bit more solemn than those guys in the court who considered themselves nobles.
Compared with the nobles in the north who have some "barbarian" blood, these talents can be regarded as truly civilized people. Politeness, orderliness, and kindness are engraved in almost everyone's bones.
Even the lowest-status merchants and squires here are more popular than those guys in the north with the title of Viscount on their heads.
While everyone was immersed in the discussion about the northerner who occupied Tira City, Art had already appeared outside the door "—The Earl is here!"
The voice of the soldiers outside the door suddenly echoed through the entire hall, interrupting everyone's thoughts.
I saw these merchants and nobles who were invited to the banquet stand up one after another and look in the direction of the door~
At this time, a group of guards stood on both sides holding swords, and Art slowly walked in wearing exquisite uniforms.
Looking at the young man in front of them, everyone couldn't help but whisper. They couldn't believe that the Burgundian nobleman in front of them, who had defeated many high-ranking generals in Lombardy, was so young. In addition, the commander-in-chief who was demonized by those deserters even seemed kind-hearted and did not show any malice.
Matt looked around at the southerners who were standing in front of him and sizing him up. With a smile on his face, he slowly walked towards the chair reserved for the lord of Tira City on the steps of the hall.
When Art turned around to face these guests, his condescending posture carried a royal demeanor. Everyone in the audience held their breath and stood motionless.
After the two sides looked at each other for a moment, Art said: "Everyone, please sit down!"
However, the people of Tila City, who always pay attention to etiquette, were unmoved. Just because Art is still standing there.
At this time, upon seeing this, the senior officers of the Wells Corps who had already sat down turned their heads to look at the unmoved Tirah people beside them, casting puzzled glances.
The nobles of Tira City who were still standing glanced at these high-ranking officers of the legion who did not respect etiquette, and they felt contempt in their hearts. In their view, this is contempt for the host of the party.
"My lords, please sit down!" Art said again.
This time, no one responded to his kindness.
At the stage, Art stood there in a daze. He had no choice but to take a step back and sit back on the chair behind him.
After seeing the host of the banquet sit down, these people from Tila City slowly sat down.
Matt couldn't help but roll his eyes, looking at everyone, and couldn't help but marvel.
At this time, a Tira City businessman on the left side of the long table slowly stood up, bowed politely towards Art, nodded, and explained: "Your distinguished Earl, please forgive us for our 'rudeness' just now. In the city of Tira, or even in the entire southern territory, we invited guests cannot sit down before the host of the banquet sits down, otherwise we will be regarded as uneducated. "
After hearing this explanation from the businessman, Art raised the corners of his mouth, nodded repeatedly, and said with a smile: "It's not your fault. It's because I, a new comer, have lost my dignity and made you laugh." Then, Art asked again: "What is the name of this lord?"
After hearing this, the businessman bowed and saluted again, and said: "My lord, my name is Troy Floyd, and I am the head of the merchant guild in Tira City."
At looked at the merchant in silver and gray silk robes in front of him, he would never have thought that the head of the Tira City Commercial Guild was so young. In his impression, the heads of commercial guilds were mostly fat and greasy men, but the man in front of him had brown hair, a tall figure, and a well-spoken temperament. He looked like a child of a noble family.
After a while, Art asked tentatively, "Who is Robert Floyd to you?"
"Return to your lord, Earl, he is my father." The businessman replied calmly.
Matt glanced at everyone present, but did not see the man named Robert Floyd getting up.
"As far as I know, Robert should have been the head of the merchant guild in Tira City. Where is your father?"
The businessman swallowed hard after hearing this, but he still told the truth.
"Back to your lord, my father Robert Floyd was executed for treason by Dylan, the lord of Tira City, a few days ago, and was thrown into the sea. Until now, I have not been able to find his body~"
At heard this, he was surprised and couldn't help but open his eyes.
This is something that almost everyone in Tila City knows. Everyone present lowered their heads and talked about it, full of nostalgia for the former head of the commercial guild.
It turned out that Art had already heard about this merchant from Tira City named Robert from Mario, the leader of the Lavati Commercial Guild.
The Floyd family has been in business for generations. By the time of Lauber's generation, after decades of painstaking management, the family wealth had reached an unprecedented level.
Before Ater went south, Robert sent people north to Lavati, hoping to convey his greetings through Mario's mouth and show his goodwill to Ater. In order to prevent the city of Tira from being devoured by the scourge of war, he expressed his hope that the power of the city of Tira would be excessive and that the peace of the country would be excessive. In addition, Robert also prepared several large carriages of goods and entrusted Mario to deliver them to Art.
But within a few days, Dylan was informed of Robert's move by the guards of his caravan. Dylan, who had long coveted the Floyd family's huge fortune, secretly rejoiced, so he hanged him alive in the name of treason and then threw his body into the sea.
Lauber's son Troy Floyd was far overseas at this time, so he luckily escaped. But the other members of the Floyd family who stayed in Tira City fled to their deaths. Fortunately, Robert had already exchanged most of his belongings for gold and silver and shipped them overseas, thus avoiding the misfortune of having the family property embezzled.
It was not until he heard that the city of Tira had fallen that Troy quickly returned to the city of Tira. In view of the reputation of the Freud family, businessmen elected young Troy as the head of the guild.
Troy was excited when he received Art's invitation. He immediately ordered his housekeeper to prepare two large boxes of gold and silver and give them to the northern earl as a meeting gift when he went to the banquet.
At this time, Art stood up slowly, walked to the new head of the Tira City Business Guild, patted his shoulder gently, and comforted him: "Your father is worthy of the most prosperous city in the Southern Continent. He is worthy of everyone in Tira City. He is your friend and my friend, Art Wood Wells. In order to prevent the hundreds of years of foundation accumulated in Tira City from being destroyed, he risked his own life. We will always remember him!"
Art’s impassioned speech caused everyone to stand up.
"Always remember Lord Robert!"
"Always remember Lord Robert!"