26 – A Big Business of Two Thousand Gold Coins a Year
“That is an exorbitant price, I am beginning to question your sanity.” Levis raised his voice, expressing his dissatisfaction.
“Hold your horses, brother.”
“Okay, I will listen quietly to your justification for urging me to agree to such a ridiculous condition. But Liszt, my dear brother, you should know that although the Black Tulips are very important to the Tulip Family, but they are not indispensable. We already have three types of tulip magic ingredients.”
“I am quite clear on this point, and I also understand that the magic power contained inside the Black Tulips is better than that of the other three types of tulip magic ingredients. It is fit to become the family"s pillar of support.”
Although magic ingredients were miraculous, but they also were exceptionally troublesome. They had to be cultivated by sprites in order to multiply. Without sprites cultivating them, their progenies would gradually loose their magic power and degenerate into ordinary plants.
However, all this did not interfere with their value.
The brewing of magic potions, forging of magic equipment, cultivating of magic and qi, all these were reliant on magic ingredients. Coral Island"s Knight College offered magic pharmacology cla.s.ses specialized in the research of magic potions. Once the cultivation of Earth Knights became stagnant, they had to rely on magic ingredients to strengthen themselves, and then charge towards a Sky Knight.
Every Sky Knight was a medicinal pot, who only through the consumption of an unknown amount of magic ingredients managed to achieve high-ranked qi.
Without the support from the family"s tulip magic ingredients, Leewilliam might not have broken through so easily and become one of Sapphire Grand Duchy"s few Sky Knights.
Therefore, Liszt was very clear that the value of magic ingredients was immeasurable. His brother, an extraordinarily talented Earth Knight, would not miss out on the Black Tulips.
After a pause, Liszt said with an easygoing att.i.tude: “My talent is quite lacking, my promotion to a Sky Knight basically a pipe dream. But brother, your talent can compare to father"s in his youth. I reckon that with the Black Tulips, with the unceasing production of this magic ingredient, your path to a Sky Knight would be even smoother.
He then looked at Lvera: “Sister, the same goes for you. I believe that Sky Knights are by far more valuable than 1,000 gold coins, are they not? Brother, sister, I sincerely wish for you to become Sky Knights. Tulip Family needs you to rise. As for me, I only want to earn some money to improve my life.”
When there was a mention of Sky Knights, Levis" breathing became slightly rushed.
He had become an Earth Knight at the age of thirteen. He was already twenty one years old. According to others, he could become a Sky Knight of Tulip Family just like his father. Only, he knew that there was a huge divide between Earth Knights and Sky Knights, that his family"s resources might not be enough to breach it.
Not to mention that there was still his brother, Lytton Tulip, whose talent was equally extraordinary.
The family of Lytton"s mother was only a lesser aristocratic family, not worth mentioning. But he had to admit that his (Lytton"s) mother was the current countess, her pillow talk still quite formidable, as a small portion of Tulip Castle"s resources was given to Lytton. This made Levis" heart bleed. He was somewhat dissatisfied with his father.
Should the family not go all-out to nurture him into a Sky Knight, then why were resources being squandered?!
He slightly narrowed his eyes, saying solemnly: “Liszt, if you are really sincere in your support of me, then you should not make such a harsh condition.”
“Then, let me put it another way. Regarding the business with the Black Tulips, I will only collaborate with brother and and sister, okay? Sir father, in all likelihood, will not care about this magic ingredient.” When read between the lines, Liszt insinuated that by evading the Tulip Castle, Lytton would also be evaded. Hereafter, the yield of the Black Tulips would only be divided among the three siblings.
The half-brother, Lytton, was arrogant. He looked down upon Liszt and had given Liszt quite a few contemptuous looks.
Liszt did not hesitate to throw him under the bus.
Levis contemplated for a while before asking: “Lvera is also involved?”
“Previously not. But when Liszt had invited me, I just went with the flow.” Although Lvera"s talent was not as good as Levis", but she was equally thirsting to become a Sky Knight, “Do not forget, I also have sprites.”
“Might as well. Then, how do we divide it?”
……
After several probings and compromises, the three siblings successfully reached an agreement.
After harvesting the seeds, the Black Tulips would be bred in the vicinity of Coral City by relying on the tulip greater sprite. Once the new batch of seeds was harvested, then an extensive cultivation would take place in Coral City, Falcon Town, and Flower Town.
For the first three years, all the Black Tulip magic ingredients would be handed over to Levis to manage, with Liszt receiving a cut of the profits. Flower Town and Falcon Town would respectively receive 30% and 20%.
Three years later, Falcon Town"s Black Tulips would no longer be handed to Levis to manage. Lvera would manage them herself, while Liszt would receive a cut of 25%.
Ten years later, Liszt would stop receiving any cut.
“At present, Tulip Castle"s yearly profit for the Gold Tulip magic ingredient is roughly at 5,000 gold coins. The Black Tulips should be able to surpa.s.s that. Supposing that it was 7,000 gold coins, then my cut could be 2,000 odd coins per year, which is far batter than the one-time offer of 1,000 gold coins.”
Liszt reckoned after the agreement was officially signed.
Originally, he was going to be satisfied with a cut of 20%, but as Levis had tried to play him for a fool by treating him to a one-time buyout of 1,000 gold coins, he had raised the cut to 30% in retaliation.
Accounts should be settled without ambiguity even among family, not mentioning that Liszt did not consider them family. Apart from the blood coursing through his veins, there was practically nothing else connecting them.
A tacit understanding seemed to have formed between the three siblings once the agreement had been reached.
Outside the castle, the serfs were still busy clearing the uncultivated land for cultivation.
“Are you going to grow crops outside the castle? Is it wheat or barley?” Lvera gazed into the distance from a window.
“Alfalfa, to raise horses.”
Levis came over: “Raise horses? You want to form your own order of knights?”
“I hope to form a small knight squad. The Thorns Ridge"s magic beasts are a great threat, with every winter some people having the magic beasts" maws as their burial ground. There are no people with qi in the small town… Brother, can we talk in private?” Liszt suddenly thought of something.
The two went to a quiet room.
“Why so mysterious?”
“I remember that when I was little, Coral Island"s population was quite small. Has father used the fleet to move people over from outside?”
“That"s right. When father was bestowed the t.i.tle of count, Coral Island had just a few thousand natives, the rest of the population had been trafficked from outside. Otherwise, how could 90% of Coral Island"s population be the family"s serfs.”
“So, brother, have you though about continuing with the human trafficking?”
“Continuing with the human trafficking?” Levis carefully sized Liszt up; “Can Flower Town even provide for more people? I am skeptical whether this rundown little town can even provide for you, and now you want it to provide for even more people? Or, do you want to traffic people to somewhere else?”
Human trafficking was not something glorious, but when reclaiming land, aristocrats were always in need of people.
Basically, to some extent, quite a lot of aristocrats would involve themselves with the trafficking of people.
“Flower Town is indeed quite small. Therefore, I am going to develop the Thorns Ridge, which in turn requires a great number of manpower. With the yield from the Black Tulips, I believe that I could sustain the development of Flower Town for a while, at least until it is no worse-off than sister"s Falcon Town.” Said Liszt half-truthfully.
The strategy of ascending the throne after provisions were full and ramparts were built was clearly ingrained in his mind.