Chapter 177 The Queen and the Merchant (Two in One! Please subscribe!)

September is a good time to plant tulips.

In fact, tulips can be planted all year round. Tulips planted in September will bloom in April and May after experiencing the low temperature environment in winter, and then the flowering period will last for three to five months.

In order to plant these thousands of acres of tulips, the Idar Chamber of Commerce purchased a large number of tulip bulbs from all over the empire, especially in the north of the empire!

Due to the impact of this sudden war, the prices of flowers such as tulips and roses plummeted.

Because when war comes, only food and gold coins can be considered as heavy hard currency, and this provides great convenience for Lord Idar to take advantage of the opportunity to buy up goods.

After all... flowers like tulips can neither be used as food nor store value like gold coins. Their only function is to be enjoyed by noble gentlemen on a daily basis.

The enemies from the north will not let you go just because the flowers you grow are beautiful!

Therefore, with the advent of war and the shortage of supplies, the price of bulbs naturally plummeted. I am afraid that the current market price is only about one-fifth of the usual price.

The same goes for antiques in prosperous times and gold in troubled times.

In fact, Bruno has a slightly different idea about the cultivation of tulips, and the inspiration comes from those source stones.

After the targeted improvement of the residual divine power on the Fran Islands, the internal structure of the magic crystal has undergone earth-shaking changes, thus becoming a special crystal that can spontaneously absorb free magic elements in the air - the Originium.

At the same time, many plants growing on the Faran Islands are more or less different from the animals and plants living in other places.

Originally, Bruno took it for granted that they were just some trees, flowers and plants that were not commonly seen in daily life.

However, after returning to Idar County, the more Bruno thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong...

If Bruno's guess is correct, the trees, flowers and plants on the Fran Islands should have undergone a certain degree of change under the influence of divine power.

If this is the case, then can tulips be improved through the influence of divine power?

after all……

If you want to successfully drive up the price of tulips, you must have some particularly rare varieties so that it will be easier to operate.

If it were possible to cultivate tulips of rare colors such as black and purple, Bruno's plan would be more secure.

However, deep purple tulips are not so easy to cultivate, so the Fran Islands, which possess residual divine power, naturally became an ideal base for Bruno to improve plant varieties.

Not only tulips, but also wheat, rice and even roses, a small amount should be sent to the French Islands! Speaking of roses... In addition to the large fields of tulips, roses are also considered to be within the scope of Harlem's cultivation.

Similar to tulips, the extraction of rose essential oil requires more than just one or two acres of flowers. In addition, this is the season for planting roses. Therefore, a large amount of grain seeds are continuously sown in the soil on the south side of Idar City.

On the north side of Idar, the planting of roses and tulips is also being carried out in an orderly manner.

Wally Harlin, who was covered in mud, soon spotted Bruno strolling around. He trotted over and said, "My Lord, look, I planted all these tulips myself!"

"Don't worry, as long as you can grow tulips, I will definitely help you get the title!" Bruno said seriously.

"Don't worry, Count! I can definitely cultivate the most precious and rare tulips!" Harlin said confidently.

Because of Bruno's promise, during the days he came to Idar County, he went into the gardener's house almost every day. He didn't care about his status as a nobleman at all, and he was not ashamed to ask questions. He probably knew much more about tulips than Bruno.

"My Lord Earl, it's just... I don't know where my token is..." Harlin hesitated.

After Bruno had a detailed understanding and investigation of Haring, he got a token belonging to the Haring family from Haring on the pretext of helping Haring obtain the title.

"This matter is closely related to helping you obtain the title, so don't ask too much..." Bruno said in a pretentious manner.

"Oh..." Harlin could only nod.

Speaking of the token belonging to the Harlin family, Bruno suddenly recalled what he had told Kallio before. It has been such a long time, so he should have established a firm foothold in the Kingdom of Basel, right? ...

The Kingdom of Basel is located in the southeast of the Norman Empire. The shape of its territory is roughly an inverted ox horn, with high terrain in the northwest and low terrain in the southeast. It borders the Duchy of Sidon to the west and the Norman Empire to the north, and has an extremely long border.

At this moment, the Norman Empire and the Odin Empire were mired in the quagmire of war, and the Principality of Sidon was too far away. Therefore, the Kingdom of Basel, located in the southeast and adjacent to the Territory of Idar, naturally became an ideal place for Bruno to dump goods.

after all……

Although the Kingdom of Basel was only a kingdom, it was difficult to compare with the Norman Empire in terms of the number of nobles or the land area.

However, with a big brother like the Norman Empire as its natural barrier, the Kingdom of Basel has never participated in any war for decades, enjoying long-lasting peace and accumulating a lot of wealth!

As an outstanding and progressive young man of the new era with a sense of morality and justice, how could Bruno watch the nobles of the Kingdom of Basel bury their precious wealth in the cellar to rot? So, Bruno decided to help them spend their money! Spend it in places that are most beneficial to the people, and spend it in places that can promote social progress and the growth of the technology tree!

To put it more bluntly, it was to make the nobles of the Kingdom of Basel willingly and eagerly hand over their money to Lord Idar! Bruno, who had many excellent qualities, certainly would not rob (mainly because he could not win), so for the welfare of the people and the progress of society, he could only slightly increase the price of Idar's goods.

But he still believed that the nobles of Basel were very willing to serve Idar... Er, no, the nobles of Basel were very willing to contribute to the cause of human progress! The city of Basel, located in the Goethe Plain and adjacent to the Wagrava River, was the political, economic and cultural center of the entire Kingdom of Basel.

During these years, the nobles of the Kingdom of Basel, who had no internal worries and no external enemies, focused most of their energy on travel and enjoyment. Compared with the capital of the Norman Empire, St. Lawrence, the extravagance of the city of Basel was even more extravagant.

As the capital of the Kingdom of Basel, it is also the most populous city in the entire Kingdom of Basel, and is about ten days away from the Territory of Idar.

Perhaps to show its submission to the Norman Empire, the city of Basel does not have the towering city walls and vast palaces like those of the Norman Empire.

But at the same time, His Majesty the King of Basel is not constrained by the Regency Council, possesses the most complete and extensive power in the Kingdom of Basel, and is the largest noble in the entire Kingdom of Basel!

Speaking of which,

In fact, when the Norman Empire established the Regency Council, the Kingdom of Basel, as a vassal state of the Norman Empire, originally wanted to follow suit and establish a Regency Council.

But the Norman royal family at the time believed that the Kingdom of Basel's practice was a shameless plagiarism of the Norman Empire's political wisdom and governance philosophy, and they also issued severe condemnations of the Kingdom of Basel.

Therefore, the establishment of the Regency Council eventually came to nothing...

Today,

Whenever they saw the confrontation between the royal family of the Norman Empire and the Regency Council gradually forming, the subsequent kings of the Kingdom of Basel were extremely grateful for the condemnation of the Norman Empire.

What is this… This is the spirit of Big Brother who sacrifices himself to prove his truth!

At this moment,

On the Via Nerva that runs north-south through the city of Basel, a gorgeous carriage is slowly driving on this straight cobblestone road.

The wooden wheels rolled over the undulating gaps between the stone slabs, making Kalio feel particularly bumpy.

Kalio lifted the curtain of the lathe, stuck his head out, and looked at the morning scene of the city. He wanted to breathe in the fresh air and sort out his messy thoughts.

only……

He forgot that this was not Idar City, much less Idar County.

The gentle morning breeze blew through the densely packed houses, carrying with it the smell of fermented feces that immediately hit Kalio's face.

What a disgusting smell!

Cario quickly pulled down the curtain beside the car window and retracted his head.

In fact, the environment of Basel City is one of the best even in the Norman Empire.

But Kalio was used to the fresh air in Idar, so the stench almost made him suffocate... It was almost the same as the smell of the toilet in Idar.

The carriage moved slowly along the road. When it passed the crowded civilian area and entered the inner city near the palace, the air around it finally became much better.

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Although it was still filled with a faint smell of urine, it was enough to bring Kalio back to his senses.

call……

It has been two weeks since Kallio arrived in Basel.

As the president of the Idar Chamber of Commerce and Bruno's right-hand man, Kallio will personally preside over the operations of the Idar Chamber of Commerce in Basel.

but……

In this city full of nobles, a businessman without any backing is like a lamb to be slaughtered, being stared at by countless eyes. He has no status at all.

Therefore, the token Bruno gave him before leaving undoubtedly became the key to opening up the situation for the Idar Chamber of Commerce! That was the token that Bruno asked for from Wally Harlin, symbolizing the Harlin family.

Viscount Harlin is indeed just a small viscount.

but……

But he has a beautiful daughter!

Alana Haring, the eldest daughter of Viscount Haring, is the second queen of the current King Ivan III of Basel!

If his backer is just a viscount, then he will undoubtedly have to give up a lot of interests in order not to be controlled too much.

But if I tell others that my backer is the current queen... that would be completely different!

It was precisely because the Harlin family had a queen that the fight for the heir to the title developed into a fratricide. Several possible heirs were wooed by various forces, so that the weak Wally Harlin had to temporarily live in the Idar Territory.

Using the identity of the Harlin family to help the Idar Chamber of Commerce gain a foothold was an idea that Bruno and Kallio had agreed on long ago.

So…

The news that Wally Harlin currently lives in Idar Territory has long been strictly blocked by Bruno, but in the subconscious of the Harlin family members, Wally Harlin is still on his way to the Odin Empire.

And Kalio's identity at this time is the businessman that Wally Harlin relies on the most, and he is Wally Harlin's spokesperson in the Kingdom of Basel! The carriage moved forward slowly, gradually approaching the palace.

This was actually the second time that Kallio came to visit the queen from the Harlin family.

As the eldest sister of Wally Harin, Alanna has always been particularly fond of her younger brother, which has greatly facilitated Kallio's many actions in the Kingdom of Basel.

The reason why the Idar Chamber of Commerce was able to take over the store located in the prime section of Nerva Avenue was thanks to the help of the queen.

So this time when he entered the palace, Kallio actually came to present gifts.

Of course, as a businessman who would not do anything without profit, Kallio also had his own considerations in addition to presenting the gift...

The royal palace of the Kingdom of Basel was not too big, and since he had been there once before, Kallio was naturally familiar with the place.

Led by the royal guards holding short swords and round shields, and after numerous inspections, he finally met the noble queen again in the garden behind the palace.

The garden is not big, and it is not as grand as the Sky Garden in Idar Territory, Kallio thought to himself.

Since becoming Bruno's subordinate, Kallio has always regarded himself as a native of Idar, and from time to time he compares Idar with other places, and then he will gain a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Of course, as a qualified businessman, such emotions would certainly not show on his face.

"Your Majesty... This is truly a very beautiful garden. It's probably not inferior to the garden of the Norman Palace!" The moment he saw Queen Alana, Kallio hurriedly complimented her.

Alana Haring is now 28 years old, at the peak of her beauty and grace.

Her brown hair fell in rolling waves, and her snow-white skin looked delicate and charming in the morning sun.

A girl who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old was standing carefully behind her, massaging her sore shoulder blades.

"Kario...why are you here?"

Queen Alana opened her lips slightly, nodded slightly, and said calmly.

"Your Majesty, this is the gift that Master Vali specially asked me to bring you..."

As he spoke, Kalio waved his hand and a royal guard came over. On the tray in his hand was a crystal clear bottle wrapped in fine silk.

"This is..." Alana hesitated.

"This is rose essential oil, Your Majesty..." Kallio replied respectfully.

(End of this chapter)