Chapter 161 Who gave you the courage?
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Winterfell has four districts, divided into east, west, north and south.
Most of the people living in the West District and the North District are civilians. Although it is much cleaner and tidier than the countryside, you can still smell unknown odors when walking on the streets of these two districts, and most of the pedestrians on the streets are civilians in ragged clothes.
The South District is where wealthy businessmen or some small nobles gather. The streets here are wide, and there are many shops on both sides of the street. The sounds of hawking are endless. Among the pedestrians walking on the street, you can occasionally see one or two wealthy businessmen with big bellies and servants swaggering by.
As for the East District, it is the quietest place in the entire Winterfell. The bluestone-paved streets are clean and wide. In addition to some high-end shops on both sides of the streets, there are gates of luxurious mansions. Many of the gates are guarded by one or two strong men wearing leather armor and wearing long swords on their waists.
The number of pedestrians on the streets was much less than that in the other three districts. Apart from the male and female servants dressed as servants, the people passing by on the streets were often men and women in silk clothes. These pedestrians in gorgeous clothes walked on the streets leisurely, talking and laughing. Compared with the dirty and messy northwest districts, this place looked like a paradise on earth.
But today, in this quiet and peaceful East District that seems like a paradise on earth, a strange scene appeared.
The square on East Street is usually a place where many noble ladies go to relax and have fun. It is shaded by green trees and has a wide open space. There are also many places selling silk or some high-end luxury goods around the square.
But in such an upscale place, there was a caravan occupying the center of the square. This caravan had 4 carriages and only 13 people, including fully armed soldiers, stewards wearing silk, and several serfs wearing linen shirts. As soon as this combination arrived at the square, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
Many tourists who traveled in groups have started talking about it.
"What's wrong with that group of people? Why did they start loading and unloading goods in the square? Aren't they afraid of the city guards?"
"I think these people are country bumpkins from somewhere. It's their first time in Winterfell and they don't know the rules. You just wait and see. Nothing good will happen to them!"
"I think they should be a caravan under some lord, otherwise why would there be so many soldiers guarding them!"
"Why are they planning to stop here? Don't they know that caravans are not allowed to stay in Winterfell except for the cargo station?"
For the nobles in the East District, the strange behavior of this convoy was unheard of. Some were gloating, while others were speculating about the origins of the convoy.
Winterfell, a city with a population of 100,000, is the most prosperous place in the territory of Earl Jones. Of course, there are many rules in this prosperous place. When a caravan comes to Winterfell, there are only two places to go after entering the city. If there is no buyer for the caravan's goods, they can stay at the cargo station. The cargo station not only has complete food and accommodation, but also has many merchants. Any goods can be traded there.
If the goods already have a buyer, they can be taken directly to the buyer's place to unload. After unloading, the carriage must leave and cannot occupy the street for a long time.
There are two such cargo stations in Winterfell, one in the south district and one in the north district. As for the east district, there is certainly no such station where nobles live.
If any caravan fails to abide by this rule, it will be fined at the very least, and at the worst, its goods will be confiscated and it may also face imprisonment.
Just as the nobles were discussing and preparing to watch the show, an unexpected scene occurred. They saw that the caravan in the square, after unloading the goods, actually set up a stage in the middle of the square, as if they were going to start setting up stalls to do business.
All the nobles gasped when they saw this scene, and a thought popped up in their minds: "Who gave them such courage?"
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Who gave me the courage? Of course it was Fish Leong, oh no, of course it was Alice!
In the eyes of the nobles, this incredible caravan belonged to Gervis, a caravan led by Thomas.
Given Thomas's behavior and status, he certainly wouldn't dare to bring his caravan to the East District Square to set up a stall. Everything that was being done now was arranged in advance by Gervis.
Before leaving, Gervase asked Thomas about the situation in Winterfell. To put it bluntly, the West End and the North End are slums. Although they are all civilians, most of them live in poverty.
The South District is mostly populated by wealthy businessmen. Although they have some money, Gerves still chose the East District as his first stop because the first thing he needs to sell is the ice cream made by Gerves himself.
Ice cream was initially sold to the nobility, and for the wealthy merchants, Gervais prepared ice cubes for them.
Since the ice cream is made in advance, if it is not sold quickly, a lot of unnecessary costs will be added to keep the ice cream from melting.
As for ice cubes, they can be made on the spot using saltpeter, so there is no need to worry about melting. So as soon as they entered the city, Thomas led the caravan non-stop to the square in the east district. This square has the largest flow of people in the east district, and the place is clean and spacious.
Along the way, in order to take Jimmy's two apprentices to other lords' castles to sell golden oysters, Thomas and his team had been delayed for three days and visited two lords in total. Due to Gervis's relationship, although the two lords did not care much about the so-called golden oysters at first, they did not refuse them to enter the castle to prepare delicious food on the spot. After all, Gervis was Alice's husband, and Alice made a harsh statement on the wedding day, and no one dared to disobey.
Since they were allowed to grill the oysters, the next thing was of course a smooth process. With the unique taste of the golden oysters, the two lords were immediately conquered by this delicacy that they had never experienced before.
It is worth mentioning that, except for the lord, the noble ladies and ladies were not prepared to taste this dirty and unsightly food. However, Thomas followed Gervis' instructions and told everyone present that this golden oyster was not only delicious, but also would make men stronger if they ate more of it, and would make women have fair skin if they ate more of it.
Just because of this sentence, the noble ladies present at the scene lowered their status and started to taste the golden oysters. Later, these ladies were successfully captured by the golden oysters. In the end, the caravan received 2 gold coins and 1 silver coin from each lord. The 2 gold coins were the tuition for teaching how to roast oysters, and 1 silver coin was the price of 50 kilograms of oysters. As for the garlic, it was given for free for the first time, and the next purchase would be calculated at 10 copper coins per kilogram.
In just three days, the caravan gained 4 gold coins and 2 silver coins.
After coming out of the second lord's castle, the caravan was divided into two under Thomas's assignment. Thomas led a team of 13 people, including Johnny, Eula, Thomas, three serfs, and seven guards, and rushed to Winterfell.
The other team, led by Jimmy's two apprentices and four serfs, was going to every noble castle in Earl Jones's territory to sell golden oysters. This team was also protected by seven guards, and the captain Laurie was among them.
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"Ice cream! Extremely refreshing ice cream! Come and have a taste!"
"In the summer, only the nobles can taste this. Now you can taste it here too. This is a rare opportunity. Don't miss it if you pass by!"
Seeing the noble ladies and ladies around the square constantly looking over here, to be honest, Thomas felt a little nervous. However, thinking of having Gervis and Alice as his backup, Thomas calmed himself down and arranged for Yura and Johnny to start shouting loudly.
"This...this...actually setting up a stall and selling things in the square..."
"This is the first time I've seen such a ruthless person..."
"Mom and Dad, is there anything delicious? I want to go eat..."
When the loud hawking sounds rang out in the square of the East District, the tranquility here was instantly broken. The nobles around almost dropped their jaws. It was the first time they saw such a ruthless person. They had never seen a caravan setting up stalls and hawking in this square in the past few decades.
No one even paid attention to what they were shouting, only the naive children, when they heard it was food, started asking their parents.
"This is a very cool and refreshing ice cream. Don't miss it if you pass by. Today is the grand opening day. You can try it for free and buy it if you are satisfied. If you are not satisfied, you don't have to pay!"
Johnny and Yura shouted at the top of their lungs in the center of the square for more than ten minutes. Although the surrounding area was full of onlookers, no one came forward to taste or ask. Some children even wanted to come to the convoy to take a look when they heard that the food was delicious but still cold, but this action was immediately stopped by their parents.
"Master Thomas, they don't seem to dare to come and buy!"
After shouting for a long time, Yura found that the tourists were just watching but did not come to buy. He felt a little depressed and said something to Thomas next to him.
Of course Thomas also noticed this situation. He did not expect that the golden oysters would go smoothly, but he encountered difficulties in selling the ice cream.
After thinking for a while, Thomas stood up from a chair nearby, walked to the table where the goods were placed and shouted loudly: "Dear gentlemen and ladies, this ice cream comes from Storm Territory south of the Dead Leaf River. It is made of ice milk and sugar. It is delicious and precious. You can taste it for free! If you are not satisfied, you don’t have to pay!"
"In addition to ice cream, we also have ice cubes for sale. They are cheap and good quality. Please hurry up if you want to buy them. The quantity of ice cream is limited. Once they are sold out, they will be gone!"
When Thomas finished speaking, especially when they heard that it was made with ice cubes, milk and sugar, there was an immediate discussion among the crowd. Several ladies also clearly moved and wanted to step forward, but when they looked at the large crowd around them, they were too embarrassed to step forward and could only stay where they were and continue watching.
After Thomas finished shouting, he saw the reaction of the crowd and thought at first that the matter was settled. However, after waiting for a while and still no one came forward, he really became worried. This ice cream was the main purpose of his leading the team, but now no one bought it. How could he go back and explain to Gervis?
"The Storm Territory south of the Dead Leaf River? Is it the territory of Baron Gervis?"
Just when Thomas was getting anxious, a middle-aged man suddenly walked out from the crowd, followed by a well-dressed woman holding two children, one big and one small.
"Yes, Your Excellency, my master is none other than Baron Gervis, the Lord of Storm Territory and the master of the Golden Castle! I am his butler, Thomas."
Thomas looked in the direction of the voice and found that the man asking the question was wearing silk clothes and a lord's badge on his chest. His eyes immediately lit up, especially when he saw the two children beside him, he had an idea in his mind.
"I don't know your name, please allow me to say hello to you on behalf of my master!"
Thomas bowed to the middle-aged man who walked out of the crowd in front of him, then asked with a smile.
(End of this chapter)
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