Chapter 292 Preventing the Outflow of Grapevines
After passing the coastal station, Gervis saw from afar a long red carpet extending from the castle to the bottom of the gentle slope. Thomas was already waiting for Gervis' arrival at the bottom of the slope with a group of servants.
"This Thomas, when did he learn to be so extravagant!"
He cursed inwardly, but the smile on Gervis's face became even brighter. There was nothing more pleasing than being welcomed grandly when returning home.
When Gervis was still dozens of meters away from the gentle slope, Thomas arrived before he did.
"My Lord, you are finally back! I have been missing you all the time!"
Thomas' words sounded sincere, and the way he jogged along made him look like a resentful woman in the boudoir... er, wait!
Suddenly, Gervis had the idea of letting the unicorn rush directly towards Thomas and knock Thomas away.
"It would be fine if you were a beautiful housekeeper, but Thomas, you are a grown man, and you have to say such shameless words."
Gervis was both amused and angry. After not seeing Thomas for a few days, he found that his flattery skills had improved. However, this flattery made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Thomas was unaware that his horse was lined up on the hooves, and soon, he was trotting close to the unicorn.
"Sir, thank you for your hard work!"
"Well, it's not bad. This trip to Winterfell has yielded a lot. The hard work is worth it!"
Gervis nodded, and seeing that Thomas was willing to take the reins from him, he handed the reins directly to Thomas.
Thomas then happily led the unicorn down the slope toward the red carpet.
When they reached the red carpet, Thomas stopped and held the reins steady. After Gervis got off the horse, two maids immediately came to Gervis with towels and copper basins.
Gervis grabbed a towel and washed himself, feeling refreshed immediately. Then he said to Thomas, "Thomas, has the matter I asked someone to come back and inform you a few days ago been completed?"
"Sir, it's done. The sheds have been built and can provide temporary accommodation for thousands of people. In addition, the villagers in the mountain village by the sea have been arranged to start collecting stones. Construction of houses can begin at any time!"
"Yeah! Very good!"
When he sent people back to get the mithril a few days ago, Gervis asked Thomas to build some simple wooden sheds for the slaves to live in, so that there would be nowhere to accommodate hundreds of slaves when they returned.
"Sir, the restaurant has prepared the food, please go and eat first!"
After answering, Thomas immediately bowed and led Gervis up the slope. Thomas knew that Gervis was always casual about clothing, housing and transportation, but he attached great importance to food and drink. So when he received the news that Gervis was about to arrive at the castle from the fast horse in front, Thomas' first order was to let the cook start cooking food.
Hearing that the food was ready, Gervis nodded to Thomas with satisfaction and walked towards his castle without hesitation.
Soon, Gervis was led to the restaurant by the flattering Thomas. As soon as he entered the restaurant, he smelled bursts of fragrant aroma. He saw a large table of delicious food already filling the table. This made Gervis, who had traveled for nine days, very hungry.
"Thomas, who made this food?"
Looking at these delicacies, Gervis was a little surprised. Judging from the appearance and aroma alone, they were only slightly inferior to Chef Jimmy's.
"Sir, these things were done by Jimmy's two apprentices!"
Thomas was delighted to see that Gervis was satisfied, and he answered immediately.
"Oh, good!"
Gervis nodded, then he remembered his Oyster Squad. They should have returned to Storm Territory before Alice's birthday party started, because all the lords went to Rose Castle at that time.
Next, Gervis said no more and started to clear the food from the long table.
…
"Thomas, I have something you need to arrange for me tomorrow!"
Gervis, who was already eating so much that his mouth was full of oil and had no image at all, wiped his hands with a towel and spoke to Thomas with a serious face.
"Sir, please give me your orders, and I will do it for you!"
Thomas did not dare to neglect it and pricked up his ears to wait for Gervis' instructions. Every time he saw Gervis so serious, it meant that he was talking about the things that Gervis cared about most.
"This time we went to Rose Castle, all the wine has been sold out, and the price has been reset! One gold coin per pot!"
"More importantly, I heard from Alice that wild fruits like grapes are only found in Storm Territory. I believe that when the golden wine is known to the nobles of the entire duchy, someone will definitely pay attention to the grape vines."
"So tomorrow you notify all the serfs in the territory and have them go out and transplant all the grape vines that are as thick as a thumb to the vicinity of where they live. Then the number of grape vines in each household must be recorded in a register, and no one is allowed to buy or sell grape vines privately!"
"If anyone dares to buy and sell grape vines privately, their status as serfs will be stripped and they will be reduced to slaves. If anyone sells more than five grape vines privately, they can be hanged."
"As for the grapevines that are not as thick as a thumb...all of them must be destroyed! Not a single one will be left! Remember that, Thomas!"
Finally, Gervis arranged the top priority that he had been considering all along.
During this trip to Rose Castle, the golden wine allowed Gervis to see the wealth of the nobles, and he also regarded the golden wine as the biggest boost to the rise of Storm Territory.
There are no grape vines anywhere else, which means that wine will be Gervis' exclusive business from now on.
But with such considerable benefits in front of them, no noble could turn a blind eye. Gervis estimated that many people with ulterior motives were rushing towards Storm Territory at this moment.
Although it is not known why grape vines are only found in Storm Territory, grape vines can be transplanted artificially. This is currently the only loophole that may allow other nobles to exploit the wine.
In order to plug this only loophole, Gervis thought about it for a long time and made a great determination, especially the plan to destroy those small grape seedlings, which was actually inconsistent with Gervis's values in his previous life.
However, in order to make wine his exclusive business and for the better development of Storm Territory, Gervis had to do something that was detrimental to others and not beneficial to himself.
Although Gervis cannot collect all the grape vines in the territory, at least doing so can reduce the chances of the grape vines being obtained by other nobles.
Even if other nobles occasionally obtained one or two grape vines, it would be of no use. It would probably not be enough to brew wine for themselves to drink.
Of course, in addition to ordering the collection of all wild grape vines, Gervis also plans to set up checkpoints at the only two entrances to Storm Territory, and strengthen patrols within the territory, which will greatly reduce the chance of the grape vines flowing out.
Gervis felt that with this strategy, he could at least make the sales of golden wine belong to him alone within the next 10 years. During these ten years, Gervis could have made a lot of money. As for 10 years later, Gervis could not predict it now.
There was one thing that Gervis was sure of, if things went well, he might have become a Golden Knight in 10 years, and the strength of his territory would not be weak at all, and he would have the ability to protect himself.
"Remember, my lord!"
Thomas put away his little notebook and answered Gervis solemnly.
When Thomas heard that Gervis had raised the price of the golden wine to 1 gold coin and all the wine he brought was sold out, he knew why Gervis was so serious.
"Well, very good, then you go and get busy!"
Gervis nodded. It was already late. Although the sun had not set yet, it would be dark in two hours. There were still a lot of things waiting for Thomas to arrange outside, so Gervis let him leave.
…
After having a hearty dinner which was not considered as dinner, Gervis went to the third floor to take a nice bath. After the bath, Gervis sat leisurely at the desk in the study.
At this moment, there are already quite a few boxes of different sizes on the desk. In addition to a few jade boxes, there are also two small treasure chests that were often seen in film and television works in the previous life.
This small wooden treasure chest is not big, but it contains all the gold coins that Gerves earned in Winterfell this time.
Crash!
After opening the two small treasure chests, Gervis generously poured all the gold coins onto the large desk.
In an instant, Gervis only felt a large golden area in front of his eyes, which almost blinded his titanium lord's eyes.
"Haha! No wonder everyone loves this thing. Just looking at it makes people feel comfortable!"
With a hearty laugh, Gervis began to count his gold coins!
(End of this chapter)
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