Chapter 99: Opening the Wine Bottle
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After explaining everything about the town square, Gervis did not stay here. The weather was too hot, and he was quite satisfied with the selection methods of Laurie and Audrey. He rode his horse and slowly returned to the castle with his little maid Anna.
Gervis was in a very cheerful mood at the moment. The supplies sent by Gandalf arrived, Viscount Lanny's camp was temporarily destroyed by him, the ice-making business was about to start, and recruiting soldiers was a sure thing. All he had to do next was wait for the territory to prosper. He felt that his dream of becoming a wealthy landlord would be getting closer and closer to him.
"Young man, don't be complacent. Keep working hard! Haha!" Gervis rode his horse to the vestibule of the castle and laughed loudly, attracting the attention of the guards and servants in the castle. They didn't understand why their lord was laughing for no reason. They didn't see the lord talking to anyone just now.
"My lord." When Gervis's horse arrived at the vestibule, a servant was already ready. The moment Gervis stopped the horse, he came over and steady the horse and waited for Gervis to dismount.
"kindness!"
After Gervis dismounted, he nodded to the skillful servant and walked towards the inner castle.
"Sir, you are back. Dinner is ready. Would you like to eat right away?"
When Gervis walked into the inner castle, Thomas, who heard the news, rushed over immediately, bowed to Gervis and asked.
"Well, let's eat. I'm a little hungry too."
Because he got up late this morning, and the celebration banquet started in the afternoon, it was already time for dinner in a short while. At the celebration banquet, Gervis was only concerned with talking with Nashen and did not eat much. He went out for a walk and was indeed a little hungry at the moment.
"Yes, sir!"
Knowing that Gervis was going to eat soon, Thomas did not dare to delay. He immediately bowed to Gervis and quickly ran into the kitchen to inform Chef Jimmy that the food was ready to be served.
"Thomas, I have a few things to tell you. Go and do them tomorrow!"
The long table was now filled with delicious food. While eating, Gervis gave instructions to Thomas who was waiting beside him.
"My lord, please give me your orders."
When Thomas heard that Gervis was going to give him a task, he immediately took out a notebook from his pocket professionally, pricked up his ears and waited attentively for Gervis's next words.
"Tomorrow you go to the seaside village to inform the village chief there and tell him that I will start purchasing oysters. Ask them to prepare. They will be needed in about a week. The quantity is tentatively set at 1,000 kilograms. There will also be lobsters and crabs, 100 of each. You can ask them to find them and keep them by the sea first. I will send someone to get them in a week. As for the price..."
Gervis thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Golden oysters are 1 silver coin each, lobsters and crabs are 1 copper coin each. Tell the village chief that if it is busy recently, you can let the elderly and children pick them up. I will purchase these seafoods for a long time, and everyone in the village can take turns picking them up. But there is one thing you must pay attention to, only catch the big ones, and let the small ones go. If I know about anyone catching the small ones to eat, I will punish them with ten lashes."
In this world, if a serf works for others, the general wage is three copper coins, and some are even only two copper coins. 1,000 kilograms of oysters sounds like a lot, but they are quite heavy, and the seashore is already flooded, so picking them up is effortless. Only a dozen or twenty people are needed to pick them up in a day. Big lobsters and crabs are harder to catch and need to be caught in the sea, so Gervis gave half a copper coin for each one.
Although the price offered by Gervis was not very high, it was definitely not low. You have to know that even if the serfs were willing to work as servants for two copper coins a day, there was no place for them to work. Everyone in Storm Territory was suffering, and there was no industry that needed workers.
"Remember it, Thomas?"
After saying that, Gervis had almost finished his dinner, so he put down the knife and fork in his hand. Yura behind him immediately handed him a handkerchief obediently. Gervis wiped his hands with the handkerchief and then continued to look at Thomas.
"My Lord, remember this."
"Very good. Now we are going to recruit three people who will learn how to cook golden oysters and seafood from Jimmy. These three people need to have good character and must have families. After they have learned well, I plan to send them to other nobles to promote cooking golden oysters and teach the nobles' chefs how to cook golden oysters and seafood for a fee. This candidate is very important, so you need to select them yourself."
"In addition, there is also the purchase of garlic. Tomorrow you will take the garlic to the town and the three villages to show the villagers, and ask them to gather all the garlic in one place and plant it well. I will also buy it with money when the time comes."
"Okay, sir, don't worry, I promise I won't let you down!"
As Gervis spoke, Thomas wrote down what he had said. When he was done, he bowed again and made his promise to Gervis.
"Well, very good, Anna, bring me your little notebook and let me see if there is anything else that needs to be done immediately."
As a lord, although the population of the territory is not large, everything has to start from scratch. He may forget some things sometimes due to the complexity of things. So in the past two days, he asked the maid to bring a small notebook. When he thought of the things that needed to be done, he classified them according to their urgency and asked Anna to record them in the notebook. So now he needs to take a look at what projects he has to do on his behalf.
"Sir, here you go!"
The well-behaved Anna had been standing behind Gervis. When she heard what Gervis said, she quickly took out a small notebook and handed it to Gervis. If she hadn't been wearing a maid outfit, she would have been a typical little secretary.
Gervis took the small notebook from Anna's fair little hands. It still had the faint fragrance of a young girl. Gervis moved his nose and then opened the notebook.
"Look at my memory, Thomas, wait a moment, I'll go to the kitchen and take a look!"
When he opened the little notebook, Gervis slapped his head and almost forgot about his wine business. Today his mind was occupied by seafood and ice.
After saying that, Gervis hurriedly stood up and ran into the kitchen. The wine had been brewed for some time, and the weather was so hot now, so it should be about the same. As long as the taste was good, he would buy a large amount of grapes and start brewing in batches. With more quantities, he could make a 233-year golden wine, and in ten or twenty years he might be able to sell it for several gold coins a bottle.
Gervis ran eagerly to the kitchen, came to the wine jars, and removed the soil and parchment that served as seals on them.
"Oh, it tastes good!" The moment Gervis opened the jar, the sweet smell of wine wafted out of the jar. The familiar smell made Gervis tremble all over instantly.
"Good stuff, now it depends on how you taste it, I hope you won't disappoint me!"
Gervis then walked back to the restaurant holding one of the bottles tightly, ready to taste the alien wine he had brewed himself.
Thanks to the book friend "Zhongyizhe Cao Gong" for the reward!!!
Thank you all for your votes!!!
(End of this chapter)
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