Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 376: Territory Trade

"Right, Hathaway, as for your side, you need to draw out five hundred freemen to participate in this joint campaign. We will take care of their food and accommodation during this period. At the same time, I will take out five hundred One-Star Profession Cards to lightly strengthen these five hundred freemen's bodies."

"You will need to coordinate this aspect yourself."

Li Wei acted very generously. He directly took out half of the one thousand One-Star Profession Cards that the Weir Duke had given him earlier.

After all, they were also subjects of his vassal territory. Before they could become powerful—not to mention forming combat strength immediately—they at least needed to become strong. If they fell ill and died, it wouldn't just be Hathaway's loss, but his loss as well.

Because even for Hathaway's future territory development, she would still have to pay him a 3% Viscount Tax every year!

That is, an additional 3% on top of the 50% King's Tax and 10% Duke's Tax.

Who told you to be a Vassal Lord?

While receiving protection and aid, one also had to pay a certain price.

And so the matter was settled without Li Yue or Hathaway voicing any objections. In front of both of them, Li Wei issued several orders in succession through the Prestige Card.

Some were for Nelson, ordering him as the Head of Freemen to coordinate the relevant personnel and supplies for handover and dispatch early tomorrow morning.There were orders for Linus, and also for Thomas.

It was very convenient.

At this moment, Hathaway hurriedly said: "Li Wei, for this trip, my side also transported a large amount of supplies. I am willing to take out twenty trucks of it, along with the supplies on them, and sell them at cost price, valued at five thousand Standard Gold Coins. What do you think?"

"That's too cheap. We're not outsiders, so I can't let you suffer a loss." Li Wei smiled. These fifty-five trucks of Hathaway's supplies, plus the value of the vehicles themselves, were appraised at fifty thousand gold coins.

"Suffering a loss or whatever isn't important. The main thing is, can both of our sides open up commercial trade?" Hathaway blinked, putting on the appearance of a delicate little white flower.

"Hm? That's entirely doable."

Li Wei replied casually. He had always been encouraging commercial trade among freemen. Although it was currently considered highly effective, it was still far from prosperous. Thus, he was more than happy for Hathaway's territory to trade with his own territory. In fact, he even wanted to trade with Zhao Kewu and Ron; it just wasn't realistic.

"Really? That's fantastic! Our side is willing to hand over a portion of the commercial taxes earned from the trade. Li Wei, how do you think the commercial taxes should be set?"

"Hm? For this, let's just go with the convention: 10% of the transaction volume. The commercial taxes earned will go into the territory treasury."

Li Wei nodded. Actually, all of this could be looked up, and Hathaway also couldn't play any tricks with him on this matter. That was because it was very clear that she intended to primarily focus on commercial trade moving forward, using it as the economic pillar of her territory.

Li Wei quite agreed with this point. Hadn't even Li Yue kept silent? A vassal territory wasn't a slave domain; they needed to have a visible future and interests to pursue. Otherwise, who would hang out with you?

"Then what about the pricing coefficient for the goods? Do we calculate it based on a multiple of 10 or 15?"

"Let's go with 10."

Li Wei felt a little guilty, and Hathaway felt equally guilty. This point had to be negotiated and settled properly.

Because the prices within the territory were definitely on the low side; it simply wouldn't be possible to match Weir City right off the bat.

For instance, right now in Li Wei's territory, adding up all the working freemen, the total salaries, bonuses, and overtime pay disbursed every month only amounted to 482 Standard Gold Coins.

And then, after a month of consumption by the freemen, roughly 300 Standard Gold Coins would flow back into Li Wei's hands...

Was this reasonable?

Not exactly, but there was also nothing much to complain about. The pie was only so big: lower wages, lower prices, no taxes, and communal dining and sleeping arrangements mostly guaranteed. No one starved, no one froze, and there was hope for the future.

As for the pricing coefficient Li Wei and Hathaway just discussed, it meant taking the prices in Weir City as the standard and dividing them by ten. The resulting value was the price both sides agreed upon.

Because when doing business, buyers and sellers couldn't operate without a mutually recognized reference pricing system.

At this moment, as Li Wei and Hathaway reached an agreement, both sides took out their respective Pioneering Cards and gently tapped them together. In a flash of golden light, two golden Trade Cards were actually produced.

At the exact same time, all freemen above the age of 12 in Li Wei's territory and all freemen above the age of 12 in Hathaway's territory simultaneously received several strings of information.

[Flame Viscount Li Wei and Earth Baron Hathaway have signed a Friendly Trade Agreement. Both sides agree to conduct trade under the constraints of the following terms. Within the next month, both sides ought to cultivate at least three to five merchants to be responsible for this matter and establish a commercial port at Riverside Fortress. But at the same time, the Lords of both sides may also make minor adjustments or intervene directly in trading matters at any time.]

[The specific details are as follows. Due to the high volume of content, those uninterested may exit from these details.]

[...]

——

The commotion was quite big. Li Wei thought about it and decided to strike while the iron was hot. He announced that the basic salary of the territory's freemen would continuously increase by 2%. Simultaneously, he tossed fully twenty Bronze Clearance Tokens into the market. As a result, they sold out in a matter of seconds, instantly bringing 2000 gold coins back into Li Wei's hands.

Look at that! The purchasing power of these freemen was still very vigorous.

Next, Hathaway offered an apology and left to busy herself with her own mess. With a population of over a thousand, there were far too many things to handle every day.

"Little Wei, tell me about the experiences you had on your trip. I'm quite curious." Li Yue said at this time.

So Li Wei gave a rough recounting of what happened on his trip. Occasionally, Li Yue would interrupt him to request more details, such as his time in Ron's territory, or the process of dealing with the red-robed Witch Anna. As for the process of Li Wei infiltrating that Great Bridge Fortress and shooting that Half-Goatmen Hyperbody Caster with an arrow, Li Yue asked even more detailed questions.

"I didn't expect your growth speed to be this fast. Of course, Adai's assistance was also indispensable. Don't ever attempt to do something like this again in the future. Those Half-Goatman Hyperbody Casters are extremely dangerous entities. I've encountered them in cross-border missions before; a single self-destruction leaves no survivors within a three-hundred-meter radius."

"But then again, Perception +8! If you encounter that Neanderthal Dawn Knight again this time, you'd already be able to fight him to a draw."

"Right, if you're going to stay here at Riverside Fortress from now on, then I want to take a trip to the west."

"Why?" Li Wei blanked.

"Because I also need to go fight to temper myself and elevate my Destiny Grid. I can't just stay here looking after the house for you all the time. Look at your Scout Card—it's already leveled up to Three-Star, while my Rare Knight Card has currently only reached Two-Star. Aren't there many roaming Ability User squads in the west? It'll be a perfect chance for me to practice."

Li Yue smiled softly. "Actually, our current pressure in this mission isn't big. We already have a guaranteed advantage. What we truly need to consider is the cross-border mission three years from now. I bet that if you can't obtain a new code name by then and enter the cross-border mission under the name Li Wei, there's an eight or nine out of ten chance you'll be heavily focused and sniped by the Neanderthals."

"Alright, let's leave it at that. Also, I'll give you a piece of advice. As for Hathaway, just keeping her as a lover is fine. Don't overthink anything else; she isn't the type suited for creating a cozy and peaceful home."

Saying this, Li Yue gave a dashing smile and, treading through the moonlight and starlight, simply disappeared into the distance.

Li Wei kept watching Li Yue's figure vanish, remaining gazing far away from the fortress rooftop for a long time. He could guess what Li Yue was going to do: tempering herself was true, but stirring up trouble was also true.

And there was a high probability that she was targeting that red-robed Witch Anna. With Ron caught in a spell, his territory would be wiped out sooner or later. Since Li Wei couldn't spare the hands right now, how they could receive some of Ron's inheritance became a technical issue.

So leaving this matter to Li Yue was a solid move!

After returning to his room, Li Wei sat quietly for a long time, thinking for just as long. Only then did he carefully activate his Pioneering Card. With a thought, it comprehensively and systematically displayed all the efforts and gains he had made over the past seventeen months.

Here, he could see everything he currently possessed, as well as the mission progress and what matters still needed tending to.

It was essentially a quest panel from a video game.

[Name: Li Wei]

[Age: 30]

[Current Status: A Four-Star Lord of the All-Heavens Lord Alliance, while simultaneously a Substantive Baron and Titular Viscount of the Locke Kingdom.]

[Current Profession: Four-Star Farmer Card, Four-Star Hunter Card, Four-Star Woodcutter Card, Four-Star Rare Scout Card.]

[Current Destiny Grid: Farmer 41, Hunter 62, Woodcutter 62, Scout 39.]

[Current Attributes (Including Equipment and Titles): Life 530, Stamina 670, Strength 53, Agility 65, Defense 69, Spiritual Power 30, Perception 8.]

[Current Combat Profession: Tier Two Dark Night Ranger.]

[Your current Legal Territory tallies to 40 square kilometers. Note: 'Legal' means that as long as you do not die, once the three-year mission ends, it will automatically register as your territory, protected by the laws of the Locke Kingdom.]

[Your current Illegal Territory tallies to three hundred square kilometers. Note: This refers to land you have actively seized. After establishing a fortress or a permanent garrison to form a stronghold, the one hundred square kilometers of land surrounding it becomes illegally occupied by you. This 'illegal' status does not mean it violates the laws of the Locke Kingdom, but rather that it is unprotected. You must fight for these lands yourself.]

[Your current Territory Population is 1208 people.]

[You currently possess 2000 Campaign Points and hold four Weir Duke Medals of Honor. Note: When you gather ten Weir Duke Medals of Honor, they can be exchanged for one Locke Kingdom Medal of Honor.]

[Your current Treasury Assets amount to two hundred and ninety-five thousand four hundred and seventy-two standard gold coins, along with another eighty thousand Barbarian Gold Coins (forty thousand of which are already distributed dividends, but you are still responsible for the tax amount).]

[You currently possess one Three-Star Tavern, one Three-Star Enchanted Blacksmith Workshop, one Two-Star Magic Well, and one Two-Star Temple.]

[You currently possess one Riverside Knights Order.]

[You currently possess five Silver-quality Clearance Tokens and 112 Black Iron-quality Clearance Tokens.]

[You currently possess one Five-Star Hunting Pet.]

[You currently possess one unopened Purple Drop Card that can be brought out of this world. Perhaps someone would be willing to pay a high price to gamble on it. Concurrently, it's also an extremely extravagant and expensive gift, should you ever need a favor from someone.]

[You are currently undertaking a Territory Pioneering and City Building Mission. Mission Progress: Pushing towards a Level 3 Territory. Specific progress — 92%.]

[In summary, since you entered this Pioneering Mission world, the total wealth you have cumulatively generated is approximately six hundred thousand Standard Gold Coins. Note: This includes everything. Apart from the supplies, weapon equipment, and hunting pet you initially brought into this world, everything else you obtained in this world—supplies, population, loot, etc.—will be recorded. At the end of the mission and before the final settlement begins, you must pay taxes according to the rules. If you are still a Substantive Baron at that time, you will need to consume one Weir Duke Medal of Honor while paying three hundred thousand Standard Gold Coins in taxes.]

[If you are a Substantive Viscount at that time, you will only need to pay one hundred and fifty thousand Standard Gold Coins in taxes. In future years, you will legally pay taxes based on this foundation, and one Weir Duke Medal of Honor will be consumed every ten years. For example, if you earned six hundred thousand in the first three years and paid one hundred and fifty thousand in taxes, and then earned one hundred thousand in the fourth year, you would only need to pay twenty-five thousand Standard Gold Coins in taxes.]

[Attached Tax Reduction Catalog: For every one thousand kilograms of Three-Star Wheat sold to the superior department annually, taxes are reduced by 1%. If one thousand kilograms of Four-Star Wheat is sold to the superior department annually, taxes are reduced by 5%.]

[If exactly one hundred Four-Star Gold Cards are cumulatively sold to the superior department, taxes are reduced by 5%.]

[If various potions, magic potions, and magic materials of Three-Star quality and above are cumulatively sold to the superior department until they reach a certain quantity, a tax reduction will be triggered.]

(End of this chapter)