Chapter 132 — The Gains
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
"Alive is enough, alive is enough..." Viscount Andrew said with a complex expression. This nobleman, once elegant, confident, and proud, had aged at least twenty years in this single night. His voice now held nothing but exhaustion. Though there were many things that could be called good news, they could not sustain his severely depleted body and spirit. Yet he still struggled to lift his head and looked at Gao Yang standing beside him. "No matter what, I must thank you for your rescue. The Leslie family owes you and your knights a great debt of gratitude. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."
Clearly, he himself knew that giving that troublesome stone tablet fragment away as a gift was a bit problematic...
"Mutual aid is the rule I and Charlie established for the nobles of Ansu seven hundred years ago. Today I am merely fulfilling the words I spoke back then," Gao Yang said with righteous dignity. "I will not take advantage of this opportunity to plunder in a crisis. However, since we have a chance to talk, perhaps we can strengthen our cooperation."
"Cooperation?" Viscount Andrew repeated the word.
"You should know that the new Cecil Territory is under construction, and we are short of all kinds of supplies, most of which are purchased from Tansang Town," Gao Yang continued. "What we lack most at present are mana-storage crystals and various magical conductive materials, and the Tansang mines contain large-scale crystal veins."
Seeing Viscount Andrew's expression turn somewhat stiff, Gao Yang went on, "Don't be nervous—I intend to pay. I only hope that in the future I can purchase various crystal-type magical materials from Tansang Town in large quantities at preferential prices. We do not demand quality; even the lowest-grade mana-storage crystals will do. We only require sufficient quantity. You need not worry about suffering losses. You should know that our supply gap is enormous, and the new Cecil Territory's purchasing volume will absolutely be able to swallow a large portion of your crystal output. Even at a lower price, the profit you earn will exceed the cost of transporting those crystals in scattered shipments to other territories and seeking out buyers yourself. If you agree, then as for the specific prices, I will send someone to negotiate after you have caught your breath a little."
Viscount Andrew relaxed, nodding slightly as he listened. He was beginning to accept that this was a win-win idea: the Cecil Territory could obtain large quantities of cheap primary magical conductive materials, while Tansang Town would not need to worry about the market for its crystals and could quickly raise the funds to repair the castle and deal with the aftermath of the incident.
As for how the Cecil family, who had been utterly destitute not long ago, had suddenly become wealthy and had recently even begun minting coins... Viscount Andrew had no desire whatsoever to know.
Whether they had discovered a gold mine in the Dark Mountains, or whether that one from seven hundred years ago, the Xuan Yuan Sect, had dug up his own true coffin savings—none of that had anything to do with him. As a quick-witted border viscount, Andrew Leslie had always been open-minded and highly capable of grasping the parts that were truly beneficial to himself.
In fact, he had guessed part of it correctly: Gao Yang had indeed dug up coffin savings—except what he had dug up was the coffin savings of the entire Kingdom of Ansu...
Seeing Viscount Andrew nod, Gao Yang continued, "Second, population. I hope you can help spread word that the Cecil Territory takes in refugees. If you have refugees on your side and do not want them, you can also send them to me. In short, no matter what form of surplus population, so long as they are not criminals, I will take them. In this regard I will not demand a specific number; just do what you can."