Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 37 - The Sales Negotiations.

"So, tell me... Do these horses and wagons belong to you or the engineers?" I tried my luck hoping that these wagons indeed belonged to him. We would foresee that we require one to ferry the ores so the miners take a shorter time to complete their tasks. So instead of a 5 days trek, they may simply require 2 days on wheels instead.

Besides, once we level that knoll and several more, we need these horses and wagons to ferry the earth back to the brick processing area. In that way, at least the workload for the horses would be spread to the others.

"Oh, those dragans and wagons? Definitely yes. Before I became a merchant I used to run a stable and rent these horses on a seasonal period. But since I became a Master Merchant, I have a fleet of traders under me."

"In fact when the first time Frank and Gwen met me, those men around was my partners. I control their mode of distribution and try to push the prices down so we would be able to make a sizeable profit at the end of the day."

"Of course, the prices are a bit cheaper after the trade and some competitors weren't too happy about the low price I resell them. The most important part is continued service to the customers, and customers would always be KING...! "

I chuckled and was elated to know him as Master Merchant which means he holds a considerable position in the Merchants Association. Having a fleet of these horses and wagon gave a stature of someone as a Viscount or even higher.

Author's Note: Royal titles for a better understanding.

King, Queen

Prince, Princess

Duke, Duchess

Marquees, Marchioness

Earl, Countess

Viscount, Viscountess

Baron, Baroness

Baronet

Knight

Commoner

"Are you interested in them? Plus I do have some goats for you if you want to make the purchase. Too bad I don't have sheep, rams or even a dairy cow because it's too c.u.mbersome to ferry them around. Besides, cows and even bison would normally be handled by the nomads."

"Definitely for the horses and wagons at the same price and as for the livestock, Crystal would be checking them and will let you know in a moment. Let us have our lunch first before we proceed with the rest, would they be fine with you? Besides, we do have some trades with you too."

"Ah... The clay bricks, it's a splendid idea since there is sure demand for it. One kingdom called Herefordshire about 10 days from here would like to purchase some and if they are content with the quality, they would like to contract me in bringing them there which means you would be putting an effort for the output, like 1000 every fortnight?"

"Sure, as I've mentioned earlier, let's have our fill first before we negotiate further, alright? By the way, the price would still remain as before?"

"For you, young master. The same price as before would be fine. I have no qualms about it. The hay behind the wagons would be for the horses as well." Marcel smirked at me and I patted his shoulders while looking at his silly smirk.

There were 6 dining tables and I ushered everyone over as lunch was still cooking on the rocket stove. Besides, the bread was also being prepared. Ben came forward and informed me that a total of 20 sacks of grains and 20 sacks of flour had been deposited into our grains and flour shed accordingly. I nodded and asked him to join the rest at the tables.

=*=

"Your young master is a little bit young to lead this village, don't you think? How old is he and is a noble or something? A lord maybe?" asked an engineer.

"Oh, our young master was a scholar. We all came together after our kingdom collapsed. Early everyone was killed and only those outside the kingdom managed to escape with our lives. Barely... You see." replied Ben.

The engineers nodded their head. "It seems that his pocket is quite deep. His coin pouch must have contained at least a hundred silvers."

Frank replied, "His way of doing sales transactions is splendid. Better than us though. Furthermore, all the money he had is through the sales of our own products too. Besides, there's an order of a guaranteed 1000 pieces of bricks, I wonder what they going to use it for."

"Ah...I see. The continual part of purchasing is not yet complete and also there are goods to be bought by Marcel as well? What can I say... Your young master is truly a master. His way of accomplishing task is suave and his demeanour seems to out him as a Count it higher." an engineer quipped.

"Well, maybe his school teaches the mannerism, unlike us who are the rough and tumble type. Hahahaha...." Jack added and everyone laughed along.

=*=

Lunch was served and everyone helped themselves as lunch was placed inside a large serving bowl. Everyone was happy to have hot steaming gruel that had bits of potatoes, carrots, celery and a generous amount of game meat inside with fried shallots as garnishing.

"Oh, my lord...! Is this gruel? How come it's not the watery type and besides, this is filled with lots of goodness...! By golly... It is a blessing that I am being assigned to this project. The garlicky bread was perfect, this gruel is also perfect. In fact, these foods would only be served to the royals besides the absence of fowl, pork, beef and mutton..!"

"No wonder its called GraceHaven, it is both being graced and the food is heavenly. I'm going to become a fat pig after this project and gain a few pounds myself." remarked one of the engineers as he slowly blew on the gruel and sipped and was happily savouring the shredded game meat from his spoon.

Frankly, when we first have this type of gruel it was thought to be a waste of ingredients because it was too lavish and grand. However, Kayla pointed out that the ingredients inside was good enough to last a hard day's work at the field as its very nourishing. Nourishment is better than just being bloated at the end of a meal.

After the mealtime, I had gotten Frank to allocate the location of the windmill while Ben gets to organise the sawmill into one of the stores but he preferred to have the sawmill under a shed instead so an open-air shed was constructed within an hour.

The handloom was brought down and placed inside the intended tailor's shop. Soon, the 10 engineers began to offload the sawmill and then places the parts of the windmill in the intended location.

Ben looked at the sawmill and he was filled with sentimental emotions. He never knew he would be able to see this piece of equipment ever again and was beyond the feeling of elation. He thanked me profusely and I ended up in a bear hug by Ben as I patted his back and advised him to do us proud.

The next phase of negotiations was underway as I and a few of the pioneers were sitting around and were observing the matters of purchasing another 2 more horses and wagons. This move that I was about to make was for the future in handling the clay and soil that we would excavate from the nearby knoll while the other would be used for ferrying the ores and coal that the miners would acquire from the non-exhaustive mines.

"Here's 20s for the two horses, wagons and bales of hay as well. Crystal, would you be so kind to inspect the billy and 4 nanny goats?" as soon as I had mentioned about the availability of additional goats, Crystal went ahead and came back shortly after she had found one of them was pregnant. She kept it the matter to Marcel but she gestured with her hands to her tummy indicating that one of the nannies is pregnant.

"The goats would be priced at 2s each, am I right?" and Marcel nodded as I immediately handed him another 10s. So far, the coins that were exchanged were one-sided and once everything had been settled, the young assistant led the goats to the enclosure, oblivious that one of the nanny goats was even pregnant. Likewise, for me, the pregnant nanny looked pretty normal to me.

Next, it would be the purchase of the 24 kegs of ale priced at 3c per keg as 1s 22c changed hands once more. The kegs were then brought down and were immediately stored inside the brewery shed. Looking at the kegs of ale that was brought in also brought smiles in their faces.

"Children, could you help to bring the 144 pieces of clay bricks over? Soon, the new children also joined in to help carry the bricks over and Marcel picked one up and inspected the quality of the clay brick and discovered that the weight and density are just right. There were traces of soot and he soon realised that the clay bricks were indeed fired in the furnace till bisque dry.

"You people really put a lot of effort into this simple and humble clay brick. I thought it would just be sun-baked and little did I realise it to be fired in the furnace. Firing them in the furnace would make them as hard as stones and I would be glad to offer you a base price of 2c each which means the total would be 288c or 2s 88c. " Then the bundled of coins found their way back into my coin pouch.

The pelts were bought at 3c and there were about 20 pieces and 60c changed hands. The 30 pieces of cured tanned leather costs 6c and 1s 80c went into my coin pouch again.

"There's no broom this time? I had sold all of it within a week, could I request for more brooms on the next trip in 2 weeks time? Please, i would like to order another 150 of those wide brooms. The quality is also very good and buyers complimented and wish to buy a few more for their houses." pleaded Marcel as I acknowledged and took note of the products, prices, and quantity that had been bought and sold. I also made an entry in the papyrus about the required brooms.

Next on sale was the woven mats and the 10 squared foot was sold as 30c each, the 25 square foot was sold as 75c while the 100 square foot one was sold at 200c. The small one had 20 pieces and was sold for a total of 600c or 6s, the medium and large ones had 10 pieces each and were sold for 750c or 7s 50c and 2000c or 20s respectively.

"Would you fancy a clay rocket stone like the one we are using right now? it is portable and it is easy to clean and also have a smart appearance. We have about 10 of those. Do you sell rocket stoves as well?" I enticed Marcel to take a look and he saw that even the clay rocket stove was fired and soon realised that the ones we made were of better quality and decides to engage us for a contract.

"I am selling back the ones that I have in stock for 5s but the quality is uncomparable as yours is of a much better quality that would fetch at least 8s. I offer you 6s for the 10 rocket stoves that you have."

Hearing the offer, I even counter offered by lowering the purchase price to 5s and Marcel was extremely happy on getting a discount. The rocket stoves were brought over and Marcel paid up 50s immediately, which was equivalent to 1g.