Chapter 81: Recruitment begins

"I have nothing left! Master Roman, only you can save me now."

Dakken knelt at Roman's feet.

He regretted his carelessness and hated those pirates.

Although he escaped, the caravan fell into the abyss.

Jiehai was not within the scope of the treaty signed between the Chamber of Commerce and the nobles, so it could not help him bear part of the losses.

This not only made him bankrupt, but also saddled him with huge debts, which would take decades to pay off.

Dakken had no choice but to come to this place where he saw the light.

"I couldn't bring you any slaves, but I beg you to help me make a comeback and help me regroup. For this, I am willing to give everything I have!"

Roman was very calm, looking at the merchant in front of him.

Dakken said he didn't bring any slaves, but in Roman's opinion, he still brought one.

...

The concept of the commercial guild comes from the political entity of the Free City, which is also one of the Seven Kingdoms.

The Free City is a merchant city-state that emphasizes fair contracts and free trade in a corner.

The commercial guilds emerged during the conquest period more than a hundred years ago.

For the logistics and economy of the army, the conquerors had vigorously promoted the development of commerce.

A period of prosperity was ushered in.

After the disappearance of the conquerors, the commercial guilds maintained the commercial system of the entire land for more than a hundred years.

Although commercial trade was not well developed at that time, there must be merchants, and trade must be carried out. Countless merchants have embarked on this road in pursuit of profits.

Otherwise, how can the huge social needs of this land be met?

But this era was barbaric and dark, and there were certain risks in commercial trade.

Because there was a demand, the insurance treaty of the commercial guild came into being.

The Chamber of Commerce also signed a trade treaty with the entire aristocracy.

Merchants regularly paid insurance premiums to the Chamber of Commerce. When the merchant's goods were traded according to the instructions of the Chamber of Commerce and lost money, the Chamber of Commerce would help the merchant bear part of the loss, or help operate it, so that they would not lose all their money.

When a merchant's goods were robbed or burned in a noble's territory, and the noble failed to provide security, he should give the merchant some explanation or compensation as appropriate. Otherwise, he should not impose high commercial taxes.

However, due to the unique geographical location of Jiehai, neither of these two treaties is in force.

Daken used his own reputation and the guarantee of the salt to rent five cargo ships from the Bay Port.

The market price of each transport ship is dozens of gold coins, and it requires a senior shipbuilder to lead dozens of people to build it, and its shipbuilding cycle is as long as a year.

Now all those ships are broken in Jiehai, which is an unbearable burden for Daken.

Roman thought for a long time and finally said, "What kind of help do you need?"

Daken gritted his teeth and said, "Ships and guards!"

Ships are the foundation of merchants.

Although most of the commercial networks in this land are land routes, which require carriages to transport. But the cost of waterways is lower, more goods can be transported, and the profits can be greater.

A small boat can make a family with a medium-sized job go bankrupt.

Daken's road to wealth was also through the funding of relatives and friends, and accepting financing from others to buy the first ship.

It took him ten years to develop to the scale of three merchant ships, with a total value of more than a hundred gold coins - but these merchant ships did not all belong to him, but also to his sponsors.

He didn't even dare to go back to see the faces of those people.

Daken now understands.

If there is no strong and loyal guard, even if you earn more money and profits, it is just a castle in the air and will fall down with a kick.

And mercenaries are unreliable.

So those big merchants usually sign contracts with some powerful nobles to recruit real knights and guards. Those people have strong combat effectiveness, unlike mercenaries who scatter in a hurry.

Roman nodded and said: "I will give you the ship and guards in the future. Now you stay here and work for me."

Roman can also help Daken solve his debts.

It is not solved all at once.

This kind of large debt can be solved slowly over several years or even more than ten years.

So Roman didn't take Daken's predicament seriously, and it was just a trivial matter.

But he didn't have a ship now.

Roman could build ships. The successive improvements in [Manufacturing], [Construction], and [Forging] enlightened his knowledge of shipbuilding - although they were all wooden ship structures.

Roman didn't have the time or manpower to build ships.

There were no guards either.

The guards of Sig Town had not been trained for more than half a year, and Roman was not going to send them far away.

Daken could stay here now, using his connections and business network to take the merchants of Sig Town to do business together.

Roman didn't have to buy food anymore, but it didn't mean that the merchants of Sig Town could rest.

In fact, facing the living expenses of the entire market town, they still had to run around to help Sig Town buy a large amount of goods.

Such as oil, cloth, fur and other commodities.

In the past, life was very makeshift, but now that Roman had some spare money, he didn't plan to continue to makeshift.

TMD!

How come those idiots didn't even have a change of clothes!

I can't stand it anymore!

I must improve my quality of life quickly!

"Thank you for your kindness!"

Dakken touched the ground with his face.

Although the price is to work for a noble forever.

But compared to having to pay off debts for the rest of his life, and not being able to pay them off until death -

Dakken felt a strong sense of luck. When he had nothing, being able to get the protection of a noble was something he had always dreamed of.

…

When Daken took the merchants away from the town of Sger.

The farmers finally raked a thousand kilograms of fertilizer per acre into the ground in midsummer. And they also buried all the soybeans in the soil.

After the race against time for summer farming.

Everyone got a chance to breathe.

But Roman felt that it was time to change the plan and strengthen his army.

So, on this day.

Roman gathered all the young and strong men in the town of Sger.

He stood on a high place and said in a very stern tone: "I am very dissatisfied with the number of guards now. I need more warriors to join them!"

After he said that, he kept silent and stared at everyone with his red eyes.

After a short silence, a loud shout suddenly came from the crowd: "I do!"

The young farmer, who was about 20 years old, strong and dark-skinned, stood up.

He said excitedly: "Master Roman, I hope to be your warrior!"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the awakened crowd was like a pot of boiling water.

"I do too!"

"I can become a guard and fight for you!"

"Me too!"

"Dear master, give me a chance, I won't let you down."

For a while, the crowd was excited, countless noisy voices came, forming waves of heat, and everyone's face was full of excitement.

No one didn't know how the guards were treated.

Every month, they could get 2 copper coins, 10 kilograms of wheat, 10 kilograms of grains, and two kilograms of meat from the Origin Manor and Master Roman's warehouse.