Supporting Commerce

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

"Could it be possible to reduce some of the tax burden in the initial stages?"

As soon as Bennett's words were spoken, the great hall fell silent.

Some secretly mocked him for being insane—neither encountering natural disasters nor human calamities, yet asking a lord to reduce taxes?

Others secretly felt relieved that Bennett, as a pioneer, had voiced what they had been thinking.

Paul stared at Bennett without moving a muscle, causing him to feel a chill. Could he be leaving a bad impression on the lord?

The lord finally spoke, "What is your name?"

Bennett nervously replied, "B... Bennett, Bennett Todd, um... I'm a ship merchant from Frand Port."

Paul nodded and said, "Ah, Mr. Todd. Your proposal is good. In fact, it is one of the commercial support measures I am about to discuss."

Mayor Theodore and Advisor Old Peter exchanged glances, each reading the other's doubts—hadn't the count mentioned this measure to them beforehand?

Paul cleared his throat and continued, "As for the specifics of tax reduction, it will be decided after discussion by the Council of State Affairs."

Seeing his proposal aligning with the lord's intended measures, Bennett breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Lord Grayman."

He gratefully thanked Paul and then sat down.

The merchants in the hall were also excited. It seemed that the lord was determined to support them. They looked gratefully at Paul, and many had already silently resolved to take bold actions.

Paul felt annoyed with himself: How could he forget such a measure that could stimulate the merchants' interest, only to have someone else propose it first?

Then he saw the eager looks from the crowd in the hall, waiting for him to announce the remaining commercial support measures.

Right, he had just said "one of them."

Well, here goes nothing. Paul stood up suddenly from his seat and dropped two big bombs:

First, he would instruct the Council of State Affairs to establish an organization called "Bank," which would provide low-interest loans to operators lacking startup capital.

Second, he planned to emulate the Angle Bay Alliance by establishing a securities exchange, where operators could sell securities to raise idle funds in society.

TL Note: Securities Exchange is another name for Stock Exchange

"Woah—" The hall erupted again.

In fact, neither of these things was new.

There were many private lending organizations in the civilian sector, but their interest rates were high, often leaving borrowers bankrupt. In comparison, the low-interest loans from the "Bank" were quite tempting.

The securities exchange of the Angle Bay Alliance had been long established, but there had never been a similar institution elsewhere.

With Bennett as the pioneer, others also became emboldened.

A merchant asked, "Lord Grayman, may we know which technologies you will authorize us to use?"

What, after all that talk, he hadn't mentioned which industries he intended to open up? He really should have asked Bernar to write him a draft beforehand.

Paul thought for a moment and said, "The first is papermaking. I'm sure everyone here has used this type of paper."

People nodded in agreement. This inexpensive paper had already become part of everyone's daily life.

Paul continued, "The second is salt production."

Salt Production?

The crowd exchanged puzzled looks. Alden already had an industry for salt production, and salt was one of the few products from the northwest coastal regions that could find markets elsewhere. After all, not every place could produce salt.

Noticing their confusion, Paul asked, "Do we have any salt merchants here? Please raise your hands."

After a few people raised their hands, he pointed to the one sitting in the front and asked, "Can you tell us how you normally obtain salt?"

The salt merchant stood up and introduced himself, "My lord, my name is Gedwyn Toby. Along the northwest bay, we produce salt by boiling seawater. Coastal villages sustain themselves through salt production, and us salt merchants purchase it monthly to sell inland."

"How much sea salt do you manage to purchase each month?"

Gedwyn thought for a moment and replied, "All the salt merchants in Alden together manage about 2000 kilograms."

Paul commented, "That's too little. I have a method that can increase monthly sea salt production to tens of thousands of kilograms, with extremely low costs."

Everyone felt incredulous upon hearing this. If Alden could indeed produce tens of thousands of kilograms of sea salt monthly at low cost, profits could multiply several times over.

Paul's proposed method was solar salt production. He believed the climate and sunlight in the northwest bay were ideal for this method.

By selecting large, flat coastal marshes to build salt fields, these fields typically consisted of evaporation ponds and crystallization ponds.

During high tide, seawater would be channeled into the evaporation ponds. As it evaporated under the sun, reaching a certain concentration, it would then be transferred to the crystallization ponds for further solar evaporation. The seawater would become a saturated solution of edible salt, gradually crystallizing into salt crystals. However, direct drying was not advisable because seawater contained various impurities that could mix with the salt.

At this stage, crude salt containing sediment and other impurities was obtained. To improve its quality, it could be dissolved in purified water, filtered, and then dried again to achieve cleaner salt. However, this additional process would reduce the overall yield.

After secondary crystallization, the salt obtained was still crude, characterized by large grains and containing magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, and potentially harmful sodium nitrite that made the taste bitter.

However, in this harsh world resembling medieval Earth, the lower classes were fortunate to consume crude salt. Only wealthy merchants like Bennett could afford finely ground, purified salt.

Even nobles in this world could enjoy refined, purified salt, but it had to be obtained from brine wells.

The specific method involved grinding soybeans into soy milk, boiling them with brine, and using the strong coagulating power of plant proteins to adsorb impurities such as calcium sulfate and humic substances, forming a foamy layer on the liquid surface. This process effectively purified the brine.

However, such refined salt was a luxury among luxuries, unattainable for the lower classes and most wealthy people. In some places, legislation outright prohibited non-nobles from purchasing refined salt.

Seeing the incredulous expressions, Paul smiled mysteriously, "You will only learn the specific methods once you have been authorized."

The lord's mysterious smile piqued the curiosity of Gedwyn and the other salt merchants.

Paul continued, "The third is food processing. As I mentioned earlier, the South is at war. Besides staples like bread, soldiers need meat and vegetables. However, as everyone knows, meat and vegetables are difficult to preserve long-term, and this has always been a headache for military officers in every era and every army."

"If we can find a method to preserve food long-term without spoilage, His Majesty the King will certainly place large orders with us."

Someone asked, "Lord Grayman, are you suggesting that we produce dried fish and meat to sell to the kingdom's armies?"

Paul shrugged, "That's one approach—you can try producing those yourselves. But I am proposing another method—one that can preserve not just meats but also vegetables and fruits long-term, and the preserved meats will taste much better than dried meat."

"I will name this processed food—canned food. The lord's estate plans to establish the first canned food factory ourselves, so you'll soon see it on the market."

Canned food? Another new concept. Count Grayman truly seemed like a highly productive inventor, earning the admiration of those present.

Paul referred to canned food in its most primitive form.

In 1800, to address soldiers' food supply issues, Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, offered a hefty prize of 12,000 francs to the public for a method or invention that could preserve military provisions long-term.

In 1810, a man named Nicolas Appert won this prize with his invention of canned food.

His method was simple: prepare the food, place it in wide-mouthed bottles, submerge them in boiling water for 30-60 minutes, seal tightly with corks while hot, reinforce with string or seal with wax.

Food preserved this way, after months of sea transport and exposure to hot, humid conditions, remained unspoiled upon opening.

What could be more suitable for the kingdom's armies, which were expected to engage deeply in southern campaigns? Certainly, it would prevent them from resorting to "live off the land" from local residents.

Upon learning the characteristics of canned food, Hansel nearly went crazy with excitement, tearfully pleading for Paul and the Council of State Affairs to prioritize supporting the development of the canned food industry.

"All right, that's about it for this meeting," Paul stood up and said. "Everyone, we've covered everything for today. If you're interested in cooperating with the lord's estate, please register with Mayor Theodore and Advisor Peter, or you can go home and think it over. I have other matters to attend to and must leave."

Seeing the lord preparing to leave, everyone stood up to bid him farewell.

After Paul disappeared through a side door, Mayor Theodore and Advisor Old Peter were immediately surrounded by the crowd...

(End of the Chapter)