173: Develop business

Chapter 171: Developing Commerce

In fact, Arthur was quite interested in the smuggling business Louis was running.

Logically speaking, goods smuggled here should be priced higher than those on the market.

This was mainly because, in Mist Town, where commerce was monopolized, the pricing power of goods was entirely in the hands of the merchants.

No matter how smugglers priced their goods, sellers could still set high prices to make a profit.

Joshua's family had accumulated enormous wealth through this very method.

And to protect this property, they naturally had to hire guards.

That's how his followers came to be.

"How do you sustain this business?" Arthur asked Louis.

Louis chuckled a few times and replied, "I'm ashamed to say, my Lord.

"Our family has been in the timber business for generations, and before the Undead blockaded the town, I saved up some money—" Arthur interrupted him: "So you've been running a losing business? Why is that?"

Louis shrugged and said, "We're not like Joshua.

"He never belonged here; he's just an extension of the Little Finger Merchant Guild's will.

"He doesn't care what Mist Town becomes, nor does he care about the lives of the local people.

"As long as he helps the Guild gather enough wealth, he can leave here."

Arthur asked, "Leave here? Does he have that ability?"

"It's those Beastmen," Louis explained, "The Beastmen he recently befriended have been helping him transport the money he's plundered.

"Joshua already made an agreement with them; he'll leave with the last batch of gold."

"But I heard he wants to become the leader of Mist Town.

"Since he's determined to leave, why would he go to such lengths to do this?" Arthur asked, puzzled.

Lanny replied, "To make it easier to gather wealth.

"He's a merchant, my Lord.

"He doesn't want to rule this place; he just wants to extract as much value from it as possible before it's destroyed."

Arthur pondered for a moment, then said, "It seems he didn't expect the Undead to attack so quickly."

"No, my Lord," Louis denied, "According to our investigation, the Undead and those Beastmen were already in collusion.

"If you hadn't come here, and with the Night Outcasts intervening, the Undead would probably have waited until Joshua had drained all value from Mist Town before making their move."

"What a good deal," Arthur said coldly, "I called you here for another matter, which concerns Joshua."

Seeing Arthur's serious expression, everyone immediately sat up straight.

"As you said, most of Mist Town's wealth has been transferred out by Joshua.

"The immovable land and properties have mostly gone to the Little Finger Merchant Guild.

"I don't need to tell you what kind of people the Little Finger Merchant Guild are."

"They're loan sharks who eat people without spitting out the bones!" Scorpion Tail couldn't help but interject.

His brother, Snake Eye, glared at him, signaling him to shut up.

Arthur, however, agreed: "Exactly.

"But besides that, they are also a group of insidious and cunning villains.

"If I ask you to retrieve those assets from their hands, would you be willing to do it?"

Louis's face fell, Snake Eye and Scorpion Tail looked confused, while Lanny fell into deep thought.

A moment later, Louis asked, "My Lord, what method do you want us to use to retrieve the assets?"

"Any method you can think of," Arthur instructed.

"But if we do that, we'll completely make enemies with the Little Finger Merchant Guild," Louis said worriedly.

"Brother-in-law, are you scared?" Scorpion Tail asked, "When we hanged Joshua, we already fell out with that so-called Finger Merchant Guild."

"That's different," Louis reminded, "Hanging Joshua was done through a normal judicial process.

"Even if the Guild sends people to demand an explanation, we can give a reasonable reason.

"But if we forcibly reclaim the assets that the Little Finger Merchant Guild obtained through transactions, they will definitely make a big fuss about it."

"Transactions?" Snake Eye snorted, "Exchanging a bag of bread for a house, that's not a transaction at all, it's outright robbery."

Arthur motioned for them to be quiet, then asked Louis, "Do you have any concerns?"

"My Lord, I know those transactions were far from fair, and retrieving those assets is reasonable.

"Of course, this would also greatly appease the public.

But in the long run, this is not conducive to our future development.

"The Little Finger Merchant Guild has a lot of influence in Amn, and we will definitely have to do business with Amn merchants in the future.

"With our current strength, making enemies with them is not a wise move."

Arthur laughed after hearing this: "What if I told you I've already made enemies with them?"

Louis was momentarily speechless.

Arthur told them about the Little Finger Merchant Guild's involvement in the disputed land.

"The Little Finger Merchant Guild and I will fall out sooner or later.

"That's why I'm asking you to do this, to reclaim what belongs to us.

"Additionally, I will issue a decree to prevent such extremely unfair transactions."

At this point, Arthur looked at Louis and the others.

Snake Eye and Scorpion Tail were undoubtedly quite excited, their eyes full of reverence for their lord.

Lanny, meanwhile, had been deep in thought.

Louis nodded and said, "If that's the case, then we don't need to save face for them anymore.

"Leave this matter to us, my Lord."

"Very good," Arthur said, "Remember, everyone, what you need to do is not just simply restore local commerce.

"You need to stabilize Mist Town's market and manage it well.

"The marketplace is like a battlefield; you are also fighting a war, and I don't want to lose this war.

"I allow you to use any means; I don't care about morality."

The few of them nodded repeatedly.

After Louis and his group left, Flora came to report.

She and Vanka, following Arthur's instructions, searched the entire townhouse under the guise of cleaning.

"My Lord, we have reaped a rich harvest.

"According to your command, we collected all valuable items.

"Old Joe is leading people in appraisals; he estimates those things are worth at least five or six thousand gold coins."

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but stand up from his seat: "That much?"

"Old Joe said the oil paintings in the attic storage room are quite valuable, many of them by famous artists.

"Taking them to the Calimshan people could sell for a lot of money.

"There are also some jewels, ancient coins, and a small number of antiques; Old Joe believes six or seven thousand gold coins is just a conservative estimate."

Arthur smiled and said to Flora, "We've really struck it rich.

This money came at a good time.

"Now we just need to figure out how to convert those things into cash."

"My Lord, we haven't explored the basement yet, what do you think—" Flora said.

"I'll personally lead people there once Jessica has reorganized the army," Arthur said.

"Understood, my Lord."