Brambleford

The winter snow had been falling intermittently for twenty days. It wasn’t until this morning that a crystal-like blue finally peeked through the grey clouds.

Golden sunlight broke free from the clouds, casting a dazzling golden hue over the white snow.

"My Lord, it’s been over twenty days since Gius left. Do you think the perfume and Brambleford Finest have impressed the Empress and the Emperor?" Joan stretched out her small hands, warming them over the coal stove while supervising the servants distilling rice wine in the courtyard.

"Counting the days, he should be back soon." Simon said, wrapped in a thick felt blanket. As winter deepened, the cold northern weather became increasingly unbearable.

Especially when sitting still, the cold felt like invisible hands creeping all over his body.

"Hmph, I hope he didn’t forget the things we asked him to buy." Joan muttered, still thinking about her malt sugar.

Simon tapped Joan’s head. "You, always thinking about food."

Joan giggled, her eyes narrowing into crescents as she seemed to drool in anticipation of Gius’s return.

Simon tightened the felt blanket around him and looked in the direction of Eldora, the political and economic centre of the Eldorian Empire. Even a fool could guess that few people living in Eldora were kind-hearted.

He just hoped Gius would bring good news and avoid causing too much trouble.

Although there was no news from Gius, word from Alfred came quickly. Brambleford’s Finest had become a sensation in Eldora. Scholars, merchants, and nobles alike were clamouring to buy it after tasting it.

The price of Brambleford’s Finest had quickly surpassed that of The Queens Wine, which sold for twenty caps of silver, and had doubled to forty caps per bottle.

Even so, Brambleford’s Finest was in short supply, as Simon had only distilled a hundred bottles.

Unable to wait, Alfred sent a fast horse, and the news reached Brambleford in just five days. Upon hearing this, Lothair personally visited Simon, requesting an increase in the supply of Brambleford’s Finest and promising to raise the cost price to thirty caps per bottle.

The ten-cap profit per jar made Lothair, the old fox, deeply appreciate the benefits of cooperating with Simon. As a gesture of goodwill, he also handed over the Voss family’s shipyard to Simon, a clear exchange of interests.

With the domain in dire need of development, Simon was most in need of silver. He naturally wouldn’t refuse such an offer.

He immediately had Fjord produce nine more distillers and converted a side hall of the prince’s residence into a small factory. The production of Brambleford’s Finest increased from ten bottles a day to a hundred.

At this scale, Simon dared not expand further. Due to his need for green ant wine, large quantities of grain were being purchased for brewing, causing the price of staple foods to rise significantly. If production were to increase further, the lives of the common people would become even harder.

This winter was already difficult for the people. As their feudal lord and the parent of the six cities, Simon had to consider their well-being.

Therefore, he planned to establish an official brewery, but instead of purchasing grain from his domain, he would buy it from regions with surplus grain.

Once the people of his domain had enough grain, he would then purchase locally to stimulate economic development.

"By the way, My Lord, this morning when Ysabeau went to Table Fort, she mentioned that our residence is short on manpower. She asked me to tell you if we should buy some slaves." Joan suddenly said, remembering something.

Ysabeau had been sent by Simon to the domain of Prince Gerad to purchase Plow oxen.

Compared to the five million households in the domain, the shortage of Plow oxen was too great. With only three months until spring, if the farming tools weren’t ready, it would definitely affect the next year’s harvest.

Prince Gerad, the old fox, seemed to have figured out Simon’s shortage and raised the price of Plow oxen by three caps. Now, a Plow ox cost twenty caps of silver, which was a headache for Simon.

He had considered buying oxen from other places, but the distance was too great, and the transportation risks made it unfeasible.

"Buy!" Simon said decisively.

During Gius’s absence, Simon had been thinking about development issues. In this technologically backward era, people were a production resource. In past wars with the reavers, the goal of many battles was to capture slaves.

Because these slaves could be converted into labour, greatly boosting production.

Simon now faced the same problem: a lack of funds and a shortage of labour.

With the domain’s limited resources, the four to five million people could only be used to restore agricultural production, while workshops required a large number of workers.

In the early stages of industrialization in the modern West, a significant portion of wealth accumulation came from the black slave trade. Rough estimates suggest that around twenty million black slaves were traded during that period.

This was also one of the reasons for the rapid rise of the capitalist world.

Simon knew he wasn’t yet capable of participating in the black slave trade, as he didn’t even have a decent ship. At the same time, he had no such thing as saviour complex.

Living in this era, one had to act in accordance with the laws of the times. Therefore, he didn’t oppose the slave trade. For him, it was even a necessary condition for the revival of his domain.

"If Your Highness wants to buy slaves, Ysabeau said there’s a slave trader in Brambleford City. He has a slave market in the East Market." Joan added.

Simon’s spirits lifted. If Ysabeau hadn’t brought this up, the slave issue might have been delayed. He said, "Ysabeau is always so thoughtful. Have Thomas and William go to the East Market and bring that slave trader here."

Now, Simon was gradually adapting to his role and fully aware of his supreme authority in the domain.

To accelerate development, he had to flexibly use his feudal privileges.

Joan acknowledged the order and went to find Thomas and William. Half an hour later, a shifty-eyed man was brought to the prince’s residence.

"This humble commoner, Edger Sloan’s, greets His Highness, the Prince of Brambleford." Edger bowed deeply, not daring to breathe too loudly.

When Thomas and William appeared, he was terrified, thinking the authorities had come to arrest him. After all, no one in the slave trade was clean.

"At ease. Are you Edger?" Simon sat upright in the main hall, the red flames of the stove illuminating half of his face.

"Yes, I am." Edger replied cautiously, glancing at Simon.

Simon spoke solemnly. "I called you here for one reason, your business."

Edger’s face turned pale, and he immediately knelt on the ground. "My Lord! The slaves I sell are either voluntary or purchased from elsewhere. Each one has a deed of sale. None were abducted!"