Chapter 151: Reaping Benefits
Generally speaking, Secret Realms are places that produce large quantities of Magic Potion Materials because the Power of Elements has existed within them for longer than on the Shadow Mist Continent.
The Kennedy Clan has no Secret Realm, so they are at a natural disadvantage in this regard.
Over the years, although they have developed several Magic Potions on their own, the formulas were all obtained by investing a great deal of money and time, and many of them even have certain side effects.
Now, Duane had a Magic Potion with no side effects, suitable for Mages.
Most importantly, one pound of tea leaves could make one hundred cups!
Although a single dose didn’t last long, its advantage was that it could be used more times than other Magic Potions on the market that enhanced Meditation.
Count Kais realized the profit to be made and naturally wanted to get involved.
"You provide the tea leaves, the Kennedy Clan provides the channels. It’s a win-win partnership."
Count Kais said with a smile, "However, I heard from Natalia that the annual yield of Hot Spring Mountain Tea isn’t very high."
Duane nodded. "Black Forest Island currently has about two acres of Hot Spring Tea Trees. They are harvested twice a year, yielding forty pounds of dried tea."
"That’s nowhere near enough!"
Kais shook his head. Even if all those tea leaves were sold, it would only be 100 Gold Coins.
A business of this scale was beneath his notice.
"You must expand cultivation immediately!" he said.
Duane hummed in agreement. "I’ve already cleared land for thirty new acres of tea trees..."
"How many?"
Kais shot to his feet, seemingly stunned by the number.
Duane was a little confused. "Thirty acres. Is there a problem?"
"Oh, good heavens!"
Kais slapped his forehead as if he’d heard something unbelievable.
"Duane, I thought you had a very clear head, but now I’m starting to have my doubts," he said in disbelief.
"Once the Magic Potion business is established, the annual profits will be beyond your imagination! You’re sitting on this kind of resource, and you’re only expanding by thirty acres?"
Duane said helplessly, "I have no choice. I have very few subjects, so my workforce is tiny. It’s not nearly enough."
Kais frowned. That was indeed a practical problem.
He pondered for a moment. "How about this: have all your subjects stop farming and go plant tea trees instead."
Duane was startled. "Then what about the territory’s food supply?"
"Food is not a problem!"
Count Kais said, "Grant Province is rich in grain; I can just sell it to you directly. With Hot Spring Mountain Tea in hand, are you worried you won’t have money for food?"
But Duane had no desire to entrust his entire food supply to another person.
If he relied completely on an outsider for rations, it would be like handing his lifeline over to them.
After all, his subjects could live without tea, but they would starve without food.
"I’m afraid that won’t work."
He put on a thoughtful expression, then shook his head after a long moment.
"My subjects eat rice. Grant Province mostly produces wheat, which they’re not used to."
"I have farmers who grow rice in my territory as well. I can just ship a batch to you after the harvest. It’ll be more than enough for your handful of subjects."
Kais wasn’t actually thinking of using the food supply to hold Duane by the throat; he was just genuinely trying to find a solution.
"Even so, we can’t expand too quickly. The tea gardens are in the mountains, and I have to divert a lot of manpower to defend against invasions from wild animals, and even Demon Beasts. That’s something I can’t be careless about!"
Duane thought for a moment. "How about this, Count? Could you arrange for a group of laborers to go to Black Forest Island to establish the tea gardens?"
The one thing Black Forest Island lacked was labor. As its Lord, Duane was constantly trying to solve this problem but had no good solution.
Bringing in people from the Silent Shore had always been his plan; he just needed a pretext.
"Your territory has a population of at least several hundred thousand. Sending some laborers to help me establish the tea gardens is completely feasible."
Duane continued, "Of course, I’ll cover the cost. It’s just that I have limited Gold Coins on hand, so I can only give you a larger share from the future Hot Spring Mountain Tea trade."
Kais didn’t realize that Duane’s real goal was the labor force.
It wasn’t that he was slow-witted, but mainly that no noble in history had ever done such a thing.
Besides, his territory’s grain production was high, supporting a population of nearly a million—far more than an ordinary Earl’s Territory.
Providing a bit of labor was not a problem at all.
He tapped his fingers on the table. "How much of the profit are you prepared to give me?"
Duane laid out his prepared plan: "Based on the set price per pound for Hot Spring Mountain Tea, I can sell it to you at a price of 150 Silver Coins per pound, and you can then sell it to others."
"Too little. That’s far too little for me!"
Kais said, "The final selling price for Hot Spring Mountain Tea will be somewhere around that figure anyway. How about this: you sell it to me for 1 Gold Coin per pound, and I’ll solve your labor shortage problem."
"That’s too little, Count!"
Duane stood up, agitated. "Hot Spring Mountain Tea is a specialty of Black Forest Island! I have to organize people to plant, cultivate, and process it. After costs, I won’t make much of a profit!"
"You need to understand that while Hot Spring Mountain Tea can earn a lot, it will also attract jealous eyes. Without the Kennedy Clan’s protection, you won’t be able to open up your market. You could end up being pushed out, and then someone will buy you out for an even lower price."
Count Kais persuaded him patiently, "My price is already showing you special consideration!"
"A little more, my esteemed Lord Count!"
Duane said, "After planting, the tea trees will take about two years before the first harvest. My investment is too large!"
"Two years?"
Count Kais was stunned for a moment. "That long?"
"Yes!"
Duane said helplessly, "It is, after all, a Magic Potion that grows by absorbing the unique environmental nutrients of the Hot Spring Mountain Range. It can’t mature in a short time. Two years is already very fast."
This information came from the system, so it couldn’t be wrong.
Kais nodded slightly.
Although the Elemental Tides had appeared on the Shadow Mist Continent for a century, the finest Magic Plants all came from the various Great Secret Realms.
The maturation cycle for Magic Plants was indeed quite long.
"Then 110 Silver Coins."
Kais said, "I can advance you the initial personnel expenses, and you can pay me back later."
The two of them negotiated over the price for a few more rounds before finally settling it.
Duane would sell to Count Kais at a price of 120 Silver Coins per pound.
He would be responsible for planting, cultivation, harvesting, processing, and packaging, while the latter would handle transportation and sales.
Although it seemed like Duane wasn’t making much profit from this arrangement, he had not only leveraged the power of the Kennedy Clan but also gained the support of several thousand laborers.
These laborers were all young. If he could get them to stay on Black Forest Island and start families, it would be a huge boost to the island’s population growth.
And most importantly, Duane had made Count Kais invest in him.
Only when someone had invested real gold and silver would they care about Black Forest Island’s environment and about whether Duane lived or died.
Their relationship would grow closer as the investment period lengthened.
In this way, Duane had secured a political ally and would no longer be in a position where he had no one to speak up for him if trouble arose.
Next, the two discussed their plans for the following two years.
On one hand, Kais asked Duane to bring out the remaining fifty-odd pounds of processed tea, saying he would start looking for major customers in advance.
On the other hand, Duane proposed that while the Hot Spring Mountain Tea expansion would take two years, he could produce and sell some ordinary tea in the meantime.
After all, Black Forest Island still had many ordinary tea trees.
Letting more people know about the existence of "tea" would also help with the subsequent promotion of Hot Spring Mountain Tea.
Furthermore, Duane explained the benefits of drinking tea and his plan to grade the tea leaves by quality and packaging, selling each tier to different demographics.
This earned repeated nods from the Count.
Although ordinary tea had low profit margins, once the sales channels were opened, the potential profits were still considerable.
After their long discussion, the Count became more and more convinced that this was a surefire business venture.
Only when Moer appeared at the study door to announce that the banquet was about to begin did the two end their heated business discussion.
"Duane, if you weren’t a Baron, I’d really want to recruit you to develop markets for the Kennedy Clan!"
Kais was thoroughly impressed by Duane’s selling points, like "refreshing the mind," "improving digestion," and "preventing illness."
"Come, the banquet is starting!"
He invited Duane to walk beside him, showing him great respect.
"This is a banquet to welcome you, but more than that, it’s a banquet to celebrate the partnership between the Kennedy and Brian clans!"
Duane said very humbly, "The Brian Clan’s foundation is shallow. We were slandered and accused by Earl Orlando in the Royal Capital, and just last night I offended a powerful noble. It is my honor that you still support me!"
"What makes Calvin a powerful noble?"
Kais was very dismissive. "He just got lucky and had a Secret Realm appear in his territory, that’s all."
He glanced at Duane, and an idea struck him.
"Don’t worry, the Calvin Clan won’t do anything to you. Besides, you don’t need to regret offending them. After all, you and they would never have ended up on the same side."
"Oh?" Duane was puzzled. The Count’s words held a hidden meaning.
Count Kais said, "Ugo has three daughters. His first and second daughters both married Viscounts enfeoffed by Orlando, and his third daughter married a Viscount enfeoffed by Marquis Sean. Do you see it now?"
Duane was shocked. "Ugo and Orlando are in the same camp? But Ugo Calvin wasn’t among those who accused my father back then."
"That’s because he had no relatives or friends in the Third Legion. If there had been any connection at all, he would have stood up with them."
By revealing this information, Kais ensured that Duane would be unlikely to think about improving relations with the Calvin Clan.
This way, looking across the entire Pruck Kingdom, the only noble house suitable for cooperating with Duane was his own Kennedy Clan.