Duke of Herrington

Chapter 115 A small profit

After the dinner, ten truckloads of ketchup were delivered!
Satisfied with wine and food, the Tomato Family and Ted reached a consensus after discussing all cooperation matters!And Ted has gained the first real ally.
After all, neighbors for so many years, look down and see you~
Moreover, this is the only place that does not discriminate against northerners.

Of course, this is also the same as their purpose of not causing trouble, so Ted's ancestors would often come here to buy some food supplies to prevent the people from starving to death.

As for the Moon Elf refugees that Ted had received before, and the Fire Tribe he had helped, they all joined the Northern Territory and became their own people. This cannot be counted as an ally.

"Crack!"

The agreement is signed and both parties stamped!

In the end, in order to show their aristocratic temperament and express their gratitude, the Tomato family sent Ted and his party all the way to the city gate as a landlord.

At this time, as the spokesperson of the family, he took Ted's hand kindly, and warmly greeted: "Mr. Earl, I don't know how long this trip will take, let alone when we will meet again? We will miss you !"

After these pleasantries, Ted realized that he didn't seem to have introduced the car that brought him here just now!
"Well everyone, we will come tomorrow! The date on the agreement is also tomorrow."

However, when Ted saw the moon in the sky, he realized something was wrong. He rolled up his sleeves, turned on the flashlight and looked at the time: "Well, it should be today, specifically, see you in 16 to 18 hours!"

Ancestor Tomato remembers very clearly that Ted in front of him didn't drink much at night, he just took a sip and then went to drink water.
After thinking about it, he didn't understand why he would meet tomorrow, so he could only ask, "Tomorrow? You. Are you planning to stay here overnight and not go back?"

Ted spread his arms, led him back to the front of the truck, and explained in a slightly proud tone: "Of course I have to go back, my wife is still waiting for me! As for what to use to go back... use our 'steel Packhorse! As long as you take that thing, it only takes one hour to go from Blackwater City to Valentine, even if it is slower, it will take two hours! You don’t have to spend a week with escorts and caravans like usual!”

Ancestor Tomato didn't understand what Ted was talking about about the draft horses, but he only picked up the useful information, that is, he can go back, and he can come tomorrow!
However, just after discussing and signing the agreement, ancestor Tomato forgot in a blink of an eye, probably because he was old and just woken up!
So it's normal not to remember, and there's nothing shameful about it: "Well, is there anything special we need to do tomorrow? I'm getting old and my memory isn't very good."

Respecting the old and caring for the young is a tradition. Although this old man looks only 30 or [-] years old, his age is there. It is not too much for Ted to call him grandpa: "Ahem. According to the agreement we just signed, you If the indicators of your army are lower than the average standard, then we are obliged to help with training, so that your troops can become a sharp sword that can penetrate the enemy's heart!"

After saying this, Ted pointed to the wobbly guards around him, and suggested in a slightly pessimistic tone: "Based on the situation just now, the combat level of your troops is indeed below the average level. It’s heavy and far away.”

Tomato ancestors did not deny this sentence, because the combat effectiveness of this group of soldiers is indeed not very good. They have been in the granary city in the rear for a long time, and they are also lazy.
At most, they can only bully the unarmed ordinary people. If the enemy is stronger, they will rush to the street!
Just like not long ago, when the soldiers of Heishui City dealt with the rabble of 'cannibals', they all seemed a little struggling!
Right now, since the combat power is below average, there are still people who are willing to help, so why not do it!

Besides, the alliance is now established. After that, Baron Tomato's family will definitely select a suitable vampire woman from the family for marriage, and then they will only kiss each other~
Of course, Ted would definitely have a genetic test on this woman, and if it was the product of a close relative marriage, he could only quietly refuse.
But in the history of the tomato family, these things did not exist, because most of the women were voluntarily subjected to "mysterious rituals" to become vampires, so a large number of other genes were mixed in the family itself, and there were very few inbreeding marriages .

After all, no vampire is willing to marry a wife like his mother, that would be too scary!

After thinking about it, Ancestor Tomato opened his mouth to ask the specific content. If Ted is willing to help train soldiers, then the quality of soldiers should be guaranteed, but the weapon in his hand "You mean, help us train troops? Hold the same weapon as yours. arms?"

Ted didn't know how to answer these words, so he could only turn a corner and state the cost and experience of training soldiers with cold weapons, stepping on it first to pave the way for the hot weapons mentioned later!
"Well, it's almost like this, because the efficiency of killing enemies with swords is too low, and it takes two to three years to train a fully armed soldier, and it takes five or six years to train a fully armed soldier. Come cultivate! But with our weapon - the gun, it's different!"

Mentioning the traditional weapons in the northern border, Ted became interested, raised the steel guy in his hand and said triumphantly: "As long as I have this thing, no matter who the enemy is, even God, I can blow his dog's head off with one shot." !"

The familiar words, as well as the familiar lines, made Steve jump out again to find a sense of presence: "Ahem Ted, those are the lines I just said!"

The untimely appearance of this guy almost interrupted Ted's train of thought!But in order to show his upbringing, he smiled and pushed Steve's head away, and continued to explain to his ancestor Tomato: "I don't want my allies to meet the enemy with swords, such battle damage is too great, and it is not good for us in the future. plan!"

Since Ted will provide the weapon, it is necessary to ask whether to take it for nothing or buy it?

Ancestor Tomato immediately changed his face, and asked with an envious and shy expression: "We have heard about the power of this weapon, so... this thing should be very expensive, right?"

If you say 'You'll have to pay for it! ’ It’s too abrupt, everyone is aristocrats, and they are all civilized people, so they have to go around in circles before letting the fart out: “It’s really expensive, but there are cheap ones, I wonder if you can accept it?”

This sentence made Tomato ancestors understand that "we have to spend money to want weapons", but it was not obtrusive, nor did it embarrass everyone!

In addition, there are cheap and acceptable!That means there are plenty of options!
"Cheap? You can also take the enemy's head from a distance?"

Saying this sentence, you are basically hooked!Ted smiled and pulled him to continue fooling: "Of course, all my weapons are like this! And I think, as my allies, you should also be equipped with such excellent weapons!"

This just-right flattery made the tomato ancestor shiver comfortably!The expression on the face has already been fooled: "If this is the case, then no problem! If there are samples"

The first business, and the transaction object is an ally!Ted didn't intend to make a lot of money!Instead, raise a good reputation first!

It's just that this price is set by myself. If I don't make a lot of money, I will still get a lot of wool!
The production cost of firearms only accounts for [-]%, but the patent fee is as high as [-]%!The remaining [-]% is shipping and miscellaneous fees.
This patent fee is Ted's net income, it doesn't matter if it is more or less, even if you give the opposite party a [-]% discount, Ted can still make some money at such a fracture price!
Of course, unless the queen of a country agrees to such a fracture price, Ted will definitely not let the price go to this point!
The tomato ancestor in front of him is completely hooked, then Ted can fool him away first, and fool him on his own territory!Then let him pay for consumption!

"There are no samples, but you can go with us, and then we will send you back when we come tomorrow."

He would never refuse such an invitation, besides, the ancestor Tomato had never ridden on this 'steel pack horse'!
If he went, he would be considered No.1 in Heishui City to experience this thing: "Okay! Anyway, there are Elder Tomato and Baron Tomato in Heishui City, so I, the ancestor of Tomato, will go and have a look!"

"please"

A big, round gold coin got into the car leading to his territory!

As long as you fool around a little behind, it won't be a problem!
Outside the city, the heavily armored soldiers from Heishui City wiped out all the sporadic cannibals outside, leaving only the 'food' in the cage!
I thought there were millions of people in the scale, but later, when the soldiers cleaned up the battlefield, they discovered that there were only tens of thousands left.

Because most of the cages are empty and have been eaten clean by cannibals.
However, among the remaining 3 people, most of them have already gone crazy. They just stood there in a daze, even if the cage was opened, they would still sit there and gossip.

Hearing this news, Ted didn't know what to do. He thought he could play tricks and cultivate the first wave of believers for the Sun God Sect.
But now, 3 of the [-] people are crazy, and even if the remaining half are not crazy, their brains are not in control. After opening the cage, they frantically fled to other places, and finally died of exhaustion.

The millions of refugees who were originally gathered, now check again!
There are only a hundred or so people who are still alive and can speak normally, but the sequelae caused by hunger are not enough for them to live as healthy people.
After learning about the situation, Ted could only leave a harmless sentence: "This is a big deal! Forget it, anyway, there will always be victims from the south, at worst, wait a few days!"

"Let's go, go back to Valentine first, are the troops outside still there?"

Benjamin saw the signal flares from the garrison troops. They had received the order to retreat before, and now they have evacuated in time: "Return to the commander, under your instruction, they have already withdrawn, leaving no trace!"

This speed really made Ted stunned for a moment, and secretly sighed in his heart: "It seems that everyone is in a hurry to go home and sleep."

But verbally, I still have to boast: "Not bad, the response is fairly quick."

However, when the lord praised them, Benjamin was a little unhappy: "Sir, in fact, the shells are almost gone, and they can be evacuated without much transportation, so it's quick."

Of course Ted knew about this, he didn't expect Benjamin in front of him to be so serious, and immediately gave him an 'Oh!I see! 'This kind of helpless look: "You have to explain it like this?"

"Ahem. Of course not, sir."

Arriving in Valentine, Ted took Tomato Ancestor to a newly built building in the west of the city.

Although it is not yet open to the outside world, let allies come to Kangkang first to buy equipment ~ it is still possible!
The original intention of this building is to facilitate allies to purchase equipment, and to provide them with a platform in this way!
Ted finally adopted the advice given by the city hall!At the entrance to the west of the city, Waste used a piece of wasteland to build an exhibition hall for traditional northern weapons.

Here, people of all ages can go sightseeing, but if ordinary people want to buy, they need a lot of cumbersome documents and a large handling fee.

After arriving at the weapon exhibition room, Tomato ancestor stopped, picked up the Thomson submachine gun in front of him, put it in his hand, and carefully felt its exquisite workmanship, as well as the fragrance of engine oil from the receiver!
"This thing does not poke with needles! This is what you brought just now, right? This is not only a weapon, but also an exquisite work of art. It would be even better if some patterns were engraved on it!"

From the current point of view, Ted has no plans to make customized models for the time being, but this is indeed a selling point, just like the swords of noble lords, you have to make something different before you stop!

"Of course, not only is the workmanship exquisite, but the mechanical structure inside is even more ingenious! This weapon is worth a full three gold coins! With a full set of equipment and warranty, it will cost five gold coins."

"What?" Hearing the outrageous price, Tomato Ancestor was stunned!He immediately put the weapon in his hand on the table, as if it was very hot!
According to so many years of experience in purchasing materials, the purchase price of a military double-edged sword is only 70 copper coins!
Even if the long sword used by the nobles is very "fancy", the maximum is 20 silver coins.
And the heavy weapon in front of him directly asked for 5 gold coins!This is simply a money grab!
The price of five gold coins is of course very expensive, and Ted also knows that the price is set a bit high!But what you pay for is what you get, and the weapons that can be produced now, with powerful firepower and easy to carry by small humanoids, are just this one!
So at this price, it makes sense!
"Ahem, you get what you pay for. If you take this weapon and a few 100-round ammunition drums, it won't be a problem to beat 100 plate armor knights with knives!"

"Besides... Only when the thing in the hand is hard can the waist be straightened. With this thing, all monsters, ghosts, popes and emperors are all lambs waiting to be slaughtered!"

"As long as you have this weapon, everyone will become very civilized and speak politely to you."

With these words, the vanity and sense of superiority carried by hot weapons were directly thrown on the face of Tomato's ancestor!Just like the legendary "Sword in the Stone" of the empire, as long as there is that sword, everyone has to bow their heads and surrender!

It's just that, at this price, he can't buy in large quantities. He can buy a few for himself at most: "You are right, but the price is still too expensive. Our family has only been a baron for so many years. In order to keep the territory running Normally, plus the expenses of the clansmen, I haven't saved much wealth over the years."

Since the tomato ancestors don't want to buy this product. Then Ted has other ways!In order to make subsequent purchases more enjoyable, he intends to give some sweetness first!

"Well, since I have received land from you, and I have also harvested allies who are so grateful to you, then I can't leave nothing! This way! I will give you a hundred as your guard's equipment, and of course there are matching Maintenance of the original”

One hundred, that is five hundred gold coins!The ancestor Tomato was given such a gift before he even planned to buy it. If he still refuses to buy it later, he will lose face!Anyway, I am an old nobleman who is thousands of years old!Don't let others look down on you: "How can this work?"

Hearing his hesitation, Ted waved his hands and continued to greet: "Hey, compared to what you gave us, these are nothing. Besides, if you come to us to buy weapons from us in the future, we will give you a call." 6% off, how about it?"

As my first ally, and a race that knows how to reciprocate, it would be too dishonest to sell it at the original price!Besides, even with a [-]% discount, Ted would earn [-]% of his blood!
In this situation, he couldn't help feeling in his heart: "Hey! Arms really make money!"

The tomato ancestor in front of him stretched out his hands and rubbed his face, showing a rich and powerful appearance, as if he must buy the next product! "If I refuse, it would be too hypocritical! Thank you!"

Ted worked in sales for a period of time in his previous life, so he can handle people's hearts, especially nobles who care about face!It's quite right: "Then let's continue watching, how about?"

"it is good!"

As he walked, Tomato Ancestor stopped in front of a display case. He picked up the M3 submachine gun on the other side and played with it in his hand.
As a substitute for Thomson, this gun is much cheaper to build, and the structure is simpler, and the metal texture of the gun body is also good!

Not too many people would buy Thomson, and it is unrealistic to expect to sell it to make a lot of money!

"This 22 silver coins, according to our troop establishment, this kind of weapon is generally used by low-level officers, such as the chief and deputy platoon leaders and squad leaders. And the .45acp bullets used are mass-produced in our northern border Bullets are cheap."

This time the price has eased a lot. If it is only used by officers and troops, it is still acceptable: "22 silver coins, it can be considered for low-level officers. I will write it down and discuss it when I go back! By the way, the amount you said What's up with the production of bullets?"

Most people's concept of firearms is only on guns, but bullets are equally important!
"Oh! This, you can treat it as a crossbow bolt. A crossbow bolt with a uniform specification must be very cheap to mass-produce. At this stage, several bullets in our northern border are mass-produced, such as the .45ACP just mentioned. There is also .3006, these two bullets are the cheapest, and you can ignore the others”

"Understood, let's continue to look at it? Let's see what to use for elite soldiers and ordinary soldiers." Such an easy-to-understand explanation, comparing guns to repeating crossbows and bullets to arrows, made Tomato ancestors quickly understand the positioning of firearms .

"This way please~"

Since it is used as equipment for ordinary soldiers to shoot passionately in the trenches, it is not necessary to use weapons with small caliber and high rate of fire, but choose weapons with high power and large caliber!
But Ancestor Tomato didn't understand what was in front of him, so he could only ask again: "Okay, what do you recommend? I can't understand these things."

"of course can!"

After saying this, Ted picked up the Garand M1 in the display cabinet and handed it to him: "This is the weapon of our standard soldiers in the north, the Garand M1 rifle, and the M1 carbine. Recommend the M1 Carbine, because the bullets are not cheap, we did not mass-produce him”

"Then take the first one." After taking the weapon, the feeling of heavy metal and solid wood came, and the enough weight alone gave me a sense of security!

"This is not bad, does it have any advantages over other weapons?"

"This weapon uses eight round clips, so there is no need to buy additional magazines. We use a stamping method to make clips. The cost of two clips is only one copper coin. If you buy ammunition, we can give it away for free, and this thing It is a semi-automatic weapon, as long as the bullet is pressed into the barrel, it can shoot continuously!"

Ted didn't say any professional words like air-guided slewing!
Now, just like selling smartphones to grandpas and aunts, it is enough to just tell the price and functions!No need to tell them what kind of screen and core it is
"This weapon has also withstood the test of time. It is supported by large-scale test data. As a weapon for the troops, I highly recommend it! This is what we use ourselves!"

These words made Tomato's ancestor move again: "Then how much does this thing cost?"

"12 silver coins each, this weapon is durable and has a certain ability to resist the natural environment, he is worth the price"

Listening to the price, it is indeed acceptable, but it is still not realistic to deploy troops on a large scale!
"12 silver coins? This... is still a bit expensive. Even with a [-]% discount, we still can't put him in the army on a large scale, but it's still possible for those elite soldiers."

After finishing speaking, Ancestor Tomato turned to look at Ted: "Is there any cheaper one?"

"Yes, there are, but that kind of weapon is too outdated." Ted could only take him to the last display cabinet.

"This M1917 also uses .3006 ammunition, but it is not a semi-automatic, but a bolt-action rifle. You have to pull the bolt to fire one round. The ammunition capacity is only five rounds, but the price is very cheap. 2 silver coins!"

The equipment for the army is never the best, but durable and cheap weapons!

"That's him! We'll buy it and use it, and when we have money, we'll buy new equipment!"

Ted also thinks so, and after first deploying weapons to the entire army, he will update them bit by bit: "It's okay, after all, even this gun can completely torture those heavy armored soldiers with swords. !"

After the general introduction of the weapons, the ancestor Tomato took out a small book from nowhere and started to calculate.
"Since this is the case, then I have to do the math. We are very grateful for the fact that you said to send 100 Thompson submachine guns to our guards."

"As for other weapons, how about we purchase 1000 M3 submachine guns, 3000 M1 rifles, and finally 1 M5 rifles?"

"No problem, but how many bullets are you going to sell?"

"I have no experience with this. How much do you think we should buy?"

"That's it, training plus actual combat, plus a part of storage for backup, then 100 million rounds. 45acp, and 800 million rounds. 3006?"

"Okay, how much do these cost?"

"Money is easy to talk about! We will talk about it later. If there is no way to pay it off in one go, we have an interest-free loan here! Interest-free within 6 months!"

There is no need to squeeze the wool all at once, just like leeks, one wave after another can stimulate their desire to buy to the greatest extent!
Hearing that installment payments and IOUs can still be paid, the ancestor of Tomato suddenly became energetic: "It can still be like this! Then what is the big guy over there, I will buy some too!"

"You'll have to wait for the cannons to start selling next month, but the heavy machine guns and mortars you mentioned are in stock now!"

"Buy! Buy! Buy!"

The crisis outside Heishui City has been resolved, and now they can send troops to get food from the strategic granary in the rear!
The huge inventory there is enough to last for a long time!
According to estimates, it can feed about 800 million people for a year~
Most of these are Baron Tomato's own property, but [-]% of them are used for national strategy!
It's just that now it's all up to him to deal with it!

Not for anything else, just because they are now on Steve's side, so the strategic resources under their banner have been transferred from belonging to the royal family to Steve.

Of course, this cute Steve didn't know how to use it at all, so Ted took the responsibility and returned the right directly to Baron Tomato.

In the early morning of the next day, the tomato ancestor followed the truck back to the territory with some samples.
At the same time, a burst of bad news came!
Ninety percent of the remaining [-] refugees died!But Baron Tomato didn't kill them, instead he fed them with delicious food!

As for the dead refugees, it was also Baron Tomato's unintentional fault!
Because these refugees have been struggling for a long time on the border of death for several days!In order to show his kindness, Baron Tomato distributed butter bread and chicken soup to them directly!
It is also because of this that their bodies have not had time to adapt, coupled with overeating
Therefore, most people die suddenly after eating.

Recalling their original slogan 'Death must be a starving ghost! ', they did.

If there is heaven in this world, the remaining poor people should have a place. They did not participate in the attack, and they vowed not to eat human flesh. They can be regarded as the guardians of order. Although the price is a bit high, they deserve a cemetery and a tombstone , is completely different from those cannibals.

"I was able to live, but fell at the last step. It's really pitiful." Ted shook his head and sighed, then shut up and kept silent, leaving these messes for the people of Blackwater City to deal with.

But Ted didn't know what he would do if he wanted to empathize.

"If I were the Tomato Baron, without the help of the system, I would most likely open a warehouse to release food. In order to maintain law and order, I would not let them eat enough, nor let them starve to death. I would keep them alive and let them wait until the end of winter." leave"

Compared to killing disorderly refugees, it seems that this method is the only good way out.

For the sake of the people under him, there is nothing wrong with doing this, but Baron Tomato may not have changed his mind.

Because the food for 800 million people a year can be diluted into porridge. As long as this group of people can hang their lives, after a long time, they will not hate it if they compare it with the behavior of the people in other places and the empire. Own.

Because if you do this, you will definitely build a smelly and hard archway for yourself, at least better than driving refugees away from other places!
Even if it is unlucky, the refugee uprising must first kill nobles to demonstrate, and other domineering nobles will be unlucky first. I can live a few more years before being killed by troublesome people. If I am lucky, I can continue to be a noble in the new dynasty!

(End of this chapter)