399 Lesson 22: Merchant's Respect

"And if we are going to monopolize the market… i.e. only our own place is going to make a sale, then its valuing will remain our thoughts. You can't buy it anywhere else, so you can put a higher price on it."

"I see!"

Bell pounded his hand. While explaining as carefully as possible, Ludwig asks how Meer is doing. and

"Hmm..."

Meer nodded contentedly while eating tea treats.

Apparently, he was satisfied, Ludwig exhales.

- Are you saying we should take this opportunity to educate Bell?

The letter calling myself said, "I want Bell to teach me". On the ground, Ludwig decides that he's thinking of letting Bell learn how to face merchants.

"However, in this case, the attack on the Forklord Chamber of Commerce is not a monopoly on the market as a whole, I guess. And perhaps…, conceding the sales channels that the Folk Road Chamber of Commerce has, … isn't that what you mean?

To Ludwig's inquiry, Marco shook his head as if he had given up,

"That's not true. Really. That much, is that what you'll figure out?

I shrug my shoulders in the way that you lift them. In contrast, Ludwig shook his head with a pranky grin.

"I'm sorry. Actually, there was just a little trick to this reasoning..."

Then he turned to Meer.

"Sharoke Cornrogue contacted me. to break the contract with the Folk Road Chamber of Commerce and not to make a contract with ourselves…"

Ludwig takes the letter out of his nostalgia and offers it to Meer.

"It details…, but when you transport wheat in large quantities cheaper than the Fork Road Chamber of Commerce, it says so"

That is to say, Shalok is hostile to the Forklord Chamber of Commerce, not to the Empire. In addition, the conditions offered by the other party were quite favourable. Enough to consider whether to reverse the contract with Forklord......

That's why I needed to be vigilant.

- Sweet stories have their backs. Besides, he originally offered to betray his trust with the Folk Road Chamber of Commerce. Perhaps Mia can retreat...

Even in that regard, Ludwig was feeling cunning.

Make profit-oriented cheap sales on all Forkload Chamber of Commerce merchandise, creating a condition where the merchandise cannot be sold. Doing so puts me in a state where I can't do business as a forkload. Wouldn't they fall into the temptation to sell the only "wheat they plan to wholesale to the Empire" that buyers are likely to come with?

If you sell wheat for more than you promised the Empire, the Chamber of Commerce might help. Wouldn't you be able to sell it deceitfully...?

Such a temptation, what if the Forklord Chamber of Commerce made a difference in its contract...?

What betrayed us first was the Folk Road Chamber of Commerce, which could serve as a pretext for the Empire to break the contract.

- Fortunately, Lord Marco was honored with his contract. So, Mia, you should be able to live up to his faith.

It was only with such certainty that Ludwig revealed his information in front of Marco.

"Hmm... Hmm? Corn Rogue......?

With the paperwork in his hand, Meer tilts his neck small.

"... what? This..."

Marco stands up in a panic to Meer as she thinks about something.

"It's... Your Highness"

"Oh, I'm fine, Lord Forklord. I will not betray my readers for money. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Meer raises one hand and controls it in a quiet tone.

"Nevertheless... Yes, Mr. Sharoke is named Corn Rogue..."

Meer snaps with a small voice.

"Did you hear that?

To the enquiring Ludwig, Meer said, staring far away.

"Yeah, yeah...... I finally remember... Merchant King Corn Rogue...... Though I thought meeting that one was a little further... Yes, you're from over there...... hehe"

As such, Meer laughed like a child plotting a prank.

"Oh, that's right, Ludwig, and if the Forklord Chamber of Commerce is being harassed, could there be anything we can do to help? That's right, the Forkload Chamber of Commerce is buying the product in the Empire and giving it away..."

As a matter of fact, Sharoke Cornrogue has not been attacking the Empire separately. It has only set up price reduction competition with the Fork Road Chamber of Commerce.

So all you can do as an empire is, at best, buy out all the inventory that the Forklord Chamber of Commerce has brought in...

"Right..."

Ludwig thinks. Instead of buying……, the (…) intent (…) diagram (…) of Meer quality (…) question (…) is (…).

Meer goes on to help him with his thoughts.

"Or would it be wasted if I bought a product that was sold away because it was your friend's father's chamber of commerce? Would you be angry if you bought something cheaper than that at a higher price?

That's how they crave Ludwig for the upper hand.

Seeing how it goes, Ludwig learns that his own assumptions were correct.

- Oh, again, that's what you mean. Her Royal Highness Princess Meer has already decided what to do. On top of that, are they asking questions like this to teach Belle...

Ludwig just nods and answers that he understands.

"It won't be a problem. Even if there is a product that is cheaper than that, if its price is appropriate (...) positive (...) also (...), I do not think it is useless to buy it"

"What does that mean? Dr. Ludwig."

As calculated, Bell is eating up. While satisfied with the reaction, Ludwig said.

"You don't have to call me Doctor... etc..., but that's right... It is my belief that it is an error that everything should be cheap. Because I think money is the price of labor… it's the value of that labor."

"Of labor, value?

Ludwig continues with a deep nod.

"A merchant sells an item because there is always a human behind it. Crops are produced by farmers, crafts by craftsmen, and cooks by cooks. And the act of valuing a commodity is the same as valuing that labor."

Because it was getting a little hard to talk about, Bell was creeping between his brows. Even though I don't know, Ludwig feels kind to Bell, who is trying so hard to think.

"Merchants must value the labourers with respect. I believe that selling things at an excessively low price is a denigration of the value of labor, a loss of respect"

Saying, Ludwig accidentally smiled bitterly. Because my own father remembered what he once said greatly.

- The price must not be reduced more than the merchant can do with his efforts. Would undue price reductions be dishonest to the person who made them, in order to counter the other merchant? That's what you said so well...

It is Ludwig who acknowledges once again that his own father's words were poking a side of truth.

Then, Ludwig told Bell, who looks difficult.

"Besides, there are some actual negative aspects that are not psychological. For example, suppose you have a merchant who sells cookies made of two silver coins for one silver coin. We have a deficit for a single piece of silver coin, but that's what we may do as an idea to attract customers. But what would other merchants do if one of them did that? Wouldn't you try to sell your place for a single piece of silver coin to get your customers back?

In that inquiry, Bell leaned his neck,

"Yes, I think I will"

Honestly, that's what I said.

"But......, merchants other than this first merchant who starts probably don't do anything they lose. When it comes to how other merchants lower the price of cookies, they ask the workers who made it to work hard. That is, cookies can't be sold in two silver coins. Make it cheaper so you can sell it on a single piece of silver coin, and... They try to estimate the low value of artisan labor to counter the first merchants."

"I see...... Does that mean that a merchant who is unscrupulous to craftsmen is a bad guy?

"Of course that's true, but I think customers who buy cheap things cheaply also have a cause. The hard thing to save is that a person who labors is also a guest who wants cheap. A man who labored and earned his wages becomes a customer who buys things with that money. They denigrate the value of their labor by seeking cheap goods."

Ludwig cut the words there.

"Therefore, I think, if there were a merchant who values things appropriately and a merchant who sells things at an excessively low price, the former should be more trustworthy and should not seek something cheaper. Merchants also cut prices because customers find value in cheapness. I think the buyer has to realize that there is no such convenient story that they value their labor highly and value others' labor cheaply."

Then Ludwig looked more at Meer.

"So as far as I'm concerned, I think you can buy anything other than luxury items that are worthless to use and things that are pricey beyond degrees. Not to distort the circulation of money..."

Meer nodded satisfied with Ludwig's words, shifting her gaze to Marco Forklord.

"That's why, Lord Forklord, I will buy the inventory your Chamber of Commerce is carrying, at a fair price. If the empire alone is difficult, then yes, shall I ask my friends to help? Excessive price reductions are not necessary just because they are still sold. We'd like to make a deal that respects each other."

That's what Meer said, she smiled.