Chapter 832： Finally won

Food and Wine At present, William IV, as a glutton, eats and eats as expected. Portman quickly ordered people to bring lemon and honey water to help him digest it. Marin had expected that some people would eat it, so he prepared a lot of lemon and honey. Lemonade has a good effect on digestion, but the taste is not complacent. Europeans are not used to the taste of lemons in this era, so Marin let people add honey to lemonade to reconcile the taste.

In fact, Marin originally intended to use hawthorn water. Unfortunately, hawthorn is a specialty of China. In desperation, he had to use lemonade instead. Moreover, the lemonade effect is also very good. It's just that this taste ... It's hard to drink without honey ...

Even with the addition of honey, William IV was not used to this sour taste. But Portman pointed out that lemonade helped digestion, and William IV insisted on drinking it.

"It's so delicious! By the way, Mr. Portman, where did you get the food? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Portman was naturally prepared, he replied:

"It was our Grand Duke teacher Albert Einstein who learned there when he traveled to the Eastern China Empire."

"Oh, it was originally from the mysterious kingdom of the East ..." William IV suddenly realized.

"Listen to our Grand Duke that many Italian delicacies were brought back from the East by Marco Polo. For example, pasta, and pizza ..."

"So powerful?" William IV was shocked.

"Well, Marco Polo is not proficient in cooking, so he only brought back a few cooking methods such as pasta and pizza. But our Duke ’s teacher is different. He gave us a complete cooking recipe. At present, this recipe is Beihai. One of the top secrets of the Grand Duchy ... "Portman said nonsense.

Marin originally wanted to use Chinese food to fool William IV. Chinese food is the only bargaining chip in his hands. That being the case, Portman will naturally boast the only bargaining chip according to Marin's instructions. Moreover, there is a sense of mystery ... Only in this way can William IV really be impressed ...

"Can recipes also become secrets?" William IV was dumbfounded-should he be so nonsense?

Portman nodded solemnly and then asked rhetorically:

"Master Duke has also tasted all kinds of food, and he has a wide range of knowledge on food. But, has Lord Duke ever eaten such delicious food before?"

William IV shook his head indifferently. At this point, he could not deny ...

"Isn't that the case? Recipes for food that can be enjoyed by people like the Duke can be regarded as secrets?"

William IV smiled and said:

"It's really like this ..." The food that allows an old glutton to eat it is indeed very simple. The secret recipe is confidential and not uncommon.

Thinking of this, William IV sighed and said:

"What if I want to eat later?"

Portman smiled and said:

"This is simple, we can let a few royal chefs stay and teach you the master chef in the palace."

"What conditions?" William IV was also a politician, but he didn't think the other party would give away in vain.

"If you can sell Mülheim to ..."

"No, it's impossible ..." William IV shook his head again and again.

"We at the North Sea Congress put out a price that will satisfy you!" Portman hurriedly said.

"It ’s not a matter of money. Although I ’m not a Mingjun, I also know that the inheritance left by my ancestors cannot be arbitrarily destroyed. Especially the land cannot be arbitrarily sold. At least, during my reign, the territory of Yulich and Berg Can't zoom out. "

"But ..." Portman opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.

In fact, William IV was also very greedy for those wine and food. Today, he refuses to sell Mülheim, which means to say goodbye to those fine wine and food. Although those chefs are now in Lich City, he can also tie those chefs to force them to hand over cooking recipes. However, the consequences of offending Marin ...

Portman took the lead for the first time and did not want to fail. Because he understands that if this fails, there may not be such a good opportunity in the future. After all, he is not Marlin's cronies or relatives ...

Taking advantage of the chance that William IV would be unable to move, Portman desperately thought of a way. Finally, before William IV left, Portman thought of a solution:

"Master Duke, otherwise, let's trade Mülheim another way? For example, territorial exchange ..." Portman remembered, Marin's requirement was-be sure to obtain land between the Ruhr and Lipper. In other words, can the land south of the Ruhr be exchanged? He decided to give it a try ...

"Territory exchange?"

"Well, can our country take out the same area of ​​land at the junction of the southern part of Markberg and the Principality of Berg and exchange it with Mülheim? What you are worried about is the reduction of territory. Concerns about this ... "

"It's a way ..." William IV suddenly lighted up. But after hesitating, he said:

"If we exchange for the same area, our country suffers a bit! You know, Mülheim is a tax collection station on the Ruhr River, and it can receive a lot of toll taxes every year ..."

Portman rolled his eyes suddenly-if it were not for the future to prevent you from being blackmailed by tolls, who would buy your land?

Of course, this is what Marin and Portman said when they explained. After all, Marin is not good at talking about the problems of coal in the Ruhr area, nor ambitious for Essen. Therefore, this reason was used when explaining things to Portman. Of course, this reason is not false. After all, in the future, coal transportation on the Ruhr River would be very unpleasant if every ship on the River Duty Card of the Duchy of Berg in Mülheim was charged a toll tax. Especially after the opening of the industrial age, the number of ships must have increased significantly. If every ship is taxed, it will be very troublesome.

After thinking about it, Portman said:

"Well, for the taxation problem on the river ~ www.novelhall.com ~ I ask our Grand Duke to see if he has any compensation."

"Alright!" William IV returned with satisfaction. Before leaving, he also took away a pot of fried rice with sausage and eggs.

...

After receiving the request of Portman Express, he quickly responded-agreeing to the territory replacement plan. While exchanging with the same area of ​​territory at the junction of the southwestern part of Markberg and the Principality of Berg, Marin is willing to pay one-time food worth 20,000 gold coins ... The most important thing Marlin is now is food, if it is paid in cash , May be a little tight. If he pays for food deliberately, his ability to pay will become super strong ...

After receiving Marin's reply, Portman quickly asked William IV and told him the reply. After careful consideration, William IV added another condition-that the area where Marin used to exchange territory with him must have a market town of the same size as Mülheim ... after all, the European lords of this era, In addition to its own manor, it mainly depends on the city and market town to collect commercial taxes.

In addition, William IV demanded that the food used for payment must be the new food harvested this autumn, and cannot be offset by old food. After all, the new grain can be stored longer. If it is Chen Liang, who knows it has been stored for several years? If it deteriorates soon after being pulled back, it will be a big loss ...

In this regard, Marin's reply is-it is entirely possible ...

As a result, William IV, the "difficult bone", was finally successfully won. Then, the two sides will formally sign an agreement on the exchange of the Mülheim region.

Of course, this is not the end, but just the beginning. Because there are more "hard bones" behind it-the large area east of the Rhine River, north of the Ruhr River, and south of the Lipper River in the Principality of Cliff is going to negotiate ... : //)