Who exactly had come up with this ingenious farm tool?
Did Marcus have some genius craftsman hiding in his mansion somewhere?
Amsun slowly exhaled.
The way he looked at Marcus had completely changed. This was no naive young noble spending money on charity.
This was a man who had just placed an entire agricultural innovation on the table.
"Lord Governor, what are your terms?" Amsun asked outright.
Such a simple and yet effective tool, Amsun had only seen one of them in this field.
In other words, Marcus didn't have the manpower or resources to make them in large quantities.
Either that, or he was hiding them.
Hearing Amsun's words, the sides of Marcus's lips tipped upward. "I have two offers, one short-term, and another long-term.
"Both of them are quite good depending on what you prioritize. The short-term deal is me basically asking for a big payment in exchange for the blueprints of these two devices. After the deal has been confirmed and made legitimate, whatever you earn or do with the blueprints doesn't concern me."
He paused.
"Hmm, I think I get the gist of it," Amsun nodded with understanding. "What about the long-term deal?"
"This one prioritizes relationship and cooperation over profit in the short run, however, in the long run, both sides will benefit greatly," Marcus said.
"The long-term deal sounds pleasing, but, milord, I'll need a bit of an elaboration to make my decision. After all, this is a family business and I'll have to report to my father later on."
"Sure, walk with me." Marcus chuckled and placed his hands behind him before he began taking measured steps.
"As the Governor of Agard, I have great plans for development for this place. But that will require a lot of capital, a competent workforce, a good set of partners, and a stable economy." He began.
'This young lord likes to talk in circles.' Amsun noted mentally.
"That sounds correct." He nodded his head while stealing a glance at his old butler.
However, the old man seemed to be paying attention to the land that was being tilled.
"The things I have in store for Agard are more than I have shown you today… and for now, they are things that I find too heavy to shoulder on my own. This long-term deal of ours… it will require your family's merchant house to shoulder part of it for me, and in return, the profits from my endeavors will be shared equally between us. Not only that, I will give your merchant house more incentives and prioritization in Agard. What do you think?"
Amsun took a few seconds before responding. He was digesting all he had heard from Marcus.
And he soon came to understand a bit of what Marcus meant by "shouldering some weight for him"
He could just come out to ask for an investment. Or rather, illegally sell part of Agard to the Avanti Merchant House.
"My lord… this deal. It's not something that can be made without great planning and much evidence regarding what direction or type of development you have in mind. Moreover, I can sense that it will require the type of money that could make my family go bankrupt." Amsun said honestly.
Marcus squinted his eyes at Amsun before continuing with a gentle smile on his face.
"After seeing these farm tools in action, tell me what you think of them."
"They look practical, and easy to produce. Very efficient and less stressful regarding farming. If a lot of it is made and sold to those with farms in the kingdom, its popularity will soar, making others seek some for their farms." Amsun paused and looked at Marcus.
"But these are not enough to convince my family to take your long-term deal." He added with a heavy tone.
"Why do you say so?"
"Because these tools look easy to make. After selling a portion, replicas will start to appear from other merchant houses. That will reduce our profits. They won't need the blueprints to achieve that."
"That much is obvious… to be honest, I wouldn't have put this deal on the table if I weren't as poor as I currently am. There's a lot of money to be earned in the things I have in mind. Apart from these tools, I have many more blueprints in store, and they aren't necessarily farm tools."
"Really? Can we see them then? Perhaps with them we can take this deal!" Amsun exclaimed.
To be honest, he was excited to hear this from Marcus. Amsun was a sucker for things that were out of the box.
Marcus shook his head with a sigh, "You can't see them for now. However, agriculture is only the beginning. Roads, housing, irrigation… Agard will not remain the wasteland it once was."
If only he could present them now. But Marcus didn't have the points needed to purchase the blueprints he had in mind.
"Lord Governor, it will be hard to accept your long-term deal without seeing what you have to offer."
Marcus understood this much. If he were in Amsun's shoes, he wouldn't take such a one-sided deal.
But at the same time, he was giving them a chance to take the gamble and trust his words.
He would make such a good offer now, and if they do return in the future and want to cooperate, he can only use this to his advantage.
"That's as much as I can reveal for now, young master Amsun. How about we just focus on the short-term deal?"
At this point, the sun was nearing the edge of the sky.
'What are you hiding, lord governor?'
Amsun agreed. "You can state your price and we can start from there."
"Hmm, how about five hundred thousand silver coins?"
Amsun was about to refuse when Marcus raised a hand, silencing him.
"Let me finish first before you state your position. The five hundred silver coins can be paid in two ways. One, you give me two hundred and fifty thousand, and then the remaining can be paid in grains, seeds, and even slaves. Two, you pay the whole thing up front. Do note that I have no plans on reducing the price. I'm already losing a lot this way."
"I understand, lord governor… However, I still feel like the price is a lot. Once these farm tools hit the market, it wouldn't take long for their price to drop."
"That's why your merchant house should produce a reasonable amount of them and set the price properly. Before replicas appear, you guys would have already made way with more than five hundred thousand. Don't think that I don't know the scale that this can reach.
"To make one of these just requires iron and a skilled blacksmith. Taking into account the cost of production, your merchant house can very much sell each one for a gold coin in the beginning, which is approximately a hundred silver coins. Your gain in that can range from eighty to ninety percent."
"A gold coin is quite a high price," Amsun inputted.
"You'll be selling these to other nobles and rich families. A gold coin is nothing to them. They might even order several at a go. Moreover, what you're paying for isn't just for these blueprints, you're also paying for a seat to be invited when the next innovation is out. To me, my price is already quite fair." Marcus finished with a light tone.
All that he had said hadn't given Amsun the chance to refute much.
The young man nodded and thought for a while. "Lord Governor, can we give you a reply tomorrow? I'll have to contact a few elders in the family before I can proceed."
"Sure thing. Take your time, but don't take too long. I might just lose my patience and make this offer to another merchant house."
With that being said, Amsun left Marcus's estate with a lingering feeling that he had just missed the chance to get something.
But he didn't know what it was.
"Grandpa Joules, what do you think about this?" Amsun asked the old butler.
"The young governor is a smiling wolf… perhaps a visionary too. Regardless of what he said and how he said it, the smile on his face remained. Such type of people are usually… scary."
"I agree, but his offer seemed genuine, at least one of them. Should we take the short-term deal?"
"Young master, whether we take the short-term deal or long-term, we have to strike a deal that'll grant us the blueprints to those farm tools. Those things… perhaps Ulha can solve its famine problem with them…"