Herald of Steel

Lady Parthia did not have any problem with the concept of people trading necessary goods among themselves. She even welcomed it, understanding this was a vital necessity.

What she did have beef with was the concept of people in between- the middlemen, the merchants,

She saw these people facilitating this trade as little more than leeches who worked to only inflate the price of goods and make lives difficult.

Hence her next question to Alexander naturally became- "Then why don’t the people who need the goods do it themselves? One of them needs grains, the other needs plows. It is easy! Why not trade it among themselves? Why need merchants?"

And reasoning,

"If they did it themselves, they would not have to rely on the greedy peddlers. They could even keep prices low at both ends and still make a bigger profit."

Alexander gave an understanding chuckle at this, somewhat agreeing with Lady Parthia’s reasoning, "Indeed, my lady’s concerns seem valid on the surface. If only everyone sold directly to their customers… hahaha."

Alexander’s low chortle however seemed to displease Lady Parthia a bit, as she thought he was mocking her. And this feeling got deeper when she heard Alexander rhetorically ask,

"But then let me ask you this Your Highness- ’Why do you think they do not do this? If you can think of it, surely a few among the tens of million men could also, right? All of them can be dumb as rocks right?"

"...." Indeed, even though Lady Parthia had a very low opinion of peasants and in general the common folk, finding them to be pretty stupid, she found it hard to believe none of them could think of the simple act of putting their produce into baskets and taking them to a market.

"They do sell directly. Zanzan’s markets are filled with such peasants… coming from the nearby fields! I have seen them!"

Just as Lady Parthia was sinking into Alexander’s tricky quagmire, Lady Nanazin stepped up from the side in the nick of time, helping her ally out. She remembered seeing this wherever she went to the markets to shop.

And this information made Lady Parthia’s eyes instantly light up with excitement, gleefully turning to Alexander with a triumphant look,

"Right! Some of them indeed do! The others are simply too stupid!" Lady Parthia looked like as if she had just solved the sphinx’s puzzle.

"...." While Alexander’s facade finally cracked a bit at the answer.

Not because he thought the two ladies were right… not even remotely, but more so because he did not think he would stumble on his own example.

Thus it took him a slight while to recompose himself.

While seeing the man’s lips twitching, the two ladies’ hearts soared with an intense glee even they rarely experienced.

They never thought beating the man before them would taste so sweet.

’Hmmmp! Serves him right! Who told him to be so arrogant?’ Lady Parthia hence smugly inflated her heart, ’Hehe, I wonder if I can get Alex to do something for me… something fun.’ while Lady Nanazin’s eyes swam with hidden lust,

Thus sensing victory, they listened to Alexander’s next words with rapt attention, keenly looking for any opportunity to deliver the final flow.

As for Alexander, this time he was determined to make up for this slight misstep, so he decided to present a far more robust argument in a deep, firm tone,

"My ladies… I believe you have misunderstood me. What you gave an example of is the exception- not the example. Those farmers live just outside the city walls and can get into the city any time they want."

"This is a luxury the vast majority do not have. Most peasants… and other artisans do not live so close to such a huge city, so for them selling their product by themselves is just not feasible. Simply taking the goods to the people who would want them takes too much time."

"Take the simplest of examples- if a blacksmith from Jabel, the closest city to Zanzan wanted to sell his knives here because of its huge market and richer customers so he would get a better price, then he would have to travel 30 km, almost two days journey by foot."

"Then he would most likely have to stay one day selling the goods, and once again take another two days to return. That is five days in total! Which blacksmith in the world can afford to waste almost the entire week just selling his wares? When will he have the time to make the knives he sells if he did this?"

"....." Alexander’s rhetorical question was naturally met with a small silence- even the pampered queens knew anyone who could afford to work only two days a week did not need to even work! While seeing his point being made, Alexander pressed forward with a heavy nod,

"This same rule can be applied to almost every other profession. The reason why most people do not trade peer to peer is because they do not live near enough to make it possible."

"In fact, to truly answer your question Lady Parthia- ’Why do not towns and villages trade with each other directly?’, I would say as a matter of fact, they actually do!"

"If we think about it a bit differently, Your Highness, we can say that all the towns and villages know this problem of transporting their wares and thus select special people to go peddle them on their behalf. These people- let us call them ’merchants’ only job is to travel from place to place, trading the goods have for the goods the village needs."

Alexander’s theory made the pair of mature ladies widen their eyes in confusion, followed by an unnatural realization, as the man gave a winning smile, squinting his eyes with glee while continuing, Stay connected through NovelBin.Côm

"Mmmm…. these merchants would know various other towns and villages and what kind of goods they have, and travel there, wishing to exchange the things they have for the things they need."

"Such as a village that raises sheep might need salt from a seaside village to cure their meat. So the merchant would go there. While the shepherds raising the livestock might not even know the other village existed given the long distance. The same example can be given for a potter, tailor, fishmonger, etc."

"Thus, it is the merchant, who travels around a lot, whose job is to find out about such things and bring all the wanting parties together. Remember, just because someone makes something doesn’t mean he knows about every single customer that wants it."

"I myself make a lot of iron. But I certainly do not know exactly who needs them. That is up to the wholesalers I sell to." Alexander frankly finished with a smug face, much to the nearby numb look of the two ladies.

In these relatively few sentences, the two were bombarded with concepts they never even imagined existed, such as the reason for merchants existing.

They had always thought this job was taken by greedy, slimy men who were too lazy to work the fields.

Yet now…..

"...." Alexander keenly noticed Lady Parthia’s fist clench itself tighter than ever, to the point the fair knuckles almost became pale.

Clearly, she was dissatisfied with the answer and the imminent loss about to happen.

Yet she was also unable to find the words to retort Alexander, find a way to reverse the situation.

The pasha proudly smirked at this, ’Ahhh.. watching her struggle is too much fun.’

Lady Parthia was very prideful and thus defeating her seemed all the more ’thrilling’.

Hence Alexander decided not to show any mercy, and ended his defense with the following assertion,

"Your Highness, I believe this is likely how the first merchants were born! Not through greed or evil, but simple human necessity. They exist to bring various parties who are too far apart together. Thus I believe we should support and nurture them."

"...." Alexander’s speech was followed by an uncharacteristically long silence, with Lady Nanazin’s eyes turning to give an enlighted look and a proud nod, mostly becoming convinced, although Lady Parthia’s eyes still remained dark and thoughtful.

The prideful lady still refused to crack.

Not only that, she was even willing to counterattack as the Tibian queen broke the stillness with a voice that was deep yet shaky,

"..Then.. if what you say is true.. Tell me why do merchants cheat and raise prices and make the common people suffer? I have seen it time and time again."

At first, she sounded as if she was unsure of her own thoughts.

Yet, such confusion was quickly suppressed by a bubbling anger, and firmly posting,

"Perhaps merchants indeed started as a necessary profession, one with maybe even a noble cause. But it is clear these people have moved far away from that ideal by now. They are lairs, cheaters, deceitful, and ever ungrateful. I do not see any reason for my lord to support them."

Lady Parthia’s eyes seemed to burn with a kind of zeal as she finished,

Clearly, the regal queen had some very strong thoughts.

’*Sigh*’ And seeing this, Alexander let out a lampooning sigh in his heart, cursing the difficulty of this negotiation.

The biggest problem was Lady Parthia did have some good points.

Let us say no to piracy! Don’t take part in a crime! Don’t patronize thieves!

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