Chapter 72 The Arrogant Salt Merchant
Early in the morning, the castle was bustling as usual.
As for the deaths of Carter and the others, no one seemed to care. Their bodies had been taken away for disposal, and the five glasses had been retrieved.
Henry decided to sell the glasses at an upcoming auction. He had big plans for the auction, and it was one way he intended to make a statement.
He would present some items at the auction, and the wealthy merchants and nobles would be there, ready to spend their coins.
However, Henry needed help with a population problem. Due to the scarcity of people, the development of his territory had reached a bottleneck. Building a single house would remove two-thirds of the population.
Not to mention that the wheat harvest was approaching, marking the beginning of a long winter. This was another issue he had to consider.
Henry thought, 'Will everyone be idle during the winter? No, that is impossible. They will never have a moment of idleness in their lives.'
As soon as he woke up, Henry began contemplating many issues and reviewing the development direction of Eldoria.
For some reason, he woke up earlier than usual today, around seven o'clock. Perhaps he was still thinking about Mila's question from last night.
The door was pushed open, and Willow entered quietly. Their eyes met, and she was momentarily stunned by the intensity of his dark gaze.
"Good morning, Henry. I thought you'd sleep in until nine." Willow said, exhaling softly.
She had come to take some clothes outside to dry in the sun. After all, it would be a luxury to have clothes dried outside once winter set in.
In the castle, everyone used the watches.
Henry had brought several mechanical watches as a reference for time. Only a few close people had them, and they were carefully hidden, afraid of being seen.
For them, it was a miraculous item, a device that could accurately tell time. In this era, people relied on celestial observations, and nobles used candles to measure time.
"Are Mila and Ellie awake?" Henry asked casually.
"Not yet. I don't know what's going on today, but Mila and Ellie are still asleep." Willow replied, sounding a bit surprised.
Usually, Mila and Ellie would be up early. Mila would be exercising, while Ellie would help with official matters.
With Ellie around, Henry had been relieved of many tedious tasks. He delegated some unimportant matters to Ellie, and she handled them well.
"Is that so?" Henry raised an eyebrow. He thought, 'Could it be that my answer to last night's question isn't good?'
Whether on Earth or here, he was an inexperienced person in love, but he still had some basic emotional intelligence. He thought his answer last night was fine, and it was based on his true feelings.
Marrying a cat girl or a fox-eared girl seemed to be without any problem, and he was even a little excited about it.
Under Willow's service, Henry arrived at the dining hall and saw Mila and Ellie, both yawning and with dark circles under their eyes.
"Good morning!" Henry greeted them.
"Good… morning!" Mila responded, her body a bit stiff, her face blushing.
"Good morning," Ellie lazily replied, opening her mouth in a wide yawn.
Ellie gave Mila a resentful look. This mutated cat girl had been chatting with her all night, not letting her sleep, and it was already 5 a.m. before she finally fell asleep.
Well, Henry's answer was completely fine, which led to Mila's insomnia last night, and she was excited as if she had taken hormones.
When Mila saw Henry, she thought of her fantasy from last night. She was wearing a wedding dress, sitting on a high horse, and being grandly married by Henry.
The breakfast atmosphere was a bit strange. Mila's face was flushed, and she almost stuck the spoon up her nose, giggling from time to time.
Ellie widened her eyes, suspecting that Mila had gone crazy. She had seen this silly appearance on Gabriel before.
"Henry, we're out of salt in the kitchen."
Eating breakfast, Willow suddenly spoke. The salt she mentioned was the kind of snow salt that Henry brought from his hometown.
The salt in this era was not white but gray, with a taste that was not only salty but also bitter.
"We'll get some from the private storage later." Henry nodded. After tasting the salt of this era once, he never ate it again.
Suddenly, he remembered that salt in this era was very expensive. He didn't know about other places, but in Eldoria, a pound of salt was worth several copper coins.
The common people use a pound of salt for several months. Without salt, how can they have the strength?
"Is there a salt shop in the market?" Henry asked Ellie.
"No, those salt merchants refuse to pay taxes," Ellie said in a deep voice.
She remembered the report from the servants. Those salt merchants seemed quite arrogant, thinking that Eldoria couldn't do without them.
The salt in Eldoria was imported and brought by salt merchants from far away, even from nearby cities.
And entering the market requires paying taxes, calculated based on income. The higher the income, the more tax you have to pay.
It's like the salt merchants were just in it for the money, and the taxes they had to pay were outrageous, so they were unwilling to be slaughtered in the market.
"Willow, do we have a salt mine nearby?" Henry asked.
"A salt mine? Is there such a thing as a salt mine?" Willow was confused, blinking at Henry.
"Henry, are you mistaken? Salt comes from the sea." Ellie said, reaching out to take a piece of pastry from Mila's plate.
"Don't you know about salt mines?" Henry suddenly remembered that people struggling to survive in this world, with almost no industrial development, might not know about salt mines.
"Get someone to ask around immediately, see if there are salty rocks or soil nearby." For now, Henry could only resort to the most primitive method of finding a salt mine.
"Yes!"
Willow immediately sent someone to inquire, feeling that something big was about to happen.
