"A Dothraki warhorse, five Godsworn gold dragons—no one in all of Myr can offer a higher price than me." Late at night, a slightly plump Lysene merchant with clear Valyrian blood came to Lynd's camp on his own initiative to discuss the sale of the Dothraki warhorse with Lynd.
This merchant was also a well-traveled man; upon seeing Lynd in a set of exquisite armor, he couldn't help but be momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered and went straight to the point.
What surprised Lynd was that the currency the merchant used for the transaction was neither Myr's ship coins, nor Tyrosh's tower coins, nor Lys's gold coins, but rather the gold dragons Lynd himself had minted, which the merchant referred to as Godsworn gold dragons.
Although Lynd had not deliberately promoted the Godsworn gold dragons, with the expansion of the Miracle Merchant Guild, the Godsworn gold dragons of Summerhall had already become the primary circulating currency in the Free Trade City States.
The reason for this was not merely Lynd's own power influencing the value of the currency he minted, but also because Lynd used special gold processing techniques, alloy techniques, and stamping techniques to mint these gold coins, making them look much more exquisite than other gold coins, resistant to wear, and substantial in weight; their overall appearance far surpassed other currencies, so merchants were more willing to carry Godsworn gold dragons for transactions.
Currently, in the major banks of the Free Trade City States, one Godsworn gold dragon can be exchanged for two Lysene gold coins plus thirty-seven ship coins, or two Pentos gold coins plus fifty-three Braavosi iron squares, or two Norvos gold coins.
Even on the continent of Westeros, the value of a Godsworn gold dragon is significantly higher than that of a normal gold dragon, with an exchange rate of approximately one gold dragon plus twenty-seven silver stags for one Godsworn gold dragon; therefore, apart from a few territories like Casterly Rock that possess their own gold mines and minting rights, most merchants and nobles in other places have begun to habitually use Godsworn gold dragons and silver stags.
Although the Godsworn gold dragons appear to far surpass other gold coins in appearance, in reality, the gold content of a Godsworn gold dragon is only equivalent to one Lysene gold coin, as other metal alloys are added, so the weight is not much lighter, and those alloys require extremely high temperatures to be separated from the gold, so there is no need to worry about anyone discovering that the gold coin is not pure gold.
Therefore, Lynd's minting workshop now not only melts gold ore to mint gold coins but also melts down gold coins exchanged from other places and recasts them into Godsworn gold dragons, which are then given to the Miracle Merchant Guild for promotion.
Although trade in this world is already very developed, with not only trade wars but also banks, merchants and those in power still have a very superficial understanding of minting rights; they do not know that whoever controls minting rights controls finance, which is why they allow Lynd's Godsworn gold dragons to circulate and be used in various city-states, gradually replacing their own currencies.
For example, the gold coin systems of the three major Free Trade City States closest to Summerhall have gradually been replaced by Lynd's Godsworn gold coins, and even Lys, which originally minted its own gold coins, is also using Godsworn gold coins; from this point of view, it won't be long before other Free Trade City States also use Godsworn gold coins, and the finance here will unknowingly be controlled by Lynd.
While Lynd was thinking about matters concerning the Godsworn gold dragon, he also gave a reply to the merchant, saying, "I have already promised someone to sell the warhorse to…"
"Is it Fenya?" The merchant was well aware of his relationship with Fenya, and said, "Leaving aside whether she can afford to buy your warhorse, even if she could, she should have no mood to do this transaction with you now."
"What do you mean by that?" Lynd asked.
"Just a while ago, Archon Gamon Belleris announced at the Council of Governors that Fenya did not deliver Archon Patch's goods to the buyer but instead sold the goods midway, embezzling Archon Patch's property." The merchant's tone carried a hint of schadenfreude as he said, "Now all her assets have been seized, awaiting investigation by the council, and the money she has on hand is not even enough to maintain the basic operation of her merchant guild, let alone conduct transactions with you."
"Are you Archon Gamon Belleris's man? Or Archon Patch's man?" Lynd asked in a deep voice.
"Neither," the merchant shook his head and said, "I don't participate in Myr's power struggles; I'm just interested in making money, and the warhorses you have are a good opportunity to make money, so I came."
Lynd had intended from the beginning to trade these warhorses to Summerhall across Across the Narrow Sea and had no intention of trading them to local merchants, so he merely used Fenya as a shield and said, "I'm sorry, since I have already promised Fenya, I will not trade with other merchants until Fenya cancels."
Upon hearing Lynd's answer, the merchant's face showed surprise, and his eyes also held a hint of admiration as he looked at Lynd.
The merchant did not insist, smiling as he said, "There are not many people like you who stick to their principles nowadays. Although I think the final outcome will be similar, I still respect your choice. If Fenya cancels her transaction with you, please be sure to consider me first; I will still offer the same price. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Trigg Omollen; you can find my residence by simply asking around in the city."
When Lynd heard the merchant's name, he paused; he remembered that the person who would cuckold the Great Bear in the future was named Trigg, but looking at the merchant's current appearance, he probably hadn't become a Trade Prince of Lys yet.
The next morning, a haggard Fenya, accompanied by several Myr guards, came before Lynd and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Lord Onstein, you might have been implicated by me."
"Reason?" Lynd feigned ignorance and asked.
Fenya then recounted what had happened after she entered the city yesterday, and the situation was not much different from what Trigg Omollen had said.
That Archon Patch's suspicion of her was understandable, after all, the goods she brought back this time were simply too many, and her situation was well known to all the merchants in Myr; when she took on the delivery task, she was already at her wit's end and simply couldn't afford to buy these goods, so it was naturally suspected that she had not delivered the goods to Myr's collaborator as per the task, but rather had traded Archon Patch's goods midway.
What was even worse was that the news of Archon Patch's collaborator being annihilated by other Dothraki Khals had also reached Myr, so many people felt there was a causal relationship, for example, that their collaborator was swallowed up by other Dothraki because Fenya had not delivered the weapons.
Thus, the matter was no longer just a dispute of interest between her and Archon Patch; it had become a serious political issue of whether Fenya had betrayed the city-states.
This also caused Fenya's matter to escape Archon Patch's control and fall into the hands of Archon Gamon Belleris, the head of the Noble Council, and as an opponent, Gamon happened to want to use this incident to undermine Archon Patch's prestige and weaken the reputation and power of the trade Archons, led by Archon Patch, in Myr.
Because with the emergence of Summerhall and the unification of the Stepstones, trade on both sides of Across the Narrow Sea became prosperous, which directly led to Myr's merchants gradually gaining greater influence, and the power held by the trade Archons, as leaders of the merchants, also increased significantly.
As one side gained and the other lost, the power of the Archons and nobles in the Noble Council naturally diminished.
Although the Noble Council wanted to regain their power, under the overwhelming trend of commercialization, they could do nothing but watch their power gradually shrink.
Now, a batch of important goods in Archon Patch's hands had an issue, and this batch of goods was related to Myr's security, so they naturally would not miss this opportunity to strike at the trade Archons; thus, they directly seized control of Fenya's matter and ostentatiously tried to steer it in the direction they desired.
Currently, Fenya was almost under house arrest; even when she came to see Lynd, she needed some guards accompanying her.
"Do you know anyone from the Miracle Merchant Guild?" Lynd inquired.
"I know them, but not well," Fenya nodded.
Lynd said, "Help me find the supervisor of the Miracle Merchant Guild in Myr and tell him I have a batch of warhorses and slaves to sell to Summerhall."
Fenya frowned and said, "I can meet ordinary members of the Miracle Merchant Guild, but the supervisor of the Myr merchant guild, I…"
Lynd took out a high-level member's plaque and handed it to Fenya, saying, "You don't have to worry about this; just give this to someone from the merchant guild."
Fenya was stunned, took the plaque, examined it carefully in front of her eyes, and then looked at Lynd with a hint of surprise.
Becoming a member of the Miracle Merchant Guild is not very difficult; one only needs to take on a few procurement tasks at any branch or liaison office of the Miracle Merchant Guild and reach a certain level of assets to join.
However, becoming a high-level member of the Miracle Merchant Guild is very difficult; one can only become a high-level member by receiving an invitation from the Miracle Merchant Guild headquarters in Miracle Port, and the currently known main criteria for becoming a high-level member are taking on other relatively difficult procurement and trading tasks announced by the Miracle Merchant Guild.
As for the benefits of becoming a high-level member, in addition to being able to purchase better weapons, one can also obtain a certain amount of sales rights for Summerhall's potions.
Now, not only is the continent of Westeros eagerly pursuing the potions produced in Summerhall, but even the powerful in Essos greatly admire Summerhall's potions; the Seven Mystery Medicine, which can save lives, goes without saying, and other potions, such as those for treating epidemics, are also extremely popular.
Moreover, in cases like Fenya's smuggling of prohibited goods, if it were a high-level member, only the person involved would be punished, and the ship owner would be fined some money; the ship and other unproblematic goods would not be entirely seized.
When the Miracle Merchant Guild first entered Myr, Fenya had already perceived its potential and joined the Miracle Merchant Guild as a member; for the past few years, she had also been working hard to climb to high-level membership, and if not for this accident, then in a year or two, she might already have been a high-level member of the Miracle Merchant Guild.
Therefore, seeing the plaque belonging to a high-level member of the Miracle Merchant Guild now, she felt a great deal of emotion.
As Fenya was about to leave, Lynd suddenly asked, "Oh right! Do you know Trigg Omollen? Yesterday, a Lysene merchant named Trigg Omollen came to me, wanting to buy the warhorses I have."
"Trigg Omollen?" Fenya was stunned and said, "He is Archon Patch's friend; when I went to see Archon Patch yesterday, he was there."
After speaking, Fenya waited for a while longer, and seeing that Lynd had no further questions, she turned and left.
Back in the city, Fenya immediately walked towards the Miracle Merchant Guild branch near the port docks.
On the way, many people who knew Fenya avoided her from afar; no one dared to approach and talk to her, as if she carried some invisible defilement.
All well-informed people knew that Fenya, having been caught in the political struggle between merchants and nobles this time, was surely finished; their gazes towards her held both disdain and mockery, as well as sympathy and pity.
Fenya ignored the surrounding stares; her mind was currently focused on only one thing: rescuing her implicated subordinates.
Myr's South Gate was not very far from the port dock area; it took about ten minutes of walking to reach the location of the Miracle Merchant Guild branch.
The Miracle Merchant Guild branch was a common warehouse with a two-story building; this warehouse originally belonged to a Braavosi merchant, but this merchant had very bad luck, went bankrupt, and had to sell his property in Myr; this warehouse changed hands several times and eventually fell into the hands of the Miracle Merchant Guild.
As usual, the Miracle Merchant Guild's building was crowded with merchants from various city-states; some of these merchants came to check the daily procurement tasks, some simply came to make friends, and even more came to check the weekly commodity trading prices.
When establishing the Miracle Merchant Guild, Lynd had already planned to build it into a trade center, an exchange, and similar places, so both the branches in large city-states and the liaison offices in small ports had a bulletin board installed on the wall directly opposite the entrance, displaying the trading prices of various commodities, and these prices would change once a week with the passage of time.
It was precisely because of this trading bulletin board that the Miracle Merchant Guild in any city-state or port was a gathering place for different merchants.
Some people also tried to imitate Lynd's exchange model, but they quickly gave up because this method not only required a large investment of human and material resources but also required extremely strong credibility, and this credibility not only needed strength to support it but also reputation to build it.
Among all the famous people on the continents of Westeros and Essos, those who possessed both points were few and far between, such as Robert Baratheon of the Iron Throne, the Sealord of Braavos, and so on, but the only person deeply trusted by numerous merchants was Lynd.
The reason for this is that Lynd possesses great strength and influence, and even more so, Lynd has the Seven Gods Church backing him; the Godsworn is not just a title in many people's minds but also a spokesperson for the Church, and those legendary stories have further convinced many people that Lynd is the embodiment of a deity.
With a deity's embodiment as the cornerstone of credibility, those merchants are naturally more willing to believe the commodity prices announced on the Miracle Merchant Guild's bulletin board.
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