Saying goodbye to the enthusiastic pilot, Lorraine knocked on the door with Pierce and was smoothly guided to the second floor by the brunette secretary to meet Mr. Piddick of the Management Committee.
Piddick was standard Celtic, with a round red nose and thick blonde hair.
His blonde hair was heavily greased, shiny and flat-fitting, and covered with a pure white curly wig to add a touch of proper bureaucracy.
With a tea set and the Drake family's aristocratic lineage at the bottom of the list, it was only the first time they met that Lorraine was qualified to sit on the couch.
The fine tea set from the Orient now sat on the coffee table between the two of them, and Piddick scrutinized the azure teacups lovingly.
Lorraine smiled and said, "The azure colored color glaze comes from a strange porcelain firing process in the Eastern Qing Dynasty, the full name of which is copper pinch enamel. This craft originated in the Zhou Dynasty over two thousand years ago and reached its peak during the Jingtai years of the Ming Dynasty, so it is also known as cloisonné."
"Amazing Tire Rotten ..." Mr. Piddick smashed his mouth, puzzling over the awkward pronunciation, "Mysterious Oriental Land, Mr. Learned Little Drake."
He carefully placed the teacup back in the wooden box and snapped the lid closed.
"Mr. Drake Jr. Are you really from Devon?"
"The identity of a disdainful scion who was banished from his family is not worthy of an impostor." Lorraine crossed her legs and shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, "Sir, I have brought some spices and East Indian pewter with me in hopes of securing a permanent position to do business in Elgin."
"Spices ... and pewter?" Mr. Piddick looked 㤞 surprised, "You look so young, and you've already hit the Orient?"
Lorraine lost his smile and waved his hand, "You misunderstand. Spices and pewter are the spoils of an unforgettable experience, and I am only a fledgling merchant, though sooner or later I will go to the East, but not now."
"I saw flashes of you again, courage, confidence and honesty."
"You flatter me."
A few pleasantries were exchanged and Mr. Piddick adjusted his sitting position and sat upright with his hands on his knees.
Lorraine, too, duly took up her seated position and met Mr. Piddick's calm gaze.
Now even Pierce Jr. knew that the main event was about to begin.
Mr. Piddick cleared his throat and softly summoned his secretary, instructing her to carefully put away the shocking tire rot and fetch a blank tax tag and a VIP invitation over.
The secretary gave young Lorraine a surprised look, but complied with Mr. Piddick's request to run a round trip.
Two letters were quickly laid before Lorraine, both on typed rolls of parchment, cut in foursquare, and engraved with a beautiful floral script.
Mr. Piddick asked for Lorraine's full name, first wrote a pass with a quill pen on the tax tag, signed it with his big name, stamped it with fire paint, and carefully affixed the ribbon flower while the fire paint was still wet.
He handed Lorraine the tax tag solemnly, "Mr. Drake Jr. Port Elgen welcomes a long stay of honest, courageous, confident, knowledgeable, and generous honorable blood like yours."
"By virtue of the tax license, you will enjoy the protection of the laws of Scotland under the supervision of Mr. Elgan."
"You can buy and sell normally in Ergen, purchase property, and book appointments, with a tax rate of twenty percent on each transaction, and separate settlements for buying and selling."
Buying and selling are settled independently, meaning that for each transaction, Black Harbor will take a total of 40% of the transaction amount, which is the world of black market traders.
This draw was ridiculously high, but after experiencing Cherbourg, Lorraine felt that it was worth its weight in gold again, and immediately held out his hands and solemnly accepted it.
"I thank Mr. Piddick for his trust and promotion, and I hope our friendship will be as long as the Scottish bagpipes and never end."
"That's what I'm hoping for."
Entry into the harbor was acquired. Lorraine rolled up the tax license and handed it to Pierce, looking curiously at the other paperwork on the table.
"Mr. Piddick, this is ...."
Mr. Piddick resumed his relaxed sitting position and smiled, "You are already a resident merchant in the harbor, and I must speak with you about the rules of trading in Ergen."
"Most of the black ports in Northwest Europe, including Elgen, do not support private transactions, and there are generally two ways for us to trade."
He held out two fingers and curled one of them, "The first is the Exchange, you must have your own property, registered with the Port Authority and subject to accounting scrutiny. Every transaction you make must be accounted for, and the Port Authority collects a commercial tax every three months, and still rebates you for your contributions to Black Harbor."
"Generally speaking, your half-yearly trade is over five thousand pounds with a 5% rebate, over ten thousand pounds, 10%, and up to 50%."
Lorraine mentally calculated that it was a trade of 50,000 pounds, and he would only be liable for a 10% drawback on the sale, first drawback and then refund, of course.
He nodded, "And the second?"
"The second, for traveling merchants without an exchange, such as yourself, is that Black Harbor has auctions every fifteen days, where taxes are drawn on the spot, not counted as a rebate, but the venue itself takes no additional commission."
Lorraine looked at Mr. Piddick with interest, "This is the invitation to the auction?"
"The auction doesn't need an invitation." Piddick smiled and corrected, "This is a VIP invitation to the auction."
"VIP?"
"The MC VIPs with their own private room have a more secluded environment, more spacious seating, and even the proper transaction tax is only 15% of the purchase price." Mr. Piddick smiled and handed the invitation to Lorraine, "Mr. Drake Jr, this is a gift as a friend, I hope you enjoy it."
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