Road to the Crown
Chapter 80: First profits from the beer trade

15th march 1574

"It was a great success!"

Sitting down in the dining chamber of my Palace inside the city, I watched the same group of merchants and Innkeepers that decided to go along with my plan just a few days ago. From the happy faces that they all presented when I asked about the results of the warm meals distribution at the farmlands, I didn't even need to hear their report to know the answer for my inquiry.

"That's great. Since I already left it completely to your own discretion, I just hope you won't try to make too much profit off the backs of my serfs. While earning a fair share is okay with me, don't forget this plot is nothing more than a small side business aimed at increasing everyone's welfare, rather than a real source of profit for any of us gathered here. Speaking of which, as some of you might've guessed, I didn't ask you all to come just so you could report the results to me!"

Gesturing to one of the servants standing beside the kitchen doors, I waited only for a moment as he ran towards the kitchen, only to go back with one more guy, rolling a huge barrel on the floor before setting it straight right beside the massive table that stood in the very centre of the chamber.

With a small barrel about a single Garn passed in the same instant to my hands, the main servant of the palace smashed the beer tap in the special, designated place in the barrel, pushing a specially weakened bit of wood inside the barrel, before turning the handle on top, and allowing the golden liquid to flow down to the small barrel I was holding.

"As you might see with your own eyes, this is the first barrel of the beer made in the new, castle brewery. Feel free to have a go with it!"

While occupying the barrel that was passed to my hands, I gestured at the barrel and then at the set of mugs placed in front of every guest of mine. But instead of taking a sip myself, I passed my own container to Elia's hands, allowing her to have a drink first. In reality, we already tried it before going to sleep last night, but as someone whose taste buds were already accustomed to the higher quality product, I doubted whether I could see the difference between the beer that stood in the barrel for a single night longer than the one we drank the day before.

"It's even better."

Hearing her soft whisper just beside my ear, I smiled lightly while watching the men not even passing their cups, but walking up to the barrel and getting their mugs filled, as if their anxiety brought by the lack of certainty whether the product that I finally brought would be even close to the one I offered to sway them in the first place.

Waiting for just long enough for everyone to have their containers filled with the beer, I stood up and raised my own small barrel.

"Gentlemen, let's all have the taste of the young beer of the Tarnowian Castle. Cheers!"

While calling them with the title distinct for the nobility I committed a serious faux pas, I couldn't care less in this great moment. As long as they would be satisfied with the beer, that was sure to reach heights way greater than anything produced anywhere else in the world in this age, today would be the day when the coffers of my family would finally start filling up!

"Cheers!"

With everyone raising their mugs, I took the lead, angling my own barrel and pouring quite a bit of the golden fluid right into my throat. As soon as the first drops of my own product entered my mouth, I couldn't help but feel surprised. The beer that I made with my system directly was obviously even better, but the one I was drinking right now, wasn't that far from reaching the level of the simpler one I presented all the way back at the first meeting!

"It's great!

"Woah!"

With all sorts of reactions that uniformly acknowledged the quality of the beer finally meeting my expectations, I lowered my own cup and passed it once again to Elia. Being the host of this meeting, I couldn't really drink that much, especially with all the other meetings I was going to attend to in a relatively soon.

"So, to sum the matters up. For the following weeks, I will be only able to produce about… hmm… Sixteen barrels a day. With how there is only five of them willing to work with me from the initial group that attended our first meeting, all of you will be eligible to get three barrels a day, but I will leave it to your own discretion to move them from my brewery to your taverns. As soon as I will obtain enough funds to expand the production, you can expect this number to double, triple or even quintuple soon!"

Sitting back after the initial toast, I smiled and looked at the everyone gathered before taking a long breath and picking up.

"With forty garns in each barrel, let's consider this type of the young beer as the cheaper one, bringing up the price for a single barrel to forty silvers. That means, with the current production rate, you will have to pay one red golden, and thirty silvers per day. But to make things easy, you can either pay every time you will be picking up the wares, or just pay upfront for the entire week, it's entirely up to you. As for the way to pay, just go to the castle and ask for my econom, Matsu."

While I was explaining the way in which we would finish up our daily deals, I instantly counted up the profits of my plan. With five of them paying up almost nine red goldens per week, it would add up to a bit over forty-six red goldens per week. With the cost of the grain and the fruits required to make this quantity of the beer and all the daily wages of the servants adding up to barely fifteen red goldens a week, I effectively more than doubled my weekly income!