Chapter 343 Trading

   As night fell, the King's Hall in the middle of the pyramid was illuminated by hundreds of burning braziers.

  Crazy drum beats and melodious flute sound blend together to form a wonderful exotic style.

  Three young and beautiful female dancers twirl and jump around the bonfire in the center of the hall.

  They were covered with a layer of oil, and their healthy and beautiful bodies were shining brightly in the firelight.

   More than a dozen Unsullied officers wore spiked helmets, sitting in their positions like sculptures, indifferent to everything in front of them.

   But not everyone is as unappreciative of beauty as they are.

  Katu Huya was so engrossed in watching the performance that his saliva almost drooled.

   While drinking sour persimmon wine, Samwell looked at the dancing girls with artistic appreciation.

  However, the distinguished guest beside him was not like this.

  This person has a pale and thin face, wearing an exaggerated gold silk robe, his bald head flickers slightly under the light of the campfire, and the same flickering, and the opal-colored gemstone inlaid on his nose.

  The man who seems to be more interested in fruit bowls than naked dancers is Xaro Xhoan Daxos, a wealthy businessman from Qarth.

  Although Qarth is ruled by the royal family in name, the actual power is in the hands of thirteen top wealthy businessmen, who are also known as the "Thirteen Giants".

   Xaro Xhoan Daxos was one of the thirteen.

  The youngest and most ambitious one.

  The drumbeat stopped abruptly, and the dancers knelt on their knees to salute.

   "You danced very well." Samwell applauded, and then looked at Xaro beside him, "What do you think? Honored guest?"

   "It is indeed an elegant and moving dance." Xaro said in an exaggerated tone, "The women of Astapor are so good under your training!"

  The corner of Samwell's mouth twitched. He wanted to explain that he didn't train any dancers at all, but he still didn't say it.

  There is no need to explain to this kind of person.

"Your Excellency Xaro, I heard Daenerys talk about you." Samwell showed a meaningful smile, "She said that you are friendly and hospitable. When she wandered to Qarth, it was thanks to your great help. "

   "Oh, Daenerys, the beautiful dragon queen, it is my honor to be praised by her." Xaro raised his glass, "Excuse me, are you of the same race as her? After all, you all have dragons."

   "We are the last true dragon blood in this world." Samwell raised his glass and touched each other.

  Xaro drank the wine in the glass, laughed and said:

   "In this case, we are friends. I don't know if the beautiful Dragon Queen told you that I once proposed to her, but unfortunately she didn't agree, otherwise, we should be relatives."

  Samwell thought of how this man turned a blind eye to the naked dancer just now, and he just wanted to laugh, but on the surface he put on a regretful expression:

   “That would be a shame.”

"Yes, what a pity." Xaro's eyes were filled with tears, "Since the beautiful Dragon Queen left, my mansion is as empty as a tomb, and the joy that that great city brought me dissipated like dust in my mouth .Ah! Why, you say, did she abandon me?"

  If it weren't for knowing that Xaro was not interested in women, and that Qartheians were proud of strong emotional fluctuations and regarded them as a sign of civilization, Samwell would have almost regarded this guy as a lover.

   "Perhaps your attitude is not sincere enough." Samwell said casually.

   "Insincere?" Xaro cried. "Do you know that I proposed to her fifty times! Every time I got the same cold refusal!"

   "Fifty times?" Samwell raised his glass to cover his expression, "Then I really blamed you."

"Yes. Daenerys is a cruel girl, how many men's hearts she has broken! A humble trader like me is like a gravel under her slender feet in jeweled sandals," said Xaro. Then, another crystal teardrop shed.

  Samwell was amazed to see it. It is not too difficult to cry at any time, but every time you cry, you only shed one tear, no more, no less, which is too much a test of acting skills.

   This one has obviously reached the realm of perfection.

"No matter what, I regard you as a friend." Samwell said, and suddenly changed the topic, "I didn't expect that you hired the cat group and the spear group to capture my city. Are all the people of Qarth like this? Is it rude?"

"You blamed me!" Xaro yelled. "We invited the Cats and Spears to Astapor to fight against you. We heard terrible rumors and learned that there was a riot in the city. Only then did you send mercenaries to help maintain order. You must also know that the stability of Slave Bay is particularly important to Qarth."

  Of course Samwell knew that Xaro was talking nonsense, but the other party's last sentence was the truth.

  The prosperity of Qarth is based on the slave trade, and the Slave Bay, as the source and center of the slave trade in Essos, is of course very important to Xaro and others.

   "Your Majesty Caesar." Xaro leaned forward slightly, and said, "The Thirteen Giants are willing to recognize your rule over Astapor, but the prerequisite is that you cannot prohibit the slave trade."

   "Oh? As long as I don't prohibit the slave trade, the Thirteen Giants are willing to recognize my rule over Astapor?"

"That's right." Xaro persuaded, "I know you have a compassionate heart, but the slave trade is extremely important to Astapor. If I'm not wrong, you should be short of food, right? Although You can now buy food with gold. But there are no gold mines in Astapor, and the gold will only be used less and less.

   As for your plowing up the banks of the Worm River... you are applauded. However, you may not know it. The hills of Astapor were once forested as well, but were destroyed by dragonfire in Valyria's war with the Gughis Empire.

  After the forest disappeared, the exposed soil was baked by the scorching sun and turned into flying red sand. Such land cannot grow much food. Your people will die of hunger and pain.

   This is a disaster! "

   "You're right." Samwell smiled. "Actually, I'm going to tell you that Astapor decided to continue the slave trade through a referendum two days ago."

"This is really a wise decision!" Xaro exclaimed excitedly, "You see, your people know that freedom is not as important as bread. It is better to be a slave who can feed your stomach than a free man who starves to death .”

  Samwell took a sip of the wine, feeling a little complicated, but soon, he put aside the extra thoughts and said:

   "However, although the slave trade continues, there will be no new Unsullied from now on."

  Xaro was stunned for a moment: "Why? Don't you know how popular the Unsullied in Astaba are? They are the best soldiers and guards. People will wave gold and come to you to buy Unsullied."

  Samwell shook his head firmly: "The training methods of the Unsullied are too inhuman."

   "It is true. But there is no shortcut to cultivating excellent fighters? Blacksmiths also need to burn fire, beat repeatedly, and then put them in ice water to temper. If you want to harvest sweet fruits, you must water them hard."

   "I have made a decision on this." Samwell insisted, "There will be no new Unsullied in the future. However, Astapor will still train slave soldiers."

   "Okay." Xaro shrugged, "if you insist. However, I must warn you that you are about to lose a large profit."

   "It's us." Samwell smiled, showing eight teeth.

  Xaro froze for a moment: "What do you mean?"

  Samwell smiled slightly, and said leisurely: "I am going to distribute half of the profits from the slave trade in Astapor to the thirteen giants of Qarth."

   "Are you kidding me?" Xaro's eyes flashed with greed, but soon he calmed down and asked, "What else do you want?"

   "There is indeed one more condition." Sam Wells said, "You also know that my foundation is in Westeros, where there are still many enemies to deal with. Therefore, I am going to take the Unsullied back..."

   "You need boats, right?"

"That's right." Samwell nodded, "I know that the Thirteen Giants are merchants in maritime trade and own hundreds of large ships. It should not be difficult for me to transport thousands of Unsullied back to Westeros Bar?"

  Xaro shook the wine glass, the red wine in the glass looked like blood under the light of the fire.

  He took a sip of wine and said with a smile:

   "You are really a shrewd person. You said it was a condition, but there is actually another hidden condition."

   "Oh?" Samwell smiled innocently, "Any other hidden conditions?"

"Since you want to leave Astapor with the Unsullied, why do you continue to control the city remotely? Paying half of the slave trade profits is actually to let us thirteen giants help you stabilize the situation in Astapor, Fight would-be pretenders."

  Samwell laughed out loud and did not deny it:

   "This proposal is beneficial to both of us. If my rule is overthrown, the new slave owner will not be so kind to give you ordinary profits."

  Xaro pondered for a moment, said:

   "If you can leave Slaver's Bay with Daenerys and her three dragons and restore the order here, then you will gain the support and friendship of the Thirteen Giants."

  Samwell smiled slightly and said:

"Can."

  Xaro looked at Samwell in surprise:

   "Are you so confident that you can convince the Dragon Queen? In my impression, she is a very stubborn girl."

  Samwell laughed loudly:

   "It just so happens that I am a very persuasive man."

   "That's right." Xaro was dubious, "However, if you can really convince the Dragon Queen, maybe Meereen and even Yunkai's slave trade, we can cooperate."

  Samwell shook his wine glass, showing an inexplicable smile:

   "OK, deal."

  Xaro also showed an exaggerated smile, got up and held Samwell's hand with both hands:

"make a deal."

  (end of this chapter)