During the harvest season, the Grace Market itself will also purchase a batch of famine relief grain for storage.

When market prices exceed the normal range of the famine relief warehouse, the warehouse will open and release grain or continue purchasing."

"What if merchants continue to speculate and hoard goods?"

"The Cheka will come knocking and will execute them for profiteering and treason."

Alexei opened his mouth wide: "Can it really be done this way?"

The Holy Alliance does not force the Local Monastery to keep tax grain, as long as they ensure enough grain reserves to resist small-scale disasters.

"But what does this have to do with the Grace Market being the crown of commerce and industry?"

"I'm about to talk about that." The limping old man suddenly glanced outside several times and even waved his hand several times before he resumed speaking.

"But there's a problem, where does the money come from? This is the question of how to make a profit."

Speaking of an exciting part, the limping old man picked up a piece of charcoal and began drawing and scribbling on the ground.

The operating model of the Grace Market is to centrally purchase food, raw materials, and agricultural and sideline products in rural areas.

For example, food, wood, wool, etc., are brought to towns and exchanged for farm tools and cloth. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Next, some town goods, like oil lamps, farm tools, and woolen fabrics as well as luxury goods (white sugar, spices) are transported back to the countryside, to meet rural needs.

Of course, these items are naturally expensive, so it's reasonable for the Grace Market to slightly raise prices.

However, the Saint's Grandson set a bottom limit for the Grace Market: necessities (salt, peat, etc.) must be priced uniformly by the Holy Alliance, not to exceed this price.

As for daily necessities and luxury goods, let the invisible hand take charge.

If troubles arise, they will settle it themselves.

Now that the Grace Market has made money through the scissors difference, will it be content with the status quo?

Impossible, the managers of Grace Markets everywhere have quotas, and doing well can lead to promotions all the way to the ry Court Barracks.

Moreover, the money from the scissors difference has to subsidize necessities and the price difference of the famine relief warehouse, with a portion taken away by the Priestly Order.

What is left might not even be enough for next year's start-up funds.

So this money needs to continue generating money, thus requiring probing market information everywhere to find where shortages exist and what the upper markets need.

According to these needs, local goods are tendered for uniform procurement, transport, and sale by traveling merchants.

It's not limited to town commodities; it also includes high-value rural products (oil products, high-grade timber), transported to county-level headquarters or other Grace Markets in rural areas for local sale.

This led to a plethora of goods at the county headquarters' Grace Market, and the appearance of Violet Eggs produced in Langsande County in restaurants within Shangruifo County.

The same applies to Grace Markets at county headquarters.

Products gathered from the entire county and produced by the county headquarters itself, apart from domestic sales, will be sold abroad by international merchants.

In doing so, the county headquarters itself gains revenue, a sum turned over to the ry Court Barracks (accounted for on paper), and another sum from tariffs given to the ry Court Barracks.

The revenue accounted on paper merely exists on the headquarters' books, in case one day His Holiness the Pope chooses a project and uses this money.

If headquarters doesn't have it, either they pull from their public treasury or wait for the Cheka to come knocking.

Aside from international trade, a vast exchange of goods within the Holy Alliance relies on this transportation network built by Catherine to be completed.

"Then what is the fundamental aspect of this transportation network, do you know?" The sweating doorkeeper grandpa asked with satisfaction.

Alexei raised his head after jotting down a whole notebook: "What?"

"Do you remember the road you traveled when you came?"

Alexey suddenly understood.

This is the key; Thousand River Valley has naturally developed water navigation, with virtually all county headquarters connected by waterways.

The Holy Alliance constructed numerous village-level roads from 1445 to 1449.

Out of wartime needs, they further built numerous transfer warehouses and freight docks along the river.

From 1450 to 1453, across four years, between Hundred Households Districts, villagers spontaneously built gravel paths, completing the construction of the final kilometer.

Roads and rivers are the foundations of the Holy Alliance's efficient commodity circulation.

"It truly is, a miracle." Alexei couldn't help applauding in admiration.

"Who can disagree?" Wiping the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, the limping old man looked at Alexei and couldn't help lamenting, "Young people these days love the hotbloodedness of the military and don't like listening to my cold, numerical talk.

I haven't had such a satisfying discussion in a long time; if only you were my student."

"I can be your student." Alexei had long realized the old man's uniqueness, "I will hire you as my private tutor."

"Hahaha, no need." The old man stood up with his cane and waved his hand, "I have something to attend to, I'll head off now."

......

Holding a notebook filled with notes, Alexei couldn't help but sigh: "The greatest gain of today's trip was hearing this discussion."

The guard beside him was yawning: "Really? I just found him quite verbose."

"Sigh, you don't understand."

Taking out the notebook, Alexei had just wanted to explain when he bumped into a solid chest.

He looked up, facing a Night Watcher with a pointed helmet.

The Night Watcher blocked his way and grasped the metal stick at his waist: "Someone reported you're a Falan spy, come with us."

"Who, who reported?" Alexei instinctively tried to hide the notebook behind him but was snatched by the Night Watcher.

Alexei's guard was about to move but was instantly confronted by a clockwork revolver at the back of his head: "Try moving once."

Alexei hastily said, "Don't move, it's okay, we're innocent."

"… and have stolen a considerable amount of intel." The Night Watcher flipped through the notebook in his hand, his face turning stern.

"No, I didn't steal it; someone told me beforehand." Seeing a limping figure appear from the sunset, Alexei seemed to see a savior.

"That's the one."

Seeing the limping old man slowly approach, several Night Watchers grew tense.

Once the limping old man stood in front, the leading Night Watcher saluted, "Manager Godan, the spy you reported has been apprehended."

"You, you…" Alexei was stunned, "You are… I, I'm not a spy…"

"Still say you're not, look at the detailed notes." The leading Night Watcher patted the notebook with a cold sneer, "Do you realize this amounts to espionage against the Holy Alliance?"

Pointing at Alexei, nearly enraged: "He told me everything, he's deliberately framing me!"

"Deliberately framing you? Do you have the Route Bridge Bureau's transit permit on you?" Godan retorted.

Alexei was momentarily speechless; he had come secretly, with a green light from André, naturally without a transit permit.

"I have a letter of introduction from Lord André, and I'm here to study."

"Do you have it on you?"

Alexei struggled: "It's with my companions, they're just outside the town, I'll take you to them."

"And outside the town, you'll have your accomplices ambush us?" The Night Watcher beside him raised the stick to smash down, but was blocked by Godan.

"Summon some militia, to go check the location he mentioned."

The Night Watcher shouted into the town, and seven or eight militia took out their clockwork pistols from home, mounted Night Watch Hall's horses, and galloped out of town.

With hands behind his back, standing before Alexei, Godan stern-faced, admonished the Night Watcher officer: "If it weren't for the mission leader sending me to secretly patrol, I wouldn't have discovered how lax your work is, nearly missing a Falan commercial spy.

This youngster's delicate skin and face screaming Falan, wearing a coarse leather jacket, doesn't raise your suspicions?

He circled Believers' Square dozens of times, asking about prices everywhere, drawing maps and notes in a notebook…"

"I'm here for academic exchange, of course, I'm documenting it!"

Godan looked at him with pity and helplessness: "I saw you noting those figures, and you not only didn't avoid suspicion but took out a notebook to record them, am I blind?

Besides, I talked about such dull things, who else but a commercial spy would listen?"

Alexei was anxious and furious: "Why didn't you stop me when I was noting them?"

"Nonsense." Godan donned his woolen hat, "If you were indeed a Falan spy but hadn't recorded those figures, I would've only reported an unfulfilled criminal spy.

You recorded them; I have reported a high-risk spy who has committed major criminal activity, take him away!"