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* OrwellianRetcon: When editing for publication in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', Dr Asimov changed the title and added an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry on [[ProudMerchantRace Foundation traders]]. He also changed the name of the main character from Lanthan Devers (who would show up again in "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation") to Limmar Ponyets, clarifying that these weren't the same characters.
to:
* OrwellianRetcon: When editing for publication in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', Dr Asimov changed the title and added an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry on [[ProudMerchantRace Foundation traders]]. He also changed the name of the main character from Lanthan Devers (who would show up again in "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation") to Limmar Ponyets, clarifying that these weren't the same characters. It was also placed chronologically before The Merchant Princes instead of after.
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* AncestorVeneration: The people of the planet Askone worship their ancestors, whom they believe to have been virtuous heroes who freed them from evil (i.e. the Galactic Empire), and put up richly-decorated shrines to their spirits, complete with altars ornamented with gold. They also shun advanced technology, which they came to associate with the Empire, and consider it to lie "under the ancestral interdict".
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* OffTheTable: Ponyets' original price for the transmuter is a large amount of iron. Whether it's his original intent or not, once Pherl tries to back out, he blackmails the nobleman into paying with much more expensive ''tin'', as much of it as his and Gorov's ships can carry.
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* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct: The story starts with Ponyats receiving such a message. By the time he finishes reading it, the page already starts falling apart into ashes.
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* {{Transmutation}}: A Foundation merchant bribes a government official on an anti-nucleonic planet to release a Foundation spy with a device that transmutes iron into gold. He then blackmails the official into buying the rest of his cargo at an insane markup with recordings of him using the nucleonic device.
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Limmar Ponyets ([[OrwellianRetcon originally Lanthan Devers]]), a member of the Foundation's Trader subculture, has been ordered to the Askone system, where the Foundation has been unable to find anyone willing to trade their [[AtomPunk nucleic technology]] for raw materials. He narrowly navigates the politics of Askone court to the executive ruler, the Grand Master. From there, he is able to use his training as a priest to fake a need to see Eskel Gorov.
Eskel Gorov, a secret agent of the Foundation, has been disguising himself as a Master Trader. The information itself is faked; he's not expected to produce a quota of raw minerals like Ponyets is, but his work is just as important. The Foundation has a treaty with Askone, whereby traders are not allowed to be selling nuclear technology because the citizens of Askone [[EvilLuddite believe that atomic power is demonic]]. Gorov was arrested and is sentenced to death. Ponyets was sent to rescue him.
Ponyets points out the silliness of sending a secret agent to do a trader's job, and a trader to do a secret agent's job. He leaves Gorov, promising to find a way to make a sale to Askone and to get the agent out of jail. A homemade iron-to-gold transmutation device and a couple of demonstrations later, and not only has Ponyets managed to do just what he said, he also gouged a bit of extra profit, too.
Eskel Gorov, a secret agent of the Foundation, has been disguising himself as a Master Trader. The information itself is faked; he's not expected to produce a quota of raw minerals like Ponyets is, but his work is just as important. The Foundation has a treaty with Askone, whereby traders are not allowed to be selling nuclear technology because the citizens of Askone [[EvilLuddite believe that atomic power is demonic]]. Gorov was arrested and is sentenced to death. Ponyets was sent to rescue him.
Ponyets points out the silliness of sending a secret agent to do a trader's job, and a trader to do a secret agent's job. He leaves Gorov, promising to find a way to make a sale to Askone and to get the agent out of jail. A homemade iron-to-gold transmutation device and a couple of demonstrations later, and not only has Ponyets managed to do just what he said, he also gouged a bit of extra profit, too.
to:
Limmar Ponyets ([[OrwellianRetcon originally Lanthan Devers]]), a member of the Foundation's Trader subculture, has been is ordered to go to the Askone system, a system where the Foundation has been is unable to find anyone someone willing to trade buy their [[AtomPunk nucleic technology]] for raw materials. He narrowly navigates the politics of Askone court materials, due to the executive ruler, the Grand Master. From there, [[EvilLuddite local religion]] being opposed to technology. Ponyets has a task: he is able to use his training as a priest to fake a need to see Eskel Gorov.
find and save Eskel Gorov, a secret agent of the Foundation, Foundation.
Narrowly navigating the politics of Askone's court, Ponyets manages to meet the Grand Master, the executive ruler of the planet, and uses his old training as a priest to convince the Grand Master to allow him to meet Gorov (who has beendisguising himself as a Master Trader. The information itself is faked; he's not expected to produce a quota of raw minerals like Ponyets is, but his work is just as important. The Foundation has a treaty with Askone, whereby traders are not allowed to be selling nuclear technology because the citizens of Askone [[EvilLuddite believe that atomic power is demonic]]. Gorov was arrested and is sentenced to death. Ponyets was sent death). When the two men meet, Gorov explains his mission: he has been tasked to rescue him.
find the means to sell anyone in power some of the Foundation's technology, since that would allow the Foundation to use that person as a way to convince Askone to relax their laws concerning technology. Ponyets points out the silliness of sending how silly it is to send a secret agent to do a trader's job, job and a trader to do a secret agent's job. He leaves Gorov, promising to find a way to make a sale to Askone job, and to get the agent promises Gorov he will fulfill both of their missions.
A few days later, Ponyets presents a device he has built out ofjail. supplies in his ship: a transmuter capable of transforming iron into gold. A homemade iron-to-gold transmutation test proves successful, and Ponyets convinces the Grand Master to accept that gold - and any other he can get out of the transmuter - as payment for Gorov's life. During the encounter, he also catches the attention of Pherl, the Grand Master's closest advisor and potential successor.
Pherl brings Ponyets to his estate, where he manages to blackmail the trader into selling him the transmuter, threatening to have him and Gorov killed, but Ponyets turns the tables on him by attaching a microfilm recorder to the device anda couple then using the record as proof of demonstrations later, and not only has Pherl using nuclear technology, something that would get him killed if people learned of it. In the end, Ponyets managed manages to do just what sell him his entire inventory at an obscene markup (two shipfuls of tin), while Pherl is set to become the future Grand Master with both the gold from the transmuter and the money he said, he also gouged a bit of extra profit, too.
may earn from trading with the Foundation.
Narrowly navigating the politics of Askone's court, Ponyets manages to meet the Grand Master, the executive ruler of the planet, and uses his old training as a priest to convince the Grand Master to allow him to meet Gorov (who has been
A few days later, Ponyets presents a device he has built out of
Pherl brings Ponyets to his estate, where he manages to blackmail the trader into selling him the transmuter, threatening to have him and Gorov killed, but Ponyets turns the tables on him by attaching a microfilm recorder to the device and
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* InterruptedBath: Limmar Ponyets is interrupted in his shower by a call from a fellow Trader bringing him an urgent assignment.
to:
* InterruptedBath: Limmar Ponyets is interrupted in his shower by a call from a fellow Trader bringing him an urgent assignment. The narration [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this event.
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incorrect information
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First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c". This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces".
to:
First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c".Creator/IsaacAsimov. This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces".
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correcting name
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
* LegendaryInTheSequel: Mayor Salvor Hardin, from the events of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists" and "Literature/TheMayor", is well-known enough, [[DistantSequel fifty years later]], that a new epigram has been attributed to him, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!"
to:
* LegendaryInTheSequel: Mayor Salvor Hardin, from the events of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists" and "Literature/TheMayor", "Literature/TheMayors", is well-known enough, [[DistantSequel fifty years later]], that a new epigram has been attributed to him, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!"
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short fiction goes in quotes, not italics
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c". This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] ''Literature/TheMerchantPrinces''.
to:
First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c". This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] ''Literature/TheMerchantPrinces''.
"Literature/TheMerchantPrinces".
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%%https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v34n02_1944-10_dtsg0318-LennyS/page/n63
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wedge.png]]
->''TRADERS... and constantly in advance of the political hegemony of the Foundation were the Traders, reaching out tenuous fingerholds through the tremendous distances of the Periphery. Months or years might pass between landings on Terminus; their ships were often nothing more than patchquilts of home-made repairs and improvisations; their honesty was none of the highest; their daring...''
-->-- [-''[[EncyclopediaExposita ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA]]''-], 116th edition, published in 1020 F.E.
First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c". This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] ''Literature/TheMerchantPrinces''.
Limmar Ponyets ([[OrwellianRetcon originally Lanthan Devers]]), a member of the Foundation's Trader subculture, has been ordered to the Askone system, where the Foundation has been unable to find anyone willing to trade their [[AtomPunk nucleic technology]] for raw materials. He narrowly navigates the politics of Askone court to the executive ruler, the Grand Master. From there, he is able to use his training as a priest to fake a need to see Eskel Gorov.
Eskel Gorov, a secret agent of the Foundation, has been disguising himself as a Master Trader. The information itself is faked; he's not expected to produce a quota of raw minerals like Ponyets is, but his work is just as important. The Foundation has a treaty with Askone, whereby traders are not allowed to be selling nuclear technology because the citizens of Askone [[EvilLuddite believe that atomic power is demonic]]. Gorov was arrested and is sentenced to death. Ponyets was sent to rescue him.
Ponyets points out the silliness of sending a secret agent to do a trader's job, and a trader to do a secret agent's job. He leaves Gorov, promising to find a way to make a sale to Askone and to get the agent out of jail. A homemade iron-to-gold transmutation device and a couple of demonstrations later, and not only has Ponyets managed to do just what he said, he also gouged a bit of extra profit, too.
"The Traders" was reprinted in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', the compilation of the first four stories, as well as ''Literature/The1000YearPlan'', the compilation of the first three stories.
----
!!"The Traders" provides examples of:
* AntiHero: The Foundation subculture of Traders defines much of itself on antiheroic principles. Their self-worth is tied to [[ProudMerchantRace their ability to make profits]], they travel [[SpaceCossacks beyond the Foundation border]], looking for new markets and big profits. Ponyets manages to achieve Gorov's goal of selling nucleics to Askone by {{Blackmail}}ing a government official to purchase his entire inventory at an obscene markup, offending Gorov's sense of ethical business.
-->''Tales without end are told of these massive, lonely figures who bore half-seriously, half-mockingly a motto adopted from one of Salvor Hardin's epigrams, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!" ''
-->-- '''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]''''s entry on traders
* {{Blackmail}}:
** Ponyets, a trader from the Foundation, talks privately with Pherl, the Grand Master's closest advisor. Pherl is able to blackmail the trader into selling a [[AtomPunk nucleic device]] that can transmute iron into gold. Ponyets tries to convince the Askoneian advisor to put his promise of payment in writing, but Pherl threatens him with the death penalty [[EvilLuddite because the entire planet hates atomic power]].
** When Pherl, a government official on Askone, pays Ponyets, a trader from the Foundation, for the [[AtomPunk nucleic transmuter]], the trader reveals a secret. Ponyets had installed a microfilm recorder in the transmutation machine, which recorded the Askonian official celebrating their ability to turn iron into gold. Because the people of Askone [[EvilLuddite hate atomic power]], Ponyets is able to extort Pherl by threatening to show the recording in the public square. The trader is able to exchange his whole stock of tech (mostly kitchen appliances and jewelry) at a hideous mark-up (two shipfuls of tin) that he can now bring back to Terminus.
* CrewOfOne: The three characters from the Foundation; Ponyets, Gorm, and Gorov, all have personal ships. If Ponyets's estimations of his ship is accurate (and assuming he doesn't have an exceptional ship), then they can also outfly and outfight more than one crewed ship at a time, so long as that ship isn't of Foundation design.
* DistantSequel: Created as an {{Interquel}} between "Literature/TheMayors" and "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces", occurring two decades before the latter (making it take place around 130 F.E.).
* EncyclopediaExposita: When published in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', this story is prefaced by the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' entry for the Traders.
* {{Epigraph}}: The original ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' publication had only [[LegendaryInTheSequel Salvor Hardin]]'s quote. [[OrwellianRetcon Later republications]] would cite an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry instead, but said entry would also include Hardin's epigram.
* EvilLuddite: Planet Askone associates all high tech with the First Empire (except for the few starships and such they managed to take when the Empire withdrew from their planet). To avoid the vices of the Empire, they shun science and the trade of sacrilegious technology.
* FictionalDocument: ''Blood of the Spirit'' is one of the religious texts used in the Foundation's [[ScamReligion Religion of Science]].
* FurAndLoathing: Despite being written in the 1940s, the Grand Master's fur collar is clearly being used to show how he's a greedy corrupt ruler for Askone.
* GuileHero: Limmar Ponyets is a trader for the Foundation, so he has to have a good eye for potential customers and salesmanship to persuade them to buy his stuff. In this story, he has to use these traits to {{Blackmail}} a government official and rescue a Foundation spy from a foreign government. Decades later, Askone has been effectively absorbed into the Foundation, their head of state is as bound by the [[ScamReligion Religion of Science]] as the Four Kingdoms are.
* {{Interquel}}: Despite being published in {{Pulp Magazine}}s as the fourth story in his growing ''[[Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy Foundation]]'' trilogy, Dr Asimov counted it as the third story in his publication of ''Literature/Foundation1951'', taking place before "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces".
* InterruptedBath: Limmar Ponyets is interrupted in his shower by a call from a fellow Trader bringing him an urgent assignment.
* LaserBlade: Gorov's mission on Askone is to be a black market salesman, selling Foundation-designed [[RaygunGothic nucleics]], such as knives with edges made from DeflectorShields. This is one of the [[UrExample oldest examples]] of the trope, as it first appeared in 1944.
-->"...To put it simply, if I could sell a penknife with a force-field blade to a nobleman, it would be to his interest to force laws that would allow him to use it. Put that baldly, it sounds silly, but it is sound, psychologically. To make strategic sales, at strategic points, would be to create a pro-nucleics faction at court."
* LegendaryInTheSequel: Mayor Salvor Hardin, from the events of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists" and "Literature/TheMayor", is well-known enough, [[DistantSequel fifty years later]], that a new epigram has been attributed to him, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!"
* TheNamesake:
** The original title, "The Wedge", refers to trade being the wedge that needs inserting into foreign cultures so that the Foundation can introduce their ScamReligion and slowly subvert control from the other interplanetary nations.
** The [[OrwellianRetcon revised]] title, "The Traders", refers to a subculture of Foundation agents. Limmar Ponyets is a member of said culture, and this story demonstrates how they use guile and salesmanship to convince the foreign markets to buy Foundation technology.
* NamingYourColonyWorld: [[NumberedHomeworld Glyptal IV]] is [[GarnishingTheStory briefly mentioned]] as a planet within the Foundation's sphere of trading/mail, where Les Gorm was given the job of delivering a message to Ponyets. The Greek word glyptos means carving or engraving, as in writing.
* NumberedHomeworld: Glyptal IV is [[GarnishingTheStory briefly mentioned]] as a planet within the Foundation's sphere of trading/mail, where Les Gorm was given the job of delivering a message to Ponyets. It overlaps with [[NamingYourColonyWorld Symbolically Named Planets]] because the Greek word glyptos means carving or engraving, as in writing.
* OrwellianRetcon: When editing for publication in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', Dr Asimov changed the title and added an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry on [[ProudMerchantRace Foundation traders]]. He also changed the name of the main character from Lanthan Devers (who would show up again in "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation") to Limmar Ponyets, clarifying that these weren't the same characters.
* ProudMerchantRace: The Foundation develops a subculture that calls themselves "the traders", [[SpaceCossacks who travel to the edges of the Foundation and beyond in personal shuttles, looking to trade technology for raw materials]]. Most of the time, when a new planetary nation is discovered, the technology is sold with the ScamReligion created in "Literature/TheMayors".
* RaygunGothic: This story starts going into detail about the sort of atom-powered devices that the Foundation has been building since Mayor Hardin proved that Terminus ruled the Four Kingdoms, rather than the other way around. They've made knives that generate a force-field blade, mechanical garbage disposers, and even transmutation machines (actually a modified food irradiation chamber, like a microwave oven).
* SecondHandStorytelling: Ponyets tells Gorov about his {{Blackmail}}ing of an Askonian government official after-the-fact in order to explain why a private navy is escorting them to an Askonian official's mining estates. Both of their ships are going to be filled with tin!
* SpaceCossacks: Limmar Ponyets, our protagonist, is part of Foundation's [[ProudMerchantRace Trader subculture]]. He owns a personal shuttle, packed with AtomPunk tech. He's expected to trade his technology for raw materials from interstellar nations beyond the edge of the Foundation.
* WorthlessYellowRocks: Trader Ponyets, from the Foundation, is surprised that some planet wants gold as ransom for a captured person - for him it is "old fashioned". He quickly [[GuileHero capitalizes on their desire]], and arranges for a demonstration of transmuting iron into gold. He manages to sell all of his [[AtomPunk nucleic tech]] in exchange for raw materials and the captured Foundation agent. Afterwards, Ponyets talks with the agent, explaining how the ability to make a transmutation device is possible, but hideously power-consumptive, which is why Terminus needs traders to go out and collect raw materials instead of simply transmuting them back home.
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wedge.png]]
->''TRADERS... and constantly in advance of the political hegemony of the Foundation were the Traders, reaching out tenuous fingerholds through the tremendous distances of the Periphery. Months or years might pass between landings on Terminus; their ships were often nothing more than patchquilts of home-made repairs and improvisations; their honesty was none of the highest; their daring...''
-->-- [-''[[EncyclopediaExposita ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA]]''-], 116th edition, published in 1020 F.E.
First published in ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' (October 1944 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, under the name "c". This ScienceFiction ShortStory is the fourth work published in ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'', but takes place [[{{Interquel}} before]] ''Literature/TheMerchantPrinces''.
Limmar Ponyets ([[OrwellianRetcon originally Lanthan Devers]]), a member of the Foundation's Trader subculture, has been ordered to the Askone system, where the Foundation has been unable to find anyone willing to trade their [[AtomPunk nucleic technology]] for raw materials. He narrowly navigates the politics of Askone court to the executive ruler, the Grand Master. From there, he is able to use his training as a priest to fake a need to see Eskel Gorov.
Eskel Gorov, a secret agent of the Foundation, has been disguising himself as a Master Trader. The information itself is faked; he's not expected to produce a quota of raw minerals like Ponyets is, but his work is just as important. The Foundation has a treaty with Askone, whereby traders are not allowed to be selling nuclear technology because the citizens of Askone [[EvilLuddite believe that atomic power is demonic]]. Gorov was arrested and is sentenced to death. Ponyets was sent to rescue him.
Ponyets points out the silliness of sending a secret agent to do a trader's job, and a trader to do a secret agent's job. He leaves Gorov, promising to find a way to make a sale to Askone and to get the agent out of jail. A homemade iron-to-gold transmutation device and a couple of demonstrations later, and not only has Ponyets managed to do just what he said, he also gouged a bit of extra profit, too.
"The Traders" was reprinted in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', the compilation of the first four stories, as well as ''Literature/The1000YearPlan'', the compilation of the first three stories.
----
!!"The Traders" provides examples of:
* AntiHero: The Foundation subculture of Traders defines much of itself on antiheroic principles. Their self-worth is tied to [[ProudMerchantRace their ability to make profits]], they travel [[SpaceCossacks beyond the Foundation border]], looking for new markets and big profits. Ponyets manages to achieve Gorov's goal of selling nucleics to Askone by {{Blackmail}}ing a government official to purchase his entire inventory at an obscene markup, offending Gorov's sense of ethical business.
-->''Tales without end are told of these massive, lonely figures who bore half-seriously, half-mockingly a motto adopted from one of Salvor Hardin's epigrams, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!" ''
-->-- '''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]''''s entry on traders
* {{Blackmail}}:
** Ponyets, a trader from the Foundation, talks privately with Pherl, the Grand Master's closest advisor. Pherl is able to blackmail the trader into selling a [[AtomPunk nucleic device]] that can transmute iron into gold. Ponyets tries to convince the Askoneian advisor to put his promise of payment in writing, but Pherl threatens him with the death penalty [[EvilLuddite because the entire planet hates atomic power]].
** When Pherl, a government official on Askone, pays Ponyets, a trader from the Foundation, for the [[AtomPunk nucleic transmuter]], the trader reveals a secret. Ponyets had installed a microfilm recorder in the transmutation machine, which recorded the Askonian official celebrating their ability to turn iron into gold. Because the people of Askone [[EvilLuddite hate atomic power]], Ponyets is able to extort Pherl by threatening to show the recording in the public square. The trader is able to exchange his whole stock of tech (mostly kitchen appliances and jewelry) at a hideous mark-up (two shipfuls of tin) that he can now bring back to Terminus.
* CrewOfOne: The three characters from the Foundation; Ponyets, Gorm, and Gorov, all have personal ships. If Ponyets's estimations of his ship is accurate (and assuming he doesn't have an exceptional ship), then they can also outfly and outfight more than one crewed ship at a time, so long as that ship isn't of Foundation design.
* DistantSequel: Created as an {{Interquel}} between "Literature/TheMayors" and "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces", occurring two decades before the latter (making it take place around 130 F.E.).
* EncyclopediaExposita: When published in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', this story is prefaced by the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' entry for the Traders.
* {{Epigraph}}: The original ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' publication had only [[LegendaryInTheSequel Salvor Hardin]]'s quote. [[OrwellianRetcon Later republications]] would cite an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry instead, but said entry would also include Hardin's epigram.
* EvilLuddite: Planet Askone associates all high tech with the First Empire (except for the few starships and such they managed to take when the Empire withdrew from their planet). To avoid the vices of the Empire, they shun science and the trade of sacrilegious technology.
* FictionalDocument: ''Blood of the Spirit'' is one of the religious texts used in the Foundation's [[ScamReligion Religion of Science]].
* FurAndLoathing: Despite being written in the 1940s, the Grand Master's fur collar is clearly being used to show how he's a greedy corrupt ruler for Askone.
* GuileHero: Limmar Ponyets is a trader for the Foundation, so he has to have a good eye for potential customers and salesmanship to persuade them to buy his stuff. In this story, he has to use these traits to {{Blackmail}} a government official and rescue a Foundation spy from a foreign government. Decades later, Askone has been effectively absorbed into the Foundation, their head of state is as bound by the [[ScamReligion Religion of Science]] as the Four Kingdoms are.
* {{Interquel}}: Despite being published in {{Pulp Magazine}}s as the fourth story in his growing ''[[Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy Foundation]]'' trilogy, Dr Asimov counted it as the third story in his publication of ''Literature/Foundation1951'', taking place before "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces".
* InterruptedBath: Limmar Ponyets is interrupted in his shower by a call from a fellow Trader bringing him an urgent assignment.
* LaserBlade: Gorov's mission on Askone is to be a black market salesman, selling Foundation-designed [[RaygunGothic nucleics]], such as knives with edges made from DeflectorShields. This is one of the [[UrExample oldest examples]] of the trope, as it first appeared in 1944.
-->"...To put it simply, if I could sell a penknife with a force-field blade to a nobleman, it would be to his interest to force laws that would allow him to use it. Put that baldly, it sounds silly, but it is sound, psychologically. To make strategic sales, at strategic points, would be to create a pro-nucleics faction at court."
* LegendaryInTheSequel: Mayor Salvor Hardin, from the events of "Literature/TheEncyclopedists" and "Literature/TheMayor", is well-known enough, [[DistantSequel fifty years later]], that a new epigram has been attributed to him, "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!"
* TheNamesake:
** The original title, "The Wedge", refers to trade being the wedge that needs inserting into foreign cultures so that the Foundation can introduce their ScamReligion and slowly subvert control from the other interplanetary nations.
** The [[OrwellianRetcon revised]] title, "The Traders", refers to a subculture of Foundation agents. Limmar Ponyets is a member of said culture, and this story demonstrates how they use guile and salesmanship to convince the foreign markets to buy Foundation technology.
* NamingYourColonyWorld: [[NumberedHomeworld Glyptal IV]] is [[GarnishingTheStory briefly mentioned]] as a planet within the Foundation's sphere of trading/mail, where Les Gorm was given the job of delivering a message to Ponyets. The Greek word glyptos means carving or engraving, as in writing.
* NumberedHomeworld: Glyptal IV is [[GarnishingTheStory briefly mentioned]] as a planet within the Foundation's sphere of trading/mail, where Les Gorm was given the job of delivering a message to Ponyets. It overlaps with [[NamingYourColonyWorld Symbolically Named Planets]] because the Greek word glyptos means carving or engraving, as in writing.
* OrwellianRetcon: When editing for publication in ''Literature/Foundation1951'', Dr Asimov changed the title and added an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry on [[ProudMerchantRace Foundation traders]]. He also changed the name of the main character from Lanthan Devers (who would show up again in "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation") to Limmar Ponyets, clarifying that these weren't the same characters.
* ProudMerchantRace: The Foundation develops a subculture that calls themselves "the traders", [[SpaceCossacks who travel to the edges of the Foundation and beyond in personal shuttles, looking to trade technology for raw materials]]. Most of the time, when a new planetary nation is discovered, the technology is sold with the ScamReligion created in "Literature/TheMayors".
* RaygunGothic: This story starts going into detail about the sort of atom-powered devices that the Foundation has been building since Mayor Hardin proved that Terminus ruled the Four Kingdoms, rather than the other way around. They've made knives that generate a force-field blade, mechanical garbage disposers, and even transmutation machines (actually a modified food irradiation chamber, like a microwave oven).
* SecondHandStorytelling: Ponyets tells Gorov about his {{Blackmail}}ing of an Askonian government official after-the-fact in order to explain why a private navy is escorting them to an Askonian official's mining estates. Both of their ships are going to be filled with tin!
* SpaceCossacks: Limmar Ponyets, our protagonist, is part of Foundation's [[ProudMerchantRace Trader subculture]]. He owns a personal shuttle, packed with AtomPunk tech. He's expected to trade his technology for raw materials from interstellar nations beyond the edge of the Foundation.
* WorthlessYellowRocks: Trader Ponyets, from the Foundation, is surprised that some planet wants gold as ransom for a captured person - for him it is "old fashioned". He quickly [[GuileHero capitalizes on their desire]], and arranges for a demonstration of transmuting iron into gold. He manages to sell all of his [[AtomPunk nucleic tech]] in exchange for raw materials and the captured Foundation agent. Afterwards, Ponyets talks with the agent, explaining how the ability to make a transmutation device is possible, but hideously power-consumptive, which is why Terminus needs traders to go out and collect raw materials instead of simply transmuting them back home.
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