[Pride and Prejudice] Rich Lady

From the window of his study, Mr. Bennet could see the girls in the courtyard happily trying to fly the kite into the sky. Although they hadn't succeeded yet, even the most stable and quiet Jane was running and laughing on the grass.

Kite - the most fashionable sport that is popular all over London, and imaginable to be spread everywhere, was actually invented by the Bennet girl?

The wildest stories dare not write like this!

Mr. Bennet squeezed the space between his eyebrows, and looked at his favorite daughter seriously, with an extremely complicated expression.

"Maybe you'd like to tell your shocked father the whole story." Mr. Bennet didn't look at the pound in the box again, but asked Elizabeth to tell the whole story of her boarding school life in the past six months.

Mr. Bennet wanted to know what kind of place Taurice College was that could change his dear little Lizzie so much in such a short time.

Elizabeth readily agreed, which was exactly what she wanted, and she hoped that her father would consider sending her three younger sisters to study in Taoris.

"...Miss Laura Cliff and I hit it off right away. She is a smart and intelligent lady. We hit it off very, very well. We have similar thoughts and interests. She has given me a lot of help."

"I'm glad you've made real friends, Lizzie," said Mr. Bennet, "and I'm horrified at your audacity."

"If you have not lost the virtue of prudence, you should remember the advice in the Book of Proverbs 'Interest drives behind all kinds of virtues and vices'. According to your words, in just over a month, these two It's extremely dangerous, Lizzie, to bring you thousands of pounds of profit without even carefully considering the 'investment', Lizzie!" Father looked into Elizabeth's eyes and said seriously.

"Once the news is leaked, do you know how dangerous it will be? God's priests dare not say that they can ignore such a high profit." He sneered: "The decent and fashionable industry is the most terrible. Dry. Your value, any extremely terrible means can be used."

"And you, young ladies who are inexperienced and smart and reckless, are the most delicious piece of meat hanging on the branch." Mr. Bennet warned her sternly, and he must make her understand the risks involved. A fairly reliable agent can completely avoid it.

"Maybe the Bennet family is not a strong backer, but Lizzie, you feel safest only in this port, don't you? Your father is not too old, and he is willing to protect you under his wings."

"You don't say anything, and you bear it alone, which makes me sad."

Elizabeth felt sorry for her father, and she quickly said that she didn't intend to conceal it, but because she really didn't expect that just a kite would have such a big impact-"I originally thought that I probably learned it from me with the lace workshop. A new weaving method is about the same, at most the kite method will return a little more guineas... The kite is all due to Laura's aristocratic circle and Mr. Jared's superb skills."

Elizabeth did not pay much attention to this small experiment at first, and felt that Laura was a little blindly optimistic.But she underestimated Laura's understanding of that class, and also underestimated how much a novel and elegant sport in this era would shake the idle and flustered upper class.

"I don't intend to blame you, but I just want to get a guarantee that you will always be sober and prudent." Mr. Bennet worried that Elizabeth would be blinded by this lightly acquired property and forget the virtue of contentment, just like someone who got sweets at the gambling table Gamblers, addicted to the taste of easy money, can no longer get paid in a down-to-earth manner.Not only the impoverished and ignorant hooligans, but even the gentlemen who are well-mannered, there are many people who are down and out because of their addiction to betting on horses.

Elizabeth picked out the new contract with Mr. Jared's kite shop, and answered her father with facts: "It's really nice to accumulate pounds quickly. It's like being favored by the goddess of luck. But dear dad, I always knew, Greed that sinks one's feet in the mud and is constantly on the alert - which prompted me to draw up a new contract with Mr. When I can’t come up with new ideas, I will voluntarily give up those pounds that are more than what I paid, and I will only get the profit of the first floor of the London kite shop just like Laura.”

"Lola put some pounds into investing in Mr. Jared's kite shop. And they all agreed that I'd be a part of it with a new twist."

No matter how many kite shops Mr. Jared opens in Europe while she is still supplying the kite shops with styles and patterns, Elizabeth will get three tiers of the total profit.And when this stage passes, she will, like Lola, only take one layer of profits from the London kite shop.After the social season is over, a kite shop won't be very profitable.

"After the social season is over, I plan to stop offering it," Elizabeth said.

"I think that's sensible." Mr. Bennet nodded gratifiedly.

After finishing talking about the most important thing, he changed the subject and raised the corner of his mouth: "I have to say, Lizzie, you make me proud! What you did is even better than my highest expectations for the children!"

'Courageous, calm, enterprising, self-disciplined! 'Mr Bennet thought that most accomplished gentlemen could not possess all these qualities, but his little Lizzie has achieved it--if Longbourn had a male heir, he could not do better than Lizzie. .

How lucky Elizabeth is that she has a truly respectable father: Mr. Bennet is knowledgeable, wise and generous, and never negates the efforts and success of his daughters because they are not boys.

------

The atmosphere in the study room became harmonious again.

Elizabeth told her father: "When the kite orders were outstripping demand, I had, to tell you the truth, the idea of ​​being disgraced. I wanted Uncle Gardner to get involved, and I even wanted him to be our agent instead. .Luckily, I kept my integrity and didn't mess things up."

Mr. Bennet couldn't agree more with her approach: "Thank God, Lizzie! You didn't make a decision lightly because you wanted to help them. If you did, you would not only lose your friendship, but you would also put Mr. Gardner in trouble." Get into trouble, and you won't make any money."

Both father and daughter can clearly see that this kind of elegant sport from the Ming Dynasty can be popular in London, which is inseparable from the background of the Baroness and Mr. Jared.If Uncle Gardner was in charge of this business, not only would he not be able to get the help of Viscountess Sterling, but it would also be difficult to convince Laura's father to introduce Uncle Gardner into the high social circle.Knowing this, Elizabeth stopped her thoughts in time, which is why Elizabeth didn't ask Uncle Gardner to act as her and Laura's agent before.

"Thanks for staying awake," whispered Elizabeth.

"What kind of man is Mr. Jared?" asked Mr. Bennet.

"He's an honest and capable man." Elizabeth smiled. "This gentleman is very flexible. After the business started, he spent money to buy a small title from Finland. After he has the title of nobility, he is more popular in London. Although everyone knows that this title is completely false."

Finland is still a territory of Sweden, but since the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden a few years ago, the domestic situation in Sweden has been chaotic, and the control over Finland is very insufficient, and the Russian emperor is eyeing Finland - thanks to Baron Cliff who is obsessed with politics, Only they could know this, and Mr. Jared easily bought a small piece of barren land from a Finnish earl who lived in England, with a baronship attached to that land.

"Dad, do you want to have a good-sounding title? Mr. Jared's upper-class nobleman, the family seems to have many small titles that are not needed--Mr. Earl is going to settle in London to avoid the current situation in Finland, and he is happy to sell it Lesser titles in exchange for pounds."

Elizabeth smiled and said, "Father can ask Mr. Jared to introduce him. With only one hundred pounds, we can say that we are the baron's lady, but that is a foreign baron."

Mr. Bennet laughed: "I don't like ribbons like Sir Lucas does. In Longbourn or even London, the title of Finland is of no use to British gentlemen, only 'foreign merchants' like Mr. Jared The title can be exploited. They can use it to open up a market, and business optimism can make the right to wear the coat of arms more valuable."

After joking for a while, Elizabeth formally stated her plan to Mr. Bennet and asked for his advice and help.

"...the Bennets are established as a farm, and I know papa has no intention of changing that, and in fact, there is no need to change. Even the richest merchants in the city expect to buy a piece of land in order to establish themselves as gentlemen, and I know that How difficult it is.” Daisy’s father, the shipowner, once hoped to buy a piece of land in Kent and build a manor on it, so that he could smoothly enter the gentleman class.But he failed. The down-and-out aristocrat who owned the land looked down on the merchant and would never allow it to be sold to him, but would rather sell the land to another aristocrat with a title at a discount.

If Mr. Bennet ignores the family property and goes into business for his daughter, this will definitely arouse doubts and ridicule, and what is more serious will cause the Bennet family to lose their status as squires. At the end of the 18th century, England was aggressive but conservative. Just imagine a country where a cane is required to be licensed (gentlemen must abide by some rules, otherwise they will lose the cane license). It is not surprising that the barriers of class are hard to break for a while. ——Although money worship has become fashionable, at least the upstarts need more efforts for people to recognize the new class.

Elizabeth euphemistically expressed her initial difficulty in concealing her father: a gentleman's daughter going to run a business would undoubtedly shame her father.This is why Laura always chooses to cover up the truth. Baron Cliff is far less enlightened than Mr. Bennett. If he finds out, Laura will undoubtedly be expelled from the family.

Mr. Bennet expressed his understanding to his daughter, but he still disagreed: "Even if you can't participate directly, you still have uncles who are businessmen and uncles who are lawyers. You can get their help through me, can't I To keep our secret? In fact, I am going to visit Mr. Phillips in Meryton and ask him some legal matters."

Mr. Bennet laughed jokingly. His brother-in-law would never think of Lizzie, but only thought that he wanted to invest in some new properties to save more property for the ladies.

"Good dad, since you've forgiven me, let's not talk about those things again." Elizabeth pouted falsely.

"Listen to my thoughts: While our farm has long since introduced a 4-year crop rotation in Norfolk, which has resulted in far more crops than our ancestors did, there are better crop rotations in the city, More suitable to the climate of Longborn than wheat-oats-clover-radish. There are also many crops, such as clover, hops, potatoes, which are more popular than alfalfa and wheat, and are widely cultivated in many southern lands-- Why don't we make changes? In decent circumstances."

Elizabeth was puzzled when she learned that the family farm was still using the Nokford crop rotation system created by Lord Townsend in the 30s: You must know that there have been many new improvements that are more suitable for the local area, so greater success has been achieved. economic return.Longbourne is only 24 miles from the heart of England, but it seems to be isolated from the world. Those advanced methods and technologies have not contributed to improving the economic situation of the Longbourne family.

— Mrs. Rowan didn't even have a carriage, because her family income was less than six hundred pounds a year, and she couldn't afford it.This can already be called a dilapidated country gentry's home, but it still hasn't found a way to change the increase in production.

The people seemed to turn a deaf ear to it, and only talked about hunting, balls, and marriages of their children.

Elizabeth brought too many surprises to Mr. Bennet during this half day. He once imagined such a beautiful scene: he and the heir of Longbourn sat in the study and dealt with affairs together, discussing the family business and development together, father and son The two expressed their opinions and worked hard to strengthen the Bennet family.Without a son, Mr. Bennet thought this dream would never come true.

The father's eyes were a little moist, and his voice was extremely soft: "Little Lizzie, father, since you have such an insight, why don't you speak it out immediately, we can discuss it together - if what you say makes sense, I am very happy to follow. "

So Elizabeth immediately rang the bell and asked Sarah, the maid, to bring a stack of papers from her room: "Thanks to the rich collection of books in the London Public Library, and Lady Anne's tenants, I got a lot of useful things..."

Until Mrs. Bennet knocked on the oak door of the study and invited them to have breakfast, the father and daughter still had something to say.

At the dining table, Elizabeth was chewing on boiled beans, and suddenly remembered: "Dad, have the peas on our farm been sown into the soil?"

Mr. Bennet shook his head, "Not yet, the workers on the farm are going to do the work this weekend. What, what does my little Lizzie think?"

Looking at her younger sister who was discussing the farm affairs with her father, Jane admired her very much, and decided to ask Lizzie to help them borrow some useful books from the London library to increase their knowledge.She had heard Lizzie say that there were many useful books in the London library, unlike Meryton's circulating library, which was mostly filled with women only.

Jane turned her head to discuss with Mary, who also loves to read, and immediately got the lady's approval.But staying away from them, Kitty and Lydia quietly grimaced. Compared to them, who would like to read those blunt and dry tomes aloud?

The author has something to say: The little angel has been waiting for a long time, and I will be in the clip today, so it will be updated later.It will still be updated at nine tomorrow.