[Pride and Prejudice] Rich Lady

The short summer term ended, and before Elizabeth left Taurice, she was lucky enough to receive a letter from her friend, Mr. William.In any case, it was Elizabeth's duty to write back in time to tell the punctual gentleman that she was going home for the longest joyous holiday of the year, and would be unable to correspond with him for nearly two months.

Mr. William had told Elizabeth in his last letter that he was about to make a risky decision.Most people are not optimistic that this investment will not be successful, but he has made up his mind and has submitted an application. If the application is approved, then he will be happy to share his joy with Miss Lizzie.

Elizabeth secretly guessed, but she didn't guess what kind of investment it was, and it still needs to be approved by the government.

In this letter, Mr. William excitedly told her that his authorized road construction bill had been passed, and he was about to start implementing the tax collection road construction plan.Mr. William's pen is very big. He has two construction plans, one in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, near London, and the other in Derbyshire, but the former is a road plan with a shorter distance.

Meryton belongs to Hertford, and Hatfield, a large town next door, is a nearby transportation hub. Mr. William obtained the tax collection authorization for the construction of a section of road here, which is really a good investment.

Mr. William wrote in the letter: "My friends, the nobles I know, and the businessmen I heard are all optimistic about Hatfield's investment and are willing to raise funds to participate in the construction plan. But for Derbyshire's plan, generally I don’t agree. They persuaded me to do charity in another way, such as donating money to the church to help the poor.”

"But Derbyshire is the foundation of the family, the hometown of Anna and I. Between the forest, the valley and the lake, there are farms, pastures and manors. 100 years ago, the wine brewed here was the best wine in England. Of course, now I I think so too. My dear lady, I do hope to have you visit here one day, I am sure you will be fascinated, the gardens and grounds here are the most beautiful in England - and I will be happy to serve you with a bottle of wine from my collection .”

Mr. William told Elizabeth that because of the mountains and water in Derbyshire, the swamps and hills are not suitable for living. Most people live in the valley plain formed by the impact of the southern river.The entire county has a small population, and the proportion of land that can be used for farming and grazing is not high, which makes most businessmen not optimistic about this place.But people can always do their best: a hundred years ago it was the center of England's winemaking, it started producing porcelain 50 years ago, and now it has developed a silk weaving industry.Mr. William also revealed that one of his family businesses is mining limestone, which is said to have abundant reserves.However, due to poor traffic and narrow roads, people's income is always not improved, and half of the profits become transportation costs.

"...Maybe the ladies don't know much about the Tax Road Act. In fact, if it weren't for Miss Lizzie, I wouldn't have thought of investing in roads, and then I would know something about it."

Elizabeth was slightly taken aback, but she had never written anything related to this.In fact, she didn't even know that England's roads can be privately undertaken and can be taxed.

She continued to look down, and Mr. William wrote: "It was the lady who reminded me that the French wars continued, and it became difficult and dangerous for the English to go to Europe. This made me think that there are indeed many more tourists visiting Derbyshire. I The superintendent wrote to me saying that there are far more people requesting to visit the manor than a few years ago, and he would only invite the most polite people in. So I asked someone to do a simple calculation, and the result was surprising : The number of visitors to Derbyshire in the past five years is ten times the total population of Derbyshire - this is only a rough conclusion, the actual number must be more! People began to explore the beautiful scenery of the country, and Derbyshire is a good place where to go. It made me firm in my decision to invest.”

Mr. William is very considerate. He understands Miss Lizzie's character very well, and told her the inside story of the toll road that most girls are not interested in: "...the authority period of full power to build and manage new roads is 21 years, and the bill will be passed after the authority period Identify people to maintain the roads that have been built, so private (often fundraised, multiple contributors) build roads much faster than governments, who need as long a tax redemption period as possible.”

"A new road will bring a lot of jobs to the local area. Some jobs, such as digging, can be performed by anyone. This time, the income of the local people is unprecedentedly good, so those people think that I am using the wealth accumulated by my ancestors to 'do it. Charity'. About 45-50 pounds for a mile of road construction, though I imagine Hatfield would be a little lower, and Derbyshire might be as much as fifty pounds, where the population is somewhat underpopulated...”

Reading Mr. William's letters is not only a kind of enjoyment, but also can always increase knowledge. After reading the letter, Elizabeth realized that five horses were needed to pull a cart 50 years ago, but now a two-wheeled cart with three horses can hold ten feet. To carry goods, and on the newly built road, only one horse is needed.Fewer livestock means lower transportation costs, which in any case equates to increased profits, not to mention significantly shorter transportation times.

This made Elizabeth think that from Longbourne to London, except for a short section of the road near the city, which is a road with gutters, the rest are narrow dirt roads, which are muddy when it rains.Pedestrians and carriages will suffer.In addition, the road from Meryton to the neighboring town of Hatfield is not easy, which means that Meryton is much more difficult to import raw materials and export goods - Bennet's "Violet" store has already spread its reputation , is a clothing store that even ladies in the city will patronize.

From Jane's letter, it can be seen that the increase in turnover has leveled off, and Elizabeth guesses that this has something to do with the road.Moreover, Uncle Gardner's workshop is located between Meryton and Hatfield, and the profit of the workshop must be increased by volume, which also shackles Uncle Gardner's business.Perhaps Uncle Gardner had thought of this earlier and opened the workshop near Hatfield, but this was only a slight improvement.

Elizabeth's brain ached from thinking about it, and she sighed helplessly as she scratched at the words in the letter, "The construction of a mile of road costs about 45-50 pounds".Whenever she thinks that she has been considered a success, someone or something will come out to wake her up: she admits that all her properties are not enough to afford the construction of a new road-the pure investment up front will wear down Her industry capital chain, and the entire Bennet family, together with her friends, did not have enough prestige and experience to organize such a large-scale investment plan. Just recruiting management workers was the biggest problem.

The young lady liked to read Mr. William's letter, but she couldn't help being a little frustrated.Even the generous dividends from the sewing machine factory did not interest the young lady, who was smirking at the Bank of England certificate of deposit before opening the letter.

The first bonus was a surprise indeed. Neither Elizabeth nor Jared could have imagined that the sewing machine factory would turn a profit quickly, and that with the countless orders came a huge sum of money.Of course, this is thanks to the benefactor of Mr. George, the great nobleman for his great help, almost helping to solve all the technical problems.

Mr. Jared is more and more grateful to Elizabeth. This bonus includes not only the two-tiered profit of the sewing machine factory for one quarter, but also the additional "thank you" for the drawings from him and Mr. Earl. This is a joint decision of the two partners. Elizabeth Did not refuse.

"Lizzie! I heard from the maid that there is a four-wheeled carriage parked outside the gate of the college. The emblem on the carriage is something she has never seen before. It is not the coat of arms of the nobles. But I think it is familiar, like the sign of your uncle's shop. Daisy has a custom-made baby dress from Violet Shop, she often wears it, I have seen that special pattern. Is your uncle's carriage here to pick you up?" Laura knocked on the oak door and asked in the bedroom : "Have you packed your salute?"

Elizabeth was so delighted that she stopped writing the letter and stuffed it in the glued envelope after hastily finishing.She thought that the family's carriage must have come to pick her up. Jane was always so considerate and careful, no wonder the last time she sent a letter asking her to tell her the date of returning home.

"I guess it belongs to your family." Laura smiled, "So I have already rang the bell, and the maid will come to help you with your luggage."

"Don't thank me," Laura cut off her friend's words, and said close to her, "Good Lizzie, only a dress made by Violet can express your gratitude. I don't think you would like to refuse a friend's request, do you?" Uncle Lizzie The clothes in this shop are very beautiful, but the most expensive hand-made skirts are hard to buy, but they are also liked by the ladies.

"I am willing to work for you!" Elizabeth said, "and it is a unique style, only for you. Dear Laura, you write the measurements on the paper and give me the right size."

The baroness's eyes were all bent. The most comfortable thing in the Violet store is: high-end custom-made clothes, there are only a few pieces in the same batch, and there will be no more in the future.With a little attention, the ladies will not encounter the embarrassment of "exactly the same clothes".Unlike tailors in London, who stick to tradition and can only choose a few styles-so although Violet's tailoring, embroidery and even fabrics are not as good as those famous tailors that have been passed down for generations, girls are still willing to spend money.

This is the cunning of the Bennet sisters. The girls learned to draw some inspirations and small designs, and then borrowed a lot of French and Italian fashion books in the circulation library, as well as Greek history books. Outdated books provided them with much material.Moreover, Elizabeth always asks people to bring back pictures and picture albums from the Ming Dynasty, which makes them not lack of new tricks at all.

But even Elizabeth didn't expect that Jane has a natural talent for combining these fresh elements, and the drawings made by her are always full of imagination.Those simple and elegant petticoats, once you look closely, you will find unique bright spots, which makes the "fire feather style" more popular.

Yes, the little trick of the Bennet family has finally been discovered by careful customers.They affectionately called Viola's clothing store Violet, Jane's main creation and design of clothes "Fire Feather", and Lydia's "Butterfly". symbols of.

Knock knock, Laura took the initiative to open the door, and Daisy and Lily stood at the door with smiles on their faces: "Dear Lizzie, I don't think you will favor one another and forget us, will you?"

Elizabeth was amused by her friends' teasing, and the three friends sent her to the gate of Taolisi, and then reluctantly went back surrounded by the maids.

There is a letter quietly in the pocket of a maid's white apron, which she will put in the mail drawer in the common room.When Laura and Elizabeth's exclusive maid Leah put the letter in, they squeezed it unconsciously. She felt that the letter written by Miss Elizabeth this time was much thinner than the previous one.Leah knew very well that this lady liked to write letters, and her letters were always thick, so the postage cost a pound or two more per month than other ladies.

Mr. Darcy, who was busy with his affairs, pressed his eyes. Even he couldn't help but have a headache when faced with a desk full of work.But what can be done?Even the young lady he admires is working hard, so what reason does he have to be lazy?

Mr. Darcy not only paid attention to Miss Wonder's dessert shop, but also visited it with his sister Georgiana.Georgiana liked those dim sum so much that she even made the mistake of eating dim sum and missing the main meal, and her serious brother forbade the servant to buy it for her.For two full weeks, the poor little girl could only watch her brother taste those half-sugar delicacies in front of her—the anger made the shy and introverted little girl lively, and now she dared to scold her brother with her watery eyes , which of course is silent.

What will Miss Wonder say in the letter?Mr. Darcy was looking forward to it, but he was not ready to appear in front of the lady just yet: as he once thought, he would have to wait until after Miss Elizabeth confessed his friendship.

"Dear Lizzie, I miss you so much!"

Elizabeth didn't expect that Jane would come to pick her up in person. The joy made her temporarily forget about this beautiful new carriage and the strange manservant.

It was only after leaving London that the two sisters calmed down and were able to talk properly.

Jane told her sister that the manservant sitting with the coachman in front was the personal servant hired by Mr. Bennet.After two months of getting along, everyone confirmed that this Mr. Baker is a very competent and good-natured person.

"Mr. Bennet finally got his wish." Elizabeth smiled. Dad had always wanted to hire a manservant.

"Lizzie, I have some good news. You must be very happy to hear it!" Jane said, "Uncle Gardner was so happy that he didn't fall asleep all night."

"There is a kind and wealthy gentleman who has applied for the passage of the Highway Act and will build a new road in Hatfield!" Jane's eyes were full of smiles, and she couldn't wait to share the joy with her sister: "This road From Meryton to Hatfield!"

The author has something to say: the second watch is delivered, the little angels have been waiting for a long time.

It took time to check the information by fish, update it first, and then write notes after the fish.

Building roads for you, spending money for you, Mr. Darcy pinched Miss's thin reply, and couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

The chapter title of this chapter "Building Your Road" is a mockery of Mr. Darcy.In fact, Mr. Darcy is not in love with brains. Mr. Darcy only invests on the premise that this tax road will bring a lot of income in the future.Others are also optimistic about this road and skeptical about the other.

Note: For the British tax roads and authorized road construction laws in this chapter, please refer to "The Construction of British Transportation and the Expansion of the Agricultural Market in the 18th-19th Century", "Research on Landlords in the Process of British Transportation Improvement in the 18th-19th Century", "The Middle Ages An Exploration of Transport Efficiency in England".

In addition, Derby, Derbyshire was indeed a famous brewing center in the 17th century. It began to produce porcelain in 1750 and developed the silk industry in the late 18th century.The northern part of Derbyshire is a plateau, the highest point of which is 636 meters above sea level.Most of the moorland is a national park.The central part is hilly, with many limestone caves.There are relatively open valley plains in the south.Most of the population lives in the south, and limestone mining accounts for a quarter of the country's total. - Encyclopedia.