[Titanic] I can't help myself

In the spring I again got a half-month vacation.

At this time, Acton is starting to sow seeds for the new year. Last year, the increase in food prices made us a lot of money. Last Christmas, my mother generously gave a generous bonus to all the employees.The business of the factory is still booming. Although the war has lasted for half a year, domestic animal husbandry is well developed, and the peninsula is not part of a war zone. So until now, although the price of meat has risen, it is still within an acceptable range.Moreover, my own farm can also provide a large amount of various meats, which saves a lot of money in terms of cost.

By now everything in Acton is thriving and our only problem is that the workforce is always changing and lacking.This is the only good news for me in times of war.

But for others, it's not like that.There are fewer and fewer tenant farmers who can be hired, and fewer and fewer people are willing to rent land to cultivate. Everyone is not enthusiastic about farming, even with the support policies of the state.The profit margin of the animal husbandry industry is greater, and everyone is more willing to raise poultry and livestock.

This made the lives of some nobles who were already on the verge of bankruptcy even worse.The war had brought the country's economy to a delicate standstill, and everywhere people went bankrupt, but just as quickly, new people took their place, becoming upstarts faster than normal.And all of this is undoubtedly a huge blow to the nobles who are still in the traditional economic model, and they have never known frugality. After all, the most superficial elegance that supports a noble is piled up with money.The adverse consequences caused by the war, or in other words, the accelerated development of the decadent state has begun to gradually manifest itself. The first batch of nobles who were unable to make ends meet had no choice but to sell their land and manors.

So as soon as I got home, I encountered such an opportunity.

"Sir Fox." I opened my arms and asked the servants to take off my heavy military overcoat that was slightly wet with rain—the weather was bad today, and it was drizzling outside, and I didn't ask any of them to pick me up at the station , so as not to catch a cold—and took off the hat and handed it to him, then looked at the guest who was only 1 minute later than me, "Um, I just found out that you are today's guest, this is really a huge surprise."

"Because I wrote to Mrs. Bucket last night to ask her to allow me to visit you today." Sir Fox took off his hat and shook hands with me. I hear you have been given a holiday, and return to Acton today."

"Sir Fox wants to talk to you about a business, Henry." The mother standing aside explained, "Let's go into the house quickly, lunch will be ready soon."

As we walked towards the grand staircase, we exchanged two meaningless words.He looked a little absent-minded, or rather anxious.We parted at the landing of the stairs. Sir Fox wanted to talk to his mother in the living room, and Karl followed me into the room.

I took a simple shower, and of course he made all kinds of troubles in the middle, and then he changed my clothes in person in the bedroom, generally asking: "What is he doing here?"

"He wants to sell his land to you." Carl buttoned up my shirt, looked at the extra marks on my chest, and couldn't help but whistled a long time.

I gave him a blank look: "Be more specific."

"He has four farms, a total of almost 500 acres of land for sale, a woodland of more than [-] acres, and a luxurious country house."

Sir Fox was said to be a friend of my grandfather, but only a friend, I only saw him occasionally at dinner parties when my father was still alive.The manors of our two families are neither close nor far away, and there is another family's manor in the middle.

"Sell it all?" I asked. "Then he'll have to find a big seller. You know, I'm only interested in the farm now, and only the farm."

"I think he just wanted to try his luck. After all, Sir Rockman sold everything he wanted to sell with you." Carl kissed my nose, "What do you think?"

"I'll have to look at the ledger to make a decision." I adjusted my collar. "How much is he asking for?"

Carl said a number.

"Oh, my God." My eyes widened. "I have been separated from the normal world for too long. Has the price of land dropped to such a low level?"

"The market price is higher than this, but he is eager to sell now, so in order to attract buyers, he had to lower the price, and I guess he might also want to persuade buyers to buy the house and forest land through the low-priced land " Carl said while straightening his chest for me, "Poor old Sir Fox, he put his family business in the hands of his son and took his wife to travel around the world, but the prodigal son broke up his newspaper and went away in anger. He became a tenant of the farm, owed a large amount of gambling debts, and started a smuggling business with others. In the end, it was just a scam aimed at him, so he fled with the last little money in his family. Sir Fox was still In America, it is said that he nearly had a stroke when he heard the news."

"God, when did that happen?"

"What happened in November last year, as soon as you returned to the front line, Little Fox ran away." Carl picked out a tie and tied it on for me slowly, "In fact, he wants to sell more than that, his bankrupt newspaper also Needs a buyer, but he knows newspapers aren't something you'd be interested in."

I sighed: "What is more painful than working hard all your life, thinking that you can retire to enjoy the blessings, and then dragging your old body back to clean up the mess?"

"Of course." Carl said quickly, "For example, watching my lover put myself in a dangerous situation, but there is nothing I can do."

I avoided his sight and pretended to straighten my cuffs.

He just said this, and didn't ask any more questions, but continued to discuss with me about Sir Fox's land.

After a hearty lunch, we moved to the living room and started to get down to business.I inquired about the situation of his farm in detail, what his land had been cultivated in the past, how long it had been abandoned, and so on.In the end I told him I could only buy his farm, and as for the woodland and the house, there was nothing I could do.

Sir Fox expressed his understanding, but he then told us that the low land price just now is only for buyers who can also buy the villa and the forest area. If they are sold separately, it may affect the price of his villa. After all, for the traditional British, even the upstarts hope to buy castles and villas in the countryside while owning a large farm to improve their status.Land is a status symbol.

"I can only buy three farms." I said with a smirk, "To be honest, for those upstarts who want to squeeze into the upper class through land, four farms are really too big, one is enough. Everyone knows that the land does not make money now. Even if they are willing to spend money to decorate the facade, they are not willing to lose their fortunes. Of course, this is not absolute. There are always rich businessmen with strong financial resources in this world who can supply The agricultural land that causes huge losses every year may be able to make him profitable if he manages it well.”

None of us would budge on price.Sir Fox seems to have read my mind. I really want to buy his land. It is only now the spring plowing season. If I hire more people and work overtime, I can catch up with this round of plowing.Now the price of food has been rising all the way. Compared with before the war, it has risen by one-third, and it is expected that it will only grow higher in the future.

We sat in the living room and talked about five o'clock, and still no progress.I finally left the drawing room on the pretext of needing a rest.I want to talk it over with Carl.

We had just gone up the stairs when we heard Rose running after us.

"Henry, I have an idea." She panted slightly, "Why don't you find someone to buy it together? It's like buying Sir Rockman's land."

"Because there was no war at that time." I explained, "The wealthy businessmen who can be contacted by Karl and who are able to buy luxury houses are all in the United States. Of course, there are also in the UK, but I am afraid that they will not be able to be contacted for a while. You want You know, the reason why I am eager to buy that piece of land is because of time constraints. If this round of cultivation can’t catch up, then I’m not worth the loss by buying it now. There will be more and more cheap land for sale later, and I will also You can wait until then to buy.”

"I know who to look for," said Rose, laughing. "Maybe I can buy his newspaper."

"When did you know this kind of person?" I asked with interest, "Who is it?"

"You know that person too, but Carl probably won't be happy to hear her name." Rose said in a low voice, "I mean Viscountess Elizabeth Wayans."

"Her?" I said in surprise, "how did you think of her? When did you know her?"

"In January, Aunt Edith organized another party, and I met her there." Rose said, her eyes almost glistening, "I've never seen a woman like her, very interesting." Thoughts, more guts than men."

"What am I missing?" I asked with a smile.

Carl snorted through his nose: "She has always been a very ambitious woman, and I never underestimated him. As for what happened during this period, let's go back to the room and explain."

The author has something to say: I actually coded the second update quietly, which is really amazing. . . . . .