Palace Flower as Employment [Red Mansion]

After one year and three months, Jia Qi met the British businessman Granger and French businessman Louis face to face again. Of course, this time it was not in Shanghai, but in Tianjin.

Granger and Louis have been in Tianjin for some days, and they also stayed in Tianjin with Castiglione for a few days.Under the guidance of Lang Shining, they noticed the ruins of Tianjin Wei, which were destroyed by the war, which can still be seen now, and also saw the vibrant Tianjin New City.

So when they saw Jia Qi, they couldn't help a series of compliments.

Jia Qi could only sigh: "I really admire you businessmen. You know, this time last year was the period when smallpox was most rampant in this land. Even now, there are sporadic smallpox outbreaks everywhere. You just happened to be at this time Come to me, once you are infected with smallpox, to be honest, I will really hold a cold sweat for you."

Granger and Louis exchanged glances, and spoke first: "My lord, it's a pity that if we don't come to you, I'm afraid we don't even know who our goods are going to be sold to."

Jia Qi said: "Oh? I remember that Shanghai Prefecture is still a treaty port. As long as your goods are right, someone will buy them. Did you send *blocked keywords*?"

Speaking of the word *blocked keyword*, a murderous look appeared in Jia Qi's eyes.

Granger quickly shook his head: "My lord, you have made it so clear before, how could we knowingly commit crimes? Yes, these four words, knowingly commit crimes. Since you have clearly told us, *blocked keywords* It's a capital offense, and wood is more valuable, how could we still ship *blocked keywords* in."

"Oh? What is that for?"

Jia Qi doesn't think that these Westerners are good citizens who abide by the law and obey the law. That is the law of their own country. As for the Orientals, they don't treat the Orientals as pigs because the Great Wei is a thousand-year-old country. up.

Granger whispered to Louis for a while, and finally said with a bitter face, "My lord, I just want to know, does your country really not want our cotton cloth?"

Jia Qi said: "I have already said the reason before. Ordinary people's homes will not buy cotton cloth from you."

"So, what about you?"

Jia Qi said, "If it was the year before last, I could still say that there is indeed a gap in my hand and I need a certain amount of cotton cloth, but this year..."

"What happened this year?"

Jia Qi said: "Last year, my subordinates invented a spinning machine that relies on water conservancy, which can spin more than 50 spindles at the same time. After many adjustments to this spinning machine, many of my spinning machines are now The workshop uses this kind of spinning machine that can spin hundreds of spindles at a time. It is not only a spinning machine, but also a loom. Because of my various encouragements for inventions, within just over half a year, large-scale textile Machines come and go. As a matter of fact, if it's cotton, or raw silk, or simply yarn that you're shipping this year, I might still buy it, if it's ready-made cotton..."

Jia Qi shook his head, expressing that there was nothing he could do to help.

"Gentlemen, if you choose the wrong goods just once or twice, in terms of my personal financial resources, I can indeed help you with the burden, but this is not my obligation. Similarly, I cannot solve this trouble for you every time. .”

Granger said stubbornly, "However, our cotton cloth is very good."

Jia Qi said: "Mr., please don't forget that this land is known as the country of craftsmen. If not all of the top craftsmen in the world, more than 80.00% are concentrated on this land. You are proud of your country's Achievement, I can fully understand this feeling. Of course, I am also full of pride in the strength of my country."

Seeing that Granger was still quite dissatisfied, Jia Qi said: "Mr. Granger, I would like to see your cotton cloth with my own eyes. Of course, if you have time, I would be happy to show you the cotton cloth that Tianjin currently has. .If your cotton cloth is really good or cheap, I will consider buying your product. Of course, it is still in my own name."

When Louis heard about it, he hurriedly said, "My lord, you are so generous!"

Louis has been in the East for a long time, and since the last call, he has maintained correspondence with Lang Shining. Under Lang Shining's guidance, he has a little understanding of the behavior of these Easterners.

Maybe Granger didn't understand the subtext in Jia Qi's words, but this did not prevent Louis from spiritually comprehending Jia Qi's words.

Jia Qi's meaning is actually very clear, as long as the British people do business honestly, as long as they don't bring in things like *blocked keywords*, out of affirmation of law-abiding businessmen, as long as conditions permit , this adult usually buys these products in his own name.

This is necessary to prevent the British from choosing to smuggle *blocked keywords* under the huge trade deficit.

This kind of behavior is undoubtedly great, and it will have long-term benefits for the country and the people.The only one who didn't benefit was probably Jia Qi.After all, paying a large sum of money directly to buy goods he doesn't need, Louis has never seen any nobleman in France do such a thing.Those nobles have always only paid attention to their own enjoyment, as for other things, they don't care at all.

Thinking of this, Louis couldn't help but say: "No, maybe I should say that you are a great person. You have a noble character and great feelings..."

Jia Qi couldn't help laughing and said, "Forget it, forget it, with your appearance, I thought you were learning Shakespeare and reciting sonnets to me."

Granger's eyes lit up: "You know Shakespeare."

"It's just that I have read a few of his works." Jia Qi said indifferently, "Mr. Granger, I can buy your cotton cloth one time, two times, three times, but I can't buy it every time. I remember that you, the UK, have very strict protection regulations for your domestic industrial products? Although we Dawei are very confident in our own level, we don’t bother to use this method to destroy the fairness of production and trading, but unfortunately, I I still have to tell you that your products do not have much advantage in my country. If your textile factory is in Tianzhu, I mean, in East India as you call it, then your textiles are still a little competitive, But since your textiles are thousands of miles away in the UK, I am afraid that the mere distance is enough to make your original high-quality and cheap cotton cloth become so cheap and beautiful that people are afraid to avoid it."

Granger flushed.

Granger knew something was wrong when Jia Qi said that Wei also had a spinning machine that could spin hundreds of spindles at a time. Now, Jia Qi directly said that the freight cost had made British cotton cloth uncompetitive. It made Granger's heart sink even more.

Granger said, "Will your country's cotton cloth be sold to India?"

Jia Qi said: "You can rest assured on this point. Compared with the trade of cotton cloth and silk, silk is obviously more profitable. Therefore, at present, the production and export of silk is the most important thing for our country. .As for cotton cloth, his profit is too small to be worthwhile."

Louis exclaimed, nodded again and again, and said, "My lord, please forgive my offense. You are really different from the officials I have seen. How should I put it..."

"You don't mind talking about money, and there are even many concise but bloody words, commonly known as professional vocabulary?"

"That's right, that's right. You are like the philosophers and economists I met in France. You have a lot of vocabulary. It's the first time I've heard them, but they are really professional."

Jia Qi said with a smile: "That's why I became a prefect at a young age, and they stayed in this distant province of Guangzhou for decades."

"Yes, yes, that's it. My God, I haven't congratulated you yet, you have become the chancellor of the empire. Zhiyuan means prime minister, right?"

Jia Qi said: "In terms of job content, Zhiyuan is an ancient prime minister, but in terms of power, Zhiyuan's power is far inferior to that of ancient prime ministers." Seeing that Granger and Louis looked confused, Jia Qi smiled: "Yes, you are businessmen and adventurers, but you are not politicians. This kind of thing involving the political system and historical evolution may be a little difficult for you to understand."

"No, please tell us more, so that we can tell our family when we go back." Louis said eagerly, "I can show it to my classmates or teachers. Oh, my lord, you must be satisfied My wish."

Jia Qi thought for a while and said, "Well, to put it simply, in your country, especially in the last 1000 years of history, royal power and theocratic power have been fighting endlessly, and there are shadows of theocratic power behind the power struggles in many countries. For example, the Bloody Mary Queen in England and the bloody wedding night in France are all specific events of the struggle between theocracy and kingship. In our east, this kind of struggle mainly focuses on the struggle between kingship and phase power. Here On this piece of land, the kingship was established about 4000 years ago, but the real power of the prime minister was established more than 300 years ago. Since the day when the power of the prime minister was officially established, the struggle between the power of the prime minister and the kingship has not stopped. However, in the following 1000 years, the power of the prime minister competed with the power of the king several times, until about 1000 years ago, a king finally restricted the power of the prime minister fundamentally. Since then, the power of the prime minister has been incomplete. Although the current Wei, Zhiyuan is considered to be another name for the prime minister, but it is actually a way of flattering others. That's why I said that the Zhiyuan is similar to the prime minister in terms of position, but different from the prime minister in terms of power."

Granger and Louis sat there in a daze, and it took a long time to hear the two of them murmur: "Over 4000 years ago, over 300 years... Sir, please tell me that your country has How long is the history?"

Jia Qi thought for a while, and said: "China has been inherited for 5000 years, and even the characters have been changed several times. The official script of the bronze inscriptions, oracle bone inscriptions, big seal script, small seal script, official script 2000 years ago, now only well-educated Confucians have the qualifications and abilities. To study, most people don’t have the spare money…”

"Five, 5000 years..."

Granger and Louis no longer had the energy to think about how long 5000 years was. After all, France had a long history, but even so, the history of France only started more than 800 years ago.

The same is true for Britain. The world of more than 1000 years ago was already an age of mythology for Britain.There are more than 4000 years of written records, and Granger can't imagine how long a history it is.

Well, with such a long history and such a splendid culture, it is no wonder that they can cultivate so many craftsmen, and it is no wonder that they do not want their British cloth.But what about that huge trade deficit?

Granger had a headache.

In fact, it wasn't just them who had a headache, but also Jia Qi.If possible, Jia Qi would be happy to transfer some heavily polluting technologies to these Western countries, but now his control over Wei is still limited, and he still has some confidence in Zhejiang and the coastline north of Zhejiang. , especially the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he is a remarkable figure. After three dynasties, he was originally the confidant of the Supreme Emperor, and even the late Emperor could do nothing to him.More importantly, Pan Renmei, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, is also an old fritter.

There is no other way, this Master Pan is really too difficult.

Thinking of this, Jia Qi straightened his expression, and said to Granger and Louis: "This time, you come to see me, but I actually have something to see you."

Hearing what Jia Qi said, Louis and Granger both reacted.

Louis said: "My lord, what are your orders?"

Jia Qi said: "I know that both of your countries, Britain and France, are worrying about this huge trade deficit. Your upper class is after our Wei silk, tea, porcelain, and other exquisite your handicrafts, but we don’t need your cotton cloths, your coffee, your chocolates, and all kinds of other things, am I right?”

"Oh, yes, my lord, our products do not have the slightest competitiveness in this country. We know this very well."

Jia Qi said, "This is what worries me the most."

Granger said, "Are you worried about *blocked keywords*?"

Jia Qi said: "*blocked keyword* is just a trivial matter. I pay more attention to the market."

market?

Granger and Louis looked at each other.

Of course they know the economic term market.They are adventurers themselves, businessmen.As businessmen, they were unable to develop the market in the Far East. For them, it was an extremely failure.Moreover, they could hear that the market Jia Qi mentioned was not the place where commodities were traded in their minds, but an economic concept.

Sure enough, they heard Jia Qi say: "For our Dawei silk, tea and porcelain products, your country is a mature market with stable customers and strong demand for our products. But , only your aristocrats and high society are chasing our country's products crazily, which will only squeeze the living space of your country's high-end products. Similarly, in order to get more silk tea and porcelain, your country's nobles are Taxes will be raised, and there is no doubt that this will increase the burden on the people of your country. This can easily cause social instability. Once the society is unstable, the country will be in turmoil, and the nobles will obviously be affected. Finally, our big The purchasing power of Wei's customers has dropped sharply, or they simply disappeared, and from a long-term perspective, this is not a good thing for our big Wei."

Louis and Granger were dumbfounded to hear that.

They have never seen such an official who cares about the lives of people in other countries thousands of miles away.

However, they also had to admit that the other party was right.Those damn nobles, for more money, don't they just keep raising taxes and raising taxes?An official from the Far East can see this, why can't those damn nobles not see it?No, this official from the Far East is also a nobleman, a great nobleman in this country.Is this the difference between East and West?Why don't we have such nobles in England (France)? !

Sure enough, Jia Qi said: "I am an Oriental after all, and I don't know much about the affairs of your country. However, there is one thing that I think I should tell you. In fact, as early as 800 years ago, the perfume that came over from the Silk Road It caused a huge stir in this land. Of course, I have also seen the perfume you brought. I have to say that the perfume and powder you use are too strong."

"Too strong?"

Both Louis and Granger were perplexed to hear that the perfume had once caused a great stir in this land.

Because it's not that no one is trying to sell perfume to the Far East, but the problem is that the response to the perfume is not so good, and even if there are those who like it, most of them are women in the Qin Lou Chu Pavilion.

That said, the real upper class didn't welcome their perfumes.

Jia Qi said: "I once said that the upper class society in the East is an extremely closed society. Without guides, your products will of course not be able to enter this circle. And the identity of guides will directly affect the positioning of your products. The positioning is not enough, your products, especially the luxury goods, are naturally only hitting a wall."

"You mean, your help us?"

Jia Qi said: "I have a heart, and I want you to cooperate. As far as I know, in your west, the Catholic Church does not advocate bathing, or in other words, the Catholic Church believes that only sinners need to be baptized. Therefore, what kind of king bathes for a lifetime?" Less than ten times, a certain princess did not take a bath for a long time in order to prove that she was pure, so that her whole body smelled bad, and even her husband was unwilling to have sex with her,..."

Hearing what Jia Qi said, Louis felt embarrassed.

Yes, this is a real event in French history.Louis was sure that the other party did not report the identities of the two nobles out of respect for the royal power.Although, as a Catholic, Louis didn't care about this, but when he heard the other party's words and thought about the Englishman next to him, Louis was still very embarrassed.

Britain and France are feuds. Although Louis and Granger have temporarily united because of their relationship in the Far East and profits, as a Frenchman, Louis does not want to be made fun of by the British, even if the British is his temporary ally. Ranger.

On the other hand, while watching the joke, Granger was also amazed at the acuity of this great noble from the Far East.

Granger said: "My lord, please forgive me, this is the tradition of Catholics."

Jia Qi nodded and said: "I know. In fact, this is what I want to say. Most of your French perfumes are born to cover up the body odor caused by not taking a bath for many years. So the fragrance is strong, not just perfume , Cosmetics such as face powder are the same. But this is the East, in this land, a long time ago, the official holidays of officials were called Mushou Day, that is to say, when it was time to rest, officials We all have to go home and wash our hair and take a shower. Face others cleanly, which is respect for others and love for ourselves. This is the oriental etiquette, and it is also the most basic etiquette. Therefore, such strong perfume or fragrance Powder, the smell is so strong that customers choke until they sneeze, do you think such a product will be popular?"

Louis and Granger were dumbfounded.

Jia Qi said: "In the East, spices are also very popular. Not only are a lot of spices used in diet, but also in daily life, just like musk. When this spice is just extracted, its taste is so strong Anyone who smells it will shake their heads and say it stinks, but when it is diluted to a certain extent, it becomes a very popular spice in the court. Not only is this the case with musk, but so are many spices. Incense, incense, this is also owned A culture with a history of thousands of years. So, if you find a suitable formula, if you find a formula suitable for the East, this land will let you see its huge market purchasing power.”

Louis and Granger were dumbfounded for a long time, and suddenly said: "My lord, so you have taken a fancy to our perfume and face powder? Actually, you really don't need to talk so much nonsense with us."

Jia Qi said, "If I didn't tell you in such detail, would you regard perfume as the main source of future trade between the two sides? No, let me tell you, you would just bring your domestic perfume directly, and then see a group of people shaking their heads customers. You will not reflect on yourselves that you have never considered for Eastern customers, you will only complain that Easterners look down on you and look down on your products, and then engage in sinful *blocked keyword* trade. What am I talking about here? I am afraid that you will make jokes behind your back, so I will tell you plainly that I have never done it for the friendship between the two countries, but for the people of our country to stay away from the clutches of *masked keywords*. If this If the trade deficit continues, no matter how strict our laws are, you will still smuggle *blocked keywords*, won’t you?”

In a word, I will give you pointers and talk nonsense with you, all for the sake of the people of our country.