Time Smuggling Starting from the Year 2000

Augustus II came to visit almost every day, bringing his cavalry, and gifts for Chu Yining, sometimes it was expensive jewelry, sometimes it was a simple bouquet, but every day There are new tricks.

Huang Xuan doubted whether this guy had hired a team of experts to pick up girls.

The farm was not very conspicuous, but the mercenaries on it made people feel very unfriendly. His Excellency the King generously did not pursue it, but asked Chu Yining, "Is it not safe recently?"

Chu Yining smiled and said, "Mr. Augustus, more and more businessmen are coming to the nearby area, and there are more funds in the manor. We feel that we need some soldiers to protect it."

Augustus still had the camouflaged grimace, and said with a smile: "No problem, no problem, I will send a few people over and ask them to bring 200 infantry."

Medieval infantry consisted of peasants with guns, but in the 18th century, infantry were still relatively effective, especially the kingdom infantry. Huang Xuan said with satisfaction, "Thank you, Mr. Augustus."

Anyway, as long as the infantry don't go to the position of the aperture, it will be fine.

"It's okay, it's okay." His Majesty the King said and looked at Chu Yining again.

Chu Yining smiled helplessly: "Thank you, Mr. Augustus."

If it weren't for Huang Xuan's strong request, she would probably have beaten the powerful king into a brain-dead king.

How did Augustus know, and said with a sullen face, "Call me Frederick. They all call me Frederick." Chu Yining simply didn't translate for Huang Xuan, turned around and left angrily.

At this time, the person behind Augustus II smiled and said, "Miss Chu, can we go in and have a look?"

He pointed to the silver mirror factory behind him.

There are only 4 apprentices in the silver mirror factory, specializing in the production of silver mirrors, and another 6 are responsible for purchasing various materials, but they are not allowed to enter the factory. The apprentices here are much stricter than those of Betheg. To some extent, they are almost like slaves. The difference is that they can have their own identity after 10 years and take away their craftsmanship.

Four apprentices can produce more than 500 silver mirrors a day. It seemed that watching the silver coins flow on the table gave them great motivation.

Huang Xuan claimed that the cost was 800 thalers, and people naturally didn't believe it, but they would never think of selling a silver mirror with a price of more than 1,000 thalers. The cost is only 10 Thaler. The most important thing is of course not to let Augustus know.

Chu Yining said tactfully: "The smoke inside is very heavy. It is poisonous. If we want to go in, we must stop working."

The man behind asked very concerned: "Aren't the workers there very dangerous?"

Chu Yining smiled and said nothing. There was no such thing as human rights in the 18th century. Some anthropologists recorded in a very happy tone: a 6-year-old child can fully operate a loom. This is the greatest achievement of the industrial revolution. , They can support themselves from now on, let our society... The man behind him said persistently: "We will go in for a while. Probably there will be no problem."

This kind of situation is what Huang Xuan is best at. He rolled his eyes and said, "The problem for ordinary people is not very serious. The apprentices inside have already signed the agreement and gave up their reproductive rights."

"What does that mean?" the man behind him asked in surprise.

Huang Xuan chuckled and said, "The materials we use are a bit special, so after being in contact with the smoke for more than 3 minutes, it's easy not to lift the parts below."

Chu Yining pretended to be blushing and translated, and praised him with a thumbs up behind her back.

Augustus II suddenly changed color. For Mighty King. Is there anything more terrifying than "not lifting"?

But the man behind him probably didn't believe it, or he didn't have any troubles at all, so he thought for a while and said, "Mr. Huang, do you want to go out to sea for business?"

Huang Xuan was silent and did not speak, Chu Yining asked first: "Where are you going?"

Augustus II was willing to talk to Chu Yining. Receiving a response from the beauty, put away the fear of "not lifting", and said through plastic surgery: "Because of your contributions in glass mirrors and porcelain, I can give you a monopoly right to trade in the Baltic Sea, including not only silver mirrors and porcelain. You want the monopoly rights of two or three commodities. Of course, it is best not to conflict with the existing monopoly rights."

in the 18th century. The method of selling goods correctly seems to be stuck in monopoly. The Dutch East India Company, the French Northern Company, and the former Hanseatic League all tried to do this. The governments of all countries will give a company the monopoly of a certain area or a certain product. For example, Henry IV gave the French Second East India Company a 15-year trade monopoly. Richelieu will reaffirm the monopoly granted to the Antilles Company several times. The New French Company has monopolized the fur business since 1628.

The two words free trade and free competition are shorter than the history of Americans.

As Elector of Saxony, Augustus II had about one-twentieth of the power in Germany, plus his precarious Polish throne, plus one-twentieth.

Of course, such a statement is not very accurate, but after the end of the Hanseatic League, the electors can occasionally reach an agreement among the electors who want to go to sea through ports such as Hamburg, but at this time the Netherlands has risen, allowing Germany The voice of people at sea is too low.

Even so, Augustus II couldn't wait to give Huang Xuan and Chu Yining the monopoly power. He stared at Chu Yining with manly eyes, but said to Huang Xuan: "I and Chu Yining Austria, France, and Prussia have all talked, and they are willing to exchange the monopoly rights of the two commodities in the Baltic Sea for the formula of the silver mirror."

He never mentioned porcelain, because he still owns most of the profits of porcelain. Now it is about seeing the profit of the silver mirror.

After Chu Yining translated, she didn't know what to say.

However, Huang Xuan said in Chinese: "Whatever you want, you can tell him that, just say that we produce silver mirrors, and we need a lot of fuel, and there is no way for him to take care of it for the time being. Well, if they want, we can provide them The formula of ordinary mercury mirrors, but they need to exchange money."

Chu Yining translated for him in time, but her heart was tense with depression. As a level 3 traveler. She graduated from Moxing University, the best in the plane world, with the first qualification. She is a very proud woman, not to mention that she has just been promoted to a member of the Space-Time Management Bureau - that is a person who can sit on an equal footing with the highest officials of many plane regimes. position.

But now, when I can't figure out what to do. In front of him, Huang Xuan, who often looked at him with lecherous eyes, seemed to have many ways.

In addition, he rarely showed respect or admiration. When Chu Yining didn't even show the level of a representative of an ordinary administration, Chu Yining's depression was even more turbulent. .

However, facts are facts, Chu Yining is unwilling to stay with Huang Xuan in this innocuous place, so she has done her translation work without any omission on her face, and at the same time, with Huang Xuan's thoughts, She is also studying hard.

The man behind him was Augustus' chief staff member, and the two looked at each other. Or the former said: "How much do you want for the formula of the mercury mirror?"

In the 18th century, there were very few concepts such as strategic intelligence, so it was difficult for them to judge how much fuel Huang Xuan brought home. They only knew a lot. But they knew that the number of workers in the silver mirror factory would never exceed 30, and judging by the number of mirrors sold by Huang Xuan and the others in the last two months, they could naturally know that the production efficiency of silver mirrors was higher than that of mercury mirrors. The man behind him is therefore more interested in the formula of the silver mirror, but he does not reject the mercury mirror.

The very young Huang Xuan looked like an old god, and said: "Mercury mirrors require skilled glassworkers, and each worker can make one or two mirrors a month. The materials are very cheap, just the opposite of silver mirrors."

"Oh? Where's the silver mirror?" Augustus II was really attracted by Huang Xuan's last sentence.

Huang Xuan chuckled and said, "It takes a lot of fire to dissolve the silver. It requires a lot of fuel. You can see that the road is full of coal, but it's still not enough."

Chu Yining lowered her head and didn't look at Huang Xuan, feeling rather amazed. A silly little man next to him. Simply "seduce" Augustus over.

How did people in the 18th century know the difference between silver mirror reaction and dissolved silver or even silver plating? They looked at the fine silver grains behind the mirror. As expected, the man behind him deliberately asked, "Why don't you see any fireworks in the manor?"

"Our stove is special." Huang Xuan smiled shyly.

"The roads nearby are really not good." Augustus said with a full face of understanding: "How about moving the factory to Dresden, where the supply will be more convenient."

"It's better to stay here." Huang Xuan interrupted after hearing Chu Yining's half-translation: "Your Majesty, what do you think, we will price the formula of the mercury mirror at 100,000 thalers, as long as you ship it worth 100,000 Thaler's fuel includes wood and coal, and after a few months, your craftsmen are familiar with it, and we will talk about the formula of the silver mirror."

In a few months, he felt he would be able to leave.

"It's better to learn mercury mirrors first." Frederick readily agreed. Among the "expensive" silver mirrors and the time-consuming mercury mirrors, of course he liked the latter.

Huang Xuan struck while the iron was hot: "Your Majesty, we don't want monopoly power, but we still want to get the right to reduce taxes, not only for ourselves, but also for merchants who buy silver mirrors and porcelain."

Frederick immediately hesitated.

The tax rate in Germany is the highest in this era, mainly because the likin is very high. Every time you pass through a region, you have to pay a tax. The double tax is very unbearable. The German monarchs in the 18th century were all greedy for money. When they needed money, they would even sell the entire army. During the Seven Years' War, the Duke of Württemberg leased 6,000 people to the French army. Later, the Duke of Hesse-Kassel sold 16,000 people to the British to fight in America, and he used the money he sold to build the William Shoborg.

The main reason Frederick was willing to reward the two was that he wanted to sell more porcelain. He had more rights to porcelain, and the tax rate for silver mirrors was already 45%.

But if the tax is cut, he will immediately lose the tax revenue from the silver mirror.

Chu Yining looked at Huang Xuan in confusion, and whispered in Chinese, "What good will it do us if you let him reduce taxes for other businessmen?"

"Sell a lot. Only by reducing the cost of the merchants can they increase their enthusiasm." Huang Xuan said as a matter of course.

Chu Yining shook her head and said, "If the number of silver mirrors on the market increases, we have to lower the price, so that the profit will not drop again."

Huang Xuan rolled his eyelids and said, "We are the ones who don't need to worry about the price drop of silver mirrors. Mirrors are a luxury item. It starts to decline from the price of 1,000 talers, and it won't reach the bottom in a year or two. The more we sell, the more we earn. The cost of 5 thalers is to sell 500 thalers. As long as the sales volume doubles, it will be the same as now, but I can guarantee that the increase will definitely not be doubled. And you have to take into account that rich people will definitely buy mirrors right away, but what about the next richest person? What about the second richest person?"

"What about reducing the price to 200 talers? If the price of the mirror drops, many people may not be willing to buy it." Chu Yining was still not convinced.

Huang Xuan now understands that the Miss Chu in front of him doesn't have the minimum business acumen at all, he supported his forehead and said, "We were talking about marketing two days ago, think about it, if the price of mirrors is reduced to 200 taler Well, we didn’t make it at that time, so we still have to think of other ways. At this moment, it’s best to kill the chicken and get the eggs. As for whether people will buy it, you don’t have to worry, it will.”

His final judgment naturally comes from history. When the silver mirror appeared, there was no monopoly. It was an invention of a chemist, and it sold more than eggs.

Chu Yining's face turned pale with shame. .