Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 2098, the lives of nobles are not easy

The Paris Basin in France has always been the most important grain-producing area in France, and it is also the most important grain-producing area in Europe.

The grain grown in previous years can not only meet the food needs of the French, but also have a large amount of grain surplus that can be exported to surrounding countries.

The land in the Paris Basin is fertile, open and flat, and the quality of the wheat grown is very good. It has always been the first choice for European nobles to bake bread.

In the autumn of previous years, the bottom of the Paris Basin is covered with golden waves of wheat, and the endless wheat fields are filled with the joy of harvest, and countless busy figures can be seen busy in the wheat fields.

The nobles in the territory and the king's tax collectors are also constantly calculating the grain that can be collected, and even the priests in the church are calculating how much wheat they can receive in tithes.

However, in the past three years, the Paris pelvic floor has seen a different scene.

There was a severe drought the year before last, and the bottom of the Paris basin also suffered from a severe drought. Even the Seine River was extremely dry, exposing the riverbed and turning into a trickle. The severe drought directly reached the bottom of the Paris basin.

Last year, it was a rainy year again. There was a lot of precipitation throughout the year. The bottom of the Paris Basin became the hardest hit area. The raging flood almost submerged everything here, resulting in a significant reduction in food production here.

After two years of hard work, I thought this year would be smooth, but it turned out to be a drought year. Although it is not as dry as the previous year, it will not be much better.

The result is this year's hard work of growing grain, and the yield of grain is very low. The whole Paris basin is filled with hunger and poverty.

The autumn morning is chilly, and the temperature is dropping faster than in previous years.

Marcel got up early, and he was going to borrow some money from Henry, the nobleman in his territory, to buy food. The three consecutive years of famine almost consumed everything Marcel had.

It has to be fortunate that there were cheap grains from the Ming Empire in the past two years, otherwise Marcel would not have dared to imagine how he would survive the difficult years of the past three years.

If it is the same as in the past, during this famine year, those greedy nobles and hateful Jewish businessmen, they would like to plunder every penny of everyone, and the price of food can even be higher than usual. Time is doubled ten times, dozens of times.

"Thank you to the people of Daming, thank them for the food at the price of food!"

In his heart, Marcel has thanked many times. The food of the Ming people is very cheap. Even in the hands of end-sale consumers like them, it is still very cheap, so that poor people like them can afford it.

It is said that it was because the Ming people had strict agreements with these nobles and merchants, and these nobles and merchants could not raise or sell grain at a high price at will, otherwise they would no longer be able to obtain the trading rights of grain and other commodities from the Ming people.

These greedy nobles and merchants had no choice but to sell these high-quality grains that brought the Ming Empire at a low price.

Marcel soon arrived outside Lord Henry's castle, and after waiting for several hours, Marcel saw his Lord Henry.

"My lord, may you be well, may the Lord bless you!"

Seeing Henry, Marcel prostrated himself on the ground, saluted and greeted Henry respectfully and politely.

"What do you find me for?"

Henry looked at Marcel in front of him, and asked extremely impatiently.

As a nobleman, he is very busy every day, and he has no time to pay attention to these poor peasants, and he can't squeeze much money out of them.

Today, I still have to entertain my friends from the Ming Dynasty from the far east, and counting the time, it should be almost here.

"My lord, I would like to borrow some money from you to buy food. As you know, the past three years have been famines. The harvest of the land is very small, and our whole family is starving."

Marcel explained his purpose of coming.

"Borrow money?"

Hearing borrowing money, Henry almost jumped up.

Damn, these poor ghosts know how to borrow money from themselves.

In the past three years, I have almost only been out and not in. The family is poor, and these poor ghosts come to ask me to borrow money.

As a nobleman and lord, almost all of Henry's income also depends on the output of the territory. For three years, there is almost no output, and Henry's life is not easy.

In the past, I had to add three teaspoons of sugar to my tea, but now I am only willing to add one spoonful. I really want to buy a car from the Ming Empire, but I still can't bear it.

Now this poor ghost still wants to borrow money from himself to buy food, is he really going to let himself, a nobleman, live?
"No, no, I don't have money either."

Henry waved his hand impatiently, borrowing money, he still wants to find someone to borrow money, he has no money to buy a car, how can he lend money to you poor ghosts.

"My lord, please lend me some money, otherwise our whole family will starve to death."

When Marcel heard this, he couldn't help crying immediately.

The Henry in front of me, although he says he has a bad temper, is actually a kind-hearted nobleman. If you ask him to borrow money, basically he will not ask you for interest, but if you go to borrow money from those hateful Jews, these The Jews can't wait to beat you to the bone and suck the marrow.

"No money, no money."

"In the past three years, you farmers haven't given me any food, and I'm also dying of poverty."

Henry waved his hand impatiently and said.

At this moment, a black Mercedes-Benz car approached slowly, which made Henry's eyes light up, and he hurried forward to greet him.

Soon, the Mercedes-Benz stopped at the gate of Henry's castle, and a black-haired and black-eyed Daming man got out of the car.

"Haha, my friend, welcome to be our guest!"

When Henry saw the visitor, he immediately welcomed him happily.

The Ming man named Ding Shiji in front of him is a Ming businessman he met when he was visiting Hong Kong. He is very rich and is now Henry's important trading partner.

"Haha, Henry, we meet again."

When Ding Shiji saw Henry, he said with a smile on his face, then looked around carefully, and suddenly saw Marcel next to him. Marcel knew at a glance that he was a poor man, with dirty body, hair, Sloppy beard and skinny.

"Go quickly, don't disturb my distinguished guests."

Seeing this, Henry also frowned and issued an order to evict Marcel.

"My lord, please lend me some money. I, I, I can sell my daughter to you."

Marcel knelt on the ground and kept talking, he really couldn't do anything, there was really no food in the house, if there was no more food, the whole family would starve to death.

As soon as he gritted his teeth, he decided to sell his sixteen-year-old daughter. Instead of staying in his own house to starve, he might as well sell it to a nobleman. At least he would not starve to death.

"Go, go, who wants your daughter."

Henry waved his hands again and again, women have as many as they want, and the daughters of these ordinary poor people are not worth mentioning.

"How about selling your daughter to me?"

"I happen to be short of some servants in my house."

Ding Shiji on the side said with a smile, his French is very good.

He came to France this time mainly to discuss with some nobles about letting them raise sheep and grow cotton. Now the price of wool and cotton has risen sharply and the profits are huge.

Many nobles and lords in Spain have made a fortune raising sheep and growing cotton, and businessmen who have contacts with these Spaniards have also made a fortune.

His main business is in France, and he has good relationships and contacts with many French nobles.

"sell to you?"

When Marcel heard this, he was taken aback for a moment. If he sold it to Henry, he would occasionally come to see him, but if he sold it to a Daming person, he might never see him again.

"What are you still doing, why don't you hurry home and call your daughter over."

"Selling it to Daming people won't make you suffer."

Henry looked at Marcel in a daze, and immediately said quickly.

"Yes, yes~"

When Marcel heard this, he nodded quickly and hurried home.

"It's a little thought, my friend."

Ding Shiji took out a set of exquisite porcelain tea sets and gave them to Henry.

"You are too polite, please come inside, please come inside."

Henry was also very happy when he received the gift. He warmly welcomed Ding Shiji into his castle and greeted him warmly.

"Henry, I'm here this time mainly to discuss with you, can you change your territory to plant cotton and raise sheep, and then I can buy all the wool and cotton at a high price?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Ding Shiji also talked about the reason for his visit this time.

"Cotton and sheep?"

When Henry heard this, he pondered for a while and said, "I've also heard that the prices of cotton and wool have soared this year. A few nobles in France have also made a lot of money planting cotton and raising sheep this year."

"It's just that what I worry about is that growing cotton and raising sheep are unstable and unreliable."

"We are all friends. You can rest assured that the prices of wool and cotton have always been very stable here in Daming. The prices are very good and the profits are huge."

"This is also a good opportunity to make a fortune. If you grow food, even in a good harvest year, the food will not sell for a few prices."

"Because now our Ming side is selling grain to Europe on a large scale. The price is cheaper than your local grain, and the quality is even better. Growing grain is not profitable at all."

Ding Shiji looked at Henry and analyzed it in detail for Henry.

"You are right. In the past few years, the income of my territory has dropped sharply, and my life is very difficult."

After listening to Henry, he also felt that it was very reasonable, and his heart was already shaken.

"So, this needs to be changed. We have an old saying in Ming Dynasty, trees are moved to die, and people are moved to live. Since growing food is no longer possible, why can't we do other things?"

Ding Shiji said with a smile: "Listen to me, you won't be wrong. I can sign a contract with you now, and lock in advance the wool and cotton that your territory will produce next year at the current price."

"Really?"

When Henry heard this, he was immediately dumbfounded. Can Daming people still play like this?

"Of course it is true. This kind of thing is very common in us, especially some commodities that are in short supply, such as rubber, are almost always operated in this way. They all sign sales contracts with rubber plantation owners in advance, and some even pay money directly. packaged."

Ding Shiji nodded solemnly and said.

"Okay, I did it~"

Henry calculated silently, and agreed as soon as he gritted his teeth.

(End of this chapter)