Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

"Yes, logistics, that is, the postal industry."

Lockhart decided to put eye drops on the Flint family, who dared to show his face to that guy.

"The biggest advantage we have over Muggles is our mobility on land. We can send a lot of valuable things to another place in the fastest way. Muggles, whether they use railways, highways or planes, It can't be faster than we can use the Untraceable Stretch Charm to contain the object and then apparate to another place

I'm sure if we started a shipping company, we could beat all the express companies in the UK... but only if we got Muggle approval.

It wasn't until this time that Lockhart revealed his real purpose.

Chapter 310 The Turning Point of the House Elf?

For a country, whether it is an industrial chain or a logistics chain, the "chain" is undoubtedly a logistics link.

The so-called improvement of infrastructure construction, in the final analysis, is to improve the efficiency of logistics and reduce the cost of loss during item delivery.

Some people will say that it is not cost-effective to build those transportation facilities just to reduce the cost. After all, if only the direct economic effect is counted, the cost of repairing this road requires toll stations It takes decades of fees to pay back.

But from a national point of view, the accounts cannot be calculated in this way.

It’s like that land A produces Chinese cabbage, land B produces coal, and land C is an industrial center. Each of them has its own natural, cultural, and historical conditions, so each of these three places has its own industry that is most suitable for development.

But if the transportation is inconvenient and the logistics cost is too high, then the three places will have to be like the manor economy in the Middle Ages. Although the sparrow is small and has all the internal organs, it has to do everything, thus losing a lot of efficiency.

Therefore, improving the level of logistics is very important for a country, because it can improve the rationality of the resource allocation of the entire country, and ultimately improve the overall efficiency, and even develop new industries because of this. This is really not a toll thing.

It is true that wizards can do what almost all courier companies dream of using spells such as traceless stretching and apparition - 0-cost, point-to-point, and instant delivery of large quantities of goods to different places.

They are faster than air freight, cheaper than sea freight, and more convenient than door-to-door delivery. After such a company comes out, no matter what express company it is, it will be beaten to the ground.

But here comes the question - which country will put such a vital logistics chain,

Leave it to a group of people they don't trust?Which big company would easily disclose the company's logistics to other companies?Or to give a simpler example, is there any big company that dares to hand over the company's confidential documents to FedEx for delivery?

Therefore, if wizards want to open a courier company or a transportation company, the technology is not the biggest problem.Even if there are not many wizards who have passed the apparition test, this is not a problem. As long as they have money, the students will definitely work hard to learn this. Besides, a courier company does not need everyone to do the transportation. And delivery, also requires someone to do the paperwork.

The most critical question is how to gain the trust of Muggles.

Those big companies are not fools. When it comes to saving costs, they have always been meticulous, especially those old companies that have been involved for hundreds of years. But they have basically saved all the expenses that can be saved. If the wizard can help them save more If there is a large amount of logistics expenses, their cost accounting will definitely be crazy.

But, will they trust a courier company with unknown origin?

How are their finances?How much assets does their company have, and will they run away early?Where are their company's tangible or intangible assets such as cars, employees, warehouses, etc.?How do they explain the attack from competitors?

So if you want to do this, you can.But you have to gain the trust of Muggle companies, big and small, to dispel their doubts, and then get the government's acquiescence, so that you can do business for a long time.

This job is easier said than done.

Considering that most of the customers who need "no loss" and "speed" for goods delivery are VIP customers or big customers, and they often already have a mature supply system, just expanding the market and positioning customer groups requires a group of wizards headache

And most importantly, they still can't do "transparent office"

After all, they have no way to explain to customers that we just need to pull out a

Little stick, and bang, your shipment is sent from London to New York

If they really said that, the person in charge of the supply department of the other party would definitely bring them a cup of tea politely, and then call outside the office to ask the asylum to pick them up.

If these large companies cannot become their customers, then the profit of this express company will be quite limited.After all, the profit of airlifting a fresh lobster to a high-end restaurant may be more than sending a thousand pieces of Pinduoduo Express.

After understanding what Lockhart meant, the wizards also fell into deep thought.

Obviously, this job can only be done by a wizard well-versed in Muggle society and well-connected there.

But in other words, as long as this can be done, the entire wizarding community will never have to worry about employment issues again.

The cargo throughput of the Muggles is enough to allow the entire wizarding world to achieve full employment. Even wizarding children can wear invisibility cloaks and ride on toy brooms to help adults deliver goods. The effective job market rate exceeds 5 None of the above is unimaginable.

Those present were all staring at each other, worried that others would take the chance that Lockhart gave, but now they are mostly calm.

Because everyone understands how big the market is, and they also know that such a large market cannot be eaten by one or two families or a small group of wizards, so this kind of hostility naturally dissipates without a trace.

Not to mention that this kind of activity definitely requires international cooperation. It is absolutely impossible to only eat the small market of the British mainland. They have to cooperate with wizards from France, Eastern Europe, Africa, the United States, and even South America and Asia.

A witch raised her hand rather impolitely, and suddenly interrupted Lockhart who was explaining to everyone.

"So what are you going to do? Continue exposing our society to them

, in exchange for possible Muggle trust? "

Lockhart took a look and found that the witch who spoke did not recognize him.

This is a bit evil - Lockhart had already memorized the names of almost all wizards with mind-boosting potions long before he became a professor at Hogwarts, even if some people hadn't seen them, he should have heard of them.

"Excuse my rudeness, but I don't seem to have met you before? Can I ask your last name?" Lockhart asked.

The witch straightened up a little:

"It's true that we haven't met before, Mr. Lockhart. I'm from the Salem Witches' Guild, and you can call me Garcia."

"Well, Ms. Garcia, you seem disturbed by the position I take

,yes?Same as US Congress? "

When Lockhart heard about the "Salem Witches' Guild," he instinctively took her to be a representative of the United States Congress.

But it is not.

"No, in fact the Salem Witches' Association is not fully active in the United States. I'm from South America." Ms. Garcia smiled, "But we do have some doubts about your plan."

- Hearing that she was not American, Lockhart was a little relieved. After all, the problem between American wizards and the US government was not just a small issue of economic disputes. There was no possibility of reconciliation in a short period of time after accumulating blood debts.

"What concerns?" he asked.

"I want to ask how you intend to control this process."

Ms. Garcia got to the point as soon as she asked: "You are confident that you can make a profit from this business, which is good. But the Muggles who are squeezed out of your business will definitely not be reconciled, they will

Render your company a threat to Muggle governments.

As long as it is in their sights, they will use all possible means to investigate us, including their intelligence agencies.As far as I know, no matter how careful the Magic Congress of America is, the FBI will still find some clues every year.

We can't put our own safety and our children's safety at the mercy of the other person, so unless you can come up with a good reason, it's hard to have a positive opinion of this activity. "

After she said these words, she waited for Lockhart to refute herself, but what she didn't expect was: Lockhart actually nodded in agreement.

"Only a very sober person can ask such a question." Lockhart praised: "You've got the point, and this is the second part I'm going to talk about—how to make Muggles not do it." Stupid thing. To know how Muggles will treat us, you have to consider the logic of their behavior oo"

Next, Lockhart began to tell everyone about the underlying political logic of Muggles and the operation of Muggle society, and pointed out that the methods for wizards to protect themselves include "ensured mutual destruction" and "occupation". High-level political ecology” and other means.

Although Hermione has been listening along with the others, but following Lockhart's explanation, she gradually discovered a problem--a problem that is very important to her.

House-elves... aren't they the best at apparating?

——Thinking of this, she couldn't calm down anymore.

There are 66 municipalities in the UK, and if the courier industry really thrives, every small city should be equipped with at least a dozen wizards.

If it is a "big" city like London with a population of 700 million, or Birmingham with a population of more than 100 million, the number of wizards that need to be stationed must be more than that, and hundreds of people are also needed.

But today's British wizarding world can't have so many labors---[-] people

, remove the old and young ones, remove those who can't apparate, and remove those who already have jobs, whether the wizard's labor market can make up these hundreds of people is still unknown

After all, there are only a few dozen Hogwarts graduates a year, and at least half of these people can't apparate, or can't do high-intensity apparition, and most of them have already been booked. It is impossible to work for a courier company without a job.

In other words, the labor force that can be used and can apparate is very likely to be a house elf!

At this moment, Hermione realized!

Chapter 310 Showdown

If it were on other occasions, Lockhart might still feel a little guilty.But when he started to speak, his nervousness evaporated with his body movements.

This is the benefit of training—in terms of speech, Lockhart thinks he still has some skills, although he is not as good as the professional actors in the parliament.

After the 20s, because bureaucrats tended to become more and more politicians, Lockhart, as a member of the civil servants, had to force himself to learn many essentials for the survival of politicians.

And the most important part of it is the speech.

Any politician may not have professional knowledge and no money, but as long as he wants to survive, he must learn to speak.

The biggest function of parliament for those in power is to manipulate voters. If a politician can't even represent public opinion, then he is undoubtedly disqualified.The fastest and most direct way to gain the favor of voters is through speeches.

The so-called speech is "acting" and "speaking". The part that distinguishes a good speaker from a bad one is often not in "gas well", but in "acting".

)" Although Comrade Jianguo is self-willed in his administration, he has a good sense of speech expression and his sense of camera. The veterans of CCTV who have worked in front of the camera for decades may not have his sense of proportion. No matter how much he dances, he will not Let your limbs go out of the camera.

Anyone who has played the "Sims" series knows that if you choose a political career path for the characters in the house, it can be said that it is compulsory to practice your expressions, movements and tone in front of a square mirror every day to cultivate the camera sense homework.With Comrade Chuan Jianguo's camera sense, he has at least 30 years of practice in front of the mirror.

Thanks to his experience in writing books and working in politics, Lockhart's expressive ability, arousing emotions and expressiveness of body movements are not bad, but the appeal is still somewhat lacking.

In terms of talent, he is much worse than Voldemort and Grindelwald, but with the sense of proportion trained, his logic and various routines that guide people's thinking are still superior.Otherwise, he would not have been able to convince all the parents of Muggle students to send their children to Hogwarts.

If this level of "acting" is placed in the Muggle Parliament, it can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, but it is outstanding among wizards.Therefore, the existence of some opponents did not hinder Lockhart's publicity plan. Even after he finished speaking his thoughts, many people who had doubts were persuaded by him.

His strategy for dealing with Muggles is also simple--

First, make sure that each other can destroy each other, and let Muggles know that wizards have this ability;

Second, confirm that the interests of mutual cooperation are greater than the interests of conflict, and both parties can provide irreplaceable value to each other;

Third, take the initiative to participate in the operation of Muggle affairs, play games within the rules familiar to the opponent, and claim a position that matches your own strength;

Fourth, on the basis of interests, develop relationships with people who share common interests, and use the special status of wizards to influence social attitudes.

Finally, Lockhart ended his speech with this passage.

Whether we like to admit it or not, there is a fact - we and Muggles are all human beings, with emotions, sorrows and sorrows.The descendants of wizards will also produce squibs, and the descendants of Muggles will also produce wizards, which is destined to only develop together, and this coexistence is not transferred by our own will.

No matter which group has the upper hand in status in the end, all we can do is keep improving and self-improvement, and complacency is the worst choice. "

Lockhart didn't know if his rhetoric completely dispelled the doubts of these people,

But judging from the results, the effect of the speech is still good.

Ms. Garcia reserved her opinion, but also did not refute Lockhart's point of view. Lockhart felt that she seemed to want to see the results of this policy implemented by the British before making a decision.

After all, America and Britain are far away, so they have time to react.

Lockhart didn't know how long it would take for his speech to fully ferment, but using the platform of the Five Powers Tournament, he believed that these words could at least spread faster.

As for continuing to hide the wizarding world, Lockhart never thought about it.Because he is well aware of the working style of the intelligence agencies of various countries, it is impossible for the wizarding world to remain hidden forever.

Just as Lockhart expected, the current owner of 10 Downing Street is also thinking about a key issue, that is, how should the government treat wizards as a group.

After the results of the first match of the Five-wizard Tournament came out, people from the Sports Department edited the footage of the match and made it into the first videotape that could be played on a Muggle video recorder in the history of the British wizarding world.

Lockhart made a copy of the master tape, using a disposable videotape, and owled it to 10 Downing Street after the copy was completed-in order to avoid security clearance.

When Prime Minister Major received the one-time videotape, he didn't choose to watch it right away. Instead, he hesitated for a long time before broadcasting a phone call.

Half an hour later, an elderly woman with a military look and gray hair walked steadily into a reception room under the notice of the secretary.

This reception room is almost closed, without vases, paintings, or even windows, except for a table and two chairs, only one is connected to a video recorder

TV.

"Good afternoon, Prime Minister," the woman greeted the Prime Minister.

After seeing the visitor, Major stood up and shook hands with her: "Good afternoon, Mrs. Rimington."

If someone has seen this old woman called Mrs. Rimington, he will immediately blurt out "It's Mrs. M!", because the two are too close in temperament.

In fact, this is also the case, because in the 007 series of movies, the prototype of Mrs. M is this Ms. Stella Rimington.

"Any orders, Prime Minister?" she asked.

Compared with the resolute "Mrs. M", Major seemed a bit uneasy, he hesitated to speak a few times, but finally invited her to sit with him in front of the TV in the office.

"I've come to you for a consultation," Major said softly, "and actually...how should I put it? I don't know what to say about it at all, because it's just too absurd."

Mrs. Rimington showed an elegant and polite smile: "I don't care, please rest assured. One of the advantages of doing intelligence work is that we can often get absurd news from various channels, no matter how absurd you say, I don't think that is the most absurd, but those are not within my scope of consideration. I just need to know one thing, that is, is the matter you want to tell me related to our national security?

"It's relevant, of course it's relevant, otherwise I wouldn't have called you here rashly." Major replied immediately.

Mrs. Rimington thought for a while and added: "So, is this matter related to the agent you suddenly stuffed into our department last month? In my impression, that man named Sirius has never come Worked."

"Uh…"

Major didn't expect Mrs. Rimington to be so perceptive, and he guessed part of the reason directly.