Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 121 Bordeaux Situation ([-])

"Of course, the quality of our East Coast cloth is impeccable." Xu Xin smiled reservedly.

"So, what to do with the 5000 bolts of cotton at present? Sell them immediately?" Julian asked.

"Of course not! We will sell them together after the next batch of more than 2 bolts of cotton cloth arrives." Xu Xin said resolutely, "Compared to the huge market, the impact of thousands of bolts of cloth is really limited. The large-scale production of those textile guilds Merchants can still cope with it, and it will make them vigilant. When the next batch of cotton cloth arrives, we will dump a large number of them to impress the big manufacturers. You can contact reliable wholesalers in advance Merchant, so as not to be unable to find a buyer for a while, of course, this process must be kept confidential."

"I'll pay attention. That old guy Ludwig seems to have smelled something wrong recently, and he's asking for news all over the world."

"Who is Ludwig?"

"The largest local usurer, involved in the spice trade, shipbuilding, textiles and other industries. An out-and-out villain! Damn the Jews!" Julian gritted his teeth.

"Our enemy?" Xu Xin asked.

"Yes, the biggest enemy." Julian said, "This old guy not only owns property in Bordeaux, but his descendants also manage large properties in Marseille and Lyon. He is a difficult guy."

"Don't worry, Julian." Xu Xin comforted, "In the face of our superior cost advantage, any conspiracy can only be a joke. This time we will make him suffer a big fall."

"That couldn't be better." Julian smiled, and said, "I wish I could see that old guy's stunned and frustrated face now. It's exciting to think about it, haha."

"Does this guy have a cotton shop in the city?" Xu Xin asked suddenly.

"Of course, why, Xu, are you interested in visiting?"

"I'm interested, I want to get to know our opponents better before the 'war' begins."

"Okay, Xu, since you want to go, then go. Michelle, you will accompany Xu to visit the damn Jew's store later, and I won't go. I hate seeing that guy and his everything." Julian casually ordered Michelle, the servant behind him.

Michelle bowed slightly: "As you wish."

After lunch, it began to rain lightly, but this did not stop Xu Xin and Sun Bo from being excited.Michelle led the way, and there were two well-dressed attendants behind Xu Xin and Xu Xin who were ready to serve at any time. A group of five walked hard on the potholed streets towards the shop of the Jew Ludwig.

Xu Xin and Sun Bo each wore a well-tailored black tunic suit and black trousers. They wore comfortable, shiny black pointed-toed leather shoes. They pinned a double-headed eagle and yin-yang fish emblem on their left chests. They held an oilcloth umbrella. While walking, he looked at the scenery on the street.Of course, they are also the scenery in the eyes of others.

The city of Bordeaux in the 17th century felt cramped and narrow. The streets were not wide enough. If the doors of the houses on both sides were opened at the same time, it would probably block half of the street.Most of the roads are dirt roads that have not been hardened. Occasionally, some gravel roads and flagstone roads are also very worn, full of dilapidated atmosphere, which is incompatible with this prosperous port city, but with the feudal separatists in France. It can't be surprising that the powerful lord towns are similar.

To Xu Xin's doubts, Michelle gave a standard answer: it's all the fault of the damned Jewish businessman!They earned a lot of francs, but they were stingy with giving even a sou to repair municipal works.

Xu Xin nodded thoughtfully. This is useful information. The Jews are not popular in this area.

The streets were littered with garbage and animal excrement, which made Xu Xin and his wife quite unaccustomed to the neat and clean streets in the East Coast Republic. They had to work very hard to find a clean surface on which to walk.But it's not easy. There is almost no place to put your feet on the rainy streets.

In addition, you must always be careful of the sewage dumped from time to time from the buildings on both sides of the road.Once you are recruited, congratulations, you can go back and change your clothes.What's even more frustrating is that you can't complain yet, because that's what everyone is doing at this point.This is Bordeaux in this era, this is France in this era, and this is Europe in this era!

Looking at Michelle who was walking peacefully in front wearing riding boots, Xu Xin sighed resignedly, he shouldn't be going out wearing leather shoes today!

From time to time, there were some refugees in twos and threes on both sides of the road. These people looked haggard, exuded an unpleasant smell, and behind their dirty faces were a pair of eyes that had been tortured by life and lost their luster.According to Michelle, these people are either craftsmen whose businesses have gone bankrupt, or tenant farmers who escaped from the countryside and cannot bear the exploitation of the lord and the church, or they are the non-eldest sons of farmers who have no inheritance rights and were driven out by their elder brothers after their father died. After leaving the house, they are all poor people.

"In Bordeaux, you may meet a lady here and there who shows great kindness, and if you are lucky, you will be able to get a piece of moldy black bread for food. If it is in the country or some other small place, then everything will be worse, Either they become slaves, and work hard day and night for their masters; or they starve to death, and die in obscurity some night or morning, with their corpses in the dew; they are not even qualified to be robbers." Michel said. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "There are poor people everywhere, and not all of God's people are happy."

"Then let them fend for themselves? Why don't you organize them to reclaim wasteland?" After asking the words, Sun Bo felt stupid, and he could ask such a stupid question.

Sure enough, Michelle sighed, turned around and said, "Gascogne has a population of 100 million, and France has a population of more than 800 million. This country can't support more people. Maybe going to Quebec is a good idea." idea, but not everyone has the courage to go to that desolate place to fight the barbarians and British pirates. There are a hundred people who go, and maybe none of them get rich, so it's better to stay in the country and wander around By luck, maybe someday the king or some nobleman will conscript them into the army? That's never going to happen."

"Will the king conscript these people into the army?" Sun Bo asked in astonishment.

"Of course, why not?" Michelle gave the East Coaster a strange look. "They are a very cheap source of soldiers, and they are quite obedient. No one would refuse to hire them. In fact, not only kings and nobles would take a fancy to them." They, even the church, have taken a fancy to them. A while ago, some Jesuit priests wrote back from Quebec, asking to recruit God’s people from the civilized world to plant wheat there. See, they are not without Useful. Also, I heard that the Jesuit priests also suggested that the upper echelons of the church and immigration companies give aboriginal women as wives to every man from the civilized world who arrives in Quebec. When young girls go there, they even give out large sums The dowry, if she has enough children, then she can get additional rewards. Speaking of which, it is also a good way out."

"Perhaps." Sun Bo sighed.This world is so cruel. In the 21st century, human beings cover up all exploitation and oppression under the cloak of "freedom" and "fairness". People at this time put everything on the table naked.At any time, money is respected, power is respected, humanity, conscience, justice, compassion, etc. are all unnecessary luxuries.

Xu Xin looked at these refugees, but he was thinking in his heart that maybe in a few months, the number of refugees on the streets here would increase several times or even dozens of times.At that time, the life of those bankrupt handicraftsmen will be unsustainable, and many people will definitely be in exile.It’s okay for single young and middle-aged men, they will bite their teeth and go to be sailors or go to Quebec to find a living; but those handicraftsmen with their families are in trouble, maybe this winter is destined to be a winter they will never forget.No!Perhaps their lives will end in this cruel winter.

Xu Xin sighed secretly a few times, and silently recited Amitabha Buddha in his heart.All of this is not because I want to commit crimes, it is really a last resort.If I don't kill people, people will kill me. This world is so cruel, so the Bodhisattva must forgive me.

Several people continued to walk, and after a while, the Jewish Ludwig's shop arrived.

Xu Xin walked into the store casually, looking around casually.To be honest, the storefront is not big. It is a two-entry house with a brick-wood mixed structure. The front one is used as a storefront, and the back one seems to be used as a warehouse.The decoration inside the store is also very simple. The shelves are made of cheap wood, and the white cotton cloth made by the handicraft workshop is hung on the windows as curtains. It really fits the Jewish style.

There are many kinds of goods on the shelves, but Xu Xin only pays attention to cotton cloth.He observed these cotton cloths with his fairly professional eyes. Many cloths were too rough and airtight; others were not strong enough. It seemed that the quality of the thread was not stable enough during spinning.Purely in terms of quality, these cotton cloths are all substandard products in the face of the new quality inspection regulations issued by the General Administration of Textile Industry, and they are absolutely not allowed to flow into the market to tarnish the reputation of Dong'an cloth.

The quality is so good, let's look at its price.Oh hehe, Xu Xin laughed heartily, 12 sous/horse!This is of course an uncompetitive price for the east bank cloth that is about to land in a large scale.There are hundreds of cotton cloths piled up scattered on the shelves, and there may be more in the warehouse behind, waiting for a few months later, when some profiteers cry.

Let you control the guild and control the market, hum, Xu Xin paced happily.

"Oriental?" An old and hoarse voice suddenly sounded from the door.

(End of this chapter)