British writer

The cruise ship enters the sea.

After leaving the port, the rain became heavier and heavier.

Raindrops hit the windows, forming small streams of water.

Since deck games were no longer available due to rain, the number of people in the club gradually increased, shaking goblets, playing darts, playing poker, and chatting, and the atmosphere became lively.

Wodehouse poured wine too,

"Lu, have some~"

Lu Shi was in trouble,

"this……"

Wodehouse chuckled and said: "It's a rare trip, so don't be nervous. Besides, don't rainy days and cruises go best with alcohol?"

Lu Shi followed his advice like a stream,

"In that case, I'll give you a little."

"That's right!"

Wodehouse also poured wine for Parker Brothers,

The four of them clinked glasses.

Edward continued the topic just now: "Professor Lu, do you think it is a good idea to put "Lord of the Rings" on the table?"

Judging from modern experience, there must be something going on, and it will be big.

But in the early 20th century...

Lu Shi wasn't sure.

Wodehouse noticed Lu Shi's hesitation and said, "I want to see if your game is fun first."

As a product salesman, George was not afraid of this the least and said: "'Klondike Gold Rush' is not suitable for four people to play. Sir, would you like to try 'Cuban War'?"

He took out another wooden box from his bag and opened it carefully.

There are many kinds of chess pieces inside,

Soldiers, gunboats, auxiliary ships, cruisers...

Wodehouse sighed: "I didn't expect that today's toys can be made like this, just like a real war game. However, this kind of tabletop game is still not possible. I heard that Baron Baden-Powell is currently working on a real war game. Boy Scout activities..."

Probably because I felt that the topic was getting too far.

He asked, "How to play this game?"

George replied: "To put it simply, it means arranging troops and trying every means to destroy the opponent's fleet."

He started introducing the rules.

After hearing a few words, Wodehouse couldn't help but shake his head.

"In the Spanish-American War, the United States had 4 cruisers and Spain had 7. The design of this game is too petty."

George: "..."

Edward: "..."

The brothers were speechless for a while.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"Sir, do you really want to have a naval battle on the table?"

Wodehouse was teased, but he was not angry. He explained: "I just think it is a bit unreal and has no sense of substitution."

Lu Shi complained: "It's just because you are a noble that you have such a weird request."

Wodehouse thought for a moment;

"Too."

Both the Parker brothers found Wodehouse a bit difficult to deal with;

Edward whispered in George's ear,

George raised his eyebrows,

"Is that okay?"

Edward looked at Lu Shi with fanatical eyes, and then said: "Such a good opportunity, don't miss it!"

George could not refute;

"Oh well."

He turned to Lu Shi Wodehouse and said: "We also brought a tabletop game to the UK this time, called "Landlord". However, this game is still in the design stage and has not been published in the United States."

Edward took over the conversation,

""The Landlord" was born out of the first tabletop game "Banking" designed by my brother. Players borrow money from the bank to 'create' wealth. At that time, we made 500 sets and sold 488 sets, making a profit of more than 100 yuan. Dollar."

For a personal release, this is indeed a record to be proud of.

Lu Shi asked: "Mr. George designed it?"

George nodded,

"Yes. In fact, I was ready to give up at that time, but my brother Charles encouraged... Charles, my other brother. He did not come to England this time and sat in Salem."

As he introduced, he spread out the game board on the table.

For a moment, Lu Shi's eyes widened,

The chessboard in front of us should be called a "map", with the names of the land written all over it.

station,

church,

street,

garden,

…

There is a price tag underneath each piece of land.

There's even a prison plot in the lower left corner of the map.

Such a familiar map layout reminded Lu Shi of a board game that almost everyone has been exposed to in modern times——

"Monopoly".

Wodehouse looked at the map and asked: "I noticed that there is a plot of land here with the word 'P.D.Q.R.R.'. Does this 'R.R.' refer to the railway (Railroad)? Strange, why is there a prison here?"

He was very curious.

George said, "Let me introduce the rules."

He picked up a chess piece and placed it on a certain grid on the map.

"Throwing the dice allows the chess pieces to move. After arriving at the unowned land, the land can be bought at a price. In this way, you can collect tolls and enjoy the profits from the increased value of the land."

"The rules are not difficult to understand," Wodehouse said.

George continued: "As long as players reach a certain amount of assets, they can win."

Lu Shi:? ? ?

Why does it feel different from the "Monopoly" I have heard of?

He asked curiously: "Can't transactions be conducted between players?"

George: "Huh?"

Lu Shi asked again: "Players can't go bankrupt?"

George: "Huh?"

Lu Shi finally asked: "Shouldn't the condition for winning be that the last player who is not bankrupt wins?"

George: "..."

I really can’t say “Huh?”.

With a few casual instructions from Lu Shi, a game that was originally "Hello, Me, Hello Everyone" turned into a battle royale of competition.

Is there anything more capitalist than this?

Lu Shi said: "Believe me, your kind of setting will definitely not sell a few copies. The real rules of the game should be to squeeze out other game players by seizing land, raising prices, etc. In the end, there can only be one winner, and the others All bankrupt.”

"hiss……"

George and Edward couldn't help but gasped,

They looked at each other, then at Wodehouse;

The three of them had the same doubt in their hearts:

Is capitalist orthodoxy in the Qing Dynasty?

Lu Shi didn't feel anything,

Because the English name of "Monopoly" is "Monopoly", and the literal translation of this word is concise and concise:

monopoly.

Historically, there were indeed two versions of "Monopoly";

One is a monopoly;

One is antitrust.

And the market made a choice, and the former sold thousands of times better than the latter.

Because tabletop games are for entertainment, we don’t want to have to be educated about family fun when we’re not having fun.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Of course, your original rules are pretty good too. Just prepare two versions of the instructions..."

Halfway through the words, George said first: "Professor Lu, can you explain your rules in detail? How do players trade with each other? How to go bankrupt if you go bankrupt?"

Lu Shi said: "Mr. George, you ask me why I went bankrupt? You are an American businessman!"

George was speechless for a while,

Xin said that it was true that he was an American businessman, but he did not necessarily understand capitalism as well as Lu Shi.

nobody,

than him,

understand better,

Capitalism.

George humbly asked for advice: "Professor Lu, can you tell me something?"

He was quite anxious.

But Wodehouse next to him told him not to worry.

"Mr. George, do you think the rules formulated by Professor Lu are very suitable for making a tabletop game?"

George was so anxious that his forehead was sweating.

"certainly!"

Wodehouse pursed his lips, clinked glasses with the other party, and said, "Drink first."

How could George drink in?

He was just about to speak when something suddenly occurred to him. He put on a serious expression and said, "Professor Lu, the real core of tabletop games is the rules. I understand."

The corners of Wodehouse's lips curled up into a "teachable" smile.

He nodded imperceptibly to Lu Shi.

Lu Shi understood and looked at George,

"so?"

George said simply: "Professor Lu, how much share are you going to ask for?"

Lu Shi pondered,

He has never experienced this kind of "business talk" in the true sense.

After about half a minute, he said: "Maybe your company should come to Europe for development. Sales will be better here."

This seems to mean something.

George dealt with it carefully: "Indeed. But our company is still operating on a small scale, which is relatively difficult, and we simply don't have the ability to invest in Europe. You have also seen the result..."

Everyone's attention turned to "Klondike Gold Rush" and "Cuban War\

,"The American cultural background of these two games is too strong.

Lu Shi smiled and said,

"You don't have to be discouraged."

Be obedient and listen to the music, why doesn’t George understand?

He immediately said politely: "Then...then could you please help introduce some powerful companies to our company?"

In the early 20th century, tabletop gaming was a niche within a niche;

Not many people know about this thing, so it is impossible to say whether it is a toy or a publication.

Seeing that the time was right, Wodehouse interjected: "Can the University of London Union Press do it?"

George finally saw it,

The two people in front of me are the real scheming people.

They don't want a share, but want to directly take over the European business.

But George had no choice.

As he said, "The real core of tabletop games is the rules."

And Lu Shi is the one who has mastered the core. It would be too easy for him to come up with a copycat product.

George quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind, and asked tentatively: "Can our Parker brothers be considered as technical shareholders? The share should be half, right?"

Lu Shi crossed his arms and said nothing.

When he first traveled through time, he must have thought: "Isn't it just a board game? What's so difficult about making it?"

But after traveling for a while, he realized that his idea was a kind of "arrogance" of modern Chinese people, a unique "arrogance" that can only be bred by an industrialized country with a full industrial chain.

At the beginning of the 20th century, only by finding partners with advantages could we get twice the result with half the effort.

This principle applies even to Great Britain at the center of the universe.

But George's desire to take half of the shares was still too much.

Wodehouse said: "There is a Chinese proverb, 'The snake swallows the elephant when the human heart is weak'. I think no one wants to be that little snake, otherwise it will be strangled to death, right?"

Lu Shi: "..."

He didn't know when Wodehouse understood Chinese culture so well.

George said: "What Jazz said makes sense. But our company is more experienced in the production of tabletop games, and others will have to pay a lot of money to learn from scratch. Therefore, we still hope to get a suitable share."

He said, holding up three fingers.

Wodehouse's lips moved slightly,

"Thirty percent?"

George did not answer directly, but responded with a smile.

Wodehouse frowned;

He felt that 30% was still a bit too much.

In fact, he had reservations about cooperating with the Americans.

Although American industrial products are becoming more and more outstanding, and steel production has reached an astonishing 47% of global production, the British stereotype still exists, believing that American products are as unreliable as Americans.

Wodehouse looked at Lu Shi,

"Lu, what do you think?"

When asked this question, the Parker brothers were very surprised.

Only then did they realize that Lu Chi was the one who could make the decision.

A Qing Dynasty person has this status...

Simply outrageous!

Lu Shi lowered his head and thought, then said: "Thirty percent is still too much."

His face remained calm,

"How about this, we London University Alliance Press directly buy out your technology for making tabletop games for two thousand pounds?"

Lu Shi also pointed at the table,

"The Klondike Gold Rush", "The Cuban War", "The Landlord\

,""That's it, two thousand pounds."

George's face fell instantly,

"Does Professor Lu think we are fools?"

Lu Shi asked: "You think it's less? Two thousand pounds is not a small amount. Moreover, you just said that your company is still operating on a small scale in the United States. After you get the money, you can quickly expand your local business, isn't that good?"

George replied: "A wise person will know how to choose between the chicken that laid the golden egg and the golden egg itself."

Lu Shi shrugged.

"All right."

Seeing how relaxed he was, George gritted his teeth and said, "Twenty percent. This is our bottom line."

Wodehouse quietly gave Lu Shi a thumbs up,

It was the first time he saw such a bargain.

Lu Shi was just well versed in the "window theory".

If George wanted 30%, he would just lift the roof off and claim to buy out the other party's technology. George could only compromise and ask for 20% instead.

Lu Shi said: "It's feasible."

George nodded, and then said: "Professor Lu, let's continue discussing the rules of "The Big Landlord"? Or should we wait until we sign the contract in New York?"

Lu Shi chuckled,

"We can discuss it now."

George was a little surprised,

"Aren't you worried about us falling out?"

Lu Shi said: "Mr. George, I believe you will not fall out. Because you not only want "The Landlord", you also want "The Lord of the Rings". If we unite, we will both benefit, and if we divide, we will harm both. Why fight?" How about a win-win situation?"

George couldn't help but secretly admire him in his heart,

The Chinese man in front of me does have a kind of confidence and calmness that is impressive.

George nodded,

"Yes, I swear on the goodwill of our company that I will not betray you."

Lu Shi nodded and said, "Okay, let's talk about the rules you originally planned to set."

George immediately explained: “Each player starts with 1,500 yuan as assets, including 5 1-yuan banknotes; 1 each of 5-yuan, 20-yuan, and 50-yuan banknotes; 2 each of 10-yuan and 500-yuan banknotes; and 100-yuan banknotes. 4 pictures.”

Lu Shi waved his hand to interrupt the other party,

"No, it's not the minutiae that I'm talking about."

George was puzzled;

"you mean?"

Lu Shi couldn't help but sigh and said: "Forget it, I'll just say it directly. First of all, the money in the bank is unlimited, but the buildings are limited, 32 houses and 12 hotels."

There is unlimited money in the bank,

This is easy to understand.

Edward asked, "Why are there limited buildings?"

Lu Shi said: "It's very simple. We must artificially create 'scarcity', otherwise, no one will go bankrupt in the end."

George: "..."

Edward: "..."

Wodehouse: "..."

When they heard Lu Shi say "artificially created 'scarcity'", they couldn't help but shudder.

This is naked capitalism...

Lu Shi continued: "For another example, players can trade with each other, but they cannot borrow money. If you want to get cash, you must mortgage the land or house at half the price to the bank. This is also a means of creating 'scarcity'."

The other three looked at each other in confusion.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence reigned.

Lu Shi continued: "In short, all rules must be designed towards the ultimate goal of the game, to create one winner and multiple bankrupts. The game also has to be renamed "Monopoly"."

monopoly?

This is so capitalist!

"Gu..."

George swallowed and thought that Lu Shi was too cruel.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly when he thought about what he had just said about using goodwill to guarantee that he would not betray.

Is a person like Lu Shi still afraid of betrayal?

I don’t know how much bad water there is in my stomach. Just a little bit of it is enough for me to drink a pot.

Therefore, Parker Brothers should just cooperate with others honestly.

George smiled,

"Professor Lu, I also think the rules you designed are better. Our 'playing house' rules are really boring, so we might as well not include them in the instructions."