The Rise of the European Emperor

After the New Year, while busy with post-war reconstruction, Marin sent invitation letters to nobles from various European countries, inviting them to participate in the auction. As for what to auction, it is naturally silk and porcelain brought back from Daming.

In this war, although Marin successfully won the territories of 8 vassal states, the losses were also staggering. In particular, the tens of thousands of Ugram rye fields in Oldenburg were burned after they matured, and the loss was astonishing. In addition, because of the war, the two provinces of Oldenburg, North and South Münster, plus the Ruhr Province, suffered staggering economic losses from the war.

Therefore, Marin continued to spend a lot of money to rebuild. Also, used to stabilize newly conquered areas. Therefore, Marin naturally put the auction of silk and porcelain on the agenda.

In addition, in addition to silk and porcelain, Marin also launched the sale of paper. Due to the adoption of modern chemical pulping technology and the endless forest resources in Canada, the paper industry in Cape Breton Island in the North Sea State is very developed, and the cost of paper is also very cheap. Even, it is much cheaper than the cost of papermaking in the Ming Dynasty.

But Marin couldn't explain the source of paper before. He couldn't tell others that he had mastered new papermaking technology, right? Therefore, even if there is a serious backlog of paper in hand, Marin cannot dump blank paper in Europe.

But it is different now, he has been to the Ming Dynasty once. With the excuse of Ming Dynasty, he can take out the paper openly...

In the current Ming Dynasty, the price of paper is not expensive, about 0.1 taels of silver per hundred sheets of paper. That's 3.73 grams of silver, which is about 4.5 pfennigs worth. This is ordinary bamboo paper, which belongs to mid-grade paper.

But in Europe at the moment, paper is still made with Chinese technology hundreds of years ago, made of hemp husks, rags and fishing nets, which is expensive and scarce. Right now, the price of paper in Europe can almost reach the point of 1 pfennig per paper. 100 sheets of paper are 100 Finneys, equivalent to 1.66 gold coins. Its price is 22 times more expensive than Ming Dynasty bamboo paper, but its quality is not as good as bamboo paper.

And Marin's papermaking cost in Canada is terribly low. Because the trees in Canada don't need money, they can be cut down casually. And the cost of coal is also very low. Therefore, at the paper mill on Cape Breton Island, the cost of paper production is less than 0.5 Finneys per hundred sheets...

This is also due to the high labor cost in Europe. If cheap Ming Dynasty craftsmen are used, the cost is estimated to be twice as low...

In other words, the cost per hundred sheets of paper in the Cape Breton Island paper mill was only one-ninth of the market price of bamboo paper in the Ming Dynasty. Even if the cost of bamboo paper in the Ming Dynasty was only half of the market price, the cost of making paper in Cape Breton Island was only 1/4.5 of that in the Ming Dynasty.

But the quality of the paper from Cape Breton Island surpassed that of bamboo paper from the Ming Dynasty. Because Marin let the craftsmen use modern papermaking technology and added some additives for papermaking now,

For example, fluorite powder, kaolin, etc., plus the original caustic soda or sodium sulfate have a certain bleaching effect, making the paper produced by the paper mill on Cape Breton Island not only whiter than ordinary paper, but also smoother, which is good for writing and printing. Of course, because there is no overbearing chloride bleach of later generations, the paper is not as white as the white paper of later generations. However, compared with the generally yellowed paper of this era, it is already white enough. The point is, the cost is still low.

For example, in Europe now, a piece of paper costs 1 pfennig. A 1725-page "Bible" consumes hundreds of large sheets of paper. The cost of paper alone costs more than one gold coin. In addition to the cost of printing and binding, several gold coins are required for each book.

Therefore, in Europe today, ordinary people simply cannot afford books. The "Bible", which consumes a lot of paper, can only be used by nobles and missionaries. Because of the high cost of paper, it is impossible to popularize European knowledge at the moment.

The true take-off of technology and culture in Europe was based on two events—one was during the Qianlong period, when Jiang Youren, a French missionary who entered the Qianlong court, sent Chinese papermaking technology to Paris in the form of pictures.

The French are famous for stealing technology. In the past, the glass mirror manufacturing technology in Venice was stolen by the French. Later, they repeated their old tricks and stole papermaking technology from Huaxia. In addition to stealing glass mirror technology and papermaking technology, the French also sent missionary Yin Hongxu into Jingdezhen in 1698 to steal porcelain manufacturing technology. Later, in the 18th century, Europe had its own porcelain production...

The other is based on the Huaxia papermaking technology brought back by Jiang Youren. Europeans invented mechanical pulping and chemical pulping in the 19th century, which greatly reduced the cost of paper, making books and newspapers affordable for ordinary people. s things.

To give the simplest example - such as British newspapers, before the invention of modern papermaking technology, the price per copy was as high as 1 shilling, which is 12 pence. But after the cost of papermaking fell, the price of newspapers fell to one penny per copy, a drop of up to 12 times...

...

Of course, Marin was not so kind, letting European countries use cheap paper. His purpose of selling paper this time is simply to cover up the paper mills in Canada.

In the future, Marin plans to promote the use of books and paper invoices throughout the country. Now, it has been promoted in the central organization. The next step is to promote it to the public.

However, rashly spreading the use of paper across the country will make other countries suspicious. Therefore, Marin simply took out a batch of paper this time and sold it along with the silk and porcelain bought by Daming. He wants to use this auction to tell other countries - I bought a lot of paper in the Ming Dynasty, and the price is not high...

In this way, paper will be widely used in Beihai country in the future, and no one will doubt it. After all, it is reasonable to buy paper from Daming...

As for the price of paper, Marin was not polite. Although the cost of his hundred sheets of paper is less than 0.5 fenney, he intends to sell it at a price of 0.3 fenney per sheet in this auction, that is, 30 fenney per hundred sheets, which is equivalent to half a gold coin...

This price is more than six times more expensive than bamboo paper from Ming Dynasty, but it is less than one-third of the European market price. Also, the paper quality is better. Such a cheap price, coupled with excellent quality, will not worry about not being sold. Moreover, Marin can make a lot of money. After all, the Cape Breton Island paper mill costs only 0.005 pfennig per sheet, and it is sold at a price of 0.3 pfennig per sheet, which is a 60-fold increase...

...

Like the last auction, Marin still does not plan to auction in only one place, but divides it into several places for auction.

Moreover, Marin does not intend to place the local auction venue this time in Emden or Aurich, but in Las Vegas at the mouth of the Elbe River.

The reason why he chose to hold the auction in Las Vegas is because Marin intends to sell the casino city of Las Vegas to all countries. After all, Marin established Las Vegas not to play for his own people, but to make money. How are you going to make money if you don't have customers?

Therefore, Marin set up the local auction house in Las Vegas, the casino this time. When those who participated in the auction arrived in Las Vegas, they would definitely linger and forget to return after feeling the developed gambling industry there. Then, next time those people might come back. Even if you don't come, the word of mouth spreads, and it can drive others to come and spend...

In addition to Las Vegas, Marin also intends to hold auctions in Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon to cater for consumers from various countries. As for the mainland of Germany, a special session will be opened in Nuremberg in the south to facilitate customers in the southern region of Germany...