The Rise of the European Emperor

Just when Baron Bogur was concentrating on dealing with a big sauce elbow, John Lafite gave him a look, and the two "businessmen" who were in charge of warming up the scene immediately began to talk loudly...

"Recently, I'm planning to ship a batch of Bordeaux wine to Beihai to sell. Beihai is relatively rich, and the nobles there are said to be able to eat white bread made of wheat flour every meal. Moreover, they touched butter. The kind with honey..." a North Sea spy with the pseudonym Jilu boasted.

At this time, another North Sea spy named Trezeguet immediately answered the conversation:

"Well, I've heard of the wealth of the North Sea State. It is said that after capturing the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, they hold Goslar Silver Both capital and Lüneburg Salt Capital, the North Sea country is very rich now. High-end things like Bordeaux red wine are relatively popular there. Lord John’s Lafite red wine is very popular in the North Sea country. The high-end goods..." After finishing speaking, "Trezeguet" smiled at John Lafite flatteringly, which was very suitable for his status as a nobleman's helper.

Then, a young North Sea spy named Griezmann also interjected:

"You two, I know that the Beihai Kingdom is rich. But the problem is, because of the smallpox problem, the Grand Duke Marin of the Beihai Kingdom has announced the closure of the border and prohibited foreigners from entering! Even if the two brothers have good goods, it is difficult to enter! "

The "businessman" under the pseudonym Giroud said with disdain:

"What do you know? Little brother, smallpox has subsided, and the 'Vaccinia Law' invented by Duke Marin himself solved the problem. Now, although Beihai is still under martial law at the border, it is still promoting vaccinia cultivation, but, Em Foreign trade ports like Denggang have already begun to open to the outside world. I just need to send the goods to Emden Port and find a North Sea businessman to take over, and I can make a lot of money. Right now, the smallpox incident has just passed, and these few It is estimated that the high-end wines in the Beihai country have been out of stock for a long time, and there must be a market!"

"Trezeguet" nodded again and again, agreeing:

"That's right, the trade has been suspended for a long time due to smallpox in the past few months. The nobles of the North Sea Kingdom must have not been able to drink high-end wine for a long time! This trip, Brother Jilu will definitely make a lot of money!"

"It's all God's blessing..." "Jirou" said modestly...

...

Of course, the above are all foreshadowing. The real topic to be discussed was only thrown out after a long time of nonsense...

"You said, why do these hundreds of thousands of disaster victims surround Paris but don't enter the city to make trouble? It feels so weird! I heard that the peasants in the Duchy of Württemberg on the German side launched a rebellion.

It's against the Duke of Württemberg. Why are these disaster victims so honest? " asked the young "Griezmann" doubtfully.

The elder "Trezeguet" shook his head and said:

"It's not easy? Because the rebellion didn't end well! You've also heard that whether it was the rebel peasants in Württemberg or the mob in Hungary, they were all suppressed by the nobles in the end. Now, those rebels The mobs of the two countries were sold by the monarchs of the two countries to Marin, the Grand Duke of the North Sea Kingdom, and sent to the barbaric continent to cut down trees and reclaim wasteland! Therefore, as long as they are not stupid, they will not rebel indiscriminately. Moreover, the knights of my Great France are powerful, but It is not comparable to a small waste country like Württemberg! As long as those disaster victims dare to rebel, they will be wiped out by the heroic French knights immediately. And the end of rebellion is to be ruthlessly killed by the knights. As long as they don’t You're stupid, you don't even dare to do that!"

At this time, Baron Boguer, who was eating the sauced elbow, paused, glanced at "Trezeguet", and then continued to eat the sauced elbow. Generals have a big appetite, this is already the second pork knuckle he has eaten.

Seeing the attention of Baron Bogur, the three spies were overjoyed. At this time, the spy named "Girou" suddenly said:

"I suddenly had an idea, maybe I can solve the problem of the victims..."

Then, everyone else's attention was drawn. Even Baron Bogur, who was gnawing on the sauced elbow, stopped gnawing on the sauced elbow, and listened to what "Girou" had to say.

I saw "Jirou" pretending to be a mysterious expert and said:

"Since the more than 300,000 disaster victims outside the city have made the royal family unable to afford it, and have seriously affected the external image of my Kingdom of France, why don't we learn from that prodigal son Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, and take these 300,000 Tens of thousands of disaster victims were packaged and sold to Marin, Grand Duke of the North Sea? Did you know that the first time the Principality of Württemberg suppressed the rebels, it captured 27,000 mobs, and then bought 26,000 mobs and their families to Marin in exchange for 780,000 Gulden gold coins! Counting the second batch of mobs caught later, a total of 30,000 to 40,000 mobs were exchanged for one or hundreds of thousands of gold coins from the Grand Duke Marin. Not only did the original Duke Ulrich owe a hundred thousand The huge debt of ten thousand gold coins has been repaid, and there is still a lot of balance, which has made Duke Ulrich a fortune!"

Then, "Trezeguet" turned into a fan again, adding:

"More than that, I heard that Hungary also sold 67,800 households of prisoners of war to the Grand Duke Marin. The price is not as high as the 30 gold coins per household in Württemberg, but there are also 20 Gulden gold coins per household. The total price One hundred and one hundred thousand gold coins are equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of the Kingdom of France!"

Baron Bogur had put down his half-gnawed elbow at this time, and began to concentrate on listening to their bragging...

And the young "Griezmann" said curiously:

"My God! To buy so many people, not only will it cost more than two million gold coins, but they will also have to pay for their food. Where did Grand Duke Marin of Beihai get so much money and food?"

"Girou" explained:

"The Grand Duke Marin does not have that much money. He borrowed money from the Fugger family, the richest man in Germany. You know, it is said that the Fugger family has assets of several million gold coins, and they lent two million to the Grand Duke Marin. It's still no problem. Moreover, Grand Duke Marin has obtained the large silver mine in Goslar, and he is able to pay back. As for the food to feed these hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war... It is said that the North Sea state has secret techniques, and the grain output is very high. Maybe It can feed the hundreds of thousands of disaster victims, I don’t know if this is true or not..."

At this time, Baron Bogur's eyes flashed. As a close minister of the king, of course he knows the "secret technique" of Beihai country's high grain yield, isn't it just volcanic ash. Moreover, it seems that it was presented by the Viscount John Lafite in front of him. So, he gave John Lafite a meaningful look...

John Lafite pretended not to see it, and lowered his head to drink. At this time, the best "popular" Griezmann stood up again:

"Hey——this is a good idea! If His Majesty the King packs up and sells the 300,000 disaster victims outside the city to Marin, the Duke of Beihai, he can also exchange for millions of gold coins! In this way, not only His Majesty the King will not have to After paying for the food of these three hundred thousand victims, you can get the national fiscal revenue for nearly a year. Moreover, there are even military expenses for fighting the Spaniards next year!"

Baron Bogur was taken aback when he heard this, and almost dropped the wine glass in his hand. Although he is not smart, he can understand a little after listening to big people talking about big things.

What this "Griezmann" said is not false at all. If these victims who lost their land can be packaged and sold to Marin, not only can this heavy "burden" be thrown away, but also millions of gold coins can be exchanged for the royal family. , greatly increasing the chances of defeating Spain.

But at this time, to his surprise, the master John Lafite expressed a different point of view:

"What are you talking about? It's not as simple as you think! Selling the disaster victims to the Beihai Kingdom can indeed make a lot of money, and you can also get rid of the package. But, have you ever thought about the face of His Majesty the King? Selling so many people to foreigners , Your Majesty's reputation will be affected!"

Baron Bogur's eyes immediately dimmed—yes, of course, selling people can not only get rid of the burden, but also make a lot of money. However, this is not good for the reputation of King Francois I, who is easy to be criticized... As a diehard loyalist of His Majesty, how could Baron Bocourt be willing to damage his master's reputation?

But at this time, the young "businessman Griezmann" who has been acting as a "singer" retorted:

"Master Viscount, I don't think this is difficult!"

"It's not difficult? What do you think? His majesty's face, that's the top priority!" John Rafi glared at "Griezmann" seemingly angrily...