The Rise of the European Emperor

Brand-name bags really don't have much technical content, and the cost is not expensive. What's really expensive about it is the design, and the reputation. Therefore, the best copycats are probably these things.

In fact, there was a well-known fashion company in the previous life. Every time Paris Fashion Week or Milan Fashion Week came, it sent its subordinates to copy other people's ideas. Then, when the real designer hadn't distributed the goods, he shipped the plagiarized products in large quantities at the fastest speed, and his reputation was quite good.

This is a very embarrassing problem in the fashion industry-except for creativity, fashion has no technical content. The same design can be made by your big designer in Paris, and so can my small tailor in the countryside, as long as the craftsmanship is not too trendy.

Marin had a girlfriend in his previous life, who was a crazy lover of counterfeit luxury goods. When she buys clothes on a certain treasure, she always compares the design styles of the Paris fashion show and the Milan fashion show. She often compares the genuine pictures, searches for similar cheap knockoff clothes on a certain treasure, and then buys them... In just a few months, Marin was bombarded with various fashion pictures, and was forced to be a staff officer. Because, he is always asked "How is this? Does it look good?", and he needs to make some comments...

It was those months of torment that Marin was forced to memorize a lot of fashion and designer bags. Even now, I can recall it.

To make leather bags, as long as enough cobblers are found, mass production can be carried out. Moreover, Marin does not plan to build a factory in Beihai for production. The main reason is that the wages of European craftsmen are too high, and it is difficult to find so many skilled cobblers.

However, there are many cobblers in the Ming Dynasty...

Cobblers are also a kind of craftsmen, and they are controlled a lot by the government and the army. As long as Marin is willing to spend money, he can bribe those officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty, and poach a large number of cobblers from them.

Then, they will all be sent to the Hokkaido Tannery in Hokkaido, where they will gather together and produce various brand-name bags according to Marin's "design".

Women in the Ming Dynasty couldn't use their bags to compare, so they were shipped back to Europe and let the European ladies pretend...

The wages of craftsmen in Ming Dynasty were very low, and the government gave about 7.2 taels of silver to those craftsmen every year, which is about 600 renminbi per month. However, because the artisans are controlled by officials and military officers, after their exploitation, half of those who really fall into the hands of the artisans are not bad. Therefore, the artisans of the Ming Dynasty lived a very hard life, dressed in tatters all day long, and couldn't get enough to eat. Compared with European craftsmen and lords, they live like beggars.

European craftsmen are all naughty, right? The earliest bourgeoisie was made up of artisans. It is also this group of guys who unite with merchants, demand power from nobles, and participate in rebellion...

Their income is much higher than that of ordinary people.

There are all kinds of dissatisfaction. In short, they are all uncles. The artisans of the Ming Dynasty, because of the cruel system, lived no differently from slaves. A craftsman has a nominal salary of 600 renminbi per month, but 300 renminbi is not bad if he gets it. And these 300 Wen are often the living expenses of the craftsmen's family, and the average family can only spend 10 Wen per day. Of course, if there are father and son who are both artisans in the family, life will be much better. In addition, their wives are often grateful for the hard work of sewing and doing laundry. Otherwise, the family cannot survive.

In Europe, even the lowest-level young craftsmen, as long as they have completed a 7-year apprenticeship, their wages will immediately reach 3 pfennigs per day. That is 90 pfennigs per month, equivalent to 1.5 gold coins, or 1.7 taels of silver. And those old-fashioned craftsmen have higher wages, and it is normal to double them.

That is to say, in Europe, the annual salary of the poorest craftsmen is more than 20 taels of silver, which is several times that of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, prices in Europe are far higher than those in Ming Dynasty. However, even so, the life of European craftsmen is much better than that of Ming Dynasty craftsmen. The most important thing is that they have a high status. Moreover, the annual salary of 20 taels is only the wages of the lowest-level young craftsmen. The wages of those powerful old-fashioned craftsmen are much higher.

Marin has no intention of giving the Ming Dynasty craftsmen the same wages. If they set up a leather factory in Hokkaido and introduce Ming craftsmen, there is no need to pay more. A monthly salary of 1 tael is enough to make those Ming craftsmen happy. You know, it was not bad for them to get 300 papers per month. Giving them 1 tael of silver per month is equivalent to more than three times their original income.

And Marin is also happy. Instead of using Beihai craftsmen, the minimum monthly payment is 1.7 taels of silver. An old cobbler who has been working for a long time often pays a few taels of silver a month...

One or two is okay, but the Hokkaido Tannery needs to be a large factory with thousands of craftsmen. If all European craftsmen are used, the salary alone will be several times more. And with Ming Dynasty craftsmen, even veteran cobblers, one tael of silver a month would be enough.

...

In addition, the Ishikari Plain in Hokkaido can also develop large rice fields. Just use Japanese rice varieties, which are suitable for planting in cold regions.

Here, it needs to be pointed out that the rice varieties in the Northeast were actually introduced to the Northeast by the Koreans and Japanese. Initially, the fishing and hunting peoples in the Northeast did not farm at all. Even after breaking into the Guandong in the late Qing Dynasty, most of the people who broke into the Northeast were northerners, and it was popular to grow wheat, sorghum, and soybeans in the Northeast.

After the Japanese invasion of North Korea in the 19th century, some Koreans fled to the Northeast, bringing with them North Korea's rice planting technology. However, the real large-scale rice plantation in Northeast China was during the Japanese occupation period and was forcibly promoted by the Japanese colonists. Even the song "On the Songhua River" sang "there are soybeans and sorghum all over the mountains" instead of rice fields everywhere...

As for why this is so, it is because ancient China mainly planted indica rice, and it was mainly concentrated in the southern region south of the Huaihe River, while wheat was mainly planted in the north.

In Japan and North Korea, although rice was passed down from China, rice cultivation is mainly popular and they don't like pasta. Therefore, after thousands of years of cultivation in Japan and North Korea, cold-resistant northern rice varieties were bred. Then, when occupying the Northeast, the Japanese were not used to eating pasta, and they also forcibly promoted the cultivation of Japanese varieties of japonica rice suitable for high-latitude regions in the Northeast. This is how the famous Northeast rice came into being.

To be honest, although the Japanese invaders are not a thing. However, Northeast rice does originate from Japan, and it was created by the Japanese in the Northeast.

Of course, in this era, Japan's rice varieties were not as good as those of later generations. However, some good varieties can still be found. Moreover, the most important thing is that in this era, only Japanese rice varieties are suitable for planting in the high-latitude Hokkaido region.

Therefore, Marin will send people to collect high-quality rice seeds in Japan and carefully cultivate them to produce the Northeast rice of later generations. Then, transport it to the mainland of Beihai country for your own enjoyment. To be honest, the current Daming indica rice and Indian indica rice are not soft enough, and the taste is a bit hard. In later generations, Marin was used to eating japonica rice, and he also preferred Northeast rice. And Japanese rice is the origin of Northeast rice, so Marin wants to send people to search for good rice varieties in Japan, and grow Northeast rice with good taste in Hokkaido. It can be eaten by oneself, or by artisans and colonists in Hokkaido.

Even, Marin intends that if an excellent Japanese rice variety can be found, it can also be introduced to the North American colony near New York, where this ancient version of Northeast rice can be planted. After all, New York is too close to the mainland, and it is convenient to transport rice back to the mainland. If you want to transport rice from Hokkaido back to Beihai, you have to go half a circle around the earth, the cost is too high...