Rio de Janeiro, Luxembourg Tea House, a high-end place on Governado Island, is always full of customers and wealthy people gather.
In order to allow the city of Rio de Janeiro to develop better, the government has appropriately adjusted the administration of the capital. In a series of adjustments, the land around Rio de Janeiro's important port of Javanabara Bay was taken out and divided into five regions: southeast, northwest, and middle.
Among them, the Eastern District is the main urban area of Brazil and the most prosperous area, while the remaining four are suburbs to be developed.
Because the Central District is close to the East District and is close to water and buildings, it has received the most development spillover from the main city. Among them, Govina Island has been selected as the capital business district, so it has gathered a large number of domestic and foreign businessmen.
Luxembourg Tea House is a famous high-end place in Europe.
It is famous in the West for providing a variety of high-quality black tea, milk tea, green tea and other rich tea drinks, as well as a variety of desserts and meals, and is a favorite place for the upper class.
"Hey John, is that you?!"
William, who had just finished a cup of fresh milk and black tea, was about to get another cup when he saw someone who had just come in from outside, who looked like an acquaintance. His eyes lit up and he quickly said hello.
John heard a familiar voice greeting him and looked around. When he found out it was his cousin, a joyful smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Oh, it's cousin William! I didn't expect to meet you here. What a fate."
"Yes, brother-in-law, we are really destined. I will treat you to this purchase today!"
Meeting an old friend in a foreign country, who is also his cousin and brother-in-law, William is in a very happy mood today.
William said happily to John who was sitting down: "Brother, what do you want to drink?"
"A cup of lemon tea!"
"Okay, I'll have a cup, too. Recently, the teahouse has produced date cake, which is very good. I'll treat you to one too."
William, skillfully rings the bell on the dining table.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!~"
Soon, the waiter came up and asked the guests if they had any service needs.
"Sir, what would you like to order?"
William said cheerfully: "Two cups of lemon tea and a plate of date cake."
"Sir, it will take a while to bring the tea and date cake, about seven minutes. Apart from these, sir, is there anything else you would like to add?"
"Nothing to add, that's it!"
"Okay sir, please wait a moment, we will send them all later."
After the waiter finished speaking, he left very neatly.
"John, don't you stay in the United States? Why did you come to Brazil suddenly? Did my sister come with you?"
William was a little surprised that he could meet John in Brazil, and quickly asked him the reason for coming to Brazil.
"Lina came with me. I'm here to open up new markets.
Isn’t the King of Brazil currently reforming the country and building Brazil? It is said that Brazil today is a large economic market and needs a lot of things, so I came here to see if I can get a piece of it.
Cousin, the competition in the United States is too fierce. Those American bumpkins like to do business with the British and are more repulsive to us in Germany, so the business is not going smoothly."
"Well, Americans are really ignorant. I suffered a loss in the United States two years ago, but things got better after I came to South America."
William also doesn't have a good impression of the United States. He has suffered losses there before, and he understands his brother-in-law John very well.
"Cousin, you must be right to come to Brazil!
In the United States, those American bumpkins still prefer the British. They look down on our German capital and are rarely willing to cooperate with us. Even cooperation is not sincere.
Although Brazil is not as large as the 90 million population market of the United States, it still has 30 million people. The market is not small, and now that it is the Kingdom of Brazil, Pedro III is engaged in reforms, and the demand for foreign capital is greater than during the Republic.
Here in Brazil, the British power is not strong. Our competitors for German capital are France and Italy, so it is easier for us to operate."
The Brazilian market is obviously not as big as that of the United States, but it is still very large for German businessmen such as William.
Here, the German businessmen do not have the entanglement of British capital and are very competitive. France and Italy, which compete with them, can still be easily solved. When facing businessmen from these two countries, Germany often has the upper hand.
"With your good words, I hope I can gain something from my visit to Brazil this time."
"Don't worry, with me here, you will definitely not lose. Our German businessmen have a very powerful chamber of commerce in Brazil and are very competitive.
When you make arrangements, I will take you to join the Chamber of Commerce here."
At this time in Europe, chambers of commerce organizations were popular in various countries, with the purpose of helping each other, uniting forces, and improving competitiveness.
German chambers of commerce have a long history. As early as the Middle Ages, the famous Hanseatic League was formed.
"Thank you, cousin!"
You don’t just join the Chamber of Commerce if you want to, it depends on your strength and recommenders. With William’s help, John can quickly integrate into the German Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.
"You're too polite. We are a family. John, you are my cousin and you married my sister. If I don't help you, who will I help?"
John and he have a close relationship, so William will definitely help his cousin as much as possible.
"Cousin, who is the leader of our German Chamber of Commerce in Brazil!?"
With Cousin William as an acquaintance, John naturally asked him about local business affairs.
"The boss of our Brazilian German Chamber of Commerce is Hans. He is a Luxembourger and a viscount."
"Oh, it turns out we are compatriots from Luxembourg, that's great.
His Majesty the King of Brazil, Pedro III, is the son-in-law of Luxembourg. I heard that he likes to use Luxembourgers very much. No wonder you say that our German businessmen are very competitive."
"Yes, Pedro III does like Luxembourg and Germany, which can be seen from the cabinet ministers of the Kingdom of Brazil."
William admitted John's suspicion and said with a smile.
"Viscount Hans has a very close relationship with the Grand Duke family of Luxembourg, and his relationship with His Majesty Pedro III is naturally also very good.
In Brazil, our Deutsche Chamber of Commerce can outdo the French, and our president Hans is indispensable.
Although the French worked very hard to get close to His Majesty Pedro III, and had previously used an operational error by our German government to please His Majesty, our Majesty William II quickly corrected it, and our Germans in Brazil
Businessmen, through hard work, have also regained the trust of the Brazilian government."
In the big market of Brazil, French capital is still very strong, no worse than Germany, but the Brazilian government still prefers Germany for various projects.
Whether it is loans, mineral development, engineering investments, etc., the Brazilian government is obviously biased towards Germany.
In this case, the Germans definitely have an advantage over the French in doing business in Brazil.
William and other businessmen have always believed that if it weren't for the German government's stupid behavior, French capital businessmen would only be further disadvantaged in competing with their German capital.
Even now, facing the strength of German capital, Italian and French capital have joined forces and can barely resist.
"Sir, your tea and date cake!"
While William and John were communicating, the waiter also brought tea and cakes.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome. If you need anything else, please ring the bell."
Lemon tea and date cake were served, and John and William stopped talking and began to taste them.
"Cousin, except that the lemon tea here is too sweet, it is much better than the lemon tea in the United States!"
"Of course, the quality of Brazilian lemons is higher than that of the United States, and the quality of tea is also better than that of the United States. It is still an old sugar kingdom, and the sugar quality is naturally better than that of the United States."
William tasted the lemon tea and said his evaluation: "The quality of American products is poor, and the products produced by Luxembourg teahouses in the United States will naturally be poor as well."
"This date is much sweeter and more delicious than candied dates. Where is it produced?"
"It is indeed very delicious. It is said that Pedro III often eats this and plans to plant it in Brazil."
William told his brother-in-law what he knew about dates.
"This date palm is produced in the Arabian Peninsula. The specific place of origin seems to be Bahrain and Qatar, which are controlled by the Braganza family.
It is reported that His Majesty Pedro III and the Braganza family are not satisfied with the existing production areas, and they are preparing to expand Braganza’s colonies in the Arabian Peninsula to produce more dates and Persian pearls.”
This chapter has been completed!