Chapter 2086 Penicillin ten times more expensive than gold
As the Ming Empire began to dump grain at high prices throughout Europe, the European countries that were originally in the midst of a great famine suddenly felt like rain.
All grains from England, France, Spain, and Portugal are transported through Hong Kong. These grains come from the Great Plains of Golden Continent, and are mainly wheat and corn.
Food from Italy, Venice and other Mediterranean regions was transported through the Ming Dynasty's overseas territories in the Mediterranean. The food mainly came from the Hezhong area and Nanyun Province of the Ming Dynasty, and was transported by sea from the Black Sea in Nanyun Province.
As for the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Tatars, Poland, Lithuania, and the Holy Roman Empire, their food is sold through Houzhao City in Black Earth Province. The main production area is Black Earth Province.
Grains from the three Ming grain-producing areas were continuously transported to various parts of Europe, falling to European countries like timely rain. It was also the first time that Europeans who had been hungry for a long time felt the friendship from the Ming Empire.
The price of grain is extremely cheap. Even the black-hearted nobles of various countries and businessmen still do not forget to make a huge profit from it. The price is also very cheap. Even ordinary people can grit their teeth and spend some money to buy this grain.
Compared with the past, when the price of food was skyrocketing, the price of food from the Ming Empire was really too cheap.
It was so cheap that people all over Europe were wondering if the people of Ming Dynasty were stupid. Such a great opportunity to make money actually sold grain so cheaply.
Not only Europeans, but even countless people of Ming Dynasty felt that the emperor of Ming Dynasty was too kind to these Europeans. This should have been a good opportunity to make money, but instead he sold food to Europeans so cheaply.
I don’t know when I will have such a good opportunity in the future.
Europeans praise the name of the Ming Dynasty and thank the Ming Dynasty for their support and sympathy. The food from the Ming Empire is of much better quality than the food produced locally.
Especially flour, the flour of the Ming Dynasty is ground very finely and is the best for making bread. The bread produced is fragrant, soft and delicious.
Of course, Europeans at this time were not yet luxurious enough to directly use flour to make bread. They knew how valuable food was, and ordinary people were already accustomed to eating black bread and horse bread, and habitually added some miscellaneous things to it.
To increase weight and reduce consumption of precious food.
The quality of the wheat grown by the locals is not as good as that of the Ming Dynasty. The weight of the wheat in Black Earth Province is one of the best in the world, and is as famous as the wheat in Liaodong Province of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to being inferior in quality to the wheat produced by the Ming Dynasty, locally grown wheat is often unable to be so fine in the shelling and grinding stage. Not only does it consume a lot of labor, resulting in an increase in costs, but it will also contain a large amount of
of impurities.
This is why Europeans really can't figure out why the flour of the Ming Dynasty can be so fine and the price can be so cheap.
It's hard to figure it out, but it doesn't prevent Europeans from enjoying the cheap food from the Ming Empire. The Ming people have already said that they are open to supplying it to Europe.
You can eat it with an open belly, and keep eating it until the new grain comes on the market next year. There will be no problem. People in the Ming Dynasty have a lot of food, which is enough to easily supply the entire Europe, and even the world's food demand.
The people of the Ming Dynasty even said that they would provide a steady stream of cheap food to Europe in the future, which would be cheaper and of better quality than the food grown by Europeans themselves.
The reason is that there is so much food in the Ming Empire that a large amount of food rots and molds in the warehouses, so selling it to Europeans at a low price has actually made a profit for the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Europeans quickly believed everything the Ming people said, because according to the information known to Europeans, the grain output of the Ming people was really very high. The grain produced in one year was enough to feed 200 million Ming people for several days.
Year.
The 80 million people in Europe are nothing at all. Even if they are the same as the people of Ming Dynasty, they have three meals a day and eat fine grains for each meal without any problems.
Europeans can also enjoy the same cheap and high-quality food as the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty cares about its farmers and is compassionate to Europeans.
I hope to be able to sell the grains in the hands of my farmers, and even if I don’t make any money, I still want to make the farmers make money.
The food problem has been alleviated, but the epidemic in Europe has the potential to start a prairie fire, burning up and spreading extremely fast.
The Black Death appeared in many countries and places in Europe. Suddenly, the whole of Europe changed. The Black Death spread very quickly, and cities quickly turned into dead cities.
People rushed to escape from the city, to remote countryside and mountainous areas, to sparsely populated places, to avoid the terrible Black Death.
Here in a manor, several nobles gathered together to discuss the current matter.
"This Ming people are really surprised. This fine grain is sold to us at such a low price. What a great opportunity. I don't know how much money I can make just by selling grain."
Flanders took a sip of black tea from the Ming Empire and said with some confusion.
"I heard that it was because Charles V personally wrote to the Emperor of the Ming Empire. The Emperor of the Ming Empire loved his people so much that he couldn't bear to see Europe starving. It just so happened that the Ming Empire's grain production was very large, and there was a lot of excess grain that could be sold to us in Europe.
, so I sold it at a very low price.”
Joseph on the side thought for a while and said.
"I don't believe that the Ming Emperor had such good intentions. He probably wanted to dump the food produced by his own farmers."
Alexander shook his head and said: "Now is the era of great famine. The price of food is already so low. Moreover, the people of Ming Dynasty also said that they will continue to sell low-priced food to us in the future. I am afraid there will be no income from farming in the future."
Already."
"It's true. I don't plan to grow wheat next year. All my land is used for sheep herding. The price of wool has been very stable. The demand in the Ming Empire is very strong. I have calculated it. Sheep shearing
The income from wool is much more cost-effective than farming.”
Flanders nodded and said.
These European nobles all owned large amounts of land, similar to the landowners and gentry in the Ming Empire. In the past, they largely relied on taxes on their own land to make a living.
The fiefdom of the nobles is the tax land of the nobles. The larger the fiefdom, the higher the tax revenue will naturally be. Of course, sometimes it is also related to the situation of the own territory. Some territories are suitable for growing food. This kind of territory is obviously the best territory.
Some territories are not suitable for growing food and can only be used for grazing sheep. These are general territories. There are also some territories that can be used to grow grapes, make wine, etc. These are the sources of income for the nobles.
"If the situation continues like this, I will also be planning to raise sheep on my territory. The price of food is too low and I won't be able to make much money at all."
"The goods from the Ming Empire are very expensive, such as silk, porcelain, tea, spices, etc. I have always wanted to buy a Ming car, but I have always been reluctant to part with it."
Joseph thought for a while and nodded.
"Let's wait until next year to discuss this matter. The most terrifying thing now is the Black Death. The Black Death is everywhere. Everyone must be careful. Once you contract this disease, you will definitely die."
Alexander looked at the two of them and shook his head.
In the past, nobles like them had many parties, drinking parties, etc. every three days, and their lives were extremely comfortable. But now they can only hide in the castle in the countryside, and they don't dare to have parties anymore. They are very frustrated.
.
"No, I heard that there is a drug called penicillin in the Ming Empire, which is miraculous in treating the Black Death. The effect is very significant and it can cure the Black Death very well."
"I heard that the Archduke of the Netherlands was infected with the Black Death, so he urgently purchased this penicillin from Hong Kong and was cured in just a few days."
Joseph said softly.
"real or fake?"
"Can the Black Death still be cured?"
When Flanders and Alexander heard this, they immediately asked in disbelief.
The mortality rate of the Black Death was extremely high. In this era, the mortality rate was more than half, and in some places the mortality rate could even reach 70 to 80%.
Nobles have a relatively lower mortality rate if conditions permit, while civilians often have a much higher mortality rate due to lack of medical care and weak body resistance.
Whether you can survive actually depends on whether you can resist it. So far, there is no medicine that can treat this terrible plague.
"Of course it's true. You may not have read Ming Dynasty newspapers."
"Because I learned the language and writing of the Ming Dynasty people, I have the habit of reading newspapers frequently."
"The emergence of penicillin can be said to be an epoch-making drug. It caused a huge sensation in the Ming Empire. The inventor Zhang Xingjian was directly made a nobleman by the emperor of the Ming Empire."
"After research, this drug has very miraculous effects on pneumonia, tuberculosis, plague, viral colds, many inflammations and other diseases. It has been widely used and proven in the Ming Empire."
Joseph nodded solemnly and said: "Many nobles in Spain are now hoarding this kind of penicillin in case they are infected and can use it to save their lives."
"But even in the Ming Empire, the price of this drug was more expensive than gold. Now in Hong Kong, it is said that the price of penicillin is already ten times that of gold!"
"And even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it, because the demand is really too great."
"If this kind of medicine is really that miraculous, even if it is ten times more expensive than gold, we still need to prepare some. Now that the Black Death is raging, no one knows whether they will be infected."
"Yes, Joseph, do you have a way to buy it? If the price is more expensive, I will buy some and prepare some."
"Me too~"
"I am also worried that there are no channels to buy it. This thing is only available to people in Ming Dynasty, and only a few people in Hong Kong have it."
"I know a Jewish businessman who travels to Hong Kong frequently. I don't know if he has any channels to purchase."
"Go and ask quickly. Everyone must have some of this kind of penicillin at home. Not only can it be used to treat the Black Death, it can also be used when the children in the house have pneumonia or colds.
