The Paris Basin in France has always been the most important grain-producing region in France and the most important grain-producing region in Europe.
The food grown in previous years can not only meet the food needs of the French, but there is also a large amount of food surplus that can be exported to surrounding countries.
The land in the Paris Basin is fertile, the terrain is open and flat, and the wheat grown is of very high quality. It has always been the first choice for European nobles to bake bread.
In the autumn of previous years, the bottom of the Paris Basin was full of golden waves of wheat. The endless wheat fields were filled with the joy of harvest. You could see countless busy figures busy in the wheat fields.
The nobles of the territory and the king's tax collectors are also constantly calculating the grain that can be collected, and even the priests of the church are calculating how much wheat can be collected from the tithe.
However, in the past three years, the Paris Basin has been a different story.
The year before last, there was a severe drought, and the Paris Basin also suffered from a severe drought. Even the Seine River was extremely dry, exposing the river bed and turning into a trickle. The severe drought directly reached the Paris Basin, where there was no harvest the year before last.
Last year, we encountered another rainy year. There was a lot of precipitation throughout the year. The Paris basin floor became the hardest hit area. The raging floods almost submerged everything here, resulting in a significant reduction in grain production here.
It took two years with great difficulty. I thought this year would be a smooth year, but it turned out to be another year of drought. Although it was not as dry as the previous year, it was not much better.
The result is that after a year of hard work growing grain, the grain yield is very low, and the entire Paris basin is filled with hunger and barrenness.
The autumn morning brought a hint of chill, and the temperature dropped faster than in previous years.
Marcel got up early. He was going to borrow some money from Henry, the nobleman of his territory, to buy food. Three consecutive years of famine had consumed almost everything Marcel had.
Fortunately, there was cheap food from the Ming Empire in the past two years, otherwise Marcel couldn't imagine how he would have spent these three difficult years.
If it were the same as before, during this year of famine, those greedy nobles and hateful Jewish businessmen would be eager to plunder every penny of everyone's money, and the price of food would even be higher than usual.
It will increase more than ten times or dozens of times.
"Thank you to the people of Ming Dynasty, thank them for the high price of food!"
Marcel has thanked him many times in his heart. The food of the Ming people is very cheap. Even when it reaches the hands of terminal consumers, it is still very cheap, making it affordable for poor people like them.
It is said that this is because the Ming Dynasty has a strict agreement with these nobles and merchants. These nobles and merchants cannot increase prices at will and sell grain at high prices. Otherwise, they will no longer be able to obtain the trading rights of grain and other commodities from the Ming Dynasty people.
These greedy nobles and businessmen had to sell these fine grains that brought the Ming Empire to China at low prices.
Marcel soon arrived outside Lord Henry's castle. After waiting for several hours, Marcel finally met his Lord Henry.
"Dear Sir, I wish you all the best and may the Lord bless you!"
Seeing Henry, Marcel knelt on the ground, saluted Henry politely and said hello.
"What do you find me for?"
Henry looked at Marcel in front of him and asked extremely impatiently.
As a nobleman, he is very busy every day and has no time to care about these poor farmers. He can't squeeze much money out of them.
Today I have to entertain friends from the Ming Dynasty from the far east. Counting the time, they should be here soon.
"Dear Sir, I would like to borrow some money from you to buy food. As you know, there has been a famine for the past three years. The harvest from the land has been very small. Our whole family is starving."
Marcel explained his purpose.
"Borrow money?"
Henry almost jumped when he heard about borrowing money.
Damn it, these poor guys know how to borrow money from themselves.
In the past three years, I have barely been able to go out or go in. My family is very poor, and these poor people still come to me to borrow money.
As a noble and lord, almost all of Henry's income depended on the output of his territory. In three years, there was almost no output, and Henry's life was not easy.
In the past, I would add three spoons of sugar to my tea, but now I only add one spoon. I really want to buy a car from the Ming Empire, but I still can't bear it.
Now this poor guy is asking me to borrow money to buy food. Is he really going to let me, a nobleman, live?
"No, no, I don't have any money either."
Henry waved his hand impatiently and borrowed money. He wanted to find someone to borrow money. He didn't have any money to buy a car. Where could he have the money to lend it to you poor guys?
"Sir, please lend me some money, otherwise our whole family will starve to death."
When Marcel heard this, he couldn't help crying.
Although the Henry in front of me is said to have a bad temper, he is actually a kind-hearted nobleman in general. If you borrow money from him, he will basically not charge you interest, but if you borrow money from those hateful Jews, these
The Jews are eager to break your bones and suck out your marrow.
"No money, no money."
"In the past three years, you farmers have not given me any food, and I am desperately poor."
Henry waved his hand impatiently and said.
At this moment, a black Mercedes-Benz car drove slowly, which made Henry's eyes light up, and he hurried forward to greet it.
Soon, the Mercedes-Benz stopped at the gate of Henry's castle, and a man with black hair and black eyes got out of the car.
"Haha, my friend, welcome to be our guest!"
When Henry saw the visitor, he immediately welcomed him happily.
The Ming man named Ding Shiji in front of him was a Ming businessman he met when he visited Hong Kong. He was very rich and was now Henry's important trading partner.
"Haha, Henry, we meet again."
Ding Shiji saw Henry and said with a smile on his face, then looked around carefully, and suddenly saw Marcel next to him. Marcel knew at a glance that he was a poor man, with dirty body and hair.
He has a sloppy beard and is very thin.
"You go away quickly, don't disturb my distinguished guests."
When Henry saw this, he also frowned and ordered Marcel to be kicked out.
"Sir, please lend me some money. I, I, I can sell my daughter to you."
Marcel knelt on the ground and kept talking. He really had no choice. There was really no food in the house. If there was no more food, the whole family would starve to death.
As soon as he gritted his teeth, he decided to sell his sixteen-year-old daughter. Instead of staying at home and starving, he might as well sell it to a noble, at least she would not starve to death.
"Go, go, who wants your daughter?"
Henry waved his hands repeatedly, saying that women can have as many as they want, and the daughters of these ordinary poor people are not worth mentioning.
"How about selling your daughter to me?"
"My family happens to be short of some servants."
This is what Ding Shiji said with a smile. His French is very good.
He came to France this time mainly to discuss with some nobles about letting them raise sheep and grow cotton. Now the prices of wool and cotton have soared, and the profits are huge.
Many nobles and lords in Spain raised sheep and made a fortune growing cotton. The merchants who had dealings with these Spaniards also made a lot of money.
His main business is in France, and he has good relationships and contacts with many French nobles.
"sell to you?"
When Marcel heard this, he was slightly startled. If he sold this to Henry, he would occasionally be able to see it, but if he sold it to someone from the Ming Dynasty, he might never see it again.
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you hurry home and call your daughter over."
"You won't suffer any loss if you sell it to people from Ming Dynasty."
Henry looked at Marcel's dazed look and said quickly.
"Yes, yes~"
When Marcel heard this, he nodded quickly and hurried home.
"My friend, this is a small kindness."
Ding Shiji took out a set of exquisite porcelain tea sets and gave them to Henry.
"You are too polite, please come inside, please come inside."
Henry was also very happy when he received the gift. He enthusiastically welcomed Ding Shiji into his castle and greeted him warmly.
"Henry, the main reason I came here this time is to discuss with you whether your territory can be converted into cotton and sheep farming. Then I can purchase all the wool and cotton at a high price?"
After some pleasantries, Ding Shiji also talked about the purpose of his visit this time.
"Cotton and sheep?"
When Henry heard this, he immediately pondered and said: "I have also heard about the sharp rise in cotton and wool prices this year. We have a few nobles in France who are growing cotton this year and making a lot of money raising sheep."
"It's just that what I'm worried about is that growing cotton and raising sheep are unstable and unreliable."
"We are all friends. You can rest assured that the prices of wool and cotton have always been very stable here in Daming. The prices are very good and the profits are huge."
"This is also a good opportunity to make a fortune. If you grow food, even in a good harvest year, the food will not fetch much."
"Because now our Ming Dynasty is selling grain to Europe on a large scale. The price is cheaper and the quality is better than your local grain. It is not profitable to grow grain at all."
Ding Shiji looked at Henry and analyzed it in detail.
"What you said makes sense. In the past few years, the income from my territory has dropped sharply, and my life has been very difficult."
After hearing this, Henry felt that it was very reasonable and was already shaken in his heart.
"So, this is going to change. We have an old saying in the Ming Dynasty. If you move trees, they will die, but if you move people, they will live. If you can't grow food, why can't you do something else?"
Ding Shiji smiled and said: "Listen to me, you can't be wrong. I can sign a contract with you now and lock in the wool and cotton produced in your territory next year at the current price in advance."
"real?"
When Henry heard this, he was immediately dumbfounded. Ming people can still play like this?
"Of course it is true. This kind of thing is very common in our country, especially for some commodities that are in short supply, such as rubber. This is almost always done. They sign sales contracts with the rubber plantation owners in advance, and some even directly pay the money.
It’s packed.”
Ding Shiji nodded solemnly and said.
"Okay, I'll do it~"
Henry made some calculations silently, then gritted his teeth and agreed.