The Duke of Newcastle's promise shocked everyone present. Of course, it was limited to these Chinese guests. No British person present was surprised.
The welcoming officials who accompanied the Duke looked at the Chinese with vague contempt, and a strong sense of pride emerged in their hearts.
"Chinese people who have never seen the world really think that twenty or thirty thousand pounds is a big deal? Spices have been expensive goods in Europe since ancient times. Spices in India and Southeast Asia were once more expensive than gold. At that time, there were no European aristocrats. Do you want to eat less?"
"A secret-recipe spice like Xian Zhiyuan should be ten times or even a hundred times more expensive than gold. This is only reasonable! Why is this Dongfang Yuan different from the rumors? How dare you doubt the purchasing power of the British Empire! "
The British were slandering, but the Chinese present had mixed feelings. In the history of mankind, the empire has always used money to throw money at other people's faces. Whenever they were hit, their faces were a bit hot.
The one who was even more shocked was Doctor Huang. He was the leader of the secret research team. He knew the cost of this bottle of fresh food all too well. The kelp fished out of the Mediterranean Sea was free, and the cost was just the coal for the coal stove.
There are also poppy shells, which are originally common Chinese medicines and are by-products of the opium industry. They cost two silver to buy a sack.
If we have to talk about cost, the porcelain bottle from the Chenghua period should be the most expensive, but it is not a high-quality product from an official kiln. It can be bought and exchanged in ordinary antique shops in the Qing Dynasty for a hundred taels of silver. .
Dr. Huang Xie swallowed his saliva and said in his heart that Yuan Zhen was a god, and turning stone into gold was nothing more than that!
Stealing money, this is stealing money, this is setting these foreign devils up to death, but it is really enjoyable, so enjoyable!
Since formal diplomatic activities will only begin tomorrow morning, the Duke of Newcastle is just a guide to welcome in advance. The two sides will not discuss state affairs today.
If you don't talk about state affairs, let's talk about private matters. The Duke and Xiao Letian nodded to the people around them. The secretaries of both parties put down their pens in agreement. From now on, the time for private negotiations will not be recorded.
Xiao Letian cut a piece of beef and chewed it slowly in his mouth. When the beef was eaten, he just thought about how to cut it, and said with a look of enlightenment, "Since the Duke has such confidence, we might as well have a full meeting." Let’s talk about it, there’s no harm in trying it!”
"Since I want to open a high-end restaurant and sell my family's secret recipe, the restaurant's area, location, decoration, staff training, etiquette, etc. cannot be vague..."
"May I ask what conditions your Lord Duke can offer?"
"Yes, I agree with Yuan's opinion. I will solve the problem of the restaurant's land. The land property rights in the most prosperous areas of major cities in the UK are concentrated in the hands of our aristocratic circle. I also have a lot of real estate..."
"How about Downing Street? It's right next to the Prime Minister's Office. I have a piece of land. There's no problem in running a restaurant..."
This is the heritage, the heritage of the British upper class nobles. Xiao Letian couldn't help but sigh with emotion in his heart, "Grandma, this is the wealth that has been accumulated slowly over hundreds of years and dozens of generations of dukes! It's amazing. This kind of land has no It’s impossible to get the designated identity, it’s all passed down from our ancestors!”
"You and I share half of the start-up capital. I will use the land and decoration to invest in the shares, and you will use the secret recipe and the Chinese royal chef to invest in the shares. I am not greedy and want half of your European marketing rights."
"What? European marketing rights!" Xiao Letian sneered at that time. "The Duke has such a big appetite. Such a business that is sure to make a profit without losing money. You want the marketing rights for the entire Europe? Absolutely not, I can only give you the British Three The island’s shares…”
In business cooperation, the most taboo thing is that the partner's family is dominant. Xiao Letian controls the source of the secret recipe and the oriental chef. This is the chokehold that holds the business in check.
The most effective way to control partners is to divide them and not put all the eggs in one basket. The Duke of Newcastle personally wants the right to market spices throughout Europe, which is too big an appetite.
The Duke was not angry when he heard Xiao Letian's refusal. After all, he had been influenced by mercantilism for hundreds of years, and the European aristocrats did not have as much official authority as the Qing aristocrats.
He wasn't angry when he heard the rejection. In the Duke's mind, you have to bargain like this when doing business. It's normal!
In the restaurant, everyone was dazzled to see Xiao Letian and the Duke of Newcastle's calculations about cooperation, and they were haggling over the price.
Zai Chun was dumbfounded. Only then did he realize how big the gap was between himself and his master. If nothing else, he just focused on this kind of careful calculation in business. This kind of knowledge would be enough for him to learn for a lifetime.
Moreover, Zai Chun knew very well that if the same thing was done by the Confucian scholars in China, it would definitely be a gentleman who was ashamed of his words and would end up being taken advantage of without even realizing it.
What surprised Zai Chun even more was that the more tit-for-tat the business negotiations became, the more interested both parties became. Several times, Xiao Letian sternly rejected the Duke's conditions. The Duke of Newcastle was so angry that his face turned red. He thought that the Duke would He got angry and cursed after snapping the case.
But I never expected that the Duke would be able to hold back his temper at the last moment and find a balance acceptable to both parties.
Gradually, Zai Chun had a clear understanding, and he seemed to suddenly understand where the court had gone wrong before.
Europeans are all businessmen, and businessmen focus on profits and execution, not vain face. But the Qing Dynasty was different. Nobles and officials valued face more. They ruled the country based on face and authority.
In the minds of Qing officials, bargaining was shameful. What's more important was that stinky merchants who dared to refuse the conditions of the court and officials were considered treasonous and would have to be executed.
This method worked for domestic businessmen, but when powerful British businessmen came to the Qing Dynasty under the protection of their mother country, the old method no longer worked.
Businessmen as a group do not pay attention to emotions or face. What they pay attention to is interests and the ability to execute.
The European businessmen who traveled across the ocean to China did not initially expect to go to war with the Qing Dynasty. All they wanted was an opportunity to bargain.
In their minds, it doesn’t matter if I make an offer and you can counter-offer, it doesn’t matter if both parties quarrel at the negotiation table. In the end, a balance point can always be reached. As long as we find that balance point, we will naturally be able to cooperate for a long time. Went down.
However, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties did not play their cards according to commercial routines at all, but used the official authority of the feudal bureaucracy in the medieval world to suppress it.
This refusal to negotiate is unacceptable to Europeans. Without negotiation, there will be no bargaining, no mutual compromise, and in the end there will be no balance point for cooperation.
When all peaceful means are ineffective, war becomes the last option.
