This time, Tang Ping opened four workshops in London in one go.
A brewery, a perfumery, a cigarette workshop and a papermaking workshop.
Among them, the target customers of brewing workshops and perfume workshops are nobles, while cigarette workshops can be consumed by those with a little money.
As for the papermaking workshop, it was for doing business with the church.
In addition to the cigarette workshop, several other workshops have been very mature in Datang for a long time.
Tang Ping just needs to move here.
Among them, the cigarette workshop is the fastest progressing because brewing wine takes time.
Perfume requires alcohol from the brewery before it can be made.
The papermaking workshop is similar. You need to purchase bamboo, straw, bark, hemp and other raw materials first, and then soak them and other processes to complete.
There was only a cigarette factory. Tang Ping brought a batch of tobacco and cigarette rolling papers from Datang, and he could call the workers to start work.
What's more, several other workshops have to consider confidentiality issues, and it will be more troublesome to select people.
There is no such consideration in the cigarette factory, anyone can do the work.
These workers also worked hard. Except for the fact that they were not familiar with the process on the first day and only 11 of the 20 people finished eighteen rolls of cigarettes, the progress started much faster on the second day.
Soon hundreds of boxes of cigarettes were being completed every day.
Tang Ping took Li Siwen on a cruise ship to Porto in the Visigothic Kingdom.
That's right, Li Siwen was released again.
In Li Ji's words, he was asked to follow Tang Ping and work as a cow and a horse to atone for his sins.
But Tang Ping knew that in fact, this was not giving him a certain background? ?
When the time comes, Li Zhenlai will naturally inherit the British Duke's title, and Li Siwen can only rely on himself.
Nowhere is it easier to get promoted than around Tang Ping.
Tang Ping didn't care. This kid did a good job with him in Europe, as long as he wasn't allowed to sail the ship alone.
Of course, the cruise ship was also repaired and refueled, and it served as one of Tang Ping's means of transportation in Europe.
The cruise ship without sails attracted the attention of countless people when it arrived at the pier in Porto.
The guards even reported it to the city lord Fabialo soon.
After Tang Ping led people to move down the boxes of cigarettes he brought, Fabialo also invited the guards.
"Lord Fabiaro, I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Wessex, Duke Tangping. You can call me Tang."
Fabialo was shocked. The news about the change of king in Wessex in the north had spread throughout the European continent a few months ago, and of course he knew about it.
But I didn't expect that the one who came today was the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Wessex, and he was also a Duke.
"Tang?? Are you...from the Tang Dynasty?" Fabialo didn't know Tang Ping's true identity yet, but just looking at his appearance, he felt that he was also from the Tang Dynasty.
"That's right, Mr. Fabialo." Tang Ping said with a smile: "Actually, I sold the Kirin belt, Jun kiln red porcelain and Yue kiln celadon to old Peter. Old Peter and I are also old acquaintances."
"Ah! It's you!" Fabialo suddenly realized, no wonder he could come up with so many good things. If he is the Duke of a country, then it makes sense.
"Don, can I call you that? What did you come to Porto for this time?"
"For business!!" Tang Ping pointed to the big box behind him: "These are some of our new products that make people relax. We call them cigarettes."
He asked Lao Cui next to him to demonstrate it to him. Lao Cui skillfully took out a cigarette from the cigarette box and lit it with a lighter.
Fabialo watched Lao Cui spit out white smoke in surprise, and asked curiously: "What... does this do?"
"The main thing is that it can make people relax, and it also has a certain effect on contact fatigue." Tang Ping gave Fabialo one, and then used a lighter to help him light it.
Fabialo tried it and choked on the first bite without any surprise.
"Ahem, Tang, this thing... doesn't seem to be very good..."
"Master Fabiello, there's something wrong with the way you suck!" Tang Ping explained to Fabiello, and Fabiello braved it again and sucked it again as Tang Ping said. This time, he didn't feel so choked. People.
And I can feel that there is a special sense of comfort, and my mind seems to be clearer because of this smoke.
This is actually because substances such as nicotine can stimulate the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine in the brain, thereby bringing a short-term sense of pleasure.
Seeing that Fabialo seemed to accept cigarettes, Tang Ping was relieved. Not everyone can accept cigarettes.
The reason why he came to Fabialo first was because he had some past relationships, and Fabialo would not reject him so easily.
Secondly, if the superiors do something good, the subordinates will follow suit. If Fabialo likes it, then other nobles in Porto will naturally accept it.
In addition, the price of cigarettes is not high. Although ordinary people cannot afford them, anyone with a little money can consume them.
As long as it can become popular among the nobles, there is no need to worry about sales.
Lao Cui also skillfully gave cigarettes to the knights who followed Fabiello, and then lit them one by one.
These knights saw their big boss smoking in front of Tang Ping, and naturally they would not refuse.
Soon the pier was filled with coughs and bursts of smoke.
"Don, this is indeed a very magical thing!" Fabialo said after smoking one: "Then how do you plan to sell it?"
"I hope to invite our old friend Old Peter to be my general agent. I will sell it to him at a price and he will pay you a proportion of the tax. Then it depends on his ability to sell it to other places."
Fabialo smiled when he heard that he could collect taxes.
"No problem. Old Peter is a great businessman. I have entrusted him with the expansion of the Knights this year. I will ask someone to invite him to my castle and invite Don to dine with us."
Naturally, Tang Ping would not refuse, and he and Fabialo arrived at his castle, and it wasn't long before Old Peter was also invited over.
"Wow, Don! I didn't expect to see you here!!" Old Peter came up and hugged Tang Ping. From the moment he heard that Wessex had changed its king, he knew that Tang Ping and the others had succeeded.
"Nice to meet you too, how's it going? How is old Peter doing?"
"Not good!" Old Peter shook his head: "One of my goods was robbed by pirates." "Pirates?" Tang Ping was stunned. His Viking Development Co., Ltd. had not yet reached a nearby level of business.
"Yes, a group of damn pirates, that is, the Arab Navy in the past. Didn't you meet them this time when you came here?"
Tang Ping thought for a moment and shook his head, almost forgetting about the group of Arab pirates who were blocking him from returning to the city.
If you have the chance, you should really ask your own pirate company to tell them that's not how pirates work.
Old Peter had no problem helping Tang Ping distribute cigarettes.
In his opinion, this thing that Fabialo is full of praise for will soon become a new fashion item.
His only worry now is that the sea route between Wessex and Porto will be interrupted by pirates.
Complained to Tang Ping about those damn pirates again.
"Are Arab pirates so rampant in the Mediterranean now?"
The Vikings were allotted a large island in northern England from Alaric, and now they are busy building their new home.
They have just ended their exile and have not had time to do business yet.
"Who says it's not the case!" Fabialo sighed: "His Majesty the King contacted the Kingdom of Burgundy and several other countries, and also sent some people to exterminate them, but they did not achieve very good results. Now it is getting worse. It’s rampant.”
"In fact, there are many other pirate groups, either under the banner of Arab pirates, or simply joining them, which is why the situation is so serious now."
The main reason is that Arab navigation technology at this time was superior to Europe. The warships of the Arab navy in the past had excellent performance, and the navies organized by European countries were not their opponents at all.
No wonder Tang Ping felt that he didn't meet many ships on the way here.
Those pirates were lucky enough not to come out and meet Tang Ping today, otherwise they would have been taught a lesson by Tang Ping's cruise ship.
Tang Ping thought for a moment and said, "In this case, I will ask my people to deliver the cigarettes in person in the future, but the cost will increase a little."
"No problem!" Old Peter quickly agreed. He was only robbed of a boat and suffered heavy losses.
The money for a ship, the goods on it, the pensions of the crew, etc. are all a lot of money.
If Tang Ping delivers the goods himself, then even a small increase in cost is acceptable.
After selling the cigarettes he brought to Old Peter, Tang Ping also gave Fabialo a lighter and told him that if he couldn't light it in the future, he could replace it himself.
Fabialo said with some excitement: "Don, I didn't expect you to give me such an expensive gift. In this case, I can't be stingy. I'll give you some of the newly brewed Porto wine in Porto."
At that time, Tang Ping also gave Old Peter a copy of the wine making recipe, and Old Peter teamed up with Fabialo to make wine and sell it. This is also the reason why the two have a close relationship.
Tang Ping was a little embarrassed. At that time, he sold Lao Cui's chamber pot to Fabialo as a treasure. Now that he had exchanged a disposable lighter for so much wine, he always felt that he was just following Fabialo. The same thing.
From now on, all his things will be imported to Europe from Porto, so that he can earn more tax revenue!
Little did Tang Ping know that with this decision, Porto would become the largest fashion center outside London.
After saying goodbye to Old Peter and Fabialo, Tang Ping still didn't meet the pirates when he went back.
He thought these pirates were lucky, but what he didn't expect was that these pirates gathered together and prepared to do something big.
"Arafat, is there really nothing wrong with your news?"
"Believe me, the news is absolutely accurate. There are thirty large ships heading north this time. And I have found out clearly that they were used by the previous king of Wessex, Egbert, to transport supplies."
"Where did he get so many supplies?"
"I don't know, but think about it, there are thirty ships worth of supplies!" Arafat's eyes lit up: "Now these countries are attacking us more and more, as long as we can do this With the tickets, we can rest for a long time, and we can come out again when countries relax!"
The other pirate leaders were also very excited when they thought about the supplies for thirty large ships. Usually they only rob some caravans, only one or two small ships.
"But...Egbert was the king of Wessex after all, and we robbed his things..."
"What are you afraid of? He is nothing like a king now. His throne has been robbed, and now he is exiled. As for these thirty ships of supplies, I estimate that he hid them in the south after raiding them in the early years. Now he You will only need these supplies if you are exiled."
"I heard from people in Wessex that he didn't take a dime with him when he left Wessex this time. If he didn't get some supplies, he and his people would starve to death at sea. "
After hearing what Arafat said, the other pirates thought about it and felt that it was indeed reasonable.
Although an exiled king is not common in Europe, this is not the only one. Wasn't Sofrin exiled by Wessex back then?
It's normal for him to have some property. It's a little exciting to think that this time they gathered to loot a king or a former king's supplies.
When word spreads in the future, they will naturally become even more famous.
"In this case, let's send a few clippers and find out the opponent's situation first."
As the initiator of the project, Arafat still has a strong say.
There was no objection from the pirates to his words. Only after becoming a pirate did you know that you can only sail a ship that lasts ten thousand years with caution.
Soon several clippers left their secret base and headed south.
But after waiting for several days, no news came.
Arafat and the other pirates were anxious, but they had no other options.
Later, several clippers were sent, but still no news.
"Arafat, what should we do? According to the initial news, they will pass by us recently. If we don't ambush in advance, I'm afraid the fat sheep we got will run away!"
Arafat hesitated and said: "But none of the clippers sent out came back. This is definitely not normal..."
"What? You were the one who gathered us here in the first place, and now the target is about to arrive. Are you telling us not to do it?"
There is a grumpy pirate who quits.
"Then... let's set up an ambush as planned!" Arafat gritted his teeth and said. If he let the other party go through with it this time, his future status in this pirate group would plummet.
"That's right, we used to be the invincible Arab navy! We have hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of naval warriors. What else in the world can stop us?"
At this time, a small voice said: "As long as you don't meet anyone from the Tang Dynasty!"
