The exhibition group brought by Pu Lun still gained a lot and won many gold medals. But basically they are primary processed products or handicrafts.
Fortunately, tea, silk, and porcelain are still considered top products. However, with the development of industrialization, especially the impact of industrial production by companies such as Lipton in the UK, the market will be greatly eroded. At least half of the mid- to low-end market will be eaten up by industrialized products.
Lu Bicheng and the others bought a lot of clothes with Central Asian characteristics.
Lu Bicheng is really good-looking, but it's a pity that the photography technology in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was really cheating, and the portraits were too stretched.
The photography technology in the early years of the Republic of China was also not very good. For example, the photos of the first-generation female star Ruan Lingyu were not very good, but they looked much better in the movies.
Lu Bicheng also bought a few Persian carpets. They are not cheap, but as Iran's national treasure, the quality and workmanship are very good.
Based on the current level of the decoration industry, it seems that carpets are really the best home floor products.
Pulun was also very busy. His arrival even gave some overseas Chinese a boost of confidence, and they all wanted to come and see the "Prince of the Qing Dynasty" mentioned in the newspaper.
In fact, this is due to the lack of English vocabulary and the inability to fully translate the complex Chinese titles. Pulun has no real power in Lao Ai's family.
The overseas Chinese invited him to give a speech. Pu Lun was eloquent and spoke eloquently:
"Everyone's arrival has made me see everyone's determination and hope to strengthen themselves, revitalize the country, and change the weak situation. After I return to the country, I will work hard to report to the Queen Mother and promote constitutional reform!"
Then he talked about his thoughts on education to the New York Times, Le Monde and other newspapers, especially about women’s education: “Ordinary people in China, especially women, lack education. In order for women to receive education in China, we must Breaking traditional taboos, only when Chinese women are no longer bound can they use their talents."
The New York Times immediately wrote an article called "Prince Pu Lun Will Solve China's Women's Problem," praising Pu Lun as the "most democratic member" of the Qing royal family.
Li Yu couldn't help but smile while reading the newspaper. Foreigners really didn't understand the Qing court.
But it is understandable that Americans are so sentimental, because the only countries that are republics are the United States and France.
Of course there are differences. The typical difference is that the United States is a federal system.
Li Yu said to Lu Bicheng: "Pulun Beizi has been greatly influenced by you talented women along the way."
Lu Bicheng said unconvinced: "They should have seen this power long ago."
Xie Yuxi walked into the room at this time and gave them a few bottles of drinks. "Try this. I bought it at a booth. It tastes good."
Lu Bicheng looked at the strange brown liquid in the bottle: "Why does the color look like brewed medicinal soup?"
Xie Yuxi smiled and said, "It tastes much better than medicinal soup."
It was also the first time to see Konoe Akiyuki, and they felt very refreshed after drinking it.
Konoe Akiyuki spelled out the trademark: "Coca-Cola."
Li Yu was reading the newspaper and immediately put it down: "Coca-Cola?"
Xie Yuxi was surprised: "You know?"
Li Yu said: "Can I not know about Feizhai Happy Water?"
Li Yu took a bottle and looked at it and said, "I advise you to drink less."
Xie Yuxi didn't understand what he meant: "Why? Now the sales of this drink in the United States are extremely good."
Li Yu pointed to the name: "Isn't coca just coca? That means it contains cocaine. This thing, tsk tsk, is addictive. It's a soft drug!"
Xie Yuxi was surprised: "But throughout Europe and the United States, cocaine is a normal drug."
Li Yu sighed: "If we follow this standard, the British now don't even legally recognize opium as a drug. They still regard it as medicine."
It took several years of international anti-drug conferences before the British completely classified it as a drug.
In fact, throughout Europe and the United States until World War II, the rate of drug abuse was high, and it could also be called "Western drug".
During World War II, the German army even equipped each frontline regiment with 35 million pieces of Pervitin (similar to Bing Ai).
The effect is a bit like adrenaline. When used on front-line combat soldiers, it is really...
And not only the German army, but also the United States, Britain and Japan have done this.
Although the Soviet army did not smoke it, they did have vodka.
It seems that we were the only ones in the military who completely banned drugs during World War II. It was really all about will.
Later, Coca-Cola was resold many times because the content of cocaine was too controversial. But removing that ingredient would be decades away.
Konoe Akiyuki said: "It's okay to drink a little. I heard it can refresh your mind."
Li Yu said seriously: "I advise you to drink coffee."
Seeing Li Yu's serious expression, several people could only do what he said.
As the news spread over the past few days, the charm of the Chinese Village at the World Expo became more and more widespread, and many people even came here specifically to watch the performance.
Li Yutian, Tesla and Zou Zhou were responsible for radio publicity.
Orders came in like snowflakes every day, and eventually Zou Zhou even frowned. He was the general person in charge of the workshop, and one deposit contract after another was in front of him. It seemed that even if he worked overtime, he couldn't complete it, and he had to continue recruiting workers.
Lu Bicheng and the other girls enjoyed visiting the "shopping mall" every day.
But that day, Li Yu saw that Lu Bicheng seemed a little unhappy. After careful observation, he discovered that she always didn't know the time, and both Konoe Akira and Xie Yuxi had pocket watches.
The piece of Konoe Akiyuki was given to her by Li Yu as a reward.
Hey, a girl is worried.
Li Yu actually wanted to buy a higher-end piece in the future, but now it seems that he can't delay it for that long.
There was no other way, so Li Yu had to come to the production hall by himself.
Li Yu saw a trademark that he seemed to have seen in his previous life, so he walked over and recognized it when he got closer. Isn't this Cartier?
Good stuff, women will definitely like it.
Although Li Yu has not paid much attention to luxury brands, he also knows that Cartier is a high-end brand in the jewelry field.
Mainly because he pays more attention to cars, and then someone on the Internet gave straight men popular science about the brands that women like, comparing car brands to luxury brands.
Cartier is a French brand, and France happens to be the world leader in the field of luxury goods, and the United States is also following suit.
But industrialization has become too strong in later generations. Luxury brands are really just luxury brands. The quality is no better than ordinary products. What they sell is purely brand premium and face.
Of course, this is also a consumer demand.
But at the beginning of the 20th century, in terms of design and workmanship, these luxury brands were still far behind ordinary brands.
Li Yu took a fancy to one of the lighters at a glance. Zippo had not yet come out at this time, and lighters came in all kinds of shapes. However, once the pocket lighter came out, it was very popular and the price was not cheap.
The person in charge of Cartier's exhibition is the third generation Louis Cartier, whose father is currently the company's boss.
Louis could see that Li Yu liked him very much and asked, "Are you Mr. Li Yu?"
Li Yu said: "Why do so many people know my face? This is not the Internet era yet."
"Internet? Is it a kind of newspaper?" Louis Cartier said, "I saw you from the newspaper, and it was a French newspaper, and there were leaflets, all about Star Wars works, I like it very much Got it!"
"Thank you for your love," Li Yu said, "How much does this lighter cost?"
Louis said: "If Mr. Li Yu likes it, I can give it to you."
Li Yu quickly said: "No reward for no merit."
Louis laughed: "We even want to give you money."
"Give it to me?" Li Yu wondered, "Are you serious about doing business?"
Louis said: "We hope to cooperate with Mr. to produce some co-branded products of the Star Wars series."
Well, Star Wars is really popular.
Anyway, launching co-branded products is also beneficial to him, so Li Yu said: "Of course, you can show me some design documents when you have time."
Louis said happily: "With Mr. Li Yu's words, I will definitely let the best designer do it."
Li Yu ignited the lighter and suddenly discovered that this early lighter method was to rub a grinding wheel against a metal piece and then ignite the fuse.
The straight man Li Yuli's mind was racing: lighters and flints hadn't even been born yet!
Another profitable patent!
Li Yu took another look at their pocket watch at the platform and felt that it was not much different from the one he bought before.
Li Yu had an idea: "Can you design a watch that can be worn on your hand?"
"Watch?" Cartier has never heard of this name. "Is there any similar product that I can refer to?"
Li Yu shook his head: "No, that's why I asked you to design it."
Historically, this was the year when the watch was born, originally designed by Cartier for a pilot. Because it is impossible for pilots, racing drivers and other drivers to take out a pocket watch from their pockets to check the time, it is most convenient to put it on their hands.
Li Yu drew a picture for him on the paper, "It's actually very simple. You just need to fix it with a chain."
Louis must understand design, he understood it instantly: "I understand, it's like the chain of a Hermès leather bag."
Li Yu said: "Absolutely."
Louis thought for a moment: "This is not difficult."
Li Yu said: "Then I will order one, oh no, two watches from you."
Cartier is not top-notch in the field of watches, and its prices are not as outrageous as Swiss watches. But two watches also cost thousands of dollars.
Louis wondered: "Sir, this is just an initial and even somewhat subversive design. Are you so confident?"
Li Yu knew that the first watch designed by Cartier was actually pretty good and had many imitators. Therefore, it can be worn for many years. It will take at least ten to twenty years or even later when the major Swiss watch companies such as Patek Philippe and Jaeger-LeCoultre start to make efforts in the watch industry.
Louis felt that this was the unique taste of the mysterious Eastern scientist, and didn't think much about it, "You can pick it up in a week, and I'll make some modifications and upgrades."
Not to mention that today’s watches are expensive, they are all made by hand.
A week later, Li Yu called Lu Bicheng to come to the Cartier booth. When Louis placed two exquisite watches in front of them, Lu Bicheng was so excited.
"What a beautiful design! But how to wear this?" Lu Bicheng asked.
Li Yu picked up one and expertly put it on her slender wrist: "Just like this, it's so convenient for you to see!"
During this time, Lu Bicheng had learned from Xie Yuxi that Cartier was a high-end French brand, and she was extremely happy: "It's beautiful!"
On the contrary, Louis Cartier was very curious: "Mr. Li Yu, I didn't even explain it, how come you know how to wear it?"
"What's so difficult about this?" Li Yu also put it on smoothly, and suddenly felt a little bit like a modern person. It's just that in his previous life, he was already wearing an electronic bracelet.
When the two of them were feeling happy, Situ Meitang suddenly found Li Yu in a hurry: "It's not good! It's not good! Mr. Zhongshan has been arrested!"
Li Yu was surprised: "Why were you arrested?"
Situ Meitang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Internal information should be that someone reported it. Maybe it was because of Fulun Beizi's visit and someone was worried that he would cause trouble."
Kang Youwei has been honest recently. He even made an appearance at the World Expo a short time before Zhongshan, which is indeed a bit high-profile.
Li Yu asked: "What did the police say?"
Situ Meitang said: "Now the Qing government wants to extradite him."
Li Yu immediately said: "Absolutely not, you will die if you go back."
Situ Meitang said: "So we have to hire a lawyer, stabilize the situation, and then come up with bail money. Both of these are expensive and very urgent. Chief Huang didn't have so much cash at the moment, so he thought of you. But Don’t worry, brother, Chief Huang will definitely return the money to you afterwards.”
Li Yu waved his hand: "Don't say so much, just tell me, how much does it cost?"
Situ Meitang said: "Since Mr. Sun has been arrested in the UK before, the bail is relatively high. Plus attorney fees and administrative fees, it will cost US$2,500."
In the early 20th century, $2,500 was really not a small amount of money. No wonder they were so embarrassed.
Li Yu said casually: "I will write you a check right away, but I have a small request..."
Situ Meitang said: "Brother, if you have the conditions, it's okay to say so. You can also issue an IOU."
"That's not what I meant," Li Yu said, "I don't need you to pay back the money. All I ask is that you don't tell anyone that I paid for it."
Situ Meitang opened his mouth: "This..."
Li Yu has already written the check: "It can't be further delayed. I can't get away. I have a favor for you, Brother Situ."
"Thank you from all the Hongmen brothers!" Situ Meitang left St. Louis immediately before he could say more.
Mr. Zhongshan was detained for about 17 days this time, but fortunately he did not suffer too much hardship.
In fact, he was used to it. He was embarrassed to say that he was a revolutionary until he had been in jail for a few days.
In fact, the American police were just pretending and didn't really want to arrest him. But after all, Pu Lun is here as a representative of the royal family, so they should do something to show their status.
After staying in St. Louis for a few days, Pu Lun had to go to Washington, Chicago and other cities for inspection.
Li Yu is also planning to take Yang Xiaolou and others to perform a few performances at the Grand Theater in New York, leaving Jia Honglin and others in St. Louis first.
Zhang Boling has not yet scheduled a competition date, and the Olympic Games date is too late. So he's definitely going to stay in St. Louis.
Li Yu is going to a laboratory in New York to conduct experiments and write papers, and he also wants Xie Yuxi to help apply for several new patents.
Yesterday's version hasn't been released yet... It just happened to be in time for the editors to take a vacation... It seems like it won't be released until the day after tomorrow... Crying...
(End of chapter)
