Chapter 83： Support business

"Is it possible to reduce part of the tax in the early stage?"

As soon as Bennett's words came out, the lobby fell silent.

Someone secretly laughed at him as crazy, neither natural disaster nor man-made disaster, you asked a lord to reduce taxes?

There were also those who were secretly thankful that Bennett, a young bird, said what he wanted to say.

Some people who knew him worried for him.

Paul stared at Bennett motionlessly, which made him feel scared. He wouldn't make a bad impression on the lord, would he?

The lord finally spoke: "What's your name?"

Bennett replied anxiously: "Ben...Bennett, Bennett Todd, uh...I'm a ship merchant in Port Fullland."

Paul nodded and said, "Oh, Mr. Todd. Your proposal is very good. In fact, this is one of the business-friendly measures I will talk about next."

The mayor, Theodore, and the old adviser, Peter, looked at each other, and they saw each other's doubts. It seems that the earl didn't tell them that there was such a thing beforehand?

Paul cleared his throat, and continued: "As for how to reduce or exempt the tax, it has to be discussed by the Government Council before making a decision."

Seeing that his proposal coincided with the measures the Lord wanted to say, Bennet breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Graham-sama."

He thanked Paul gratefully and sat down.

The merchants in the lobby were also excited. It seemed that the lord was determined to support them. They looked at Paul gratefully, and many of them had secretly made up their minds to make a big effort.

Paul felt depressed: Damn, how could he forget such a measure that can whet the businessman's appetite, and someone else proposed it first.

Then I saw everyone in the lobby looking at him eagerly, waiting for him to announce the rest of the business-friendly measures.

By the way, I just said it was one of them.

Well, let's go all out, Paul stood up from his seat and threw two big bombs:

One is that he will order the Government Council to set up an organization called a "bank" to issue loans at low interest rates to those operators who lack start-up capital.

The second is that he plans to follow the example of the Jiaowan League in the south and set up a stock exchange through which operators can sell securities to raise idle funds from society.

"Wow—" There was an uproar in the lobby again.

In fact, neither of these things is new.

There are many organizations that lend money among the people, but the interest is very high, which often ruins the borrowers. In comparison, the low-interest loans of "banks" are very attractive.

The securities exchange of the Angle Bay League has been established for a long time, but there has never been a similar institution in other places.

With Bennett in his prime, the others also let go of their courage.

A businessman asked, "Master Greiman, what technologies will you license to us?"

What, I said such a big meal, haven't I said which industries I want to open up? Really should have asked Bernard to write a manuscript for himself beforehand.

Paul thought for a while and said, "The first one is papermaking. Everyone must have used this kind of paper."

Everyone nodded, this kind of cheap paper has entered everyone's daily life.

Paul went on: "The second is making salt."

Salt? Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Arda already had a salt-making industry, and table salt was one of the few products in the northwest coastal area that could be sold elsewhere. After all, not every place could produce salt.

Seeing the doubts of the crowd, Paul asked, "Are there any salt merchants here? Please raise your hands."

After several people raised their hands, he pointed to the one sitting at the front and asked, "Tell me, how do you get the salt in your daily life?"

The salt merchant pointed to stood up and introduced himself first: "My lord, my name is Godwin Toby. Seawater is used to cook salt in the northwest bay, and there are salt people in the villages and towns near the sea who cook salt for a living." , our salt merchants go to buy it every month, and then transport it to various places in the inland for sale."

"How much sea salt can you buy every month?"

Godwin thought for a while and said, "The total amount of salt merchants in Arda is about 2,000 kilograms."

Paul said: "Too little, I have a way to increase the monthly production of sea salt to tens of thousands of kilograms, and without burning fire, the cost is extremely low."

Everyone felt unbelievable after hearing this. If Alda can really produce tens of thousands of kilograms of sea salt per month at a low cost, the money he earns will be doubled dozens of times.

Paul's method is sea salt drying, and he thinks the climate and light in the Northwest Gulf are very suitable for drying salt.

Choose a large flat beach to build a salt pan. The salt pan is generally divided into two parts: the evaporation pool and the crystallization pool.

When the tide is high, the seawater is introduced into the evaporation pool, and when the water is evaporated to a certain extent by the sun, it is poured into the crystallization pool and continues to be exposed to the sun. The seawater will become a saturated solution of salt, and the salt crystals will gradually be precipitated after exposure to the sun. It cannot be dried directly, because there are many other ingredients in the seawater, which will be mixed into the salt after it is completely dried.

What you get at this time is coarse salt, which contains impurities such as silt. To improve the quality, you can add clean water to dissolve, filter, and then directly dry and recrystallize to get relatively clean salt. However, the output of this process is added. will drop a lot.

In fact, the salt after secondary crystallization is still coarse salt, not only large particles, but also contains magnesium chloride, calcium chloride and other ingredients that make the taste bitter, and may even be mixed with sodium nitrite that is harmful to the human body.

However, this is a harsh world similar to the Middle Ages of the earth. The people at the bottom are already very happy if they can eat coarse salt. Only wealthy businessmen like Bennett can eat finely ground salt.

The nobles of this world can eat purified salt, but they must get it from well salt.

The specific method is: grind soybeans into soymilk and pour it into the pot, boil it with brine, because the vegetable protein has strong cohesion, it can absorb calcium sulfate, humus and other impurities in the brine to form foam and float on the liquid surface. Fishing out the foam again plays the role of extracting impurities and purifying the brine.

However, the refined salt produced by this method is simply a luxury accessory among luxury goods, and the low-level people and ordinary rich people should not think about it. Some places directly prohibit non-nobles from buying refined salt.

Seeing the disbelief of the crowd, Paul smiled mysteriously: "The specific method can only be known after you have been authorized."

The lord's mysterious smile whetted the appetite of Godwin and other salt merchants.

Paul continued: "The third is food processing. As I said at the beginning, the South is at war, and soldiers on the front line need to eat meat and vegetables in addition to bread and other staple foods. But everyone knows that under normal circumstances , Meat and vegetables cannot be preserved for a long time, and the quartermasters of every era and every army are very troubled by this problem.”

"If we can find a way to preserve food without changing its texture for a long time, His Majesty the King will definitely give us a large order."

Someone below asked: "Master Greyman, does that mean that we want us to process some dried fish and meat and sell them to the kingdom's army?"

Paul shrugged and said: "This is also a way. You can make some yourself. But what I want to say is another way. It can preserve not only meat, but also vegetables and fruits. Meat preserved in this way tastes much better than jerky.”

"I named this processed food - canned food. UU Reading The Lord's Mansion plans to build a canned food factory first, and everyone will be able to see it on the market soon."

can? It was another new thing. Earl Greyman was really a prolific inventor, and everyone was amazed.

The canned food Paul is talking about is the most primitive kind of canned food.

In 1800, in order to solve the stomach problems of the soldiers, Napoleon, the first ruler of France, offered a huge bonus of 12,000 francs to solicit solutions or inventions that could preserve military rations for a long time.

In 1810, a man named Nicolas Appel won the prize by inventing cans.

His method of making cans is very simple: process the food well, put it into a jar, put it all in a boiling water pot, heat it for 30-60 minutes, plug it tightly with a cork while it is hot, and then reinforce it with a thread or use wax. Sealed.

The cans produced by this simple method, after months of sea transportation, heat and humidity, have not deteriorated after opening.

What could be better than canned food for the Kingdom's armies that will fight deep in the South in the future?

Hansel almost went crazy when he learned about the characteristics of canned food. He cried and begged Paul and the Government Council to give priority to supporting the development of the canned food industry.

Well, the meeting is almost here, Paul stood up and said:

"Everyone, I've finished what I need to say. Today's meeting will come here first. If you are interested in cooperating with the Lord's Mansion, please contact Mayor Theodore and Advisor Peter to sign up, or you can go home and think about it first, haha. I have other things to do, so I have to leave first."

Seeing the leader leaving, everyone stood up to see him off.

After Paul disappeared through the side door, the town's Theodore and the old consultant Peter were almost instantly surrounded by people rushing to the front...