"Because of profit?" An really didn't understand why Francis Otong did this.

"No, no, no, he is trying to adapt to the market." Alphonse shook his head and said: "You should know that Calais used to be a dark port, where privateers, pirates and other lawless elements came. Now they have wine.

Today, when I'm drunk, all my money is spent either on drinking or on women, so there are the Old Gun Tavern and the Red Rose Tavern.

But what about now? This is already a legal port. Pirates will never dare to come. There are fewer and fewer privateering merchants. Even if the place with a mixed bag of good and bad can still exist, it is becoming more and more difficult to have enough to eat. So Francis?

Even if you lose money, you still have to do business as a regular merchant in order to invest in the future."

"So if we just invest in hotels, maybe he won't cooperate with us at all?" An reacted somewhat. Francis Otong raised the price of the pub not to trick Alphonse, but to look at Alphonse.

Regarding the future, if Alphonse focuses on investing in hotels, Francis Oton will invest all his energy in hotels even if he loses his money.

On the contrary, if Alphonse attaches great importance to the tavern in turn, and is even too lazy to pay back the price, Francis Otong will look back at the tavern business and no longer be obsessed with the hotel's shareholding, but in reality?

The cost of investment is actually almost the same...

"Of course, at night, you still have to insist on belittling Francis Otong's business so that you can help him make a decision as soon as possible." Alphonse smiled and said: "After the investment is successful, we can work step by step to recover our investment.

Make an effort."

"You mean, we lost money on this investment at the beginning?" An was stunned for a moment.

"Of course, the hotel invested 10,000 livres, and there is no money just to offset the loan. Where can we carry out any renovation? As for the tavern, the business has to be stopped during the renovation period, which will result in another two months of losses. What do you think can be done?

Make money?" Alphonse smiled.

"I thought you would include these in the investment plan." An Qi said.

"The investment is not big now, so we can do it ourselves. After the investment plan is successful, we can include these businesses in the second expansion target, pour the money from the chamber of commerce into our pockets."

Alphonse smiled evilly.

"The investment plan has not even been shown to the investors, and you are thinking about how to cash out the profits of the chamber of commerce after the investment is successful?" An rolled his eyes and said in frustration.

"There is nothing we can do about it. At present, we only need the hotel to provide us with information, but these things cannot be said openly, so we can only wait until we have money to invest more and then cash out." Alphonse smiled: "

But the issue of obtaining information is urgent. As long as it is solved, we should think about how to quickly deliver information."

"Have you figured it out?" An asked.

"I asked Badis to help recruit some retired soldiers. Some of them should be able to understand semaphore. I plan to use semaphore to convey some information. We use the high point on land to observe the sea surface. We can see up to 20 nautical miles away. It is easy to

Dover can be seen across the sea from Calais; this also means that as long as we set up a semaphore tower in Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk, we will have a clear view of the sea conditions in the Cape of Calais.

It’s clear.” Alphonse touched his chin and said:

"Although it cannot be said to be safe, it at least provides our fleet with very timely information, and the communication speed is also fast. The exchange of information between the three delivery points only takes five minutes at most; the pirates may have just appeared 20 nautical miles away from Dunkirk.

Outside, we can notify all nearby ships to take shelter in the harbor, and the armed fleet can even assemble in Calais and take the initiative to attack."

"Although there is no way to transmit it further, it at least facilitates our information transmission on the coastline near the city. It is a way." An nodded and replied.

"By the way, there is one more thing." Alphonse took out the invitation to the Boulogne auction that Philippe Dessays gave him from his pocket and continued: "This is Philippe Dessays.

It was given to me by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, who might meet me at the auction."

"The Duke of La Rochefoucauld?!!" An was stunned for a moment, then took the invitation and continued to ask: "Is it still about the army artillery?"

"Probably, Philip Desai also revealed to me that Prince Condé is also interested in me, or in artillery." Alphonse said seriously: "Although I don't know why these big shots suddenly

Everyone noticed me, but it definitely shows one thing, that is, many big shots attach great importance to rapid-fire cannons beyond our expectation. Maybe rapid-fire cannons have value that we have not paid attention to."

Alphonse's expression began to look serious: "But we don't know at the moment. This may cause the rapid-fire cannon to bring us more unnecessary trouble."

"Abandon the rapid-fire artillery completely?" An thought for a while and continued: "The Spanish will definitely not agree. We all know that they even left Mr. Darren in Madrid just to confirm the effectiveness of the rapid-fire artillery in that escort.

, thereby giving us a larger order."

"You put it that way, I probably know that the problem lies with the Spanish." Alfonse rubbed his temples and said with some trouble. It will be known from the future that Louis XIV fought for decades to seize Spanish land.

War, and most of the top nobles knew that Mazarin had already planted such a nail when he was engaged to the Spanish princess for Louis XIV!

Therefore, although this group of nobles is not sure when Louis XIV will get this opportunity, they still will not easily give Spain any chance to grow again!

If the royal family wants to weaken Spain, it is natural that they must take the lead in dealing with the rapid-fire cannon Cheng Yaojin who came out halfway. If they can be included, they will be included. If they cannot be included, they will probably be eliminated! And from this, Prince Condé, La Rochefoucauld, etc.

No matter the Duke, or even the Duke of Letelier, they all take the opportunity to recruit Alphonse, and this is also an opportunity for Alphonse!

"You know what? As long as you show this expression, I will know that the devil is coming." An reached out and pulled Alphonse's cheek and complained.

"Then what do you think the devil wants to do?" Alphonse put an arm around An's waist and asked with a smile.

"Just like I did with Benjamin and Clark, let them bid separately, and in the end the three will take it all." An replied calmly.

"It's great, Ann, you seem to be living in my head." Alphonse smiled: "But this time it's not as easy to deal with as Mr. Benjamin Hawkins and Mr. Clark Allen. They are the top leaders in the kingdom.

As long as the nobles open their mouths, there will be countless people targeting us on their behalf."

"How can they target you?" An pouted and counted on his fingers: "The bronze you have can produce at least a thousand rapid-fire cannons, and the Dutch and Oslo will definitely continue to supply you with bronze; <

/p>

Your goods are also sold to the Spanish by Mr. Darren as the largest supplier, and the ship is his own. The only thing he worries about is tax inspection; but frankly speaking, this will have no other result except forcing you to go to Spain.

So it’s not that I’m looking down on you, it’s really difficult for them to target you.”

"Even two dukes and a prince are looked down upon by our Miss Charles? What do you think we should do about this auction?" Alfonse continued to ask with a smile.

"If it were me, I would first learn about the auction items in this auction. If the Duke of La Rochefoucauld is interested in attending, the final auction items must be extraordinary. And if you can take a photo of this thing,

If you give it to the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, then everything will be easy." An thought for a while and replied.

"Don't consider it." Alphonse shook his head without hesitation and replied: "Not to mention whether I can take the photo, and I can't stand so obviously, but the auction items you mentioned are indeed worthy of our understanding.

After all, if the Duke of La Rochefoucauld comes, will the Prince of Condé or even the Duke of Letelier come too?"

"That's right. Fortunately, it's next month. We still have a lot of time to prepare." An nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Darren will be back in a few days. Then we can ask him to help us learn about Boulogne."

The situation at the auction."

"Speaking of which, Ann, you may want to go to Amsterdam in a few days." Alphonse thought for a while and said, "Let's go with Julia then to confirm the order for the Frut merchant ship.

, and then help me recruit a group of shipbuilders in Amsterdam. They want any ship type. It’s best if they are old and on the verge of retirement. It doesn’t matter if they can build ships. What I want is their experience. We may have to design our own ships by then.

."

"You can't do everything you want." An rolled his eyes and complained: "Let's not talk about whether you have so much money and energy to do this. Even if you do, you can't do it all."

"You are right, manpower is sometimes poor. But it is in this way that we can make good use of our time." Alphonse smiled, but found that An's face was not so good-looking, and then he realized that he seemed to be a little too focused on work.

Already...

Then he reached out to hold An's hand and changed the subject directly: "While we still have some time, let's buy some clothes and jewelry. We can't always have only one piece of clothing for the banquet!"

"Hmph, I want to be rich too." An curled her lips and complained: "You are an evil capitalist."

"I'll pay for it today." Alphonse naturally wouldn't look stingy at this time.

"You said it, I have to make you bleed profusely today!" An smiled like a weasel who stole a chicken.

Alphonse discovered for the first time that it was really not easy for French men in this era: a small mirror no bigger than a palm sold for 3 livres. The reason was that the Venetians strictly blocked the mirror coating technology, so the monopoly business could

Mirrors are sold as the most high-end luxury goods;

A lace handkerchief can also be sold for 2 livres, because it is a Persian cotton handkerchief handwoven by the Ottoman Empire. The quantity is scarce and the market is in short supply. The most important thing is that its supply channels are completely controlled by the Dutch;

A beautiful lace intarsia pleated skirt is even more exaggerated. It costs 27 livres, which is three months’ salary of a worker!

Just for two hours of shopping with An, Alphonse paid 134 livres and 7 sous for women's necessities that he thought were not even expensive.

I bought two new leather jackets, two shirts, a pair of breeches and a pair of new leather boots, and paid a high price of 15 livres! It's no wonder that the custom of lovers in France is so popular. Without such a high income, you can make
Chapter completed!