My British Empire

  Chapter 136 Examination

  ps: Ask for a monthly pass, ask for collection, there is another chapter around twelve o'clock! For the sake of my hard work, let me order some monthly tickets!

  In 1549, on May 1st, the summer temperature in London had reached a rare high temperature—about 25 degrees Celsius. For London residents who have always had cool weather, this was really tormenting weather.

  Some civilians walking on the road were sweating and kept wiping the sweat from their foreheads. Some even kept opening their mouths and sticking out their tongues on the street, hoping to radiate some heat.

  England, which is deeply influenced by the ocean, generally maintains a normal temperature of around 20 degrees every year, even in winter, the lowest temperature is seven or eight degrees.

  Civilians in short and brown clothes can only endure such harsh weather, running around London, busy with daily meals, their trivial wish is to have enough food for themselves and their families every day.

   The pampered nobles would not worry about a little food, but the hot weather in London forced them to do everything possible to relieve their heat.

  For example, the high-ranking nobles of the kingdom like Edward, they have used their rich money to build underground storage warehouses, and bought a large number of ice cubes from Northern Europe, which have been stored for a long time, and it is cool enough for a summer.

  The low-level nobles and ordinary businessmen don't have such a big hand to do this.

As a result, shrewd businessmen would not let go of this business opportunity, and a large number of ice cubes from Northern Europe appeared in the streets and alleys of London. The merchants sold small ice cubes that had been cut at five pence per pound, and people with a little money competed for them. phase purchase.

  Comfortable and cool ice has become a good medicine for Londoners to spend summer.

"Boss, here's a pound of ice!" The busy little businessman heard a sale, looked up, and found that it was a man wearing a cloak outside, a white shirt inside, short flaxen hair, fingers An agate ring could be vaguely seen, and a middle-aged man with a dark red and gold thread came over, his tone neither serious nor serious.

   "Sir, wait for a while, it will be ready soon!" Although he was a little depressed why such a gentleman-looking gentleman would buy ice cubes from himself, it was still a pleasure to make a deal.

  The nimble businessman ordered his assistant to cut the ice tightly protected under the sheepskin jacket, and he accepted one shilling from the gentleman in front of him, and then gave him fourteen pence.

   Adler carefully kicked the recovered fourteen pence back into his pocket, and then reached out to take the one-pound ice cube wrapped in linen, walking faster and faster.

  The ice cubes left the protected area and melted very fast. He had to rush back quickly, otherwise his family might not be able to enjoy this rare luxury.

  As a well-known banker in London, since he came to London, he purchases a large amount of ice cubes from specialized suppliers every summer to meet the needs of himself and his family.

  However, this year is different. All his family property was confiscated by the king of England, and he survived by using the opportunity of feeding the king to save his family from the death penalty.

  Now, with nothing, he and his family can only survive on the five pounds sent by the king every month.

  If you spend five pounds, you can live happily in the countryside, but in this expensive London, you can barely maintain a decent life for your family.

   Pushing open the door, Adler saw his eldest daughter reading a book of poetry with gusto, while the naughty second and youngest sons were running around in the yard, their clothes soaked in sweat.

   Seeing her father coming back, her daughter and two naughty sons surrounded him, blinking and blinking at him curiously.

  The lady in an apron also came out, and her curious eyes focused on him.

   "Hey Angela, kids, come over here and see what I got for you!"

   With a smile on his face, Adler opened his hands and said to his wife and children.

   Soon, the ice cube, wrapped in worn linen, had done its job, making his and his family's day enjoyable.

  The next day, with the help of his wife, Adler looked radiant.

   Sitting in a rented carriage, Adler came to the banks of the Thames River in the north of London, which is the most commercially developed place in London.

  When I came here, as far as the eye can see, there are many textile factories of various colors, and the ships coming and going set up their sails. Then, with a gust of wind, they slowly sailed to the exit of the Thames River, and they were about to leave England and head for the Netherlands or Germany.

  These merchant ships loaded with textiles out of England sailed slowly on the spacious Thames River, and collisions occurred from time to time.

  Stopped the carriage, Adler smiled, and smiled at the middle-aged man who went out to greet him.

   "Nice to meet you, Mr. Adler!" A middle-aged man with dark red hair and a high nose bridge said with joy.

   "Me too, may God bless you!" Adler also bowed down to thank you.

   "Follow me, sir, after reading this, I think you will think that lending me a loan is a right choice!"

   As he spoke, the middle-aged man led the way, while talking to Adler about the bright future of his factory.

"Sir, our factory now has more than one hundred workers and fifty machines, which can produce ten hundredweight (equivalent to ten tons) of woolen cloth every month, and the monthly profit is nearly fifty pounds. This is the most conservative estimate!"

   "And if you lend me 1,000 pounds, I can expand another 50 machines, so that the monthly profit will be more than 100 pounds!"

   "In less than a year, my sir, I'll be fully repaying the loan with interest!"

  Following behind the middle-aged man, Adler carefully observed the condition of the textile factory's machines and checked its account books.

  Ignoring the wool scattered all over the ground and the sultry air environment, Adler kept thinking about the prospects of the textile factory and his own repayment ability.

  Then, Adler came to his office and sat in a chair with a serious expression on his face.

   "Mr. Humphrey, according to my investigation, your textile factory still owes a debt of five hundred pounds, which is not a small amount!"

  A smile appeared on Adler's face, his tone was full of ridicule, and his sharp eyes looked straight at the eyes of the textile factory owner sitting opposite him, not letting go of his movements.

   "How can I trust you? Who knows if you want to pay off that debt and slip away with my money!"

   "I'm not God, I can't know where you will flee to, and I can't catch you!"

   Humphrey, who had been sitting calmly across from him, had a trace of cold sweat on his forehead, but his eyes were still so determined, unhurried.

  (end of this chapter)