A Dream of Jinling Chapter 344 The Profit-Seeker (1)

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Temperatures in Florence in August can reach nearly 40 degrees Celsius, which is a hot place even in Italy with a hot and dry summer and a mild and rainy Mediterranean climate in winter.

While the midday sun was scorching the city floor, the Marquis Grace arrived in a car at the Golden Shop Street, a covered bridge near the Arno River. When you get out of the car, the outside is less hot than the inside of the car. She picked up an embroidered parasol with her right hand, gently covered her lower abdomen with a feminine rhythm with her left hand, and then walked towards the row of handmade gold shops.

The temperature inside the store is even lower, and for these old stores, they know how to entertain customers in such a hot day. Watching a tall woman walk into the store, before she could see the woman's face, she knew that there was a customer in the store.

It is a top-quality Chinese dark grain silk garment, and when weaving, different thicknesses of raw silk are used in different positions, and after dyeing the exact same color, there will be a very fine and exquisite dark grain effect. The Italian textile industry has tried to imitate, the British Empire has tried to imitate, and the French textile industry has tried to imitate. And the high-end textile industry in these countries eventually abandoned this effort, and in competition with similar goods from China, they found that the profits were too low to be tolerated.

Although the price of Chinese goods can really be said to be the price of conscience, the price of dark silk clothing produced by this technology is also nearly ten times that of ordinary fine silk, which is by no means affordable for ordinary rich people. In addition to the clothing, the clothes of this noble lady who entered the door were sewn by top tailors, and the waiter of the gold shop who had seen too many nobles could see it at a glance.

The aristocratic lady didn't talk nonsense, she talked directly about the jewelry that the store is best at. The receptionist could see that the noble lady was not creating heirloom jewelry, but creating a piece of jewelry that could be used in ordinary times. Even so, when Madame took out the small diamond that was used to set it in the jewelry, the receptionist held her breath slightly. The quality and cutting of these diamonds is so high that one has to gaze at them.

After deciding on the jewelry to be made, the Marquis Grace walked out of the store. She got into the car and asked the driver to go home. The so-called light does not look at color, and Grace has to come here at noon to see jewelry. Wang Mingshan's activity is very good, and Grace is pregnant as she wishes. When the good news was confirmed, Wang Mingshan was still doing official business in Africa, but the Marquis Grace was not too disappointed. What she wants is her own status, the money she can control, and her own heirs. Although Wang Mingshan is a happy lover, now that Grace has achieved her goal, there is no need for Wang Mingshan to follow her.

And the first thing Marquis Grace did was to prepare the heirloom jewels. It is this kind of jewel that the European aristocracy pays the most attention to, the most precious gemstones, the best craftsmen, to create heirloom jewelry. In aristocratic families, these jewels were not allowed to be sold under the family law. Many of the old Italian aristocrats were starving to death, but they still had millions worth of jewels in their hands. It's not that they don't want to sell it, it's that the rules of their ancestors prevent them from selling these precious jewels for money.

Grace's family naturally didn't have the money to build these things, but Grace was willing to prepare them for her children. Those top-quality jewelry are naturally to let the top craftsmen of the top big jewelry companies serve in the Marquis's Palace, and those jewelry that is not particularly valuable for personal use have to be ordered by themselves in a professional old store. Of course, Grace actually worked willingly to make these jewels. Gold and silver were nothing to Grace, and Grace was very smart to pay cash, and Wang Mingshan got those exquisite gems and diamonds.

Waiting with anticipation for the shopkeeper to pack up and deliver it to her house, the Marquis Grace went to the banquet with a ring on her finger that had just been chosen and filled with a diamond.

The car stopped in front of the Tuscan bank, and the waiter immediately ran to pull the door open for the car, which was made of beautiful walnut wood and had a shiny painted body shell. As Marquis Grace stepped out of the car and climbed up the stone staircase in front of the bank, the waitress followed the lady with a very decent pace. The doors of the bank opened, and the waiters inside greeted the most famous female bankers in Florence in recent years.

Within ten minutes, Marquis Grace was in the meeting. The walls of the conference room are covered with paintings of famous figures from the Tuscan bank over the ages. If you look closely at the people in attendance, you can find parts of their faces that are very similar to those in oil paintings.

At this moment, the Marquis Grace felt a little empty-hearted, these are all families that have inherited hundreds of years of history, how many city-state governments have fallen, how many kingdoms have fallen, how many republics have fallen, but these families have still stood for hundreds of years. Perhaps because of the pressure in her heart, Marquis Grace only felt a strong feeling of morning sickness. She hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and finally maintained her image. Even so, Marquis Grace saw the surprise in the eyes of the attendees, and a hint of contempt or negative evaluation. This made Marquis Grace blush a little.

There was a rush of morning sickness, and the Marquis Grace was glad she hadn't had lunch. If there was food in her stomach, she might have vomited. However, when she felt the changes in her body, she also felt the life in her lower abdomen, and the expectant mother suddenly had a sense of courage in her heart.

When Grace asked Wang Mingshan's family if there were any famous figures in China for hundreds of years, Wang Mingshan pondered for a moment and replied: "As long as people live until now, they are all miracles of life." This shows that for every time new life was born on the earth for billions of years, our ancestors survived and gave birth to new life. Do you know how low the odds are? ”

At first, Grace only thought that Wang Mingshan was joking, and after she calculated the odds with Wang Mingshan out of a rather perfunctory manner, Grace was shocked. Even according to the 5,000-year history of mankind, the possibility of 200 generations being passed on every 25 generations is already very small. If we put the history of human existence in 50,000 years, the probability is even more frighteningly low.

If these centuries-old heirs are compared to themselves alone...... Thinking of this standard, Marquis Grace immediately had confidence. What's more, standing behind the Marquis Grace is China, a powerful country that now spans Asia, Africa, and North America, and is no less than the heyday of Britain, which dominated Europe for hundreds of years. With such strength and background, Marquis Grace had no reason to show weakness to the heirs of these wealthy families.

As soon as her mind opened, the Marquis Grace felt that her body had become better, and all the discomfort had dissipated cleanly. She asked, "Have you all arrived?" ”

"One place shorter." The representative in charge of convening the meeting said with a blank face. As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened, and a man in his forties strode in. Seeing this, Marquis Grace's eyes couldn't help but squint slightly. He's been a big guy selling U.S. war bonds lately, and he didn't expect this guy to actually attend this conference.

Now that the people had arrived, the convener of the meeting said: "The issues discussed this time are all written in the letter. Then I hope that gentlemen and ladies will take the floor to ask questions. ”

"May I ask Mrs. Grace, why are Chinese bonds so unprofitable?" The first question arises.

Marquis Grace was not surprised that the first batch of war bonds in the United States was subscribed at a price of 92% and the interest rate was 6%. It's not simple, 6 plus 8, 14% profit. Rather, 14 places with 92, more than 15% profit. By contrast, China's war bonds are 100% real money and have an interest rate of only 5%.

"If it's a 100% chance of winning, then the 5% stake is also a real 5%. That's why Chinese bonds are so low-yielding. Marquis Grace replied categorically.

"Are the Chinese so confident?" The man who sold the U.S. war bonds asked the question before other related questions arose.

Marquis Grace could see that U.S. bond agents didn't want to hear too many ordinary questions. This is easy to understand, the difference in strength between China and the United States is relatively large, and if it is aimed at those simple comparisons, the United States will not be favored in any case. Rather than perpetuate this disadvantage, it is better to take a leap and directly use US bonds to make a seemingly simple comparison with Chinese bonds, but in fact there is a lot of room for manipulation.

Marquis Grace stood up and smiled and said, "I draw your attention to the fact that these Chinese bonds are to be purchased in pounds sterling and gold, and that they will be paid in pounds sterling and gold when they are repaid. The bonds are borrowed for a three-year maturity. Compared to Chinese bonds, the bonds on the US side are five-year bonds, and they are borrowed in dollars and repaid in dollars. Not to mention whether the United States can win the war, if the Americans directly lower the gold content of the dollar before repayment, everyone's losses will become very large. In contrast, Chinese bonds are much more reliable. ”

It can be seen that Marquis Grace's explanation has indeed made many representatives or shareholders of Tuscan banks have a more positive view of Chinese bonds.

However, the issuer of the US bonds on the other side did not lose his armor because of this, and he even politely waited for Marquis Grace to finish her opinion, and this time the result was, "Gentlemen, if it is only a war between the United States and China, we can see that the war is not very beneficial to the United States. But after the Great Chicago fire, the attitude of the whole of Europe towards this war changed a lot. Many countries believe that China's massacre of the American people must be stopped. Including the church, there was also strong criticism. We are all businessmen, so let's not talk about the victory or defeat of the war. I just want to ask you, if the Europeans were left to choose between Chinese bonds and American bonds, which side would they choose? ”