"Your tea is not good enough." Captain Van der Sar first picked up a handful of tea leaves from his hand, put it under his nose and sniffed it, then put a little tea in his mouth and chewed it, then shook his head and said, "Obviously, it's not Darjeeling at all, or at least, it's not any tea grown at high altitudes." Its taste is very astringent, and the aroma is not pure, and it does not have the grape aroma of Darjeeling's black tea. This is the lowest type of tea. The price you want, it's too high. ”

"Ah, you are a connoisseur, this tea is indeed not Darjeeling, but you also know that the production of Darjeeling is limited, where can I get a whole boatload of Darjeeling black tea? But it is true that the tea is produced in the foothills of the Himalayas, and of course, the altitude is a little lower than Darjeeling, and the quality is not good enough. However, it is still good to use it to make milk tea. And you also know that because of the war, the price of tea has risen a lot, and at the price I am giving you now, you can make a lot of money by sending these things to Europe. ”

"You're right. But you also have to take into account that the reason for this situation is that it is difficult to transport, and now, a large number of transport ships are being used for war-related affairs, and the blockade and inspection naturally lead to the increase in the price of these things. But you should also understand that we have to get your goods back to Europe, and the cost is not the same as before. Strictly speaking, things from India, with the exception of a few things like fire and gunpowder, other things, including tea, are contraband, and they cannot be sold directly by dragging them to the market. There's a lot of going through and a lot of money.

Let's put it this way, buy tea from you, and then sell it in Europe, at least seventy percent of the money earned will be used for some money, and the remaining thirty percent will have to be shared with the sailors, so that I can get a little more? So, if you want to come at your price, I won't have anything to earn, no, brother, the price of your tea should be a little lower. ”

The Frenchman was not lying, of course, and it is true that the vast majority of the European market was now closed to the British and their colonies. Luxury goods such as tea are strictly restricted. But legally, it's not like there is no legal way to sell tea in Europe. The way to do this is to claim that the tea leaves are captured trophies.

After the start of the war, the British announced that civilian ships would be allowed to attack the ships of countries that were at war with the British, and to profit from their capture. In response, France also announced that civilian ships would be allowed to attack British ships and profit from the captured booty. Well, that's basically a return to the privateer regime of many years ago.

Of course, there is a lot of room for maneuver in determining whether it is smuggling or war spoils. For this, you need to go through a special path and spend a lot of money. So, what the French said is not entirely unreasonable. It's just that it's not just the French who need money to run for it, the British themselves have to run for it.

"But captain, you can do this business, you have a way, don't you? You should be able to save a lot of money compared to those guys who don't have access at all, so you've got a lot of money. ”

"Yes, I still have a profit, if I don't make a profit, who will do this? I do have a way, because it is an old relationship, when I go through these ways, it does save time, money and effort than ordinary newcomers. But this saving is what I can do, and I deserve more profits from it. And now because I have the ability to get a higher profit than others, so you ask me to give you a profit, don't you think it's very inappropriate? ”

So the two men argued about the price of tea, and in the end it was the French who had the upper hand, after all, the British, especially those who were still in India, needed money more. Besides, even if you earn a little less with the French, you can get some more back on the ticket. The captains had already asked the French about their tickets.

"Black, really TMD black!" This was the unanimous sentiment of the English captains about the price of the French tickets. At the same time, I couldn't help but have the idea of "a big husband should be like this". However, considering the reality, although they feel that the price increase must be increased, it is difficult for them to really collect the ticket price according to French standards. Because many of those passengers are guys with a very good background, they can't do anything about the French, so they have to slaughter them casually, but if they can't cure the French, can't I cure you?

But as Napoleon said, "As long as determination does not slip, there are more ways than difficulties." "One captain came up with one such solution.

"We can use the different cabins to separate the people with status from those who don't, and then we keep the prices for the upper class tickets more reasonable, mainly for the lower ones. Although they have less meat on them, they are still meat after all. ”

"In addition to that, I suggest that we should also work with passengers who are really influential." Another captain said, "The people in the lower class are not fools, and they certainly don't want to be slaughtered like that." Maybe you want to make trouble. Especially if we give first class a discount and only increase their price. ”

"How do you say we cooperate?" Someone asked.

"We can't let the price of first class be too cheap, on the contrary, the price of first class will increase by more than 10 percent, and only then can we create panic and sell tickets. Then wait for the ticket money to arrive......"

"After waiting for the ticket money to be paid, the first-class ticket money will be refunded, and the ticket money collected in the lower class will be shared with the first-class passengers. It's a good idea to be quick and secure. It's just that I don't know if those 'high-ranking people' will be too good, if they are also like those big people in India, give us a three-seven, or even two-eight, account, it will be boring. ”

"They probably won't. When they can sit in that position, they know exactly what they can do. The big men in India are able to share accounts with us in this way because they can help us do things that we can't do, or we can't do things that we could have done. But now the big people in our first class have no real power in their hands, and of course they still have residual power and connections with the upper echelons of India. So now they can only be regarded as brokers with status, and if we divide with them, I think it is possible to have twenty-eight, or even nineteen, and it is still eight or nine of us. ”

The plan was decided, and the captains assigned the task. Everyone took action.

Soon rumors began to circulate in the harbor that the French had sent a new army to South Africa, and this time it was a warship for the situation in the East, well, the previous one sold to the British, the "Liberty Market", the "whale" that had beaten the British Navy in the face during that whaling operation.

"Oh, you don't know? This warship of the French is a sail-steam hybrid warship. The French had already put it in the museum, but now, they had changed her, removed the original broadside guns and replaced them with turrets, and sent her here. This ship was no slower than the average sail cruiser when it sailed on sails, and even faster than any of our ships in the East when it was activated by steam power, and with the new cannons and new cannonballs, none of our ships in the East could match hers. If she kills her, we'll all be captives. ”

"Didn't the French send us here? Will they still be? ”

"The French sent us here to hack our money. What kind of virtue is the French, you don't know yet? The contract he sent us here has been completed. And how much of value we brought, the French know very well, do you think they will come and rob again? ”

"Don't we already have a ship here? Let's get on the boat and go! How long will it take to wait like this? Isn't that too dangerous? ”

"I've heard that the ships that are coming here haven't sold all of their cargo. If they want to rush to the market and sell it, they may not make money, and they may not make money, and they may have to raise the ticket price. ”

As soon as they heard the words "raise the fare", everyone changed their faces together.

"No, it's our own people, we shouldn't be as black as the French, right?"

"Probably not, though...... I'll be honest...... Some of the English and French are at least as black, and the closer we are, the more they want to drink our blood. ”

"I've heard that there aren't enough places on our boats, and we can't carry so many people away this time, and there will be a lot of people, even most of them, who will be left here for the next few batches."

"Huh? How many batches do you have to wait for the next batch, but you have to wait until next year? ”

"If you don't want to do anything else, staying here will cost you a lot of money every day. Alas, if this continues, I'm going to have to find someone to do at the docks. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, you must go to India as soon as possible, the sooner the better."

"I heard that many of the people who came here are rich and have status, and they are likely to buy all the tickets first."

"I've heard that tickets will be sold in the public soon. It is said that the first class is sold first, and then it is the turn of the second and third class. ”

"What are the prices for 2nd and 3rd class?" Someone asked.

"Now who knows? Wait, it should be just a few days. "There is humanity.

So everyone sighed together in a state of anxiety.

After another two days, the news of first-class fares finally began to arrive. Many people think that if they want to stay here until next year, they might as well spend a little more money and quickly buy a ferry ticket and leave.

However, the price of first class is very high, and although they have become more affordable after being slaughtered by the French, the published price of first class is still prohibitive for most people.

But the sales of first-class tickets were very hot, and in less than half an hour, all first-class tickets were sold out. As for second-class tickets, it is said that they will not be sold until after lunch at noon.

So the British, who were stranded in the port, took advantage of the opportunity to talk about it.

"The price of first class is really high. But just like that, it was sold out all at once. I don't know what the price of second and third class is? One person said.

"Tom, no matter how expensive the first class is, the rich can afford to sit on it." Another said.

"It's not that simple, Jim." Another said, "The rich can afford it." But the fact that they are willing to spend so much money speaks for themselves. You know, most rich people, in fact, the richer they are, the more they refuse to relax at all; The more unwilling to relax, the richer you get. They are willing to pay so happily, but they are afraid that it is really unsafe to stay here for a long time. ”

"We are on the soil of neutral countries, the French...... They shouldn't trample on the neutrality of neutral countries, right? One of them said. However, from his weak tone, it can be seen that he actually has no confidence in his words.

"French? Even if the French directly sent the army in to arrest people, would the Portuguese still dare to turn against the French? Maybe they will take the initiative to cover it up. Another man said.

Everyone fell silent again, and finally Jim sighed again and said, "It depends on the price of second and third class." In any case, buy as many tickets as you can, or if the French hybrid warship does come, it will be over! ”

"It's better to spend less than to stay here for a few more months, buy as much as you can, or God knows what it will look like in a few months?"

This view is supported by more people. Everyone ate while anxiously waiting for the sale of second-class tickets.

The number of tickets for second class is much higher than for first class, which is also normal, because the guests in second class are several people crammed into a room. Therefore, the time of ticket sales work is naturally a lot longer. And the all-important ticket price – certainly not cheap. Although compared to first class, he is much cheaper. But compared to the previous peacetime price, this fare has doubled several times, and is even more than one or two times more expensive than the previous first-class price. But compared to the French fare, it's really not too expensive. Considering the loss of being stranded here, coupled with all the terrible rumors, the ticket purchase is still very enthusiastic. By the afternoon, all the second-class tickets were also sold.

The rest was the third-class cabin, which was actually a freshly emptied cargo hold, where everyone could only sleep on the ground - there were no beds, and apart from being able to go on deck at any time to let off steam, the conditions were not even very different from those of slave carriers. But even with these conditions, even if the third-class ticket price is still high, the tickets sell out quickly.