I want to be emperor

Chapter 1102 Taylor enters the concession

When he came out of the interview conference room, John Taylor was still a little dazed... Although he already boasted that his psychological quality was good, he was also very nervous in this kind of interview that could change his life... Only But he didn't show his nervousness.

I introduced myself during the interview, and then answered various interview questions in Chinese, all of which were fluent, at least on the surface.

And when the interview was over, he felt faint, and then worried about gains and losses... He didn't know whether his performance could satisfy the interviewer.

After he came out, other people went in one after another, but John Taylor did not leave immediately. Instead, he returned to the waiting room and waited.

Because the interviewer said during the interview, wait for a while after the interview, and the results will be announced on the spot after all interviews are completed.

The waiting time was the most torturous. Not only him, but also several other people who had participated in the interview could tell that they were nervous. Some people could not even sit still. They stood up from time to time, and some even ran to the door. Go outside and smoke.

By the way, since the people of Chu invented cigarettes, they have not only become popular in the Great Chu Empire, but also quickly spread to West Asia, Europe and other regions. In those overseas branches of the Great Chu Empire Tobacco Corporation’s European Branch, West Asia Branch, etc. Driven by the company, smoking quickly spread in various overseas vassal countries.

In addition to smokers, there are also many people who smoke cigars, but cigars are more expensive, so there are very few ordinary people who smoke them, and most of them are rich people.

The rapid rise of the tobacco industry... In fact, Luo Zhixue was opposed to it at first, but seeing that the tobacco industry has contributed more than 200 million yuan in profits and taxes every year, coupled with the large number of related industry chains such as tobacco-growing farmers behind it, Luo Zhixue pretended not to be able to obtain employment, and just put the tobacco industry directly under exclusive management and established a tobacco company.

This thing is too profitable, and the industry is quite special, so it is very suitable for franchising.

As for the Tobacco Monopoly Law, this is not an administrative regulation, but a law...if it is illegal, it is a crime.

Of course, this kind of franchise is only limited to the imperial territory, but in the vassal state, your ordinary Chu businessmen can also go to the local area to open a cigarette factory, and then produce and sell cigarettes...

Therefore, many Chu businessmen went to the vassal country to produce and sell cigarettes, not only in the cigarette industry, but also in many other industries, such as the electrification industry, Li's Electric Company, a subsidiary of Li's Steel, because there was no way in the imperial territory To build the power grid, I went to the vassal country to build the power grid...

However, the Dachu Empire also had relatively strict restrictions on electrical technology. Even the electrical equipment produced by Li Iron and Steel and then exported to the vassal country for its own use would still need to undergo very strict review.

And the purpose is limited, it can only be used for the construction of self-operated residential lighting power grids, and it must not involve any industrial electrical equipment, nor is it allowed to directly export power generation and transmission equipment to indigenous people.

Basically, only Chu enterprises can purchase these restricted equipment for overseas business after approval.

Even so, the imperial officials are not very reassured, so the control over companies exporting electrical equipment is very strict. Currently, only a few companies are allowed to export related electrical equipment... Not all companies are qualified to export electrical equipment.

However, the scale of electrical consumption in the vassal country is currently small, and the cost of building a power grid is high. Therefore, Lee Iron and Steel's power grid construction in the vassal country is still in a very small development stage, and the more losses there are, the less profit there is.

For example, in East London, there is the London Power Grid Company invested by Lee Electric Co., a subsidiary of Lee Steel... It has built an AC power generation and power supply network to provide lighting electricity for local commercial facilities and wealthy families, but the investment cost is high. Profitability is very poor and it is still in the stage of cultivating the market at a loss.

The economic conditions of the vassal states cannot be compared with those of the Great Chu Empire, let alone the prosperous East Asian mainland, even with Cadiz, or even with the directly-administered territories in Europe such as Dover.

Therefore, Lee Iron and Steel's dream of a vassal power grid is expected to take many years to succeed...but...if it succeeds, it will definitely make money while lying down.

This thing is infrastructure, and it is also an infrastructure that is naturally monopolistic.

For example, in East London, Li's Electric Company came to lay out the layout early and built a basic power grid... This latecomer, the European Power Grid Company, has just completed the laying of the power grid in the London Concession... and is planning to enter the East London next door. As for London, it turned out that the power grid had been built by the Lee Electric Company.

It is not impossible to enter by force, but there is no need for two tigers to fight... Moreover, the investment in the power grid is too big. If two power grids are built in the same place and then engage in commercial competition, you will lose money to death, so I simply gave up on this place. market.

However, whether it is the European Power Grid Company or the Li Electric Company, they are all serious Chu enterprises, which also means that the infrastructure of the power grid in the vassal country has been highly monopolized by the Chu Empire.

Think about it, even basic equipment such as power supply is highly monopolized by foreign companies... What future does this country have?

However, this is the current reality of the vassal states under the Chu Empire. Not to mention high-end infrastructure such as electricity, even railways and shipping industries are monopolized by Chu enterprises.

Especially when it comes to railways, the railways in each vassal country are uniformly constructed and operated by branches of the Dachu Empire Railway Corporation.

Currently, there is no second commercial railway company on earth, there is only one, and that is the Dachu Empire Railway Corporation.

Even in vassal countries, this is no exception.

On the contrary, industries such as cigarettes are flourishing in vassal countries. Many businessmen have established tobacco companies in overseas vassal countries to produce and sell cigarettes.

Of course, the bulk of the market is still occupied by the many subsidiaries of the National Tobacco Corporation.

Nowadays, when John Taylor and others go out to smoke, they smoke all cigarettes produced by Chu State Tobacco Company.

While smoking, these English people who had finished the interview had a brief chat...but it was just a superficial chat.

After waiting like this for more than an hour, the last interviewer also ended the interview, and the interview results were quickly reported.

The same blonde girl wearing a tube top Hanfu came out and informed them of the interview results.

"Congratulations to John and Jeffrey. You passed the interview. Please follow me to go through the entry procedures. Everyone else, please go back. I wish you a better future!"

As soon as the simple announcement came out, John Taylor almost couldn't help but scream on the spot. However, although he forcibly held back the action, his face still turned red... The other selected person, Jeffrey, was no exception. He was very excited. .

As for the others, they were naturally downcast, but they had no choice but to turn around and go out one after another...

There is no way around it. The Chu State enterprises in the concession area have always been very competitive in recruiting regular civilian workers. Failure in the interview is the norm, but success in the interview is only a minority.

John Taylor naturally couldn't see the faces of those losers. He was still immersed in the joy and even excitement of succeeding in the interview.

Looking back at Elizabeth wearing a tube top Hanfu, I feel that this woman's appearance is higher than before, and she looks better.

Maybe it was because Elizabeth smiled when she looked at him... Although Elizabeth was a woman who was very kind to him before, she was also very polite... There was no smile before.

But now, Elizabeth looked at John Taylor and John Taylor with an extremely gentle expression: "You two, come with me. There are a lot of things to do in the following entry procedures. You need to register, apply for a pass to enter the concession and residence. Certificate, and then have to go for a physical examination." Next, it was like a dream for John Taylor. Under the leadership of Elizabeth, he made a lot of preparations for joining the job.

After making a lot of preparations and formally signing the contract, he took a pass and got into the carriage under the leadership of Elizabeth, preparing to go to the concession to formally join the company and apply for a residence permit.

This residence permit is very important. With it, John Taylor and the others can obtain long-term residence rights in the concession, obtain the qualifications to purchase real estate and settle down, becoming permanent residents of the administrative territory under the Dachu Empire. You can freely go and live in any administrative territory under the rule of the Chu Empire.

However, the permanent resident status of this administrative territory is limited to the London Concession and other administrative territories... There is still no way to go to the directly governed territory.

The identity of the residents of the administrative territory, which was actually set up by the Chu Empire specifically for a large number of high-quality indigenous talents in the administrative territory, is two different things from the identity of the Chu people.

The distinction is actually very simple, that is, the indigenous residents in the administrative territory do not have the nationality of the Chu Empire... This resident status is just a right of living and residence...

But even this kind of right of residence is something that countless indigenous people yearn for.

Although there are many indigenous people in many administrative territories in the empire, in fact most of them do not have this residence permit... For example, there are many free laborers in Africa.

There are also many indigenous people who are engaged in low-end labor jobs in the concessions and administrative territories. Although they also live in the administrative territories, they actually do not have residence permits and often obtain lower-level labor certificates... These Labor certificates are very restrictive. They include temporary labor certificates and formal labor certificates.

The lowest level temporary labor certificate can only work and live within the limited scope of work provided by the employer. At the same time, you must reapply every three years... If the employer does not ask you to work, the temporary labor certificate will be revoked directly, and then was evicted and could not apply for relatives.

A high-level labor certificate allows you to move freely in the local administrative territory, find employment, rent or buy real estate and live in a house.

However, you cannot travel to other administrative territories.

In fact, many wealthy people among the direct indigenous people spent a lot of money to enter the Chu concession and live in the administrative territory... What they actually purchased was this kind of formal labor certificate, not a residence permit.

The national identity of the Dachu Empire, the resident status in the administrative territory, the labor certificate in the administrative territory, the temporary labor certificate...these identities are completely different from each other.

As an indigenous talent who can formally join a Chu State enterprise and sign a formal employment contract, Strait Trading Company can apply for administrative territorial residence status.

And this is the important reason why a lot of people, including John Taylor, tried so hard to interview and join the Straits Trading Company...

At the same time, this is also the reason why Elizabeth, a good-looking English woman, was very kind to John Taylor along the way, and even somewhat flattered him.

Because although she also works at Chuguo Enterprise, she only works at Chuguo Enterprise in East London. She needs to enter the rental estate for work on weekdays, and she relies on the pass issued by the company to enter the rental estate.

However, she also wants to live in the concession!

From East London to the London Settlement, the nearest way is naturally to take the west gate of the Settlement. When entering, you need to go through two checkpoints. You need to check the pass, labor certificate, residence permit, etc.

Not everyone can get in.

After passing the inspection and entering it, John Taylor could instantly feel that the concession was different from the East London city outside.

That is, the roads are wide, clean and tidy, the pedestrians on the road are neatly dressed, and the buildings on both sides are full of the atmosphere of industrial civilization... everything looks very different.

In John Taylor's opinion, East London is already the most prosperous city he has ever seen. There are also some multi-story commercial buildings in the city, and some of the buildings even have electric lights...

But what about this concession... To be honest, if we want to say it's prosperous, then John Taylor hasn't seen many people on the road, at least not so far.

And the buildings are not that tall. They are not as popular as the rumors say. There are buildings tens of meters or even hundreds of meters high everywhere in the Chu country!

And the buildings are not very dense, especially when we first entered the concession, there were not many buildings on both sides of the road.

This seems, to some extent, not as prosperous as East London outside.

But it was such an environment that made John Taylor feel relaxed and happy... In the same area, East London outside the West Gate is the most prosperous place with dense buildings and many people, but the Chu Concession inside the West Gate seems Empty and deserted...

But in this kind of empty and deserted place, there is an atmosphere of civilization everywhere... The road is wide and paved, and the horse-drawn carriage can travel comfortably and quickly on it.

Rows of local plane trees are also planted on both sides of the road. This American one-ball plane tree accidentally hybridized with the European three-ball plane tree to create a two-ball plane tree. It is very good as a road green plant and has good cold resistance. Chu people They also like to plant trees on the roadsides, so they widely choose to plant this kind of plane tree in the direct territories and administrative territories in some colder European areas. This kind of plane tree is also called the British plane tree.

It is not only cultivated in Europe, but also introduced to other places by the Chu people, and even planted in some northern areas of East Asia.

The tall English plane trees slowly backed up on both sides of the road, and John Taylor gradually calmed down his mood!

From now on, he is a new person.

Then he turned to look at Elizabeth: "After the formalities are completed, if Miss Yi has time, I'll treat you to a meal to express my gratitude!"

After hearing this, Elizabeth's face suddenly showed shyness, with a hint of joy in it. She stretched out her hand and lightly touched her hair while saying: "After I take you to complete the check-in, I will have nothing to do!"

In fact, she has something to do, and is quite busy... However, she is very happy to skip work and have this meal with John Taylor... Opportunities to change lives and jump up the social ladder do not come often, and once they are available, she will do whatever it takes. Hold on tight...and now, John Taylor is her best chance.

As for Jeffrey on the side, he seemed not to have heard the conversation between the two.

At this time, he felt no disturbance in his heart, and even felt a little funny... It seemed that his new colleague was really a stupid boy!

It seems that because he is too young and his previous knowledge is low... he probably still doesn’t understand the value of the residence permit he is about to have!

As long as he successfully joins the job, many wealthy people in this concession who have spent money to purchase labor certificate status will be happy to have their daughters marry him... for no other reason than to allow their daughters to obtain a formal residence permit through marriage!

The official residence permit status these days is much more valuable than the household registration in first-tier cities in later generations, at least for these indigenous people.

And Jeffrey himself planned to marry the daughter of a wealthy family after joining the job.

As for a woman like Elizabeth... her beauty is of no use, she has no use in his future, and she doesn't even bother to take a second look.

What Jeffrey didn't know was... John Taylor actually knew very well what kind of identity change he was about to undergo, and he also knew the value of his future identity... He had spent many years studying hard, and the final interview for the job was not a fool's errand. He came here just for the residence permit.

He also knew very well what Elizabeth wanted...and he knew even better that he would never give her what she wanted!

But... this doesn't affect his affection for Elizabeth, and then he invites her to have dinner together!

After all, there is no law that stipulates that after having dinner, date and sleeping with her, you must marry her...

Wouldn't it be great to fall in love?

(End of this chapter)