After making a wish, financial freedom

Chapter 573 Priceless pineapple?
This fat businessman is indeed very pragmatic, and what he prays for is related to making a fortune.

He said his name was Gabriel Romano, he was 38 years old and a native of Rome. When he was a child, he moved to Cremona from central Italy with his father, who was in the fur business.

His current business is very complex, including fur business and grain business. He owns two boats and occasionally does some financial business. However, he still feels that he cannot make ends meet and wants to make a lot of money.

After Li Zhuo heard this, he knew that this businessman named Gabriel had no bottom line.

What he calls financial business is definitely not the relatively developed banking industry in Italy, but more likely loan sharking.

This kind of business has been a specialty of the Jews for a long time. The Bible curses those who engage in this kind of money-making business to go to hell.

Not bad, a little fat guy with a very flexible stance.

After Gabriel finished talking about his career, he expressed his idea of ​​making a lot of money:
"Dear God, do you know what is the most profitable thing in Italy, Spain, England, and even the whole of Europe right now?"

Li Zhuo didn't say anything, just looked at him.

Fortunately, the little fat man did not dare to wait for Li Zhuo to answer him. He laughed twice awkwardly, his eyes shining brightly:
"This business is actually the business of the nobles. The bigger the nobles are, the more they spend money lavishly. It is easiest to make money from them, because they are a group of idiots who only know honor, family background, ostentation, luxury, arrogance and shamelessness. They have no sense at all. mind."

As a person from a merchant family, the little fat man worked his way up to the upper class in a place like Europe where nobles were prominent. He probably suffered a lot of contempt and cowardice because of his background, so he became a bit neurotic and hated the nobles.

And in his eyes, Li Zhuo is a pagan god who has no friendship with the local nobles and may even have enmity. There were many European nobles in the Crusades, but they caused great harm to the Middle East, so he has no taboos.

He then laughed and said:

"That's fine, let them rest on the glory and merits left by their ancestors, so that they will spend as much as they can. This will benefit businessmen like me who are looking for opportunities to make money everywhere. Great God, they don't understand that times have changed. Wait for them to sell Once the ancestral inheritance is over, future generations will have no choice but to beg.”

Interestingly, this is indeed what happened in modern Europe. The nobility gradually declined, the merchant class rose, and eventually evolved into capitalists. This process lasted for hundreds of years and had far-reaching influence.

The little fat man could still see clearly.

Li Zhuo asked:

"So, how do you plan to earn the last piece of steel in their pockets?"

"Honorable God, you know that the great aristocrats pay attention to pomp, luxury and rarity. A kind of fruit from the Spanish colonial America is very expensive, but it is very popular in the aristocratic circle, very popular, and very easy to sell. This Growing fruits is just that – ananas!”

ananas (Italian), pineapple?
Pineapple!

Interestingly, there are many of these in China. They can be found everywhere at roadside fruit stalls and the price is very cheap.

"So you want to do the pineapple business? Is it popular with nobles?"

"Yes, God, this fruit is big and sweet. As you know, there is no sugar in the whole of Europe. If the nobles want to eat something sweet, they can only ask the farmers to find some wild honey. This sweet fruit is found in Columbus. It was discovered in America and brought back in the early 16th century, and it became very popular among the nobles."

"But this kind of fruit is very perishable, and it is very difficult to transport it over long distances. It is impossible to grow this kind of fruit in Europe. As a result, the number of pineapples that can be brought to Europe is very small, and the price is astonishing. Let's put it this way, the price of a pineapple is, at best, When it was expensive, it was equivalent to the price of 10 horses. Of course, it is much cheaper now.

"So, since the 16th century, it has only been an exclusive item for the upper-class royal family and nobles. King Charles II of England once received a pineapple and asked the artist to include the pineapple in his portrait. "

"Master, my idea is very simple. Can you help me carry a batch of pineapples? As long as I have a hundred pineapples, I will not only make a lot of money, but also become a guest of many nobles."

After hearing this, Li Zhuo felt that this was a great deal.

100 pineapples are so easy to obtain in modern society that they cost almost nothing.

After hearing this, Li Zhuo pretended to be wrong:
"This matter is difficult to handle. It consumes too much of my power."

Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible.

Gabriel immediately understood what to do:

"Great God, what do you want? A golden statue or some other treasure? I'm willing to give it to you." Li Zhuo asked:

"You are not rich in Cremona, are you? What good things are there here?"

"Cities like Rome are naturally not richer. Cremona's good things, agriculture, and fur industry are okay, but they are definitely not what you want. Silk fabrics are relatively famous. Oh, by the way, Cremona It is rich in musical instruments, and the violin is especially famous!" Gabriel said while thinking.

violin?
Violin from Cremona, Italy?
A flash of lightning flashed across Li Zhuo's mind, and he remembered.

In modern society, the most expensive violin at auction is a violin made by a man named Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy.

price……

amazing!

The most expensive violins are basically made by Stradivari and have been played and collected by famous players.

For example, a violin made by Stradivari in 1714, named "Davanci eex-seidel", was auctioned for $1534 million.

A violin also made by Stradivari and named General Dupont is worth RMB 1.5 million.

However, these violins were all made by Stradivari in the early 18th century.

The time just didn't seem right.

Li Zhuo asked:

"What year is it now?"

"Great God, it is 1697 AD."

It's a pity that he can no longer touch Stradivari's top violin.

But his violins from the late 17th century are also valuable. Let’s put it this way, as long as the violin is inscribed with Antonio Stradivari’s name, of course it must be authentic, then its price will be very expensive, in US dollars The price-based one is expensive.

Li Zhuo calmed down and then said:
"Well, I want Antonio Stradivari's violin. Can you get it?"

Gabriel was stunned for a moment, then became a little confused:

"His violins are so famous and expensive. They are usually ordered by big nobles or big bankers, and they can only be obtained after a period of time. They are in short supply. I can come to buy them, but he may not agree, even if Even if I agree, it may take a long time to get the finished product out, and he won’t make it for me first.”

Li Zhuo also didn't expect that Stradivari's violins would be so difficult to buy in this world.

He then added:

"In this way, if you give him more money, I don't believe that he won't be moved by the pile of money. Now if you can get the violin immediately, in return, I will give you 120 pineapples instead of the previous 100. How about ?”

Gabriel immediately agreed. No matter how noble Stradivari was and how he looked down on businessmen like him, there was no way he could leave a lot of money without making a profit.

Li Zhuo's time is limited, he needs to get this violin as soon as possible.

Gabriel also had the ability to move. He immediately went out and ran to Stradivari's violin workshop.

He lived less than a mile from the workshop.

Li Zhuo turned around and returned to the real world. He then went downstairs and drove to buy pineapples.

……

(End of this chapter)