I was pulling trees in Daming, and Lao Zhu begged me to come out of retirement

Chapter 138 I’m going to make a fortune!

The merchants and landlords in the business houses all showed expressions of complete disbelief.

You should know that even in modern times before Tianyu traveled through time, the entire Chinese gold reserves were only 7187 million ounces, which is only about 4455 million taels if converted into taels.

In that era, 1000 million taels of gold was an unimaginable amount of wealth.

Mr. Liu listened to the teller's words and shook his head:

"Impossible, impossible. If it's silver, I'd still believe it. But gold..."

He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes said it all.

The teller smiled.
He smiled at the official and said:

"Liu Yuanwai might as well go and ask the Hu people if what I said is true. Besides, His Majesty will publicly welcome the returning ships in a few days. You might as well send your men to see it for yourself. Tens of millions of taels of gold, this kind of spectacular spectacle is rare."

Mr. Liu and the others looked at each other, and the seeds of doubt were planted in their hearts.

The teller smiled and said to Mr. Liu:
"The price of gold that can be exchanged for raw silk is even higher now. I'm afraid the deposit certificate in your hand will increase in value again. Who else can I congratulate if not Mr. Liu?"

He changed the subject and asked Mr. Liu:
"By the way, what are you doing here so early this morning?"

Mr. Liu was startled, then laughed dryly twice:

"Let's take a look at today's price, just take a look~haha"

Mr. Liu and the others all laughed it off, secretly put away their savings certificates, and then returned to their homes without stopping.

"housekeeper!"

When Mr. Liu returned home, he shouted loudly with an excited look on his face.

Soon a middle-aged butler came to Mr. Liu.

"What are your orders, Master?"

Mr. Liu rubbed his hands together and asked excitedly in a low voice:

"You can go find a Hu merchant, preferably one far away, preferably in Ukraine or Hungary (I didn't find out what the Yuan Dynasty was called), and ask them if there has been a sudden outbreak of plague in recent years, and whether even the common people there can eat beef?"

The housekeeper was stunned when he heard this. Even the common people can eat beef? How is that possible? How rich can one be to do that? The Chinese can't even afford to eat and wear clothes, how can they be just a bunch of barbarians?
"Master, this is impossible, isn't it?"

Mr. Liu glared at the housekeeper fiercely and cursed:
"Why so much nonsense? Just go when I tell you to go!"

Because the Yuan Dynasty once reached as far as the Danube River area, the Kiev region of Ukraine, to Hungary in northern Europe, to the Czech Republic in the southwest, and Venice in Italy.

Therefore, after the construction of a transportation network centered on Yuan Dadu, the main post roads spread across the country, so even merchants from some distant European countries could come to Yuan Dynasty to do business through the inland.

Therefore, although there are few Hu merchants, they are not rare.

The butler was full of questions. Although he didn't know how his master got the news about the barbarians so far away, he still found a Hu merchant from Italy and got him drunk to ask him.

At first, Hu Shang refused to admit it.
But under the guidance of China's vast wine culture, he quickly told the butler everything he knew.

It turned out that the Black Death was rampant in Europe a few years ago. The horrific plague that lasted for 4 or 5 years directly caused the population of the entire Europe to drop by 45 or even percent.

The population in countries like Italy, southern France and southern Spain has even dropped by 70 to 80 percent.

It's not like nine out of ten houses are empty, but it's almost the same. Therefore, the lack of a large number of young laborers has caused the productivity of the whole of Europe to decline sharply, and the manor economy that was once popular has basically collapsed.

Simply put, the landowners simply could not find tenants to help them farm, plant, and raise livestock.

The Italian merchant drunkenly slammed the table and complained loudly:

"My dear friend, can you believe it? Even the maids and stable boys cost at least 12 florins a year! Some arrogant ones even charge 18 or 24 florins!"

"Oh my God, do they think their bodies are made of gold? The nannies and lowly craftsmen are also asking exorbitant prices, and their wages have increased by more than three times."

"What makes me most angry is that even those peasants are beginning to pursue an upper-class life. Damn them, what right do they have? They are just a bunch of working peasants! Even those damned naughty kids and bitches are competing with us upper-class people for the clothes of those deceased masters. This is not fair!!"

The Italian merchants complained loudly and bitterly.
The butler beside him was stunned when he heard this.

What the master said was actually true? People over there really live so well?!

In fact, the Black Death raged from 1347 to 1351, causing Europe's population to drop by 50 percent, resulting in a large labor shortage. In particular, the lower-class people had relatively poor sanitary and medical environments, and more people died.

Among the remaining people, 5% are nobles, and only about 5% are able to work.

But when people died, the land did not become smaller and the wealth was not consumed.

In order to hire enough people to work on his land, the manor owner needs to pay higher wages to attract tenants to resume production on his manor.

Before 1359, there was an explosive growth in peasant wages.

This growth will continue for a century.
It is now 1368.
After 9 years, the living standards of ordinary Europeans had reached or even exceeded those of some well-off families in later generations.

After all, not every well-off family can guarantee that they have two pieces of beef and barbecue, paired with wine and bread for every meal every day.

To describe Europe at this time in one sentence, people were dying, but coins were safe and sound.

Those nouveau riche who survived the Black Death were worried that they would die without spending all their money, so the whole of Europe was filled with hedonism.

Whether it is the upper class who inherited a large amount of wealth from their deceased parents, or the lower class who received a large amount of compensation, they are all pursuing instant gratification and even pre-consumption. Therefore, all kinds of luxury goods shipped from the mysterious East are widely welcomed by this group of nouveau riche.

Italian merchants also made a fortune by trading with the Ming Dynasty.

After the butler got the news he wanted, he excitedly returned to his master's mansion.

When he passed the message to Mr. Liu,
Mr. Liu's eyes suddenly turned red.

Really? It's actually true!

Today, gold is everywhere in Europe, and even ordinary people can afford luxury goods. The Ming Dynasty purchases raw silk and makes silk, which is no different from directly collecting gold!

Damn it, I must not sell the raw silk certificates in my hand!
This is not raw silk, it's completely gold silk!
Once the 1000 million taels of gold return to Hong Kong, the price of raw silk will definitely skyrocket!

With a look of excitement, Mr. Liu locked the deposit slip in his arms tightly in a treasure box that only he knew about. He was going to get rich! And a lot of it!

He shouted at the butler with ecstasy:
"Quick! Go and buy the raw silk for me! Buy it quickly before the news comes! Buy it at a higher price! Buy as much as you can!"

　Okay, I confess, it's not that I forgot the protagonist, but that the protagonist couldn't find the portal,
　　You should know that I was playing and writing at the same time, and ended up getting stuck in a mountain in the portal to the netherworld. I finally dug it out, wandered around for a while, and couldn't find the way back.
　　I created a new portal, but the one I came out of was not my original home. Damn, I can’t find any of my buildings!
　　Now I'm trying to find the way back... but it seems to be getting farther and farther away...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)