Lord of Industrialization

"Count Gallen studied at the seminary in Oak City for a year and stayed there for a month every year."

Sonya explained why Garon had so many similarities to Wesson.

For example, the layout of this book bar is the same as that of Wesson. The first floor is a public reading room, the second floor is a small box, and the third floor is a conference room where seminars can be held.

After lunch, Frederick sat alone in Sonya's personal box and read a book.

This private room is Sonya's private studio. It not only has sofas, tables and chairs, but also a quilt on the recliner for taking a nap. The three bookshelves are filled with books. The spines of the books are labeled with their own books. In addition to rhetoric, In addition to books on logic and logic, there are also travel notes from various countries and some professional introductory books.

There are bookmarks in these books, indicating that they have been read.

At this time, Frederick was holding a book "Helvetians in Wesson" published two months ago. This book was written by Sonya who went to Wesson last year to interview nearly a hundred people from Helvetia. Written by former migrant workers in the Federation, the interviewees come from railway and construction workers, small restaurant owners, textile factory workers, and pocket watch craftsmen from all walks of life. Through the summary of detailed first-hand information, they comprehensively describe their work in Wesson. Job content, income, living standards, etc. in various places.

He read very attentively. There were things about Helvetia's migrant workers that the people involved would only tell fellow villagers. At the same time, he lacked a local perspective on migrant workers. This book just filled the gap.

Sonya came back with lunch and asked Frederick with a wicked smile: "Do you eat 'worms'?"

After she finished speaking, she looked expectantly at Frederick's face, hoping to see an expression of surprise or dissatisfaction.

Frederick raised his head, made an extremely exaggerated expression in cooperation, and shouted without any fluctuation in tone: "Wow! It's really scary to eat bugs!"

Sonya realized that her prank had been discovered and pouted in frustration.

The "worm" she is talking about is a sausage made with cow or pork and milk as the main ingredients, plus bread crumbs. When cooked in water, it turns white, somewhat like a worm.

Frederick smiled. He had made a fuss over this matter back then. When he went to the railway construction site to investigate, he heard a worker say, "It would be good if you could eat worms." He thought there was something wrong with the logistics.

Lunch was spent with Sonya telling various local anecdotes. After the waiter who was clearing away the dishes left, she sat down next to Frederick and said seriously: "I want to ask you a few questions."

Frederick nodded. This was what he had just agreed to do. He invited her to lunch on the condition that he answered some of her questions, which was equivalent to an interview.

Sonya asked: "How can railways increase people's income?"

Many people know that the railroad brought huge wealth to Wesson, but no one can tell how this wealth came from.

After thinking for a while, Frederick said: "In economic activities, the purpose of railways is to reduce transportation costs, which include money costs and time costs."

"Now the lowest-cost transportation method for bulk goods is water transportation, but water transportation is affected by seasons, river distribution and transportation speed, and is at a disadvantage in some aspects. The two are complementary rather than competitive."

Sonya took out her notebook and recorded it carefully. Seeing that she didn't ask any more questions, Frederick continued: "In places where navigable rivers are lacking, railways are rivers on land."

"As far as I know, many places in the mountainous areas of the Helvetic Federation have harsh natural environments and long cold periods. The yields of oats and beans grown there are low, making life very difficult."

"The mountains are rich in resources, such as wood, herbs and furs, but they cannot be sold because of the high cost caused by inconvenient transportation and the prices are not competitive in the outside market."

“The advantages of railways are now revealed. It can greatly reduce the cost of transporting goods. Businessmen can appear wherever roads are built, allowing people to buy things that would otherwise only rot locally, thus increasing income. "

"At the same time, goods sold outside will be cheaper, and goods such as clothes and fertilizers bought by people in the mountains will be cheaper."

Frederick talked a lot about the benefits brought by the railway, and Sonya recorded it in detail in her notebook.

But she was a little inattentive. At first, there was two fists' distance between them. By the time she finished memorizing the railway-related advantages, their shoulders were already touching each other.

Frederick was a man who had seen the world, so he didn't take it to heart.

After Sonya finished recording, she asked: "I heard that people in the mountains want to plant Elizabeth potatoes in large quantities. What do you personally think?"

Frederick blinked and said, "That's good. There are some lands in the mountains that are difficult to grow wheat, but it can be used to grow Elizabeth potatoes."

"Fresh Elizabeth potatoes are not easy to preserve. They can be made into powder like noodles or flour to preserve them for a long time."

Seeing that Sonya stopped writing and didn't ask any more questions, he thought for a moment and continued: "In the past two years, the School of Agriculture at Weissenburg University has been studying staple food rotation. The two-year rotation includes Elizabethan potatoes, spring wheat, oats, golden beans, and comparison. There are four modes in total: the special Elizabethan potato and single sowing winter rye plus multi-sowing short-growing period oat mode. The three-year cropping rotation has two modes: the Elizabethan potato, spring wheat, oat mode and the Elizabethan potato, oat, and golden bean mode. The final The conclusion is that the Elizabethan potato and single sowing winter rye plus multiple sowing short-growing period oats model has the highest harvest weight, the Elizabethan potato, spring wheat, oat model and Elizabethan potato, spring wheat model have the highest harvest weight, and the harvest weight of the other models is third. There won’t be many stalls left.”

"I'm not very familiar with the specific planting methods. Different models are suitable for different places. It would be terrible if I make a mistake. You can go to the Agricultural College for an interview. They are ready to promote it."

Frederick had always been very concerned about matters related to staple grains. The six-year crop rotation system was not suitable for mountainous areas, so he conducted research on staple grain rotations and achieved results.

But he has limited energy and does not have the ability to master all the technical details, and only has a general understanding.

Understanding is probably enough. Some of today's aristocratic masters know when to plant what in the fields, and they rely on housekeepers and stewards to manage it. They only need to look after the final number in the ledger.

So Sonya looked at Frederick with stars in her eyes and sighed: "You are so knowledgeable. Not only do you understand railways, you even know how to farm."

Frederick smiled and said, "You will know it if you read too many newspapers and magazines."

There is nothing confidential about these farming models. The disclosure is beneficial to gaining reputation and selling seeds and fertilizers. What needs to be kept secret is the technology of breeding and producing fertilizers.

He pointed to the bookshelf and praised: "You're not bad either. I haven't read many books. You are a very knowledgeable person."

Sonya's face turned slightly red and she replied: "Actually, I only read the table of contents of many books and only read them when I need to write reports."

Frederick nodded and said, "It's a good habit to ask questions when you don't understand something. It's better than making up stuff."

Sonya said: "How can you make it up? You...haven't you heard that Duke Wesson said that truth is life for reporters?"

Frederick gritted his teeth and said: "For those people, making up some nonsense can make newspapers sell better, no matter whether it is true or not."

"Not long ago, a newspaper made up a random news report saying that...Duke Wesson has two illegitimate children, and they are now waiting for the court's decision."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." He curled his lips, "I think your interview questions need to be improved. I think today you should not only ask general questions, but also some details."

"For example, on the question of how railways bring wealth, I stopped after talking about cost reduction. You can continue to ask about the details of cost reduction."

"There is also the issue of introducing Elizabeth potato cultivation. The geographical and climatic conditions in mountainous areas are different from those in Wesson. At this time, we need to continue to ask whether the planting model in Wesson can be applied in the mountains."

"Readers don't just want to read general things, they care more about the details that are implemented. This kind of news can be more informative and show the full picture of the content, and readers will like it more."

"It is not easy to do this. You must have a comprehensive understanding of the questions you want to ask. First determine the main issues and some secondary issues. Otherwise, you don't know which port you are going to, no matter what the wind is, it will not be a tailwind. This is It requires a certain amount of knowledge and preparation.”

Frederick thought highly of Sonya because of yesterday's report about the railway and because he personally interviewed so many people involved when writing the book "The Helveticians in Wesson", and he did not just make it up based on what he heard. Just a heads up.

Nowadays, newspapers are still a new thing, there is no trace of journalism, and reporters are exploring in the dark.

Sonya seemed to see a beacon of progress, and her eyes were on fire when she looked at Frederick.

[1] Yu Taize, Jia Liangliang, Niu Lijuan, et al. Ecological and economic benefits of potato rotation - case analysis [J]. Chinese Potato, 2020, 34(06): 337-349.