Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 235 002 Intelligence Analysis of the British Beer Industry

The St. James Gate Brewery was established by Arthur Guinness in 1759. As for its fame, it was under the premise of the continuous expansion of the business scale during the period of his sons and grandsons, and later it became a giant of alcoholic beverages.

In fact, it is still difficult for Irish products to compete with the British mainland. Unlike the 21st century, when the taxes in the UK were higher than those in Ireland, which made Guinness want to move the brewery back to Ireland, the various taxes in Ireland are now more severe than those in England.

What if you ask Scotland and Wales?

One of them is inventing and the other is mining. They are not affected as much as Ireland. The reform of Irish taxation around 1800 led to an increase in the tax burden on the island of Ireland.

However, the impact on alcoholic beverages is relatively small. The dark beer produced by this brewery from St. James Gate in southern Dublin is still being sold to the British market.

After all, compared with the water quality of this era, various alcoholic beverages are a safer source of water for civilians, but it is easy to get drunk.

"I am still somewhat interested in the story of Mr. Arthur Guinness. Sylvia, can you find an Irishman in Rome?"

"You are saying that, as if you were saying, find a Gaul in Rome."

Of course, Sylvia also knew that Soloviev was very smart. He must have thought of something. If it was not a conspiracy, it should be a way to make money.

There are indeed many British people in Rome, but it is not easy to find Irish people. If they are Scottish, you can tell by their last name. Even if Scrooge is a Scottish duck, you can tell from his clothes and name.

"Sir, if you go to the gentleman's club to find it, it is indeed difficult. Even if I look through this roster for you, I can't find a few Irish people. Their last name characteristics are still very obvious."

For example, O'Connor and the like. Soloviev sat there and thought of some other things related to the Celts.

After all, the Scots and Irish have always been able to feel the great shortcomings of the English. The last defeat of the Jacobites was only fifty years ago, and the Irish have experienced it more recently, which is the recent tax reform.

"Michele, does this trick work?"

"Let's see how lucky we are."

Nothing is strange to him. He drew a four-leaf clover and imitated the future logo of a Boston team, and he danced like this.

Octavia just laughed at her father's funny look, but it did attract a few Scots.

"What are you doing, man?"

"I want to find out something about a brewery in Dublin, Ireland."

"You don't have to do it like this, sir."

"It's a bit funny, but we Russians are mysterious and distant to Western Europe. Some people always regard us as barbarians. If we are just "weirdos", it would be a relatively friendly evaluation."

"Okay, sir. What you said does make some sense. There are some prejudices against Russia in Europe."

The two gentlemen from Scotland were very happy to help.

"Come to the club for a drink."

"But I can't take them in."

Gentlemen's clubs do not allow women and minors to enter unless they are considered adult men.

"Well, I think you have a very attractive young wife and a lovely daughter."

Sylvia was very happy. She was sometimes so strange.

Even though she rejected the proposal, she was very happy with the fact that this lover was unmarried and belonged to her completely in the recent period.

"We can go to that restaurant to talk about some things about Ireland."

The two Scots had indeed been to Ireland.

"The brewery you mentioned, that is, the original owner Mr. Arthur Guinness mentioned in the obituary, his products are somewhat famous, and they have been exported from Dublin to Liverpool in recent years. However, although the quality of this beer is good, the output is very limited."

"Mr. McNamara, why don't they consider using steam engines? You Scottish people have a Mr. James Watt who improved the steam engine."

"That Mr. Watt. He is indeed an outstanding inventor, but he always uses his patents to compete and raise prices. It is unwise to get involved in legal lawsuits. Therefore, many people have given up research on steam engines. After all, it is not easy to deal with such a gentleman."

"If this is the case, there are actually some ways to solve it. Mr. Watt's steam engine is just made according to a certain principle. It should be said that it is a vacuum steam engine, not a high-pressure steam engine. If appropriate measures are taken to improve the steam engine from an angle other than his patent, wouldn't it be possible?"

"You are a really smart Russian, sir. But this is not easy either."

"Let's not talk about this for now. I think some wineries will be much more efficient after using steam engines to assist production. I came from Russia. To be honest, I am a Russian diplomat in Paris. I came here just to handle some personal matters. What I thought about was whether the winery left by Mr. Arthur Guinness could consider using steam engines to expand production at St. James' Gate, which would definitely improve production efficiency."

"Good idea, but in Ireland, there..."

"Are there any problems?"

"If you want to invest in the UK, you still need some ways."

"Of course, I have also thought about it. In fact, the scale of that gentleman's winery can be expanded in the future, more than doubled, more than doubled."

"You speak English very straightforwardly."

"That's because I don't have enough vocabulary, and some more complex words are still difficult to say."

"But that's enough. There are many masters in the UK who can't say it as well as you can."

Soloviev actually knows how to sing Sir Humphrey's chant, but he pretends to do so and uses a London suburban accent, which looks a bit funny.

"Well, from the current situation, in fact, in Britain or Ireland, please allow me to emphasize this relationship. After all, they are two islands of the United Kingdom. Judging from the feasibility of investment, we should come to a conclusion. If there is no force majeure to hinder it, I think investing in the tobacco and alcohol industries will have a bright future. In addition to snuff and beer, there are also red wine, rum, and champagne."

"If you say so, rum has a lot to do with sugar production, and you can also invest in the sugar industry."

"Indeed!"

Think about Solovyov's benefactor Count Bobulinsky, the younger brother of Tsar Paul. He went to the countryside of Tula and Ryazan, not only to mine there, but also involved some other industries.

His descendants will be Russian sugar tycoons. If they make rum in Russia, it is not impossible.

"Sir, what are you going to do?"

"I have considered it. I want to go to England to meet with Mr. Arthur Guinness's heirs. However, I have to return to France in the near future. Whether I can visit England is still a question."

"You don't need to worry. Sometimes in Amsterdam and Antwerp, there will be people there to negotiate face to face. It is naturally possible when peace is maintained. However, you also have to pay attention to some things, that is, the relationship between Britain and France is not as harmonious as we imagined."

"You mean"

"It can be seen from the Malta incident."

"In addition to there, there are also the activities of the French army in Italy, and both sides are strengthening their own forces. At that time, there will definitely be someone to win over the courts in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Berlin."

"You may know more about this than us. After all, diplomats are more familiar with the situation in France."

"Because of this, I think it is not difficult to buy a house in Ireland. If a war breaks out, some stocks will fall, but this requires someone to trade in London."

Considering the difference in communication means, in fact, this kind of risky investment will always have some delays.

If the acquisition was made at a time when war between Britain and France was about to break out, it might also reduce the cost of acquisition, regardless of whether it was in Ireland or in the British Isles.

As long as the French army was still in Boulogne, this risk would always exist.

In addition to the Guinness Brewery, Solovyov also considered many aspects.

"Mr. McNamara, do you know what specifications of beer barrels are used in London now?"

"In order to facilitate storage in London, beer barrels are getting bigger and bigger."

"What about Liverpool, Birmingham or Manchester?"

"We have been to those places, and beer is usually stored in wooden barrels."

"To be honest, this is not safe, and the strength of wood is not necessarily enough. I think we should use some smaller wooden barrels for separate storage, so that it can be quickly mixed and used. Such a large barrel is there, regardless of other considerations, we must also consider the liquid pressure."

"What you said makes sense. We came to Rome and we also want to investigate the wine industry in Naples."

Afterwards, Mr. McNamara handed over a business card. He worked for a wine shop in Glasgow and hoped to import wine from Italy to the UK.

However, this industry will have some risks. Once the British become enemies with France, those allies who oppose France will be more or less occupied by France under the attack of the French army.

In this case, although sugar and coffee from overseas colonies and tea from China will not be affected, the British will not be able to get red wine exported except from Portugal and a few regions. This industry seems to have no hope in the next few years.

Napoleon will carry out a continental blockade. He will definitely find ways to strangle Britain's trade with the European continent as a means of attack.

Although this is a method of killing 800 enemies and hurting 1,000 of oneself, it once made the British see no hope and wavered around 1811.

However, it is not a bad idea to acquire some industries in the UK, especially beer, which has long been an alcoholic beverage needed by the working people and is widely welcomed by all walks of life.

"Okay, I will contact you then, but you are not in London either, and you are mainly active in Glasgow."

"It's okay. We often go to London. If you are interested in other breweries, we can also help introduce them."

It's just that Solovyov has been worried that he can't go to the UK. He has other things to do after returning to Paris.

"Belzoni, how is your English?"

"Sir, although I don't have the complex language skills like you, I can handle it."

"What do you think about business management?"

"If it's about running a brewery, I don't think I'm good enough. But I'm happy to help you recruit people to do business in the UK."

In addition to beer, gin can be sold in a brewery in the UK.

Ah, Shirley is a Spanish wine, which will be affected.

At the same time, it should be a good idea to sell vodka to the UK.

But in this way, it seems that there are undercovers everywhere in the UK, although this is a description of facts and restoration of history.

In fact, Soloviev had the idea of ​​investing in a winery a long time ago. He even went to discuss with Prince Vasily that he could send a letter from Naples back to Russia to Count Stroganov and Count Bobrinsky.

Only these two now have surplus property and come to Britain to invest, especially the land price in Ireland is really very cheap.

Soloviev's layout is not only aimed at the present. If potatoes in Ireland can't grow in the future, he will be over 60 years old, and then he can deal a fatal blow to Britain.

But before that, the layout still needs to be long-term.

Other things are not impressive, anyway, he remembers the lack of virtue with English very clearly.

At this time, the role of personal connections may still be very important.

After all, when he was with Paul, he was already very familiar with Nesherrode, the future Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Russia. If he can hold an important position in the army or government, he can still influence the decision-making of St. Petersburg.

Solovyov could not have imagined that his ambition would be linked to alcoholic beverages and burn fiercely.

But this is not wrong. After all, ethanol is a very good fuel with a particularly high combustion efficiency, that is, it is too volatile, so the aroma of alcohol is overflowing.

At the same time, he also wanted to save some property for himself.

These properties now have to be divided among his brothers and sisters. After all, they are still managed in the name of Baron Sergei.

Considering that the old father is still powerful and continues to make dolls with his stepmother in his fifties, and he doesn't even know that his stepmother is pregnant again.

At that time, whether it is his share or the share left for his brothers and sisters, the cake should be made as big as possible.

Too much money may also be a kind of trouble.