At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was a feudal town, but in Western Europe

Feng Sen scanned the merchants at the scene and snapped his fingers. Pushed by several attendants and servants, the door was slowly opened, and piles of woolen cloth behind the door were displayed in front of everyone.

The gray woolen cloth appeared in the eyes of everyone, and they couldn't help but hold their breath. Behind the gate, the hills of woolen cloth were piled up one after another. Even these well-informed businessmen couldn't help but sigh. .

"This is incredible." Frasen held his breath, as if he would accidentally blow the woolen cloth away.

Fowles turned around and bowed to Feng Sen: "Respected and honorable Your Excellency the Duke, may I have some woolen cloth for inspection?"

"Of course." Feng Sen waved his hand proudly, "I will send a servant to each of you, and they will take you around to check the woolen cloth here, and you can even count them. Before midnight today, you can count and count as you like."

The inconceivable expressions and busy backs of those merchants made Feng Sen smile. Sure enough, unlike later generations, the merchants at this time were pitifully weak.

In the dark age hundreds of years after the fall of Rome, the barbarians from the north continued to invade the south. These barbarians were the Three Lights Policy.

The first thing a Germanic tribe did after entering a Roman city was just one word, grab!

When the Franks entered Auvergne and Aquitaine in the sixth century, they looted warehouses and cellars, and loaded captives and livestock away.

fruit trees?cut.crops?burn.Grape?Uprooted!Even the country villas of the Roman nobles were dismantled into stones and transported away, the eggs were shaken to a yellowish color, and earthworms were cut up vertically if they were seen on the road.

Due to the looting and destruction of the Germanic barbarians, "Vandalism" even became a proper term for barbaric destruction.

In the later period, although the Franks also settled down and established a public-owned village named Mark, the tradition from the barbarians still survived. Some Germanic youths ate and drank every day, and then went around looking for wars, but they didn’t work. They thought that working was shameful and robbing was glorious.

The nearly hundred years of anarchy was a nightmare for merchants, especially when the Heavenly Fathers, who managed the grassroots, despised merchants. The powerful commercial power of the Roman Empire declined crazily, and almost only Venice retained a part of it.

But no one understands the power of Western European merchants better than Feng Sen. Unlike the Central Plains, due to the existence of the Mediterranean Sea, Western European business has a very high upper limit, but due to the century-old war and the manor smallholder economy, business has been suppressed.

It didn't take long, in the time of Louis the Pious, to change the date of the Champagne Fair (the Sabbath) in order to please the Jewish merchants.

In fact, Feng Sen's West Britain Company could have cooperated with the richest Jews, but he chose these [-] companies. They may be poor or rich, but Feng Sen's most important thing is their weak foundation—even if it is Fowles with the highest status is just a low-level nobleman who is not loved by his father.

Feng Sen believes that the power cultivated entirely by himself is the most reassuring, because the upper and lower are his own people, and to obtain it through usurpation and other means, although the effect is quick, but it will cause endless troubles. In the wrong question book of the Central Plains, This is a classic mistake.

And the imperial merchants who work alone are also another classic wrong question in the wrong question book of the Central Plains. As for handing over to officials and becoming government-run businessmen, that is even more wrong question among wrong questions.

The West Britain Company is a new idea that Feng Sen came up with after delving into the first three wrong questions. The key is that they have vague identities. Although they can get official support, this is only the private behavior of the supreme ruler. It's normal to have a part-time job and make some extra money.

In other words, the West Britain Company is independent but not completely independent, and the official is not completely official. As long as Feng Sen's descendants don't try their best to define it by themselves, then it will be fine.

As for whether the West Britannica Company made a mistake, the only thing left to do is to wait for future generations to verify it. Feng Sen couldn't see it.

"Your Excellency." Frasen's voice interrupted Feng Sen's thinking, "Then how should we buy these woolen flannels?"

Chapter 243 The establishment of the West Britain Company is completed

"Don't worry, let's talk carefully in the banquet hall at night. Now, I hope you can carefully inspect these woolen cloths to prove that I have fulfilled my promise. This is equally important to me." Feng Sen told the merchants present After leaving this sentence, he happily left.

The day slipped away in a hurry, and finally at night, the copper stove hot pot appeared on the square tables of the banquet hall again, but this time there were much fewer businessmen than before, and it took less than ten large square tables to fill them up.

The smoky smell of animal fat and the pungent smell of smoke wafted in the hall, but this kind of grease lamp made of rushes was considered standard in this era, and most people were not dissatisfied.

Stepping on the woolen carpet, seventeen businessmen sat together in front of the small hot pot. The flames heated their faces, but the cold wind chilled their vests.

In this conflicting feeling, the cold and regular footsteps hit the fiery hearts of the merchants. Feng Sen came in front of everyone with two servants and a wooden board installed on two wooden supports.

The merchants all stood up and saluted: "May Heavenly Father bless you, Your Excellency the Duke of Saxony."

"Sit down." Feng Sen waved his hand casually, handed over the cloak on his shoulders to the servant at the side, and stood in front of the "curtain" by himself.

A stack of thick, large white papers was nailed to the curtain, and the first white paper was a huge line of Latin "Introduction to the West Britain Company".

"According to the content of the agreement, from now on, all of you here will officially enter the preparation plan of the West Britain Company. Before that, I need to reiterate one point to you. This company can be said to be a brand new business model."

Feng Sen moved his body away, revealing the Latin characters on the curtain, "In order to let everyone understand what we are going to do, I made this report so that everyone can understand what the West Britannia Company is doing."

As he said that, Feng Sen lifted the first blank paper with a small wooden stick. Knowing that many of the businessmen present did not know Latin, he deliberately used pictures and arrows to indicate what he was going to say next.

"First of all, you may think that our task is to buy and sell woolen cloth. If you think so, you are very wrong." Feng Sen pointed at the pictures on the curtain one by one with a small wooden stick, "Woven, white paper, pottery, and even slaves are all the development directions of our future business.

It's just that at present, there is only one direction for our business, and that is woolen cloth!Our good and cheap woolens will overwhelm the cloths made by peasant women in small workshops, and people will always wear clothes, and these cloths will be as hard a currency as silver.

In this process, there must be countless local businessmen and local nobles who will reduce their income, which will inevitably lead to a rebound. Therefore, I need to introduce our first operating strategy-the middleman. "

The middleman is a professional group that merchants in the Middle Ages had to face, because at this time the language in Europe was not unified, and each region was relatively independent and excluded outsiders, so a middleman was essential.

To some extent, the middleman at this time is the prototype of the manager.

"Don't sell it directly, but let a middleman sell it. Do you understand what I mean? Don't sell it directly! Sell the goods to local nobles or merchants, and let them sell them on their behalf. For this reason, even a little bit more profit is acceptable, as long as you don't lose money.

In this way, the contradiction between us and the nobles becomes the contradiction between the local middle compradors and the natives, but it saves the poor at the bottom from their hatred of the West Britain Company.

We can even strengthen the strength of the compradors, and then open porridge shops for charity from time to time, to let the poor know that the merchants of the West Britain Company are good people, and to prevent the nobles from using the oppression of the West Britain merchants to stir up free folk riots to the greatest extent. "

At this point, Feng Sen stopped talking, took a sip of water, and reserved some time. The businessmen in the audience seemed to have opened a brand new door, and digested what he said with bright eyes.

In fact, he still didn't say a word. When it was necessary, he used the slogan of "cutting the innocent and punishing XX" to provoke their leaders to riot, or to make the two sides confront each other and divide them.

"Of course, all of this is based on the fact that our Buzhen can occupy the Frankish market, and even the market of Britain, the Eastern Empire, and even the Slavs in the north.

You don't have to worry about this, we have dedicated people responsible for improving production and quality, bringing forth new ones, and next year, I will open a new dyeing workshop in Hannover, so that our woolen cloth can be improved to a higher level. "Feng Sen raised a curtain again.

"According to the original idea, this woolen technology should be given directly to you, so that you can start workshops, but due to the current shortage of funds, and your loyalty has not yet been verified.

Therefore, your most important task at present is to be a distributor, responsible for selling our woolen cloth and a series of products to nobles and leaders everywhere. "

Feng Sen moved the wooden stick from top to bottom, and began to explain the whole process carefully.

"Okay, so now, we can finally talk about our most practical problem, how do you get the woolen cloth and how to distribute the shares.

In my opinion, these two things are actually one thing, that is, how do you join our company and make this small guild a real entity.

The process is very simple. My valuation of this West British company is 50 solids, and I take out 5% of the shares, which is 5 solids, one solid per share, a total of [-] shares.

I will give you a total of [-] bolts of woolen cloth for free, and I will send supervisors to each of you. As for how many supervisors there are and who they are, you don’t need to know.

And the turnover of these [-] bolts of woolen cloth will be converted into your shares at the above price.

After the [-] pieces are sold out, you will need money to buy the remaining woolen cloth, but again, your turnover will become your shares. Don't try to play tricks with me. Once I find out, I will directly deprive you of all your identities.

This behavior will continue until all 5 shares are divided. At this time, I will open up the stock purchase authority for other merchants, but before the first 10 shares are divided, you will have the preemptive right to subscribe.

A diligent person will get everything, while a lazy person can only pick up leftovers. "

Having said that, Feng Sen snapped his fingers, and amidst the sound of the wheels turning, the servants handed over agreements written on precious parchment to the merchants: "If you are ready, you can Sign it, and take this parchment to the warehouse, and each of you will receive 177 bolts of woolen cloth."

Without much hesitation, these merchants wrote their names on the parchment and pressed their fingerprints.

"Very good." A smile finally appeared on Feng Sen's face. At this time, a piece of rope fell from his side, and he pulled the rope proudly. "I declare that from now on, the West Britain Company is officially established!"

The red cloth covering the plaque fell down, revealing the six large characters of West Britain Company and a line of small Latin characters underneath.

"Ding." Feng Sen finally heard the familiar achievement notification sound where no one else could hear it.

Chapter 244 Rewards from the West Britain Company

Turn on the Clausewitz engine, a familiar prompt appears above the map, and the achievement named [West Britain Company] is shining with a thin layer of mist.

[Complete Achievement: West Britain Company]

[Requirement: Establish a West Britain company and officially put it into operation. 】

[Reward: 100 craftsmen of all arts and [-] households in Dingkou of Chang'an Yifang. 】

It's raining in time, Feng Sen couldn't help but get excited, artisans are really what he lacks, whether it's iron and copper smelting, or salt mining, white paper making, and even those textiles all need enough craftsmen.

In particular, Feng Sen is preparing to build another city in Hannover and develop the printing and dyeing industry.

Wool is a very convenient material for printing and dyeing, and compared to ordinary off-white woolen cloth, the price of dyed woolen cloth can be doubled, but the worst thing is that Feng Sen doesn't know how to print and dye.

In other words, Feng Sen knows the principle of printing and dyeing, and it is correct to know how to do it, but he doesn't know how to do it. From the principle and idea to the real practice, what is lacking most is an experienced printing and dyeing craftsman.

If there is a printing and dyeing craftsman in this group of artisans, it will be a great help.

In addition, the reward of Yifang population in Chang'an is also a heavyweight.

Chang'an is relatively densely populated. There are 1500 households in a square with large households and small households. There must be at least [-] households. This is a big supplement to the lack of pure-blood Han population in the local area.

In the beginning, there were only 1200 dental soldiers under Feng Sen’s rule. In the reward of the [Saxon War], relatives of the dental soldiers were brought from the Central Plains. This is another population of about 1500. The total population of pure-blooded Han has already It has reached about 2700 people, plus these 1500 people, that is the population of pure-blood Han Chinese who is upwards of 4000.

In this era, such a population can already be regarded as a large and influential tribe in the region, such as the original Stormarn Department in Hamburg, which has this population.

However, these people were different from those who came alone. Feng Sen couldn't give them the positions of dental soldiers or government soldiers from the beginning, because even if they were Han, they might not be loyal.

Compared with the dental soldiers who grew up together, loyalty is a big trouble for these new Han Chinese, especially since their number is placed here, they are still subjects at the feet of the emperor.

But we have to wait until the time to talk about it. It doesn't make sense to think about it now. Feng Sen's eyes continued to scan the page of the achievement tree.

After lighting up the achievement of [West Britain Company], a series of new achievements will appear below this achievement, including [Controlling Germania Trade], [Controlling North Sea Trade], [Controlling Mediterranean Trade], etc. out.

But Feng Sen had no time to take a closer look, so he had to withdraw his mind from it and deal with the businessmen of the West Britain Company who came up to toast.

After clinking glasses with these businessmen one by one, Feng Sen came to the stage, raised the wine glass in his hand high, and the fine purple wine splashed a purple film: "Everyone, let us drink wine for the establishment of the West Britain Company." A cup!"

"cheers!"

"To your wit!"

In the mist rising from the small copper stove, the merchants of West Britain raised their glasses and drank the wine in their hands amid the aroma of beef and mutton gradually filling the air.

Taking a shallow sip of his wine, Feng Sen raised his glass again to the businessmen of the West Britain Company: "I will wait for your good news in the next year! But no matter what, unless you violate the company's system or law, you and your descendants will always enjoy the seats of the 17-member meeting!"

In the hall of the chamber of commerce in the port, the merchants got drunk and imagined the beautiful life in the future all night.

In the next four or five days, the merchants of West Britain signed their own treaties. Ships of all sizes came and went along the Elbe, Alster and Weser rivers, and in a very short period of time, they took away Three thousand bolts of woolen cloth were bought.

But in the past few days, Feng Sen still failed to see the arrival of those Changan Dingkou, but of course, the Clausewitz engine is an old lazy dog, if it can be delivered in time, then Feng Sen On the contrary, it is strange.

Time flowed slowly like water, ten days passed in a flash, and soon came December 784, [-]. According to the original itinerary, Feng Sen had to leave for Bremen.

Feng Sen is going to hold a big meeting in Bremen to convene the entire Saxon lord and manor owner, and hold a Marklow meeting in accordance with the rules of the Saxons.

Although in name, Feng Sen is the title of Duke of Saxony and Earl of Hamburg, but in fact, he got the title of Great Chief of Saxony from Widukind and his daughter, which is one of the reasons why the Saxons can obey him.

Before leaving, Feng Sen and Wang Sima told them not to panic if something strange happens and report it in time so that they can do it cheaply. Then they took Zhenhui and a hundred guards on the road to Bremen.

The distance from Hamburg to Bremen is not far, and Feng Sen and others came to the vicinity of Bremen in about a day. After informing the nearby priests and asking them to notify Bishop Fields, Feng Sen slowly walked on the dirt road.

Near Bremen, the emerging Frankish village community is slowly growing in the smoke, cattle and sheep howling in various ways on the side of the road, walking in the countryside of Bremen, Feng Sen stops from time to time, and occasionally dismounts to meet with local people The old farmer chatted.

In the black fields, the original chaotic farming methods have disappeared, and regular furrows and ridges have appeared in the fields. It seems that this new agricultural technology that is the easiest to promote has been imitated and recognized by most farmers .

The thatched dung piles that can be seen from time to time in the fields indicate the spread of manure technology. I heard from some old farmers from the Gallo-Roman region that they also improved the manure in Saxony according to the formula in their hometown, such as adding some chickpeas and bird droppings.

Several flower dogs kept barking at Feng Sen behind the fence, while several adults held short whips, whipping and training a calf with a nose ring on its nose.

Not long after walking, Bremen appeared in Feng Sen's field of vision. Compared with a year ago, the entire city wall of Bremen had been rebuilt, and the fort made of rammed earth and stones was much stronger than the previous wooden fortress. few.

The priests and peasants washed away some of the traces of war and blood, but kept some on purpose, as if to make people remember the battles that fought against each other under the city of Bremen and the victories that the priests gained with their piety.

"Your Excellency the Duke!"

It seems that the person who came to guide the way, Feng Sen showed a smile on his face: "Long time no see, Priest Al, I heard that you have been promoted to an elder?"

"No, no, no." Al hurriedly waved his hands in a panic, "I'm not yet capable of taking on such an important task, but I was sent by Archbishop Fields to a church near Oldenburg as an acting pastor. .”

Zhenhui stepped forward with a smile and folded his hands to Al: "Hello, my fellow believer, why didn't I see Archbishop Fields? Could it be that after he was promoted to archbishop, he even looked down on his old friends and just sent you here?" Receive us?"

"Of course not." Al said with a helpless wry smile. "Although this matter is impolite, it is justifiable. Archbishop Fields is mediating a duel. One side is the Frankish count and the other side is the Saxon chief. To be honest, I am not here to welcome you, but to ask you to help."

Chapter 245 European Cuju

On the banks of the Weser River, where the Vikings used to come ashore, noises could be heard from a distance, and even the cold sunshine was a little restless.

The blades of grass were already withered and yellow, and a few perch were up and down in the river, kissing the bait on the hook to their heart's content, but the fisherman didn't know where he went, leaving only a small empty bench.

In the open space outside Bremen Castle, the nearby free folk villagers, earls and chiefs from all over the world were clearly divided into three waves, one wave was the Saxon chief, one wave was the Frankish earl, and the third wave was the embarrassing Saxon Frank count.

Surrounded by them was the Earl of Tecklenburg from Frank. He wore chain mail and a red and yellow burqa, and carried a cross sword on his shoulder. His brown beard glowed red in the sun.

And not far from them, separated by the guards shouting at each other, the one-eyed chief of Hildesheim was wiping the long ax in his hand carefully with a sackcloth, and a slender stream of white steam came out of his thick nose from time to time.

In front of the two of them, the Earl of Tecklenburg's [-]-person personal army lined up in a neat formation, and seven or eight knights were standing on the left flank of the personal army holding iron spears. As for Chief Hildesheim Over there, there are about thirty tall warriors carrying giant axes, and they are basically wearing leather armor.

Both parties glared at each other, stretching out iron spears from time to time to pretend to stab forward, and curses and saliva flew from both sides like arrows.

"Your Excellency, I will persuade you again." Archbishop Fields painstakingly stopped the Earl of Tecklenburg, "This is just a trivial matter, if it is not possible, I can come forward and take a recently captured bandit, To the chieftain of Hildesheim as a slave."

"Am I the one who lacks a leader?" Count Tecklenburg's sunken eye sockets released a fierce light, "He dared to insult me ​​like this in front of everyone, I can't breathe..."

On the other side, Griffith also persuaded Chief Hildesheim, but compared to Fields' painstaking efforts, Griffith's attitude was much more casual, as if it was just a show. In his view, such things were inevitable.

Soon, the distance between the two sides kept getting closer amidst the abuse, and regardless of the interference of the clergy of the two parties, the Earl of Tecklenburg and Chief Hildesheim held weapons and squeezed into the queue of their respective soldiers.