Luo Lie suddenly raised his face and said in a deep voice: "How did you speak?"

Zhao Daming quickly changed his words and said, "I was wrong, it was the boss who was wise."

Joseph Henry recruited a group of staff and studied it for a long time. Finally, it was confirmed that the data Narolie said was basically true, but there was a considerable error in the yield of sugar sugar. The only sugar sugar processing plant on the island could not eat so much sugar cane. Most of the sugar cane produced on the island would be sold to Cuba for processing into sugar sugar.

The data is completely consistent, which means that Luo Lie's group is indeed prepared, and only businessmen who come with sincerity will do their homework when they come. Joseph Henry couldn't help but relieve some of the suspicion in his heart.

It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon when the ship entered the port and landed. It was almost three o'clock when it was taken to the Governor's Office. After chatting with Joseph Henry for half an hour, Joseph Henry went to summon his staff to find information and check the data. He worked hard for a long time. When he reached the conclusion, it was almost six o'clock in the evening.

"Take them to the restaurant and say I want to have dinner with them." Although Joseph Henry was still suspicious of Luo Lie and others, the trust was far greater than doubt. "In addition, remove all the security guards of the Governor's Office. They should be real merchants, and they cannot be agents sent by the Americans."

The arable land on the island is planted with sugarcane and bananas. All the food and vegetables required are transported from the South American mainland. The food is fine. After storage for a period of time, it does not affect consumption, but vegetables are not good, especially meat. They cannot be fresh, so they will definitely not be able to make delicious dishes. Although the people of the British Empire are delicious, they are lazy to specialize in cooking. Over the course of the year, there are only a few dishes. The ingredients are not fresh and the cooking skills are not good, so the taste of the dinner can be imagined.

In order to show his enthusiasm, Joseph Henry arranged the highest-level dinner for Luo Lie and others. The first platter of appetizer was a seafood platter with fish roe sauce and a French oil-soaked foie gras. The main dish was the British favorite smoked cod chunks and the essential black pepper steak. The staple food was a bit simpler, but a soup with a few rye breads, and a dessert at the end. The wine was served with dry red wine shipped from the UK.

The dishes are quite fancy, but the taste in the mouth is very ordinary. Zhao Daming was polite and almost finished every dish. Qin Gang was not so particular about eating, so he could naturally eat every dish. Not to mention Robut, Americans definitely inherited all the shortcomings of the British in terms of eating. Some families can eat one dish for a week. Therefore, when facing this big meal, Robut was naturally full of joy.

But Luo Lie couldn't eat it at all, while Gu Ting followed Luo Lie's imitation, and a lot of leftovers of each dish.

"Mr. Luo, are you feeling uncomfortable?" Joseph Henry noticed that Luo Lie had a little difficulty, but he didn't think about the taste at all, because he thought the dinner was already quite good in terms of the aristocratic taste of royal blood.

Luo Lie drank a sip of red wine. To be honest, this dinner is just this red wine, but it is pretty good. "I am bluntly obsessed, Henry, the chef you hired is really average. I know that you will definitely not get fresh ingredients on this island, including these seafood." Luo Lie said bluntly, "A good chef will definitely determine his cooking method based on whether the ingredients are good or not, or whether they are fresh or not. For example, the smoked cod chunk just now is definitely not fresh, and it should have been stored in the ice for a long time, so

Its meat is a little loose and the gravy has dried up a lot. If it is still cooked according to the traditional method, it will enlarge the shortcomings of the ingredients. If the chef can marinate it in advance for a long time, it may cover up the shortcomings of the ingredients. In addition, for this kind of cod that is not very fresh, it cannot be smoked on high heat because it is difficult to make a crispy outside and tender inside. Instead, it should be replaced with a low fire and patiently smoked the fish pieces thoroughly. Although the taste will change, it can at least cover up the infrequency of the ingredients."

After listening to Luo Lie's explanation carefully, Joseph Henry couldn't help but exclaim: "I really didn't expect that Boss Luo could have profound research on cooking. To be honest, I really admire him."

Zhao Daming watched all this aside. At first, he was quite puzzled by Luo Lie's words and deeds. The British people valued gentlemanly demeanor, and as a gentleman, the most important thing was to understand. Others held banquets and treats the dishes, even if the dishes were not arranged well, they should eat up all the dishes on the plate out of etiquette. However, Luo Lie not only had most of the dishes left in every dish, but also slandered the chef's insufficient level. This was definitely a very rude behavior. Luo Lie is not a person who does not understand etiquette!

But after thinking about it again, Zhao Daming immediately understood Luo Lie's profound intention.

He plays a successful young boss. At the age of less than 20, it is impossible to start from scratch to create a business industry that can eat 15 million pounds of sugar and 100 million pounds of fresh bananas in one go. Then, the identity of this boss can only come from the family. A spoiled young man will naturally be more picky about what he eats and drinks.

In addition, such a rude must have been the intentional act of Luo Lie.

The market price of cane sugar is ten cents per pound, while bananas can be bought for eight cents on the market, and the market value of 15 million pounds of cane sugar is one million. The market value of 100 million pounds of bananas is one million US dollars, while 100 million pounds of bananas are eight hundred thousand US dollars. Even if the purchase price is halfway, the total value of these goods on Vincent Island will exceed one million US dollars. Luo Lie also boasted that this can only meet 30% of his needs.

Such a big boss must be a top rich man in the United States of America.

If Joseph Henry called out the truth and asked them who the boss behind the scenes was, a flaw might appear.

However, Luo Lie's behavior can well pass this flaw over.

In just one sentence: these goods were just shipped to the United States of America first, labeled as American goods, and then shipped to the Qing Dynasty for huge profits.

And does the young master from the Qing Dynasty know so much Western etiquette?

Since the British man in front of him has already shown his contempt for the yellow-skinned Chinese, why should he be more etiquette?

Sure enough, at the end of the dinner, Joseph Henry asked Luo Lie tactfully and obscurely about the sales of these sugar and bananas.

Luo Lie smiled, pointed to his nose, and said, "Henry, can't you see it? There was a Qing Dynasty in the far east, and people there were so popular with American goods! We used to buy goods from friends from the United States of America, but the Americans were not friends enough, and the quotes they gave us were too high, so our shareholders of the United States of America suggested that we go here to purchase directly."

After hearing Luo Lie's words, Zhao Daming breathed a long sigh. While secretly cheering Luo Lie, he also praised himself in his heart.

At this point, the questions in Joseph Henry's mind have basically been eliminated. "Very good, Mr. Luo, I think we can negotiate our transaction price after dinner while enjoying the gentle sea breeze."

"Oh, dear Henry, this is not in line with the rules, you can't be so anxious." Luo Lie exaggeratedly: "I have to inspect the goods first! I know that your sugar cane and bananas are the best, but I don't believe in your sugar sugar processing ability. Also, I can place an order directly with you, but I must know the farmers who sell sugar cane and bananas to me."

Luo Lie’s requirements are not excessive and conform to the commercial transaction rules.

According to the laws of the British Empire, in places like Vincent, each farmer only needs to pay a land use tax of two pounds per acre. This tax is not high for farmers, because whether it is planting sugar cane or bananas, the output value per acre will be around fifty pounds. In this case, the tax rate is only four percentage points.

However, after the land use tax is paid, all of these land use taxes must be paid to the treasury, and all the fees required by the local government, except for military pay, are prepared by themselves. As a manager, you only need to report your own management policies to the Imperial Overseas Affairs Administration.

The management policy reported by Joseph Henry is to charge an additional two pounds of local development fee per acre of arable land. If this is the case, then the farmers are quite happy. The total cost of arable land is only four pounds. Even in the years of poor harvest, the output value per acre dropped to forty pounds, and the tax rate is only about ten percent. Moreover, the labor force on the island is so cheap that it is still very profitable than in other regions.

However, that was just a method Joseph Henry used.

In fact, according to the management policy reported by Joseph Henry, 6,000 acres of cultivated land can charge 12,000 pounds of local fees. So many local fees are enough to maintain port and terminal facilities, and the construction of island roads.

However, this is enough, but it is just enough, and there is basically no remaining one.

Without surplus, how can the rulers make a fortune?

If you can't make a fortune, who is willing to leave your family and business to come to this island to suffer?

Therefore, Joseph Henry has successively introduced a series of other taxes and fees. For example, hiring workers requires public security fees, and for example, using port terminals requires port construction fees, and for example, when each batch of goods leaves the port, a fair transaction protection fee is required... In the end, the total of the taxes and fees that farmers need to pay for each acre of arable land operated by farmers reaches 10 pounds. The farmers have to pay at least half of the output value of fifty pounds per acre, and the gross profit earned is only about 25 pounds per acre.

People die for money and birds die for food.
Chapter completed!