His Excellency the Count of Grandet

For the next few days, the situation in Lafite Castle was calm.Victor and Samuel are still concentrating on counting all the real properties of Lafite Manor, having them registered and checked carefully; while Charles is sometimes with them, more often he is running his own business——

The village of Poijak is right on the river.All the way south along the river, you can reach Royan.This place is located near the mouth of the sea, facing the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean. Many foreign merchant ships are moored in the high-quality deep-water seaport.

Wood from South America, spices from India, all kinds of imported products are available.Of course, there are also things that are exported.Because of its good reputation, Bordeaux wine is the main exporter.From the United States to the United Kingdom, from Spain to Belgium, the luxury goods made in Bordeaux are not only the favorite of princes and nobles in other countries, but also occupy a white moonlight position in the emerging middle class, and there has never been a lack of sales.

Simply put, as long as something is good enough, someone will buy it.On this basis, it is worthwhile to invest no matter what.

This is exactly the purpose of Shire's purchase of Myron Castle.This is just the beginning, his target has already taken aim at other vineyards.If there is a dispute over the property rights of the vineyard, there is no successor, or there is an intention to auction, it is a good time for him to intervene.Of course, before doing so, he had to guarantee two things——

First, there is money to buy; second, it can effectively improve the production and quality of wine, especially the latter.

Leaving aside the former question for now, Charles really has some ideas about the latter question.

Everyone thinks that he spends time in taverns when he has nothing to do, but in fact, among the idlers he met, a wood merchant who often travels between the United States and France has promised him to bring him some wine when he comes next time. Native American vines.

In the eyes of this businessman, this is a trivial matter—grapes are not tobacco, and bringing a seed is a death sentence; and after all, isn’t Bordeaux the best grape?It is useless for Shire to ask for grape vines from other places, at most it can make the little lover happy...

But in fact, Charles really has no lover to coax.Of course he also knows that the quality of American grapes is not as good as Bordeaux grapes, but according to his vague memory, American grapes are far better than Bordeaux grapes in terms of resistance to diseases and insect pests.For example, if a root disease prevails, most vines will die, while grafted vines will still be able to produce a good harvest.

So he wanted those, not for viewing, but for rootstock.As for how to graft, Mr. Myron is much more professional than him in this area, obviously he doesn't need to worry about it.

In fact, there are many ways to improve vines, adding rootstocks is the easiest and quickest.In addition, there are other influencing factors, such as soil quality, temperature, and humidity. These Charles are planning to return to Paris to ask several professionals to study the most suitable conditions.

Experience accumulation plus theoretical guidance, not to mention comparable to Lafite, at least two grades higher, right?According to the current grading standards passed down by word of mouth, famous chateaus such as Lafayette are first-class, and Miron can be mixed from fourth-class to second-class at any rate!

But there is no rush, after all, this year's grapes have already been harvested.After giving Mr. Myron the 25 franc payment slip signed by Victor and promising to cash it into gold at any time, Charles began to concentrate on dealing with the things left before—that is, the [-] barrels of wine .

Guillaume wrote from Paris, stating that all those sent out had arrived in the interior.These people have also gotten in touch with Charles, and told him the real-time local situation by express letter.

Charles looked at them one by one and found that everything was on track.

People going to Orleans, Tours, and Paitiers have already bought the train wagons from these places to Paris at the rent he inquired about.Because the public does not accept new things so quickly, this business is extremely cost-effective, and it is cheaper than waterways.

And then, now in mid-September, the new wines are already hitting the market one after another.However, the market price of wine fluctuates every year, so most vineyard owners are still waiting to see the wine.

"If someone offers less than 150 francs a barrel, take what is due," Charles wrote curtly in his reply, "but it must not be much, or nothing at all. Then wait, and there will be no excess. Don't do it; whatever it is asked, don't answer."

This was the general format, changed only on the one addressed to Saumur. "Pay attention to my uncle. You don't need to look at the time, you just need to know that after he makes a move, the wine can be collected in two days."

The reason why Charles wrote this was because he was sure that Grandet was not so easy to be baited—you know, his uncle is a relative of a world famous book!

All the vineyard owners were justifiably holding down their wines and trying to sell them for a premium; the problem was that most of them didn't have his uncle's skill at timing.

In other words, when Grandet sold the wine in his hand at a high price, the others would panic.People's hearts are fluctuating, and within two days, the price of wine will drop, and it is likely to be less than a hundred francs a barrel——

Grandet is responsible for cheating teammates, he is responsible for picking up leaks!

Is there anything easier and more cost-effective than this?According to a conservative estimate, excluding his uncle, Saumur should have a harvest of almost 15 barrels of wine this year.A barrel is fifty francs cheaper, and three thousand barrels is 14 francs!Deducting the gifts he sent out, which did not exceed [-] francs, it was [-] francs that fell from the sky for nothing!

You can't make money if you can't spend it, Charles has always believed.Among the six cities, he was the most at ease in Saumur, where Grandet was there.As for other cities...

Charles dried the ink on the paper, packed it carefully, and sealed the envelope with wax.This series of movements is unhurried and pleasing to the eye.

Buyers want to accept low prices, and sellers want to pay high prices. It is the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own magic.Wouldn't it be better and more appropriate for him to give another big gift in October?

While waiting for the wax to solidify completely, Charles went through the matter in his mind from beginning to end, and finally smiled.He is usually smiling, but this smile is closer to Victor's impression of him——

If you want to judge people by their appearance, then it is a big mistake!

After working for half a month, Victor finished everything he could do for his client and was ready to leave for Paris.Samuel still has some things to do, and he has to hide his identity as an agent, saying that he still has some time and can go on vacation.

Logically speaking, with Victor's status, Mrs. Lemaire should hold a party for him—similar to a social evening in Paris. The purpose is to introduce Victor to his local relatives and friends and expand his social circle.But on the one hand, Victor didn't like this, and on the other hand, Madame Lemaire was new here, so no one mentioned this matter.

But Victor is leaving now, and as the host, Mrs. Le Maire must express her enthusiasm to keep him.Considering Victor's temper, she wisely invited only a few prominent local figures.It is high-end and private, and it looks more classy.

As a qualified accompanying guest, Charles was also invited.He intends to develop in Bordeaux for a long time. In theory, he should pay attention to managing the relationship with these people; but now the timing is not right, so he behaves normally when socializing, and there is nothing worthy of special attention.

The banquet was set on the undulating grass in front of the castle, with a small sparkling lake on one side.Near the evening, the setting sun is slanting, and the scenery is not to mention how beautiful; the gentle breeze brings an intoxicating sweet aroma mixed with mature Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.Several guests were quickly distracted, and then discovered that it was because Mrs. Le Maire specially prepared this year's new wine.

"She's really considerate, isn't she?" Charles looked at the people around the table from a distance of more than ten steps, and didn't rush forward.

His voice was deliberately lowered, and everyone else, including Samuel, was focused on the wine, so only Victor, who was a few steps away, heard this sentence.

But to be honest, only Victor can hear the pun in it, because the two of them have already tacitly understood that Mrs. Le Maire had previously played a role of red thread.

Given Madame Lemaire's preference for him in this matter, Victor doesn't think Charles appreciates this behavior.However, this does not mean that Charles will easily hate Mrs. Le Maire - you must know that Charles has not yet come up with a definite solution to the more troublesome lady in Paris!

So Victor just replied nonchalantly: "Her thoughtfulness is just like your heartlessness." There have never been fewer men and women who want to climb into his bed, and they are as genuinely dismissive as Charles, which is simply unprecedented!However, it was also because of the challenge that he never tired of exposing Shire's plan.

Charles almost knelt down to Victor's mouth.Obviously he was the one who was being annoyed, how could he become a heartless person in a second if he said it out of this person's mouth?Disputes on this kind of matter will only get darker and darker. He decisively changed the topic: "Instead of thinking about this, you should think about your affairs in Paris." The implication is that things must be piled up.

"Your tone doesn't sound right." Victor pointed it out right away—this is gloating!The only one who dared to speak to him like that was Charles, His Majesty the King would not be so straightforward! "Anyway, I'll be looking forward to seeing you before Christmas. But I'm bound to hear something else before that, won't I?"

Still no one paid attention to them, so Charles couldn't help but gave him a vicious look. "You know!" Do you know that IQ will die?

Unexpectedly, the usually polite Charles would do this, and Victor was stunned for a moment.When he reacted, the corners of his mouth also curled up——

The first step of the Raiders plan is successful!