His Excellency the Count of Grandet

As Charles said, he embarked on a journey to Bordeaux the next day.However, Bordeaux was only the final destination. On the way, he still needed to buy the wine on the order from the Duke of Orleans—it was September and October again, when the grapes were ripe and the new wine was fragrant, it was time to buy wine.

Although the number of wines to be purchased is the same, this year's situation is markedly different from last year's.

Last year, Charles only had a million francs in his hands, but he had to buy [-] barrels of wine, so he had to rack his brains on the price of wine.But this year, he has the accumulation of last year, he has handled tens of millions of francs, and he specifically asked Guillaume to leave enough gold to buy wine, just for this moment——

I am full of confidence, my waist is stiff, and I am worried about the price of wine!Barring natural disasters and plagues, how could money not buy wine?It's just the difference between earning more and earning less!

Moreover, compared to his newly developed industrial fields such as textiles and minerals, the profit margin of the planting industry is pitifully low, and the benefit is that it only takes a few months to pay back.When the factory is on the right track, he can almost put the money into the factory's operating funds, and use the factory's current profits to buy wine every September.

Then again, if you can charge at a low price, you can charge at a low price. It is more comfortable to be able to become your own money than to become someone else's money.

So Charles and Guillaume, one to the southwest of France and the other to the east of France.Charles is off to fix fifteen thousand barrels of wine, and then to Bordeaux to see their vineyards and oak groves; Guillaume is to go to Eperna to get some champagne, just in time to see the progress of the factory——

Both father and son are now busy people with their feet on the ground, and their schedules are full.For this reason, Guillaume wanted to give Charles an assistant, but Charles felt that he didn't need it yet, so he delayed.

With another two or three months to go away from Paris, Charles felt that the only news that needed to be followed up was from the Academy of Sciences.So he asked Guillaume's assistant in Paris to inform him as soon as there was any news, no matter how big or small—

He hoped that his petrel wings would be large enough that Oersted might discover the magnetic effect of electric currents earlier than he remembered; the discovery would then set up a storm in the scientific world.In the following time, the achievements and papers of electromagnetism have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, which can make people draw an exciting conclusion——

This is the best of times!

Thinking of Faraday who is still missing, Charles felt that it was necessary to speed up.He has already prepared everything, including psychological and practical factories; the later the new era starts, the greater his loss; although it is an invisible loss, a good businessman must look at any opportunity, understand it, and grasp it , walk in front of it, isn't it?

Back to the wine issue.The first time was raw and the second time was familiar. In addition, this time the departure was relatively late. Charles went straight to Bordeaux without stopping at all. Wine!

Fortunately, when Shire arrived in the village of Poiillac, the square was still empty—this meant that the wine hadn’t been released yet, and the vineyard owners were still in their estates; In the market, but to step on the spot to observe.

"You are finally here." Mr. Myron had already received the news that Charles was coming, and was waiting for him at the gate of Myron Castle with a cane. "These days, I've been waiting for you every day!"

Jumping lightly from the carriage, Charles walked towards him: "That's really hard work for you. I'm really too busy in Paris..."

Mr. Myron felt more and more relieved when he heard that Charles' tone was the same as before. "It's too easy for you to say-I heard that you have become a powerful figure in the Paris business world-managing cotton cloth mines and the like, which requires a lot of money!"

"Yes, but you should also know that the money is not mine," replied Charles, not particularly interested in discussing the subject. "Other things can be said slowly... How is your health recently?" He gently supported one of the other's shoulders, and the two walked towards the hall together.

"Thanks to you, taking care of the garden is not as troublesome as I imagined, so it's good!" Mr. Myron really laughed.Sure enough, he was right!

Charles arrived neither early nor late, just in time for afternoon tea.Under the tall beech tree again, the two sat around a small round table and talked about grapes over snacks and tea.

It has been almost ten months since Charles left last time and returned this time.In the past ten months, many things have happened——

At the beginning of the year, the American sheet metal dealer came back.Because Shire's request was not troublesome at all, he specially shipped more vines over.His purpose is also obvious. Since Charles has bought a vineyard in Bordeaux, oak must be needed; he must have made a good relationship beforehand.

Next to arrive was a slew of Parisians, ranging from technicians to gunpowder dealers.Because the remuneration offered by Shire was very generous, they had no doubts and started working as soon as they arrived.

Employees of the Campang family buried the detonator wiring by themselves.Because the place is so big, for a while, the whole village could hear the faint sound of thunder every day, and everyone knew it.

After the rocks were blasted away, the work of the workers was much easier.After a little cleaning, they planted small oak seedlings that were as tall as half a person.Those are varieties that are resistant to drought and barrenness, and Chartres is someone's choice.

As for the technicians in the key parts, they also brought a lot of experimental instruments.Several people analyzed the soil, inspected the river, and then worked out a targeted plan; the others planted grafted grapes on a piece of good land specially opened up by Mr. Myron, to see if there was anything that needed to be improved, so that the grapes would grow. better.

"If you want me to say, I have never seen such a big movement in my life." Mr. Myron summed up the whole thing in this way, smiling. "Did you know? They're calling our place the Château Grandet now. It's an honor, and it's not easy to get people to change their name."

Charles nodded, and turned his gaze to the stretches of grape fields in the garden.It is now the first ten days of September, and almost all the fruits have been picked, so nothing can be seen. "So, the production is not bad?"

Mr. Myron turned sideways, moved a little closer to Charles, and lowered his voice. "Better than you think," he said, a little cryptically, "and I have to tell you, I don't want to spread the word at all--that our newly planted grapes increase our production by almost a third." One! They may know more, but they don't know how much more!"

Charles was amused by the expression and movement of the always serious old gentleman. "If you think it should be kept secret, keep it secret," he promised, "It's all up to you." Anyway, as long as you are an individual, you know that you should sign a non-disclosure agreement in terms of technology; he did exactly that, to be prepared.

Mr. Myron nodded in satisfaction, and continued: "As God bears witness, they are all big, juicy, and incredibly sweet! I dare to swear, if they drink our wine, they will definitely try their best to find out whether these grapes are How did it grow out!"

"What you said," laughed Charles, "makes me want to go down to the wine cellar to taste it now."

"Others can't, can't you?" said M. Myron, rising up with a gesture of invitation. "You have come at just the right time, or I was expecting it. Come, my dear Charles." ; After a whole year of busy work, it's time to enjoy the sweet fruits!"

So the two went to the wine cellar together.Due to the expansion of the site, the circular wine cellar has also been expanded; the area is more than three times that of the previous one, and the depth has also been widened.

"This is all revised according to your opinion," said Mr. Myron, "what do you think?"

"Looks good." Charles confirmed.He has been to the wine cellar of Lafite Castle several times, and it is not difficult to roughly estimate the size ratio.But it’s not the win or the loser, it’s the other details—the size of the transom, the choice of oak, the quality of the grapes, and so on.

"After drinking it, you will definitely feel better." Mr. Myron walked to the oak barrel closest to them, scooping and decanting the wine himself. "I'm always willing to be the first to do this," he said while doing it. "When I smell that mature and mellow aroma, it's the happiest time of the year for me!"

Charles knew that the old man had some personal hobbies, and this was one of them.But at this moment, he had to agree with Mr. Myron about the happiest moment—because he had already smelled the aroma of grapes emanating from the barrel, and knew that the other party’s previous compliment was not an overly smug boast—

It really is a good wine!

After the import, Charles confirmed his opinion even more.His expectation was that wine production should increase, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. "These wines are really good," he said, "isn't there a barrel like this one that has 20 years' worth of aging?"

"The newly planted grapes are like this, but the previous ones have not reached this level." Mr. Myron replied. "But don't worry, this will happen sooner or later!" When he said this, his eyes lit up, as if he had already seen the future of improving the manor's level.

But Charles hadn't thought of that for the time being. "How many good ones are there? Two hundred barrels?"

"That's right." Mr. Myron nodded. "There are a thousand or so other barrels for you to transport back to Paris-I'm sure those boys in the army have never had such a high-quality special wine!"

That is to say, he doesn't need to buy the full [-] barrels... Charles nodded in thought, then turned his attention back to the [-] barrels of wine.Those wines shouldn't be sold, they should be given away...