little miss austin

But she still has the same attitude towards the typewriter, thinking that it will spoil the fun of writing.She felt that those words flowed from her pen tip, which was a kind of enjoyment, which the machine could not bring her.But she doesn't mind that people fall in love with typewriters quickly, and hopes that the more typewriters sold, the better.

"Does this mean that our family is about to become rich?" Jane smiled and hugged Alice.

"Probably. You may not be able to buy any manor yet, but it will make your life in London more comfortable. If you want to go somewhere, you can just leave."

"That's great!" In terms of perceptions of money, she is more sensitive than Cathy. Cathy has a more domestic temperament, while Jane is more observant. She can always see the essence through the phenomenon-in fact, Pastor George is not very Like Tom, because Mrs. Lefroy veiledly mentioned that young Lefroy has a bad reputation in London.

Alice actually didn't know whether Jane could really discover Tom's kind nature, or was simply attracted by his face and eloquent mouth.They are similar in some ways, but quite different in others.

Perhaps, the similarities allow them to have a common language, but the differences are the characteristics that make them attract each other.

At the beginning of September, "Dr. Pepper" opened the third order, this time 9 units were released.

Typewriters became all the rage in central and southern England.People have found the machine to be really easy to use, producing fast, crisp text, works wonders with documents, and is a nice decorative item.There are also many people who believe that typing machines make it no longer necessary to write beautiful handwriting. If things go on like this, young people will become more and more dependent on machines, and will be less and less willing to practice good handwriting in a down-to-earth manner.

Newspapers were divided into two groups, discussing this phenomenon-level "new invention". One side believed that new technology marks the arrival of a new era, and progress is inevitable. Failure to recognize progress is blocking progress, and it will be regarded as dust and swept into history. In the corner; one side believes that the progress of the times cannot be at the cost of losing good cultivation and elegance, and one of the excellent qualities that a gentleman must have is a good handwriting.

In fact, it is the fear of the spread of knowledge among the well-educated upper class: they are no longer the small group of people in the world who can read and write, and they can once decide what the illiterate ordinary people can understand" what the world was like, but now that the printing press has made books more widely available and cheaper, the general public has more access to knowledge, and education has become a common thing, and the typewriter has made it unnecessary for these people to Spend a lot of time practicing calligraphy.This means that more people will rise to the top with their own intelligence and hard work.There are bound to be some of these people who threaten their status and authority.

Some people have keenly discovered that the convenience of typewriters has broad prospects in government departments, banks, and courts that need to process a large amount of documents, but the price of typewriters is still too expensive. If the price drops, they will get orders from government departments or banks. , This is a huge profit!

It is almost impossible to prevent the emergence of counterfeit products. If there is enough profit, it is enough to prompt people to break the law, but Alice does not need to worry about this. Henry and Tom will solve these problems. She just proposes marketing plans and develops the market.

They also recruited some eloquent young men as salesmen, and trained a group of young and beautiful civilian girls to be typists. For those customers who could not use typewriters, the Austin Typewriter Company was in charge of teaching and contracting.

But the danger of this after-sales service is that the resignation rate of those typists is very high. Even if the contract is signed at the beginning, the qualified typist must work for at least 3 years, otherwise the unilateral termination of the contract in advance will pay a high price. Liquidated damages, but these girls are all able to pay high liquidated damages.

Alice thought unhappily, isn't this the same as those car model ladies in later generations?She felt that she shouldn't discriminate against those beautiful girls, because after all, not all typists ran away, and there were always some who stayed and insisted on earning money from their own work.But it still frustrates her.After that, the Austin Typewriter Company was no longer limited to pretty girls, and some ordinary-looking girls could also get training opportunities, and they could work after passing the training.

After the delivery of the second batch of "Dr. Pepper", the Austin Typewriter Company began to launch upgraded keyboards with different materials, such as crystal stone, lapis lazuli, golden sandstone, garnet, turquoise, malachite, etc. For the time being, it is impossible to make a set for you. I asked a craftsman to grind a round key with a kind of stone, and made it into a set. Then I asked a painter to paint 300 pieces with gouache, and the salesman sent them to each customer's home.

Customers are not short of money. After seeing the portraits, some even sent someone or came to the company to look at the new keyboard. They thought it was really good-looking, so they placed orders for new keyboards one after another.

Mr. Hastings gave several typewriters to his friends. The people he can call "friends" are either rich or expensive, and they are all rich. Only one typewriter is not enough at home, so it becomes New customers are all rich people who ordered at least 3 units in one go.

Henry and Tom spent several days listing England's aristocrats and emerging bourgeois tycoons one by one. They were delighted to find that this market is still promising, far from being saturated, and it can only be regarded as a newly opened market.

The concept of "building a brand" proposed by Alice is very good. Rich people now have a high degree of recognition of "Dr. Pepper", and even the opposition is extremely impressed by "Dr. Pepper".

The debates in the newspapers were actually all created by Alice, with the purpose of attracting more people's attention and expanding their popularity.There is nothing more interesting than literati talking to each other. It is not only gossip, but also a gimmick, and it is also an advertisement.Afterwards, other passers-by got involved one after another, and the Times and other newspapers continued to pinch it until the end of the year.

The effect of this advertisement is better than Alice imagined.In November, when the fourth batch of "Dr. Pepper" began to be ordered, there were even accusations of "too few orders" in the newspapers.

The extravagant Prince of Wales also ordered an upgraded keyboard.

According to the secretary of the prince who came to order the new keyboard, the prince has learned to use the typewriter, and he thinks the typewriter is both practical and suitable for him to use.Because of his obesity, his eyesight is not very good, and writing is a bit difficult for him, because he can't see clearly or write clearly.But reading is okay. Books are printed with standard fonts, and it is not difficult to read.

The margins on upgraded keyboards are a little higher.Stones are not worth much, crystals are especially cheap, and the most expensive thing is the manual cost of craftsmen.Raw materials were bought from the origins of European countries, shipped back to the UK, piled up in the warehouse, and picked up according to the order. The company bought a cutting machine to cut the raw materials, and the craftsmen polished them with relatively primitive manual power grindstones.

The craftsman brought some apprentices and began to work hard by shaking the handle of the hand grinder. After 3 months, the rough grinding can be started, that is, to draw lines on the square raw material, and initially polish it into a circle, and finally the craftsman will carry out fine grinding and polishing.

How to cut raw materials is also a craft. Some stones are fragile during the cutting process, so care must be taken. Skilled cutting craftsmen can try to avoid cracks, increase the yield rate, and reduce the scrap rate.

Amber is also very cheap at this time. The amber produced in the Baltic Sea is not worth much at all. If you buy a lot, the shipping cost will be higher than the purchase price.Alice originally wanted to use amber to polish a set of buttons, but after getting the rough stones, she realized that all the importers she cooperated with picked large pieces of rough stones. It would be a waste to use large pieces of amber to polish buttons, so she picked some and polished them into jewelry. I made a set of jewelry for my mother, including rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. The colors are very beautiful, all of which are similar to the color of chicken oil yellow. My mother feels beautiful when she wears the jewelry.

Precious and semi-precious stones with high hardness have always been popular in Europe, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topaz and aquamarine of the second grade are also very popular. Jane has a topaz cross, which was given to them by their great-uncle her.When Jane was about Alice’s age, she went to play with her parents at her uncle’s house. The rich uncle gave her this piece of jewelry. Jane liked this topaz cross very much and often wore it.

Amber is not popular now, and my mother thinks amber is cheap, but the color is so beautiful that she can't help but she doesn't like it, so she can wear it at the ball and proudly show off to Mrs. Gresham, it was Alice who gave it to her of.

Mrs. Gresham was quite envious and jealous, but she was her own mother, and it was only natural for a daughter to respect her own mother.

Alice herself also wears an amber necklace and bracelet, using hand-polished round beads, the diameter of which is close to her pearl necklace, against her snow-white skin, the amber is radiant and the skin is radiant, complementing each other.

William Kingsley praised Alice sweetly, saying that she is getting more and more beautiful.

Alice is very self-aware.In terms of beauty, none of the three Austin sisters can compare to Cousin Eliza. Eliza can be regarded as a beautiful woman even in later generations.The children of the Austin family all have big eyes and high nose bridges, which are the strong genetics of the Li family. The mother believes that this high nose bridge represents the noble aristocratic blood of the Li family. She is very proud that the children have acquired this remarkable trait.

But this kind of high nose bridge is good for boys, but for girls, it is a bit tough and not very delicate.Eliza has a beautiful small nose, the bridge of the nose is very gentle, neither high nor low, it is the kind of soft and elegant feminine beauty.

Speaking of which, Cousin Eliza’s beauty can be said to have swept all the sons of the right age in the family at that time in the Austin family. Edward lived far away and rarely saw Eliza, which was a little better. The eldest brother James, who was not married at the time, was very deep. I fell in love with Eliza deeply. He is more than 3 years younger than Eliza, so he is more suitable in age, but because he is the oldest child, he is a little reserved in temperament and not as lively as his younger siblings. Eliza He didn't like him, but he had a good impression of Henry, who was only 19 years old at the time.Henry was still studying at Oxford University at that time. He was young, lively, beautiful, an athlete, very playful, very talkative, and very lovable.

Alice is almost 10 years old.A girl of this age looks good no matter how she dresses up, that is the patent of "youth".In terms of appearance, she felt that she was not considered beautiful, so William just praised her for "becoming more and more beautiful", instead of boasting how beautiful she was.

The advantage of getting to know a charming young man is that you will have seen a man's sweet talk at a very young age, and you will be very experienced in this. It can be said that you have immunity in advance, and you can quickly distinguish the truth from what others say Fake.

Alice has a lot of experience in distinguishing the lies of others. It may be a talent. Even if a stranger speaks a few words, she can instinctively know whether the other party is telling the truth or a lie.

It wasn't a lie that William praised her for being beautiful. He had the arrogance of a rich and noble young master, and he would not easily praise a woman's beauty.He took his good friend Wesley to see the pleasures of noble young masters, "sincerely" helped him increase his knowledge, and sometimes laughed at Wesley's simple and stupid temperament of a country boy, thinking that if he wanted to please young girls, In addition to the 2000 pound annuity, there must be some other advantages.

William is also good to Tom. Tom's uncle Langlois has been a member of the House of Commons for many years and has also met many nobles. The owner of Welbeck Manor, where Langlois now lives, is the Duke of Portland, who is also Hastings. Sir Kingsley's friend, and Lord Kingsley's acquaintance.So, if anything, Tom could barely get into William's circle.

William's entanglement with Wesley, Jane Austen, and Tom has been figured out through his keen observation. It's too common in love to be worth mentioning.

"It's a pity that Jane is married, and Cathy doesn't want to go on the dance floor again," William sighed. "It seems that I can only wait for you to grow up, Alice."

Alice glanced at him coldly: This guy!Habitually yelling again.

"Lucy is there."

"Lucy—" William smiled, "Let Wesley deal with her."

Lucy is a spoiled child. Although she is 19 years old, her actual mental age is not more than 17 years old.At first she liked Tom, and then she liked Wesley. After William came to Gresham, she found that she fell in love with William again. This year, she was very fascinated by a young officer brought by Henry.

Mrs. Lefroy was often worried that Lucy's temper seemed a little frivolous, and that they could not find any suitable young men around Ash Parish to get her engaged and married quickly.Lucy has reached the age of marriage and has a not-so-small annuity, so she won't be unable to get married because of money problems.

Originally, Wesley was very suitable, he had a good annuity, he would inherit a large amount of inheritance in the future, he was very good-natured, and now he went to college. When he graduated from college, Lucy would be 20 years old. Just right.

But Wesley really treated Lucy as a sister next door and never thought of marrying her.After all, Lucy was only 10 years old when he came to Gresham Manor.

Wesley has changed a lot since he was 20 years old. It is good for both of them that he and William can become good friends.Wesley was determined to finish college well. Under his influence, William was never expelled. Of course, his studies were not good, and he was always dangerously passing by.He seldom attends lectures, and if Wesley hadn't dragged him there, he would rather stay in the dormitory and sleep.Even when he went to the classroom, he dozed off half the time, but this person's cleverness was manifested in that he could pass by casually flipping through the books before the exam.

Alice thought, this is the kind of guy who ignores his own talent, and would rather spend his time and drink than use it in a necessary way.Apart from eating, drinking and having fun, William didn't show his interest and hobbies in science and technology. He gave the impression that he was just another young son of a noble family who wasted his youth. He didn't need to pursue anything. A farm that is not too big or small enough to feed him without starving to death, and then spend the rest of his life.

The sons of many aristocratic families who cannot inherit the family property live in a similar way.

Alice didn't intend to say anything more.That was his personal choice, and it was his own business to waste his intelligence and talent.This is also a negative manifestation of class solidification. They cannot improve their class status, so they have no motivation to fight for the prosperity and progress of the country. They only know how to enjoy, only enjoy themselves, and have little pursuit.

But the Austin family can still strive to become a bourgeois upstart.

Finding the right small publisher is not easy.This industry originally originated from the craftsmen of the printing industry and a few quick-witted civilians. Of course, they first published religious books. In the era of engraving and printing, a well-carved and exquisite engraving can be used repeatedly until the writing wears off.Good engraving craftsmen and enough engraving blocks can make you more money. This industry develops slowly, and like any other industry, some people go bankrupt and new ones come in.

Movable type printing is a gradual process of popularization. The innovative technology passed down from the ancient Far East has lowered the threshold of the engraving profession. Craftsmen don't have to worry about making a mistake and having to start all over again.The improvement of metal casting technology has led to the emergence of movable lead type that is less prone to damage, which greatly reduces the cost; the emergence of printing presses has increased the speed of printing, and Europe can finally print books in large quantities.

The improvement of printing technology also allowed some new capitals to enter the publisher business. The Austen family was not the only capital in England that wanted to enter the publishing industry. It can be said that Henry really ran around for this.

Alice is not in a hurry about this, it's just a matter of time, the reason why she insists on starting a publishing house is because she doesn't want others to use Jane's works to make money, think about it—"Austin Press, author Jane Austin", these two lines are placed under the title of the book, how satisfying it is!

Mom and Dad will be very happy!

As for the fact that women in this era basically do not publish novels with their real names, she has already forgotten.

Alice ended her education at Mrs Baker's home at the end of November.Mrs. Baker wrote a long letter to Mr. Hastings, which filled a whole sheet of paper.A summary of Alice's strengths and weaknesses is made, but Alice doesn't know about it.

A few days before leaving London, she didn't have to go to class, so she went to live with Jane for two days.

This is the first time she has spent the night in Jane's small house, and Jane has prepared a guest room for her.

Breakfast at the Lefroy's in London was divided into two, and Tom had to have breakfast before going to court at seven o'clock.Jane does not have breakfast with Tom, she is now a married woman and can have breakfast in bed.This is actually the practice of married women of the aristocratic class. My mother brought this set of rules from the Li family, but she herself has rarely enjoyed the treatment of having breakfast in bed since the birth of her first child.

Jane has been married for 3 months and has no signs of pregnancy.

Mother is not worried about Jane, but very worried about Henry: Henry and Eliza have been married for almost two years, and Eliza is still not pregnant.

Eliza must have been able to bear children, as evidenced by little Hastings.That means that there is a high probability that Henry is infertile, or for some other reason.

Eliza was so anxious that she started losing her hair because of her delay in conceiving.

Jane also worried that her dear brother might not be able to have children of his own.

"He likes Hastings very much, but he is not Henry's biological son, and my mother will always feel that Henry's family is incomplete. And, what's worse, so that people will know that it is Henry's reason." Jane said .

"Maybe in a few years—"

"In a few years, Eliza's body may not be so good." In this era, it is assumed that women will not be able to have children after the age of 40, so Alice's birth was really a pure accident.

"Otherwise, why would Henry go see a fertility doctor?" Alice thought about it, as if she couldn't remember if there was any "male fertility specialist" in this era.The man is really secretive about this aspect, and he doesn't want to let others know that he has a problem. He "can't do it", and the younger sisters are just worrying about it. It's enough for a mother to worry about this kind of thing.

Jane said mysteriously that her mother found a lot of folk remedies and recipes for Henry and handed them to Eliza.

Alice almost stared.

Jane would sometimes tell her things that she shouldn’t know in theory, but Jane didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, and Alice thought it was because Jane no longer regarded her as a child, and they were equal , can say almost anything.

Jane and Cathy are not much different in age, and their relationship is of course the best. Because Alice is ten years younger than the two of them, the relationship between sisters is close but not intimate.

Now, Jane, a married woman, begins to see her as a peer she can trust.

The author has something to say:

*Henry Austin had no children. After Eliza died, he got married again, and the second marriage failed to bring him children, so he should be infertile.

*Edward had 11 children, Francis also had 11, Charles had 8, and James had the fewest with 3.Edward's wife, James' first wife, and Charles' first wife all died of dystocia or puerperal fever.