Harry Potter’s Morning Light

  Chapter 2693 Firebird Land (1)

   "Where's the scarf I knitted for you?"

Because Christmas is approaching, Pomona was packing the mandrakes and thinking about what gifts to give, and then she suddenly realized something, the weather was already so cold, and it was snowing heavily outside, Snape didn't bring The scarf she gave.

  The old bat was looking up information about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, and he didn't know whether he heard Pomona's question or not, so he was concentrating on the book in his hand.

   "Where's the scarf I knitted for you?" Pomona asked again, this time throwing away all the mandrakes she was holding.

   "It's very warm in the greenhouse." He was absent-minded and perfunctory.

   "What about when you're not in the greenhouse?"

  He frowned, as if he had discovered a serious problem.

   "Did you throw it away?" Pomona asked.

   "I have worn it." He frowned and turned a page.

   "When?" Pomonacci asked reluctantly.

   "Last Quidditch."

   She recalled carefully.

  He did, but…

   "You were wearing a black scarf," said Pomona, "but I gave you a different color."

  He closed the book with a bang.

   "I know you don't like bright colors, but it's Slytherin green!" she yelled after him.

  Snape was about to leave the greenhouse as if he hadn't heard.

   "If you do this again, I won't give you a gift!" She muttered dissatisfied.

   "Then don't give it away!" He said unhappy, and then slammed the door of the greenhouse with a "bang".

  Fortunately, she cast a spell on those glass, otherwise his blow just now would be enough to break the glass of the greenhouse.

   "Bad guy." She muttered while repotting the Mandrake, making up her mind not to give him a gift this Christmas!

  Although it was the scarf she knitted, he actually cast a color-changing spell on it.

   "If you don't like it, why don't you tell me in person." She complained, and sprinkled another handful of dragon dung on the potted plant.

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After finishing the outdoor "performance", they went to the Royal Palace of Brussels. Although most of its buildings have not been repaired, at least the State Banquet Hall can still be used, but it looks magnificent like Versailles. It was as cold as an ice cellar.

  The key point is that there is no underfloor heating or fireplace in the banquet hall. Even the floor has only shiny marble and no carpet. Except for the candles on a dozen huge crystal chandeliers above the head, there is no other light and heat.

  Georgianna didn't want to take off the blue fox fur cloak she was wearing, but she was "indoors" now, and even if she couldn't feel the cold wind "outdoors", she was too cold to walk.

  Empire skirts are also known as the era of thin clothing. Muslin, like silk, has no effect on keeping out the cold, but even if it causes many people to catch colds and tuberculosis, people are still willing to endure physical pain and pursue fashion.

In addition to flax, Frederick II also valued Prussia's silk industry—as long as it could provide raw materials locally, he valued it. However, mulberry trees prefer a warmer climate, and it is difficult for Prussia, which is farther north than Paris, to produce silk. Mulberry saplings withstood the harsh winter frosts, so he decreed that the Prussians east of the Elbe were prohibited from importing any foreign silk, and considered the purchase of luxury goods a waste of state revenue.

Unlike Britain, which believes in "free trade", the Prussian state department will intervene in economic activities, but silk does not have much potential for development in Prussia. Although the distribution department firmly supports it according to the king's will, it only increases production capacity. , not only the quality of the products is poor, but also the price is higher than the imported products after the tariff is added. The reason why the Prussian silk industry can continue to exist is entirely dependent on subsidies and incentives.

  Compared with the increasing expansion of "state-owned industries", private enterprises are struggling, especially in the cotton textile industry. Except for Hamburg, Leipzig, and Frankfurt on the Rhine, even individual workshops are rare. The factory owners engaged in these cotton textile industries are almost personal adventurists. If they want to expand, they must change the commercial relations between old enterprises and towns, so they often hold demonstrations to protest trade restrictions, but more often They still communicate with the monarch through petition letters, such as reporting corruption on a bureaucrat.

  If no one told her, she would, like many people, think that Frederick's economic model had stagnated the Prussian economy, and industry had been strangled by monopoly.

However, Frederick was not a king who took it lightly. When the Holy Roman Empire formed a "dual system" between Prussia and Austria, it was Frederick who had to face the weakening of the privileges of the local nobles and completely placing the nobles under the control of the central government. .

  Due to his military exploits during the war, he promoted many officers who were not of noble origin, and civilians became noble because they served the country. During the reign of the Sun King, all Europe, including Prussia, learned French manners, dress, elaborate ceremony, and feasting. The pursuit of extravagant ceremonies at the court has plunged the nobles into huge expenses and debts. Then the Pietists of Halle told the officers-candidates in class that towering wigs and finery were products of the past, and that the beauty of modesty, simplicity, and self-discipline was celebrated. For most Prussian people, aristocratic tyranny represents "absolute poverty" and "isolation and indifference". The king and the court are to prevent the peasants from being oppressed by the landlords. .

  With the continuous expansion of the Halle system and more and more aristocratic children entering such schools to receive education, the entire Prussian Junker aristocratic class loathed hypocritical luxury. The common experience, especially the life of service, inspired their great team spirit. Although the state had no means, these Junker nobles formed credit unions themselves to provide loans to some economically difficult estates.

The Prussian Junkers are most easily remembered for their masculinity. A "generous patriarch" dominates the entire extended family, and the authority and authority of this patriarch is not limited to the nuclear family, but extends to everyone in the estate. . This also meant that once a Junker family lost its male head, it was a terrible thing, and given the frequent military actions of Prussia at the time, this situation was inevitable.

Not every hostess is as good at managing and running the estate as Elizabeth and Mrs. Kaiser, so this cooperative credit union cannot consolidate the nobles' ownership of the land, unless someone intends to take away the widows and orphans. everything of.

   This time Hope Bank's warehouse in London was burned. Although the real culprit has not been found, rumors have spread. The continuous rise in cotton prices has caused some workers to lose their jobs, and they lost their lives. Some people chose to write petitions to apply for relief.

In addition to the hardships of the mill workers, there are also their families. Even if they don’t give each other gifts on Christmas, they should at least have a good meal. Therefore, the Dark Lantern Club’s claim that they will be successful before Christmas makes them the first suspects. Object.

  If you don’t look at Machiavelli’s history of Florence, she will also think that the combing workers’ uprising in 1378 was an armed uprising because small craftsmen and hired workers fought against oppression.

If they do not rescue Hope Bank, which suffered heavy losses in the Indigo speculation, regardless of whether Barings Bank and Francis Baring, who served as a director of the East India Company, have withdrawn from the Louisiana acquisition, they can only complete this "miracle" .

The cotton harvest time in the United States is October, but because of the Santo Domingo war and many other influences, the cotton intermediary in Liverpool is no longer trading in the warehouse, the ship is still on the high seas, and the ownership of the cotton has changed hands through the "sea waybill" .

This has had a serious impact on some businessmen who run warehouses, and what is worse, for factory owners, the next cotton harvest will not be until October next year, during which time factories will shut down due to lack of raw materials , the damage caused is incalculable.

  Finding new cotton suppliers is a top priority. At first, some people looked at Egypt, but because of the Malta issue, it became the focus of whether the "Amiens Peace Treaty" between Britain and France can be maintained.

  One of the reasons for the slow development of the European cotton textile industry is the difficulty in obtaining raw materials. Before obtaining the cotton in the colonies, the raw materials necessary for the industry had to be shipped from the Ottoman Empire. But the Genoese have an old ally—Spain. The ancient Azcot warriors would wear a multi-layered battle armor mixed with cotton and jute. That is to say, compared with sea island cotton, cotton grown in South America is native. The Spanish governor of Louisiana was also among the "many causes" that made it difficult for American goods to move out of the Mississippi.

  So Georgiana met the Spanish Alba Duke and his wife and the adopted daughter of the former Duke in this state banquet hall again, accompanied by the Duke of Arenberg.

  What does any of this have to do with a girl sitting on a couch, knitting a woolen scarf by the fire?

   She thought it was funny, so she laughed. Maybe the smile came from the heart, so it seemed so sincere, except for a moment when she froze when she took off the fur.

   But the next question she faced was whether she should salute the Duchess of Alba, not only because she was a commoner, but also because their surname was Stuart, which no one had taught her.

   So, how should she greet her?

  (end of this chapter)