The Deal Was Made

Inside the church.

Hearing Yarlin's reply, William's expression turned slightly surprised.

"What are the two points?"

Yarlin pondered for a few seconds, then raised one finger.

"First, the church will arrange for the ketchup to be tested by having people eat it for two weeks. It can only be sold once we're certain it isn't poisonous.

"If you're worried about the recipe being leaked, I can pay you an advance of five guineas on behalf of the parish."

At this, William discreetly exchanged a glance with Little Ox and Xu Yun.

As mentioned earlier,

the average income of an ordinary household at the time was about 0.65 guineas. Five guineas was roughly eight years' worth of income.

Using the income of a modern household—sixty thousand a year—as a comparison, that came to around half a million.

That price was practically negligible compared with ketchup's potential market. After all, bread and potatoes were staple foods in this era, and the market for ketchup across Europe would have to be measured in at least "tens of thousands of guineas."

But, as mentioned before,

when the technical barriers to a product could be overcome with ease, even a huge potential market wouldn't make it easy to monopolize.

Especially in these turbulent times—unless you could nationalize production through policy and ban private manufacturing, it was unlikely.

According to Xu Yun and the others' earlier estimates, without someone authoritative backing them, they could earn only five to eight guineas at most.

Besides, Xu Yun knew Yarlin's history very well. The clergyman was indeed a reliable man of upright character.

According to the historical record,

six years later, Yarlin would inherit 150 guineas. He would keep only ten guineas for his retirement and donate part of the rest to the church in accordance with the Protestant practice of tithing, spending all the remaining money on helping the poor.

There was now a reconstructed poorhouse in the town of Grantham, built to commemorate the clergyman.

After Yarlin died, the Protestant church also established a Yarlin Fund in his name. On the day it was founded, Little Ox donated 40 pounds—by then, the pound had already begun to circulate.

And that donation of 40 pounds was the only donation in Little Ox's life for which he received a physical receipt.

Faced with a fortune of 150 guineas, Yarlin had chosen to give most of it away without hesitation, let alone something as uncertain as ketchup.

So Xu Yun discreetly gave William a look, signaling that he could agree.

William evidently felt the same way and quickly nodded.

"That's fine, Reverend Yarlin."

Yarlin gave a slight nod, picked up the cup on the table, took a small sip of water, and continued.

"As for the second point, the church wants a seventy percent share."

"Seventy percent?"

William's voice rose sharply. Though he soon regained his composure, the way his chest rose and fell still showed how unsettled he was.

"Reverend Yarlin, isn't that percentage a little too high?"

Xu Yun had come up with the ketchup recipe, Little Ox was an intermediary, and William himself provided a relatively secure foundation.

So, leaving the church aside, the three of them should get at least a 4:3:3 split among themselves. If Xu Yun insisted, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to take half.

If the church took a seventy percent share, wouldn't William's family end up with less than ten percent in practice?

Seeing how agitated William was, Yarlin waved a hand to calm him.

"Mr. William, would you please hear me out first?"

He paused, then continued.

"First, there's the cost of the ingredients. I haven't seen the exact recipe, but I'm certain it must include sugar. Am I right, Mr. William?"

At the mention of sugar, William fell silent.

Seventeenth-century Europe was nothing like the later era, when you could buy a bag of sugar for two and a half.

At the time, sugar wasn't even considered a food in Europe. It was mainly used as medicine or displayed by the rich and powerful to flaunt their wealth and status.

The reason sugar was used as medicine was that many people suffered from chronic malnutrition. With its high caloric content, sugar was an "instant cure" that could help under any circumstances.

At the time, a hundred grams of white sugar cost around eight or nine pence, equivalent to one twentieth of a family's annual income.

The little sugar in Little Ox's home was part of the supplies William and his wife had set aside for him. If Little Ox hadn't been busy thinking about infinite series at the time, Xu Yun could hardly have taken it away so easily.

If the church chose to work with William's family, the market they'd be looking at would be at least the size of a town like Grantham. The initial production costs would clearly be no small amount—and the church would have to shoulder them.

Seeing William's resolve begin to waver, Yarlin smiled again.

"Besides the costs, the Grantham parish can also provide access to more extensive distribution channels. Even without looking further afield, covering a fifth of the East Midlands shouldn't be difficult.

"Mr. William, you're a businessman too. You should understand the difference between selling to a hundred people and selling to ten thousand, wouldn't you agree?"

Selling to a hundred people at a hundred percent profit, or ten thousand people at a ten percent profit—the latter would bring in ten times as much. Even Lilani could do that calculation.

Thinking of this, William couldn't help looking at Xu Yun.

Xu Yun gave a slight shrug, signaling that he had no objections.

Yarlin's two arguments were both very convincing. Besides, Xu Yun couldn't take any money he earned in this era back with him, so there was no need to be too particular about it.

Seeing this, William had no choice but to give up the fight over the overall share and turn to haggling over the details.

"Mr. Yarlin, what you've said makes a lot of sense, but I still think seventy percent is a bit high. How about a sixty-forty split? And as for the advance, I'd like to receive at least eight guineas."

Now that they were haggling over every last detail, William naturally switched from calling him "Reverend" to "Mr." The word "reverend" felt awkward in such a mercenary setting.

The two then negotiated for a while, and eventually reached an agreement.

Yarlin, representing the Grantham parish, would sign a ketchup revenue-sharing agreement with William, with the two sides splitting the proceeds 6.5 to 3.5.

They would spend one week testing the ketchup by having people eat it. If everything went well, they would begin mass production.

At the same time, Yarlin would pay William seven guineas as a guaranteed advance. The advance would count toward William's share, but it also came with a guarantee: when the church calculated the ketchup profits, it would first deduct the seven-guinea advance before splitting the proceeds. However, if the total profit didn't exceed seven guineas, William wouldn't have to repay anything.

The two then pressed their fingerprints onto the agreement in turn. At a time when civil law was just beginning to take root, such an agreement carried considerable legal weight.

A little over a year earlier, in March 1664, a commoner had won a lawsuit against a knight in Wimbledon using a similar agreement.

A little over ten minutes later,

the three of them walked out of the church. Little Ox touched the three guineas in his pocket—two of his own, plus one Xu Yun had given him for the meal—and couldn't help grinning from ear to ear.