Thomas received his brother's reply and stopped pestering him. He ordered his servants to take his daughter back to his residence, then quickly walked out of the palace and took a carriage to a certain neighborhood in the west of the city.
After many wars, Thomas accumulated considerable wealth. He purchased many mansions and properties in the city. One of the mansions was sold to Jean Coeur at a high price and became the latter's temporary residence.
At this moment, the courtyard door was open. Thomas walked straight into the courtyard and found several servants drying their bedding in the sun. Coeur was sitting in a sheltered area reading a newspaper, looking quite attentive.
Even in exile, Coeur still maintained his previous attire, wrapped in a dark blue velvet Houppelande. His beard was cleanly shaved, his face was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, and gray-blue pupils as sharp as an eagle, giving people the feeling of always looking downward.
Hearing the noise, Coeur hurriedly came over to greet him. "Your Highness, why are you here?"
"Your matter has come to an end, and I came here to inform you." Thomas repeated the information given by his brother to prove that he did not receive the money for nothing and had always kept this matter in mind.
"... This is the situation. You are safe. What are your plans for the future?"
Although the family has survived this turmoil, Coeur has no plans to go back, and Charles VII may fall out again one day. He decided to settle down in the Eastern Roman Empire to leave an extra escape route for the family.
After deducting the expenses during this period, the savings brought by Coeur were only 50,000 Florin. He was not in a hurry to make a decision and wanted to continue to wait and see for a while.
Now that things have happened, Thomas thinks he is worthy of Coeur's gift, "I have something to do, so I'll leave first. If you have the idea of investing in the textile industry, you can come to me for cooperation. I have invited several businessmen and plan to open a large Textile Mill in the near future."
Not long after Thomas left, Coeur walked out of the mansion with his entourage, looking at the bustling crowd on the street with a confused look in his eyes. "What should I do?"
The textile industry is the most profitable industry. Because of this, many businessmen have opened Textile Mill, making the competition in this industry increasingly fierce.
Some time ago, Coeur wandered around the market and recorded the selling prices of various textiles. Then he visited Textile Mill on the outskirts of the city and recorded information such as their factory area, employee size, and the number of carriages purchased and shipped every day.
In his observation, the largest Textile Mill has 1,500 employees. The operators have strong financial resources. On the one hand, they have the first-mover advantage. On the other hand, they are trying their best to apply new technologies. It is difficult for new practitioners to compete with them.
Factory production has a significant scale advantage. Large factories have higher profit margins, while small and medium-sized factories and family workshops have lower profit margins. Coeur consciously has limited financial resources and it is difficult to compete with these giants.
Alternatively, he could cooperate with Thomas, but this approach is too risky.
Thomas doesn't look like he's ready for business at first glance. If so many people are gathered to invest in a factory, who will make the final decision?
"If the factory suffers a loss, there is a high probability that the merchant will bear the loss and the prince will recover the capital."
As we walked further, the streets became noisier, and Coeur unknowingly arrived at Latin Quarter in the north of the city. It was adjacent to the Golden Horn pier, with frequent business exchanges, many foreign businessmen living there, and extremely expensive land prices.
At the end of the field of vision, the sun shines diagonally on the stone walls of those majestic buildings, and the signboards on the side of the street reflect the dazzling light, Di Maggio Bank, Spinola Bank, Medici Bank... One after another, nearly twenty banks gathered in this area, and countless businessmen came from all over to handle various financial services.
As the Governor (tax collector) sent by Charles VII to Genoa, Coeur is very aware of the financial resources of these large banks. His own funds are limited and he is far from reaching the entry threshold.
Coeur walked along the bustling streets to the City Hall. He heard that City Hall would auction idle properties from time to time, such as horse farms, mines, Cotton Field. The real estate once belonged to the Ottoman nobles, and many facilities are well preserved. Coeur's idea is to buy a Cotton Field, then weave cotton by itself and sell it to Constantinople for profit.
Cotton is an excellent textile raw material. The woven cloth is dry, breathable, soft and comfortable, and the price is higher than the common Flax cloth. In recent years, the price of cotton has been at a high level for a long time, and it is almost impossible to lose money growing cotton.
Arriving at Municipal Square, Coeur was suddenly stopped by a passerby who was promoting a business agreement and inviting partners to jointly operate the racecourse.
Coeur After a cursory glance, this agreement refers to the core principles of Italy Maritime's "Sea Venture Contract":
Investors share the profits of Trade according to the proportion of their investment. If the business suffers a loss, they will only bear the loss to the amount of their investment, and their remaining property will not be implicated.
"Sorry, I'm not good at riding horses and have no interest in raising horses." Coeur declined the stranger's invitation and went to the City Hall to inquire about the news.
Unfortunately, it is lunch time now, and City Hall has suspended work. Coeur is watching the notice on the bulletin board under the steps, with his right hand always covering his pocket to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the crowd to steal property.
"At two o'clock in the afternoon, the properties of Cappadocia and Cilicia will be auctioned."
Coeur muttered in a low voice and looked down the notice, including the racecourse, Copper Mine, Sugarcane Plantation, Storax Grove, and cotton plantation.
"The styrax tree grows in Cilicia? I always thought this thing was in the Mesopotamia plain."
It was still early, so Coeur went to the restaurant on the right side of the square and ordered the recently popular hot pot and mutton fried rice. These dishes originated from the Blachernae Palace, so they were highly sought after by residents in the city.
He sat on the seat against the wall and watched the waiter in the restaurant add charcoal to the copper pot, bring some thinly sliced beef and mutton slices, and finally bring a plate of steaming hot mutton rice. "Rice needs sufficient light and water to grow. This time we are going to Anatolia to operate cotton Garden. We can take a trip to the southern coast to observe whether there are any wetlands suitable for growing rice."
Coeur picked up the tableware and ate slowly. The conversation between two diners came to his ears, and the content happened to involve cotton cultivation, which caught his attention.
"Have you heard? Michael from the next block went inland to run a cotton plantation and was killed by horse bandits last month."
"I have long advised him not to go. Cappadocia's real estate auction price is cheap because the local area is dangerous. Nowadays, only retired soldiers dare to bid for it, and they are not afraid of horse bandits."
"Not only retired soldiers, I heard that the Tatars nobles and Circassia nobles in the north are also trying to buy plantations. They have money and people, so they don't need to be afraid of these horse bandits."
Hearing the conversations of the guests, Coeur was shocked. The cotton plantation that was about to be auctioned was in Cappadocia!
To be on the safe side, he decided to postpone the bidding and figure out the details of the situation in the east before making any plans.