MTL - The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria’s Mandate of Heaven-v3 Chapter 27 daily

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Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Listening to Adjani's report, Franz discovered a problem, that is, the amount of ivory brought back this time was too much to deal with, and it would take at least 10 years to realize it without depreciation.

All kinds of ivory products do not sell well in the Austrian market. Ivory buttons and ivory fan bones sell relatively well, but their added value is very low, and they are only relatively large.

Since the Austrian Empire did not take much part in colonization, the acceptance of ivory products in the market was very low. Ivory products sell relatively well in the British and French markets, and the high tariffs make Franz not want to be plundered at all.

At this time, European trade protection is still prevalent, especially the tariffs on luxury goods are almost exaggerated. Usually businessmen can find middlemen in order to avoid tariffs, but Franz can’t. Such large-scale smuggling is not accepted by the French. Discovery is impossible, and a revelation would seriously damage the royal family's reputation.

"Archduke Franz, I think you can promote billiards instead of football."

Adjani knew that Franz was worrying about the booty he brought back from Africa. She was not an economic expert, but she was very confident in everything about eating, drinking and having fun.

"Play pool?"

First of all, Franz himself does not understand billiards. Secondly, he is sure that football and basketball will dominate the ball games in the future. Third, billiard **** do not look big and are very durable. It is estimated that the market will be easily saturated.

"Yes, the game of billiards is very popular among the aristocratic circles in France and England. Moreover, those sons and daughters don't seem to be interested in football, and it is easy to create family conflicts."

Adjani's tone was calm, but Franz could hear what the other party meant.

"Family conflicts, this word is used too seriously." Franz said, after all, the families represented by his friends are not ordinary, if there is a real fight, it may be regarded as a political incident.

"No, listen to what happened recently before making a judgment."

Ajani took out a notebook and read it carefully.

"On February 18, 1840, Lord Leibstein's left foot was broken. On February 26, the eldest son of the head of the Taffy family lost two teeth. On March 11, Richard Metternich fractured his nose. ..."

 …

"Are they playing kung fu football? And why are so many feet injured?"

In fact, football in this era has no rules, and the level of violence is comparable to passionate football. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees, and even throwing sand are all allowed.

Adjani took a football and carefully placed it on the ground.

"Arch Duke Franz, please come and try."

"This is not a shot put!" Franz felt that there must be something tricky in it.

"Of course not. I'm your attendant, and I'm not a child. How could I play such a boring prank."

Ajani spread her arms and smiled.

"It seems to say that there is less time to trick others."

Having said that, Franz tried it with his feet.

"So heavy! So hard! How is this solid!"

Only then did Franz think of it, not to mention pneumatic tires, even rubber tires are not popular, how can there be modern football under such circumstances.

"It's the best football on the market and it uses your vulcanized rubber technology. Otherwise you'd be kicking an animal's bladder or stomach now."

Football in this period mainly used animal bladders or stomachs, filled with stuffing inside, and covered with a layer of animal skin outside, and even the shape was not round, but a kind of approximate circle.

"Okay, so how many billiard **** can I make with the ivory I brought back?"

Ajani raised three fingers and said.

"About three million."

"so little?"

Franz was a little surprised. You must know that nearly ten boats of ivory were seized in Côte d'Ivoire alone, which was accumulated by the local aborigines for decades.

Côte d'Ivoire, known as the "Ivory Coast", was scrapped by Franz. As a result, only three million billiard **** could be produced, which really made him unacceptable.

"This has to be further eliminated. Those that are not round enough to be hard enough, only one-third of them can be placed on the table in the end."

Moreover, the loss rate of the billiard **** is far beyond Franz's imagination. The ivory billiard **** are hard, and it is inevitable to collide with each other and damage them frequently.

"Then what to do with the rest."

Franz didn't expect such a waste. In fact, with the technology at that time, one ivory could only make five billiard balls, and the defective rate was very high.

"Of course it's sold to poor people who don't know what to buy and who want to save face."

Judging by Adjani's appearance, it seems that she has done this kind of thing. In fact, the second-hand billiards business was quite booming at that time, but most of the transactions were carried out in small circles, which required a very wide network of contacts.

"But the price of billiards can't be afforded by ordinary people."

Franz is still working on his plan to use sports to boost national self-confidence and cohesion, and while he's deluding himself, it's not entirely wrong if it works.

"This is an aristocratic sport. Do you know how much a good marble countertop costs? Three to five clubs are needed, and different materials must be used according to different functions, and special processing must be carried out."

Adjani is very proficient in this kind of luxury enjoyment. Franz didn't want to refute, so he could only sigh. It seemed that his plan had to be put on hold for the time being.

The direction of promoting football is correct, but it still needs a long-term plan. For example, the rules and the ball itself need to be reformed to facilitate promotion.

"Okay, you won. But getting them to play is not just about lip service. You have to teach me first before I can play with them. As for promotion, it depends on luck."

Austrian aristocrats are more popular in listening to opera, listening to music, or hunting on horseback, while rural aristocrats like mountaineering and fishing.

For example, Archduke Franz Karl likes to fish, and Archduke John likes to climb mountains, so they are often regarded as different.

"Okay, Grand Duke Franz. But, do you want to learn English billiards or French billiards?"

It seemed that Adjani had been prepared for a long time, and when she rang the doorbell, someone was busy next door.

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In fact, Franz wanted to use the rules of later generations to set up a brand new "Austrian style", but unfortunately he had no contact with this sport at all, so he could only learn the most popular and most famous British billiards in later generations, namely snooker. .

After listening to Adjani explaining the rules, the noise in the next room also stopped. Only then did Franz realize that there was another door next to his study.

"this is?"

Franz found a problem. Some women especially like to expand, and for them, no matter how big the room is, they will not be enough.

"The billiard hall. Grand Duke Franz, do you think I am thoughtful?"

Adjani made an expression that you are going to praise me, it is obvious that everything today was planned by her. It's just that Franz doesn't understand one thing, what effect will it have if he doesn't play billiards?

Or maybe she was thinking too much, she just likes to play.