Being a Life Player in the Middle Ages

Seeing that everyone around you pricked up your ears as if trying to eavesdrop, he said he needed you to speak slowly in a quiet environment.

Mary looked at her mother and said, "You are my mother." After getting her consent, she said she could go to his house to chat. He almost lived there recently.

When everyone went in together, Mary came home, but Bayard did not go in, but stayed at the door to watch the two horses. He stood at the door like a door god, and no one else dared to eavesdrop.

Mary's house is big and the light is dim. There is no division of the house. Everyone eats and sleeps in the same area. There is no privacy at all. It is basically the same life in the slum.

The house was very clean. During the day, the beds and bedding were put aside to make room for tables and chairs. Mary's house seemed to be short of people. Although I didn't see any other people, there were several stools in it, enough for everyone to sit down.

Mary asked everyone to sit down and poured them some water. She was about to rummage through the drawers and cupboards to get some dried fruits to treat everyone, but Jia Ke stopped her quickly.

"Why bother with that? I'll leave after I've finished explaining what I'm doing."

Mary just stood there, looking at the family, and explained, "Don't worry, I know you only drink boiled water. I went to Yiqing specifically to drink boiled water."

But everyone he learned from home basically knew that he was used to it. He also heard him say that drinking boiled water would easily make him sick. People are most afraid of getting sick. Even if it is only a minor illness, it will drag him down. So after his family's conditions improved, Mary naturally started to only drink boiled water.

You may be so thirsty, but I can't refuse your kindness. I will pick up a bowl of water and pour it into your mouth. It is still warm.

He found Mary and told me to take a bowl and pour water to Bayard's door, and then bring it back after he was jealous.

"I'm here to ask you, Lord, if you want to learn lace weaving from me?"

Lace?!

When I came to the scene, I heard the words and my eyes started to shine.

As a girl who went to Jia Ke's house to pay tuition (ball of yarn), he was strong and dexterous, so he would often go to Jia Ke's house to learn and ask for advice on various knitting methods. Naturally, he had seen Jia Ke knit a lace collar for Martha. Later, when Jia Ke asked Martha to teach her, he naturally heard Martha mention that she would go to Jia Ke to make custom lace.

Although Martha didn't say it explicitly, he knew that the price of custom-made lace would not be low. He knew how complicated the lace crocheted by others was. If the price was high enough, he would have to accept it. He was afraid that Martha would not be willing to let him suffer. Moreover, the more skills a thing required, the higher the price would be. It was like those women with good embroidery skills. Every time he completed a big order, the salary he got was enough to support his family for several months. Who would envy him for having to sit there and embroider every day?

But those embroidery skills are hard to learn. Except for those girls who want to learn by themselves, they all want to ask embroiderers to teach them. We are very good at passing on the skills from mother to daughter. We only see that the family is willing to take in apprentices. However, the embroiderers usually only teach the skills to the girls themselves and then take in apprentices.

And when you see lace, he will know that it is simpler than embroidery, but it is also a craft that can make a lot of money, and even more precious because it is only mastered by the master.

At that time, no one thought that Jia Ke would be willing to teach him, but in fact, everyone knew that he should be able to teach. Later, when everyone saw that Jia Ke had never mentioned it, they naturally had the audacity to ask him to teach. It was really like that. Before he could even speak to Jia Ke, he was retorted by everyone else.

He has always been grateful to his family and knows how to be content. Now he has learned a lot of weaving techniques, but it is enough to support himself and his family.

But when you bring up the matter at home, he will still be interested.

"Can I learn it if I become a real person?"

"Of course, why would I lie to you?" Jia Ke nodded, then began to explain: "I'm planning to open a knitting shop. My main product is lace, so I need your approval. But you can help me make lace. Perhaps you'd like to try?"

Seeing Cheng's answer, Jia Ke continued, "Of course, I'll explain the situation to you first, and then you can consider my approach. Since you're going to come here to learn the craft, you must follow my rules."

"What rules?"

"After I learn how to weave lace, you must sign an employment contract with me. For at least five years, you must work exclusively for me. After five years, I will give you priority in hiring you. Also, during the validity period of the contract, you can either accept orders from others privately or make your own lace for sale. All finished products must be sold in my shop."

"Well, within five years, if I don't give you my permission, you can pass on your skills to someone else. It will be considered a master craftsman. If you want to learn, you can ask him to come to me and discuss it, but you can teach on your own. Of course, after five years, the contract expires, and I won't interfere with who you want to teach."

The master has considered the direction of his own business. He hopes that the customer base of his knitting shop will range from ordinary civilians to the upper class, nobles and officials, and lace will be his secret weapon prepared for those nobles and officials. So at least before the reputation of his shop spreads, he will still control this craft well by himself.

——In fact, if your needlework is made, it will definitely be more attractive than lace. It comes from the oriental embroidery technology. Although lace is beautiful, how can it compare with oriental embroidery? It's a pity that the world has not yet invented silk, and the oriental embroidery technology is less gorgeous than silk, so the effect will be greatly reduced. So you have to choose to put it in the bottom of the box for the time being and see if you can find silk in the future.

Back to lace, if a powerful person really comes and intends to use his influence to coerce me into learning lace weaving skills, that family will definitely surrender in seconds. As long as I pay him, he can help him become a qualified lace weaver. Anyway, lace is a kind of weaving craft. I not only have the technology, but also pay more attention to the design. As long as my family can design beautiful and unique lace patterns for you, then he will not have to worry about not getting business.

It can be said that Jia Ke attaches great importance to the confidentiality of lace knitting. He only wants me to go to the knitting shop to ensure that before his fame spreads, everyone will know about Jia Ke's knitting shop. If you want to learn, you can come to him directly. I just ask the girl to keep it secret. I want him to understand more, and then it will be in vain to teach him the craft.

In addition to the two items mentioned, there are some other terms that I haven't thought about yet, so I'll add them later.

The penalties for violating these rules are severe. If you violate the contract for a long time, you will not only pay liquidated damages, but you may also face imprisonment. Even worse, the defaulter may be turned into a slave.

My family may need me as a slave, but he will indeed set the penalty for breach of contract very high, and at the same time he will pursue legal liability.

He said that the consequences of breaching the contract would be very serious, but I was still very excited because after I went to talk to him about my request, he talked about the store's benefits, such as that as long as I completed the work on time, he didn't need me to go to the store every day, and he also talked about the funding issues.

The salary will be a base salary plus commission. The base salary will be 20 livres (silver-plated copper coins) per month, and that is considered high. As a maid in a wealthy family, you can earn at least 30 livres a month - of course, because you go to Constantiburg, working as a maid in other small cities may even only earn 10 to 15 livres a month.

20 li may seem like a little, but not everyone will become a maid. The salary and recruitment standards may be very high, and you usually rarely hire female employees, so under normal circumstances, even if you can earn 20 li a month, it will be easy for him to earn that much.

Not to mention that Jia Ke also gives commission.

"For every order you complete, I can give you a commission, excluding the cost."

I can still give you a commission. It seems that you have never been to school, so how come you know math? I couldn't help swallowing my saliva when I heard that.

He didn't know what the exact amount would be after "leaving out costs", but he felt it would be a small number.

You can see that he seems to understand, but he doesn't quite understand. He gives an example: "You pay me and I will complete the work. After deducting the basic material cost and your operating cost, if the work is sold for 18 gold coins, then Wen Si will pay you an additional 18 philippines."

And then, he would not only swallow his saliva but also gasp, 18 years ago, it has been almost a month since you can only say it.

Catherine couldn't help but ask, "But could you tell me how much your custom-made lace sold for?"

There was nothing to hide yet, so Jia Keran wanted to give him enough confidence: "I told you that you can pay the production fee with gold coins, but this customization is very complicated, and you can't make it for the time being. Moreover, I can give you the customization fee and just give you a commission."

He also thought, "Why would other people do this? Would employers hire people just because they think it's profitable?" He had also learned from his experience as a prostitute that many prostitutes only work for a living, with no commission at all. It was only when business was good that the employer offered to give you a bonus.

And those craftsmen like you are all independent. It sounds great to work alone and get paid, but the premise is that they can find a way to sell the things they make. If they can't sell them, they will lose money completely. It's like they weave cloth and sell it outside, but they will be forced to lower the price. If the price is too low, they can hardly make any profit, and they are just waiting to starve to death.

In comparison, the conditions offered by the family are much easier to deal with.

"I, I'm willing to do it just for you! Not to mention a five-year contract, I'm even willing to sign a ten-year contract!"

Catherine will react first, he actively expressed his willingness to work for the family, even directly signed a ten-year contract, of course, no problem. I didn't know at that time that my eyesight would be better in ten years, but I still can do it, he is even willing to sign for twenty or thirty years!

Although Jia Ke said it would happen, Catherine knew it well. Since Jia Ke could easily earn you gold coins in seven days, then after he had mastered his skills, perhaps he could complete a piece of the same price in seven days like Jia Ke, but he could definitely do it in eight, nine, or ten days, right? Then I would calculate the commission based on Jia Ke's commission. If you complete three pieces of the same quality per month, that would be 54 pounds in commission. If you work harder and complete four pieces, that would be 72 pounds. Add to that the base salary of 20 pounds, and your monthly income would be 92 pounds. That would be half a pound!

He has been working very hard for many years, but you can't earn more than half of it in gold coins!

But you think about the high salary, Catherine is very enthusiastic, I would go for it now, that would be absolutely stupid!

You jumped when you were scared by his reaction. The others reacted quickly and said, "There's no need to go back and think about it." They all said, "I can just call home."

Everyone is very satisfied with his enthusiasm, but the contract will be signed soon, and he is not ready yet.

"You can go back and think about it. If you really want to, come to the store and find me."

Jia Ke stood up and prepared to leave, but before leaving he left a message for you: "I hope you can succeed in the reward, but keep it secret. I also said it lightly that you can succeed."

Everyone nodded. He had been living in such a place. If everyone knew where he would get his income from, it was hard to say what would happen.