Chapter 30
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Chapter 30: I, Anna, Am Truly a Genius
If the Bismarck family continues to operate steadily in this way, with the increasing proficiency in barley cultivation, the net profit will eventually stabilize at around ten pounds.
The purchasing power of pounds is extremely impressive, and for the villagers, earning these ten pounds would be considered quite good.
But Anna was not satisfied with this.
This year’s significant profit is largely due to the current situation. With a large decrease in agricultural products leading to soaring prices, unscrupulous beer merchants took advantage of this and raised prices sharply. If agricultural prices return to normal next year, beer prices cannot remain exceptionally high.
Furthermore, selling agricultural products to the brewery illegally poses risks without a license, and without one, she would have to lower the price to make a sale.
Anna wondered how she could make this business legitimate and more profitable…
The Bismarck family was just a regular farming family, they couldn’t get the license to produce barley for making alcohol because they didn’t have enough money and connections.
Anna had an idea for cooperation. There were about ten rich landowners in the village, if they worked together, they would have a strong force. Even though none of them had noble titles, they could pool their money to get the license through connections.
In the future, the whole village would grow barley for making alcohol, and everyone would make money and become rich together. How wonderful!
Due to a poor harvest this year, the mood was low among the village landowners. Despite suffering losses, they gathered at the tavern to drink heavily and live recklessly.
Taking advantage of the gathering, Anna shared her idea, suggesting they unite.
"Go away, little girl, go play at home, this is not your place."
"Oh, little Anna? You’re from the Bismarck family, right? Go home and ask your father to come and treat us to drinks, he made a lot of money this year."
Some even spoke rudely. The illiterate drunkards had nothing nice to say.
No one listened to Anna. Instead, she faced mockery. In Prussia, which was known for male dominance, women were treated poorly. Although it had improved slightly in the 19th century, it was still challenging.
If it had been the hot-tempered Anna from before, she would have drawn her sword and fought these drunkards.
Now she has clearly matured a lot, although still angry, she chose a very effective solution.
She told her idea to her father, Old Bismarck, and he went to the tavern to say the same thing as his daughter.
Then everyone agreed, all the village Junkers said it was fine, these drunkards didn’t really understand what was going on but when they heard they could make money, everyone joined in.
Anna felt frustrated, no one listened to her, but when a man repeated what she said, it was okay.
The next day, Anna got a joint signature letter from all the village Junkers, went to the city to apply for a barley license for making alcohol, negotiated the price with the officials, instead of immediately paying and signing, she said she needed to think about it.
She first went to the library to research, then went to City Hall to ask about related policies and laws, and found a subtle thing.
The business tax for barley used in alcohol was different from the regular agricultural tax.
Regular farm products had a fixed tax rate, but the tax for barley used in alcohol didn’t have a clear rule, based on Anna’s research, some people had a tax rate of four to one, but some even had five to one or lower.
"Oh.. I can only ask my horrible mother for help, it’s really disgusting."
Anna’s family on her mother’s side is a noble family, hereditary viscount title, but the title has now passed to her mother’s older brother.
If we can get Uncle to help with this document, we can definitely lower the taxes.
Standing in front of the family villa, Anna thought of skipping her horrible mother and going to see her Uncle directly, as her mother was truly a horrible person.
Uncle was very surprised to see Anna, he did remember having such a relative, but they were not familiar at all.
Anna: This document can make a lot of money for our village, I’ll give you a 2% share every year in the future, you don’t need to do anything, just sit at home and count money. Please help us by using your connections to lower the taxes.
Uncle (enthusiastic): Oh, my dear niece is so thoughtful, but I’m quite busy right now.
Anna: 3% is the bottom line.
Uncle (enthusiastic): Alright, dear niece, let’s go to City Hall.
The viscount’s influence was very helpful. Anna only paid thirty pounds to successfully apply for a two-year license to produce barley for making beer. The tax rate is fifteen percent, which is very good.
Next year and the year after, it will be legal to grow barley to sell to the breweries. If the harvest is good, gather more money with the villagers to apply for a longer-term license.
When Anna returned to the village, the first thing she did was wave her license and announce the establishment of the Kniphof village barley cooperative. Old Bismarck became the manager, and all participants in the cooperative had to pay an eight percent management fee.
Originally, the villagers grew other crops and didn’t earn much, but had to pay a twenty-five percent agricultural tax.
Now the villagers can legally grow barley for beer, earn more money, and only need to pay a fifteen percent tax, in addition to giving Old Bismarck an eight percent share.
Old Bismarck kept five percent for himself, gave three percent to the viscount, and everyone was happy.
Anna had one clever idea after another. She claimed that her family was the first to grow barley for beer, had many elderly farmers as professional advisors, who could also help villagers increase their yield, and then take a cut of the harvest.
Once the whole village harvested, Anna controlled the relationship between selling the agricultural products to the breweries. She negotiated deals and could take another cut.
Making beer only required malt, and the leftover part was usually wasted. Anna encouraged everyone to build a simple windmill during the off-season to grind barley stalks into feed. They packaged and sold it as premium horse feed to knights, earning a little more.
She led all the Junkers, farmers, and serfs of the village to repair the old water canal together, build a watermill, construct a large fence, and hunt in the forest to prevent wild beasts from harming the crops.
He borrowed two hundred pounds at Berlin University, dropped out and returned home. In the first year, she earned a little more than ten pounds, and in the second year, she made ninety-seven pounds in one go, not only earning money for herself, but also leading the whole village to become wealthy.
At first, people were very dissatisfied with the little girl, strongly disliking her for considering herself a leader. But gradually, Anna’s actions convinced everyone.
She was the one wielding a hoe in the fields under the scorching sun, protecting the fields with a gun in the dead of night, fostering good relationships with tax officials, negotiating with beer merchants, and bravely leading the fight in brawls with the neighboring villages.
Anna’s hard work and perseverance made her fellow villagers admire her. The village chief even offered to give up his position as a city councilor to her, hoping that Anna could fight for more benefits for everyone in the city council.
But Anna did not accept the city councilor job.
With confidence beaming from her, Anna held her head high. Unlike her arrogant behavior when she was young, she was now full of self-assurance.
When Anna dropped out of Berlin University and returned, she once thought she would be crushed by the burden of life. However, carrying the imagined mountain on her shoulders was actually much easier. There is nothing difficult in this world, and Anna was far from being useless.
At the age of fourteen, she learned seven languages. She effortlessly gained admission to prestigious universities like Gottingen and Berlin University, learned basic farming in the countryside for a year, and perfected her networking skills in two years.
Once, Anna didn’t know what she wanted. Now she knows. Her eyes have gone from being confused to determined.
Even though she hasn’t practiced any martial arts in the past two years, causing a big decline in her fighting skills, Anna can feel that she holds infinite power within herself, with physical strength just being a part of it.
"I was unquestionably the leader at school, and in society, I want to be the leader of everyone."
"A city councilor in a remote little town isn’t enough for me. I should aim to become a member of parliament at least."
"Dad, I will take over the farm from you. You don’t need to work the land anymore. Just rent it out and you can manage the profits. If you need any help with connections, you can refer to the notes I left."
"I need to relax and unwind. I want to visit London, see Paris, and enjoy traveling."
"Oh, by the way, when I come back from my trip, Dad, please give me a thousand pounds. I want to get married. Don’t say you can’t come up with a thousand pounds when the time comes."