"Yes, logistics, that is, the postal industry."

Lockhart decided to put some eye drops on the Flint family, who made that guy dare to look at his face.

"Our biggest advantage over Muggles is our mobility on land. We can send a lot of valuable things to another place in the fastest way, and Muggles, whether by rail, highway or plane, It can't be faster than we can load an object with the Untraceable Stretch Charm and Apparate to another place

I'm sure if we started a shipping company we could beat all express companies in the UK...but only if we got Muggle approval.

Only then did Lockhart reveal his true purpose.

Chapter 314 The turning point of the house-elves?

For a country, whether it is an industrial chain or a logistics chain, the "chain" that forms this "chain" is undoubtedly a logistics link.

The so-called improvement of infrastructure construction is in the final analysis to improve the efficiency of logistics and reduce the cost of loss of goods during transportation.

Some people will say that it is very uneconomical to build those transportation facilities just to reduce the cost. After all, if only the direct economic effect is considered, the cost of repairing the road will require toll booths. It takes decades to pay for it.

But from the national point of view, the account cannot be calculated in this way.

Just like Chinese cabbage is produced in place A, coal is produced in place B, and place C is an industrial center. They each have their own natural, cultural, and historical conditions, so these three places each have their own industries that are most suitable for development.

However, if the transportation is inconvenient and the logistics cost is too high, then the three places will have to be like the manor economy in the Middle Ages. Although a sparrow is small and complete, it has to do everything, thus losing a lot of efficiency.

Therefore, improving the level of logistics is very important for a country, because it can improve the rationality of the resource allocation of the entire country, ultimately improve the overall efficiency, and even develop new industries because of this. This is really not the toll fee. thing.

It's true that with spells like seamless stretch and apparition, wizards can do what almost any courier company can only dream of - zero-cost, point-to-point, instant delivery of bulk shipments to different locations.

They are faster than air freight, cheaper than sea freight, and more convenient than door-to-door delivery. After such a company comes out, no matter what express company is, they will be beaten down.

But the question arises - which country will put such a crucial logistics chain together?

To a bunch of people they don't believe in? Which big company would easily disclose the company's logistics to other companies? Or to give a simpler example, what other big company dares to hand over the company's confidential documents to FedEx for delivery?

So if the wizards want to open a courier company or a transportation company, the technology is not the biggest problem. Even if there are not many wizards who have passed the Apparition exam, this is not a problem. As long as there is money to take it, the students will definitely study this very hard. Besides, a courier company does not need everyone to do transportation. And delivery, someone also needs to do the paperwork.

The most critical question is how to gain the trust of the Muggles.

Those big companies are not fools. They have always been careful when it comes to saving costs, especially those old-fashioned companies that have been involved for hundreds of years, but they have basically saved all the expenses that can be saved. If wizards can help them save more A lot of logistics expenses, then their costing will definitely go crazy.

However, will they trust a courier company of unknown origin?

What is their financial situation? How much assets does their company have, and will they run away in advance? Where are their company's vehicles, employees, warehouses, and other tangible or intangible assets? How do they explain the troubles from competitors?

So if you want to do this, you can. But you have to gain the trust of Muggle companies, big and small, to eliminate their doubts, and then get the government's acquiescence, so that you can do business for a long time.

This is easier said than done.

Considering that most of the customers who have "lossless" and "speed" requirements for the delivery of goods are VIP customers or major customers, and they often already have a mature supply system, just to expand the market and locate the customer group requires a group of wizards. headache for it

And most importantly, they still can't do "transparent office"

After all, there is no way for them to explain to the customer that we just need to take out a

little stick, and with a bang, your shipment was sent from london to new york

If they really said that, the person in charge of the other party's supply office would have politely brought them a cup of tea, then called outside the office and asked the madhouse to pick them up.

If these big companies cannot be their customers, then the profit of this express company will be quite limited. After all, the profit of airlifting a live lobster to a high-end restaurant may be more than sending a thousand pieces of Pinduoduo Express.

After hearing what Lockhart meant, the wizards also fell into contemplation.

Obviously, this job can only be done by wizards who are well versed in Muggle society and well-connected there.

But in other words, as long as this can be done, the entire wizarding world will never worry about employment issues again.

The throughput of goods on the Muggle side is enough for the entire wizarding world to reach the level of full employment. Even the children of wizards can wear invisibility cloaks and ride toy brooms to help adults deliver goods. The effective job market rate is more than 5%. None of the above is unimaginable.

The people present were all staring at each other, worried that others would steal the opportunity Lockhart gave him, but now they are mostly calm.

Because everyone understands how big the market is, and also knows that such a large market cannot be eaten by one or two families or a small group of wizards, this kind of hostility will naturally dissipate.

Not to mention that this kind of activity definitely requires international cooperation. It is absolutely impossible to eat a small market in the UK. They have to cooperate with wizards in France, Eastern Europe, Africa, the United States, and even South America and Asia.

A witch raised her hand impolitely and suddenly interrupted Lockhart who was explaining to the crowd.

"So what are you going to do? Continue to expose our society to them

, in exchange for possible Muggle trust? "

Lockhart took a closer look and found that the witch who was speaking did not know herself.

It's a bit of a wicked thing - Lockhart had memorized almost all wizards' names with brain-enhancing agent long before he became a Hogwarts professor, and even if some people haven't seen it, he should have heard of it.

"Excuse my rudeness, but I don't seem to have seen you before? Can I ask your last name?" Lockhart asked.

The witch straightened up a little:

"We really haven't met before, Mr. Lockhart. I'm from the Salem Witch Guild, you may call me Garcia."

"Well, Ms. Garcia, you seem very uncomfortable with my position

,yes? Like the US Congress? "

When he heard "Salem Witch Guild", Lockhart instinctively thought of her as a representative of the United States Congress.

But it is not.

"No, in fact, the Salem Witch Guild does not operate entirely in the United States. I am from South America." Ms. Garcia smiled, "But we do have some doubts about your plan."

- Hearing that she is not an American, Lockhart is a little more at ease. After all, the problem between the American wizard and the American government is not just a small issue of economic disputes. There is no possibility of reconciliation in a short time after accumulating blood debts.

"What concerns are there?" he asked.

"I want to ask how you intend to control this process."

Ms Garcia asked the key: "It's good that you are confident that you can make a profit from this business. But the Muggles who are being squeezed out of business by you will not be reconciled, they will

Present a threat to your company to Muggle governments.

Once in their sight, they will use all possible means to investigate us, including their intelligence agencies. As far as I know, no matter how careful the Magical Congress of the United States is, the FBI still finds some clues every year.

We can't put our own and our children's safety under each other's kindness, so unless you can come up with a good reason, it's hard for us to have a positive view of this activity. "

After she said these words, she waited for Lockhart to refute her, but what she didn't expect was: Lockhart nodded in agreement.

"Only a sober person can ask such a question." Lockhart applauded: "You're on the right track, and that's the second part of what I'm going to say next - how to keep Muggles from doing it. Stupid. If you want to know how Muggles will treat us, you have to consider the logic of their behavior oo”

Next, Lockhart began to tell the crowd about the underlying political logic of Muggles and the reasoning of the operation of Muggle society, and pointed out that in addition to keeping secrets, the wizards' means of protecting themselves also included "ensure mutual destruction" and "occupation". high-level political ecology” and other means.

Although Hermione had been listening along with everyone, as Lockhart explained, she gradually discovered a problem—a problem that was very important to her.

House-elves... aren't they the best at Apparating?

- Thinking of this, she couldn't calm down any longer.

There are 66 boroughs across the UK, and if the courier industry really thrives, every small city should be staffed with at least a dozen wizards.

If it is a "big" city with a population of 7 million like London, or a city with a population of more than 1 million like Birmingham, the number of wizards who need to be stationed must be more than that, and a few hundred people are also needed.

But today's British wizarding world can't have that much workforce - a population of 10,000

, remove the old and the young, remove those who do not Apparate, remove those who already have jobs, it is still unknown whether the labor market for wizards will be able to accommodate these hundreds of people.

After all, there are only a few dozen Hogwarts graduates in one year, and at least half of them can't Apparate, or can't do high-intensity Apparitions, and most of them have already been booked. It's impossible to go to a courier company to work.

In other words, the labor force that can be used and can Apparate is likely to be a house-elf!

At this moment, Hermione realized!

Chapter 315 Showdown

On other occasions, Lockhart might have been a little embarrassed. But when he started speaking, his nervousness evaporated with his body movements.

That's the benefit of training—in speaking, Lockhart considers himself somewhat capable, although not as good as the professional actors in Parliament.

After the 1990s, because the bureaucracy became more and more politicized, as a member of the civil service, Lockhart had to force himself to learn the essentials of many politicians to survive.

And the most important part is the speech.

Any politician can have no professional knowledge or no money, but as long as he wants to survive, he must learn to speak.

The biggest function of parliament for those in power is to manipulate voters. If a politician can't even represent public opinion, he is undoubtedly disqualified. The quickest and most direct way to gain the favor of voters is through speeches.

The so-called speech is "acting" and "speaking". The part that distinguishes a good speaker from a bad speaker is often not in the gas well", but in "acting"

Although Comrade Jianguo is self-willed in his administration, he still has the ability to express his speech and his sense of the camera. The CCTV veterans who have worked in front of the camera for decades may not have his sense of proportion. No matter how much he dances, he will not Let your limbs go out of the camera.

Anyone who has played The Sims series knows that if you choose a career path in politics for the characters in the house, practicing your expressions, movements, and tone in front of a square mirror every day to develop a sense of the camera can be said to be compulsory. homework. With the camera sense of Comrade Chuan Jianguo, he has at least 30 years of practice in front of the mirror.

Thanks to his experience in writing books and politics, Lockhart's expressive ability, emotional arousal, and expressiveness of body movements are all good, but the appeal is still somewhat lacking.

In terms of talent, he is a lot worse than Voldemort and Grindelwald, but with his sense of proportion in training, his logic and various ways of guiding people's thinking are still superior. Otherwise he couldn't have persuaded all the Muggle parents to send their children to Hogwarts.

If this level of "acting" is placed in the Muggle Council, it can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, but it stands out among wizards. Therefore, the existence of a few opponents could not hinder Lockhart's publicity plan. Even after he finished speaking his thoughts, many people who had doubts were persuaded by him.

His strategy for dealing with Muggles is also simple--

First, to ensure that each other can destroy each other, and to let Muggles know that wizards have this ability;

Second, confirm that the interests of mutual cooperation outweigh the interests of conflict, and that both parties can provide irreplaceable value to the other;

Third, take the initiative to participate in the operation of Muggle affairs, play games within the rules familiar to the other party, and claim a status consistent with their own strength;

Fourth, on the basis of interests, enhance feelings with people who share common interests, and use the special status of wizards to influence social attitudes.

Finally, Lockhart ended his speech with this paragraph.

Whether we like to admit it or not, it's a fact that we and Muggles are both human beings, with joys and sorrows. The descendants of wizards will also produce Squibs, and the descendants of Muggles will also produce wizards, which is doomed that the two groups will only develop together, and this coexistence is not subject to our own will.

No matter which group has the upper hand in the end, all we can do is to keep improving and keep improving, and standing still is the worst choice. "

Lockhart wondered if his words had completely dispelled the doubts of these people,

But from the results, the effect of the speech is still good.

Ms Garcia reserved her opinion, but also did not refute Lockhart's argument, who seemed to want to see the outcome of the British policy before making a decision.

After all, America and Britain are far apart, and they have time to react.

Lockhart doesn't know how long it will take for his speech to fully ferment, but using the platform of the Big Five Tournament, I believe these words can at least spread faster.

As for continuing to hide the wizarding world, Lockhart never thought about it. Because he is very aware of the working style of the intelligence agencies of various countries, the wizarding world cannot be hidden forever.

As Lockhart anticipated, the current owners of 10 Downing Street are also pondering a key question: how well the government should treat the wizarding community.

After the results of the first match of the Big Five Tournament came out, people from the Sports Division edited the footage of the match and made it into the first-ever Muggle videotape in the history of the British wizarding world.

Lockhart made a copy of the master tape, using a one-off videotape, and sent it to 10 Downing Street in an owl — to avoid a security review.

When Prime Minister Major received the one-off videotape, he did not choose to watch it immediately, but hesitated for a long time before broadcasting a call.

Half an hour later, an elderly woman with a soldier's breath and gray hair walked steadily into a reception room under the call of the secretary.

This reception room is almost closed, there are no vases, no paintings, not even windows, except for a table and two chairs, there is only one video recorder connected to it.

TV.

"Good afternoon, Prime Minister." The woman greeted the Prime Minister.

After seeing the visitor, Major stood up and shook hands with her: "Good afternoon, Mrs. Rimington."

If anyone had seen this old woman called Mrs. Rimington, he would have blurted out "It's Mrs. M!", because the two are so close in temperament.

In fact, this is also the case, because in the 007 series of movies, the prototype of Mrs. M is this Ms. Stella Rimington.

"Any orders? Prime Minister?" she asked.

Compared with the resolute "Mrs. M", Mei Jie seemed a little uneasy, he hesitated several times, but finally invited her to sit in front of the TV in the office with him.

"I did have something to ask you about," Major whispered, "and actually...how to say it? I don't know what to say about this, because it's so ridiculous."

Mrs. Rimington showed an elegant and polite smile: "I don't care, please rest assured. One of the advantages of doing intelligence work is that we can often get absurd news from various channels, no matter how absurd you say, I don't think that's the most absurd, but those are not in my consideration, I just need to know one thing, is this thing you're going to tell me about our national security?

"It's related, of course it's related, otherwise I wouldn't call you over rashly." Major replied immediately.

Mrs. Rimington thought for a while and added: "So, does this have anything to do with the detective you suddenly shoved into our department last month? In my mind, that man named Sirius never came. worked."

"Uh…"

Major didn't expect Mrs. Rimington to be so keen, and guessed part of the reason.