Chapter 42 Tobacco

"These things are the first batch of goods you are going to sell!" In a warehouse in the factory area on the outskirts of Chicago, Josie pointed to a warehouse full of wooden boxes around him and said to Linden Schneider and Dix, and then Pointing to a box beside him "Dix, open it."

  Dix stepped forward to open the box as promised.

   Seeing what was inside, Dix's eyes lit up, and Lyndon Schneider also widened his eyes.

   "Good quality tobacco!" Linden Schneider exclaimed, "Could it be that the warehouse is all tobacco?"

"That's right, all of them are rough processed dried tobacco. Your task is to find a way to sell them. I don't care whether you sell the tobacco leaves directly or make them into cigarettes. The profit after selling is up to you alone." 10%, other people will share 10%, and the rest will be handed over to me, and the other handed over to me can also be some other things I need, such as munitions, steel, cloth, food, etc., if you can find a comparison If you have a good deal, you can let me know in advance. How about it? Are there any questions?" Josie looked at Lyndon Schneider and asked.

  In later generations, when it comes to the industry of illegal profiteering, most of the people's immediate reaction is Huang Tian's superiority, the two evils of gambling fans who are inseparable from him, or arms.

  Especially fans, the benefits are hundreds of times.

  But what many people don’t know is that in the United States, fans have never been the most profitable illegal industry.

In the 21st century, don't look at this evil thing. The average annual sales in the United States exceeds 100 billion, and the industry is huge. However, Dana has calculated it because of various reasons such as high processing difficulty, scattered market, high risk and high transportation costs. , its net profit margin is actually not high, less than 20%, but because of the layer-by-layer diffusion during the period, there are many intermediate links, which are diluted geometrically, which gives people a feeling that this thing seems to be very profitable ,

  In fact, in comparison, this stuff is actually not as profitable as health products.

  For example, bird’s nest in sugar water, 0.001% of bird’s nest ingredients, the rest is actually sugar water, the cost of a small bottle of up to 3 yuan sells for 30... directly 1000% of the income.

   As for arms, the real money is always made by the legal transactions of those big arms dealers. Illegal transactions can only be regarded as fragmentary. Even the so-called king of arms can earn more than one billion dollars a year at most.

  So in the United States, what illegal industry is the most profitable?

  From 1919 to the 1950s, the highest profit margin was alcohol because of Prohibition.

   After 1950, it was cigarettes, private cigarettes.

  Yes, legal cigarettes are a huge profit industry, while illegal private cigarettes are even more profitable.

  Take New York in 2021 as an example. Because of the highest tobacco tax in the country, the average retail price of a pack of legal cigarettes is $13, and the wholesale price is $12.5. The profit per pack is only 50 cents.

   And private cigarettes? The cost for smugglers to get the goods is less than $1 for a package, and it will not exceed $3 including the intermediate transportation link. Selling to offline sellers is $5-6, and the profit margin is at least 200%.

  The downline sellers can earn 5-6 dollars by selling at a price lower than the market price of 12 dollars, and the profit rate is still more than 100%.

  Cigarettes in other regions are not as expensive, but the average retail price is more than $7...

   (In many places in the United States, you can buy domestic cigarettes that are cheaper than domestic cigarettes, because of preferential tariffs, and the price of domestic cigarettes is not cheap)

   It is also this kind of huge profits that has led to more than 60% of the cigarettes in the US market, private/counterfeit cigarettes.

  The key is how high is the risk of powder and how high is the risk of smoking?

  Except for horse grass, which has been gradually legalized in later generations, the sentences for selling fans and attracting fans are still relatively heavy. The most important thing is that most of the legal treatment of citizens will be cancelled, and the sentencing in the early years was even heavier.

   But what about selling cigarettes? Unless you are caught by the IRS, under normal circumstances, you can pay a fine.

  Risk levels are not at the same level at all.

  So since the 1950s, the mafia with strict organization, high operational efficiency, high informatization and advanced supply chain management has actually shifted its industrial focus to selling cigarettes.

  Powders, leave it to the bumpkins in Mexico and Colombia.

   In addition, since the 1990s, 90% of private cigarettes in the US market are Madeinprc.

  The only problem is that, as the upstream of illicit cigarettes, the requirements for managers will be very high.

This is why Josie attaches so much importance to Lyndon Schneider. This guy is called a criminal expert not only because he has a high IQ, but also has done smuggling. The key is that this guy is a real "doctor" from the School of National Economics of the University of Munich of PhD students…

  Ghost knows why this kind of person is reduced to stealing things.

  But think about what happened to Germany during World War I... It seems that this is not too strange.

   "How many goods are there in total?" Lyndon Schneider looked at the full warehouse and asked solemnly.

   "40 tons!" Josie said with a smile.

  40 tons? ? ? ? Linden Schneider couldn't help but gasped when he heard the words, his hands were trembling a little.

  The price of cigarettes in this era is also different because of the different purchasing power of currency.

  A cigarette is basically about 10 dollars.

   This price may not seem high, but if calculated according to the purchasing power of the currency, it is actually more expensive than later generations. After all, according to the gold parity, the U.S. dollar has depreciated nearly 40 times in 2021.

  40 tons of tobacco, if you are more conscientious, based on 1 gram of shredded tobacco and one cigarette, that is 40 million sticks, 2 million packs, 200,000 cigarettes, with a total value of 4 million US dollars.

  But what kind of conscience do you need for illicit cigarettes? Roll it looser, or add a little hay, and the output will double directly, that is 8 million.

  Even if the profits from the downstream sales end are deducted, at least two million can be earned.

  Even if they can only keep 20%, that is 400,000.

   Isn't this better than stealing gems?

   After all, 1 million jewelry, they can earn 30% is too much.

   And the risk of selling cigarettes is still low.

   "Able! Of course I can!" Lyndon Schneider's eyeballs were a little red.

  Selling private cigarettes is not just as simple as high profits and low risks.

  Many times, cigarettes can be exchanged for something that cannot be bought with money.

   Especially in those chaotic areas, such as Europe now...

  If these tobaccos can be brought to the current Europe, Lyndon Schneider can even exchange for a gold mountain!

   "But Mr. Kahn, if so much tobacco is to be sold smoothly, I need some start-up funds, and I also need more weapons and manpower!" Linden Schneider said after calming down a little.

   "Dix is ​​ready for manpower and weapons. For money, here is 50,000. In addition, I will introduce someone to you. Come out, Lieutenant Dietrich!" Josie clapped his hands.

   Immediately, a person in plain clothes was transferred out of the warehouse.

   It was Sheriff Dietrich who had appeared several times.

   "Mr. Kahn! Long time no see, Mr. Schneider!" Sergeant Dietrich first greeted Josie respectfully, then turned his head and greeted Schneider with a hint of arrogance.

   "It turned out to be Sheriff Dietrich!" Linden Schneider greeted the other party with a strange expression, and instantly understood why Josie introduced the sheriff.

  The two-tier profit of tobacco is a carrot, and the existence of this sheriff is a big stick.

  However, with the help of such a sheriff, the sale of tobacco will indeed save a lot of trouble.

"Speaking of which, Schneider, you are able to come out so early, and the sheriff has a lot of credit. In addition, the profit from tobacco will also be shared by the sheriff and his colleagues. You will have to cooperate more in the future." Josie said with a smile. "Everyone is smart and should understand the meaning of this business, and this is only the first batch of goods. As long as you work hard, I guarantee that everyone will be rich and rich, but if anyone wants to make other ideas, I will Advise him to think about the consequences beforehand!"

   Several people quickly said yes.

   "Okay, I'll leave the rest to you. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first!" After explaining the matter, Josie didn't stay long and left here.

   As for whether these batches of tobacco will be hacked by Lyndon Schneider, Josie is not worried at all.

  He has prepared two guarantees.

  The people under Dix are all the cowboys he recruited from his hometown of Kentucky.

  Lyndon Schneider wants to hack this batch of tobacco, it depends on whether these people agree.

   Another guarantee is Dietrich.

This guy is a genuine black policeman. When Josie was trying to help Lyndon Schneider and Dix get rid of crimes, he accidentally got a lot of information from this policeman, and as a policeman, he is also a family member .

  So under coercion and lure, the black policeman easily took refuge in Josie.

  Especially the profit of dozens of tons of tobacco, under normal circumstances, is enough for Dietrich, a black policeman, to collect black money for more than ten years.

   As for being bitten back? Josie didn't care at all.

   As I said before, buying and selling private cigarettes is not a serious crime at all, and as long as Josie is willing to spend money, not to mention that the probability of losing the lawsuit is very low, even if she loses, as long as Margot is around, she can still get out with some money.

   But these people... Hehe.

  The only thing to worry about is that these people are barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes, and they are fighting themselves desperately.

   But the possibility of this is too low. When they know that as long as they work honestly for Josie, they can make a steady stream of money, who would have a brain twitch and make a one-shot deal?

   Unless they can bypass Josie and get the source directly.

   But where is Josie's supply?

   Westeros!

   You take it!

  That's right, in addition to comparing the more legitimate trades before, tobacco is a new profitable business that Josie and Daenerys found during the communication process.

It’s just that in Westeros, tobacco is not used for smoking, but for chewing like betel nuts. This is actually the way tobacco was first discovered by humans. Because the taste is sour, it is called sour grass leaves—the finished product The tobacco leaves are not sour, but rather alkaline, because they are mainly flue-cured tobacco. Fresh tobacco leaves actually contain a lot of organic acids such as citric acid and malic acid. These acids will be precipitated during the baking of tobacco leaves, forming a white color. powder.

  Because tobacco itself has great medicinal value and is highly addictive, it is very popular among nobles, so it is grown in a large amount in Westeros.

  Daenerys has more territory. After all, it is the Slave Bay, and the cost of manpower is free, so the cost is very low.

   But obviously, this thing is useless to Daenerys, a queen who is dedicated to fighting for hegemony.

  So they sold it to Josie at a very low price, giving him another big surprise.

  (end of this chapter)