Chapter 186 Big Business
For Diogo, the leader of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, this year is a year cursed by the devil. Using the saying he just learned from the Ming Dynasty, it is probably because the feng shui of his ancestral tomb in Portugal is not good.
As the plenipotentiary representative of Portugal in the Far East and the pioneer of the Far East Sea Route, Diogo played a huge role in leasing Macau. Through bribery and bribery, the Portuguese leased Macau and finally opened up the trade in the huge empire of the Ming Dynasty. aisle.
Although he leased Macau, Diogo soon discovered that trading with the Ming Dynasty was not easy.
The reason it was difficult to do was that the Ming Dynasty had little need for Portuguese goods, but the Portuguese were very dependent on the Ming Dynasty's goods.
The Ming Dynasty naturally had a demand for spices, weapons, and spices in the Portuguese business in the Far East, but this demand was not considered a rigid need. Besides the Portuguese, the Arabs had a history of selling spices to the Chinese Empire for thousands of years. The Portuguese There is not much advantage in this trade.
The same is true for weapons. The Ming Dynasty did not trust the Portuguese, and now the Ming Dynasty can also make bird guns. Although the Portuguese bird guns are of better quality, what can you do if they don't purchase them?
But the Portuguese were much more dependent on the Ming Dynasty for trade.
Tea, porcelain, and silk were all specialties of the Ming Dynasty.
Although Japan also had porcelain and Korea also had silk, only the Ming Dynasty could provide the highest-grade silk, the highest-grade porcelain, and the best tea.
When these high-end freights are shipped to Lisbon, Madrid, or even Amsterdam, the profits are dozens or even a hundred times higher.
Diogo tried to sell Portuguese goods, but Ming merchants were not interested. This huge empire was too rich in products.
Diogo's competitor, the business representative responsible for trade with Japan, was much more prosperous.
Ruola, the business representative of Japan, achieved a series of achievements in Japan.
First, Shimazu, the daimyo of Kyushu, opened Kagoshima as a trading base, and even set aside a "Nanman Pavilion" on Kagoshima for Portuguese merchants to trade.
In addition to Kyushu, the Portuguese are also trying to establish a trade channel in the newly opened port of Nagasaki in the Japanese country. Now the Japanese country is on the eve of chaos. All major forces are recruiting and selling soldiers. Guns are sold in the Japanese country. Nanman Xue (Portuguese technology) ) was also very popular in Japan.
What's more important is that the missionaries led by Ruola have also achieved great results in missionary work.
Compared with the Ming Dynasty's official vigilance and strict prohibition against missionaryism, the attitudes of the Japanese lords towards Catholicism were very different.
Some daimyo were very interested in Catholicism, and most of them had no objection to Portuguese missionary work.
For example, the Shimazu family, the rulers of Kyushu, did not object to the Portuguese missionary work in Kyushu, and even allowed them to build churches.
The progress in business and religion has greatly increased Ruola's voice in the Far East, and the silver brought back from the Japanese country has made Diogo even more jealous.
Diogo urgently needs a stable trade route. He needs porcelain, tea and high-end silk from the Ming Dynasty. He also needs a generous Ming Dynasty buyer to establish a long-term trade relationship.
While Diogo was thinking, a dark-skinned employee informed him that a Ming businessman was going to visit him.
Could it be that God heard his prayer? Is business coming?
Diogo quickly ordered his staff to greet the Ming merchants. Smelling the lingering smell of curry in the air, Diogo really didn't like these primitive Goans. It's a pity that most of the Portuguese elites in the Far East are now under the command of Ruola. A person is willing to mix with himself.
Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that Indians are talented in language and can make any language taste like curry.
This Goan guide was proficient in the languages of many countries and was recruited by Diogo to come to the Ming Dynasty.
Su Ze soon met the person in charge of Portugal in Yuegang. Diogo saluted Su Ze with standard Ming Dynasty etiquette, and then asked them to sit down.
After Diogo greeted Suze, he immediately saw Pierre behind Suze's team.
There are only a few Western faces in the Far East, and Theodore and Father Pierre have also dealt with each other.
Although he was not ashamed of Captain Alfonso for working for the Spaniards, after Alfonso's New World disappeared, Diodore also helped to find out the news at sea, but the New World was like a ghost ship, and no one saw him again. There is no trace of it.
The missing Pierre appeared in the team of Ming merchants. Diodo said quickly:
"Father Pierre?"
Pierre nodded and said, "It was the great Su, the kind Ming knight who saved me."
Diogo Looking at Su Ze, Westerners could not understand the complex military system of the Ming Dynasty. They all called all officers of the Ming Dynasty "knights".
In Fujian, it is not uncommon for "knights" to trade with merchants. In Guangdong, where maritime trade is more developed, almost all coastal guards will be involved in smuggling. The main trading partners of Diogo's colleagues in Macau are these Ming "knights" them.
Diogo immediately talked to Su Ze in Chinese.
Diogo's Chinese was fairly fluent, but Su Ze still felt that his speaking speed was too slow, so he simply communicated with him in Portuguese.
Diogo was secretly surprised. He had been in the Ming Dynasty for so many years and had seen businessmen from the Ming Dynasty who were learning foreign languages. But this was the first time that Diogo had seen Su Ze speak so fluent Portuguese and speak with a smooth Lisbon accent.
In addition to being fluent, Su Ze's magnanimity also made Diogo very respectful to him. He had only seen this magnanimity in a few senior officials of the Ming Dynasty.
All this made Diogo curious about Suze's identity.
But the other party was here for business. After Diogo finished greetings, Su Ze took out a lacquerware box.
Diogo's eyes lit up when he saw this box. Ming Dynasty lacquerware is also very popular in the West. This box looks very high-end.
Opening the box, Su Ze took out another porcelain tea can.
Diogo's eyes brightened when he saw this tea can.
The set of porcelain customized by Su Ze was specially ordered according to the preferences of foreigners. The painted patterns on the porcelain are also extremely exaggerated, but foreigners like this.
Su Ze opened the porcelain tea can and poured out the brown tea leaves.
Smelling the fragrance in the jar, Diogo quickly asked: "Tea?"
But when he saw Lapsang Souchong, Diogo was confused again. Is this different from the tea he drank in Daming?
Su Ze asked Lin Deqing to bring a teapot, and Diogo's Goan assistant brought hot water. Su Ze quickly made two cups of black tea and handed it to Diogo.
fragrant!
Diogo was quickly attracted by the rich aroma of black tea. The rich tea soup suited his taste, and this tea did not have the bitter aftertaste of green tea. It was a good tea!
Su Ze took out another piece of sugar from his pocket, poured the sugar into the teapot, and brewed two bowls of slightly sweet black tea again. This time, Diogo's eyes lit up even more!
When Portugal was in the Middle Ages, it was occupied by the Green Cult for a long time. Their eating habits were also somewhat nomadic, and they liked milk and sugar.
Diogo also tried adding milk or sugar to green tea, but the taste was a bit weird.
The black tea Su Ze brought today matched the sweetness perfectly, it was so perfect!
Diogo looked at Su Ze, his eyes full of passion. If such goods were shipped to Lisbon, they would definitely set off a craze for "Da Ming Tea"!
"Dear guest, how much of this tea do you have?" Su Ze said, "This is tea produced in my tea garden. This time I only brought a small part. We can sign a long-term cooperation agreement."
Dior Ge was even more happy. Those who could own tea gardens in the Ming Dynasty must be the nobles of the Ming Dynasty.
Su Ze added: "My tea leaves have another advantage. As long as the tea cans are kept sealed, the tea leaves will not deteriorate throughout the world."
Diogo asked respectfully: "Can you tell me the price of this tea?"
Su Ze He quoted a price that was four times the normal price of Wuyi Mountain green tea. He was originally just going to quote the price first and then counter-offer, but he didn't expect that the General Representative of Hong Kong on the opposite side agreed to Su Ze's offer without hesitation.
Do you agree?
Su Ze just regretted not asking for a higher price.
Having agreed to the offer, Diogo soon regretted it.
His regret was not that the price quoted to Su Ze was too high, but that he simply did not have so much silver on hand to purchase Su Ze's tea in the long term.
He hesitated and said: "Dear Su, can you trade goods?"
Diogo was prepared to be rejected, but he didn't expect that the other party agreed very happily.
"Just use goods to trade! I don't know what goods you can provide."
Diogo immediately took out his product manual. Su Ze saw the blunderbuss and Franco cannon on it. He suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm. He said: "You can trade Franco cannons and blunderbuss."
Diogo quickly signed a long-term trading contract with Su Ze, and he was also guessing about Su Ze's identity.
Businessmen in the Ming Dynasty would also purchase gunshots sporadically, but not many purchased them on such a large scale as Su Ze.
The knights of the Ming Dynasty were different from those in Europe. Their weapons were all provided by the Ming Emperor.
What a generous and wealthy emperor. Compared with the Ming Emperor, the European monarchs were stingy, and the lords had to prepare their own weapons and horses.
Are they Japanese pirates?
Diogo shook his head again. All pirates in East Asia can be classified as Japanese pirates, but Diogo has seen many Japanese pirates, including the famous Japanese pirate Wang Zhi, but no one has the magnanimity of Su Ze.
Su Ze should be a knight of the Ming Dynasty, and a knight with a relatively high status.
In addition to the knights, maybe Su Ze came to buy weapons on behalf of the Ming Dynasty official?
This is possible. As more and more guns flow into the Japanese country, the Japanese pirates' equipment is getting better and better.
Maybe the Ming Dynasty allowed officials like Su Ze to purchase weapons privately because of their reputation?
Otherwise, which knight would buy so many muskets at his own expense?
Diogo was not prepared to delve into Su Ze’s identity.
Su Ze spoke again: "Does Mr. Diogo have any Western books for sale?"
Western books?
This was the first time that Diogo met a Ming Dynasty person who was interested in Western books.
Diogo said in embarrassment: "I didn't bring any books with me when I came to Yuegang this time. Can you please pay attention to it next time I go to Malacca?"
Su Ze nodded. It was already good to reach an agreement to exchange tea for arms.
After talking about the transaction, Father Pierre asked, "Are there any other priests in Yuegang?"
Diogo shook his head and said, "Several priests are building churches in Macau, and there are no priests here in Yuegang."
Pierre Somewhat disappointed, he said to Diogo: "Dear Your Excellency Diogo, please give this letter to Bishop Giannilao of Macau next time you see him." Diogo took the letter and Pierre
said : "Dear Ming Knight Su, supports us in preaching in his territory, but I can't spread the gospel of the Lord alone. I hope the church can send more people here." "They can come to Yuegang first, and wait until next time when
we When we come to trade, we will go to Su's territory."
Diogo looked at Pierre in surprise. The Portuguese missionaries in the Ming Dynasty had never been nervous. The church in Macau was still under construction, but it did not attract many believers.
Father Pierre actually got the support of a Ming knight?
This is an amazing result!
Diogo immediately promised to deliver the letter to Macau as soon as possible, and then handed the fifty muskets in stock to Su Ze, completing the tea transaction.
Returning to the ship, Lin Mojun stared at Su Ze and said, "I didn't expect Mr. Su to be so good at lying. I didn't realize this before."
Su Ze immediately said, "Where are you lying?"
"You said you support Pierre. You preach, but you clearly prohibited him from spreading faith in Changningwei."
Su Ze immediately said: "Don't I agree with him preaching to the Crooked Hoof people? It's just that he doesn't speak the Crooked Hoof people's language, so he can't preach. Su
Ze smiled again and said: "Changning Guard is not my territory, it is your territory, Lin Baihu's. It was you who prohibited him from preaching in your territory."
Lin Mojun also laughed and said, "Sure enough, a man's territory You can't trust what you say."
Su Ze felt guilty inexplicably and said, "Look how comfortable Father Pierre is living on the island. He did it voluntarily!"
Lin Mojun said lightly: "I have to be more careful in the future. Don't let me count the money for you after being sold out."
Su Ze did not lie. Today, Father Pierre was studying astronomy and mathematics at the same time, and was very busy.
And Su Ze drew a pie for him and asked him to translate the Chinese version of the Bible on the island.
Although Pierre was a Jesuit, he opposed the Protestant private translation of the Bible.
But Su Ze still convinced him that the East is different from the West. If there is no Bible that scholars can understand, the intellectual class will not be interested in Catholicism at all.
This made Father Pierre unable to refuse this temptation.
We are different from those heretics in Württemberg. We are translators, not tampering!
But this work cannot be completed by Pierre alone, which is why he is willing to cooperate with Su Ze to lie and deceive more missionaries to go to Changningwei.
After returning home with a full load of cargo, Su Ze rushed back to Nanping City. As soon as he returned to the editorial office of "Surprise", he heard Lin Qingcai say that someone was visiting.
(End of chapter)