Although Tang Ding had been to Old Port with Han Du before, he had never seen so many foreigners at once. There are really too many people of all kinds who look strange, dress strangely, and behave strangely.
Now I see that Han Du knows a lot about the West and speaks eloquently, and I can't help but feel curious about the West.
After Zhu Biao learned that the three Western cities were one kingdom, he shook his head and smiled softly, and did not continue to ask. Instead, he looked up at the rows of houses on the right side of the harbor.
Wang Yuanji followed Zhu Biao's gaze, laughed quickly, and explained: "Your Highness, that's the warehouse over there. Maritime merchants from the Ming Dynasty unloaded the goods they brought to the warehouse, while Western merchants went directly to the warehouse and Daming Maritime Trading. It is the busiest place in the entire seaport, and countless transactions are concluded there every day."
Zhu Biao glanced towards the harbor and saw boxes of goods being unloaded from the ship by gantry cranes. Countless natives, driven by the people of the Ming Dynasty, carried boxes of goods to the warehouse for storage.
Han Du took one look and frowned immediately. Although the Old Port is prosperous, both the plank roads and the roads are paved with stone slabs instead of cement. Although cement is extremely common in the Ming Dynasty, there is not even a trace of it in Nanyang. With poor sealing conditions, there was simply no way to transport cement as far away as the Old Port. Unless it is made from local materials.
Although it is not efficient to rely solely on manual transportation, there is no way to do it under the current conditions.
Seeing Zhu Biao's indifferent expression, Wang Yuanji thought for a moment and explained: "Your Highness, please don't look at the fact that this warehouse is not very big, but half of the annual income of Old Port comes from the rent collected from these warehouses."
"Collecting rent? Those warehouses are not for maritime merchants?" Zhu Biao was very surprised. Businessmen are driven by profit. There is no reason why they would not see the importance of buying a warehouse here.
Wang Yuanji glanced at Han Du and said, "Mr., you still have the foresight. I heard that when you first established the Governor's Palace in Old Port, you built warehouses in this area, and also strictly ordered that no one except the Governor's Palace could enter the building." The construction of warehouses in the old port led to the huge financial resources of these warehouses today.”
Zhu Biao turned to look at Han Du and sighed: "Your vision is really speechless. I'm afraid you have expected this scene as early as the beginning, right?"
Han Du looked indifferent, nodded slightly and said: "I can only do a little business like this. A governor's palace should also have some industries of its own. It is good to rely on taxes alone, but it is too dependent. Walk on two legs. , is the right thing to do.”
Along the way, Zhu Biao also saw the bustling streets, where you can even eat a variety of Ming Dynasty food. The numerous signboards with Chinese characters and buildings with Ming Dynasty characteristics make people feel like they are in a certain street in the capital.
This place is almost full of bright winds, interspersed with local characteristic buildings, which makes people feel surprised and surprised after getting used to it.
There were Westerners with white cloth covering their heads, wearing long cloth clothes, sweating profusely from the heat, bargaining with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty in broken Chinese. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty were baring their breasts and holding a folding fan in their hands to fan the wind. From time to time, strange chirping sounds came out of their mouths.
The charm actually made Zhu Biao feel more interesting than walking on the streets of the capital.
A local man dressed neatly and decently stood by with a smile on his face and watched the two parties communicating without speaking to each other. He just looked at them with a smile on his face.
The comparisons between Ming maritime merchants and Western merchants did not add much help to the exchanges between them. In the end, Shuang had no choice but to ask for help from the person next to him who had been waiting for a long time.
The locals had smiles on their faces, as if they were not surprised at all by the outcome of both parties. Spread your hands and stretch them towards both sides.
The Western businessman was a little unwilling and reluctantly placed a dozen silver coins or a gold coin in the hands of the locals. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty were much more generous. They took out a stack of treasure banknotes from their arms, took out a consistent treasure banknote and put it in the hands of the locals.
When the locals received the silver coins, they just weighed them and put them into their arms. On the contrary, when he saw the treasure notes, his eyes brightened up, he smiled at the Ming merchant, and his attitude towards the Ming merchant became much closer.
The value of treasure banknotes in the Ming Dynasty has long since dropped to the point where it was usually exchanged for one tael of silver or one thousand cash. Lao Zhu forcibly issued an order to fix the exchange ratio of treasure banknotes on the grounds that the people could not suffer losses. Coupled with the constant adjustments by banks, the ratio of copper coins to silver exchanged for treasure notes has not changed at all for several years. Once the price of treasure banknotes fluctuates a little higher, banks will continue to issue treasure banknotes to the private sector at the usual ratio of one tael of silver to the treasure banknotes. Once the price of the treasure banknotes drops a little, the bank will in turn exchange the treasure banknotes back with real gold and silver. At the beginning, there were still some profiteers who did not believe in evil and wanted to manipulate the changes in the exchange ratio of treasure banknotes to make profits. As a result, many profiteers were bankrupted by Han Du several times. After that, no one dared to think about treasure money anymore.
Therefore, the exchange ratio of treasure banknotes was extremely fixed in the Ming Dynasty, and there was not even a difference of one penny. It was always a thousand coins or one tael of silver.
But this is not the case in Old Port. There are no banks in Old Port, and there is no decree by Lao Zhu to forcibly fix the exchange ratio of treasure banknotes. In addition, Western merchants regard such ingenious treasure banknotes as miracles, and many Western merchants do not even trade at all. For other goods, you can make huge profits by taking the treasure money back directly.
Therefore, the exchange ratio of treasure banknotes in Old Port remains high. The amount of silver exchanged for treasure banknotes has never been less than five taels, and sometimes it even rises to more than eight taels.
That's why the Chinese become so enthusiastic when they see the treasure. Treasure money in Old Port is a hard currency that is stronger than real money and silver.
"What are they doing?" Zhu Biao also saw the actions between the three people and asked curiously.
Shi Jinqing has always wanted to talk to Zhu Biao, but he has never been able to find a good opportunity. Zhu Biao is the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor of the empire. Although Shi Jinqing's ancestors were also from the Central Plains, he had been based in Old Port for more than a hundred years. To say how much the Ming Dynasty would trust him, he himself didn't think that this trust would be strong. The reason why Han Du asked for an official appointment for him in the first place was because he had no choice but to do so when there was really no one available. Otherwise, the old port already has him as the ambassador, why would Handu set up the governor's palace in the old port? Isn't it just that they are afraid that the Tarshish family will become the dominant family in Old Port?
Shi Jinqing knew deeply that if his Shi family wanted to truly establish a foothold in Old Port, they must have a good relationship with Ming Dynasty. Especially the relationship with His Majesty the Ming Emperor, the closer the better.
Now that the time has finally come, he certainly won't let it go. He quickly explained to Zhu Biao: "Your Highness, that is the Ming Dynasty maritime merchant who is trading with the Western merchant, and the other person is the middleman."
"The middleman?" Zhu Biao naturally knew what the middleman did. "You pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other. Do you need a middleman?"
Shi Jinqing echoed with a smile: "The middleman is not promoting business between Ming maritime merchants and Western merchants, but helping both parties understand each other's intentions."
Seeing that Zhu Biao did not understand what it meant, Shi Jinqing continued: "The Ming maritime merchants and the Western merchants did not understand each other's language, and neither could understand what the other said. But these middlemen could barely understand the words of both parties, so As a middleman, I will convey the wishes of both parties to the other party and earn some benefits from it."
After Zhu Biao understood the role of the middleman, he nodded with a smile and said interestingly: "I didn't expect that there is such a business. I just saw that he collected money from both sides. How much did they charge at one time?"
Shi Jinqing bowed slightly and replied: "The money collected by people in old Hong Kong is almost fixed, usually fifteen silver coins, or five taels of silver. The weight of fifteen silver coins is about ten taels, but the silver coins of Westerners The fineness is poorer, and it looks like six or seven taels of silver after being folded. However, the Westerners come from different kingdoms, and the gold and silver coins they use are also of different sizes, fineness, and weight, so how much they collect each time depends on the Westerners. What kind of silver coins do merchants use?”
Zhu Biao nodded to express his understanding. This was just like before Qin had a unified currency. Every place had different currencies, and it was very inconvenient to trade. He frowned and said, "In that case, the transaction between the Western merchants and the Ming Dynasty merchants would be extremely inconvenient, right?"
"Your Highness Mingjian, it is indeed very inconvenient." Shi Jinqing replied quickly, then shook his head and sighed: "But there is nothing we can do about it."
There is really no way... Zhu Biao nodded secretly. Anyway, he didn't think of any good way to change this situation. Qin Shihuang was able to unify the world and then unified the currency. These Western merchants came from various kingdoms tens of thousands of miles away. The Ming Dynasty couldn't just rush over and unify these kingdoms first, right?
Han Du listened on the sidelines and lowered his eyes, with a smile in his eyes. He casually asked Shi Jinqing: "I see that the Western businessman gave the Chinese five silver coins, but the Ming maritime merchant only gave me a pair of treasure banknotes. Is it cheaper for the Chinese to accept the money from the Ming merchant?"
Shi Jinqing shook his head and said with a smile: "That's not the case. Guangbao banknotes can be exchanged for six or seven taels of silver in the old port, and sometimes even more. Therefore, the Ming merchants gave the Chinese the same amount as the Western merchants, not Cheap."
"In Old Port, can you still get sixty-seven taels of silver with a regular banknote?" Han Du narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again meaningfully. He stared at Shi Jinqing closely, trying to get a definite answer from him.
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