Charlie Gough and Ji Dabao were also very busy during this period. They were mainly busy with two things. One was busy moving the British East India Company's business office from Anping Town in Taiwan to Dahao Town in Chaozhou. In the future, the focus of the British East India Company's business in China will be moved to Chaozhou.
The second is busy shipping and purchasing - sending out a batch of Daming Chun wine, and at the same time sending out some purchase orders for gutta-percha, arabic gum and fierce oil.
The American natural rubber that Zhu Heji wanted was not available for a while. But there are still ways to get gutta percha, gum arabic and kerosene.
Gutta-percha comes from Southeast Asia. After being burned, it can be applied to linen to make rainproof cloth. In fact, it is also a kind of natural rubber and can also be used to make vulcanized rubber. However, the vulcanized rubber made from gutta-percha is very hard and not very elastic, so it cannot be used as a rubber band.
Gum arabic is produced in India and the Arabian Peninsula and is also a gum. It has a wide range of applications and is mainly added to various beverages and candies to thicken, bind and stabilize aromas. It can be used as a binder for sweet gunpowder, stabilize the aroma of perfume and thicken fire oil. This is really a good thing for both military and civilian use!
Fierce oil is actually light petroleum, which is produced in Borneo and Sumatra, and is not difficult to obtain.
By the end of February, a batch of gum arabic and fire oil stored in the British East India Company's Macau warehouse had been transported to Dahao, and a batch of Daming Spring wine had been sent to Macau.
In addition, Charlie Gough also received instructions from the General Commercial Office of the British East India Company in Macau, asking him to try to find out the secret of "violent gunpowder" and at the same time negotiate with the newly established Jieyang court of the Ming Dynasty on the issue of "monopolized free trade" .
This puts both Charlie Gough and Ji Dabao in a bit of a dilemma... The people in power in the Jieyang court are a group of former Confucian scholar-bureaucrats who seem to be unreasonable, and they also have the power to get a knighthood for Charlie Gough. Dongchang perfume!
He is not willing to delay his future for the benefit of the company, but the instructions from his superiors always have to be perfunctory.
After all, his senior class is a land-based senior class, not a ship's senior class. If he wants to take the perfume back to Europe to "present the treasure", the company has to send a ship!
So when Zhu Heji, Dao Scarong and Eunuch Pang arrived in Haolai to "inspect" together, they were still in trouble!
I heard that the powerful prince came to Dahao. How dare Charlie Gough and Ji Dabao neglect him? He immediately took the goods list and samples, took a carriage and went to the Qiu Family Courtyard where Zhu Heji was staying to meet him.
Zhu Heji, Dao Scarong and Eunuch Pang greeted each other politely at the second door of the annex, and invited a semi-foreign friend into the fragrant second hall of the annex.
When he smelled this aroma, Charlie Goff's eyes lit up! Before he could sit down, he asked, "Oh, this must be Dongchang Xiang, right?"
"That's right, this is Dongchang incense made secretly by Dongchang." Of course the person who answered was Eunuch Pang, the governor of Dongchang!
"Dongchang Incense" is, of course, secretly made by Dongchang!
After both parties sat down, Charlie Gough couldn't wait to ask again: "Master Governor, how many kilograms of Dongchang incense did you bring this time?"
"Fifty pounds!" Eunuch Pang stretched out a slap, "This is hard enough for our Dongchang to use for a whole year."
"Fifty pounds is..." Charlie Goff was obviously not very good at mathematics and couldn't figure it out right away, so he glanced at Ji Dabao.
Ji Dabao said, "Fifty jin is eight hundred taels. According to the previously agreed price of one tael of silver and two taels of water, it is worth four hundred taels of silver!"
Charlie Gough was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said to Zhu Heji: "Your Excellency, I have obtained some fire oil and gum arabic for you...the value is more than four hundred taels of silver, reaching one thousand two hundred Two. You still need to give me eight hundred taels of Damingchun wine, can we exchange it immediately?"
Quite urgent!
There's drama!
Zhu Heji smiled and said to Charlie Goff: "It's easy to talk about... Is it easy to sell Daming Spring Wine?"
"It's not bad." Charlie Gough said with a smile, "It's just a bit expensive... It would be better if there were some low-end Damingchun wine."
"Low-end Da Mingchun?" Zhu Heji glanced at Dao Scarong in a fake way - this wine was theoretically purchased from the countryside of Chaozhou.
"It's easy to do," Dao Scarong said with a smile, "Just use new wine and add more water. It can be done with a few hundred coins."
"That's great!" Charlie Gough was very satisfied and asked with a smile, "Your Excellency, Your Excellency the Prince, Your Excellency the Manufacturer, our East India Company hopes to obtain the exclusive agency rights of Dongchangxiang in markets outside China... .If you can agree, we can guarantee that we will sell one thousand kilograms of Dongchang incense every year!"
One thousand pounds of perfume is a big deal! One catty is worth eight taels of silver, and one thousand catties is worth eight thousand taels!
Moreover, the net profit of perfume is high. A sale of 8,000 taels has a profit of at least 7,500 taels!
In addition, the aromatic essential oils for preparing perfumes are not easy to extract, and it cannot be done without certain chemical skills and skills. Therefore, Zhu Heji could easily form a technological monopoly... Those Westerners would not be able to reach Zhu Heji's level without a hundred or two hundred years of exploration.
Therefore, Zhu Heji can completely engage in monopoly with his eyes closed. He is not afraid of European copycats at all, let alone anti-monopoly.
So this perfume is a trump card in Zhu Heji's hand!
"Exclusive agent?" Zhu Heji said with a smile, "Mr. Gaofu, I know that you Westerners have a strong smell and you don't like to take a bath... What kind of emperor, pope, king, queen? , Grand Duke, it smells bad to me. This Dongchang incense is perfect for them! I’m afraid one thousand kilograms is not enough for people like them, right? This thing is rare and expensive! You can buy it from me for eight thousand taels of silver. It's a thousand catties, but it has to be sold for tens of thousands of gold in Europe, right? With such a huge profit, is it appropriate for you to have a monopoly?"
Charlie Gough thought to himself: "You, an Eastern king, know quite a lot about European things. You even know that the big shots in Europe don't like to take baths and are very smelly... This business is not easy to do!" "
While he was thinking about it, Ji Dabao had already answered the question for him: "It's appropriate, it's so appropriate...Mr. Gaofu is a friend of the Crown Prince and a friend of the Ming Dynasty. He has always supported the Yanping Palace and the Crown Prince. Those who oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!"
Zhu Heji smiled and asked Charlie Gough: "Really? Mr. Gough, do you really support me in fighting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty?"
"Really, really!" Charlie Gough nodded repeatedly. His mind was spinning very quickly. Of course, he already knew why Zhu Heji said these things to him.
This is a request from him, in exchange for the exclusive agency rights of the perfume!
Zhu Heji said: "In that case, I can ask you to do a small favor, right?"
"Please tell me, please tell me." Charlie Gough was not in a hurry to agree, but asked Zhu He to make conditions.
Zhu Heji smiled and said to Charlie Gaofu: "Mr. Gaofu, you should know that Shang Kexi, the king of Pingnan of the Qing Dynasty, has personally led an army to Mianhu Village, right? Guangzhou is empty now, so we plan to attack Guangzhou by water. . But I heard that the relationship between Shang Laothief and the Portuguese in Macau is very good. Once our fleet approaches Humenkou, the Portuguese warships will attack from Macau. Their warships are still very powerful, and I am afraid they will be broken. This prince’s grand plan.
Therefore, I want to ask the armed merchant ships of the British East India Company to protect them. I know that the relationship between England and Portugal is very strong. The Portuguese in Macao will never dare to attack the ships protected by your British East India Company. I said That's right? "
That’s right!
The friendship between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of England has a long history and has passed the test of blood and fire.
Historically, during the decades when the Kingdom of Portugal was annexed by the Kingdom of Spain, England was the only one in Europe who always supported Portugal's restoration.
Therefore, after the restoration of Portugal, England gained the right to freely enter and exit Portugal's overseas territories. The Kingdom of Portugal also gave the colonies on Bombay and Ceylon to King Charles II as Princess Catherine's dowry.
Charlie Gough thought for a while and said: "My lord, I can meet your request. However, our ships of the British East India Company will not participate in any offensive operations against the Qing army fortress and fleet at Humenkou!"
"Okay, it's a deal!" Zhu Heji said with a smile, "When your escort ship arrives at Dahao, we will sign the contract on board!"
