The more than 2,000 Dutch immigrants who moved to the interior of northern South Africa were lucky. After they ran away from the Dutch East India Company, they encountered the South African expedition fleet of the Chu Empire, not any other indigenous country.
If it were other indigenous countries, even if they didn't kill all these foreign immigrants, they would probably capture them all as slaves.
But the Chu people were kinder, and allowed them to take some personal belongings and leave if they voluntarily gave up all resistance and were willing to move.
More importantly, the Da Chu Empire also sold them a batch of export version matchlock guns.
Of course, if it were other indigenous people who came to the Chu people to buy matchlock guns, the other Chu people would not refuse, even if the Dutch East India Company came over now and said that they wanted to buy weapons and equipment from the Chu people, the Chu people People will also buy...
A war is a war, a business is a business, it doesn't matter.
Even if these weapons and equipment purchased by the Dutch East India Company were used to resist the expeditionary force of the Great Chu Empire... But so what?
What needs to be sold still needs to be sold.
After all, the Dutch on the opposite side fought with their own guns and cannons, or with the exported weapons purchased from the Chu State. In fact, it made no difference to the Chu army.
How to beat or how to beat!
Therefore, these Dutch immigrants were able to successfully purchase a batch of matchlock guns and other cold weapons from the Chu people.
Relying on their absolute superiority in weapons, these Dutch immigrants were able to beat the indigenous people along the way during their subsequent migration north, rob the indigenous people of their food rations and livestock, and enslave the young indigenous people as slaves.
This allowed them to walk thousands of kilometers north, and finally arrived in Tshwane, which was far away from the Chu people and had fairly good natural conditions.
A new home was built here.
Now, they have discovered a large amount of gold here again... Since the first piece of gold nugget was discovered, these Dutch immigrants carefully inspected the local area and used slaves to conduct small-scale mining.
It didn't take long for them to dig out dozens of kilograms worth of gold.
This is because they lack professional mining and smelting technology compared to the agricultural era. Most gold is actually mined from the surface or shallow soil using very simple original tools.
According to the current gold content of one Chu Yuan, which is 3.5 grams, their small-scale mining has dug out gold worth tens of thousands of Chu Yuan.
After getting all this gold and learning that there was more gold in the local area, these Dutch immigrants went crazy and grabbed the surrounding indigenous people one by one.
Why arrest the natives?
Mining...
You can't expect only 2,000 people, many of whom are women, children and Dutch immigrants, to dig for gold. Even if they dig, they won't get much.
For things like mining, you still have to capture slaves.
With money in their pockets, these Dutch immigrants... no, now they call themselves Tshwane people.
These Tshwane people naturally want to purchase more weapons and equipment to capture more slaves and suppress them. At the same time, they also want to buy more daily necessities and production tools from the Chu people.
Don’t think you can’t find Chu merchants here... Although the Chu Empire’s overseas territories in Africa currently only have one South African Prefecture, one Hongkou County in Northeast Africa, and Moga County in Somalia (Mogadi Pemba Town and Mozambique Town in East Africa.
Although the South Africa Prefecture has a high level, in fact, the current actual control area is only Cape Town County and Dongkai Town. Dongkai Town is still in the early construction stage.
This is a full plan, but it is actually only six coastal port cities and the areas surrounding the cities.
However, the small number of overseas territories under direct jurisdiction does not mean that the Chu Empire has few colonies in Africa... In fact, the Chu Empire fully accepted the colonies of European colonists on the east coast of Africa. The colonial cities under its control are, compared to the Portuguese , instead of decreasing during the Dutch colonial period, it actually increased a lot.
It's just that in these places, the Chu Empire basically does not organize large-scale immigrants. It basically sets up an ordinary colonial government to implement the most basic colonial rule. The role of these ordinary colonies is currently mainly used to provide ships along the way. Supplies, shelter from dangerous weather, and at the same time doing some business with the local indigenous people.
Although most of the indigenous people in Africa are still in a barbaric state, they still have a lot of good things in their hands, not to mention some gold and gems, and there are also some animal skins, ivory and other specialties that are also used by the Chu people. needs.
At the same time, even barbarians also have consumption needs, such as various matchlock guns, various swords and other cold weapons needed for fighting, and various daily necessities used in life, such as cloth.
Some indigenous tribal leaders, noble officials and the like can also consume some relatively expensive industrial products.
Overall, what the Chu Empire did with these ordinary colonists was actually similar to what the Dutch and Portuguese did before, focusing on trade.
But even so, many Chu people actually entered these overseas colonies continuously, and went deep into the interior of Africa for trade, exploration, etc.
Officials generally don't have too much control over the various trade and adventure activities of private enterprises or individuals in overseas areas. Basically, you can do whatever you like.
Therefore, in today's African continent, there are actually many Chu businessmen active, and many of these businessmen have multiple jobs.
They are both arms dealers and fur ivory buyers, and occasionally provide military training to some indigenous countries.
In short, whatever you do to make money.
When these Dutch people moved north before, they encountered a Chu caravan and purchased a batch of ammunition, cloth and other necessary supplies from this Chu caravan.
As for how to pay the bill, it was natural to use looted animal skins, ivory, gold, silver and gems.
In order to promote business, the people from Chu's caravan also told them that if they want to purchase supplies or sell various local products in the future, they can go to Nansang Port to find their 'African Zhihe Trading Company'.
As long as you have money, weapons, ammunition and other supplies are available. Even these Chu businessmen said that he can get even flintlock guns and high-performance smoothbore cannons with purchase restrictions.
Although the Da Chu Empire's flintlock guns can also be exported, the export of these items usually comes with some restrictions and additional conditions.
Matchlock guns are sold casually, even by the enemy, but as for flintlock guns, because the use of flintlock guns allows the use of line tactics, which greatly increases the army's infantry firepower, so the Great Chu Empire's export of flintlock guns There are certain restrictions.
If there are too many hostile indigenous countries, then we will not sell to them... To be precise, we will not sell to them at normal prices, but if they insist on purchasing at super high prices, the Da Chu Empire will not refuse. …
In addition to price factors, when the Chu Empire exported flintlock guns, there were usually some political additional conditions attached.
For example, Ottoman Turkey paid a high price in order to purchase large quantities of flintlock guns from Chu.
For example, they tacitly allowed the Chu State to occupy Hongkou Port and the Yemen region, and also allowed the Chu State to open a long-term leasehold in Basra and station a small-scale self-protection army, etc.
If these prices had not been paid, Ottoman Turkey would not have become the second country in the world to equip flintlock guns in bulk after the Chu Empire.
When the Ottoman Turkish Guards were equipped with flintlock guns purchased from the Chu Empire, a handful of European countries were still using matchlocks.
The flintlocks they made themselves? The all-weather firing rate is too low and cannot be used in large quantities. In the past five or six years, European countries, such as England, Spain, France and other countries, have gradually solved the problem of low firing rate of flintlock guns and begun to equip them in batches. A flintlock gun with an all-weather firing rate of about 70%.
Therefore, flintlock guns are sold in the Dachu Empire, but they are basically for official procurement by indigenous countries. They are either high-priced or come with a lot of additional conditions. There are basically no pure ordinary exports. Even if they are, it is for advertising. Or for some other indirect benefits.
Such as provoking a war or something like that.
Some agents of Chu people's arms dealers like to send a batch of advanced matchlocks or flintlock guns to indigenous countries for free to encourage them to fight.
When the two sides started fighting, they began to sell matchlocks or flintlock guns in large quantities. At this time, the price was often very expensive. A matchlock gun could be sold for twenty or thirty yuan, and flintlock guns were even more expensive.
A strategic-level weapon like a smoothbore cannon is extremely expensive. The cost of an iron-cast smoothbore cannon is only a few tens of Chu Yuan. When the arms dealers of the Great Chu Empire sell it out, it costs hundreds of Chu Yuan.
And despite being expensive, there is a reason why it is expensive. The iron-cast smoothbore cannons exported by the Dachu Empire are more powerful than the bronze cannons cast by indigenous countries.
In contemporary overseas armies of indigenous countries, the Tang Army is often synonymous with elite soldiers. For example, the Royal Guards of Ottoman Turkey have performed very well in some combat effectiveness in the past ten years.
What, you don’t want to buy it because it’s expensive?
Haha, just because you don’t buy it doesn’t mean your enemies won’t buy it!
The enemy has already bought it, how can you not buy it? Just wait to be destroyed!
Because the weapons have excellent performance and are more cost-effective than those made by the indigenous people. The most important thing is that the enemy arms dealers of the Da Chu Empire often instigate wars between the indigenous people to create business opportunities. Therefore, the overseas arms trade of the Da Chu Empire is very profitable. The profits can easily be several times or even ten times higher.
This is also the reason why the Da Chu Empire has incorporated overseas arms trade into a franchise, and at the same time prohibited domestic arms companies from exporting weapons on their own. Exports must be done by government-run arms trading companies in each region.
Profits were too high. In order to avoid competition from its own domestic arms companies, which would lead to the collapse of foreign arms prices, and at the same time, the random sale of arms would not be in line with the interests of the empire, so the Da Chu Empire included the arms trade in overseas areas as a monopoly.
Each region has a government-run arms trading company that is fully responsible for all arms export business in the region. Currently, there are Fuso Arms Trading Company, Central Asia Arms Trading Company, Nanyang Arms Trading Company, American Arms Trading Company, and Indian Arms Trading Company. , West Asia Arms Trading Company, Africa-European Arms Trading Company, seven arms trading companies.
Each is responsible for an area, does not interfere with each other, and avoids competition.
In this way, the ultra-high profits and prosperity of the overseas arms market are maintained.
Under the well-established overseas arms trade management system of the Dachu Empire, the export of flintlock guns was not something that the natives could just buy if they wanted... In fact, it was possible, but the price was too expensive.
These Dutch people now have gold in their hands, and they expect to get a lot of gold in the future. They naturally want to upgrade their weapons and equipment. Although the matchlock gun can bully the indigenous people, its performance is still too poor, and Africa In this place, because the African-European arms trading company of the Great Chu Empire actively opened up the market, there are more and more matchlocks in Africa, especially in eastern Africa... These Dutch immigrants want to get a group of Better flintlock muskets to maintain firepower advantage over those African natives.
Even though it’s expensive, they can still afford it!
So they wanted to find the Chu businessman and see if they could purchase a batch of flintlock muskets and a batch of artillery pieces.
With an idea in mind and gold in their pockets, they quickly sent people to find the Chu people's caravan. After all was said and done, they sent representatives to Maputo.
When this small port was in the hands of the Portuguese, it had not been developed at all. It didn't even have a castle or anything like that. It just built a small supply station locally.
After the Chu people came here last year, they stationed more than 300 soldiers here and built city fortifications. Some businessmen who wanted money but not their lives also quickly followed the army and came here.
Among these businessmen, Meng Xiu is one of them.
He is not yet forty years old this year, but he is already an old trader.
Thirty years ago, before the founding of the imperial dynasty, he had been part of a maritime merchant team as a teenager, doing business with his boss and occasionally grabbing a ship.
Maritime merchants in those days were basically like this.
After the founding of the imperial dynasty, Meng Xiu's boss, like most maritime merchants at that time, chose to submit. After surrendering, he did business honestly in the waters controlled by the empire, leaving the waters controlled by the dynasty and going to some remote waters in the South China Sea. After that, naturally I continued to work in my old profession.
It was not until the major arms trading companies merged into the Western Arms Trading Company and the Eastern Arms Trading Company that Meng Xiu's career as a maritime merchant and pirate came to an end.
He tried to return to China to do some ordinary business and be a decent person, but found that it was very difficult to get along in China. Although industry and commerce were profitable, not everyone could do it.
Meng Xiu is a businessman who only knows how to sail and kill people. To be honest, he really can't survive in China...
After the two investments failed, Meng Xiu simply stopped doing business in the country. Instead, he recruited a group of old brothers who were unwilling to retire, and recruited dozens of ruthless people who wanted money rather than their lives.
After registering a trading company, I started to explore overseas.
Of course, overseas trade at this time was no longer the same as in earlier years.
Nowadays, it is no longer allowed to register an arms trading company, but just because it can't be done in the empire-controlled areas, it doesn't mean that it can't be done in the indigenous-controlled areas.
Meng Xiu and the others registered a company and purchased a motor-driven sailboat of more than a thousand tons. They first ran to India and conducted normal business in the vast Indian Ocean while being robbed by some foreign ships.
But after the official took control of India, they could no longer engage in the robbery business around India...
There was no choice but to go to West Asia and the coast of Africa, but it was not easy... In addition, the Chu people continued to expand, and they quickly captured West Asia and North Africa.
】
At that time, Meng Xiu knew that sooner or later, the pirates' rice bowl would be gone. He had to change careers as soon as possible while he still had some money on hand and a group of team members under him.
After careful consideration, he decisively sold the motorboat, then came to Pemba Port, and spent a lot of money to obtain the fourth-level agent qualification of the African-European Arms Trading Company, and obtained Maputo's weapons franchise. .
However, Maputo is still too small. There are not many people in the city, and there are no indigenous people in the city. Therefore, if you want to really make money, you have to organize caravans to go deep into the interior, sell weapons to the local indigenous people, and acquire the hands of the indigenous people. Various animal skins, gold, silver, gems and other valuables,
Of course, if the other party refuses to trade, or the potential profit is too great, Meng Xiu and his caravan can turn into bandits at any time!
They even engaged in some slave business, often purchasing prisoners of war from some indigenous tribes, and then passing them on to the Ottomans, Europeans, etc. who purchased slaves from the captives in Africa.
Of course, it must not be in the name of slave trade. Meng Xiu usually assists the indigenous people to find jobs, and at the same time collects so-called room and board fees, job introduction fees, etc. from those slave traders.
As for whether those indigenous workers became slaves under the hands of Ottomans, Spaniards and other slave traders, that was none of Meng Xiu's business.
Meng Xiu firmly supports the DPRK’s strict prohibition of slavery and crackdown on all crimes of human trafficking!
However, these Europeans and the labor dispatch companies organized by the Ottomans would package the purchased slaves as dispatch workers and send them to work in some plantations and mines opened by the Chu people in Africa and America.
Doing a variety of businesses together allowed Meng Xiu and dozens of people to establish a foothold in the Maputo area.
Not long after, as Meng Xiu expected, as soon as he established a foothold in the Maputo area, the imperial expeditionary force reached East Africa... Some of the colleagues who used to beg for food at sea lost their business one by one... In the empire In the waters controlled by the navy, do you still want to be a pirate?
Too long to live!
And because Meng Xiu changed careers early, he has changed from a maritime merchant and part-time pirate to a trader, a bandit, and an indigenous immigration consultant. Now he is living a very comfortable life.
However, Meng Xiu is also a person who has gone through hardships and is more aware of danger in times of peace. Therefore, although the current situation is not bad, Meng Xiu is still actively opening up the market.
Just when he was wondering whether he should encourage the two indigenous tribes northeast of Maputo to fight, someone came to report that several Dutch people had come to purchase weapons.
Moreover, flintlock muskets were to be purchased, and in large quantities.
"Moreover, they are going to use this to pay." When the men came to report, they were still holding a small gold bar with very poor workmanship.
"Tsk, tsk, it's rare to see such a new gold bar with such poor workmanship and such poor quality!"
As he spoke, the subordinate showed a meaningful smile.
When Meng Xiu heard this, he immediately stepped forward and took the small gold bar and looked at it repeatedly, and then said, "Find out where their gold comes from."
"If my guess is right"
"Then we're going to get rich!"
