Information cocoons are everywhere.
The courtiers built an information cocoon to deceive the emperor; the emperor united with the Ming Dynasty's Ming Gong to form an information cocoon monopoly over the subordinates; the Ming Dynasty relied on the information cocoon of granular gunpowder and the confidentiality mechanism to ensure the advantage of Ming's firearms; The Ming Gongs used their right to interpret knowledge to further deconstruct the teachings of saints and monopolize local power.
This kind of information cocoon is everywhere. It seems that there are impenetrable barriers, which ensure that information cannot be effectively transmitted. However, the universal connection between infinite things allows the news in the information cocoon to spread silently everywhere.
Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan know nothing about the Atlantic Ocean outside the information cocoon. They will soon see the cruelty and terrifying power of nature. The violent Atlantic Ocean will make Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan remember it for a lifetime. .
Gao Qiyu, Xu Fan and others boarded new ships, from three ships to five. This sailing ship was only five feet, eight feet and five inches, which was about a quarter of the four-masted ocean crossing ship rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty. The width is only one foot and eight feet, the length-to-width ratio is 3.25:1, and the draft is one foot and two feet. It is a three-masted sailing ship called a Galen ship.
"You have seen this terrible and terrible hygiene. Father God, why do creatures like rats and fleas exist in the world?" Antonio looked at the rats that did not avoid people at all, with a painful look on his face. These rats brought new life to New Spain. The world brought many diseases, and these diseases claimed the lives of indigenous people time and time again.
"Why do we need to change to a small boat? Are small boats safer?" Gao Qiyu can understand the choice of land route to save water, but he doesn't quite understand why not to use a larger boat.
"Because big ships are expensive, ships are expensive, and the goods that sink in big ships are expensive. We use small boats to share the risk. If we choose between profit and life, profit is obviously more expensive than life." Antonio said something that made people silent.
Gao Qiyu couldn't help but think of the little emperor's words: One punch costs three cents, ten punches cost fifty cents, and killing a person costs one tael of silver, or even one tael of silver. No one will punish anyone who kills someone. Someone will clean up the aftermath for him and cover up for his evil deeds. But if you don't know it, then there is no such thing as being rich and polite.
When human life is marked with a price, and even marking a price becomes a luxury, is there any order in the world?
But now, Gao Qiyu found that he had encountered such a thing. The past Confucianism was completely unable to explain this extreme phenomenon, and new methodology was needed to explain this problem.
And coincidentally, his former husband Zhang Juzheng had a methodology that could explain this phenomenon, the theory of contradiction.
Gao Qiyu still couldn't think clearly about what kind of contradiction caused this kind of collapse of etiquette and joy.
He soon couldn't think anymore.
Because the ship set sail, the bumps in the Atlantic Ocean were far beyond Gao Qiyu's imagination.
The wind was high and the waves were rough, and all the crew were desperately raising, lowering, reefing, and adjusting the sails. Antonio couldn't care less about mice. Sweat, rain, and sea water were mixed together, and it was like being swept by a huge wave. He grabbed his feet and swung them back and forth. The person was still there, but his soul had already flown away.
This is a brand new experience for Ming people such as Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan.
Gao Qiyu thought he had completely adapted to sea voyages, but only after boarding this ship did he realize what seasickness was.
He couldn't even drink water. Twelve hours after sailing, he drank water for the first time. Twenty-eight hours after sailing, Gao Qiyu started eating for the first time. Xu Fan's situation was similar. The experienced sailors were all confused by vomiting, and the situation was a little better than Gao Qiyu.
In this kind of windy and rough weather, the most difficult thing is to control the ships. The wind is too strong. The continuous strong winds make the five ships difficult to control like wild horses. The trade wind is very unstable, and the ships seem to be drifting. It seems to be moving forward, but it also seems to be retreating, especially above the ocean, it is even more difficult to tell.
Everything depends on the captain's command.
The ship was making various squeaking sounds in the strong wind and waves, and it seemed that the next moment, the ship would fall apart in the wind and waves.
On only the third day of departure, a ship experienced water leakage. Then Gao Qiyu watched helplessly as the ship began to fall behind after struggling for a day. Although the remaining ships tried to get close several times, they failed in the end. They succeeded, and some crew members jumped into the ocean out of desperation, and were subsequently drowned by wind and waves.
The ship sank.
Antonio's expression became extremely grim. He was extremely lucky in the Pacific. Two deviated ships still caught up with his flagship along the ocean current. He was particularly unlucky in the Pacific. As soon as he set off, a ship sank at sea. .
The sailors, whose names no one remembered, took Antonio's cargo and disappeared across the ocean.
Ocean trade is still an extremely dangerous thing today. In comparison, people prefer the Lisbon-Cape Verde-Cape of Good Hope-Goa-Malacca-Macao-Nagasaki trade route, which does not have to face violent storms The Atlantic Ocean; in comparison, the Indian Ocean is as warm as a little girl.
Antonio's misfortune continued, and soon news of water leakage came from another ship. This time, the black men on the bottom of the ship tried their best to block the leakage, so as not to repeat the same mistake. During the stumble, the four ships were in trouble. After sailing for fifty-six days, we arrived in Cape Verde.
Cape Verde, the corner of freedom, as long as you have silver and gold, you can get anything you want here. This is a place that even God has abandoned. There is no courtesy, justice, shame or order at all. Force and money are the greatest violence. , is also the greatest order.
The most popular products here are spirits, tobacco, women and slaves. The chaos here is order. Anyone may be sold with a clearly marked price. You can even see those black-haired aristocratic women. Every time they appear, they will Causing mad looting and firefights.
Cape Verde is divided into the Windward and Leeward Islands. The Windward Islands have the Franco army, while the Leeward Islands are a paradise for pirates. They continue to rob and extort all passing merchant ships under various names. The city walls have witnessed countless attacks and defenses in history. Almost all ports here have bastions deep into the ocean, guarding the ports.
Almost all seaports have a specially built brothel, but the layout of these brothels is a series of cramped small rooms. Those gypsy women don't seem to mind that their skin is exposed at all, they don't wear any hair. , leaning on the railing to solicit customers without any scruples, and occasionally scolding some bitches for a prosperous business.
As soon as the crew members got off the ship, they went straight to these brothels. They were exhausted from the long voyage.
There are many legends circulating here. It is said that a pirate named Duguay Trouin once took 8,000 pirate ships composed of Frenchmen and slaves, captured a port in Portugal with 400 ships, and demanded a large sum of money. Ransom, this is the myth of force; according to legend, someone here once dug up boxes of gold coins overseas. Those gold coins were obtained by pirates who robbed merchant ships. This is the myth of wealth.
Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan were completely unable to adapt to all this. Of course, the Ming Dynasty also had a flesh-and-blood business, but the brothels of the Ming Dynasty that Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan visited were all about a style and atmosphere. Although the purpose was the same, it had something to do with poetry and poetry. .
But here, it's unscrupulous.
Antonio stayed here for nearly half a month. He had a wide range of contacts here. The goods he brought were sold to smugglers at an extremely high price. The ship that was then short-sold was recorded in the account book. It became a tragedy of being buried in the ocean.
Antonio kept part of the silver coins in his own hands, and distributed the rest equally to all the sailors. Everyone got the benefits, but they would all keep their mouths shut and would not report it to Felipe II.
Even the twenty-nine envoys Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan received a share.
In each portion, there were a total of three hundred and fifty-seven eight real silver coins, equivalent to about three hundred taels of silver.
Zhang Juzheng gave Feng Bao a red envelope for only one hundred taels of silver. One thousand taels of silver for Quan Chu Guild Hall could last for one year, which meant that this dividend could support Quan Chu Guild Hall for nine years.
"Facts have proven that tax collection is still reliable. Even if they refuse to pay, the inspection departments all over the Ming Dynasty can still inspect it. This kind of monopoly trade of official ships and official trade itself is an opportunity for people to steal wealth. "Xu Fan said in amazement, out of the four boats, Antonio ate one himself.
Gao Qiyu thought for a while, recorded the scene and said: "Felipe II should know this very well, so he only asked for his share of the interests. The sunken ship was also Antonio's own interests. , otherwise he wouldn’t need to do this as a captain.”
"Similarly, the design of the watertight cabin is really important, so that even if water seeps in, the ship will not sink and no particles will be recovered."
In the Corner of Liberty, a place abandoned by God, Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan felt very bad. It was so dirty, with human and animal feces everywhere, and nearly 10,000 people crowded into a harbor fortress. It was so bad. The sanitary environment is poor, and plague can be seen everywhere.
In the Ming Dynasty, excrement could be sold for money. Even Song Gaozong, the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, made money by becoming a dung master!
The name of De Shou's book is all over the market, and one Ding is worth three thousand poems. No need to ask more about the lanterns and brocades, the winged palace flags are inserted into the dung boats.
Gao Qiyu stayed away from these people, fearing that he might contract some plague and never return to the Ming Dynasty. After waiting for half a month, Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan set sail again to Seville.
Seville is the trading home of the Indies and the distribution center for goods from the entire New Spain and the New World. It contains almost all goods from the New World. The reason why it is called the Indies is because of a misunderstanding.
When Columbus made his voyage, he thought he had arrived in India and called the people there Indians, so he called the New World Trading House the Indies Trading House.
Seville, as the home of trading in the New World, is extremely prosperous, which Antonio has repeatedly emphasized.
In the eyes of Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan, this kind of prosperity is just that, because the population is too small, with only 150,000 permanent residents. No matter how much Antonio praises the splendor of this city, in Gao Qiyu's view, it is just a bigger city. Fucheng.
Machines are still not widely used in today's Europe and the West, and handwork is still the main mode of production. Handicraft workshops are the most important industry and commerce, with only 150,000 people. No matter how developed its handicraft industry is, where can it be?
Take Linqing, Shandong Province as an example. In the 14th year of Zhengtong, the city wall of Linqing was nine miles. In the sixth year of Zhengde, it was expanded to 20 miles. In the 21st year of Jiajing, it was expanded again to 30 miles. In the third year of Wanli, Linqing was The Qing once again asked for expansion, this time to a perimeter of forty miles.
Linqing is on the side of the canal, so there are not many merchants and gentry. According to general estimates, the forty-mile siege of the city is about 300,000 people. However, there is an endless grass market outside the city of Linqing, so it should be within Over half a million, maybe more.
According to the yellow book of the 26th year of Hongwu, Suzhou Prefecture governs 7 counties, with a total of 491,514 households and 2,355,030 people. The population of Suzhou City alone exceeds 1 million.
Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan did not have great expectations for the Trading House. After arriving, as Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan guessed, this was indeed a small town for Ming Dynasty.
Although the cathedral is indeed magnificent, compared with the Ming Dynasty's Glazed Pagoda, the cathedral is a bit worth mentioning.
There is a huge amount of gold and silver here, so prices are increasing at an incredible speed.
Gao Qiyu quickly discovered the source of these massive amounts of gold and silver.
The first one comes from central and western Thailand. The main producing areas are east of the Alps, Austria, Germany, Bohemia, and Saxony. The annual silver production in these places exceeds 2.75 million taels;
The second part comes from Portugal. They brought back gold from the coast of West Africa. This number has always been relatively confidential. Antonio, the heir to the Portuguese throne, revealed this specific number. More than 125,000 taels of gold are brought back from West Africa every year;
The amount of silver brought back from the New World exceeded 4 million taels every year.
Calculating this, more than 10 million taels of silver appear on the ground throughout Europe and the West every year.
As far as Seville is concerned, the price of goods has soared more than four times in the past ten years. This is an unacceptable status quo for Felipe II. He must find a way. , even if a large amount of silver is concentrated, it is better to circulate it in commerce and let prices take off again.
So, the exquisite silk entered the New World Trade House, even though Felipe II and Antonio had tried their best to sell it at a terrible price. The price was so crazy that Antonio doubted whether he would mess up the job. .
Because Felipe II set the price of silk to be equal to gold.
But sales of silk are still excellent.
There were 97,960 pieces of silk, each one weighing about five and a half kilograms, with a total weight of 538,780 kilograms. The Ming Dynasty earned 1.23 million taels of silver from this batch of silk. This made everyone in the court feel happy, and Felipe II wanted to sell them Sell it for a sky-high price, equivalent to gold!
Felipe II wants to sell 8.62 million taels of gold or equivalent silver.
After Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan got the news, they always felt that Felipe II was crazy, but soon Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan realized that the two Confucian scholars did not understand business transactions at all, and they did not understand Western affairs at all.
Felipe II's silks sold very well. He sold 60 pieces of silk on the first day, 120 pieces of silk on the second day, and then maintained the quantity at about 200 pieces. The silks were sold at a terrifying speed. .
Gao Qiyu didn't understand Europe, let alone the current customs of the Europeans. With the fall of Constantinople, the fall of Rome, the end of the Middle Ages, and the advent of the Renaissance, a feeling of distaste for Rome spread throughout Europe. The Romans admired silk very much. The silk from the West was neither exquisite nor durable, but the silk from the Ming Dynasty made the people of the West flock to it.
As sales declined, Felipe II gradually adjusted the price of silk. A month later, at the end of March in the fourth year of Wanli, the price of silk was still not sold by pieces, but by weight, and eventually it was as heavy as silver. Sales gradually stabilized, which meant that these 90,000 pieces of silk brought at least more than 9 million taels of silver to Felipe II.
Prices must be raised!
This is the biggest feeling of Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan. All their white money has been stolen by the red-haired fans. Isn't this a crime?
How can this be done!
Felipe II received the envoys from the East with the highest etiquette of the Spanish royal family. Driven by the shepherds, 10,000 ibex came to Seville. Supported by the sheep, the Ming envoys went to Spain. The capital is Madrid.
The Spanish Empire is a kingdom on the back of a sheep. The welcome of these ten thousand sheep is indeed the highest etiquette in this country.
The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is located on the banks of the Tagus River. The river flows quietly under the cover of dense forests. The red and white walls are looming through the gaps in the trees. The first thing you see is the round tower, which is connected to the Mortars were placed on the city walls and round towers, and the black barrels were aimed at the direction in which the enemy might attack.
Gao Qiyu looked at the round tower and the city wall on the city wall. The city wall was divided into three layers. There were gunmen, archers, and a group of spearmen standing on it. This was a very interesting way of building a castle. Gao Qiyu noticed the characteristics of this kind of castle. Defense capabilities.
Today is the day to meet guests at the Aranjuez Palace. Everyone is wearing the king's coat of arms and looks solemn.
Standing at the city gate to greet Gao Qiyu, Xu Fan and others was a general.
This strong man with black hair, deep eyes, and a high nose said solemnly: "Dear envoy, please allow me to introduce myself as a special envoy to welcome the arrival of the two envoys and warriors."
“I am the younger brother of the Emperor of the Empire on which the sun never sets, Lord of the Dominion of Barcelona, nightmare of the Barbary pirates, fear of the Moors, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the Holy Alliance, winner of the naval battle of Lepanto, Grand Chief of the Knights of Ucles, Ca Don Juan, the Lion of Styria and the Guardian of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets.”
"I received a good education because of the nobility of my bloodline, and I used the sword in my hand to guard the glory of the Empire and the Holy See where the sun never sets."
If you can read this long list of titles, you can understand how powerful this person is.
He was the half-brother of Felipe II and the lord of Barcelona. He wiped out the Barbary pirates and put down the Moorish rebellion. Commander-in-Chief of the United Holy Fleet of Tessie, he completely defeated the Ottoman invasion of Tessie, and was the head of the Spanish Knights of Uccles, canonized by the Pope.
There is a lion on the coat of arms of the Spanish royal family, and that lion represents the Kingdom of Leon, which makes up the Spanish Empire. He said that he is a lion, which represents his existence and maintains the peace of the province of Leon.
The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets is the Spanish Empire, and the Guardian is the title given to his younger brother by Felipe II.
"Thanks to the noble emperor of the Ming Empire for the goods, a price war that may have spread throughout Europe and the West has finally been alleviated." Tang Juan saluted again and solemnly thanked the envoy from afar.
The price war is due to the emergence of precious metals like a flood, which has caused prices to soar throughout Europe and the West, especially food prices. Because everything is rising in price rapidly, social conflicts are intensifying rapidly, and everyone is trying to find ways to issue a warning. With his own angry voice, he gathered these precious metals and found the flood outlet.
Felipe II was found, in Ming Dynasty.
Antonio did not speak. He knew that the envoys of the Ming Dynasty could understand. It took these Ming Dynasty people only three days in Seville to figure out everything they wanted to know. Even the guards with big muscles and round waists could use it. Speaking fluent Latin, he pretended to be a descendant of Roman nobles.
Antonio even thought in a wicked way that if these guards said that they were Constantine XI, the last emperor of Rome, a large number of people would believe that they were really Constantine XI.
Gao Qiyu looked at Tang Huan and nodded and said: "Hey! There are people from all over the world, and they are listening to the instructions of one person. But Your Majesty, I am willing to surrender to all people. If you have perseverance, you will be able to defeat Sui."
When Antonio heard this, he was stunned for a long time and said: "High Ambassador, can you say it again in words that I can understand? I don't understand what you said, and I don't know how to translate it."
Antonio is the general manager and is responsible for the translation work. Gao Qiyu's words immediately put Antonio to death.
You are opening and closing your mouth and speaking incomprehensible words. How do you translate this!
Xu Fan thought for a while and said: "That is to say, all the people must obey the orders of one person, and that is Your Majesty. Your Majesty is good at all people in the world. You must obey the people's normal nature and enable them to live in peace. This is your Majesty's duty. That is to say, you need goods, and we need silver, so that everyone can live in peace, which is what His Majesty wants to see."
Xu Fan translated it carefully, and then Antonio understood it and translated it in a jittery voice.
"Two envoys from afar, do you know Latin?" As the commander-in-chief, Tang Juan could certainly see their communication. These Ming envoys could understand Latin.
Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan both nodded. They were envoys of the Ming Dynasty. On any formal occasion, they had to speak Chinese. This involved etiquette and law. Important matters of the country were enshrined in Rong, even if they were tens of thousands of miles away. Etiquette cannot be discarded.
"Please, you two, the emperor of the empire on which the sun never sets has been waiting for your arrival." Tang Juan led a group of envoys into the castle.
Gao Qiyu, Xu Fan and Antonio discussed the etiquette. In Spanish court ceremonies, only those who are loyal need to kneel down, and it is obviously impossible for the two envoys of the Ming Dynasty to be loyal to Felipe II.
The red and white palace city appeared in front of everyone, and many Spanish soldiers stood in front of a huge square.
Gao Qiyu held a letter of credence and walked step by step in front of Felipe II. After bowing and saluting, he handed the letter of credence to Felipe II's secretary and said: "I, the Ming Emperor, have sent me the letter of credence. , to show the virtue of being gentle and distant."
The content of this letter of credence is not much different from the letter of credence sent by Felipe II to the Ming Dynasty. The first paragraph is full of rainbow farts, and then it is the agreement to fix the trade, and it also explains The ban on raw silk was passed, but the letter of credence did not mention a word about the Luzon conflict.
Felipe II was forty-nine years old, and he was still in good spirits. He looked through the credentials. There were two copies of the credentials, one in Chinese and one in Latin. The reason why The reason why I wrote this letter of credence in Latin was because Taixi did not understand Chinese. If there were any mistakes in translation, it would be difficult to correct them due to such a long distance.
The implementation of the Ming Dynasty's whip law decree and the widespread money shortage in the Ming Dynasty required the silver of the West.
"Two envoys, please sit down. I heard that the Ming Dynasty was a powerful country. Is my country as powerful as mine?" Felipe II put down his credentials, motioned for the envoys to sit down, and half-raised his head and said: "The coat of arms. The warriors below can use the weapons in their hands to conquer all places that need to be conquered."
"My brother, let the envoys from far away practice the invincible Spanish phalanx."
"Yes." Don Juan was wearing iron armor and was ready for martial arts. When Felipe II gave the order, Tang Juan came to the sergeant.
Gao Qiyu sat down and did not immediately refute, but watched the entire Spanish square formation drill very carefully.
"Is the king too confident?" After reading, Gao Qiyu looked at Felipe II and said calmly: "My Ming Dynasty has more than 100 million people. The king wants to use such a square formation to attack our Ming Dynasty. Isn’t it a bit of a daydream?”
Gao Qiyu was in a foreign country and showed no cowardice. When Felipe II showed his offensive nature, Gao Qiyu directly said that the Spanish phalanx across the West was nothing more than that.
Antonio was completely numb!
He's going crazy!
Felipe II was a king who liked to resort to force. His favorite thing was war. Silk was a terrifying profit, which gave Felipe II the idea of conquering the Ming Dynasty. Gao Qiyu, as the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, Sir, what you said was very, very rude.
Aren't you afraid that this war lunatic will directly kill the Ming Dynasty's envoy?
Antonio wanted to translate euphemistically, but when he was considering the words, he saw Xu Fan speaking in skillful Latin, expressing Gao Qiyu's words so completely that he could even curse them in his daydream.
Gao Qiyu continued: "I heard that Francisco, the governor of Luzon in your country, said that he would use forty people to conquer the Ming Dynasty, and then increased it to two to three thousand people, and finally increased to 20,000 people. This number continued to increase as he learned more about the Ming Dynasty. Increase, I am very curious, how many people does the king plan to use to attack the Ming Dynasty? In other words, as the understanding of the Ming Dynasty increases, how many people will be increased? "
"One hundred thousand? One million? Ten million?"
The house I bought today was handed over, and I went to take possession of it. It was already 8pm when I got home. Spain is a kingdom, not an empire, but their own people call themselves an empire. The ancient Han envoys were rude in their words and even less polite in their actions. They were not the diplomats they are today. , in a few years he has become like a foreigner; please give me a monthly ticket, Wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
(End of chapter)
