Liu Shimin quickly calculated in his mind. Judging from the memorial reported by the Ministry of Household Affairs to the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, the Portuguese in Macao shipped two thousand tons of raw and colored silk out of the port last year, and he finally brought it to Yuegang this time. There were two hundred tons of silk goods, not to mention high-end brocade and embroidery products that ordinary merchants did not have and only the Weaving Bureau could get them.
If such a large ship of silk goods and fabrics is successfully shipped out of the port, and the cost is factored out, there will be a profit of 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver.
But it won't all be in the emperor's bowl. According to what he promised to his senior during the secret conversation at Songjiang Ancient Temple, he, Old Liu, must find at least 20,000 taels and try to send them to his own team.
Giving up one tael on the selling price will make it more difficult for you to make a secret account.
No, I can't give in even an inch.
Liu Shimin then waved to Ma Xianglin: "General Ma, go have a cup of tea with our family and let Azhu talk to them."
Then he turned to Zheng Haizhu and threw eight simple words: "You can talk about whatever you want."
Dutchman Gullit's eyes followed the nobles and generals of the Ming Dynasty, and saw them sitting at the stone table under the banyan tree, and the servants began to pour tea and offer it.
"Ma'am, is your boss angry?"
Gullit's false politeness was tinged with a hint of even more fake panic.
Zheng Haizhu laughed lightly and said firmly: "Sir, of course we are going to be angry. We Ming people like to deal with honest businessmen the most, but you deceive us like fools."
"Ah? How do you say this?"
Gullit continued to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger, and made a cross on his chest: "We who believe in God are the most honest."
Zheng Haizhu took the tobacco bag from his hand and pointed to the red clothes of the bishop with poor embroidery skills: "I guess this dye is very strange. It does not come from plants or minerals, but from a kind of insect. wrong?"
Gullit's blue eyes widened a little, and he immediately put on an expression that neither admitted nor denied, and Hu Nong said: "Thank you to the merciful God for giving so many beautiful dyes to the world."
Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, this is really textbook diplomacy. The essence is to avoid answering.
She then stared straight at Gullit and said: "Going eastward from where we are standing, there is a land as vast as our Ming Dynasty. The Frankies discovered it by boat many years ago and occupied a lot of land. There is a place called Mexico, Mexico, where thorny plants grow, and there are many small bugs living on them.”
What Zheng Haizhu is talking about is the cochineal insect discovered by the Spanish after they colonized Mexico.
Before the great geographical discovery, Europeans could only grind murex snails into powder and dye them purple-red. If they want to obtain bright red fabric, they can only import it from China through the land and sea Silk Road.
But after Columbus's fleet found the American continent, the Spanish swarmed in and not only mined gold and silver, but also seized the Mesoamerican industry of dyeing with cochineal insects on cacti. The colonists forced the Indians to raise cochineal insects, then scraped off the insects' heads and limbs, squeezed their bellies, and mixed the juice and alum inside to dry them into small balls, which were then shipped back to Spain as dye and sold to European merchants.
When the interpreter from Yaxing translated Zheng Haizhu's words to Gullit, especially when he parroted the name "Mexico", Gullit and his Dutch companions' pretended calmness was finally overcome by surprise and embarrassment. substitute.
Zheng Haizhu threw out the last few words that revealed the truth: "You can indeed get such dye, but you can't get it from the land of the Netherlands, and you can't get it from Mexico, which is occupied by the Frankies. You can only ask Fu The Langi people buy it, well, but you just fought with the Franki people, so you can only ask the Venetians who charge a higher price to buy it."
"Well……"
Gullit stroked his red beard, pinched his big nose, and smiled.
Businessmen don't take face seriously, so Gullit didn't show any anger when he was offended.
Who told this Chinese lady to tell the truth?
The Dutch were indeed once ruled by the Spanish. After the fallout, transactions with Spain had to go through a third party, and the cost increased a lot. Otherwise, Governor Cohen vowed to seize as many Spanish overseas colonies as possible!
Gullit just didn't expect that his experience in dealing with Akito in Macau last year would no longer work.
It turns out that the officials and subordinates of this empire are not all frogs in the well. The eunuchs and women who are confronting him today seem to be very familiar with things outside the country's borders and are difficult to deceive.
Over there, Zheng Haizhu turned around and asked Fan Polu and herself to move the hangers with the baroque skirts over. Then she made a friendly look like "there is no friendship before the deal is concluded" and smiled at Gulit.
"Sir, our place has a one-price rule, no matter whether it's silk or cotton, there's no bargaining.
It doesn't matter, I know the door is always open and Yuegang welcomes you.
Well, everyone's time is valuable. Why don't you go to other docks in the county to have a look? We, too, invite other overseas friends to come and look at the goods. "
As soon as the interpreter translated Zheng Haizhu's gentle but decisive eviction order, Gulit laughed loudly "haha" several times.
He first built the steps himself and gave an exaggerated thumbs up to Eunuch Liu who was drinking tea leisurely. Then he tilted his head and motioned to several of his entourage businessmen to go to a corner of the courtyard for discussion.
Not long after, Gulit came back and walked to Eunuch Liu.
"Dear Sir, we accept the price of raw silk and colored silk. In addition, if the money is enough to buy those gorgeous and comfortable silks and cloths, we will also take them away. But we also implore you to give us some convenience, because There are too many goods. Can we allow one of our sailboats to come in and load and unload the goods directly in the harbor?"
Zheng Haizhu heard what the Dutch said and began to calculate in his mind.
Currently, according to the imperial decree, the seven major piers at the intersection of the Yuegang River and the Sea are absolutely prohibited from berthing the large sailing ships of merchants. Merchant ships from more than 40 countries, including the Franchis, must berth at nearby islands. They bought The goods must be transported by Daming's feeder ship.
In the past two days, Zheng Haizhu took a break from his busy schedule and went to various docks to check the freight rates. He estimated that if the Dutch rounded up the Weaving Bureau's shipment, the ferry fare would be a thousand taels less. If you can bring your own sailboat in, this cost will be saved.
Zheng Haizhu recalled that none of the coastal ports in modern China prohibited foreign ships from entering.
In fact, as long as a sovereign country does a good job in military coastal defense and provides procedural conveniences for cross-border trade, there is nothing wrong with it. At most, it will give some exemptions and exemptions for the first two times, and then charge a port entry fee.
Sure enough, after hearing the Dutch's request, Eunuch Liu did not show that "this matter is completely impossible", but whispered a few words to Ma Xianglin.
Ma Xianglin nodded, stood up and left the official post office.
The Dutchman felt that he was probably having fun, and his demeanor became more relaxed. Their attention was quickly attracted by the baroque style dress.
Zheng Haizhu lost no time in telling Fan Polu to take out the men's collars as well.
"Gentlemen, to be honest, the embroidery work on these clothes you are wearing is really ridiculous, and the material is as hard as donkey skin. Is it the homespun cloth spun from Fenni, Manlajia, and Old Port? It is better than the guangfu we have in the Ming Dynasty. It’s a long way off, let alone compared to this Songjiang fine cotton.”
Gullit put on layers of big collars with great interest and walked around the venue like a showman, with "Isn't he handsome" written all over his face.
I also had to admit in my heart that the people of the Eastern Empire were indeed favored by God, and they were rich in products and skillful.
Zheng Haizhu took advantage of the situation and picked up the silk-cotton blended face towel, handed it to Gulit, and said with a smile: "All textiles that come into contact with the skin should make people feel happy. Sir, it is particularly comfortable to wipe sweat with the looped part." And its color combination is very similar to your paintings drawn with oil powder, right?"
"Madam, how much does this collar and skirt and these veils cost? Oh God, we're really afraid we don't have enough money."
Gullit began to show off his exaggerated and useless acting skills again.
Zheng Haizhu took off the dress and handed it to Gulit. His tone returned to his cold crispness: "Sir, the price of the silk and cotton mixed face towel was set by the court. It costs three taels of silver a piece and cannot be given away for a penny. But Dresses and shirt collars, we can give them to you. You can't get better custom-made ones elsewhere, so if you need to buy in large quantities, please come to us. Also, I want to exchange something with you."
After a while, Fan Polu followed Zheng Haizhu's instructions and took a folding fan from their room.
Zheng Haizhu opened it with a snap and showed it to the Dutch.
The silk fan surface is white and delicate, and the top of the fan bone has changed from the simple Chinese fan, and is decorated with hollow patterns and lace-style curls.
What fascinates the Dutch most is that there are seven or eight oriental beauties embroidered on the fan.
Gulit, who has been doing trade at sea for almost ten years, can recognize that some of the beauties are wearing Japanese clothes, some are wearing Mangla saris, and some are wearing Ming Dynasty skirts and skirts. The kind of shawl that looks like a colorful cloud.
These Oriental beauties are embroidered with the unique grace of birds and birds. What really surprises the man Gulit is that their beautiful facial features are filled with a free and refreshing look. They have nothing to do with being solemn and sacred, charming, cute, pure, heroic and powerful, etc., but they seem to unchain themselves and rise into the sky in front of the viewers who stare at them.
Gullit estimated that nearly a hundred colors of silk thread would be needed to embroider such a beautiful fan.
But Gullit, who had seen Cantonese embroidery at the Macau Pier, keenly noticed that the style of this embroidery was very different. It was not as lively as flowers all over the ground. Instead, it left a lot of blank space between the beauties and the beauties. A few oriental characters were embroidered with black silk thread.
"My God, this work of art is so beautiful! Madam, what do you want to exchange it for me? It won't be my life, right?"
Gulit stared for a long time before asking Zheng Haizhu in a tone of voice.
Zheng Haizhu pointed at Gulit's waist: "I want this for you."
