Fenghou

Chapter 1277 Investing
On the third day of the first lunar month, Chen Qing met a special guest, Zheng Tongquan.

In the guest hall, Zheng Tongquan put a box on the table and pushed it to Chen Qing, "This is a gift for the princess, please accept it with a smile, Your Highness!"

"what is this?"

Chen Qing picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a bright pearl the size of a pigeon egg, shining with a faint luster.

"I got this from a Japanese businessman five years ago. There were two in total, one big and one small. I dedicated the small one to Queen Mother Zheng. Now it is in the hands of Queen Wei. This is the big one. Your Highness, this is Night Pearl."

Chen Qing nodded, he knew that this was not an ordinary thing, if it was an ordinary sea pearl, Zheng Tongquan would not dedicate it to him solemnly, it really was a night pearl.

"Such a good bead, you should keep it as an heirloom, don't give it to me!"

Chen Qing pushed the bead back to Zheng Tongquan, and Zheng Tongquan shook his head quickly, "It's true that it is a rare item, but Zheng Jiade is not worthy of it, and disasters will happen. Only His Highness can match it, Your Highness must accept it."

Chen Qing nodded secretly. Zheng Tongquan was very sober and understood that virtue is not worthy of things. For example, a poor family accidentally picked up a rare treasure. The best way is to hand it over to the museum as soon as possible. You can't think about selling it for a high price or leaving it to your children and grandchildren, otherwise it will be easy to be targeted by others, ranging from things being robbed, or even the whole family being wiped out.

Ye Mingzhu has been the emperor's pearl since ancient times, if Zheng Tongquan wants to leave it to his descendants, then what he leaves to his descendants must be a disaster.

Chen Qing didn't refuse anymore, he accepted the beads, and asked with a smile: "When did the Duke return to Jingzhao?"

"The morning before yesterday, hey! The imperial court started to attack maritime merchants and rich merchants, Your Highness knows it!"

Chen Qing said lightly: "I know, when the imperial court forcefully confiscated the big ship before, Hu Yun reminded them to transfer the wealth quickly, but they didn't listen, thinking that I was going to seek their wealth, but now they understand, I listened It is said that Wang Zhenbang's family and Yu Wanfeng's family's family wealth was basically stolen, and the imperial court stripped more than [-] million yuan of wealth from his family, and the accumulated wealth of several generations was gone."

"These two families are three generations of maritime merchants, and their wealth is almost gone. I guess the few large merchants in Guangzhou and Mingzhou are also doomed."

"This is their fate. It doesn't matter if you don't mention it. I'm looking for the county magistrate. I actually want to talk to you about something."

"Please speak, Your Highness!"

"Last time, Hu Yun wrote me a brochure, talking about exchanging silver from Japan. The county lord should be very aware of this!"

Zheng Tongquan nodded, "Beizhi really knows that I once went to Feiqian Kingdom to trade with their lords, and exchanged pig iron and armor for one hundred thousand taels of silver, which is almost ten times the huge profit."

Hizen country is today's Nagasaki area. It has been the most famous seaport in Japan since ancient times. The envoys sent to Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty set off from here. Later, it became the base camp of Japanese pirates.

The most important reason why Hizen country can become the center of Japan's foreign exchanges is its geographical location, which happens to be the first stop for the mainland and North Korea to arrive in Japan.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, if you went to Japan, you could not go to sea from the mouth of the Yangtze River and cross the East China Sea to Japan. That would be a narrow escape. The safest route is to start from Laizhou on the Shandong Peninsula, cross the Yellow River to North Korea, and then walk along the Korean Peninsula. After Busan, cross the Tsushima Strait and arrive in Japan.

The ancients also discovered this safe route, so Nagasaki Port and Hizen Kingdom became the busiest overseas trade seaports in ancient Japan.

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said, "Does Japan really need pig iron?"

"Of course they need it. They are a bit similar to our Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. There were imperial courts, but there were many small countries, and wars often broke out between small countries in order to compete for land and population. However, Japan has no iron ore and can only buy pig iron from Korea and us. It is still far from enough, and the silver and gold sand domestically produced in Japan are in the hands of the lord, and I suggest that His Highness exchange pig iron for silver and gold."

"Then why don't other sea merchants go to Japan to exchange silver and gold? Could it be that they can't get pig iron?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Actually, that's not the reason. You can get pig iron if you want. The key is pirates. Pirates are very rampant. They don't like ordinary goods. They usually charge high tolls. Four times the profit becomes double the profit." , but there is gold, silver or pig iron on board, and if they stare at it, it will be over. I only did it once, and I dare not do it again, and other families dare not do this business. Others are profiteering as well, there is no need to take this risk.”

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "If I send a navy escort, will there be any problems?"

"If His Highness sends a navy escort, the problem will not be a big problem. Although those pirates are rampant, they only dare to bully civilian ships, and they are vulnerable to the navy."

"What about Hizen Country?"

Chen Qing asked again: "Will the lord of the Feiqian Kingdom care about my navy's docking?"

"That's not true. The Western Army's navy is just for escort. The lords of the Hizen Kingdom will definitely welcome it. After all, overseas trade is very important to them. They specialize in transit trade, selling overseas goods to other lords, and making a lot of money."

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "Is there any senior manager who is familiar with trade?"

"Of course there is, but I'll go in person for the first time! I don't need to do it next time."

Chen Qing was overjoyed, "Just ask the Duke!"

Zheng Tongquan said with a slight smile: "I would like to make four suggestions. First, it is best for the fleet to depart from Laizhou. In this way, it will take about a month to reach Japan; In this way, the lords of various vassal states will prepare a large amount of gold and silver to trade in Hirado Port; third, the fleet should also prepare some tea, silk, fine cloth, porcelain, etc., which can also be sold at high prices in Hirado Port; fourth, The escort warships don’t need too many, a dozen warships, [-] people are enough, the people there are all short in stature, like children, our elite army, one person can support three of them.”

"Okay! I'll let Counselor Jiang do all I can to prepare for this matter, and leave after the spring."

Zheng Tongquan said goodbye and left. Chen Qing returned to the inner house. He sat down opposite his wife and enjoyed the warm sunshine. Lu Xiu quickly asked the maid to serve tea.

Chen Qing put the box on the table, and said with a smile: "Just now Zheng Tongquan came to pay New Year's greetings, and the box is a gift he brought to me. Give it to you!"

"What is it?" Lu Xiu was a little curious, she knew that what Zheng Tongquan dedicated to her husband must be something extraordinary.

"A luminous pearl, this is not the kind of pearl made of fluorite, this is a real luminous pearl."

Lu Xiu hurriedly opened the box, and a crystal-clear and warm bead the size of a pigeon egg appeared in front of her eyes.

"Is this the Ye Mingzhu?"

"I will know in the evening, and I will come to enjoy it together in the evening."

Lu Xiu put away the beads and said with a smile: "I have to put it away first, if those two little ladies see it, I'm going to get dizzy again."

Lu Xiu thought of another thing and said: "I heard from Qiaoyun that your husband wants to do overseas business?"

"There has always been overseas trade with Nanyang. It is estimated that what Qiaoyun is talking about is trade with Japan. There will indeed be trade after the spring."

Chen Qing suddenly realized, and asked with a smile: "Could it be that you also want to invest in trade?"

Lu Xiu nodded embarrassedly.

"Yes! Silk, tea cakes, fine cloth, porcelain, sheepskin, these five things can be invested, but the total amount cannot exceed [-] guan."

"Okay! Each of us will give four thousand strings. Except for tea cakes, each of us will vote the same."

(End of this chapter)