Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 759 Cultivate Business Opportunities
Europe in the Northern Song Dynasty was still in the Holy Roman Empire era. In fact, it was composed of a large number of kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of England, etc. Wait, there are a bunch of larger duchies under the kingdom, which is actually a typical feudal era, at least 500 years away from the age of great exploration.

But at this time, Europe was still obsessed with silk and porcelain from the East, but they could not go to the far East, and the Arabs acted as second-hand dealers.

As land commercial routes were cut off, sea routes began to prosper.

This is why Xingang has become the most prosperous seaport in Southeast Asia within a few years of its establishment.

Fan Ning was interested in how these Europeans came here, and there was actually a European girl. You know, the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Europeans almost 400 years later, and a new route was established.

An Arab businessman acted as their interpreter.

As Fanning thought, this group of European businessmen still came from Genoa, but they were not Genoese, but from the Holy Roman Empire.

Through translation, Fan Ning learned that after the brothers Pi Luowen and Pi Luo Wen traveled to the Song Dynasty, the two returned to Genoa and wrote a book "Journey to the East", which caused a sensation in the whole of Europe. exploited by the Arabs.

Many merchants went to the east along the track of the Pi brothers. Ships on the Red Sea unloaded at the port of Aizab, and then transported by land to Hus in the Nile Valley, and then along the river to Alexandria. This has always been the tradition of Genoa and Venetian merchants going to the east. The commercial road is operated by special Karimi merchants, mainly because it is relatively safe. This is how this group of European merchants came here, and they walked for four full months on the way.

Fan Ning had heard about this commercial road a long time ago. The port of Aizab is the port of Gusser today, and Huss is the Guss on the Nile River today. They are more than [-] miles apart. This is an ancient commercial road.

Dozens of European businessmen heard that Fan Ning actually knew Cologne, and suddenly felt the excitement of encountering an old acquaintance in a foreign land, especially the middle-aged man who was from Cologne, but he had no impression of the Cologne Cathedral that Fan Ning knew, and the church in Cologne Many, the cathedrals Fanning was referring to were not built until 200 years later.

But this does not affect everyone's goodwill towards him.

"How long did it take you to ride the camels?" Fanning asked.

The leading middle-aged man is called Banser, and his full name is Ludwig von Banser. The girl is his daughter, Ashabel Banser, who is only 12 years old. The father and daughter are from the Holy Roman Empire. In Rüdesheim, Banzai is a big businessman dealing in goods from the east. There are more than [-] of them in total, and they are all businessmen from the north-central part of the Holy Roman Empire. This time, they all came to the east together to find business opportunities.

Ban Sai said through the translator: "The land journey is not long, only three days, but unfortunately we can't transport too many goods, so we came to the East this time to buy some high-value goods, such as silk, more precious spices, exquisite fine porcelain."

Fan Ning pondered for a while and said: "Actually, you can buy a large warehouse in Aizab Port, store the goods in the warehouse, so that you can buy a lot of goods at one time, and then send people to transport the goods from the seaport to Alexandria, which is not very good. ?"

Fan Ning's suggestion stunned the European businessmen for a while, and they began to discuss in low voices. This was the first time for them to take the Eastern business route, and there were many things they hadn't thought of.

At this time, the chief officials of the various yamen in Xingang came to the pier to meet Fan Ning, which surprised a group of European businessmen.

Fan Ning asked the city ship envoy Zhang Yan, "Are these the first Europeans?"

"They are not. The merchants who came the most were from Genoa and Venice. They seem to be Western merchants from another country."

When Fan Ning was inquiring about these European businessmen, the little girl beside her was Ashabel tilting her head to look at Fan Ning. She was full of curiosity about Fan Ning.

"Sir, are you a senior official of the Eastern Empire?" Ashabel asked Fanning, looking up.

When Fan Ning was chatting with a group of people in Banber just now, he had vaguely understood what they were talking about. Fan Ning knew a lot of German in his previous life. The German in the Middle Ages was New High German, and it was only later that he mastered it and became today’s German. After all, it is in the same strain.

Fan Ning thought for a while, then smiled and answered her in German: "I used to be the prime minister of the Eastern Empire."

"What about now?" Asabel asked again.

"I'm a king now."

When the girl heard that Fan Ning was actually the prime minister of the Eastern Empire and also a king, her sea blue eyes lit up.

The crowd was in an uproar. Dozens of European businessmen were extremely surprised that this young man from the East could speak the language of their hometown. You must know that they spoke Italian just now, and it was very difficult to find an interpreter.

Ban Sai asked in surprise, "How can Mr. Fan speak our language?"

"Learned from two Italian businessmen."

Bansai saluted Fan Ning sincerely, "Can Mr. Fan give us a good suggestion?"

"Bansey, why don't you tell us your own thoughts first?"

"We are very grateful for Mr. Fan's reminder. We have decided to rent a few large ships from the Song Dynasty to buy silk, porcelain and spices, and then rent a warehouse in Aizab Port to establish a long-term business route."

Fanning said with a smile: "This is a wise decision, but you can cultivate business opportunities and obtain greater benefits."

"Mr. Fan, please speak up!"

"Tea, for example. Tea is an elegant drink for the oriental people. Drinking tea with porcelain is a symbol of civilization and status. You can bring tea to the West. For example, you can let Miss Ashabel learn how to make tea, how to distinguish tea, and how many times you have learned. Years later, she brought the oriental tea culture back to the west and performed in the palace, believing that drinking tea would soon become popular in the west, and Mr. Bansai had already established the business of tea in advance, which was one step ahead of the Italians Seized the business opportunity.”

Ban Sai was really tempted. He thought for a long time and asked, "Mr. Fan, can I trust you?"

Fan Ning shook his head, "Miss Asabel doesn't have to follow me. I can introduce her to a school in the Song Dynasty where she specializes in tea art. I can afford all her expenses."

"I understand what Mr. Fan means, but my daughter can't speak Italian. I'm afraid the only person in the Eastern Empire who can communicate with her is her husband, so I hope that my husband can teach my daughter."

Fan Ning suddenly felt a little cocooned. He smiled bitterly for a while and said: "I am the king of Chu, and my kingdom is far away from here. It takes about 30 days to sail. If Mr. Bansai is willing, he can also visit my kingdom. The kingdom is rich in platinum, and Mr. Bamber will not let Mr. Bamber go in vain."

Bansai was really worried about letting his 12-year-old daughter leave alone with strangers, so he went back to discuss it.

At this time, Mingren stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Are you trying to promote tea to the West as a business opportunity?"

Fanning nodded, "Not only tea, but also tobacco!"

Akihito secretly gave a thumbs up, this is the person who does big business and cultivates business opportunities.

Soon Bansai came back and said with a smile: "There are seven or eight other businessmen who are very interested in Platinum. Since there is only one month, we are very willing to visit your country."

Dozens of European merchants split into two groups, carrying letters of introduction from Fan Ning and Ming Ren, and went to Quanzhou's Beidao Trading Company to buy porcelain and silk. They were also responsible for renting a warehouse in Zab Port on their return journey. Fan Ning helped them In order to coordinate, they rented five Wanshi sea ships from the Shi Ship Department. With the sea ships of the Song Dynasty, they don't have to worry about the storm in the Indian Ocean.

Bansai took nine merchants and headed for North Island on Fanning's big ship.

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[Meng Zu has also been updated, after reading the old book, go read the new book! 】

(End of this chapter)