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Chapter 333 Opening a different sea

Chapter 333 Opening a different sea

What kind of business is so profitable? The Portuguese sailor pointed to his large sailing ship, which was filled with exquisite Ming Dynasty porcelain, and the inside and all the gaps of the porcelain were filled with a white, sweet thing, white sugar.

The Ming Emperor promoted the planting of sugar cane in Guangdong and Fujian, and also invested in and opened many factories. The quality and output of sugar have increased many times, becoming another commodity favored by European aristocrats after silk, silk, porcelain, and tea.

Nowadays, the Portuguese living in Haojing rarely ship goods to Europe. They monopolize Guangdong's sugar export share and become comfortable second-tier dealers. Just transport the sugar to ports in Japan and Southeast Asian countries and sell it to merchants from various countries at a higher price, and you can make a lot of money.

Especially the Dutch in Batavia, their desire for white sugar is like flies smelling cow dung, and they are desperate for their own safety. However, due to the inability to obtain permission from the Ming Emperor to approach the Ming port, he could only reluctantly buy high-priced second-hand goods from Portuguese merchants and then ship them back to Europe.

Not only the Dutch were worried, Governor Aguna was also helpless in the face of this situation. There is obviously no point in continuing to squeeze the Chinese in Manila. In addition to running more, it is to provide assists to the archrival Dutch.

If Manila wants to develop rapidly, it can only and must rely on the Chinese. The local indigenous people do not even know how to farm. If they are allowed to do business across the sea, they will not be able to make much, and they will not even be able to earn back their capital.

However, we should not rely too much on the Chinese. They are not interested in religion. Even if they believe in it verbally, they will turn aside and abandon the Virgin. This is in great conflict with the policies formulated by the Spanish authorities for the Philippines and is not conducive to long-term peace and stability.

Especially since there is a huge empire behind the Chinese. God knows when it will wake up. Once too many Chinese gather in Manila, the Ming Emperor will not need to send troops to attack. The hundreds of people in his hands will be destroyed. Thousands of Chinese were drowned.

In addition, Spain has been in a state of decline in recent years. Since the Armada was defeated by the British, the old King Felipe II died, and the new King Felipe III succeeded to the throne. Most of the government affairs have been left to the Chief Minister, the Duke of Lerma. Francisco de Sandoval Rojas took control.

In less than five years, the Sandoval family became the richest in Spain, using an unprecedented variety of methods to amass wealth. In order to quickly increase the value of his property, the chief minister persuaded Felipe III to move the capital from Madrid to Valladolid and purchased a large amount of land and real estate a year in advance.

The Captain Gomez in front of him is one of the fleets that operates overseas trade for the Sandoval family. Even in an overseas territory in front of the governor, he still dared to slam the table, stare and yell loudly, no matter what, the backstage was too tough, not only could he not be offended, but he could not be avoided.

"...I don't care. If the warehouse is not full before the end of the month, the respected Governor may have to consider his next job. Farewell!"

Gomez certainly couldn’t come up with a good solution to a problem that even the Governor of the Philippines couldn’t solve. But he could be unreasonable, throw out a harsh word, and walk away without looking back.

"Your Excellency, the number of Chinese in the stream has recovered to more than [-] in recent years. If Mr. Gomez's warehouse must be filled, another indigenous uprising should be able to do it."

It is not only the norm in China to have third-rank officials in front of the prime minister, but it is also the same in Spain. Governor Aguna could only watch Gomez lose his temper in silence, even if he was embarrassed in front of his subordinates, there was nothing he could do. But he could bear it, and some of the officers around the table couldn't. The Governor's family is a noble family after all, and no matter how domineering Sandoval is, he will not take it out on the Governor, otherwise the blame will be put on his head. If not, this man must be sent away safely, and for this, he will not hesitate to commit another massacre!

"Commander Juan, what Mr. Gomez is short of is raw silk, not the property of a biological person. Now even if you pay twice the price, you can't buy enough raw silk in Manila!"

He always kept a smile on Gomez's face and called it "beating the dog to see the master", but when faced with such mindless suggestions from his subordinates, Governor Aguna was not so good-tempered. In fact, he doesn't always have a smile on his fat face. Most of the time, he is still full of flesh.

"...send your people to look for Takeda, be careful not to be discovered." After changing his face to a face full of flesh, Aguna's brain cells seemed to be much more relaxed because he no longer had to pretend, and he suddenly thought of a way. He stretched out his hand to bring Juan closer and whispered in his ear.

Lin Haisheng, as soon as he heard this name, he grew up by the sea. Yes, Lin is a common surname in Zhangzhou, but the Lin family is not a wealthy family. It is only because their ancestors went to Nanyang to become familiar with the sea routes and left behind a fancy boat that the family's fortunes were maintained.

A few years ago, when the imperial court banned the sea, Lin Haisheng was too timid to go out to Southeast Asia to sell private goods in person, so he simply rented the boat to someone with the same surname. In less than twenty years, people bought land, built houses and opened shops in Manila. To say that I'm not greedy is really against my will.

In fact, it is not too unreasonable to engage in smuggling business. If the coast is tight, the ship will be parked in Luzon. If you take the time to come over and pull a ship over, you can make a lot of money. But Lin Hai was afraid of running into pirates, so he never dared to go to sea in person.

But this year he decided to take back the ship and do it himself, because the emperor issued an imperial decree allowing Guangzhou and Fuzhou to open ports. Moreover, since the arrival of black sailing ships in the past few years, pirates along the coast of Fujian cannot be said to have disappeared, but they are actually rare. There is no need to worry about man-made disasters.

Although Zhangzhou is still far away from Fuzhou, they are both in Fujian. As long as there is a port to let in, the goods can be sold normally. As for whether the Municipal Shipping Department can issue the survey and contract, that is up to the individual's ability. If you can't even get this, you should sell the ship as soon as possible.

When I arrived in Fuzhou, I found out that most of the news about the opening of the sea was true, and a small part of it was the first time I heard about it. The Municipal Shipping Department posted a notice reminding all merchant ships intending to enter and exit Fuzhou Port that it does not matter what cargo they take away, but the cargo they transport back must not be arbitrary.

If a shipload of raw silk, tea, porcelain, and cloth is taken away as in the past, and several boxes of white silver or French silver coins are returned in exchange, the shipping company will increase the score from 2% to 6%, excluding food and drink expenses. Not only will there be no profit, but there may also be losses.

In other words, the government was not happy with exchanging goods for silver. If you want to go to Nanyang, you can do it. It doesn't matter what kind of goods you take away, but you must choose one of gold, copper ore, timber, and rice before trafficking it back. There is no requirement to fill the boat, but a certain percentage must be achieved.

As usual, this is when someone smart should step forward. I'll take the goods out, and it's up to you to change what I bring back! Find a place offshore to transfer the money to the boat and send it ashore without anyone noticing. Who can keep an eye on all the beaches?

(End of this chapter)

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