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Chapter 641 Middleman

"Good afternoon, respected butler!" A moment later, the door was pushed open again, and a sturdy European man in his forties or fifties walked in. He held his hat in one hand and touched his chest with the other, greeting him somewhat stiffly.

"Oh, Captain Alfonso, welcome to the Governor's Palace, please take a seat..." Cohen, who was working hard, slowly raised his head, and a kind smile immediately broke out on his thin cheeks. He stood up and walked to the door. Every move he made was full of aristocratic courtesy.

"Dear steward, my ship will return tomorrow. All procedures and transaction taxes have been paid. Here is the receipt!" Although Captain Alfonso sat down, his nervousness did not ease at all. He was busy taking out the receipt issued by the dock bookkeeper from his pocket.

"Please call me Cohen... Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to review the Alfonso's procedures, but I would like to ask the captain for a favor." Cohen reached out to stop Alfonso from searching for the receipt, and took the cocoa tea that Marken brought and handed it to him.

"…Do you want to know the situation at the Port of Manila? I have already told Mr. Macken everything. The Ming Navy guards the port very strictly. All cargo ships, including those of Chinese merchants, can only dock and resupply at the docks on the north shore. No personnel are allowed to enter the city."

Alfonso was holding the steaming and fragrant cocoa tea, but he felt like he was holding a hot potato, neither drinking nor putting it down. He didn't seem to be too willing to accept the so-called request, and hurriedly stated that he had tried his best.

During this period, the Dutch were obsessed with asking around about the situation in Manila Port and the Ming Navy. Almost every captain and sailor who came to dock was asked about it, and he was no exception.

"The Governor has not yet taken office, so I am in charge of everything here for the time being. Although Luzon Island is not under the jurisdiction of the company, it is my responsibility to find out the truth of such a big incident.

But today I invited you not to come for Manila. The company's board of directors has decided to conduct direct trade with Daming. You have lived in Daming for a long time, and you can get so many popular goods. You should be familiar with the situation in Daming. Can you tell me the specific details, just like a friend chatting casually? "

"Of course. I wonder what Mr. Cohen wants to know?" When Captain Alfonso heard that they were not here to cause trouble for him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and agreed readily.

"Everything, everything about the Ming Dynasty. Of course, as a businessman, you should know more about which details are most important to the business." So far, Cohen is still looking forward to this conversation and is quite satisfied with the decision he made.

Although the city of Batavia had not been built yet, some Chinese merchants had already moved there from Banten. At the same time, some foreign sailing ships came to dock and buy and sell goods. Among them, the largest number of people were the Portuguese living in Macau.

The Dutch authorities do not know much about the Chinese business community, mainly because their language is too difficult to learn, their habits are too closed, and they are very reluctant to have deep conversations with strangers.

The Portuguese were relatively easier to communicate with. As long as you knew some Latin and had enough money to go to a tavern and have a drink, you would hear them talking. From the Ming Dynasty to Japan and then to India, they would never tire of telling you what they had seen and heard.

More than ten days ago, a Portuguese cargo ship arrived from Macau, attracting the attention of many merchants and authorities because its cabin was filled with more than 200 cans of cocoa powder and 20 boxes of cigars. Tobacco is not uncommon in Batavia or the Spice Islands, and is used by everyone from natives to sailors to officials. But this thing called cigars is obviously made of tobacco, but it is not chewed in the mouth and then spit out, but the smoke is inhaled after it is lit, and the taste and taste are completely different from chewing tobacco.

According to Chinese merchants, this stuff originated in the Ming Dynasty and was invented by the Ming emperor. You can never see a whole box of it, it was only supplied to the palace. You can see scattered cigars and scraps on the market, which need to be put in a pipe for smoking. The taste is definitely not as good as a whole cigar, but it is not bad, and the supply is not large.

In the past two years, perhaps due to the high tobacco leaf production, the number of finished cigar products has also increased accordingly. They can be seen frequently on the market, but the price is very high, and they are mostly sold in boxes. If you want to purchase in large quantities for resale, there is still a shortage of supply, so it is a rare item.

But even rarer is cocoa powder, which is like tea but not tea, like milk but not milk. It is also produced in Ming Dynasty, with the same trademark as snowflake sugar, and should be produced by the same factory. It tastes very good, and once it appeared, it was in short supply in big cities.

Listen, the big cities in the Ming Dynasty are in short supply. The factories that produce this stuff are definitely not interested in exporting it by sea. They can't even make enough money at the moment, so why bother sending it to the seaside?

Even if there are some sources of goods, they are all controlled by the navy and the government. God knows through what channels they get them. Anyway, ordinary maritime merchants can't expect to make a lot of money from it. It takes chances to buy a can to try.

Now a Portuguese merchant ship has brought more than 200 cans of cocoa powder and 20 boxes of cigars. Don't ask the price first, it must be not cheap, and it must not be a big deal. The relationship behind it must be very special. Whether you buy or not, you have to get close to them to make some friends. You may have a chance to get rich.

The news soon reached the Governor's Office and attracted Cohen's attention. The Seventeen-member Council had been urging the Indian branch to establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty. The previous Governor had tried twice, but both attempts were ruined by the Portuguese.

If the Spanish were still in Manila, it would still be unlikely for the Dutch to establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty. Most Chinese merchants were accustomed to sending their goods to the Port of Manila for distribution and were unwilling to travel further by sea to Batavia for sale.

The Spanish were too focused on the interests of the New World, occupying Manila for nothing but never joining the trade network on a large scale. The Portuguese could comfortably act as resellers, shipping goods from the coast of the Ming Dynasty to Batavia or India, making a lot of money without much effort.

Now the situation is completely different. The Spaniards have been driven away, and the Ming Empire has occupied Luzon Island. It won't be long before the influx of Ming merchants will use lower prices and better quality to squeeze out the Portuguese market share in the East Indies.

Unlike the Portuguese, Dutch merchants were not keen on making quick money through resale trade. The arrival of Ming merchants was both a challenge and an opportunity, but the prerequisite was that they had to first obtain the approval of the Ming government and allow Dutch merchant ships to dock at Ming ports.

The appearance of Captain Alfonso just happened to show him the right person. Since this Portuguese captain was able to get so many in-demand goods, he must have strong connections in the Ming Dynasty. It would be perfect for him to act as the middleman between the Dutch East India Company and the Ming government.

(End of this chapter)