I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 648: Turkey, Alpaca, Jaguar

Of the five businessmen Kang Zifei met, only two were Han businessmen from Mexico, and the remaining three were Spanish businessmen from Yinzhou.

One of them was from the Viceroyalty of Peru in South America. He was carrying a rubber ball in his hand: "Mr. Kang, this is a child of the Peruvian Indian tribe. They often use the rubber ball to play. It is very elastic. What you said Rubber is very similar."

The other two Spanish businessmen, both from Mexico, each carried a pair of rubber shoes and a rubber coat in their hands: "Mr. Kang, we found this from the Indians in Guatemala. Special shoes. And this piece of clothing also has a similar coating on the surface, which is waterproof, but its elasticity is very poor.”

Kang Zifei took a few pieces of rubber products and looked at them carefully, especially the leather ball, which was very similar to Cuju football, which has gradually become popular in Nanjing in recent years, but it has particularly good elasticity.

After some research, except for the poor toughness of the waterproof gel coat, the other two items were already certain to be the rubber His Majesty asked him to find.

He didn't expect it to be so easy. In just one year, he had already found it.

According to His Majesty, this rubber is of great significance to the future of Ming Dynasty. Although he has not seen its use at all, it is just more elastic, but this does not prevent him from being happy about it.

After Kang Zifei was sure, he immediately asked: "How did the Indians make these things, and what is their origin?"

Four of the five people were shaking their heads. Only the Spanish businessman from Peru said: "The source of these things is an unknown tree in South America. I also accidentally discovered that this tree seems to grow to a certain period. The juice will flow out. The Indians used its juice and applied it to the ball to make it very elastic."

That's right. His Majesty told him that rubber is a kind of tree and is produced in Yinzhou.

Kang Zifei was in a good mood, and instead of asking someone to lead the way immediately, he fulfilled the previous reward first.

Previously, Kang Zifei specifically offered a reward for rubber. As long as he could find the rubber China needed, he would be given priority in purchasing goods from Chinese merchant ships in the next five years.

To put it bluntly, it means becoming a middleman between Daming China and Mexico and Spain, and enjoying five years of preferential purchasing rights for middlemen.

As long as these people are not stupid, they will definitely be able to make a fortune in less than five years by taking advantage of the price difference on this timeline.

After these people purchased the goods that they could eat, Kang Zifei asked each of them to leave a few people to lead the way, and sent people to the Indian tribes in Nanyinzhou and Zhongyinzhou to find the rubber trees that His Majesty had given them.

Nanyinzhou can be sure that there are rubber trees in Peru. Although the situation in Zhongyinzhou is unknown, but rubber products such as rubber shoes and rubber coats can be used, the rubber trees must not be far away. If you look carefully, you can definitely find them.

In fact, it is a bit premature for Zhu Yijiong to be anxious to find rubber trees now.

The rubber tree in history has only been discovered by Europeans in the past few years. It will take at least another thirty years from the time when the rubber tree was discovered by the French scientist Condamine during his travels, to the French man in Mecca who invented a solvent for softening rubber.

Moreover, it was not until forty years later that the British scientist Joseph Presley used softened rubber to make an eraser specifically for erasing pencil marks, which gradually gained attention in Europe.

As for its industrial application, it will have to wait at least a hundred years.

Because early natural rubber, even if it already had softening technology, was very easy to harden or become too viscous when the temperature changed drastically, and its practicality was very limited.

It was not until the advent of the vulcanized rubber process that rubber could truly make a big impact in the industrial revolution.

But it doesn't matter. Even if the current scientific level cannot use rubber in industry, it is still a good thing if it is just a half-step early.

After getting the news about rubber from Mexico, there is not much to say about what happened after that.

Kang Zifei directly dispatched two merchant ships and separated two teams of soldiers. He took the crew and followed the guide to go deep into the Indian tribes to find the rubber that the emperor had given him.

These sailors and soldiers who went to the Indian tribes were considered to be on a business trip. Not only did they receive double their pay, but they also received extra rewards for recovering the rubber.

This was not only Kang Zifei's personal promise, but also the imperial edict given to him by the emperor.

Anyone who can come to Yinzhou to engage in trade with him, regardless of whether they are soldiers or sailors, is someone who dares to take risks.

Wealth and honor are sought in danger, not to mention being rewarded heavily, so why worry about not having a brave man?

In addition to these merchant guides, they also had their own crew and soldiers, and recruited some Japanese slaves from the local area who had settled here for many years.

In the eyes of the Spaniards in Yinzhou, these are all "Chinese", but only "Chinese" who can speak Chinese can hire them for work. The rest of the people who speak complicated languages ​​can only serve as slave labor, or cannon fodder soldiers who lick blood from their swords, and can only fight with the Indians with simple weapons.

After replenishing enough fresh water supplies from the port, Kang Zifei took the trade fleet all the way south to Mexico to visit the governor first. The rubber tree origins that can be determined so far are one in the Spanish Governorate of Guatemala and the other in the Governorate of Peru in Nanyin, both of which are Spanish territories.

Therefore, we must first inform the Spanish Governor of Mexico to say hello, otherwise it will be bad if there is any misunderstanding.

Of course, there is a more important point, which is for the bilateral trade relations between the two countries.

Nowadays, in the Spanish and Mexican colonies, everyone from the governor to the parliamentary bureaucrats, as well as the lower-class merchants and civilians, have been completely liberalized. Because the country had just experienced a throne war and it had not yet recovered, and the new king was a foreigner, so his control over the Mexican colonies was weak.

In the first few years, the Mexican governor had some scruples and just turned a blind eye. However, as more and more Chinese merchant ships went to Yinzhou, the Spaniards gradually tasted the benefits.

How can anyone care about the king's shit?
China had gone through the Ming and Qing dynasties before, as well as the maritime embargo policy, which had led to the Spanish silver trade almost drying up, and all the Spaniards in Mexico were going crazy from poverty.

Finally, they were able to make money, but whenever the governor dared to stop them, there was an example of a governor just over a hundred years ago. The businessmen directly joined forces to assassinate them, and they succeeded.

If you dare to cut off the big guys' wealth, then they dare to show you whether their knives are still useful?
The Spanish in Mexico were open to smuggling, and for Ming merchants, this seemed to be a good opportunity to make a lot of money.

But for Ming China in general, it also means that the method that Zhu Yijiong and his cabinet worked hard to think of to divert inflation by launching a war will become increasingly difficult, not to mention immediately ineffective.

"Spanish silver can be seen all over Europe."

This is what the long-dead British "Happy King" Charles II said.

Maybe in a few years, Emperor Zhu will have to say these words.

Ming China is now the most powerful country in the Far East and even the world, and it is not without cost.

As Spanish smuggling becomes more and more rampant, silver from all over Yinzhou, as well as silver mines from neighboring Japan, will continue to flow into the Chinese market. Chinese products will occupy an absolute hegemony for a long time.

The resulting trade deficit cannot be compensated for even by launching a war.

Kang Zifei put down the expedition fleet in Mexico. The Spanish governor was very enthusiastic and sent two additional official guides to solve unnecessary troubles for the Chinese expedition team.

Returning from Yinzhou to Mexico, this trading fleet not only brought back silver and goods, but also brought back a batch of Yinzhou's specialty animals.

Among them is the "Yinzhou Tiger and Leopard", which is actually the jaguar of later generations.

This was the name given by Kang Zifei because he was really not sure whether it was a leopard or a tiger. The pattern on its body was similar to that of a leopard, but its body shape and appearance were more like a tiger.

Well, the jaguar is also called the jaguar.

Kang Zifei was not sure, so he simply loaded it up and took it back to his Majesty, hoping to show His Majesty the rare and exotic animals in Yinzhou.

In addition to bringing back several jaguars, he also bought back a nest of turkeys and several alpacas from the Spaniards.

Turkey is really not delicious, the meat is very poor.

As a later netizen said, why Chinese people don’t like to raise turkeys? It’s because any livestock that Chinese people know about but don’t raise must not taste good.

The reason why turkeys are so popular here in Yinzhou is that they are cheap, have low raising costs, produce large amounts of meat, and grow quickly. No matter how unpalatable it is, it is still a good thing for Ming China at this stage.

No matter how unpalatable the meat is, it is still meat!
By the way, turkeys also have an incredible characteristic, which is asexual reproduction. Female turkeys can lay eggs and hatch them even if there are no males. The hatching rate is as high as 49%, and all of them are males.

Alpacas are not as wild as turkeys, but their economic value is equally high.

Alpacas are a cross between guanacos and vicuñas. They have perfectly inherited the advantageous genes of both parties. They can produce hair, meat, and milk, and the hair they produce is long and fine. Compared with sheep, it can directly save money. Go to half the process.

In addition to eating grass, alpacas can also eat leaves, shrubs, lichens, cacti, and even meat occasionally, and can adapt to extremely harsh environments.

Of course, what Kang Zifei is interested in is just the alpaca, which eats everything, and its fine wool. If he takes it back for breeding and crossbreeding, it might be of great use.

　Alpacas can adapt to harsh environments, but they cannot adapt to the Spanish overhunting
　　
　
(End of this chapter)