The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 109 Two little ones
"It's a pleasure to see you again, my old friend, Mr. Cervantes-Torres. You look very good."

"Hello, Mr. Igor Casillas Fernandez, every time you come here means a big deal between us, we sincerely welcome you."

"Welcome, His Excellency General Santos Juan Carlos, your ship "Royal Tuscany" is a true giant that spans the world's oceans, with unparalleled power."

on the dock
Feng Guohui held a brief welcome ceremony to welcome these distinguished Spanish guests from the Luzon Islands, including General Santos, Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Sail Fleet.

This General Santos came all the way from Spanish Mexico across the vast Pacific Ocean. He was the commander of the silver-carrying galleon. The three-masted galleon with a displacement of up to 2550 tons was his ship.

It can be seen from the densely packed barnacles and other attachments clinging to the bottom of the huge ship that this is a high-sea sailing ship with a strong ocean atmosphere, the true king of the ocean in this era.

Such a giant ship with three levels of gun positions carries more than 92 naval guns of various calibers, which is three times as many as the Zhenhai.

This is also a typical configuration of Spanish treasure ships. They carry a large amount of silver ingots, gold and silver treasures collected from the Americas, and precious fur cargo at the bottom of the warehouse. The total amount reaches nearly a thousand tons.

The "Royal Tuscany" has a total crew of 632 people. It also has strong boarding and close combat capabilities when sailing on the ocean without carrying soldiers on board.

This giant sailing ship set out from Luzon and arrived in Semarang in a short three to four days' voyage. It also carried about 460 Spanish soldiers on board.

Hearing Feng Guohui's praise, General Santos looked impressed and said with a cigar in his mouth;
“In this world, only Spanish navigators with rich experience can skillfully use the Pacific Rim currents for cross-ocean navigation.

My plan to grab a big one was totally in vain. In this case, let’s do a fair deal!

People who can be treated as equals and respected are big bosses of similar strength.

Isn't all this just showing off muscles?
Under the temporary pergola on the pier

Feng Guohui still entertained the Spanish guests warmly. Behind him and within sight, more than 3000 recruits were forming a queue for training, and the shouts of killing resounded throughout the world.

But when I look here, it's not the case at all.

At Semarang Port
There were more than a thousand heavily armed soldiers, and more than 200 cavalry troops under Chen Yong's command, galloping away, their horses' hooves suddenly raising smoke and dust all over the sky.

Following my family's sailing heritage, I have crossed the vast sea areas of Europe, America, and Asia countless times, and I have always been proud of this. "

With his noble status, there is no need to hide anything.

Together with the other two Spanish galleons, it carried more than 1 soldiers. Together with the sailors on board, the armed force exceeded 2000 people.

General Santos is over fifty years old. He is a typical Spanish aristocrat and his family holds the title of count.

"Hahaha... The distinguished General Santos has traveled across the world's oceans for decades, and has traveled all over the world. His farsightedness and foresight are beyond our imagination. Feng Mou sincerely admires him!" Feng Guohui talked to them in English. This is what today's The world's most common international language.

Naturally, there are a large group of people under him to inspect the quality of the goods and argue about the transaction price. These big guys just sit here and chat indifferently, and there are also some overseas romantic figures to shorten the distance between them.

Since the Age of Discovery
Countless outstanding Spanish explorers have traveled across the world's oceans and continents, passing on Europe's advanced civilization and religion to the world. This is a noble and sacred mission for mankind.

His English is a bit stilted with a strong Central American accent, but he is basically able to communicate socially.

These Nanyang military forces have developed very rapidly. Not only are their military strength strong, they even have powerful sailing gunboats. And it occupies the extremely dangerous Depara Fortress, and its strength is not ordinary.

"Thank you for your objective evaluation, dear Feng. What you are doing now is as meaningful as the Spanish. To be honest, I hate those philistine Dutch businessmen. They have despicable blood flowing from top to bottom. "General Santos is a typical soldier, speaking directly and clearly distinguishing between love and hate.

With an envious look on his face, Feng Guohui said with a hint of flattery; "The Spanish Empire has been colonizing America for hundreds of years, covering South America, Central America, Cuba and Mexico. This is a truly great feat."

Such a strong maritime force cannot be explained by simply escorting a treasure ship.

The Spaniards were prepared to grab a piece of it when they had the opportunity. The big deal worth millions of silver coins was enough to make them jealous, and even General Santos, who had just arrived in the Luzon Islands, was tempted by it.

Feng Guohui chatted and laughed with a group of Spanish distinguished guests, tasted tropical fruits and exquisite pastries, and shared top-quality Cuban cigars presented by General Santos. The atmosphere seemed very harmonious.

If you think that Europeans are all good partners, you are totally wrong, and very wrong.

Take the Dutch and the Spanish as an example. The former is a typical Germanic nation, believes in Protestantism, and is incompatible with France in Western Europe and the Spanish in Southern Europe.

The latter are Castilians, a branch of the Caucasus family. Most of them are devout and fanatical Catholics. Their typical ethnic customs and culture along the Mediterranean coast are not the same as those of the Netherlands in northwest Europe.

The intertwining between the two sides is the countless maritime confrontations and wars since the Great Voyage, without a trace of peace and trade, and there are deep historical grievances.

The Spanish often dealt with the French, and there were many trade exchanges. It has close ties with the Austrian Empire. The Spanish royal family is a branch of the Habsburg dynasty, and marriages between the royal families and nobles of both parties are quite frequent.

But expressing disapproval of the Dutch and Spaniards is a sign of disgust from the bottom of my heart.

During the Dingshen period, the Dutch regarded themselves as "sea coachmen" and there were Dutch merchants all over the world. However, the Spaniards preferred to call them "ubiquitous pirates", "a group of despicable flies" and "disgusting bed bugs". …

Feng Guohui had a great conversation with General Santos, and intentionally or unintentionally ignored Cervantes-Torres and Igor. This was a silent cold reception.

Everyone is doing business happily. You two want to stab you in the back. I won’t tolerate you...

After a while
The steward in Igor's hands ran over with a solemn expression and reported in a low voice. His eyes glanced at Feng Guohui from time to time, and then quickly lowered his head.

Here it comes, haha...

Faced with this big spice trade, the Nanyang military generally raised prices by 40% to 50%, and its attitude was extremely tough and it was impossible to make any concessions on price.

If you like trading, get out.

This is a big deal involving millions of silver coins. What is the concept of a price increase of 40% to 50%?

The people below will definitely not dare to make the decision at will. Unexpectedly, the mastermind behind the scenes has already been revealed, and it is Feng Guohui, the commander-in-chief of the Nanyang Army in front of him.

Hearing this, Igor's heart was bleeding!
He looked at Feng Guohui, who was chatting happily with General Santos, and then he understood what it meant... smiling on the table, stabbing under the table?
It wasn't that Feng Guohui didn't care, but he had already been waiting for them here.

If you are in the first grade of junior high school, I will be in the fifteenth grade. I will do it to you without any negotiation.

"Excuse me, we have to discuss something with the general, please excuse me."

Several Spaniards gathered together and whispered, looking at Feng Guohui from time to time, full of anger, fear and dissatisfaction. A temporary price increase of 40% to 50% is an unacceptable condition under any circumstances, but since the other party is so confident, it is certainly not afraid of the Spaniards overturning the table.

If it really reaches that situation, I'm afraid it will only be a one-on-one breakup.

Even if the Spaniards pinched their noses and admitted it and purchased a shipload of spices at a high price due to lack of funds on hand, the Nanyang Army firmly disagreed.

Either take them all, or don't take a pound at all. This big spice deal is not broken down into retail items, it's just so arrogant.

Didn’t you come with troops and artillery?

I just want to see how you take this spices away from me. Don’t think that only the Spaniards can eat this batch of goods, can’t the British? Can’t the French do it?
Even if they don't buy it, the huge market in mainland China can easily digest these spices, which are only a few million silver coins.

There was so much money in the cellar of a minister of household affairs in the Manchu and Qing court. Until the war spread to Peking, you would never know how much money those court officials and the Eight Banners had secretly stashed away?
There are also countless local gentry, high-ranking families, and hundreds of millions of silver accumulated over countless glorious and historical years. The market is so large that it is unimaginable.

"Marshuai Feng, on behalf of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce involved in this transaction, I would like to express my most sincere apology to you. We really cannot meet your price increase request, but we are willing to pay the price for our recklessness. How about an overall price increase of 10%? "As the main shareholder in the transaction, Igor had to stand up at this time and lower his stature to speak softly.

Such a large deal is not something that the Fernandez family can afford. Instead, it gathers the power of the Luzon Chamber of Commerce in Spain, with more than a dozen major participants.

Including General Santos, he also received a certain share of the promise.

Otherwise, how could General Santos, who had just arrived in the Luzon Islands from Mexico after a long journey, lead the sailing warship to make another trip to Semarang?

Do you really think people are so idle?

Even the Luzon Colonial Governor-General could not directly order General Santos. The real force driving his trip was the huge financial interests.

Feng Guohui shook his head without hesitation, his face turned cold at the moment and said;

"We Chinese have an old proverb... When friends come, there is good wine; when wolves come, there are swords and guns.

In view of your unfriendly behavior, it is reasonable for the price of our goods to increase. If you are willing to buy it, just buy it. If you are not willing to buy it, forget it.

As for the Nanyang Army, they can easily sell the spices they have. They originally had discounts for friendly forces, but now they are completely unnecessary. "

His cold and hard attitude made Igor immediately feel troubled.

Is it really a waste of time?
Strictly speaking, the smuggling transaction between the Nanyang Army and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce was not an ordinary commercial transaction, but an exchange of interests between two local forces.

If one party is annoyed, the table may be turned over at any time.

Facing the temptation of huge profits from the spice trade, Igor refused to let go from the perspective of his own interests. This was a real golden mountain.

It is completely impossible to solve the problem by force, so the only way is to soften your body and be prepared to withstand the backlash of greed.

General Santos will definitely not be able to do this, he will only make things worse. Only Igor and Cervantes were shameless, flattering and saying nice things in front of Feng Guohui.

After begging for a while
The Spanish Chamber of Commerce has increased the overall purchase price by 18%, which is almost their bottom line.

Feng Guohui shook his head with a cold expression and said in an unarguable tone;

"Okay, you two, I am not a bargaining businessman.

In view of the fact that we have had successful cooperation before, the overall price of spices will increase by 35% this time. If you can accept this condition, then let’s trade.

In the future, transactions will also be based on this standard. Gone are the days of buying spices cheaply and generously.

Either take it all or not take a pound.

As for the insufficient funds you brought, that's not a problem. Don't we still have three sail gunboats?
Our navy happens to be short of warships, so we can give you a good price. You should consider it yourself, right? "

As soon as these words came out, Igor and Cervantes-Torres looked at each other, both of them shocked and speechless.

They never expected that Feng Guohui would set his sights on the "Royal Tuscany".

There are no more than 10 giant sailing ships of this level in the entire Kingdom of Spain, making them one of the main sailing battleships of the Royal Navy.

Even if they had some courage, they would not dare to sell the main battleship of the Royal Navy.

As if he knew their difficulties, Feng Guohui pretended to be casual and said, "It's because the navy is short of warships that I offered a 35% discount. If you can't get it, let's not talk about it.

The big one is really not good, but the two small ones are just fine. Don’t forget, we can continue to do the spice business in the future, which will be a steady stream of wealth! "

The two small ships that Feng Guohui mentioned had no trace of ocean voyages. They should be ships belonging to the fleet of the Spanish Governor-General of Luzon and came with the "Royal Tuscany".

When a heavyweight three-masted sailing battleship like the "Royal Tuscany" sails in the ocean, it does not need other ships to escort it. That will only affect its speed of breaking through the encirclement, but it will be a burden.

But these two small ships are actually not small at all. They are both standard fast schooners with a displacement of between 620 tons and 680 tons. Each one is equipped with 24 naval guns of different calibers and carries more than 230 people.

In the Luzon Islands Fleet, it is at least the main ship of the sail frigate class.

Seeing that Feng Guohui's face had completely turned cold, Igor and Cervantes-Torres could only turn around with depressed expressions and discuss with General Santos.

General Santos is also one of the shareholders of the spice trade. This time, he can't escape even if he is fried in a bowl of rice. They are all direct stakeholders.

The Spanish businessmen also understood at this time that Feng Guohui was interested in the sailing warship they brought.

It happened to be true again. If we don't want to cause a wave of blood, not only will today's big spice deal be unable to be negotiated, but don't expect it in the future, the whole tmd will be ruined.

The problem now is

How much concessions are the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the Governor-General of Luzon Islands willing to make in order to reach a final deal? How much risk to take?
In such a large transaction, the Luzon Islands Governor's Office must also have a share, and it would be a large share, otherwise it would not be possible to dispatch the warships easily.

The big ones dare not move. If these two small ones were damaged in the ocean storms in the summer and autumn in the Nanyang region, or burned down in the indigenous armed riots in Mindanao, how could they get away with it, right?

(End of this chapter)