The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 41 A Satisfactory Current Situation

It took more than a month to open up the trade route to the south. Although there were some twists and turns, the Nanyang Company used unstoppable, fierce and bloody methods to completely remove the obstructive forces.

It was as if a warrior in full armor suddenly broke into a china shop, completely breaking the original balance of this peaceful and remote South Sea island.

With its series of victories in opening up trade routes to the south, the Nanyang Company once again returned to Surabaya City with a bloody halo.

This represents killing, ruthlessness and unspeakable shocking power, which almost makes all the forces in Surabaya City dumbfounded.

Ask yourself;

No one feels that they are stronger and have harder bones than the Irwandi-Yusuf family, a traditional indigenous aristocracy that has been rooted in Yanwang City for hundreds of years, or the Nyonya Tian family in the Sesame Nu River area.

These formidable local forces were eradicated with one move, not to mention themselves?

When the Nanyang Company's mule and horse caravan returned, it reached a size of 77 mule and horse carts. It returned fully loaded with goods and entered the city after dark.

Detour outside the city to the north of the city, quietly return to the old camp, and unload the goods into the warehouse overnight.

Doing this is to try to reduce the sense of presence. After all, Nanyang Company is really eye-catching, which is not conducive to the next step of smuggling spices.

Zheng Xiucai followed Feng Guohui's instructions. During this period, he had built more than twenty houses in the open space in front of the old camp, filling up all the original training space.

These newly built houses are all used to accommodate the daily accommodation of newcomers, which is enough to meet the needs of 500 people.

In addition, two wooden watchtowers over 4 meters high were built at the entrance of the old camp. Each watchtower can accommodate four musketeers to provide condescending vigilance. It is truly weatherproof.

In the small courtyard on one side of Jinyu Tower

Feng Guohui, who had just finished taking a shower and was wearing a light gown, was lying on the bamboo recliner with a leisurely expression. The little dumpling behind him gently squeezed his shoulders with his hands.

Xueer sat on a small stool nearby, peeled fresh lychees for him, removed the core, and then put the juicy pulp into Feng Guohui's big mouth.

The other hand was holding a scented handkerchief. When he saw the overflowing juice, he quickly wiped the corners of Feng Guohui's mouth, as if he were a gentleman.

Been back for two days

The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce received invitations like snowflakes. Most of them were expressions of goodwill from various forces. There were also some Chinese businessmen who wanted to expand the transportation of goods to the south and were eager to negotiate with the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. The price was easy to negotiate.

Feng Guohui ignored all these, grandma... They really want to take advantage of me, wait until the next life!

It turned out that I was transporting daily necessities for these Chinese businessmen because I had no funds and had to borrow chickens to lay eggs and slowly accumulate original capital.

It's different now, he has money in his hands now.

All the more than 200,000 silver coins that he brought south were spent (note, including the huge sum of more than 100,000 silver coins seized from the Yusuf family), and were replaced with dozens of carts of spices and brought back.

Together with more than ten carts of spices confiscated from the Tian family, the value is close to 30 silver coins, and this is only the price of the place of origin.

As long as this product is sold to the Spanish, the price will immediately more than quadruple.

Now Feng Guohui still has more than 5 silver coins in his hand, which is part of the wealth confiscated from Tian Qiwen's private treasury. It is more than enough to buy daily necessities for the next trip.

Industrial products are not valuable in Surabaya Port. For example, foreign oil lamps are most needed in the hinterland. A foreign oil lamp sells for 500 to 550 copper coins in a shop in Surabaya Port.

One tael of silver is almost equivalent to one silver coin.

In the early years of Daoguang's reign, one tael of silver could be exchanged for a penny, which was one thousand cash. However, by the 20th year of Daoguang's reign, one tael of silver could be exchanged for one thousand six hundred or seven hundred cash.

Nowadays, silver is expensive and money is cheap. One silver coin can be exchanged for 1700 copper coins. The exchange rate here in Surabaya is similar to that in mainland China.

Good copper coins are stronger. Because Dutch copper coins contain high copper content and are of good quality, 800 copper coins can be exchanged for one Spanish silver coin, which is more than twice as expensive as mainland copper coins.

There is a hole in the middle of the Dutch copper coins, usually 200 are strung together. Five strings can be exchanged for three Dutch guilders, which is three Dutch silver coins.

Dutch silver coins are smaller and much lighter.

In Java, Spanish silver coins from Luzon are more commonly used. Pounds, francs and Dutch silver coins are less common, so Spanish silver coins are used to measure.

Let’s take the foreign oil lamp as an example.

The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce purchased goods on a large scale from British merchants. The price of a foreign oil lamp could be reduced to between 320 and 350 Wen. The key was how much quantity was purchased?

Such a foreign oil lamp can be sold for 550 cash in Surabaya Street, and can be doubled to cash when sold to Yanwang City.

If it is transported to Bromo Town, the common price is one silver dollar and a foreign oil lamp, worth 1700 wen. It is even more expensive to transport it to Tianjia Town.

Foreign oil lamps are a very representative commodity. No matter how poor your family is, you still have to find a way to buy one. This thing can be used as money in the hinterland.

When the family can't open the pot, the foreign oil lamp can still be used as money. It can be easily exchanged for rice, flour and food, and it can't be discounted for much.

Why are foreign oil lamps so popular?

Today's era

In Java, both the rich and the common people generally use oil lamps. Some burn peanut oil, some burn rapeseed oil, and the more sophisticated ones burn olive oil.

When there were no foreign oil lamps, a saucer was usually used to hold the oil, and a thick cotton thread soaked in oil was used as a wick.

After it is lit, the light is like a bean, a dim and erratic light.

The brightness is low and dazzling, and there is a strong smell of oily smoke when burning. When the wick burns out, the light becomes dimmer and dimmer.

At this moment

You need to pick the wick so that more of the wick is exposed, and the light will be much brighter.

Such an oil lamp cannot withstand the slightest breeze. Even if the person sitting next to the oil lamp breathes a sigh of relief, the dim light will sway several times. The foreign oil lamp is different. After it is lit and covered with a glass cover, the light will be more than doubled in an instant.

Even if there is wind, you are not afraid, the light is very stable, and the same lamp oil lasts longer and saves money.

When the light is dim, there is a knob about the size of a beer cap on the oil lamp. As long as you reach out and turn it upward a little, the wick will stretch a little and the light will be much brighter.

With so many benefits, even if a poor family scrimps on food and clothing, they still have to dig some money out of their mouths to buy an oil lamp.

As the first country in the world to embark on large-scale steam industrialization, British businessmen spared no effort in exporting industrial products, and only they had so many daily-use industrial products.

Metaphors include foreign oil lamps, foreign fires, foreign shovels, foreign cloth, foreign nails, foreign picks, foreign wax, foreign soap, foreign umbrellas, etc. These commodities are only available to British merchants. France and the Netherlands are still purely agricultural countries and do not have them. Large-scale industrial product production capacity.

The Nanyang Company was able to purchase large amounts of goods from British businessmen, so why did it need to let those Chinese businessmen make a fortune from it?

Feng Guohui had made up his mind to enjoy the trade route south from Surabaya Port to himself.

He trained a large number of manpower in Yanwang City and established the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce to closely link the interests of local Chinese businessmen with the Nanyang Company in order to block this trade route.

If any Chinese businessman dares to transport goods there, goods worth 100 silver coins will have to pay at least 200 silver dollars in commercial tax in Yanwang City before they are allowed to pass.

When you arrive at Bromo Town, you will also have to pay a large business tax. The purpose is to let those who dare to take this trade route pay compensation to their grandma's house.

If you dare to secretly seduce tax evaders, just find a pit and bury them.

When Feng Guohui thought of this, he couldn't help but smile. He had decided to monopolize this southward trade route.

In the past few days, we must seize the time to prepare some daily necessities and other department stores, so that the mule and horse caravan can continue its journey south.

After all, it is a big market of two to three million people. Even if one person in 10 buys a needle, one person in 100 buys a foreign oil lamp, and one person in buys a foreign pickaxe, the caravan brought this It’s not enough to order the goods.

Today, the southern trade road has been completely smoothed out. After the road is repaired, one mule and horse caravan must go south every week, and no less than four mule and horse caravans go south every month.

In this way, a continuous virtuous cycle will be formed, and won't the business become bigger?

From now on, the caravans going south will not need too many escorts, and each caravan should have about a hundred people.

If you encounter a bandit group of thirty to fifty people, or one or two hundred bandits, self-protection should not be a problem.

After all, many newcomers have seen blood and have grown up quickly.

These old guys from the Nanyang Company are taught the art of war and fighting, and with all the equipment, they are much stronger than the bandits.

Even if they encounter a joint siege by a larger bandit, fighting their way out of the encirclement should not be a problem.

From now on, this kind of work going south can be left to the squad leaders. Naturally, the businessmen's children are responsible for the management, and now they can basically control it.

The cavalry team in Chen Yong's hands is currently temporarily stationed in the old camp of Surabaya City and needs further training and reorganization.

In the long term

This cavalry unit should be more appropriately placed in Yanwang City. From there, it is very convenient to support either south or west.

Yanwang City is now considered his hometown, a key node area that monopolizes trade routes. Everything is convenient there, and the cavalry training ground is wider.

Feng Guohui calculated the troops he had;

The manpower in Tianjia Town will grow to more than 320 people, and there will be more than a hundred people left in Bromo Town, enough to suppress the local indigenous forces.

The city with the most manpower is Yanwang City. There are more than 380 guards directly under the Nanyang Company, plus three to four hundred people under the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, which is enough to firmly control the entire city.

The next step is to release the cavalry in Chen Yong's hands, and it will be stable.

In the city of Surabaya

The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce has a direct armed force of more than 430 people (note, excluding casino, accounting and other logistics personnel), which is enough to cope with the challenges of any force.

As long as all these newcomers are trained, there will be no need to worry about running out of available manpower in the future.

Thought of here

Feng Guohui couldn't help but feel more and more happy, and couldn't help but hum a little tune. He thought of the little goblin Zuma who stayed in Yanwangcheng Manor again, and couldn't help but feel a fire in his heart.

Keeping her living there also made Dongcheng Manor more popular. It was her home base anyway, so there was no problem with its safety.

After the southern trade route was opened, the next step was to consider opening the western trade route.

The planned western trade route is about 300 kilometers long, twice as long as the southern trade route, and will extend to several important towns in Central Java, so the situation is more complicated.

in Java Island

The further west you go, the denser the towns and the denser the population, which means the rolling wealth becomes more dazzling.

Of course, it is also more difficult.

Because there is a Dutch garrison there, which is a presence that cannot be ignored in order to open up the western trade route.

How to solve it specifically?

Feng Guohui still doesn't have a good idea, so he can only take one step and look at it before talking.

No matter what happens, this trade route must be opened. This is the bottom line.

(End of this chapter)