Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 824 Trade
Van der Lantron and the original merchants of the "Magdeburg" handled the handover procedures. This ship has only been sailing from the Netherlands for a few months, and it is still in good condition after repairing.Because this time is sailing to a port of unknown forces, there are certain risks.The manning on board has been strengthened.The whole ship is equipped with 120 sailors and forty soldiers.The ship was originally equipped with only 4 cannons, but 4 more were installed.Although the route to Hainan Island can only be regarded as a short-distance voyage, there are still two military doctors on board to take care of the crew—although it is hard to say how useful they are, there is no voyage where the ship does not throw more than a dozen or even several animals into the sea. Ten corpses.Of course, there is also a priest on board to look after the souls of the crew.

Van der Lantron had a brief meeting with the captain, Gonzalez, and Leib Trini.The task given to Van der Lantron by the governor was to open up trade with the Australians and gather as much information as possible about them.To achieve the goal, the first thing is to choose the right trade goods: if the Australians are not interested in the goods they send, then neither trade relations nor intelligence gathering will be possible.

Van der Lanteron found it very difficult. No one here had any trade with the Australians, and no one knew what they liked or needed.Since the Australians are on the coast of China, the Chinese goods: silk, raw silk, porcelain, etc., they will definitely be able to get a sufficient supply, and a large amount of sugar and paper will be exported from them.From the perspective of glass products, they themselves have very strong manufacturing capabilities.Van der Lantroon thought about it, and the products they were interested in in the entire East Indies might only be spices.Pepper, cinnamon, and cloves are among the few commodities that the Chinese are willing to import in bulk from the Dutch.

If no suitable bulk export commodities could be found, Van der Lantron would be lucky enough to trade large quantities of silver with the Australians, which was the last thing the company wanted to see in a trade situation.

The governor's secretary gave him a pamphlet on the basic situation of Australians.Van der Lantron took a close look at Australian imports.They imported all kinds of things, but the biggest commodities were rice, lumber, pig iron, various metals and cotton products.Especially cotton products, the import figures are very large.Van der Lantron was taken aback, because according to the brochure, from just one trader, they bought more cotton cloth and cotton yarn from India than the East India Company had bought for various textiles over the years since its trade with China. total sales in China.In fact, the East India Company not only failed to sell many cotton products to the Chinese, but instead imported a large amount of "Nanjing cloth" from Chinese businessmen every year for distribution.

Obviously they have a big demand for textiles.van der Lanteron thought.However, I am afraid that he is powerless when it comes to cotton products. Most of these things are sold by the British.Batavia has no inventory of cotton products, unless a ship is sent to purchase and transport them from India-obviously too late in time.

As for pig iron and metals, it is even more scarce. Whether it is iron, lead, or copper, so far they have either been shipped from Europe or imported from China and Japan.Originally, it was quite scarce and could not be exported.

But Batavia had a good deal of Dutch linen - a major Dutch industrial export.Because of the low price, dumping actually occurred in the European market.At that time, someone described its price so low that "the poorest people can use it to make shirts".In addition, he is also going to ship some high-quality woolens.Although woolen fabrics are not sold well in China, they have always been bought as luxury goods.

After thinking about it again and again, I read this booklet again and again.Van der Lantron finally arranged a cargo list for "Magdeburg". The goods to be shipped to Lingao for sale include: a large amount of spices, Dutch linen and logs, and a small amount of high-quality woolen cloth.Because the clothes worn by Australians are mostly blue and gray from the pamphlet, he judged that Australians lacked dyes other than indigo.Some dyes such as hematoxylin were added to the cargo list.In the end, he loaded up with several hundred bales of local rice.Even Europeans in East India can only live on rice as a staple food.

Since none of the Dutch had been to Hainan Island, they knew the exact latitude and longitude of Lingao, and the Dutch often went to Vietnam for trade, so they were not ignorant of the local conditions.Referring to the sea chart and the collected information, Van der Lantron roughly knew that Lingao was in the Qiongzhou Strait.He only needs to take the route to Vietnam, turn west after arriving in Vietnam, and enter the Qiongzhou Strait to find Lingao.

After the "Magdeburg" set sail, it crossed the Palembang Strait, sailed through Sumatra, and the Philippine Islands. After 35 days of sailing, it arrived in Kimberland Bay. After replenishing food and fresh water locally, "Magdeburg "The ship turned its course to the northeast, preparing to cross the Beibu Gulf to find the entrance to the Qiongzhou Strait.

Since Li Siya provided the approximate latitude and longitude of Lingao, the voyage went smoothly. The "Magdeburg" sailed past Bailongwei Island in early February 1631, and the sailors on board found the land—according to the charts in their hands, this should be Hainan Island.

The "Magdeburg" sailed along the coast cautiously-so far no European ship has entered the Qiongzhou Strait.After sailing along the coast for several days, they finally discovered the narrow entrance to the strait.However, at this time, the sailors watching from the top of the mast issued a warning of "a ship is approaching".

"Ready for battle!" The captain immediately issued an order.

Upon hearing the news, Van der Lantron, who rushed out from the poop, immediately shouted: "No shooting without orders!"

He was deeply afraid that the incoming ship was an Australian ship. In case of an armed conflict, it would have a bad impact on his mission.

Sure enough, from two compass points on the port side, a sloop gradually appeared on the sea level.

Van der Lantelon put his hands on the bow side rails, staring at the fast approaching dhow with full sail.This kind of ship is very rare in East Asian seas.It is a typical European-style ship. This ship does not look big, but the shape of the ship is very beautiful.It reminded him of the sloops he had seen on the Mediterranean coast and in the English Channel.

A flag he didn't recognize was flying from the top of the mast, and he turned his gaze to the stern of the ship, where a blue and white flag was flying - exactly as it said in the brochure, this is the Australian Navy!

"This is a strange boat," Gonzalez said. "Dhows! Where did they get them? I've never seen anyone use them in East Asia!"

The clerk glanced at the officer who was talking next to him. This was a Westbank—van der Lantron hated all Spaniards.He had heard of all the horrors committed by the Spaniards during the War of Independence.

"Lower the pennant!" van der Lantron ordered.This is a way of paying tribute to the other party and expressing no malice.Of course, it's hard to say whether the other party understands the meaning.However, van der Lanteron believes that since the Australians use a typical European-style ship, they probably understand the navigation signals.

Sure enough, the other party also returned the same gift.And the sailboat is gradually coming up.

Lib Trini came out, too, with his sketchbook.He quickly drew a sketch of the sailboat on the notebook with charcoal sticks, and asked, "What do you think they want to do? They are waiting on our route. Do you want to contact us?" Leib Trini was the first This trip to East Asia is the first long-distance voyage.

"I don't know. Maybe they want to contact us. Maybe they want to attack us. Put everyone on alert immediately." Gonzalez said, "Their boat is small, and there are at most 50 people in total. Not to mention our ship's side Much higher. Even in hand-to-hand combat there is an advantage. Have all the little rotary cannons loaded."

Van der Lantroon ordered: "Don't lower the sails, keep sailing." It is dangerous to lean on the side of a strange ship at sea.It is not uncommon for a large ship to be attacked by small boats and finally captured by hand-to-hand combat.

"...ship inspection..." Someone shouted from the opposite side.

"Oh, it seems to be Spanish? What are they talking about?"

"Stop the boat for inspection!" The voice on the opposite boat was louder, although it was in Spanish, but the accent was very strange.

"Strange, they speak Spanish!" Gonzalez frowned, "We want us to stop the ship and check."

"We hang the flag of the prince clearly."

"Maybe they don't know the prince." Gonzalez didn't like the Dutch, and of course he didn't like His Royal Highness either.

"Oh! This is the first time I have encountered such a thing!" The Spaniard laughed loudly. "How do you think about it? Dear Mr. Merchant. Let them board the ship for inspection in this vast sea?"

"Of course not, it's not safe—and they may not be Australians," said van der Lantron, "keep sailing."

But the opponent's sailing speed is very fast, and the ship is much more flexible than them.Soon the dhow was on par with them.This will allow them to see each other more clearly.This dhow looks very new, and it should not have been long since it was launched. There are cannons on the deck, which have already taken off their cannon coats.Some sailors in blue jackets were running about the deck.

Everyone tensed up.The gunners and musketeers lit the matchlocks, and the sailors of the "Prince Squad" who were not on duty were also armed with weapons such as machetes, axes, and daggers, ready to go into battle at any time.

At this moment, a figure appeared on the poop of the schooner, and he put a cone-shaped cover over his mouth, speaking loudly in Chinese.

(End of this chapter)