Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 446 Cotton

Outside the port of Rocha, the wind was light and the clouds were calm. A few seagulls were chirping on the sea, which added a bit of vitality to this deserted port in a quiet morning.

Blanco Sousa de Almeida jumped onto the pier lightly under the service of his servants.He is almost 40 years old this year, but his skills are still very sensitive. This is also the result of his persistence in horseback riding, hunting and other sports. He is very proud of this.Today is mid-February, a not-so-hot summer is about to pass, and he also rushed to the port of Luocha with two boats full of cotton in this beautiful season.

Both shipments of cotton were acquired through his connections in the Georgia mission in the Kingdom of Spain.There were a large number of Old World immigrants from Spain and England. They opened up many cotton plantations and used black slaves bought from Africa to grow them.Before that, most of the cotton they produced was sold to people on the east coast. Every year, merchant ships sailed there for purchase at a fixed time.Every year in April (the cotton harvest season in the southern hemisphere) and October (the cotton harvest season in the northern hemisphere), people on the east coast will give a new cotton purchase price, which is based on the metric ton they use as the purchase unit.

Under such circumstances, those cotton sellers (such as those in the northern hemisphere) will sail south to the east coast port for delivery after the purchase is completed in mid-to-late October every year.In the past, whether it was Dongfang Port or Luocha Port, they were all possible delivery locations, but now it has changed. People from the East Coast have designated Luocha Port as the only delivery port, and Dongfang Port will no longer accept such business.The newly established Luoqia Bulk Trade Center will announce the latest purchase price of the harvest season on the wharf yard. After these merchants sell the cotton on hand, they will use this price and their own predictions on the cotton price trend. , To decide the cotton purchase price that I went back to those planters.After years of stable development, everyone has become accustomed to this trading method, and the people on the east bank, as the main purchasers of cotton, have firmly controlled the pricing power of cotton.

As many countries on the old and new continents began to vigorously develop their cotton textile industries, the cotton prices in Georgia, Florida, Haiti, Brazil and other places, which are the main cotton producing areas, began to rise gradually.The competition for cotton resources in various countries began to heat up, especially after the people on the east coast once again raised the cotton purchase price to 160 yuan/ton, the cotton resources in these areas were suddenly looted, and all kinds of businessmen and captains brought cash boxes Either the goods flooded into these cotton producing areas, or they were directly bought in cash, or bartered, in short, these goods were robbed.Then almost all of them drove the boat southward by coincidence, and arrived at the port of Luocha to deliver the goods to the people on the east coast.

This has nothing to do with anything else, it is simply because the purchase price given by the people on the east coast is the highest.In addition, everyone has become accustomed to using the purchase price of the East Coast people as a reference. As the main buyer of cotton, the East Coast people's pricing is the "king's order"-unquestionable and debatable.And when those French merchants arrived at major cotton export ports such as St. Augustine after going through untold hardships, they would find that the price of cotton today has greatly exceeded their psychological expectations, and most of the cotton has already been owned. Plantation owners are also reluctant to deal with strangers unless you can make a price that makes them feel very happy.

This situation distressed them.The high price of cotton in the Port of St. Augustine has already taken them by surprise. If they buy it at this price and then ship it back to France for sale, it may be difficult to make a profit, unless the owners of the new textile factories are willing to buy the original cotton. The agreement is nullified and a "more sincere" purchase price is given, otherwise no one would be willing to do such a stupid thing that bears the loss by oneself.Only a few merchants whose families had their own factories bought some inferior cotton left by others at a high price, and then hurriedly sailed away from the pier. They were also planning to try their luck in Haiti.

Blanco's family itself has a large cotton plantation in Brazil. Although some have been sold to investors from the east coast, the remaining ones are still very large, and the amount of cotton produced each year is also a huge amount. number.Wait for another two months, and the cotton in his family's plantation will be on the market. According to the current trend, it will obviously be able to sell for a good price by then.Well, it seems that the next step is to increase investment in cotton plantations. Unfortunately, the best cotton plantations are all in the north, which is a pity that they are in the area controlled by the Dutch.But the good news is that the Dutch have suffered several consecutive defeats on the Brazilian battlefield recently, and the situation of the Portuguese has improved greatly. It's not difficult.At that time, his family must seize the opportunity and strive to divide up some of the property left by the Dutch - such as high-quality cotton plantations.

A servant who disembarked before Blanco quickly rushed back from the terminal trading center, and he said to Blanco in a slightly excited voice: "The price has increased again, sir, 175 yuan/ton !Everyone is excited! The Cotton Bull Market has really arrived!"

A Spanish businessman passing by seemed to understand Portuguese, and he nodded to Blanco with a smile, and said, "The price is quite good, and it's not in vain. I shipped the cotton all the way from St. You can go for a drink in peace."

"As you said, everything looks good." Blanco responded with a smile. "The only worry is that the next season (May-June transaction) cotton acquisition will become a war. Every day Individuals are ready with cash and goods, just waiting for the Brazilian cotton harvest in late April."

"Who's to say otherwise, it would be a bloody war for merchants who didn't have enough cotton plantations. Everyone involved needed enough money and good luck to buy enough cotton, But it is worth it, after all, is it a cotton bull market now, and the demand in the Old World is also gradually rising." The Spanish businessman shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said.

After saying goodbye to the Spanish businessman politely, Blanco asked his personal servant to contact the dock officials to unload the goods, and then went to the trading center to deliver cotton with the people on the east coast.And he himself planned to go to the tavern by the pier for a drink like the Spanish businessman, and inquire about some latest news or rumors by the way.

The alcoholic beverages offered in the Wharf Tavern are still quite limited, only the newly launched West Lake Beer, Xiangshan Dry Red and Hezhong Daqu.The taste of these wines can't be said to be good, but it can't be said to be bad either. Blanco will drink some occasionally.However, the Daqu in the River here has become the favorite of some alternative sailors. They feel that the spirits brewed in the Old World served on the ship are not strong enough, and only Daqu in the River can satisfy their appetite.To be honest, Blanco's acceptance of this spicy spirit is very low. He feels that drinking this kind of wine is a kind of torture. In contrast, he would rather give himself a glass of Xiangshan dry red wine.

The tavern was full of merchants, captains, and sailors.The waiters, who were big, black, Xhosa South Africans, had a bad attitude and a bad steak, which caused some rude sailors to curse.But they didn't dare to be too presumptuous. The patrolmen passing by from time to time made them dispel all thoughts of making trouble. They didn't want to be hung on those high flagpoles, that would be too stupid.

Several captains talked about a new leather processing factory built by the East Coasters in the port.One of the captains even took off a pair of stinky leather boots from his feet and placed them on the dining table, causing everyone to stare at him for a while.

However, the captain didn't realize it. He pointed to the pair of shoes that were dyed purple and had a faint natural pattern, and said to a middle-aged man opposite in standard Spanish: "This is the shoe I just bought." I bought a pair of rain boots in the pier shop, purple, how about it, beautiful? They are also very comfortable to wear! Made of whale skin, it can be seen that the leather is tanned quite well, there is no common smell, and there are no common plaques, All in all, it's perfect. You see, it's also patterned, and the purple color is very luxurious. The salesman assured me that this shoe will not deform or break in extremely low temperatures, and the insulation effect is quite strong. I believe it He is going to wear these shoes to go whaling in the waters of the southern Falkland Islands. People on the east coast are buying whales at a high price, not only for whale oil, but for the entire whale! What are you waiting for with such generous conditions? Garcia, Listen to me that's right! Don't go whaling in the goddamn Svalbard, there's too much competition and the whales won't sell for much. Come whaling south with me, we'll make a fortune , which is much more profitable than selling cotton.”

Listening to them talking about whaling, Blanco thought deeply.It seems that the ambition of the people on the east coast to develop the leather processing industry cannot be curbed. They seem to be mainly based on cowhide and sheepskin, supplemented by high-end products such as otter, seal, fox and whale skin, plus their abnormal dyeing technology , It seems that they want to gradually eat up this market.However, tanning leather requires a lot of soda. I remember that there seems to be no such minerals in the east coast. If you only import it from Europe, the journey is long and the freight is expensive, and you may not be able to buy enough goods, and the quality cannot be fully guaranteed.Under such circumstances, they still insist on going to a leather processing factory. Could it be that they have found a new technology for large-scale and cheap production of soda?Thinking of this, Blanco's heart became agitated. Maybe it's time to send some new instructions to those people, let them get a good feel for the people on the east coast.

(End of this chapter)