Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 542 Midsummer in the Eastern Mediterranean ([-])

Istanbul, September 1646, 8.

For Nasuh Zade Hussein Pasha, the people from the east coast were destined to be entangled with him.When he was a Syrian pasha in Aleppo in his early years, he started business with people on the east coast at the invitation of his friends, the navy pasha and the Egyptian pasha.At the beginning, their business was mainly limited to arms, but later it gradually expanded to all kinds of textiles, dyed leather goods, hardware products, metal utensils, etc. The scale of the business became larger and larger, and everyone took the opportunity to make a fortune .

By last year, the scale of business between the two parties had once again climbed to a new level.Those interested people on the east bank handed over the business of buying female slaves from the Crimean Khanate to a business group with many powerful officials from the Ottoman Empire standing behind them, and Nasukh Pasha was one of them.The business was so big that he also received more than 2 dong a year from it, which provided a lot of money for his family's investment in the newly occupied part of the Caucasus of the empire.

Nasukh Pasha made an appointment with Mr. Mo San, the plenipotentiary diplomatic envoy of the East Coast Republic of China, to meet in his private coffee shop.Just now the servant had informed him that Mr. Mo San had arrived downstairs and was about to go upstairs to meet the distinguished Pasha.While he was dreaming, the wooden stairs creaked, and Mo San, who was in a hurry, had already walked into the quiet room of the cafe.

"Coffee again?" Mo San smiled and shook his head, took off his hat and handed it to the footman, then sat casually opposite Nasukh Pasha, flipped through his leather briefcase, and took Found a paper document.

Nasukh Pasha sat quietly opposite Mo San, staring at his brown eyes to see what this man was doing to himself.He and Mo San are already very close. One of his sons is even learning Chinese from Mo San. Mo San often sends him some precious gifts from the East. The relationship between the two parties is very harmonious.

"Dear friend, do you already know my reason for coming?" Mo San said after looking at the document, "If there is no accident, the battleship 'Bayezid' will be officially completed before the end of October 1646. Well, there are still two months before the completion of the project. The envoys sent by your country to our country have also sent back confirmation information, and your sailors are already on their way. Now we should talk about other issues. "

Two graceful maids delivered the fragrant coffee. Nasukh Pasha closed his eyes and took a sip before he said: "Of course, this is a sign of the further deepening of the relationship between our two countries. Originally, our country promised There is no doubt that the commercial terms will be fulfilled one by one."

"It's great that your country chose you to be the negotiator." Mo San smiled, then handed the document in hand to Nasukh Pasha, and explained: "This is what I wrote about the cooperation between your country and our country. Please see if there is any problem. If there is no problem, we can conduct an informal and principled negotiation on these terms now. As for the specific details, let’s leave it to our formal talks. .”

Nasukh Pasha nodded, did not speak again, and then looked at the document written in Spanish by himself.He read quickly, and finished reading the two pages in a short while.

"Why did the treaty ports become five?" Nasukh Pasha frowned and said, "Smyrna, Thessaloniki, Burgas, and Suez are the ports we plan to conduct trade with merchants from your country. You can enjoy preferential tax rates for transactions within the port. But now why does your country propose to include Kaffa Port as a treaty port? I need an explanation.”

"The explanation is that our country also wants to do business with the Crimean Khanate, and there is a bright future there." Mo San said bluntly, as if the person sitting in front of him was not a foreign negotiating envoy, but his neighbor and friend.

"But that is the sphere of influence of the Jews, and they will not allow others to deprive them of their interests." Nasukh Pasha also said unambiguously: "Those Jews are not simple. Sam Sultan. This kind of blatant stealing of other people's business will cause others to backlash."

"We just sell arms to those Crimeans, flintlock rifles, flintlock pistols, bombs, sabers, armor, spears, artillery, etc., so that they can better plunder slaves for everyone. As far as I know, The business scope of arms and those Jewish businessmen does not overlap, or the degree of overlap is not high, and it will not cause too much backlash."

"Well, since you think so, I don't care, so have you decided who to take care of this business?"

"Of course the business is still taking care of old friends. The Sea of ​​Azov Chamber of Commerce (that is, the Chamber of Commerce in which Nasukh Pasha has a stake) has accumulated a lot of experience and contacts in the business of female slaves. They're done."

"I'm relieved if you think so." Nasukh Pasha who looked at Mo San suddenly smiled, "I'm afraid that you will suddenly lose your mind and want to do this business by yourself. I don't care, but the shareholding in Azov The guards Aga and the court eunuchs of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce are not so magnanimous. Now that they are recruited, they are not afraid of those Jewish merchants making trouble again. Moreover, isn’t it just adding a port of Kaffa as a treaty port? It is nominally the territory of the Crimean Khanate, but it is not a big problem, we can make the decision.”

"Second question, His Majesty Ibrahim has initially decided that the road from Istanbul to Adrianople (Edirne) must start construction before June in the first half of next year. Is there any problem?"

"No problem. We have already stockpiled a large amount of construction materials in Xinhua Port, and the brick kiln factory and cement factory over there are also working day and night, and these things will not be delayed." Mo San immediately replied skillfully.

The construction materials exported to the Ottoman Empire were mainly cement, which was used to build high-grade roads and road drainage facilities.This mainly depends on the production of major local cement kilns. As for the cement factory in Xinhua Port, the current output is still very limited.Moreover, the air humidity there is too high, and the cement produced is prone to moisture. Therefore, the export of cement and other building materials to the Ottoman Empire is still mainly local, supplemented by New China.

"You should also prepare for the expansion of the port of Smyrna and the port of Suez. In addition, there is also the horse-drawn track of the Kaffa Iron Mine. All of the above will start within the year. I don't want to be due to the lack of building materials If the construction period is delayed, His Majesty will be very displeased. The engineering and technical personnel who will guide the construction of the above facilities, the supporting construction tools, dock machines, and fifty heavy freight wagons will also arrive at the site before the end of next year."

In addition to building a high-grade combat-ready road, the East Coasters have also obtained building materials, construction tools and technology for the upcoming expansion of the ports of Smyrna and Suez, and the upcoming Kaffa iron ore railway (from the mine to the dock) service contract.These projects require a large amount of materials such as cement, bricks, hardwood, iron components, asphalt, tar, etc., which have a huge boost to the industrial development of the Eastern China Republic, and can prompt multiple industries to expand their production capacity and enter a period of rapid development.In addition, the people on the east bank will also send a large number of experienced engineers and technicians to various construction sites in the Ottoman Empire to guide the local construction team to build various facilities, of course, this is for a fee.

The total value of the above contracts is close to 130 million yuan (including technical service fees), and will be completed within five years. It is conservatively estimated that it will bring more than [-] yuan in profits to the country every year, and will greatly promote the development of related domestic industries.The Ottomans will also pay the fees according to the construction schedule agreed upon by both parties. All expenses will be paid within two years after the completion of the project. In the future, if there are maintenance, expansion, and additional machines, they will also give priority to purchase from the East Coast Republic of China.

This package of projects is extremely astonishing in terms of total profit and profit margin.The profit margin is conservatively estimated to exceed 50%. The reason for this high is mainly because the cost of large-scale industrial production by people on the east coast is low. In addition, iron ore, limestone, logs, etc. as raw materials are not included in the cost.The so-called costs of the people on the east coast actually only include wages, production and maintenance costs, and transportation costs, which highlights their relatively high profit margins.

After Nasukh Pasha finished speaking, seeing that Mo San had no doubts, he nodded and said relaxedly: "Then there is no problem, as for the specific construction details, payment method and time of each project, etc. Let's leave it to the subordinates to discuss in detail, so we don't need to worry too much. Well, the battleship must be delivered as soon as possible. You are also very well informed. You should know that our navy is in a small-scale conflict with the Venetian fleet recently. Many warships have been sunk by the Venetians. Two warships purchased from you were also sunk and one was burned. The only remaining one is currently docked in the port of Burgas to prevent the Cossacks from attacking by boat. , we urgently need a powerful warship like the 'Bayezid' to fight against the Venetians. Otherwise, I suspect that the Venetians will block the Dardanelles again soon, which is very bad for us."

Mo San nodded silently upon hearing this.But then he thought about what the Christian world would think when the battleship "Bayezid" sailed back to the Aegean Sea.Will they intervene to stop it?If so, when the battleship "Bayezid" passes through the Strait of Gibraltar, it may encounter big trouble. Will the Kingdom of Spain, which claims to be the guardian of the world of God, prohibit its passage?Will the East Coast Fleet escorting the battleship "Bayezid" also be treated unfairly?

If things really get serious, will the Ottoman Empire also be involved in a possible war between the east coast and Spain?

(End of this chapter)