Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 543 Midsummer in the Eastern Mediterranean ([-])

On September 1646, 9, Mo San stepped onto the solid land of Istanbul with a pale face.The Ottoman transport ship he was on, called the Sajk, had just weathered a storm and nearly sank in the Black Sea.Of course, he was lucky. The other two merchant ships sailing with his ship sank, which made the owner of these three ships, a Jewish businessman from Smyrna, want to cry without tears.

The name of this Jewish businessman is Moreno Martinez, he is from Portugal, um, to be precise, his ancestral home should be Portugal.When he was young, his family was expelled by the locals, and in desperation he came to live in the only country in Europe that welcomed Jews—the Ottoman Empire.Here his father made many new friends—most of them Jewish—and the business soon prospered.At present, their family is a well-known tax-paying businessman in a certain area of ​​Syria. As a member of the family, Moreno, who went to the Crimean Khanate alone when he was young, is now a card with the help of his family and friends. A well-known rising star in the French slave market.

Mo San is a major customer of these slave traders, and he knows many upper-level figures of the empire, and his background is very strong, so he has been favored by many slave traders.No, this time I just went to Kaffa and Odessa to inspect the market, and met with Ma De who recruited Tatar herdsmen there. Moreno, who met on the return trip, warmly invited Mo San and his entourage to join him Return to Istanbul by boat.It's just that he didn't know if it was his bad luck or what. He encountered a big storm on the return journey and almost drowned in the sea. This made him still feel a little bit shocked.

After experiencing this incident, Mo San’s perception of the Ottomans, a small merchant ship with two slanted sails (the Europeans ridiculed them as “rabbit ears”) plummeted, and he took this kind of ship out of his future travel list. Completely rowed away.But thinking of this, out of the instinct of a businessman and diplomat, Mo San mentioned to Moreno about ordering some advanced "modern" transport ships produced on the east coast.

Moreno immediately cried and became poor when he heard the words: "Dear friend, you have no idea how much money I lost this time. I am bankrupt! Mo, do you know that I am bankrupt? I can no longer buy anything, even Not even a slice of bread."

Mo San sighed, took out a twenty-cent silver coin minted on the east bank from his pocket, spread it on the palm of his hand, and said: "This silver coin is enough for you to buy enough bread for you in Syria for a week, tell me now Me, are you interested in buying our boats? Our boats are cheaper than the Dutch, and we have regular trade, and you can see how unreliable this kind of boat with rabbit ears is, maybe One day a storm sank the ship, and it will carry cargo or passengers. Your government has ordered this kind of transport ship from our country's shipyards. Why do you hesitate? Don't think I don't know, The Black Sea trade has always been very profitable, as long as one of your three ships can reach the destination safely, you will be able to pay back. Now, you have already paid back and made a little profit, haven’t you?”

The territory along the Black Sea coast of the Ottoman Empire (including the vassal state of the Crimean Khanate) was called the "nursing mother" of Istanbul at this time, and almost all the necessities of life in the Ottoman Turks' core settlements came from these places-basically by sea.These areas sent food such as wheat, barley, millet, salt, cattle, sheep, chicken and fish, poultry eggs, fruits, Turkish butter, honey, cured meat, etc. to the empire, as well as production materials such as flax, iron, copper, wood, and coal. He supported half of the Ottoman Empire on his own.

Since the status of the Black Sea region is so important, it is taken for granted that the Ottoman Empire government completely prohibited merchants or ships from Western countries, especially those Latin countries, from operating here.This originated in 1609, when the British tried to capture Trabzon, and since then the Ottoman Empire has completely put an end to outsiders' coveting of this vast sea area.Due to some special relations, the ships of the Eastern Republic are not included in this list. Their merchants and ships can sail freely in the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, and they can also stop at designated ports such as Kaffa and Burgas for supplies. or trade.And this naturally made those French businessmen who had "traditional interests" in the Ottoman Empire jealous.

The government of the Ottoman Empire proposed to Mo San at the beginning of this month (September) about ordering ten large three-masted sail transport ships. Mo San was very happy when he heard the news. The Ottoman Empire is really a big dog. Is their economy in a downturn? How can they buy ships so generously?After thinking about it, Mo San can only attribute it to the fact that their sultan paid for his own money, or they robbed a lot of things in the newly conquered Crete and parts of the Caucasus, otherwise where would they get the money to pay for the ship.Of course, these ten ships are not in place at one time, but purchased in two years, but this is enough to bring more than 9 yuan in profits to the East Coast Republic every year.

Inspired by this order, Mo San continued his efforts and began to move around, encouraging the Ottomans to import some passenger ships from the east coast and open regular flights between some cities on the Black Sea and White Sea (the Ottomans called it the Aegean Sea).Moreover, cotton, wine, olives, lemons, citrus, rice, etc. produced in Greece; horses, leather, wheat, silk, spices, gemstones, perfume, etc. in the rich Levant area; Indian goods, coffee, etc., which are transshipped via the Red Sea Port of Suez and Mocha, all these materials are in urgent need of transportation.

The Ottomans relied on the old-fashioned small "Sajk" transport ships and paddle boats to transport supplies, which was not only inefficient, but also had insufficient wind and wave resistance, a high accident rate, and was more vulnerable to robbery by Christian pirates everywhere.The capital Istanbul and the economic center Smyrna are often in short supply due to transport delays, causing price fluctuations and undue shocks.The responsibilities of these transport ships are a bit like the water transport of the Ming Dynasty at this time. The purpose is to transport materials from areas rich in products to the political and economic centers where densely populated areas gather dignitaries and dignitaries. "Water transportation" is not timely, of course it will cause social unrest.Therefore, Mo San tried his best to sell the so-called "modern" transport ships on the east coast to the Ottoman government and private businessmen.

His efforts were not in vain, and some Greek, Armenian, and Jewish merchants placed orders for a total of five ships to him sporadically.This guy doesn't care whether the country has the ability to make it, but just take the order first, and talk about other issues later.These businessmen are all interested in developing the shipping market of the Ottoman Empire. They are quite dissatisfied with the fact that the French have controlled a considerable part of the shipping business of the White Sea. Laos were driven out of the Ottoman market.

And Moreno is also Mo San's favorite potential customer. This guy's slave business is very big, and now he has also started to get involved in the transportation business, that is, to transport the ore produced by the Kaffa iron mine to the iron smelters in Istanbul, Bursa and other places. workshop to make a profit.Especially now that he has just sunk two small transport ships, and when he urgently needs to order new ships to start his business, he is a customer that Mo San cares about.

It's just that Moreno seemed really stingy. After he and Mo Sanxu had a fight, he bid farewell to Mo San and went to his own warehouse on the pier with a mournful face.

Mo San exhaled heavily, and said in fluent French: "Stingy Jew!"

"Jews in every country are misers, Haussmann's is, and France's is too." The man with a Latin face who had been following Mo San took off his hat and said suddenly.This person had been by Mo San's side before, and Mo San also said that he was his servant when he introduced it to the outside, but judging from the current situation, the identity of this person is obviously not that simple.

"But this group of Jews controls such a large business and affects many wealthy areas. Even I see it and I am jealous. Didier, although your business is large, it is still slightly inferior to theirs. !" Mo San looked at Moreno's back, and said in an envious tone.

"Who says no." The man named Didier spread his hands and said, "Who told them that they are the most dynamic group of businessmen in this country with a population of 3000 million. The financial constraints of the Ottoman Empire government does not mean that Nobles and merchants have no money. Didn’t you discuss with those merchants about issuing small bonds? I think it’s feasible. Once your country falls into war with the Spaniards, in the long run it may be true Some bonds need to be issued to raise capital, and these are the perfect buyers, and they have too much money to spend."

"Let's not talk about this." Mo San waved his hand and ended this sensitive topic wisely, then he turned around and said, "Mr. Flores, I will show you the rich Black Sea, the Sea of ​​Azov and You have also visited the White Sea region, Kaffa, Odessa, Burgas, Istanbul, Smyrna, Thessaloniki and other big cities. I don’t care if this is beneficial to your trade. It's your duty. Then, according to our prior agreement, are you ready to fulfill your own duty now?"

"Of course!" Didier Flores said with certainty, "As a gentleman of status, of course I will fulfill my obligation to introduce you to the big shots in Paris. But I am only responsible for the introduction, as for you and them I don't care whether it's business or diplomacy."

"Deal, Mr. Flores, you are a cheerful person, and now I can't wait to go to Paris." Mo San suddenly smiled and said happily.

(End of this chapter)