Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 559 The Gaze of the Genoese ([-])

On February 1647, 2, sunny Marseilles.

This historic city is located in the poorer Provence region in southern France. Although this region is rich in wine and wheat, it is one of the poorer provinces among the thirty or so provinces in France.Moreover, this city is quite strange. Although the nearby area is a wheat-producing area, the price of grain here has always been high because of the need to export grain to the Aquitaine region (ie Gascogne) and even Genoa, and the local residents are deeply disturbed.

Another is that the city is full of foreign merchants or sailors speaking various languages, and the buildings are also exotic.Someone once said sarcastically: "Rather than saying that Marseille is a typical French port, it is better to say that she is a Berber or Levantine port." and sailors.France had formed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire to deal with Spain in the last century, which shocked the whole of Europe at the time.But the French who do their own way don't think there is anything wrong with it. Marseille is still the most friendly city to the Ottomans in the Western Mediterranean. Every year, many famous merchant ships come to trade, creating a rare wealth for the poor Provence. .

Mo San has been here for almost half a month. At that time, he took a few entourages from Istanbul to the port of Marseilles on an Ottoman merchant ship, and then contacted a commodity agent of the East Bank Republic here— — This person is a relative of the Baron of Toulouse, and so settled down.Unexpectedly, just as he was about to rest for a while and was about to leave for Arles by land again, an uninvited guest with great powers came to the door.

Yes, this person is Mario of the famous Doria family in Genoa.This Jun Mosan only met him once. It was a while ago when the Ottoman ship he was on was in Livorno, a port deeply affected by Genoa's economy, for supplies. The cloth is said to be sold to Mexico.Mo San, who was present at the time, chatted casually with him for a while, and then went their separate ways.Unexpectedly, when I met him again in Marseilles, he was actually approached by others. This made Mo San very surprised, but also murmured to himself: I only told him that I would go to Marseilles, but I never expected that he would come to Marseilles here. To accurately find one's own foothold in a huge city, this kind of energy is not something that ordinary businessmen can display. This Italian guy has a lot of background.

The two sides wandered around the exotic city of Marseille for two days, during which time they talked about some business issues.From time to time, the other party expressed his intention to invest in the East Coast Republic of the New World, which made Mo San hesitate.In fact, if the other party directly proposed to be the agent of goods on the east coast and use the distribution network built by the Genoese for hundreds of years to distribute the goods, then Mo San would have already agreed.However, the other party proposed to invest and set up factories in the New World, which made Mo San a little hesitant. It seems that the country has not yet issued a policy for foreign investment!

"We can bring our workers. These are workers with many years of technical experience in the Genoa fabric workshop." Mario said in a calm tone at the moment. His French was very good, and Mo San even felt a wave of it. A unique rhyme: "Our Doria family has been in business in Spain for more than 100 years, and we have strong personal connections both in Spain and in its territories in the New World. We have a local bank and distribution of goods Institutions that accept commercial drafts drawn by our family through St. George's, which is more conducive to capital turnover."

"We can also send a large number of designers to the east coast." Mario continued: "They are familiar with the Spanish aesthetics and consumption habits, and they have a clear understanding of the Spanish hobbies. Silk, decorated with small flowers, and one end embroidered with dense layers of slightly raised flowers. You know, these thick materials for making festive costumes are not cheap, they are quite gorgeous, and they are very popular among the wealthy classes in Spain. Our family There is a paper mill in Walter, and the cigarette paper produced has been sold to India, where people use them to make cigarettes, and I think this also has great prospects for development in the New World.”

"But we don't have the raw materials needed to develop the silk weaving industry..." Mo San raised a question.

"Don't worry about that. You see, my lord, I'm going to Lyon, where our family has a big business and a silk weaving workshop that produces beautiful taffeta. Whether in the New World Sales are also good in the Old World, especially the upstarts and upstarts in Acapulco, who flock to silk products. Judging from my family's years of experience, there must be a lot of money here, especially when paired with your amazing After the amazing dyeing technique." Mario finished speaking in one breath, and then looked at Mo San with expectant eyes.

In fact, Mario said that Lyon, the city with the strongest economy in France at this time, did have a very strong silk weaving industry. region, forming a huge industrial chain.They import silk raw materials from China, and then process it into exquisite silk of various styles, and then export it everywhere.This very profitable business was now controlled by the Florentines, Genoese and their local agents, and in fact Lyon's prosperity was also created by these Italians.

Mo San rolled his eyes, considered the pros and cons, and then said: "I'm sorry, I need to consult the country for this matter. But please forgive me, what kind of cooperation method are you considering? Is it to set up a factory alone or Jointly set up a factory? If it is the former, I am not optimistic."

"The specific cooperation method can of course be discussed in detail." Mario shrugged and said indifferently: "Given your country's leading textile technology, I think we can cooperate to set up a factory. Don't worry, we won't covet your technology , we are only interested in developing the market in the New World, because there are huge profits that no one can imagine. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you that after so many years of hard work, the Dutch are said to have developed a More advanced textile machines can reduce the existing textile cost by more than a quarter, which may have some adverse effects on you. Some businessmen from France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are currently negotiating with them, and it seems that they want to introduce this an advanced machine."

Hearing what Mario said, Mo San was also a little moved, but he didn't dare to be professional at this time, so he avoided the topic and talked about the upcoming diplomatic trip to Paris.Of course, this is a diplomatic effort carried out by the East Coast alone, and only God knows what the attitude of the proud French will be.

Mario was very clear about the motives for people from the East Coast to go to Paris for diplomatic activities, but he was not very interested in it, and as a person who often lived in Lyon, he did not have a good impression of the city of Paris.He felt that the flamboyant and extravagant city was inhabited by a group of stupid and arrogant aristocrats. They regarded the French region outside of Paris as a colony, wantonly sucked blood to support Paris, and created the prosperity of the city of Paris and the amazement of foreigners. But this was at the expense of the interests of the majority of French provincial residents.

However, he invited Mo San to go on the road with him, because travelers from Marseilles to Paris generally need to arrive in Lyon first, and then hire a comfortable carriage in that commercial city with a prosperous economy and full of various trade fairs. Go to Roanne through the wide overland mail road built by successive French kings.After arriving in the commercial port city of Roanne, travelers or businessmen can choose to take the merchant ships that transport supplies all over the Bouvard River. These merchant ships often have only one sail, and they travel to and from many cities on the river, and even reach Brittany as far as possible. The port of Nantes in Nice, trade with foreign countries.

The Loire River has a gentle flow and few shoals, which is very suitable for long-distance transportation of materials.The tax card charges on the river are not very expensive. Compared with land transportation, both the transportation volume and the tax cost are very competitive, so it is generally the first choice of businessmen.Since Roanne goes down the river to Paris, the speed is generally faster, and with the power of the sails (there are also fiber trackers when the wind is not enough), you only need to spend less than a week Time to reach Orleans.

Orleans is a large commercial port and a distribution center for goods.Once here, you can easily hire some boats that go to Paris via the canal.The Orleans Canal is an important channel connecting the Loire River and the Seine River, and it undertakes the important task of transporting the wheat accumulated in Orleans to Paris.Of course, you can also disembark in Briar in advance, and then take a boat on the newly built Briar Canal to the Seine River-this canal is a supplement to the Orleans Canal, and it is also responsible for transporting materials from other provinces into Paris. important task.

After arriving in Paris, how to operate depends on Mo San's ability.Didier Flores, a well-established businessman in the Ottoman Empire, introduced Mo San to an earl who has lived in Paris for a long time. It is said that he has some energy, but can he successfully meet and persuade the earl to act according to the wishes of the East Bank? This Mo San is not sure at all.Besides, if the so-called earl didn't hold any important position, it would be nothing in Paris where there are so many nobles, and maybe it would be useless.

But having said that, Mo San is not ready to give up. Contacting the French will be very helpful to the East Bank, which is in a state of war, and will help reduce the war pressure on the East Bank.So no matter whether it can be done or not, no matter how much the French give him face, no matter how much humiliation he suffers, he is ready to try his luck, maybe it will be done?

(End of this chapter)