Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 97 The Pasquale Family

The first day of 1634 began in bright sunshine.On this day, whether it is the administrative agencies and factories of Dongfang Port, the construction sites of Zhenhai Fort and Ping An Fort, or the coal mines and coal washing plants by the Meihe River, the citizens of the East China Republic have a rare day off.

Due to the lack of entertainment facilities, most residents choose to rest at home, that is, drinking or playing cards. This has increased the sales of mahjong tiles in the supply and marketing cooperatives in Dongfanggang County by [-]%. It was sold out, which shows the impressive purchasing power of the citizens of the East Coast Republic today.

In the warehouse of Dongfang Port Wharf, Xu Xin, the new Minister of Trade, is nervously looking at the ledger with a pen.The latest batch of woolen cloth and cotton cloth produced by the machine spinning factory was loaded last night, and it will be shipped to Colonia in a short time.

200 bolts of woolen cloth, 500 bolts of white cotton cloth, 10 yuan of red bricks, 50 tons of cement, 1000 military knives, 500 pieces of tools and small hardware products, 250 tons of clean coal... This is the largest trade fair organized by the Ministry of Trade in La Plata since the New Year. Due to the heavy financial pressure, the executive committee is not stingy with rewarding any department that can export. Therefore, the Ministry of Trade, under heavy pressure, organized such a large-scale export operation at the beginning of the new year.These goods with a total value of more than 13000 yuan filled the two large ships "Eagle of the East Coast" and "Flying Fish of Galicia". It's the last inspection.

"Brother Xu, good news." Lieutenant Guo Zili, the captain of the escort gunship "Red Trout", rushed into the warehouse quickly, and said with a mysterious smile, "Our cotton will be lost in the future."

"What?!" Xu Xin was startled, then overjoyed, he stood up and asked, "Xiao Guo, don't joke with me. What does it mean that you have settled? Could it be that Blanco is here?"

"Blanco didn't come here. But what's the use of him coming? There are only a few cotton plantations in Brazil, and most of these plantations are in the north. I'm afraid they are all in the hands of the Dutch now." Guo Zili curled his lips and said : "It's someone from the Caribbean, French! I heard that Julien d'Eblol was an old friend when he was in Bordeaux, haha!"

"Caribbean?" Xu Xin quickly searched for information in his mind. The French own many plantations in the series of small islands in the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea, such as the tobacco plantation on St. Christopher Island. , Cotton plantations in the west of Haiti Island (ie, Hispaniola Island), cocoa and sugar cane plantations on Grenada, sugar cane and tobacco plantations on Guadeloupe and Martinique, etc.But what's interesting is that the French basically don't have an official organization on this type of island, and the people who came to develop plantations were all French farmers and some big businessmen.This situation will not change until a few years later when the famous Cardinal Richelieu clears out the separatists and opposition forces in France. At that time, the French government announces that it will officially send officials to the Caribbean to govern those occupied small territories. island.

"Could it be from Haiti?" Xu Xin asked.

"That's right!" Guo Zili said with a smile, "Let's go and have a look. I heard that Miss Mathilde's family owns a large cotton plantation in the west of Haiti Island. Maybe it will solve our problem. The route to raw material bottlenecks is here."

"Let's go and have a look!" Xu Xin didn't hesitate after hearing the words, and simply put down the ledger in his hand and walked out the door.

The two soon reached the pier.At this time, a three-masted galleon was moored by the trestle bridge, and the iris flag flying high on the top mast indicated that it was a ship from France.Standing on the pier was a group of Europeans dressed in flamboyant and exaggerated styles, led by a man in his early 30s.He wears a triangular top hat with fringed ribbons on the brim; outside his upper body is a dress made of high-quality merino short wool and silk blend; inside he also wears a white shirt with a large section of lace at the neckline and cuffs; His lower body is wearing a pair of tight trousers that reach a little below the knee, and below the knee is a pair of white stockings, which are fastened with buttons between the stockings and trousers; he wears a pair of red riding boots on his feet, and a gray wig on his head , with a layer of white powdered makeup on her face, looking extremely luxurious.

Besides him, the most eye-catching thing is the tall lady next to him.She was hatless, with a Fontaine haircut, and a gown of dazzlingly embellished detail.The upper body is a set of brightly colored velvet corsets, which squeeze and lift the chest while naturally tightening around the waist and abdomen.The chest is embroidered with large sections of lace, flowers, bows and other ornaments, and the cuffs are also embroidered with beautiful bows and ribbons.The bottom is a floor-length skirt, almost 5 meters long, and the corners of the skirt are carefully held in the hands of two maids.It is not without reason that the European ladies of this period were called "walking gardens".This young lady doesn't look very old, she looks in her early 20s, and her appearance is only above average, but her youth is better than her youth. With this set of beautiful clothes, she feels quite seductive.

Julien, who was dressed in the light blue uniform of a lieutenant in the navy, was chatting with the young lady. Most of the time, Julien was talking, while the young lady looked at him quietly.With the arrival of Xu Xin and others, Julien ended the conversation with the lady seemingly reluctantly, then walked up to Xu Xin and introduced, "This is Mr. Julian and Martial from the Bordeaux Pasquale family. Miss De, their family owns a large cotton plantation in the west of Haiti, and they came here this time to see if there is any investment opportunity."

"Okay, I see." Xu Xin looked at him with a funny face, patted his shoulder casually, and said, "Go and accompany your girlfriend, handsome young man. As for business matters, I will report later Superior, look at the regulations above."

……

The entrance of a small three-story building obliquely behind the administrative building is very busy at this time. More than ten servants or maids are carrying suitcases of all sizes and entering the small building with the wooden sign of "Oriental Hotel" hanging at the door. Several of the largest and best rooms in the small building have been taken over by the housekeepers from the Pasquale family.In fact, there are no other guests in this hotel besides them at this moment. In normal times, there may still be some Poles, Swedes, Danes or Russians living here, but today, when the trade with Europe is temporarily suspended, here It seemed so empty.

Sissoko, the former store manager of the supply and marketing cooperative and now the hotel manager, prepared a welcome banquet for the guests in the restaurant in the backyard of the hotel.The banquet was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, and the Central Executive Committee member Gao Mo attended in person.The hotel prepared a wealth of ingredients for the banquet. Apart from some vegetables and fruits, Sissoko also managed to get the best beef ribs, fresh La Plata deep-sea cod, tuna, prawns, and other The wild ducks and jaguars sent from Duck Lake made Xu Xin and Tao Chenxi, who accompanied the leaders to the banquet for the first time, call corruption in their hearts.

"So, Julian, that means your family owns a cotton plantation with a radius of 1 league (1 league = 3 miles) on the west side of Haiti Island? This is really a valuable asset." Gao Mo asked softly in French with.

"Yes, Gao. My grandfather was one of the first businessmen to invest in Haiti. Back then, he was just the youngest son of a noble family without inheritance rights. With his wisdom and courage, he operated between Haiti Island and France for 40 years. Finally, he obtained the ownership of this rich land. His character is admirable, and his wisdom is beyond doubt... Uh, I'm sorry, I dragged it too far." Julian Pasquale put down his fork and slightly turned to Gaumo After apologizing, he continued: "In my father's generation, he used the cotton produced in the plantation to open a cotton processing factory in Bordeaux, producing some cloth, stockings and gloves, but the profit was limited. In [-], my father and I were more and more inclined to convert this plantation into a sugar cane, cocoa or tobacco plantation, after all, these are the goods that are in short supply and the most profitable for the family.”

"What? Your family is going to give up growing cotton?" Gao Mo's heart sank, and things are going to be difficult now.

"Don't worry too much, Gao." Julian wiped his mouth with a silk handkerchief, and then comforted: "I know you need our cotton, don't worry. My father has officially established a document, the plantation on Haiti Island A tenth of the land and slaves will be transferred to my dear sister, Mathilde, who still has enough interest in running a cotton plantation."

Mathilde smiled at Gaomo reservedly, and then said: "I always think it's not a good idea to plant other crops halfway. Maybe that piece of land is not suitable for planting tobacco or sugarcane, maybe the slaves lack the ability to grow other crops." The necessary knowledge of the crop, anyway, I still decided to continue to grow cotton. Father's workshop is still in operation, need a certain amount of cotton raw materials, of course, now joined you - East Coast people. And, I have the elegance and erudition of East Coast people I have a good impression." After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Julien who was sitting opposite him and listening to their conversation, and Julien smiled brightly at her.

Tao Chenxi saw the two people looking at each other, and couldn't help but shouted in his heart, "Hog boy and girl! Rich woman and girl, what's the matter with me, please let it go." Xu Xin also had the same thought as him, and at this moment he I also thought that from now on, this little boy, Julien, might not only be able to marry a rich woman and make a fortune, but also have smooth sailing in his official career.

"Thank you for your compliment. The members of the Pasquale family also left a very good impression on me." Gao Mo raised his glass and gestured to the two of them: "Then, cheers to our future cooperation!"

"cheers!"

(End of this chapter)