Win the Ding 1617

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A series of arquebus guns echoed in the Golconda Castle. Sultan Shahi ordered his warriors to release the muskets brought by Nanzhong merchants to test the lethality effect, and by the way. The protective ability of those armors.

The result is very exciting.

Within fifty steps, the arquebus easily penetrated the target, of course when it hit.And in the same way, those sheep wearing the armor sold by the merchants in Nanzhong were still bleating after enjoying the salvo of firecrackers, except for a few unlucky ones who were hit by the firecrackers on the limbs and heads. Except for the head, those who were hit generally had no other damage except for some craters and scratches on the armor.

If the whole army can be equipped with such weapons, then why can't they deal with the rebel tribes everywhere and the troops of the damned Mughal Empire?The samurai and generals began to imagine in their minds how they would sweep away thousands of troops in the future.

However, buying these weapons, armor, guns and cannons requires a lot of gold coins. The generals all looked at His Majesty the Sultan eagerly, hoping that he could make the wisest choice. If you buy these weapons, then you can use your own wealth to buy a batch of weapons to strengthen yourself.

It seems that the ones who have always been at odds with the generals are the civil servants, who have reservations from the prime minister down to the idea that His Majesty the Sultan will take out a large number of precious stones and gold coins in the treasury to buy military supplies.They almost agreed with one voice, even if they want to buy it.It also needs to be done after some bargaining, and I am very interested in the Chinese businessman's proposal that the cotton trade monopoly can be used to pay for the goods, and at the same time promote the cotton seeds they brought in the mainland.

"Your Majesty, the ministers believe that it is the best choice to use cotton to pay for these weapons. Our Hyderabad is originally a distribution center for cotton and cotton cloth. Not to mention that there is as much cotton as the sea, at least it is like the Guwam River. Abundant. Use these worthless products to exchange for goods that can re-equip the army of His Majesty the Sultan. We think this is the best way, and we agree to follow the proposal of the Nanzhong businessman!"

"And in this way, we can use the cotton seeds provided by Nanzhong merchants. We can also expand the cotton planting area. In the future, we can use more cotton to exchange for more high-quality armor, swords, guns and artillery. Let your majesty's army fight a hundred battles." Yum!"

. . . . . .

Putting aside the loud quarrels and debates in the Golconda Castle for their own interests, we turned our attention to Lin Wenbing and others in the posthouse, since meeting the Sultan.Officials at all levels here looked respectful when they saw Lin Wenbing and others, lest they would not serve them well, offend the sultan who kept calling him "my most honorable friend", cause trouble for themselves, and even worse Those who are more active in their minds know that among the merchants who come to trade, in addition to bulk goods, almost everyone has some sporadic goods in their hands, and even sailors and soldiers also have some small items in their bags. Prepare to make a profit and get on good terms with them, maybe you will get a lot of benefits from it.

Lin Wenbing is also well versed in this way, so he discussed with several captains and shopkeepers of the company in the posthouse, allowing no more than [-]% of people to leave the ship to conduct trading activities in the city every day, and bring himself with him All kinds of things are sold in the street market, "It can also be used to earn wine money for the brothers, wife money, or exchange for something to go back to honor your parents!"

"The rest of the people must be active near the ship. If something happens, get on the ship immediately!"

Hearing such an order, the whole fleet, whether it was personnel at all levels of the company, or the sailors, gunners, and soldiers accompanying the ship, all burst into cheers.Their luggage has long been stuffed to the brim, such as small mirrors, soap, glass beads, and most of all, a gunner even put more than 1000 boxwood combs in his box. I don’t know how he did it. Such a feat!

Playing with a ruby ​​that Sudan used to pay for weapons, Lin Wenbing listened to Lin Shihe and several shopkeepers and accountants of the firm begin to calculate the income from the Guangzhou's ocean trial voyage at the posthouse.

"Master, there are a total of 120 gemstones, including emeralds, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, etc. These things can't be sold in Hue, but they are transported northward to Guangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing and other places. The one in the hand of the shopkeeper is sold to princes and nobles, wealthy businessmen, and it may not be a big problem to change the Guangzhou number!"

There was such a huge profit in this trip, the people present looked at each other, all of them were ecstatic.This is only about half of the payment for the goods. If Sudan can accept the payment for the goods with cotton, with the current production capacity in the South Central region, it must be able to turn cotton into cotton yarn and cotton cloth to sell everywhere. It is even richer!

Several people separated the gemstones according to their types, measured the size and weight of each type with calipers and scales, and recorded them separately, and put them into bags one by one in pockets sewn with fine cotton cloth, and sealed the bags tightly with wax. The four corners were affixed with a seal, and several shopkeepers, Lin Wenbing, Lin Shi and others signed and stamped on it.

It was so busy that it was time to light the lamps. Lin Wenbing stood up and stretched long, ready to order the servants of the post to light the lamps. At this time, he heard a loud noise in the courtyard, as if he was coming from his own caravan. The voices of the crowd trading in the street market.

what happened?

A few people suddenly became alert, could it be that their own people went out to do small business and were tricked?Or have you clashed with the locals?Lin Shi immediately grabbed the long knife and firecracker on the side, and flipped the faucet on the short firecracker casually, and checked the flint caught on it.

On the contrary, the shopkeepers were very calm, and listened with their ears up. It seemed that there was no other sound, only their own people were yelling and cursing, and there were a few sobbing and crying sounds from time to time.

"Boss, it's all right, it doesn't seem like there's a big deal." Several people chatted among themselves, and quickly put these gems and other things into a cage for storage, and then opened the door to the courtyard to meet the group of people who came back from business. people.

In a courtyard full of Turkic architectural styles.The projection of the moonlight shrouded the yard in the shadow, and a group of people surrounded a circle. In the circle, several sailors and soldiers who went to the market during the day to trade squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands, crying from time to time.

"Why are you crying?! Like a bitch! What happened?!"

The captain of a lucky ship could see clearly that it was the gunners on his own ship who happily asked for leave in the morning and went to the street to sell the goods he brought, but didn't want to come back crying at night.Even if there is a big grievance, how can a few big men piss in the public, how can this not be annoying?

"Boss, they are being bullied!"

A sailor who went out with him introduced the situation to everyone.

But it turns out.The gunners chipped in from Hue to buy some small three-inch mirrors and glass beads.I planned to go to the street to exchange some money, buy some silverware, copperware, cinnamon, pepper, etc. produced here, and sell them back home. Some people even thought about luck.You can buy a small diamond or two to take home or show off to acquaintances.Or change some money to buy a share in the shipping office.but.Several people were spotted just as they were looking for shops on the street.

"A general under the sultan, we met him in the sultan's palace yesterday, he ordered someone to take us to his mansion. He said to buy all our goods, the price is up to us, but the payment of the goods does not need gold coins and silver dollars. Pay with something else."

"At first they thought they were going to exchange pearls, gemstones, spices, etc., thinking that they had met a nobleman, so they nodded and agreed. However, the general took the goods and ordered someone to take out a piece of parchment The document said that the land in a certain place was transferred to them to make up the payment for the purchase!"

"What?! We are businessmen! What do you want the land here?!" Hearing this, all the people present were in an uproar. This is obviously a robbery!Can everyone transport the land here to the ship and take it back?

"They were unwilling at first, but they couldn't hold back their thighs. How dare they not bow their heads under the eaves of others? They not only had all their goods taken away, but also went to the mosque to go through the land transfer procedures, and now the land belongs to them A few people have registered. These guys think that this trip was a waste of time, how can they exchange the money of relatives and friends when they go back? So they feel wronged here."

"Is this the land you exchanged for?"

The next morning, under the guidance of Tong Shi and the post office, Lin Wenbing and his party searched for the past according to the direction stated in the title deed. The land that was traded for the sailors' goods was found at Majli Padnam near the mouth of the Shina River.The two small Hindu temples nearby have become landmark buildings. Looking around, the land is not bad. Mr. Xu bent down to grab a handful of dirt and put it on his nose to sniff, "Okay Earth!"

"It's just too close to the mouth of the sea. Once there is a big storm and the sea water pours in, everything on this land will be ruined!"

"There is also an advantage, it is close to Haikou." Lin Shi said such a sentence without thinking.

"It's close to the sea. I saw it just now. The amount of water in the river and the speed of the flow should be able to accommodate boats." Lin Shi threw a branch into the river with all his strength, and let everyone watch the flow of the branch.

"Old Lin, what do you mean, we can build this place into a warehouse in the future?" A shopkeeper of the Han Yuan Company looked around excitedly with his eyes shining.

It is not far from the river bank and the seaport, and the distance from the river bank is completely within the range of the [-]-pound gun. If you build a merchant station, build a city wall, and build a fort here, it will be a fortress. Navigational connections to the outside world.

"Since we have put forward the trade request of exchanging weapons with Sudan for cotton, it is impossible to come only once in the future. Moreover, everyone knows that cotton needs to be graded, sorted, and packaged. If you want me to say, these boys seem to be unlucky, but they are actually our lucky stars. This is because God knows that we will have to buy land and build a commercial station here in the future, so we rely on the hand of that greedy general , give us a piece of land to build our business station!"

"That's right!"

Lin Wenbing also agreed with Lin Shi's speech, "And there is another advantage here. Behind it is the plain created by two big rivers, a large area of ​​arable land. In the future, we will lure the locals here to plant cotton for us. If thousands of miles of land were planted with cotton, my dear! Think about it, everyone. At that time, we stood on the top of the city and looked around at the white cotton fields, and the fields were not cotton bolls! It’s a silver dollar one by one!”

A group of people thought about the future prosperity here, and ordered people to lay out cushions on the ground, and sat on the ground like those sultan princes, brought food, wine and fruit, and sat around in one place.Discuss various things about the construction business station here.

Those four or five "landlords" stood aside, waiting for Ai Ai to encourage each other.I came forward to say something but dared not.

"You guys, don't be too uncomfortable. Let's discuss it, and the company bought the land. Later, we will go to the Sudan to ask for a seal on it. Things will be more secure. What about the land price? !"

"It all depends on the care of the shopkeeper!"

"That's right! We all rely on the shopkeeper!"

Those sailors were busy saying all kinds of New Year's greetings.I hope my chief will not be too cruel.

Lin Wenbing and the others looked at each other, bowed their heads and discussed, "That's it! We can't let you lose too much. Let's give each of you a knife made of iron and steel. How about the price?!"

An extinct knife made of iron and steel was sold to the Sudan for 2 gold coins.These sailors never dreamed that their small mirrors and glass beads were fraudulently exchanged for such a piece of land, but they got so much money in the hands of several big shopkeepers. One gold coin, even if you return to Hue and pay the tax, you can exchange it for more than [-] silver dollars, and you will have the capital to buy goods next time you go to sea!

As one of the origins of cotton, Sultan Shahi is no stranger to this crop. Under his rule, countless civilians planted cotton, spun and weaved cloth in exchange for cash, paid taxes, and even made money in his treasury. A large part of it is cotton used to offset taxes.Every year, a large number of merchants come to India to purchase cotton textiles and sell them to Europe through the Arabian Peninsula. During the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Jida and Mecca will hold an annual large-scale cloth market. The fabrics sold there Still mostly produced in Egypt and India.The Dutch and English, who arrived in Asia to buy spices, realized that Indian cotton textiles could be exchanged for spices.The Dutch also exported India's indigo-dyed blue plaid to Africa to buy slaves and send them to the New World. The blue Indian cotton cloth worn by slaves at that time was later named "sorrow cloth".

Like China, because of the development of the textile industry, so-called sprouts of capitalism have appeared in many areas. Not long ago, Lin Wenbing and others moored in the Coromandel Coast near the port of Madras, where almost the entire The villages are specialized in textile production.The buyer provides raw materials and cash advances to the workers so that they can provide a certain amount of cloth within a specified time.The cotton spun on the hand spinning wheels in the farmhouse is transported to the coastal towns and port factories by a cart caravan pulled by oxen. After being spun by hundreds of hand spinning wheels, the textiles made are again Continue to export to Europe.Does it look familiar?Is it similar to the germination of capitalism that appeared in the Ming Dynasty in China mentioned in history books?

The Sudan and his ministers and generals are very familiar with cotton, a crop that likes heat, good light, drought tolerance, avoids stains, and is suitable for planting in loose and deep soil.

Cotton, shrubby plant, can grow up to 6 meters high in tropical areas, generally 1 to 2 meters.The flowers are milky white, turn dark red shortly after flowering and then wither, leaving small green capsules called cotton bolls.There are cottonseeds in the cotton bolls, and the fluff on the cottonseeds grows from the skin of the cottonseeds and fills the inside of the cotton bolls.When the bolls mature, they split open, exposing the soft fibers.The fibers are white to white with yellow, about 2 to 4 cm long, containing about 87-90% cellulose.This white or white-yellow fiber is the thing that countless people pursue across mountains and seas—cotton.

"I have discussed with my ministers and agreed to use cotton to pay for your goods, my honorable friends, but you have proposed to monopolize the trade activities of all cotton in my country. This is something we cannot accept. Yes. We can only allow you to obtain cotton through legal means of trade in my country. This is my answer to your first request."

Regarding the monopoly of the cotton trade in the Telugu region, it was originally an act of wildly asking for prices. Lin Wenbing and others had long been mentally prepared for the Sudan's reply, and they were even more serious than this. Be prepared.But it was a pleasant surprise to get such a result.

Moreover, in the past few days, many ministers and generals under the Sudan have contacted the South China businessmen through various channels, and the two sides have reached a consensus. That is, in the territory divided according to hereditary and non-hereditary nature, Nanzhong merchants can obtain the final harvest by distributing seeds, renting land for cultivation, etc., or, the lords will distribute the seeds to the farmers, and after harvesting, sell them to Merchants in South China.And the lords will get their favorite goods and gold coins as rewards.

And the cotton seed brought by Lin Wenbing was the sea-island cotton that the Shou Han spent an untold amount of money to get from the Portuguese—also called long-staple cotton. Cotton in South America.Bright color, long fiber, high strength, suitable for spinning high count yarn.

"As long as there is sea-island cotton, use fruit to get off the spinning machine. As long as workers who are not particularly stupid can spin 60-80 counts of yarn, it is not a problem!"

As the cotton seeds were taken away by the lords, Lin Wenbing's words kept ringing in Lin Wenbing's ears.

"Your Majesty the Sultan, as your friend, I assure you that your army will have the best military equipment. However, for the smooth progress of business activities between us, I hope you will allow us to purchase Several pieces of land to build piers, berths, warehouses, and the necessary fortifications to protect these facilities."

Lin Wenbing selected Madras, Maslibadan and the mouth of Majli Podnam in Hyderabad on the map obtained by the Sultan, and drew three circles here with cinnabar .

"In these three places, we need to build merchant stations and purchase the goods we need!" (To be continued...)

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