Daming Military Empire

Chapter 231
The governor of Portugal and Macau, Shivela, was very proud during this period, because he successfully hosted the negotiations between the Ming Empire and the Netherlands. His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire greatly praised him, and even rewarded him with 10 taels of silver. Few Ming officials can obtain such an honor.

Since then, he has been bragging in front of Ming officials every day, bluffing all Ming officials, and gradually earned the name of a foreign favorite. It is a pleasure to hang out in the capital.

A few days ago, he asked the emperor to ask for the new military uniform of Ming Dynasty. The commander-in-chief's style is similar to that of Zhennan King. There are a lot of boots, cloaks and even generals. Even the buttons are made of gold. This is Zhu Cijiong's order It is specially tailored for him, and it is extremely comfortable to wear. This military uniform is even more extraordinary. He wears this military uniform all day long, showing off everywhere. To no avail.

Speaking of which, his attire is nothing new, now all the legions of Daming have started to change their outfits, Ming soldiers wearing new military uniforms are everywhere, and there is even a wave of military uniform craze in Da Ming, the streets and alleys are full of copycat versions of Chong There are quite a few people who dare to wear formal clothes like his commander-in-chief. The main problem is that he is a foreigner. A foreigner wearing a Ming uniform is showing off everywhere. The picture is really weird and weird.

After Zhu Cijiong was busy with the machine, he finally remembered this product. Before he was sure whether the wire drawing machine could be made, he naturally would not consider the issue of insulating materials. Now that the wire drawing machine is no problem, he will start to consider importing rubber.

The main production area of ​​rubber in later generations was the Nanyang region, but at the time of the Ming Dynasty, the Nanyang region did not have this industry, not even rubber trees. Raw rubber was mainly produced in South America, and South America was the colony of Spain and Portugal at this time, and it had to be imported. Rubber can only be found in Spain and Portugal.Although Daming has signed contracts with these two countries, Portugal is naturally the first choice when comparing the closeness of the two countries, so the first thing Zhu Cijiong thinks of is Shivela. It seems that this guy seems to be in the capital, and looking for him Much more convenient.

The emperor summoned him, and Shivela naturally rushed to the Forbidden City as fast as he could. This guy was still wearing a new style of military uniform. Of course, the cloak could not be put on. He was taken off by the Jin Yiwei outside the city for 'keeping' .

This Shivira can be regarded as Zhu Cijiong's foreign confidant, and Zhu Cijiong seldom shows off in front of him, and usually meets him in the private study room where he receives cronies. Shivira has long been accustomed to the etiquette of Ming Dynasty, and it is a big gift when he comes in. He kowtowed and said, "My minister sees the emperor."

Zhu Cijiong nodded in satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Well, get up, how is the uniform made, does it still fit?"

Shi Weila immediately got up and said flatteringly: "It fits so well, thank you, Your Majesty."

This guy's flattering is even more slippery than the officials of Ming Dynasty. If he is allowed to play freely, he will immediately start to talk endlessly, and it is disgusting to think about it. Entering the topic, he said: "I came to you this time because I want you to find something. That thing is made in America. It's called rubber. Have you heard of it?"

Rubber is a transliterated word. There was no such name in the Ming Dynasty. Even in Daming, no one knew what rubber was. Naturally, Shivira didn't understand it. He said a little ashamedly: "This, this, my minister never heard of that."

Zhu Cijiong was taken aback when he heard the words, never heard of it?Isn't that troublesome? He explained unwillingly: "It's the sap that flows from the rubber tree. After drying, it becomes a glue-like thing. It is slightly softer than leather and has great elasticity. You may It’s not called rubber, think again, have you heard of it?”

Shivela recalled vigorously, and soon he suddenly realized: "Your Majesty, you are not talking about the 'tree of tears', right? I have heard of it, and the Governor of Brazil, Jocelin, even gave me a lot of that kind of rubber. The mats they made were small round mats placed under the teacups, and I even sent a few to the emperor, didn't you see?"

Zhu Cijiong was taken aback when he heard the words, could there be such a thing in the palace!He immediately called Cao Huachun in and asked eagerly, "Where is the teacup mat that Earl Shivira gave me? Why haven't I seen it?"

Cao Huachun thought for a while, and said with a little fear: "The emperor forgives the sin, I don't know what that thing is made of, but after a careful smell, it still smells like poison, so I didn't dare to use it for the emperor."

It smells like poison!Definitely rubber!Zhu Cijiong was overjoyed immediately and said: "Quick, show it to me, it doesn't smell like poison, isn't it normal that the sap flowing down from the tree has a strange smell?"

Hearing this, Cao Huachun hurried down and arranged for someone to pick it up. Soon, several round cushions the size of a palm were brought over.

Zhu Cijiong took it in his hand and squeezed it, it was golden and yellow, with super elasticity, it was not raw rubber or something!Zhu Cijiong raised the small cushion excitedly, and said to Shi Weila: "This is the thing, I need a lot, can you contact that Ruosilan, let him collect it as much as possible?"

It’s good to know what it is. Shivela’s current status is incredible. Ever since he came to Daming, he wants money, people, and guns. He has completely become the leading figure among the Portuguese nobles. It is Brazilian Governor Josilan who wants to curry favor with him, so it is no problem for Josilan to collect some American specialties, he patted his chest and assured: "No problem, as long as I have a word, Josilan will definitely try my best to collect this Rubber, Weichen will send a fleet to America, and tell him to collect it as soon as possible, and after collecting it, put it directly on Weichen's fleet, and it will be shipped back soon."

After all, he was about to turn around and leave, but Zhu Cijiong raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute, what are you talking about? Finished collecting? What I need is a long-term supply, not a one-off sale, and I need a lot of these things, your little one How much can the fleet bring?"

Shivela asked awkwardly after hearing the words: "A lot? How much do you need, Your Majesty?"

Zhu Cijiong roughly estimated it, and said quite proudly: "At least one hundred thousand catties is needed a year, and it is better to have one million catties, and this amount will increase, and it will take several million catties or even tens of millions of catties a year. Possibly a catty."

When Shivela heard this, his eyes almost popped out. Those who buy cakes cost several million catties. This thing is not a crop, but a rare material used to make small objects. How heavy a palm-sized teacup can be? A few taels, several million catties, how many "tears of tears" have to be cut to collect it!He said in embarrassment: "Well, it seems that the output of this thing is not large, even if it can be collected to have tens of thousands of catties, it is not bad, and the price of this thing does not seem to be very cheap, it is almost equivalent to silver!"

The so-called rarity is the most expensive. Before there is large-scale planting, rubber will definitely not be cheap. Zhu Cijiong said indifferently: "Money is not a problem. Even if it is equivalent to silver, one hundred thousand catties is only more than one hundred thousand taels, and ten million catties is only 1000 taels." More than 1000 million taels, I will give you the money, let Ruoslando buy some slaves and go to the primeval forest to find as much as you can find. In addition, Nanyang seems to be very suitable for planting rubber trees. You can ask them to send the rubber tree seeds. In Ceylon, in Luzon, or even in Batavia on a large scale, it doesn’t matter if you plant millions of them, no matter how many Da Ming are produced.”

The so-called rich and powerful, if you have money, you have confidence. If you were in the Chongzhen Dynasty and Daming, it would be difficult to get 100 million taels, but now Zhu Cijiong’s annual income from his own private property is hundreds of millions, and Daming’s tax is also a year. Steps, with the development of industry and commerce, the main body of Daming's tax revenue has shifted from agriculture to industry and commerce. Now, Daming's tax revenue has reached more than 4000 million two years, and almost half of it comes from industry and commerce.Moreover, the businessmen of Ming Dynasty are gradually monopolizing the markets of North Korea, Dongying and Ryukyu. With the increase of the number of Ming Dynasty's vassal states, industry and commerce will grow explosively, and it is not impossible for the annual tax revenue to be hundreds of millions!

With such a large annual income, hundreds of millions of taels are nothing to Zhu Cijiong. This rubber is a good thing. It is not only used to make leather, but also can be used to make wheels and machinery. The sealing device and buffer device on the equipment, in short, rubber was an extremely important industrial material before the development of the petroleum industry. It has a wide range of uses and cannot be said enough.Of course, Zhu Cijiong would not tell Shi Weila that these are the future economic and technological development points of Daming, how can he tell him, he only needs to be responsible for buying the rubber back.

Shivira's talent as a businessman is much higher than that of the governor. This is simply a huge business opportunity. If they can monopolize the rubber market, their family's income will double. How can such a good opportunity be missed? He He immediately flattered and said: "Since the emperor is in urgent need of rubber, then I will travel to America for the emperor, collect rubber for the emperor, and bring back the rubber tree seeds and skilled planting slaves to the emperor. This, this, look at the emperor. , Can you hand over the purchase and planting of rubber to Wei Chen, so that Wei Chen can handle things more conveniently.”

Zhu Cijiong was quite relieved about Shi Weila's ability to handle affairs, didn't he just want to make some money, as long as the affairs are done well, what is the money, he said generously: "Okay, I will leave this matter to you Go do it, as long as you can provide Daming with enough rubber and money, I will not lose you a penny."

Shi Weila was overjoyed when he heard the words: "Thank you, Your Majesty, I'm going to gather the guards and ships, and go to America immediately."

Shivira is naturally very familiar with this kind of comprador matter. When the great powers colonized the world, they hired a lot of compradors. If they can have a trading authority of one hundred thousand taels, they are considered a big comprador. Ten million taels, it is simply a super comprador.The profit of the comprador is astonishingly high. In fact, he doesn't need to invest any money, he just pays to buy some slaves. As for the seeds of the rubber tree, based on his relationship with Ruosilan, can Ruosilan accept money from him, as long as he can plant the rubber tree? If you live, you will become a cash cow in a few years!
He was about to summon people to the Americas, but Zhu Cijiong raised his hand and said, "You don't need to summon the guards and ships, it's too time-consuming, I'll arrange it for you."

After finishing speaking, he shouted to the outside: "Cao Huachun drafted an order."

Naturally, Cao Huachun walked in quickly, and was ready to write soon.

Zhu Cijiong said loudly: "Order the Beiyang Navy to dispatch ten super battleships, one hundred Fuchuan battleships, and twenty thousand naval troops to escort Chengyi Boshwella to America. During this period, all matters shall be arranged by Chengyi Bo."

Cao Huachun wrote it in a hurry, but Shi Weila’s pores were about to explode. He took his own guards and armed merchant ships to America. He was a little afraid of being robbed by pirates. Now it’s different. With the Daming Navy Fleet escort, it's not bad if he doesn't rob others!The warships of the Daming Navy are the most advanced warships in the world today. With more than 100 such warships going out, the majesty, just thinking about it makes one's blood boil.

(End of this chapter)