Steel Dynasty - Chapter 492

[Chapter 492 Success]

From the top floor window of Michila Castle, you can see the entire scenery of the opposite city of Geranje.

At this time, Xiao Ming and Claire were looking at the merchant ships that were shuttled back and forth in the port of Jelandia. These merchant ships came from Manila, and after being loaded with goods, they headed again to the Dutch colony of Manila.

In Manila, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce will transfer the goods back home.

Since the relationship with the King of Chu broke down, and now the Japanese country is trying to invade Ryukyu, Claire has no choice but to do business with Xiao Ming. After all, the Dutch merchants arriving at the port during this time have been complaining about the shortage of goods.

“Your Highness, we have been looking forward to it for a long time. Now our merchant ship is waiting for the goods at the port. We hope that Your Highness can provide us with goods.” Claire looked solemn.

The chaos in East Asia during this period seriously affected commerce.

“In this case, you can now hand over the cargo bill you need to me. I will let the merchant ship transport the goods you need back from Dengzhou. Of course, you have to pay for the goods.”

Claire looked at the sea calmly. Said, “Of course, we have always abided by business rules. Now Europe has a great demand for porcelain, raw silk, silk, and tea from Great Yu. The prices of these commodities in Europe are also relatively high. These are also our main trading commodities. , I hope His Highness can provide it to us as soon as possible.”

“No problem, I will return to Dengzhou in the next two days, and then the goods will arrive.” Xiao Ming smiled. In the past, maritime trade was almost monopolized by the King of Chu, but now this area is almost monopolized. The fat meat finally fell into his mouth, but remembering something, he asked curiously: “With all due respect, can Count Clare tell me how much silver has flowed into the hands of King Chu?”

After hearing this, Clare He frowned, but thought that he might not have anything to do with the King of Chu in the future, so he said to Rhodes: “Rhode, you should know this better than me.”

“In the past forty years, we have given the King of Chu a total of three thousand silver. tons, if measured according to Great Chongqing, the total is 60 million taels of silver,” Rhodes said, recalling the accounts over the years.

“Sixty million taels of silver!”

Xiao Ming almost jumped up from his chair. He finally understood why the Cao family was so wealthy and why the King of Chu was so confident. It was all caused by money.

Closing his eyes, Xiao Ming let out a breath. He rummaged through the technology library for contemporary economic data, and his heart suddenly went up and down.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China had a long-term surplus in overseas trade, and most of the time the exchange price of gold and silver was lower than that of foreign countries. This made foreigners think they were taking advantage. After all, it is like buying one dollar of goods with one yuan. Who can unwilling?

As a result, Europeans used a large amount of silver as currency to purchase goods. At first, the silver mainly flowed from Spain and Portugal. Later, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom established the absolute status of silver export.

This large net inflow of silver lasted from the 1570s to the 1830s. Domestic and foreign scholars have made various estimates of the amount of silver inflows in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and concluded that in the 250 years before 1800, China obtained nearly 48,000 tons of silver, and 10,000 tons or more may be obtained from Manila. Together with others, the total is about 60,000 tons of silver, with a total inflow of 1.6 billion silver taels.

“Six billion taels of silver!” Xiao Ming kept thinking about this data. In fact, due to the lack of some data, in Xiao Ming’s opinion, this data was even seriously underestimated. After all, the unregulated trade in the atmosphere at that time was also a lot of.

Claire noticed Xiao Ming’s expression and smiled: “This is indeed a large number, but as long as His Highness can sincerely do business with us, I guarantee that His Highness will get more than King Chu. There is no shortage of silver in Europe now. In addition to our large open-pit silver mines in Mexico, the country of silver, Europeans have now discovered that the Peruvian silver mines in South America are richer than those in Mexico. Now European countries are actively mining them. Oh, I’m sorry, your highness may not know about Mexico and Peru. Place.”

Speaking of North and South America, which were dominated by Europe, Claire’s face once again revealed the arrogance unique to Europeans during this period.

Pouring his lips, Xiao Ming didn’t bother to refute Claire, because it seemed as boring as a primary school student showing off in front of college students what one plus one equals.

“One day my king’s battleship will tell me where Mexico and Peru are.” Xiao Ming said with a faint smile.

Claire and Rhodes looked at each other and suppressed laughter at the same time. Although they admitted that Xiao Ming was very powerful in this sea area, it was only in this sea area. If it were in Europe, any country’s fleet could easily defeat him.

So in their opinion, Xiao Ming was just telling a cold joke.

“Huh.”

Xiao Ming could see from the expressions of the two of them that they didn’t believe that such a day would come. He didn’t bother to explain. For him, he likes to prove himself with actions rather than words. What he needs now is to let the fiefdom Become rich and improve your overall strength.

Seemingly feeling that their behavior was inappropriate, the two regained their composure. Claire said: “Your Highness, I hope the goods will arrive as soon as possible.”

Xiao Ming nodded, and then he discussed with Claire the specific trade details and the details of the goods in Dengzhou. Establishment of the Dutch Foreign Office.

At the same time, in order to prevent Dutch businessmen from conducting espionage in Dengzhou, Xiao Ming decided to build a business house. Dutch businessmen could only live in the business house during their stay in the port.

After agreeing on these matters, Xiao Ming officially held a ceremony with Claire in Relanjia City regarding the Michila Bastion, Ryukyu Island and the garrison in Relanjia City.

According to the agreement, Xiao Ming will garrison 2,000 troops at Michila Bastion and 2,000 troops at Relanze City. Six warships from the Qingzhou Fleet, including second-class battleships and third-class warships, will be anchored in Relanze all year round. The city port is also responsible for escort and patrol missions within a thousand miles of Ryukyu waters, and this number will continue to increase.

After completing these things one by one, Xiao Ming basically completed control of Ryukyu Island and maritime trade routes. After two days of rest, he prepared to return to Dengzhou.

Sea routes were only part of his trade strategy. He had more important things to accomplish, which was to eliminate the threat from the north. Whether for the purpose of completing control of Goryeo or for his own security, he had to deal with the barbarians.

Because in his opinion, as long as the barbarians are not destroyed, he will not be able to devote all his energy to solving the problems in Dayu.

A powerful enemy is eyeing him from outside, and he cannot act rashly. This is why he works hard to maintain the current status quo of Great Yu.

“Your Highness, I will visit Qingzhou City in person in a few days.”

Under the command of King Qi, Claire took the officials from Relanja City to see Xiao Ming off. Now that Qingzhou and Holland have officially cooperated, he is looking forward to making huge profits.

(End of chapter)