As February begins, the number of passing ships on the Grand Canal increases significantly.

At this time, ships from the south were endless, involving the transportation of war materials. Chenxi had asked Huiniang and Song Xiaocheng to transport grain and grass from Huguang, Jianggan and Nanzhili several times to go north. In addition, the materials sent by Chenxi and merchants before, as well as merchant ships that were about to go to the capital, made the canal that had just thawed in February extremely busy.

It was a little cold that night, and Chen Xi entered the bedside tent very early.

Although this trip is not far, Chen Xi went out of Beijing to recover from illness, and did not enter the city to live in Guanyi and inn, which seemed a bit hard.

Others were fine, but the female family members who were traveling with Chen Xi couldn't stand it. The team did not prepare tents specifically for Lin Dai and Xie Hengnu, so the two girls simply moved into Chen Xi's tent, which would make it warmer at night.

Early the next morning, Lin Dai had already tidied up her appearance. She usually didn't like to sleep in at home, and she got up early today. Xie Hengnu was not very accustomed to the bumpy journey. Now it was dawn, and she still slept very heavily.

Chen Xi got up and tidyed up his clothes, and said to Lin Dai: "Go back and rest. I will not leave later this morning, so there is no need to get up so early."

Lin Dai pouted: "I'm not a pig, why do I do so much sleep?" While speaking, he looked at Xie Hengnu who was sleeping soundly on the couch, as if he was hinting at something.

Chen Xi gave Lin Dai a angrily glance, ignored the other party's slightly resentful eyes, and went out of the tent directly. Someone outside had already started to make fire and make meals. Zhu Qi jogged all the way: "Master, Wuqing County Government has sent someone to come here, saying that you are invited into the city."

Chen Xi nodded and said, "This time I was wandering around the capital. I didn't want to disturb the local government. I didn't expect that even if I didn't enter the city, I would still be found."

"That master..."

Zhu Qi didn't quite understand the meaning of Chen Xi.

Chen Xi waved his hand and asked Zhu Qi to go with him to meet the representative of the Wuqing County Government.

After seeing the person, Chen Xi realized that the visitor was Sun Ruyang, the magistrate of Wuqing County, who was in his forties, thin and had a bit of philanthropy on his face.

"See Lord Shangshu."

When Sun Ruyang saw Chen Xi, he saluted respectfully, bent his waist very low, which shows his respect for Chen Xi.

Chen Xidao: "I am just a way to the land and have no official duties. After County Magistrate Sun returned, he told your county magistrate that you don't have to worry. I am delaying here for one or two days and will leave the Wuqing county boundary at the latest tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Sun Ruyang smiled flatteringly and said, "What is Lord Shen saying? County Magistrate Lu has long heard of Lord Shen's reputation. Now you pass by Wuqing. If you don't treat it with kindness, it's really unreasonable."

Chen Xi smiled and thought to himself: "Whether you were an imperial envoy, a governor, or now you are the Minister of War, you will be inseparable from official etiquette wherever you go. Shangguan's transit seems to be a great honor for local officials, but in fact it is just a common means of official contact. As long as you agree to the appointment, these local officials will come to ask for trouble in the future. If you push them back at that time, it will seem inhumane."

Chen Xidao: "The itinerary has been decided long ago, how can we make changes? Besides, this time I came out to seek medical treatment and medicine, so I don't ask about any local affairs. Please come back."

Chen Xi's words were very direct and did not give the other party any chance.

After Sun Ruyang bowed respectfully, he said withdrew, but he didn't look very disappointed. Obviously, he was just here to pass on a message and didn't care much about receiving Chen Xi.

When Sun Ruyang left, Ma Ang and others who followed Chen Xi out of the city to train soldiers rushed over. Ma Ang shook his head and said, "The magistrate Wuqing really doesn't know how to be a human being. If he really treats Lord Shen, he should have sent someone to pick him up the city last night. Why did he come now? He didn't even bring a gift... he didn't have any sincerity!"

Chen Xi looked at Ma Ang, and it was obvious that this man really felt that the local reception was not good. With Ma Ang's idea, if he was the magistrate of Wuqing, he would definitely not be careless in receiving Shangguan. It is related to his future. He must make twelve points of effort. It is better not to ask for responsibility than to be responsible.

Chenxi Road: "I went south all the way and did not enter any inn on the way. It is considered well-informed that the magistrate of Wuqing can learn about his whereabouts. As for sending someone to invite him last night, he would never come to give gifts before he figured out the situation. After all, this place is under the feet of the emperor. Who dares to easily make the population clear?"

...

...

Chen Xi did not rush to set out, but he did not stay outside Wuqing City for too long. When the camp was about to be demolished, he took his men to Yangcun.

Before he arrived in Yangcun, Hu Lian had sent someone to contact him.

The fast horses travel by land are much faster than those by water. Knowing that Hu Lian is moving, Chenxi makes people speed up the journey and arrives in Yangcun before the time comes.

The Northern Canal is a major canal transport route, with sails and mows all year round, and it is endless day and night. In the 30th year of the previous dynasty, Yuanting set up Yangcun Station on the west bank of the North Canal, which was the first station to go upstream along the North Canal in Tianjin. There were endless posters and business travelers. After the Grand Canal was dredged and widened from the 9th to the 13th year of Yongle in this dynasty, the waterway shipping conditions were greatly improved, and the number of canal transport continued to grow, Yangcun was prosperous for a while.

At this time, Yangcun was not the seat of Wuqing County, but the city gates had been built, and the Shenxi River was within reach. Thousands of sails gathered, crowded with people, towers and towers, and orchestras, making them lively.

Chenxi did not disturb the people. After entering the city, he moved directly into the post station, and his officers and soldiers set up camps nearby. Chenxi sat down and rested for a while. The vanguard of Hu Lian's troops had arrived. Ma Jiu got off the boat and went straight into Chenxi, telling him about the specific situation of the envoy of Folangji.

"… Thank you for your hard work, Brother Jiu."

Chen Xi looked at Ma Jiu and smiled and patted Ma Jiu on the shoulder.

Ma Jiu lowered his head, his expression a little unnatural. This time he suppressed the rebellion, like Ma Ang, and followed the army invincible and made military contributions without much effort.

Chen Xi and Ma Jiu came out of the post station together. Although the officers and soldiers outside did not close the road, the passing people and business travelers saw that the situation was wrong, so how could they dare to lean against the post station?

Chen Xi took Ma Jiu, Ma Ang and others to the dock, but when he saw the fleet docking one after another, Hu Lian and Envoys of Folang came down from a large boat in the middle.

"See Shangshu Chen."

When Hu Lian saw Chen Xi, he quickly put on the hem of his official robe and jogged over to salute. Chen Xi stepped forward and smiled and said, "Brother Chongqi is really raising him... Are these people..."

Hu Lian turned around and looked at the Folang Ji people following him and said, "They are the Folang Ji envoys. This time I specially brought the translator to Tianjin Wei to find a person who understands Folang Ji language, so that they can communicate with them normally. These are the Shangshu Chen that I have told you."

Among the envoys of Flangji, none of Chen Xi knew him, and the former governor Almeida was not among them. He even saw no one who had visited Beijing to pay tribute with Almeida before.

"You are the Minister of Shangshu Chen? You have long admired you, long admired you."

At present, a very tall Folangji man came forward happily to speak. He did not communicate with Chen Xi in Portuguese, but used relatively pure Chinese.

From this subtle point, Chen Xi knew that the people of Folang Ji attached great importance to trade with the Ming Dynasty and were likely to have systematically learned Chinese with merchants in Southeast Asia or West Asia. However, their accent was still quite different from the northern accent with a straight and rounded lyrics.

Chen Xi raised his hand: "I wonder what you call me?"

The Folang Jiren was stunned when he heard this simple sentence, and thought for a while before saying, "My name is Lu Landa, you can call me Brother Lu. This time we brought a large amount of silver dollars to trade with the Ming Dynasty. If we see your emperor, we will also send a letter of nationality..."

Lulanda spoke very slowly and expressed very clearly. Obviously, he had asked someone to teach these words specifically and would not cause misunderstandings.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "Brother Lu? It's interesting. He has the same surname as the magistrate of Wuqing..."

Chen Xidao: "Your envoy was named Almeida before. He signed a trade agreement with our Ming Dynasty. Why didn't he come here in person this time?"

"You are talking about the former Governor of the East? Oh, he is now the commander of the West Indian fleet and is leading troops to fight the indigenous people in the New World. He has no time to come to the Ming Dynasty, but he asked me to say hello to Shangshu Chen... If he had not signed a trade agreement with you, he would not have become His Majesty Manuel's most trusted minister. He was also appointed as the Grand Duke of Saint Taron by His Majesty, which was prominent for a while. As Lisbon's demand for Ming commodities became increasingly strong, His Majesty Manuel ordered to increase trade with the Ming Dynasty. Grand Duke of Saint Taron specifically pointed out the trade route to the Ming Dynasty..."

After Lu Randa's explanation, Chen Xi learned that Almeida, who had lost his battle with the Ming Dynasty, had become a national hero after returning to Flangji because he brought back a trade agreement with the Ming court, and then visited the Ming Dynasty several times and transported back the urgently needed Celestial goods on Lisbon.

King Manuel of Franchis was famous for his extravagance and desire for everything. It was not surprising that Almeida, who fully met the needs of the king, had rapidly improved his status.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "But there has been such a big change in just seven or eight years. That guy Almeida has lost his luck and has been rising all the way."

Seeing Luranda's passionate face, Chen Xi couldn't help but guess: "Luranda wouldn't be moved by Almeida's experience. She wants to be the second governor of the East and then become the duke, right?"

Hu Lian didn't quite understand what Chen Xi said to Lu Landa, so he asked for instructions: "Shangshu Chen, why not talk to the inn?"

"Um."

Chen Xi also found that Lu Landa talked a lot and didn't want to hear the other party's crappy things. He waved his hand and asked Wang Lingzhi, Ma Jiu and others to open the way and head to the post station together.

There were many people watching on the pier. These people had basically never seen Westerners. They knew that the court officials were coming. They looked at them from afar with horror. Some people knelt down and kowtow, while others watched with a dull and cold eyes.

Lu Landa asked, "Mr. Shen, why do your people kneel down?"

Hu Lian wanted to explain something, but Chen Xi spoke first: "Because they fear the gods."

"Um?"

Lu Landa didn't understand the meaning of Chen Xi's words, and she tilted her head and thought, while Hu Lian shook her head and smiled bitterly, saying that he could not explain some things to foreigners.

When we arrived at the entrance of the inn, the postmaster had sent someone to disperse the people watching at the door, but it was unobstructed.

"I can talk to you about trade."

Before entering the inn, Chen Xi set the tone first, "As for the matter of submitting the letter of the country, I will also work hard to promote it, but whether you can see His Majesty the Emperor of our dynasty depends on your sincerity!"

The Folang Jiren did not want to delay trade negotiations, and Chen Xi's idea was to quickly negotiate the matter and take the huge amount of silver that the Folang Jiren grabbed from South America.

When he entered the station, Chen Xi did not arrange accommodation for the Folang Jimen as soon as possible. He was preparing to reduce the negotiations to complete within one day and make a quick decision.

Lu Randa sat down with a smile. In front of him was a familiar long negotiating table. On one side, he was sitting on the other side, and on the other side, he was sitting on the Ming Dynasty. He was thinking about how to talk about it next. The translator whispered a reminder in his ear. Lu Randa quickly stood up and said to Chen Xi: "The etiquette of the Ming Dynasty is the first to sit for the great officials, and I can't disobey it, right?"

Chen Xi looked at the translator and found that the man's skin was a little dark, not like the Middle-earth people, but from his appearance, he had Chinese bloodlines. He might be the descendant of businessmen doing business in Southeast Asia or West Asia.

Chen Xidao: "There are not so many things to pay attention to. You are guests, so you can sit if you want."

Lu Landa smiled and said, "You still have to follow your rules. We are guests from afar. Don't you all lobbyists follow the host's will?"

As he spoke, Chen Xi and Hu Lian sat down. Except for him, others were not qualified to sit together. In fact, Hu Lian's official rank and status were much different from Chen Xi, so it was an honor to sit together with Chen Xi.

Lu Randa sat down. The people behind him sat down one after another, with not many chairs. Although Lu Randa had fourteen companions, very few could sit down.

The level is clearly different from the Ming Dynasty. Folang Jiren is not so particular about who sits and who doesn’t sit. It’s like grabbing a seat. Whoever grabs a seat can sit down. Those who can’t grab it can only stand behind and listen.

Hu Lian had been in contact with Folang Jiren for two days, and he had some understanding of Folang Jiren's temperament and did not rashly comment on anything. Chen Xi felt that it didn't matter. After all the seats were full, he asked calmly: "Don't talk nonsense, let's talk about trade directly... How much silver have you brought to you?"

A simple question asked Lulanda.

Lulanda thought for a long time before replying: "Many, very many, Franchise machines are rich in the world. Your products are very popular in our country, so we come to prepare to expand trade... However, it depends on whether your products are cheap. If the prices are moderate, we will buy more, but we must ensure the quality, otherwise we can only buy them in other countries..."

The words Lu Landa said could be understood by everyone present. Obviously, after careful preparation, Chen Xi quickly realized that the Folang Ji people were prepared.

Chen Xi immediately responded to the tit-for-tat: "You must be honest when doing business, but what you said seems to be less sincere."

Lu Randa didn't understand very well, so she looked around and then looked at Chen Xi and asked, "Why am I dishonest? All I tell is the truth."

Now even Hu Lian and others were looking at Chen Xi, not understanding why Chen Xi said that.

Chen Xi said calmly: "First of all, you have discovered silver mines in the New World, allowing you to mine a large amount of silver in a short period of time, but you dare not transport the silver directly back to the country, because that will not be beneficial except for impacting the market and causing price surges. So your approach is to exchange these silver for goods from all over the world to transport it back to the country. My Ming Dynasty's porcelain, silk, tea, etc., may be very good in your country. Can you make huge profits?"

Lu Landa looked embarrassed. He didn't understand it so clearly. After the translator carefully explained, he shook his head incredibly and said a lot.

Hu Lian asked, "Mr. Shen, what are he talking about?"

Chen Xi couldn't understand what Luranda meant in Portuguese, but according to his guess, Luranda must be complaining, probably because he saw that this business was not as easy as he imagined.

After a while, Lulanda recovered and said, "It should be fine for us to buy goods with silver, right? The trade volume stipulated by your Maritime Bureau before was too small to meet our needs. This time we have enough money and hand over the money and deliver the goods with one hand. You just need to sell it to us at the market price."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Since you mentioned the market price, it seems that you have investigated our market and know what the price of each of our products is usually, but why do you think we will sell you things at a fair price?"
To be continued...