For a while, silence returned to the small living room, only the mechanical clock made a "click" sound. Old Frank put down his pipe and broke the silence first: "Joseph! I think we should talk about other issues, such as business matters.
I think you understand our situation. If we don't sell these cargoes, we won't be able to return to Europe safely, and everything you said will become meaningless."
"Understood! Then let's not talk about this!" Kira Yoshi thought for a while and then said cheerfully: "I believe that the Agote Chamber of Commerce and your allies can get the goods I need. As long as the price is right, I
I am willing to trade with you in silver."
"No, no, no, this is too difficult! I can help you with the muskets, but I can't help you with the artillery and sailboats, it's true!" Frank shook his head and rejected his proposal.
"Putting aside the problems of artillery and galleons for now, I might consider the muskets. I need some Holstein horses and Trachner horses as horse breeds, ten of each, three of each breed. Horses
, the other seven are mares, I can bear the cost even if it is very expensive, how is this business?"
Before he finished speaking, Frank Agote began to shake his head and said: "Oh! No no! This is not possible. These two kinds of horses are very expensive! They cost tens of thousands of silver coins each! Your requirements are too high!"
"Okay! Old Frank! Let's be honest! These two kinds of horses are not that expensive at all! An excellent three-year-old war horse with no hair on its body and no history of injuries is worth at most two thousand silver coins. I'm talking about silver coins.
Not a pound of silver! I think you understand what I mean." Kira Yoshishi said with a straight face.
"Okay! You win! It's indeed the price, but I need freight. I have to sail from far away Amsterdam for several months, and I have to stop at the port to change water and feed. You know these guys are delicate and ruthless.
If there is a storm or plague at sea, it will be troublesome! Even if everything is smooth sailing, we have to let them out to ride horses on the deck. The cost of these care and care is very high! One horse costs 20,000 silver coins!
"
Frank Agote is right, transporting horses over long distances is much more troublesome than transporting people and goods. These excellent war horses eat concentrated feed mixed with beans, grains and alfalfa. These require special preparation, and the amount of salt the horses eat is
They are ten times larger than humans. Living across the ocean for several months puts a lot of logistical pressure on horses, which requires a lot of extra space to take care of these horses.
The small probability of a ship capsizing in a storm can basically be ruled out. Those experienced captains all know which monsoons should blow in which seasons, and which months are the seasons with more heavy rains. If you are careful, you can basically get back and forth safely without encountering exaggerated typhoons. The most terrible thing is
It was the plague and septicemia, which was as terrible as the plague.
"Let's not talk about the storm, you and I both know it! Let's talk about the plague! Pay attention to your drinking habits. When it rains, hang a wooden bucket on the mast to fill the water. After it is clarified, you can quote it. And I am the septicemia you are worried about.
There is a way to solve it! When purchasing porcelain here, I happen to have a batch of porcelain goods. I have porcelain worth four thousand pounds of silver and raw silk worth two thousand pounds of silver!
Yes! It is the raw silk used to weave satin. I remember that there are complete silk workshops in Sicily, Italy, and Regensburg, North Germany, right? The silk here is the best raw silk from the East, and yours is definitely the best.
Top quality! How about bartering?"
Kira Yoshishi had a bad heart and directly counted the porcelain and raw silk that Wang Dan traded with him as his own. The business with Wang Dan was worth 27,000 taels of silver, which converted to 1,687.5 kilograms of silver. When he told Frank A
Goth became 6,000 pounds of silver, which is 5,400 pounds of silver. This is a matter of flipping hands. You don’t even need to check the goods back and forth. You can make twice the profit directly from one end of Sakai Town to the other.
.
"I can buy porcelain, and raw silk is no problem! But what does this have to do with sepsis?" Frank Agot didn't mind him promoting this kind of hard currency as merchandise, but he was more concerned about the issue of sepsis. During a sea trip, his crew
He would have to reduce his staff by 20%, and after returning to Amsterdam, he would have to pay a donation to the families of the victims. This kind of unplanned high expenditure was something that bothered him.
"Of course it does! What I'm going to say next is related to the treatment of sepsis! Sepsis is the lack of an element we need. This element is hidden in fresh vegetables and fruits. You lack vegetables and fruits while sailing at sea.
Supplement, if the elements you lack in your body accumulate over time, you will get sick, and the chance of sepsis is particularly high, so you must purchase the following recommendations!”
"Okay! Please tell me! I'm listening!" Frank Agot shrugged and said he was all ears. Even the little blond girl raised her ears and listened carefully.
"You need to buy pickled vegetables, tea, and most importantly, beans! Eating some pickled vegetables every day can recuperate the body and replenish lost elements. It can also stimulate the appetite and strengthen the spleen. You must have heard of the role of tea! Finally, you need to
The beans you say are the most important!" Kira Yoshi emphasized in particular.
"Why are beans the most important?" the blond girl asked strangely.
"You purchased the porcelain in my hand. This is a prerequisite to ensure that you can make money and not get scurvy! Okay! Don't wait for me to see! I'm going to say... when you carry it in your fleet
When a large amount of porcelain is returned, the porcelain is easily broken when stacked on top of each other, so fresh soybeans or mung beans are stuffed between each piece of porcelain to fill the gaps between the porcelain.
Then you must remember to spray some water between the beans. The beans will sprout in the humid air. While protecting the porcelain from being broken, you can also get fresh bean sprouts. These bean sprouts are the fresh vegetables you need.
They are clean and harmless and can be stewed with bacon or fish. As long as you eat bean sprouts every day, you can effectively avoid the occurrence of sepsis!"
Frank Agot was silent for a moment, sat upright, and asked with a serious face: "Well! Is that so? What an ingenious idea! Did you come up with it or was someone else told you?"
"Well, it was the businessmen from the Ming Dynasty who told me!" Kira Yoshishi innocently passed the responsibility to the businessmen from the Ming Dynasty, and then said: "There should be no doubt about the horse problem, right? Just deal with it according to the method I said.
There will definitely be no problem!”
"Okay! Horses! I'll do my best!" Frank Agote shrugged and said it was okay. He probably thought Joseph was a young man pursuing his interests.
For this kind of young man, Old Frank had a hundred ways to get him to buy his goods, so he said enthusiastically: "Our fleet came from East India and brought many fresh things, including beautiful gems.
There are intoxicating spices, exquisite clockwork clocks, beautiful mirrors, fashionable wool blankets, England's new product woolen cloth, and best-selling products linen, ivory, shark skin, tortoise shell and various plant seeds, as well as ornamental flowers.
There are also high-yielding seeds that can grow food, so I have everything you can think of on my ship!"
"Oh? There are still many seeds? Do you have a matchlock gun?" Kira Yoshihi took a deep breath, trying to appear as natural as possible, trying to pretend not to care about the temptation of high-yielding seeds. In this era, people have a clear understanding of high-yielding grain seeds.
There were very few people. Both Japan and the Ming Dynasty faced the problem of food shortage. The same problem often happened in Europe. Famine was the root cause of infectious disease outbreaks, and famine was usually accompanied by drought or floods. The two together formed a dynasty.
The main cause of destruction.
"Of course, the matchlock is indispensable! I have a hundred Spanish Haquebusel matchlocks here. If you buy it, it will also come with a support stand, a gunpowder bag, and some bullets. The price is also very reasonable!" Old Frank continued to sell!
.
"I will help you eat this batch of goods at a reasonable price, and let you go back with the silver and specialties." After the business was settled, he didn't mind being generous and readily agreed to his request.
As we all know, East India is actually the Southeast Asian region. Its name is also called the Spice Islands. It has always been a treasure that the Portuguese hold tightly. The trade in the entire Indian Ocean region is monopolized by the Portuguese. Except for Spanish merchant ships, no one else can
Any vessel is allowed to enter this area.
The Agote Chamber of Commerce from the Netherlands seemed to have used some means to obtain Spain's acquiescence to enter here, but their intrusion into Japan was unexpected. Perhaps the Spaniards thought they would only turn back in the Spice Islands.
, but the Agot Chamber of Commerce did not do this, so it caused so much criticism.
Of course, there must be a lot of moisture in what Frank Agote said. A fleet was hit by a storm and could sadly reach East Asia thousands of miles away. This shows that their damage was not serious. From Europe to
There are several important stopping points in East Asia where they can replenish supplies, rest damaged ships, and most importantly, resell their goods in exchange for local specialties.
For example, ivory, shark skin, tortoise shells and spices are obviously goods trafficked from Southeast Asia, and these goods are very in demand. As long as they can safely dock, there will be chambers of commerce who will take the initiative to trade, and they are guaranteed to be able to sell these goods.
Of course, if Frank said this, he would not expose it without knowing it. The two parties chatted happily for a long time and finally finalized the agreement.
Frank breathed a sigh of relief and was finally able to sell the goods on several ships. Kira Yoshitoki was also very satisfied. Frank was a kind-hearted and cunning businessman on the surface, but he still misjudged Japan's trade status quo, or did not know what he was selling at all.
How tight is the demand? Luxury goods can be sold to ministers and samurai families in the name of the shogunate Ashikaga Yoshitō. Neither the Miyoshi family nor the Rokkaku family will be polite about the sales of iron cannons. It is absolutely huge to exchange relatively cheap silver for these goods.
earn.
Then the old man and the young man chatted all over the place. Kira Yoshiki did not mind showing off his rich knowledge in front of this new friend. Some new and unheard stories not only attracted Frank, but even Claudia, who had been in a daze, seemed to be paying attention.
Listen, it didn't take long for the unpleasantness just now to disappear.
Frank knocked out the tobacco from his pipe, carefully put the pipe away, then stood up and said: "Thank you for your warm hospitality and letting us spend a pleasant morning. I think we must go back. The crew are still hungry.
I have to buy lunch for them today. See you next time."