Yu Fuyun looked at Cao Zhengyuan who was still drawing a sea chart.
He reminded: "Mr. Cao, ahead is Luzon Island, and we are about to arrive at Manila Port.
This time we will only go to Manila Port, and we are not planning to go south."
Cao Zhengyuan said with a relaxed expression: "I have mastered the wind direction and ocean current data along the way, and also recorded the sailing route.
Determine the coordinates of some important nodes and islands.
This time the chart was drawn and it was a great success.
As long as we have this chart, the military can quickly find Luzon Island when there is a headwind."
Cao Zhengyuan hesitated for a while and then said: "I'm going to visit Manila Port to inspect the situation of the Xiyi people's harbor.
Is it convenient for your company to arrange for me to enter the port?
If it’s inconvenient, I won’t cause any trouble to you.”
Yu Fuyun saw that Cao Zhengyuan was extremely polite, and he replied with a smile on his face: "It's a simple matter. I'll change you into a uniform later and follow the cargo ship to Manila Port.
I am stationed in the open sea with an armed merchant ship. Our armed merchant ship is similar to a warship.
Entering the port may cause misjudgment by the Xiyi people.
We are not ready to conflict with the Xiyi people yet."
Yu Fuyun immediately agreed to Cao Zhengyuan's request, which was an easy thing to do.
He briefly communicated with Cao Zhengyuan for a while and left here.
The fleet is about to dock, and Yu Fuyun needs to arrange the approximate time for the cargo ship to enter and exit.
If a cargo ship or an armed merchant ship encounters an unexpected situation here, what should they do?
For example, if the cargo ship was seized by the Spaniards, how would they launch a rescue?
Armed merchant ships and other forces started a war here, and they were forced to leave here and go where to rendezvous.
After all these things were arranged, Yu Fuyun handed over the company's cargo ship to deputy manager Gu Yunhai.
Gu Yunhai took the cargo ship fleet and Cao Zhengyuan into the Manila port.
When Yu Fuyun saw that the cargo ship had left the fleet, he ordered: "Bring over the rescued pirates. I want to interrogate them."
These pirates were rescued and imprisoned directly in the bottom of the armed merchant ship.
Strong pirates can survive as long as they don't catch a cold.
The pirates who got sick and died had no choice but to throw them into the sea.
If you stay locked up in a small dark room for a long time, there will always be pirates who can't help but surrender to them.
The Prince of Qin's Mansion still doesn't know much about things at sea.
With the confessions of these pirates, they can at least find out the identities of these pirates off the coast of Guangzhou.
…………………………
Gu Yunhai arrived at Manila Port under the guidance of a guide.
The Port of Manila was built by the Spanish, who welcomed all cargo ships to trade here.
As soon as the ship arrived at the port, the Spaniards saw that they were Han cargo ships. They immediately made a sound of surprise and called a group of Spanish merchants.
Gu Yunhai listened to their chatter, but he couldn't understand them at all.
He could only ask for help from Li Shengli and others. These people have been trading in Manila Port all year round and must be familiar with the entire trade process.
Gu Yunhai just came here for the first time, so he wanted to learn from them first.
When Li Shengli heard Gu Yunhai's request, he immediately brought several stewards from the Haihai Family.
These people all speak fluent Spanish and start communicating with these Spanish people.
"Lord Gu, I found some Spanish businessmen I knew well before.
We shipped too much goods this time, and he can't eat so much.
He can introduce us to other businessmen in Spain.
We have been doing business with Spain here for decades, and there is still basic trust between the two parties."
Gu Yunhai came here mainly to establish stable trade channels with the Spanish.
On behalf of the Qin Palace, he must contact the Spanish Governor of Luzon Island.
Gu Yunhai made a request: "Mr. Li, please help me find out if I can meet with the Spanish governor since I am here on behalf of the King of Qin.
We are ready to discuss with the Spanish about opening ports to each other for trade."
Li Shengli also understood that Gu Yunhai and others must be from the government.
They don't care about the silver coins they can earn from goods. They must have official business to attend to when they come to Manila.
Li Shengli rediscovered a Spaniard whom his family knew well.
These Spaniards were extremely surprised when they heard what he translated and asked to take Gu Yunhai to meet the governor in person.
Li Shengli also spoke Spanish. He personally acted as translator for Gu Yunhai and went to meet the governor under the leadership of Spanish businessmen.
Cao Zhengyuan took out his drawing paper and pencil, and he drew everything about the Manila port in an extremely realistic way.
Especially the warships parked in the port and the forts in Manila Port, he paid close attention to every detail.
…………………………
"Mr. Sides, you want to go to Ming Dynasty. It's more difficult to go there now.
The country of Ming Dynasty was very closed. Only the Portuguese had a small seaport as a base in Ming Dynasty.
I got news some time ago that the Portuguese were also dared to go to sea by the Ming Dynasty.
The few Portuguese who escaped were frightened and their artillery was extremely powerful."
The Governor was very polite to Mr. Sides, whose family was a prominent one in Europe.
The governor simply couldn't afford to offend him. The Sides family was not only very powerful, but also very wealthy. There were several large silver mines in South America.
Mr. Sides is the bastard in the family and has no way to inherit the title. He can only manage the family's trade in South America.
There was a knock on the door, but the Governor ignored it and kept knocking on the door.
"Come in."
When the governor saw his deputy, he said nervously: "Your Majesty, Mr. Andrew brought a Ming man, who claimed that his own forces defeated the Ming Dynasty.
On behalf of his king, he came to negotiate with us an agreement to open ports to each other."
When the governor heard this, he stood up directly.
"Is this true? Bring this gentleman in quickly."
They and the Dutch have always coveted the huge market of Ming Dynasty.
But the Ming Dynasty was extremely closed and closed its ports.
If they want to buy some Ming Dynasty goods, they need to use smuggling.
They and the Dutch are too weak here.
They all tried various methods to test the Ming Navy.
The Dutch were still at war with the Ming Navy on the Penghu Islands.
Their strength here is too weak, and the Dutch cannot defeat the Ming Navy.
Unexpectedly, they tried every means, even through war, to gain the right to trade.
This time, Akito actually came to the door and offered to open the ports to each other.
Sides also heard their conversation.
He said with great joy: "This is great. I was about to go to Ming Dynasty to trade, but I didn't expect these people to take the initiative to trade with us, and also proposed to open the trade port."
Gu Yunhai soon met the governor and Sides.
He smiled at these people and nodded, took out an official document and handed it to these people through Li Shengli.
He had been prepared before coming. This was an official document issued by the Guangdong Governor's Yamen.
King Su He of Qin issued a decree to open the sea ban. The decree specifically stated that foreigners could also come to open the ports for maritime trade.
But they must pay relevant taxes according to the taxes in the import and export catalog.
The governor looked at an official document full of Chinese characters, but there was not a single Spanish letter on it.
He found a translator who was proficient in Chinese characters and translated it into Spanish.
The translator looked at the large number of default words on the official document, and he knew all of them.
But he didn't quite understand the meaning of some words made up of words.
Li Shengli helped with the translation and quickly understood the meaning of the official document.
Gu Yunhai and the Spanish Governor quickly reached an agreement.
The governor smiled very happily. He had learned that the Spaniards could also buy large quantities of silk, tea and porcelain at the port of Guangzhou.
He sent a fleet to Guangzhou to purchase these supplies and transport them to Spain, where they could be exchanged for a large amount of gold and silver.
Gu Yunhai made a request to the governor. They wanted to buy some specialties from Spain.
The Governor introduced Mr. Sides to Gu Yunhai, who had a large number of Western specialties.
Sides and Gu Yunhai came to the dock together.
There are already many Spanish merchants doing business here at the dock.
Some of the businessmen were very surprised. Their fleet was going to go to sea in the near future and they could not return empty-handed.
They are all preparing to bring some wood back. Now there are valuable goods from the Ming Dynasty in the north. This is very good news.
These goods were taken to other places and changed hands in large sums of gold and silver.
…………………………
Gu Yunhai and Sides boarded the ship to inspect the goods they had brought.
Li Shengli acted as a translator, allowing the two to chat happily.
Gu Yunhai introduced himself: "Gu Yunhai, deputy manager of Guangdong Sea Trade Company, specializes in sea trade of Prince Qin's Palace."
Sides hugged Gu Yunhai and said, "My usual name is Sides von Habsburg.
My real name is a name made up of more than ten words. Even if you say this, you won’t be able to remember it.”
They informed each other of their names and began trading.
Gu Yunhai immediately took Sides to their company's cargo ship.
The cargo ships mainly carried porcelain, tea and silk, which are the three major products of China's foreign trade.
The products of Guangdong Trading Company are of higher quality and are all top quality.
Sides is also a knowledgeable person. After reading it, he gave a thumbs up.
"Yunhai, my friend. The quality of the goods on your ship is very good, and I will give you a very affordable price.
I haven’t seen silk and tea of such high quality in a long time.”
Sides was very happy. These goods were all of high quality and valuable.
Shipping them to Europe costs several times more than ordinary goods.
The nobles in Europe like these products the most, and their families can digest a large part of them.
Transporting these things back to Europe can also prove your strength to your family.
Gu Yunhai and Sides discussed the value of these goods.
Their value for goods is accurate to every copper.
Every difference of one tael of silver between the cargo of dozens of cargo ships is a huge amount.
After the transaction was completed, Gu Yunhai asked Said: "Sedes, I am going to buy the seeds of some special plants, such as saplings that can ooze white liquid when cut with a knife, as well as some special plants and spices."
Seders didn't want to sell at first. It was too troublesome to collect such things, and it would be difficult for plants to survive by sea.
When he heard Gu Yunhai's quotation, his eyes immediately lit up and he said quickly: "My friend, I can get you whatever you want to buy.
There are some things that are here.
I can also ship things that are not available now from South America, and then I will go to Guangzhou Port for trading.
I am going to take the fleet to Guangzhou Port. When you return, can I go with you?"
"Sedes, you are welcome to join our fleet. We welcome any businessman to do business in Guangzhou Port." Gu Yunhai immediately agreed.
…………………………
Yang Wencai did business with Spanish businessman Andrúl through the Li family.
His translator, Wang Fucai, translated in broken Spanish.
Andrull gave a thumbs up and praised: "Yang, your silk is of better quality than other silks.
I know that Guangdong is going to impose a sea ban, but I will also give you a good price, sixteen taels of silver a piece. Do you want to sell it?
The silk of other people has dropped to fifteen taels of silver a piece."
Yang Wencai also lamented the shrewdness of these Spaniards.
They knew that after the sea ban was imposed in Guangzhou, many Spanish businessmen were planning to go to Guangzhou to purchase silk.
The price of silk here will definitely drop, there is no way to hide this news.
Yang Wencai's silk was spun on a spinning machine.
Spinning is also a technical activity, and machine spinning can always maintain quality.
Silk is still produced through flying shuttle looms, which can produce silk in various specifications.
After many iterations of the machine, the quality of the silk produced is more stable and higher.
His silk is also printed and dyed with chemical dyes, making the color very transparent and with very exquisite patterns on it.
His silk seems to be of extremely high quality, far better than the silk made by other sea merchants.
Yang Wencai took out the kettle and poured water directly on the silk.
"You can feel how smooth my silk is. My silk has been dyed and will not fade even if it is soaked in water.
Silk of my quality costs twenty-two taels of silver a piece."
"Nineteen taels, this is an extremely high price."
"Twenty-one taels, it can't be lower, you get what you pay for.
If you take silk of my quality, you can easily sell it at a high price.
If silk of this quality is used to make clothes for nobles, they will be very happy."
"Twenty taels, this price is extremely high. If it is higher, I will go to Guangzhou Port to have a look."
Yang Wencai already understood that these merchants who were hurriedly buying goods were preparing to return to Europe in the near future.
Maybe it has something to do with wind direction or something.
But Yang Wencai was not prepared to drag it out any longer and would stop as soon as possible.
If it really drags on, just in case the merchant thinks it’s too expensive and doesn’t want to buy it.
His goods still have to be sold to other merchants at a reduced price.
"Twenty taels is twenty taels, deal done."
Yang Wencai and Andruel reached an agreement and they formally delivered the goods.
"I'm not going to go back with an empty ship. Do you have any cotton or sugar cane here?"
"Yes, I have a big plantation here."
Andrull immediately told the prices of cotton and sugarcane.
Yang Wencai never thought that the price of sugar cane could be so low, and the price of cotton was still normal.
His textile factory is about to run out of cotton. It has not yet been supplied, so it is time to purchase a large amount of cotton.
Purchase the remaining sugar cane and sell it to Li Gong, and you can make a lot of money.
They made another deal.
Spanish businessman Andrul said happily: "Yang, you are really an outstanding businessman.
I have some treasures here, I only need eight hundred taels a piece."
After the Spanish businessman finished speaking, he asked his servant to open an exquisite gift box, which contained a carved glass cup.
Yang Wencai immediately asked translator Wang Fucai to bring a large box.
Open the box and find a more exquisite glass inside.
"This glass of mine only costs eighty taels of silver. I will sell it to you for as much as you want.
Look at my glass, it's more beautiful than yours."
When the Spanish businessman saw this, he shook his head and left. It's hard for Ming to be deceived now.