Wang Yuanfang and Lu Qi didn't know yet that the "Discovery" among the two British ships opposite was the ship that the famous "Captain Cook" sailed on, and George Vancouver was once a trainee officer under Cook.
.
To put it briefly, after some tentative contact, Vancouver finally confirmed that the other party was the mysterious "Serris people" he had heard about in India. However, he immediately realized that the sudden appearance of this group of people would be a threat to him.
The situation in the northwest region of the North American continent had a significant impact.
Since the sixteenth century, Spain has claimed its long-term sovereignty and navigation rights over the Pacific Northwest of North America. When the famous "Captain Cook" came to North America for exploration fifteen years ago, that is, in 1778,
After learning the news, the Spaniards quickly sent ships north and built a permanent stronghold, Fort San Miguel, on Nootka Island in the northwest of Vancouver Island. Later, they seized British merchant ships coming here for the fur trade many times, almost resulting in two
There is a war in the country.
In order to resolve the dispute, Britain and Spain signed the Treaty of Nootka three years ago, and in February this year they signed a claim treaty regarding the seizure of ships.
In the first treaty, Spain agreed to transfer all islands and related buildings in Nootka Sound to Britain. The two sides also agreed that neither party would establish new institutions on any islands near the east and west coasts of South America occupied by Spain.
.Both parties reserve the right to land and construct temporary structures on the coasts and islands for fishery-related purposes. Furthermore, the above provisions shall be valid only if there are no institutions established by subjects of any other country in the coastal areas concerned.
In the history of another time and space, it was the signing of this treaty that paved the way for the century-long sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. You must know that Argentina is still only Spain.
The Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata under the Kingdom.
The British extended their tentacles into the northwest region of the North American continent, and also promoted the maritime fur trade in the Pacific. This was a huge triangular trade network connecting the northwest coast of the Pacific, China and the Hawaiian Islands; it provided New England with a wide range of agricultural products.
Social transformation provided sufficient capital for the industrial society, making Hawaii famous and making Guangzhou's position in international maritime trade more prominent.
Let's put it this way, the current purchase price for a complete sea otter skin in northwest North America is 6 pence, and a pound is 240 pence, so 6 pence is converted into 0.0445 taels of silver. By the time we get to Guangzhou, the purchase price has jumped to
One hundred Mexican silver dollars - 72 taels of silver, or even 85 taels if the quality is good.
More than 1,600 times the profit, the profits of the Pacific fur trade are so high!
Otherwise, why would the Russian merchants in Eastern Siberia be willing to betray the queen and become loyal to Beihai Town? And the British would rather risk war with the Spanish to get the stronghold on Nootka Island?
However, for the Manchus, the fur trade not only allowed the emperor and dignitaries to obtain more sea otter skins, but also allowed the Guangdong Customs Department, which was called the "Emperor's Southern Treasury", to receive more tax money. After all, the Qing Dynasty
"The treasury is abundant and the world is rich"...
Today, on the northwest coast of North America, the Spanish, Russians, British, and Americans come and go. Well, now the Seris have suddenly put a foot in and even forcibly occupied the Golden Gate Strait.
Captain Vancouver wanted to ask the other side's commander, are you not afraid of the Spanish's revenge if you act so recklessly?
Although the Spanish Empire has declined, their power in the Americas is still huge. Even the United Kingdom does not dare to provoke it easily. The huge financial expenditure caused by the war is not in line with the interests. Furthermore, there are too many places in the northwest of North America where flags are not planted.
If we can negotiate, there is no need to use force.
But little did he know that Beihai Town was already prepared to go to war with Spain if they dared to come to North America. As long as Zhao Xin, the "Captain of the Transportation Brigade", was here, no matter how many Spaniards came, it would be in vain!
What's more, as long as the Spanish dare to declare war, Zheng Wenxian's fleet will immediately bombard Manila and impose a naval blockade on it!
When the North Korean Navy captured Ba City, due to insufficient estimation of the situation of the Chinese in Southeast Asia in advance and the huge power of the VOC still existing, Zhao Xin and Deng Fei had to suspend the plan to send troops to Manila after repeated discussions.
After learning the news, the then Governor of Manila, Maquina, was afraid that Beihai Town would fight because of their massacre of the Chinese thirty years ago, so he immediately sent a special envoy to hand out an olive branch, bringing not only 100,000 Mexican silver coins.
He paid compensation, verbally apologized for his actions that year, and categorically stated that he would protect the legitimate rights and interests of the local Chinese.
However, Deng Fei did not ask for compensation at that time. He felt that if he accepted it, he would be sorry for the souls of the 100,000 Chinese people in heaven. You must know that the Spaniards have carried out five massacres of Chinese people in Manila since the 31st year of Wanli.
This debt must be recovered!
He calmly warned the Manila envoys to let them behave themselves. If there was any further oppression of the Chinese, the Northern Navy would bombard the city of Manila.
Things are different now. The Dutch are gone, West Borneo is nominally obtained, and Europe is at war because of the French problem. There will be a transition period of two to three years, when the situation in West Java and India is stable.
, the Northern Navy will have enough troops to occupy the Luzon Islands and completely drive the Spaniards out of Asia!
Of course, the Tampakan gold-copper complex mine that Zhao Xin has coveted for a long time must also be obtained.
One day later, the "Discovery" and the "Chatham" arrived at Monterey. George Vancouver immediately asked to see California Governor de Arrillaga. His main task for this trip was to implement the "Treaty of Nootka" with the other party.
The issue of territorial transfer. Unexpectedly, the arrogant interim governor not only did not see them, but also refused them to go ashore. The reason was that the official responsible for the transfer was not available and I had no time... Oh, no, we will wait until next year.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Faced with Spain's prevarication, George Vancouver's nose was so angry that he thought that the treaty was still being delayed after two years of signing, and he did not put the British Empire in the first place.
His eyes were filled with anger. In a fit of anger, he decided to make the Spaniards suffer a big loss without mentioning the encounter with the Thor. After completing the supplies, he took the fleet to Hawaii to spend the winter.
Two more days later, Governor de Alila finally met Lieutenant de Solar and Brother Verez, who had rushed back from Santa Clara to report. When he learned that San Francisco had been invaded by a group of Orientals,
, and was immediately shocked. He immediately summoned the army and decided to personally lead the army on an expedition, marching both by land and water, to drive away the group of unknown guys.
On the other side, on the seventh day when Lu Qi and the others arrived in the Kinmen Strait, his "good deed" of releasing the Indians began to ferment. Because Li Shi was trying to save trouble, he sent outdoor emergency blankets to all the Indians who were released.
He returned to the tribe with his whole body shimmering in silver, which immediately aroused great interest from the Indians.
When the Spaniards came in the past, the most common thing they did was to use necklaces made of glass beads to fool them. As time went by, the Indians were no longer so easy to deceive.
But this thing is different! Not only does it make your whole body shiny when you put it on, it’s also light and warm. You’ll start sweating on your head after standing in the sun for a while.
So the nearby Miwok tribe brought animal skins and various prey to the fortress one after another. Some even brought pieces of torn blankets, babbling and gesticulating, asking for this by name. Because the Spaniards
They have been colonizing here for more than ten or twenty years, so many people in these tribes can speak Spanish.
In fact, simple communication between different groups of people does not necessarily require proficiency in each other's language. Especially when doing business, you can often understand what is going on with a little gesture.
"Sinae!Sinae!"
Facing a dozen Miwok people wearing animal skin or feather cloaks, conical sea otter skin hats, and shell necklaces hanging around their necks, Rucci, who was wearing a mask, first pointed to the red flag of the Northern Navy on the flagpole.
, then patted his chest, and gestured to the people from the overseas corps, indicating that we are Seris people.
"Chochenyo! Chochenyo!" Well, this is a tribe from the East Bay.
"Ramaytush! Ramaytush!" Katata's tribe also came, including her father.
"Tamyen! Tamyen!" This is a tribe from the Santa Clara Valley.
Although there are only three tribes in total, each tribe is divided into dozens of villages, which means that almost all the Miwok people around the Kinmen Strait have come.
Seeing the piles of furs brought by the Indians, Rucci grinned and almost stopped laughing. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask. He thought to himself that he was going to make a lot of money now, let alone the silver ones.
, we have both gold and silver colors! Gold is for summer protection, and silver is for warmth.
Let the tribal chief and his family each get a gold one. When they step out of the tent, they will be gleaming with gold, which will show their identity and status.
Although the outdoor emergency blanket is useful, it can be easily scratched by branches, weapons, etc., or it will dissolve if it is stained with salt-alkali water. When the time comes, you will have to buy it again, which is a huge profit. In the end, he told
The price negotiated by the Indians was five sea otter skins or one buffalo skin for a silver emergency blanket, and double the price for a gold one.
In order to make up for the slight uneasiness in his conscience, Rucci decided to invite all the Indians to have a free meal in the open space outside the fort, with sea fish stewed in an iron pot, casual greetings, and rye flour steamed buns.
Since there were not many utensils, the people in the cooking class decided to dig a field stove in the open space, and then brought the pot over to cook directly. Unexpectedly, an Indian saw the iron pot and made a chirping sound, and then a group of people started to cook.
They gathered around. Everyone's eyes widened when they looked at the big iron pot held high by the cooks. Some even reached out and touched it a few times, and their eyes suddenly shone.
The cooking soldiers who were surrounded in the middle looked confused and asked, "Do you still want to eat?"
Several Indians wanted to see Rucci immediately, and they decided they wanted this too!
Lu Qi talked and gestured for a long time, and finally made these people understand that if you want to buy this, you can just finish eating it first, and we will discuss the price later.
So a group of Indians squatted by the earthen stove and stared at the cook as they cooked, fearing that the iron pot would run away. However, they were soon swallowed by the aroma of fat and were very curious.
Watching the cook put a handful of green onions and ginger on the left and a handful of peppercorns into the pot.
After the large pieces of salmon were put into the pot, the cook poured a few bags of homemade dried vegetables from Beihai Town and a pot of cut potatoes into the pot. He flipped it a few times with a large wooden spoon, then closed the lid and started cooking.
As the old saying goes, stew meat over low heat and stew fish over high heat. The fish is mixed with spices and vegetables and simmers in a large iron pot. It soon becomes fragrant and makes the surrounding Indians salivate.
Katata's father finally couldn't bear it anymore. His name in Miwok language is "woodpecker". The father stood up and walked to the stove, raising his hand to lift the lid. The cook was already prepared and stretched out his hand firmly.
Hold it down, and then shake your head at him.
Bai Baixin said that I would eat all the raw fish, but the cooked meat would be rotten, so he nodded and made the gesture of eating again.
Unexpectedly, the cook still shook his head. It was not because of anything else. The potatoes were not yet ripe, and eating them raw would be poisonous. If something happened, he would be in big trouble.
One of them kept shaking his head and the other kept nodding. The other Indians thought that these two people were really interesting and they all laughed.
On the other side, Lu Qi is also calculating the price of the iron pot. You must know that large iron products are relatively expensive in this time and space, not to mention that the ones brought this time are for personal use and spare, and there is not much inventory. With such a diameter
How to price a 60cm wood pot?
After thinking for a while, Lucci finally settled on a price that he thought was very "conscientious."
More than twenty minutes later, when a group of Indians devoured the steamed buns and scooped up the remaining meat and vegetable residue in the iron pot with their hands, Rucci appeared.
He pointed to the iron pot with a little vegetable soup left, stretched out his hands, and then turned it over twice - thirty otter skins, and there were only two - the two that were used to cook for the Indians. He took them quickly
Come on, there’s no need to wash it!
After completing transactions with Indians from several tribes, Rucci asked Li Shi to announce something to his men. In order to reward everyone for their hard work, Rucci decided to give each person five furs from the traded furs.
Sea otter skin; those who are willing to discount it can also have it sent to their subsidy account according to the CIF price in Guangzhou, which is 1,750 Beihai silver dollars. At this time, all the soldiers in the overseas corps are smiling, and they have earned several years' salary in one go.
When the "Jaguar" left two months later, the cabin was loaded with more than 2,000 sea otter skins and more than 500 bison skins, but the smell of disinfectant was overwhelming!
When Zhao Xin learned about the incident from the telegram, he thought it was really shameful that the thing he bought wholesale for eight yuan a piece was actually turned into huge profits. It seemed that letting Lu Qi go to North America was the right move.
Okay, I didn’t say anything, I’ll approve another 100,000 sheets and ship them over, plus a thousand iron pots of various sizes!
The news spread among the various Indian tribes at the speed of the wind. In the spring of the next year, Rucci simply opened a market east of the Golden Gate Fortress.
In the years that followed, this thing, which was hailed as the "Chinese Magic Carpet" by countless people, spread throughout almost all regions of North America. The chiefs of all the major Indian tribes were proud of having a golden "Magic Carpet". The most egregious one
Yes, a fur trader actually brought this thing to Guangzhou, sold it for a high price of three hundred taels, and successfully exported it to domestic sales.
In this process, Beihai Town, apart from hunting animals for meat, almost never fired a shot, and unknowingly became the largest fur trader in the Pacific.