From Chief to Ball

"Then thank you, Eunuch Gao."

"Then what did Chen Jian ask you to say?"

"That's right, please forgive me, Eunuch Gao, I'll just say something straight."

"Say it straight."

"Selling goods from here to Japan has made a lot of profits. Eunuch Gao is also clear about this. There are not many goods such as spices and sumac in Fujian, and there will be no profit from transshipment. Siam, Malacca, etc. in the south There are a lot of these goods in Japan. However, goods like raw silk can still be exchanged for a lot of money in Japan.”

Gao Cai was also involved in smuggling in Fujian, so he didn't know what was valuable and what was not, so he nodded and said, "I still know that."

"Eunuch Gao doesn't know. According to the confessions of the Japanese who invaded Ryukyu, they captured Ryukyu in the name of paying tribute to Ryukyu, but they secretly manipulated the goods of the tribute to make a profit. As the saying goes, rare things are more expensive. If there are more of these goods , I am afraid that the shareholding fleet we discussed before will be difficult to make money."

Gao Cai sneered and said: "The Japanese are really cunning. I'm afraid they also made moves in North Korea. They wanted to trade and pay tribute, but they did such a rebellious thing. After this incident, I will guarantee you that they will never have another chance Tributary trade. I heard that the governor has already reported this matter, so I naturally have to write some and send it up."

The messenger thanked him repeatedly, and then said, "Grandpa Gao, the two most profitable sea routes today are one to Luzon and the other to Japan. There are silver mines thousands of miles away in Luzon, and the money they carry is not bad, and the silver is like water. .The other sea route to Japan is also very profitable. If you want to make money, there are two ways to go, so Mr. Chen sent me to discuss with Gao Gonggong."

Gao Cai said: "There is no one else around, but it is what it is."

"Gao Gonggong, we are different from Hong Yi and Lan. They are not allowed to do business, but we have Gao GongGong to operate, and the business business is likely to be successful."

Gao Cai laughed loudly and said: "It's because you have a sense of proportion and have done a few beautiful things, otherwise I really can't say it."

"Mr. Chen said that one word can make things happen, and one word can ruin things. Let's talk about the story of Zhao Zhilianpo back then. Isn't it just a matter of a word from the messenger? So Mr. Chen said that we must not offend Eunuch Gao. We discussed it at the beginning. The gold and silver that are given will be given anyway.”

The words were straightforward, but Gao Cai was very useful, and asked: "I also think this matter can be achieved, so what does this matter have to do with those two sea routes?"

"The first sea route to Luzon. If this is not allowed, if our shareholding fleet wants to make money, we must use some means to prevent maritime merchants from going to Luzon for trade. It is robbing, robbing, burning, and killing. These means They must be used. Otherwise, the people in Luzon have more money, and the goods sold to us earn less, but the goods sold in Luzon earn more, and they can earn three times the profit, even at the risk of being delayed.

Hearing what this person said was interesting, Gao Cai also laughed and said: "Businessmen seek profit, there is no need to hide it, it is really the case."

"Yes, but if we can trade, it will be different. We can go directly to Luzon to trade. We have many ships and guns. We are not afraid of pirates and thieves. Others can't compete with us. But if we eat If you have too much money but don’t leave soup for others, you will always attract people’s envy, so I asked Eunuch Gao to come forward and find some big businessmen and sea merchants to join in the shares, so as not to cause any disputes between them.”

"Right and wrong? What right and wrong can there be? I don't know how many people impeach me every year. Isn't our family still doing well here?"

"Yes, it's just that it's not good to make too many enemies. If these people are dissatisfied and help pirates and pirates rob us secretly, it's a big loss, isn't it? Eunuch Gao, you must not exhaust the river for fishing. Some of us raise sheep and cut them every year. Wool is sold, and the wool of a sheep is more expensive than mutton. If you want to get rich, you must pay attention to some means.”

Although Gao Cai said that she was tough before, she also knows that life is not going well now.Officials from all over the country are impeaching them, and some of the things I did in Fujian are really too much, and there are quite a lot of broken families.

He said this just to show his male aggression and pride. Although he used to be a male, because of this, he can only get satisfaction psychologically rather than physically.

The envoy's words were very clear. Gao Cai thought for a while and asked, "As you said, if there are bandits at sea on the Luzon sea road, it will be beneficial to us? They dare not snatch our fleet. After a long time Personal merchant ships are afraid to pass?"

"Exactly. It's just that this bandit is far above the sea, so it's hard to tell who it is. When there are more people who join us, it is natural to protect the interests of their own shares. Besides, when there are more people participating in the shares, there are gunboats Escort, if you want to rob, it's not just a few families who can fight against us."

Be honest when you enter the country, and you are a bandit when you leave the country. After talking about this kind of thing for a while, Gao Cai will understand.I also understand that if I do this, I really need to attract more people to buy shares, otherwise the interests of too many people will be touched, and those people will inevitably unite.

Officially impeaching him, and privately organizing pirates to compete for the dominance of trade, this really has to be guarded against.

"What about the other sea route to Japan?"

"Eunuch Gao, I'm afraid going to Japan for trade is against the laws of the Ming Dynasty, right?"

"That's natural. It was not allowed in the past. Now that the Ryukyu incident happens, I'm afraid the control will be stricter. However, no matter how strict the control is, it will not prevent those people from desperately seeking profit. Didn't you just say that? Those profiteers have three Double the profit can be earned, even Ling Chi is not afraid."

The emissary laughed and said, "Nowadays, if you go to Japan for trade, you have to go through Ryukyu. Except for the Portuguese in Macau, I am afraid that there are not many people who have the ability to go directly to Nagasaki without going around Ryukyu. Moreover, merchant ships from Guangdong and Fujian want to go to Japan for trade. They have to go through The sea between Danshui Chicken Coop and Fujian. So what Mr. Chen means is that if Eunuch Gao can accomplish one thing, he might be able to use it as a share capital of tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"what's up?"

"To help with the activities, let us cruise between Ryukyu and Tamsui, and stop all smuggling ships going to Japan for trade. On the one hand, this can strictly prevent Japanese pirates, and it can also be regarded as Gao Gonggong sharing the worries of the emperor of Shenzhou, intercepting Japanese pirates and the sea. But it is far better than deportation after landing. On the other hand, the only ones who can go to Japan for trade in this way are the Portuguese in Macau. Mr. Chen said that he will take care of the Portuguese. , I guarantee that I will be kicked out of Japan soon. Eunuch Gao will have to worry about cruising Tamsui Ryukyu."

This is obviously the fact of doing a trade monopoly under the pretext of being aboveboard.Chen Jian had explained this point carefully before sending the envoy, especially to those in the fleet who planned to participate in the trading company here in the future.

After doing the Ryukyu incident and the tribute incident, people like myself cannot be placed in Luzon Spain and the Dutch in the south.They can only do entrepot trade between China and Japan, and their position is to do monopoly trade.

Needless to say, the profit difference between re-export and direct selling monopoly, Chen Jian also took this opportunity to explain clearly the importance of going to Beijing to "pay tribute": that is, for the sake of profit, you can temporarily put aside the glory of the country and the clan, especially It is about not having too many disputes on some ideological matters, so as not to waste all previous efforts.

Form an armed fleet in Asia, [-] local recruits and domestically hired flintlock soldiers, two fortresses in Ryukyu and Wangbei City, as well as bribes from Fujian local officials and some infiltration and good deeds to win over Fujian's Big merchants joined in, and things like shares, rights, and contracts began to infiltrate from the trading fleet.

By doing the above points, the trade monopoly centered on the Ming Dynasty and Japan can basically be controlled.When the Dutch freed up their hands and wanted to get involved, with Ryukyu and Wangbei City in their hands, and the fleet in their hands, they could only return home in defeat.

As for the Spaniards, it is very different from what the Dutch did in history.The Dutch were in entrepot trade and wanted to support pirates to prevent maritime merchants from going to Manila for trade by force.Because they don't have as much silver as Spain, and they can only rely on smugglers to send the goods they want.

Chen Jian's side is not a re-export trade. On the contrary, he can crowd out those private smuggling ships and exchange money from Spain, which has a lot of silver.As long as some big businessmen in Fujian are recruited into the group, and the security and success rate are guaranteed by force, the resistance and hatred will be less. It may be extremely difficult to rely on those people to compete for the dominant position in trade.

The key to these matters are two points: trade license and anti-smuggling law enforcement power.This is a justifiable thing. With these two, many things are much easier to do, and there will not be too many "righteous" objections.

It will take some time for Gao Cai to fall, and if another Gao Cai falls, those shares will naturally fall into Chen Jian's hands.Now the bigwigs in the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty are busy with the most critical party struggles, and things here can still be active for the time being. If it is delayed for a few years, they will really take sides in the party struggles: taking sides is not participating in internal affairs, but can only be regarded as political donations .

Having reached this point, Gao Cai is also very clear about the bottom line of what he wants to do.

After thinking about it secretly, with the help of the Ryukyu matter, there is still a high chance of success in this matter.One key is what Chen Zizhen said, the other is the communication between my side and the inner court, and the other is that it would be better if it can make some money for the inner court.

After thinking about it, the emissary said again: "Eunuch Gao, there is one more thing. Mr. Chen has already sent people back to the country to find some talents from the mine and the glass factory. Eunuch Gao also agreed on the opening of the mine and the factory that were discussed at the time." Hurry up."

Gao Cai nodded and said: "This is a good thing. Now that Fujian has just experienced a catastrophe, there are countless refugees. If the business of opening mines and factories is done well, there will be countless people alive. Don't worry, there are already signs, and it won't take long. There is news. Even if there is no such thing as Ryukyu, your tribute to Beijing is a sure thing, not to mention the fact that there is Ryukyu. You should go back and tell Chen Jian to make preparations. Some friends in Nanjing are also active , you can rest assured."

The messenger hurriedly said: "Since this is the case, if it succeeds, I would like to thank those friends in Nanjing. I will tell Mr. Chen when I go back. Naturally, I can't lose everyone. By the way, Mr. Chen also asked me to send a car to Mr. Gao." Hmph, there are not many cars on this boat, so I sent one to Eunuch Gao first, and it will be delivered in a few days."

Although Gao Cai didn't know what He Heng's car was, he also knew that these people had endlessly rare items in their hands. Since there were not many cars on the boat, it seemed to be unique, and he was secretly pleased.

He also talked about some future trade matters, and the envoy hoped that plums would quench his thirst and draw cakes to satisfy his hunger.

Chapter 88 Broken Dreams and Reality

At the same time, Tokugawa Ieyasu lived in Junfu Castle, which manipulated the affairs of the shogunate behind the scenes.

The envoy sent by Chen Jian had been waiting for a long time. After the Ryukyu battle, Chen Jian immediately sent an envoy here, so the news of the Ryukyu battle came here earlier than from the Shimadzu family.

The envoy knew very well that the diplomatic terms written by Chen Jian were very rude, and also knew that life and death were uncertain this time, but he was not afraid.

On the contrary, he was a little faintly excited.In Wangbei City, these people read a lot of books bought in the Ming Dynasty. These envoys had already prepared the drafts of various situations on the ship, and even deliberately learned a few sentences from the few Japanese-speaking people, such as: A man who is a man should be born. Five cauldrons eat, death is five cauldrons cooking, I ask you to cheer up on the cauldron wok and so on.

Several of these people came to Junfu City for the first time. When they came last time, Junfu City had just caught fire, and now it has been rebuilt to some extent.

After handing over the articles written by Chen Jian, Tokugawa Ieyasu never showed up, nor did he make any other indications. He just asked someone to arrange meals for these people.There are samurai guards outside, which can be regarded as house arrest in disguise, but these envoys are not afraid.

After the first battle in Ryukyu, the envoys were quite confident, saying that there was a motherland with a population of more than 3000 million behind them, so they were fearless.

Other than not being able to leave, everything was going on as usual, and the messengers didn't know what the other party meant.

After about half a month, someone came to find these emissaries and brought a simple world map. The text on it should be Dutch.

The people who came were polite and asked some strange questions, and the envoys answered them one by one.

It is nothing more than asking where the Spanish colonies are, how long it will take to cross this sea called the Pacific Ocean, where is your country, how is your relationship with Spain, and so on.

The people who came asked these people how the trade was in the Spanish colonies.The envoy actually didn't know exactly what he knew, but he heard Chen Jian mention it, and when Chen Jian said it, he always liked to let people know it but knew why, so it was hard to forget.