Time Smuggling Starting from the Year 2000

Chapter 40 Spitsbergen Islands (4)

Huang Xuan didn't have much time, but it wasn't that he didn't even have time to talk about business. About 10 tons of wheat and rice and dozens of kilograms of spices that Lorraine put down on a loading dock at the port almost caused the Dutch and the Spaniards to fight each other. In order to cool down the enthusiasm of both parties, and also to let the other captains hear the news, Huang Xuan decided to start the formal transaction early the next morning. The price will be 30 riyals or 10 florins per 1,000 pounds, and can be Exchange it with seafood such as whales. The florin is a gold coin, with 5,500 currency units containing 110 ounces of gold. Calculated at the current gold price, each florin is worth about $6. It is equivalent to RMB 0.2 per kilogram of grain. With this calculation, it seems that Huang Xuan is at a loss. However, if the inflation rate over the past 400 years is considered, the price will be much higher. If it is not in the desolate Arctic Circle, the food at hand should be a big profit. up. However, people value contentment. Huang Xuan is very grateful that he was not sent to an Indian jungle. He hopes that travelers in the big plane era will have less such abnormalities and less such plane data. Huang Xuan carried a total of 1,500 tons of grain, equivalent to about 3.3 million pounds, and worth 33,000 florins. This was a huge asset, more than enough to form a fleet. In addition, he also brought several tons of spices and Refined white sugar, compared with the sucrose used by Europeans now, these refined sugars have risen several grades in terms of taste and appearance. In the area near the warehouse in Green Bay, Huang Xuan set up a small stall. Behind him was a small warehouse with a capacity of hundreds of cubic meters, and in front of him were rice, wheat, spices and sugar. The governor seemed to be very busy and didn't come. Juan stood behind Huang Xuan with great interest. The Dutchmen from the East India Company seemed to be hiding at home. Only passing sailors looked at Huang Xuan's stall. By the way Ask about the price, but when they heard that the price starts at 1,000 pounds, they all left. A sailor risked his life and stayed in a dirty ocean-going ship for three months, only to get 20 florins, and he couldn't eat 1,000 pounds of wheat by himself. In this way, Huang Xuan sat for a while in the warehouse area. morning. But he is not discouraged. Yesterday afternoon, he already understood that as long as the price is right, the captains in Green Bay who are running for profit don’t mind whether it is whale oil or food that they bring back to Europe. Selling whale oil at the price in Europe, or even other parts of the whale that are treated as garbage, and receiving a large amount of food is equivalent to earning two shares of money, so why not do it. Juan didn't think so. He persuaded Huang Xuan: Mr. Philips, I can accept all your grain at the price of 18 florins per 1,000 pounds. It's all. Don't you think about it? But You want deferred payment. Huang Xuan shrugged helplessly and said, I need cash. Deferred payment is a gadget invented by the Dutch, and it is this mercantilist country that invented financial foundations such as deferred payment and letters of credit. And developed the modern banking industry, so that the whole of Europe is willing to send wealth to Amsterdam, and then use the assets of all Europe for commercial activities. Now, the Spaniards have also learned the same method, but Huang Xuan can only refuse in apologetic way. As a traveler in another dimension, the most unbearable thing is delay. Juan was a little unhappy. He spent two hours explaining why the deferred payment would not affect his income, but Huang Xuan, who had long been accustomed to Lorraine's endless chatter, did not change his mind because of the Spaniard's saliva. Asked for cash, and Juan had very little money on him. It's impossible for you to sell like this. Seeing another dirty sailor leave the booth, Juan said angrily, You don't understand business, you don't understand! Whatever you want. Huang Xuan didn't Ready to eat, he squinted his eyes and sat cross-legged, waiting for the next customer to come. The sunshine in Svalbard is very comfortable, bright but not hot, and the light is soft, especially in an environment of 3 or 4 degrees Celsius, standing under the sun makes my heart very warm. Huang Xuan was very calm. Compared with Juan, the latter was more like a businessman who couldn't sell anything. He sat like this until the afternoon when the first real customer came. The Dutch captain Gonar has an old four-masted sailing ship. His main job every year is whaling and cod fishing, and occasionally he also does some transportation business, just like most Dutch businessmen. Later this morning, his second mate told him that there was a Spaniard who was selling wheat and buying whole or split whales at the price of whale oil 18 (Note 1), he and the first mate laughed a lot, No one would do such a stupid thing. But in the afternoon, he decided to go and see. Gonar's ship encountered some ice floes when it entered the port. Although the keel was fine, it still needed some repairs. The sailors all went to Longyearbyen to drink. He wanted to stay in the port and watch the workers repair it. Since that is ridiculous Before the Spaniard left, he wanted to appreciate it. This guy might be the stupidest guy in the northern hemisphere. Where did you get the wheat from? Paris? Gonar laughed loudly as he spoke, revealing half of his missing front teeth. Gonar was wearing a tight-fitting captain's suit. Of course it wasn't gorgeous, but it was clean. On a ship without fresh water, cleanliness was also a privilege. This seemed to be a guy who could afford wheat, Huang Xuan grabbed a handful of wheat and sprinkled it in front of him, saying, 10 florins per 1000 pounds, or 30 riyals.

The captain rubbed the wheat grains indifferently, then threw another one into his mouth, chewed it and said, It's just ripe wheat, don't you really bring it from Europe? Gonar was talking to Juan. Due to the natural superiority of white people, he took it for granted that the Spaniard was the seller, and Huang Xuan, maybe a slave? I just need to sell it. It was slave who answered, and Gonar became more and more surprised. He rubbed another grain of wheat and said, Is this wheat yours? how much do you have? ’ ‘Of course it’s mine. Huang Xuan put down his hat, revealing his black cropped hair, and said, I can sell you 20,000 pounds now, if you want. 20,000 pounds weighs almost 10 tons, which is the capacity of the small warehouse behind him. Gonar did not answer immediately, but turned over the grain pile in front of him, looked at it carefully, and said: Listen Say you are willing to buy whales at the price of whale oil, is there such a thing? If it's other parts of the whale, I can exchange it with wheat or rice. I don't have much cash on hand. If your wheat is like this, let's talk about the price. certainly. Note 1: The rial is often divided into 12, 14 or 18 for change, and this rule was derived into other weights and measures. Therefore, to this day, the lowest unit of the London Exchange is 18, not 110.

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