1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3661

After arriving at the harbor called Trincomalee, Dong Shangyi also met the owner of this place, King Rajsingh II of the Kandy Kingdom of Ceylon.

Although it was the first time we met, it was not difficult to recognize the king's identity. He was wearing a lot of ornaments inlaid with various gems all over his body. It could be said that he was sparkling and it was difficult not to notice his presence.

The king welcomed Takahashi Minami's arrival and then had someone bring out several large ceramic plates, on which were placed about two or three hundred gems that had been recently produced in his jurisdiction.

While ordering people to check the quality of the gems, Takahashi Minami introduced the materials brought for the trade to the king.

It took Dong Shangyi a while to understand that the special warfare division traded gems from the natives not using gold or silver currency, but a primitive barter method.

Hai Han provided them with the necessary food, sugar, tea, cloth, ironware, weapons and armor, and of course their most indispensable tools such as hoes and shovels. For the Kingdom of Kandy, which lacked trade channels, these things were far more valuable than precious metals such as gold and silver.

This time, some chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep and other livestock were also transported, in the hope of helping the Kingdom of Kandy to run its own animal husbandry business. The future output could also be purchased by Hai Han.

In addition, there were several gifts given to the king personally, most of which were industrial products specially used in diplomatic occasions, such as exquisitely crafted lighters, sabers, horse bridles and saddles, etc.

There are no metal or coal mines on Ceylon that can be mined on a large scale, so steel products are almost entirely dependent on external imports. In the past, the Dutch could provide some pig iron and iron products to the Kingdom of Kandy, but the quantity and variety were extremely limited. In particular, weapons and equipment needed by the indigenous armed forces were listed as contraband and could not be easily supplied to the Kingdom of Kandy.

Now, Hai Han has not only replaced the Dutch in terms of trade, but can also provide more goods to the natives, even weapons and armor that they could not obtain in the past.

As long as the Kingdom of Kandy can provide Hai Han with enough gems, it seems that it can exchange them for all the supplies it needs.

Of course, the goods used for trading by both parties were extremely unequal in value in the outside world. At least in Dong Shangyi's opinion, using a ship of materials worth at most 10,000 yuan to exchange hundreds of gems from the natives was simply a highly profitable business.

However, perhaps because he had been exploited too harshly by European merchants in the past, the king himself was very satisfied with the current trading method. After personally inspecting the goods brought by Gao Qiaomin, he immediately announced a banquet to entertain the distinguished guests from afar.

It can be seen from this that these natives are extremely realistic. If they are not satisfied with the transaction, there will probably be no banquet or entertainment.

The king had a palace not far from the port, and the banquet was held in the palace.

However, although it is called a palace, in Dong Shangyi's opinion it is just a shed on stilts with a slightly larger area. The interior decoration is only some animal bones hanging on the wall, which looks quite primitive.

The so-called state banquet only had seasonal fruits and some grilled meats, served in clay pots or even on banana leaves, with one portion placed in front of each guest.

Although Dong Shangyi was surprised, he saw that Li Yuande, who came with him, had a calm face. It was obvious that this was not his first time attending such an occasion. He immediately remained calm and imitated others by grabbing food with his hands and eating slowly. Through the conversation at the banquet, Dong Shangyi gradually understood that although this king was an indigenous king who ruled the local area and had tens of thousands of subjects in his jurisdiction, his living standard might not be as good as that of the slightly more sophisticated local rich people in Hai Han.

The king's request was very simple, which was to make the Heinrich van den Bergh, which had driven away the Dutch, recognize the independence of the Kingdom of Kandy and provide a certain degree of military protection to fight against the Portuguese entrenched on the west coast of Ceylon.

These conditions were naturally not difficult for the Special Operations Division. In order to show respect for the Kingdom of Kandy, the Special Operations Division did not even station military personnel in the Port of Trincomalee. It only set up a small trading post with less than ten people. In addition to conducting daily trade, it also handled diplomatic affairs on behalf of the Kingdom.

Strictly speaking, the Kingdom of Kandy and Hai Han had not even established formal diplomatic relations. However, the king himself obviously did not care about these "red tapes". He was more concerned about what substantial benefits Hai Han could bring to him.

Whether it is daily necessities or weapons and equipment, these things that can be used are far more practical than the Dutch's previous empty talk of support.

The king actually knew that these locally produced gems could be exchanged for more good things in the world outside of Ceylon, but the problem was that the Kingdom of Kandy did not have the ability to engage in ocean trade and could only limit the trading venue to its own territory.

For the natives, these gems dug out of the soil can neither be eaten nor used. Their only value is to be handed over to the Hai Han people in exchange for the supplies they need. Otherwise, they are just a pile of pretty little stones.

Besides, mining gemstones is much easier for the indigenous people than reclaiming land to grow crops, fishing at sea, mining and smelting iron, grazing and hunting, and there is not much risk. Even the elderly, the weak, women and children can join in and take charge of some less labor-intensive links.

However, in response to Takahashi Minami's request to increase the supply of gemstones, the king insisted that this was already the best he could do and that it would be impossible to increase it significantly under the current conditions.

Dong Shangyi listened to this and couldn't help but sigh that although the king didn't have much knowledge, he was not a fool and he also had his own little plans.

There will be no improvement under the current conditions. Doesn't this imply that Hai Han should improve the terms of the transaction? Moreover, there are precedents for controlling the supply in many industries to ensure that the value of the goods will not decrease due to excessive supply.

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Even if the Kingdom of Kandy increased its gem supply tenfold, it would not necessarily be able to exchange it for ten times as much material from Hai Han. Instead, the value of the gems would most likely decrease. The king should have figured out the reasoning behind this a long time ago.

However, Dong Shangyi still had one thing unclear to him. After the banquet, when the king returned with a full load of supplies, Dong Shangyi had the opportunity to ask Takahashi Nan.

"General Takahashi, since this place is rich in gems and the natives are so weak, why don't we just take it over and organize mining ourselves?"

Gao Qiaonan smiled and said, "You are thinking about this idea. We have already thought about it a long time ago! Li Yuande, you tell him why!"

Li Yuande took over the conversation somewhat reluctantly: "Master Dong, it is said that the gem mines are all in the deep mountains and old forests one or two hundred miles away from the port. Not to mention that we can't find the place at all, even if we surrender the natives and let them lead the way to find it, how can we organize mining? Do you have enough manpower? Can you guarantee the local logistics supply? Can you guarantee the personal safety of the miners?"

"If you think you can do all of this, then you might as well think about it again. After all this trouble, will the cost of the gems you mine be cheaper or more expensive than the price we buy from the natives?"