1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 434 Guangzhou Event ([-])
On the night of August [-]th, Chen Houwen, the wife and brother of the prefect of Guangzhou, died suddenly in Xiangcui Building. After careful examination of the body, the foreman quietly told the county government to catch the head, saying that the young master who was obsessed with Huajie and Liuxiang probably died of lust. .Many police officers checked the surroundings of Xiangcui Building and checked the Qingguan, Yaojie, and Guigong in the building in detail, but found no evidence that someone had murdered him.

The clean-up man from the prefect's yamen in Guangzhou sighed softly after hearing the report from the arresting head, and ordered the body to be carried back to Chen's house, and then went to report to the prefect.

Tuesday Gui from the Hanzhou Warehouse took a few clerks, holding a three-foot-square mirror, and waited respectfully in the wing room of Chen Houwen's mansion, asking the doorman in the mansion to inform him of his visit, as if he didn't know anything .

"My uncle passed away last night." A butler came to Tuesday Gui with a gloomy face, "Put down the gift, and you can go."

"Huh? Why did Mr. Chen pass away suddenly? We met together last night and discussed several important deals." Tuesday Gui said in surprise.

The butler looked coldly at Tuesday Gui and thought, this businessman probably asked his master for something last night, and he came here early this morning to give gifts.Now that the master's family is dead, these servants may be scattered and leave in a few days.What is the most important thing to talk to him here, go back quickly and see what you can pull from the mansion in your hand.

"Let's go to the magistrate's yamen." Leaving Chen Houwen's mansion, there was an invisible smile on Tuesday Gui's face.

Although it was true, as Cao Song, the director of the Black Guards stationed in Guangzhou, made Chen Houwen's death unnoticed, but in order to clean up the first and last, Tuesday Gui still had to cover up.He simply went directly to the wife of Mr. He Xueyi, the prefect of Guangzhou, and gave her a generous gift in the name of the deceased Chen Houwen's business partner.In addition to disregarding the relationship, I also tried to think about getting a relationship with the prefect of Guangzhou.

The magistrate's wife, who had lost her loved one and was in grief, naturally had no time to see Tuesday Gui, but she gladly accepted the two mirrors, one large and one small, that he sent.The second housekeeper in the mansion sent Tuesday Gui out of the mansion with a smile.He knew that the mirrors sent by the big shopkeeper were very popular with the young masters and young ladies in the family. Although the wife did not see him, she also ordered to greet him nicely.If you have a request that is not embarrassing, you might as well help him.

However, the shopkeeper Zhou was knowledgeable and sensible, and didn't ask for anything. He just expressed his deep condolences for the unfortunate death of his former partner and expressed condolences to the prefect's wife.Before leaving, I also stuffed a few western silver coins with him, and it looked like there were five or six taels of silver.
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Lina Torres Salas stood quietly at a street corner, watching the businessmen coming in and out of the Hanzhou warehouse, and there were several carriages waiting to be loaded outside the door.Four or five fellows carefully held items that were tightly covered by packaging materials with both hands, and gently placed them in the straw-covered carriage.The merchant inspecting the goods cautiously lifted a corner of the thick wrapping paper and inspected it carefully.

Rainer Torres Salas knew that the goods being shipped were mirrors, and they were large mirrors three to five feet square.If it was a year ago, a random mirror with a size of three feet would be worth 3000 taels of silver.But now, it is said that Hanzhou people only sell 500 taels of silver, which is only half of the previous price.

As a businessman from Genoa, Reina Torres Salas knew that these traders from the earliest and most important glass-making area encountered a strong business opponent.Whether it is glass products or mirrors, the super high monopoly trade profits that we had before may no longer exist.

The mirrors and glass products produced in Hanzhou, Rainer Torres Salas has seen with his own eyes a few days ago, in terms of appearance, quality, and clarity, they are no less than the glass produced in Venice product.

He didn't know how Hanzhou obtained this technology that was only circulated in a few countries in Europe, and was able to put so many in the Guangzhou market at one time.This means that he traveled more than half of the world, traveled tens of thousands of miles, and took six months to come to the Ming Dynasty on a Portuguese merchant ship with a small number of mirrors. His wish to make a fortune was completely defeated. up.

Although, by selling the mirrors and glass products in his hands at the price of the Hanzhou people, he can also get nearly four or five times the profit.However, his initial expectation was to get more than ten times the profit!

It was originally planned to sell the batch of mirrors and glass products in this hand, and then purchase a batch of porcelain and silk from the Ming Dynasty to return to Europe.In addition to repaying his heavy debts, the trade income from one round to another may also be able to buy a "big belly" merchant ship produced by the Dutch, hire a captain, and travel around the Mediterranean trade, making himself overwhelmed. live a life of abundance.

Lena Torres Salas shook his head with a wry smile. If he didn't want to smash the mirror in his hand, he could only sell it at the price of Hanzhou people.Of course, he can also spend more time, or take a little risk, go to the north of the country and the inland areas, and maybe he can sell it for ten times the profit.

But he had heard reports of horrific civilian uprisings in the north and interior of the country, frequently fighting government troops.As a foreigner from Europe, he rashly went to an area with an unknown environment, he was easily affected by the war, and he might lose his life.

It seems that this world is really big, full of all kinds of contingencies and surprises, probably because of my bad luck.I have heard countless times that businessmen from a certain country transported a batch of Venetian glass products to the East, and then purchased a batch of exquisite Oriental porcelain and silk to return to Europe, and then suddenly became rich.But when it was my turn to do this thing again, everything changed, and the world changed, nothing more than this.

"Hey, you people, what are you doing here sneakily? Don't you want to do something wrong and step on the spot in advance?" A loud shout suddenly came from behind Lena Torres Salas.

Lena Torres Salas was taken aback and looked back abruptly.He saw two Ming people glaring at him behind him, and one of them was holding a wooden stick as thick as a wrist and arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just came to see." Lena Torres Salas said in a panic: "I really just came to see, no malice. ... Oh, God, you can't understand me."

Cao Song looked at the fan in front of him, explained something to himself with a look of panic, and kept gesticulating with his hands, so he couldn't help but look at each other with his companion.Looking at it, this fan doesn't seem like a villain, maybe he just came to watch the excitement.

"Take it back for interrogation!" Because it was only a few days ago that the wife and brother of the prefect of Guangzhou were killed secretly.A foreigner suddenly appeared outside the Hanzhou warehouse, and Cao Song couldn't help but have a different association.

The poor Mr. Salas from Genoa still tried to explain that he is not a bad person, just out of curiosity about the Hanzhou Warehouse that can provide a lot of glass mirrors, but he was still gagged by Cao Song and others He headed for the warehouse.

In the evening, after a few interpreters were invited, everyone figured out the origin of the person who was peeping at Hanzhou's warehouse. It turned out to be a fellow who sold glass mirrors, and came to investigate why there were so many glass products in Hanzhou.Moreover, apart from being a sea trader, this fan was actually a cotton cloth factory owner in that place in Renaja.

If this fan was just an ordinary cotton factory owner, the people at the Hanzhou Warehouse might just let him go.But this fanman boasted about his former cotton cloth factory, saying that his cotton cloth factory mainly produced a kind of twill denim, and he was very familiar with controlling the entire process. As ship canvas, I have supplied a lot for Spanish warships.

When Cao Song heard this, he and Tuesday Gui looked at each other and smiled, and immediately decided to detain this fan and send him to Hanzhou.As we all know, Hanzhou is building a large number of ships, because it occupies almost the entire Weiyuan Island and most of Timor Island, and there is no shortage of timber.However, some ship materials such as canvas, rigging and other auxiliary materials are not produced enough and need to be purchased from Batavia.

A few years ago, Hanzhou was trying every means to dig out sail craftsmen from Daming and Batavia in order to achieve self-sufficiency in sails.The sailcloth of Hanzhou used to be hoarded in large quantities before the outbreak of the Han-Dutch War. Later, after the outbreak of the war, most of the sails were made of a mixture of ordinary cotton and linen produced locally.

However, not to mention that its manufacturing cost is much higher, even in the process of daily use, there are also quality problems. In a slightly larger storm, if the sails are not lowered in time, the sails are almost completely destroyed.Therefore, ships in Hanzhou are usually equipped with several sets of sails so that they can be replaced in time when they are damaged.

Since this fan said that his former cotton factory could produce strong and durable sails, and that he had supplied goods to the powerful Spanish Navy, it means that the cotton production technology he mastered is probably the sails used by major Western merchant ships. .

"I know you Hanzhou." When Lina Torres Salas heard these Hanzhou people with faces of the Ming Dynasty say that they would bring him to the mainland of Hanzhou and help them build a sail cotton factory, his face became very pale. Ugly, "You have fought the Dutch East India Company for more than three years, and you have even tied them. But, you can't just kidnap me to Hanzhou, this is an act of robbery!"

"We will give you money, gold, or silver." Tuesday Gui said with a smile: "As long as you come to Hanzhou and help us build a boat canvas factory, our king will definitely reward you heavily. Believe me, it is a A very lucrative reward."

"...Can I buy a merchant ship?" Lina Torres Salas was a little tempted.

"I can give you one!" Cao Song said.As a black-clothed guard who just came from Hanzhou, he knew that Qitian and Ludwild's butler had made a very large technology introduction transaction, with a total amount of more than 30 taels of silver.The mirrors shipped from Hanzhou this time are made by Jianye Liuli Factory after getting several European craftsmen to improve some of the crafts and processes, and almost made glass mirrors that are almost the same as those produced in Venice.

If this Fanren was abducted to the mainland of Hanzhou to produce that kind of durable sailcloth, presumably Qi Tian would reward him generously.

"You...you won't kill me in the end, will you?" Lena Torres Salas asked carefully.If a powerful local kingdom captures a European businessman with a professional technical background, will it kill him directly in order to avoid the huge reward that will be paid after robbing him of everything in his mind?

After listening to the words translated by the interpreter, Cao Song couldn't help laughing, patted the fan on the shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, my king is a very enlightened king, and he won't kill innocent people indiscriminately, especially if he has a good skill." The craftsman and... that expert."

"How long will you keep me?" Lena Torres Salas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just build a good factory and produce qualified sailcloth. Then, you can get the reward you want, return to your hometown, and live a rich life from now on!"

"Is there a shortage of this kind of cotton cloth that can be used as sails in Hanzhou?"

"Otherwise, why do we insist on inviting you to Hanzhou?"

"Then if I build a factory, can I take part of the shares with my professional skills?"

"Shares?" Gui Gui and Cao Song looked at each other on Tuesday. This Westerner had a good plan.However, the two of them have nothing to say about whether they will be given shares or not. They have to go back to Hanzhou and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will make a decision.

Tuesday Gui and Cao Song decided to bring it to Hanzhou simply because the Genoese, Lena Torres Salas, would manufacture a denim cloth that could be used for sails.If Qi Tian could see the cotton cloth mentioned by this Western fan, he would exclaim in surprise, isn't this the denim cloth that is quite popular in later generations!

The current jeans, known in English as "Jeans", were first recorded in 1567 as the name of the trousers worn by merchant sailors from the Italian port city of Genoa (Genoa), namely "Genoese".During the gold rush in the United States in the mid-19th century, the first batch of immigrants who came to the continental United States to seek gold worked hard.Intense labor makes clothes wear and tear very easily, so people are eager to find clothes that will last.At that time, when some factories produced work pants with canvas from Genoa, Italy, they called the canvas Genoese, which means "Genoese".

Denim, that is, twill denim, is a kind of thicker yarn-dyed warp-face twill, the warp yarn is dark in color, generally indigo blue, and the weft yarn is light in color, generally light gray or boiled white yarn. It is called indigo denim.

In the 16th to 18th centuries, this denim was one of the most important raw materials for sails.If Hanzhou can successfully introduce this kind of cotton production technology and build a factory to produce it, it will get rid of the supply to Batavia and even India, and realize complete self-sufficiency in sails.

(End of this chapter)