1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 454 Prosperous Han and Dutch trade

December 1642, 12, Batavia.

The armed merchant ship "Melkirk" under the Dutch East India Company slowly sailed into the Batavia Wharf, and a dock manager greeted it with a smile.

"Hey, gentlemen, let me guess where you are from." The port administrator greeted several sailors who disembarked: "Are you from Ambon?"

"Hee hee..." A sailor said with a smile: "Hey, buddy, you guessed wrong. We came from Hanzhou, and we brought a lot of rare things."

"Oh?...Hanzhou!" The dock manager was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Unexpectedly, within a month, two of our merchant ships will return to Batavia from Hanzhou. Now, we The business between the East India Company and Hanzhou is really getting bigger and bigger!"

"Yes, I really didn't realize that that barren Hanzhou can actually produce a lot of goods that our East India Company wants." The sailor nodded and said: "However, similarly, they are very concerned about the grain, Cloth, ship materials, and spices are also not rejected, and they are all purchased."

"Then what commodities did you bring back from Hanzhou this time? What are the rare items you are talking about?" the port administrator asked curiously.

"Mead (cane wine), granulated sugar, metal tools, agricultural tools, canned food, and beautiful cloisonne." The sailor said casually, "Oh, yes, there is also a washing item that can remove body and clothing stains , um, the Hanzhou people call it soap, and the effect is much stronger than the washing products produced in those countries in Europe. Hey, man, they also provide a kind of soap that emits fragrance, um, it is called scented soap. Use it for bathing If you do, your whole body will exude a refreshing fragrance. However, the price is not cheap!"

"I'm a low-level employee of a company. There will be the ability to enjoy the scented... um, soap that you mentioned. It is estimated that those ladies and ladies who love beauty will definitely welcome this kind of product from Hanzhou. No way. Not to mention, Hanzhou people are really good at creating new products.”

The soap these two men were talking about was one of the greatest achievements in the industrialization of Hanzhou Qi State in recent months.Because, Qi's immature coal chemical industry, by chance, used coke to produce an important industrial raw material - ammonia.

After having ammonia, Qi Tian suddenly thought of another chemical raw material - soda, or anhydrous sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash.

Soda ash has a wide range of uses and great effects, no one knows better than Qi Tian.It can be used in the production of glass, such as flat glass, bottle glass, optical glass and high-grade utensils.In the chemical industry, it can be used to prepare sodium salts, metal carbonates, bleaches, fillers, detergents, catalysts and dyes.

Similarly, in the metallurgical industry, it can be used to remove sulfur and phosphorus for mineral processing and the production of copper, lead, nickel, tin, uranium, aluminum and other metals.In the ceramic industry, it is used to make refractory materials and glazes.

In addition, one of the most widely used applications of soda ash is to make soap.

With ammonia, you can use the famous Hou's soda-making method in mainland China to produce a large amount of soda ash. With the soda ash produced on an industrial scale, Hanzhou Qi can use industrial methods to make soap production The cost is reduced to a level that is completely acceptable to ordinary consumers.

You must know that during this period, people removed dirt and stains. Whether it was the Chinese civilization in the East or the European countries in the West, they generally used primitive washing items made of plant ash and animal fat.However, the decontamination ability is relatively poor, and the preparation process is relatively complicated and difficult, and the price is relatively expensive.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, this kind of item that can remove stains is called pancreas. It is an improvement on the previous bath beans. Ingredients such as sugar, lard, pig pancreas, and spices are blended and ground in proportion. And heated and pressed into shape, the lard in this kind of pancreas is partially decomposed into fatty acids by lipase, and then saponified by sodium carbonate into real fatty acid soap, which can be said to be only one step away from modern soap.

The soap and scented soap produced by Hanzhou, because a large amount of cheap soda ash can be obtained through industrial production methods, has made new developments in the production of soap and scented soap. Although strong alkali soap is not suitable for long-term use on human skin, But it can effectively clean stubborn stains on clothes.

Although the production cost of soap and scented soap is very low, the Hanzhou people still packaged these two commodities exquisitely, especially the scented soap, and dressed it up as luxury cosmetics. The price of dong (about 3 cents of silver, 8 Hanzhou silver dollar) is sold with them.

Since the Dutch East India Company fully realized commercial opening in March this year, it has carried out extensive exchanges of goods with Hanzhou, Timor Island, Weiyuan Island and other overseas territories.

Indian medicinal materials, cotton, linen, tung oil, livestock, copper, aluminum, lead and other metal materials; European sails, clocks, and precise measuring instruments; Batavian ship materials, rigging, Ceylon pepper, and Ambon cloves , Nutmeg... Huge amounts of supplies poured into Hanzhou and several overseas territories.

The honey wine, sorghum wine, and canned food produced in Hanzhou, as the best food for ocean-going ships, were purchased in large quantities by the East India Company.At the same time, sugar, cloisonne, steel knives, and woodcarving crafts from Hanzhou were also stockpiled in Batavia as one of the high-priced commodities exported to Europe by the East India Company. Commodities are transported together to the mainland of Europe.

"As of the end of November, the trade volume between our East India Company and Hanzhou reached 85 dong." Fred Upton, senior commercial counselor of the Dutch East India Company, glanced at the property data in his hand, Then he raised his head and smiled and said: "You know, these trade amounts have only been carried out since March. So far, um, it has been nine months. Moreover, according to the transaction statistics of the two parties, Hanzhou The demand for our commodities is very strong, and they can swallow almost any commodity, even those worthless grains, and they will not refuse them."

"As for trade profits, I am very optimistic. The cloisonne and woodcarving crafts produced by Hanzhou can definitely enter the palaces of European royal families. Compared with ordinary cane sugar on the market, their granulated sugar not only looks better, but also has sweetness. Higher, without other odors and impurities. In terms of European pricing, we can set it as three times or five times that of ordinary sucrose.”

"Oh, by the way, their new... soap from Hanzhou, I think it can attract the ladies and young ladies in Europe. It can not only cleanse the skin, but also emit a charming fragrance. I have reason to believe that this kind of product Like perfume, it will occupy the dressing tables of noble ladies and ladies in Europe. In general, the products provided by Hanzhou to the East India Company can not only meet some of our daily production and living needs, but also allow us to sell to European domestic, generating considerable profits."

"On the other hand, in the past nine months, nearly 70.00% of the goods have been transported by the merchant ships of our East India Company. As for the shipping capacity of Hanzhou, it seems that they are more inclined to transport immigrants to Ming Dynasty. Hanzhou local. Here, I am very optimistic. As the population of Hanzhou increases year by year, their demand for goods will continue to increase in the next few years. The annual trade volume of 1 million dong, I think It's very easy."

"Very good!" Cornelis van der Lin, the governor of the East India Company in Batavia, nodded with satisfaction, "As for the business relationship with Hanzhou, I never expected that the trade volume between the two sides would be so explosive. Growth. Hanzhou is not only a trading partner that can provide our East India Company with daily consumer goods, but also a high-quality customer that can continue to provide us with trade profits. What is even more rare is that our East India Company can rely on its superior sea Transportation power, slowly monopolizing, and even controlling their commercial channels and commodity terminals."

"Talking about sea transportation capacity, it suddenly occurred to me that a few days ago, that Han Zhou, oh, it should be Qi, when their representative in Batavia came to visit me, he made a business request." Fred Upton said: "They hope that from December to January next year, they can hire our merchant ships to help them transport immigrants. Well, they will transport immigrants from Ming and Annan to Batavia in advance. And for To save time, they hope that we can help them complete the next stage of immigration transportation. That is, the immigrants transferred to Batavia will be transported to their new township on Timor Island."

"Transportation of immigrants?" Governor Cornelis Van der Lin thought for a while, and then asked, "Why don't they want us to transport their immigrants directly to the mainland of Hanzhou?"

"I guess, they don't want our merchant ships to take the opportunity of transporting immigrants to enter their various strongholds in Hanzhou. They are worried that our East India Company will take the opportunity to investigate the detailed hydrographic geography of Hanzhou and the defense situation of their local strongholds." " Fred Upton said with a smile: "However, I will try my best to convince the Hanzhou people to let our merchant ships enter their Hanzhou mainland as much as possible, especially their relatively mysterious eastern region. Field investigation Fan, the real strength of this country."

"Yes, although we have now achieved peace with the Hanzhou people, and the business and trade exchanges between the two sides are also expanding day by day. However, the warning of the former Governor Mr. Daiman is also very reasonable. Hanzhou may grow into our country in the future. The most powerful competitor of the East India Company. There are some things that we must prepare in advance." Mr. De Lin said solemnly.

(End of this chapter)