The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 196 Colonel Pirot

In 1628, the Dutch promised the Ming government to help attack Zheng Zhilong, but they were defeated by Zheng Zhilong in Xiamen. In the same year, Zheng Zhilong killed his opponent Xu Xinsu (also a partner of the Dutch). The Dutch saw that they had no choice but to try to cooperate with Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong returned the captives, ships, and helped the Dutch buy and sell silk. The Dutch reciprocated. Last year, that is, in 1629, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhilong wiped out another group of pirates, Li Kuiqi.

Now Zheng Zhilong has no opponents nearby, and his power is getting stronger and stronger, which also laid the foundation for victory against the Dutch three years later.

The ship belonged to the Dutch East India Company, and on board was Colonel Pirot, a young naval officer.

Yesterday he wanted to see Tomita Takawa, wanted to sell a batch of goods to the Japanese shogunate, and bought a batch of Japanese specialties by the way.

He heard from a businessman from the Ming Dynasty that if he wanted to see Takato Tomita, he would have to line up and give gifts.

People in the Ming Dynasty gave silver directly, small boats gave ten taels, 20 taels, and large ships gave 100 taels, 200 taels.

Pirut looked down on people from the Ming Dynasty, and he was not going to send cash, so he brought a telescope and a beautiful Dutch painting.

As a result, he was kicked out before seeing Tomita Takawa.

What a joke, ever since Ding Yi opened the door to a new world for Futian Takahe, who still cares about those tens of hundreds of taels of silver.

Tomita Takawa is still closed for ten days, which makes Pilut depressed.

He wanted to sell the goods to the shogunate, because he could sell them at a high price, and it would not be worthwhile to sell them to Ming merchants. First, Ming merchants are very treacherous. Secondly, if he wanted to sell, he didn’t need to go to Japan. He had already sold it in Guangzhou, Fujian. .

So these days he is at the pier and on the boat, trying to chat with the spokespersons of other Japanese daimyo lords.

Contacted a few yesterday afternoon, but either he was not satisfied with the bid, or it was difficult to get the goods he wanted.

But early this morning, when he just got up from the boat, a guard reported that Ding Yi, a businessman from the Ming Dynasty, begged to see him.

Pilut hesitated, then nodded. Soon, he walked out of the cabin and saw Ding Yi, Ruan Siqing and others on the deck, as well as a European, which made him very surprised.

Pilut called the translator.

Ding Yi, Xi Laojing, Ruan Siqing and others took the opportunity to look at the Dutch warship.

This Dutch warship is probably about the same as a merchant ship with a thousand materials, so it can be regarded as a medium-to-large warship.

There are so many cannons on it, everyone looking at each other looked at each other in blank dismay, after all, in the navy of the Ming army, there were not so many cannons seen on several ships.

The ones used by the Dutch sergeants on board were a bit like Lumi guns, and they were also a kind of matchlock guns. Ding Yi estimated that they were not equipped with flintlock guns yet.

After all, in this era, the ignition rate and hit rate of flintlock guns are both problems, and they have not yet been widely popularized.

Seeing them looking at the cannon, Pilut looked complacent and a little proud.

Soon, the translator on board came to the scene.

The two sides introduced themselves. Ding Yi knew that most foreign businessmen value credit, so he did not misrepresent their names, but he claimed to be a big merchant in Liaodong, traveled all over the world, and had a lot of ships and money.

Brag, Pilut knows that businessmen from the Ming Dynasty like to brag, and he doesn't mind. He just wants to know what the other party has and what he needs.

But when he looked behind Ding Yi, the guards seemed to be very elite, like professional soldiers.

Ding Yi thought for a while, then slowly said: "I heard that Colonel Pilut brought a lot of sugar and silk, and wanted to exchange Japanese knives and handicrafts, silver ornaments, folding fans, etc."

"En." Of course Pirut wanted silver more, but Japanese knives and silver ornaments and other works of art could also be sold at a good price in the Ming Dynasty.

If it is shipped to Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia and other places, the price will be higher.

"How much did Mr. Pilut bring? What price do you want to sell?" Ding Yi asked again.

Pilut thought for a while, then said, he came with two ships, a warship and a merchant ship, and brought two cargoes.

Among them, [-] catties of silk, [-] catties of sugar (mostly high-quality white sugar), and a small amount of Dutch specialties including cheese.

He mainly sells sugar, which must have been produced by the East India Company itself. The silk was bought in the Ming Dynasty, and what this guy bought was more expensive than what Ding Yi bought.

According to his idea, he wanted to sell silk at 300 taels per hundred catties, and sugar at 16 taels per hundred catties.

The two discounts are 3.1 taels, plus cheese and other Dutch wooden specialties, and they can be sold for 3.2 taels.

When Ding Yi heard it, he felt that the price he sold was not very expensive.

He also brought a small amount of sugar, and the shogunate charged him 15 taels per hundred catties.

Of course, he also gave the profit to Tomita, so it is estimated that he only got 12 taels.

But the bulk of his money is silk, and sugar is used for embellishment.

In addition, Pilut wants to buy [-] Japanese knives.

Japanese knives used to be calculated by Japanese copper coins in Japan, and domestic people bought about [-] Wen copper coins. Later, when they were exported, they found that it was not worthwhile, and the big money was made by merchants in Ming Dynasty.

Right now, Japanese knives are all unified by the shogunate, or the rich merchants are designated to gather together and handed over to the shogunate to sell together, and the settlement is in silver instead of copper coins.

When foreign businessmen come to Japan to pick up knives, the uniform price is 5 taels to 7 taels (varies according to the production season and the number of exports), and the basic maintenance is around 5 to 6 taels.

After Ming merchants get the knife and return to their country, they can probably sell it for 14-18 taels, two to three times the profit. The more developed the place, the more expensive it will be.

Because Tomita Takawa didn't have so much money to give Ding Yi, so this time he wanted to sell Ding Yi 25 knives, calculated on the basis of five taels, with a discount of [-] taels.

You must know that the shogunate is very happy to sell knives. When they went to the Ming Dynasty to ship Zhuyin ships, they often shipped 20 to [-] to the Ming Dynasty.

Because there are four or five times the profit.

It is roughly equivalent to one tael in Japan. They are collected by the shogunate and are not allowed to be sold privately, and then sold to foreign businessmen for more than five taels, and they can earn five times the net profit.

At first, Tomita Takawa wanted to sell [-] knives to Ding Yi, but Ding Yi immediately refused. How long will it take to sell so many knives?
So Ding Yi now has a lot of knives in his hands, and plans to give [-] to Pilut.

Ding Yi offered 5 taels for 1.5 knives, and the total price was [-] taels.

Pilut readily agreed, because the price offered by Ding Yi was not expensive.

There are many merchants in this season, and Japanese knives are also expensive, and Tomita Takawa sold 6 taels yesterday.

There are also folding fans and handicrafts. Ding Yi took over a lot from Tomita Kiwa, and he also sold 1.7 taels of goods to Pilut at a price slightly lower than the market price.

When Pilut heard the number, it was exactly 3.2 taels. Did Ding Yi think that all my goods had been received?
Bartering is also good, if he goes back to the Ming Dynasty, he can earn at least one to two times, and it will be even more profitable to ship it back to the Netherlands.

After Ding Yi finished talking with him, he finally nodded: "That's right, let's barter, and give me all your goods."

Anyway, he planned to resell it to the shogunate.

Pirot was overjoyed.

Before he could speak, Ding Yi said again: "I'll add another 3000 taels of cash to buy three 12-pound cannons and three binoculars on your ship."

"..." Pilut stared at him dumbfounded.

After co-authoring for a long time, Ding Yi was looking at his naval gun.

Pilut stared at Ding Yi for a long time, and felt that Ding Yi was not like a pirate. Ding Yi spoke in a gentle and gentle manner. After Ding Yi arrived, the guards behind him stood still, like sculptures, and they were worse than the navy soldiers on his ship. elite.

This must be the local military leader of the Ming Dynasty.

The Dutch used to sell guns, but only those that were eliminated. Of course, the guns on the ship could not be sold.

Pilut hardly thought about it, and immediately shook his head: "These guns belong to the company, I can't sell them, and I can give you three telescopes."

Moreover, Ding Yi's bid was too low. A 12-pound cannon would cost at least [-], right?he thought.

"The weather is hot right now, and it's almost July, and the sugar is on the ship. It won't last long. Colonel Pilut, if you don't ship it, you will lose more than 3000 taels." Ding Yi said calmly.

"..." Pilut was quite speechless.

He has been in a hurry to find a merchant these two days, but the sugar cannot be stored for long.

Pilut shook his head and walked a few steps left and right, feeling very tangled in his heart.

To tell you the truth, some famous Japanese merchants were also willing to buy his goods, but they couldn't give three thousand knives, only two thousand, and the price was more than six taels.

So Pirot is very tangled.

He didn't understand why Ding Yi had so many knives, unless it was from the shogunate.

But right now, he can't control so much, he just wants to ship the goods quickly, and can't let the sugar be ruined in his hands.

"This is our first time doing business. To show my sincerity, I am willing to add another 500 taels." Ding Yi said again at this time.

He bought the gun purely because he wanted to learn, and took it back to study.

After all, his craftsmen can already make cannons.

Pilut walked back and forth a few more steps, and finally stomped his feet: "I can only sell you one, 1000 taels."

"Deal." Ding Yi smiled.

(End of this chapter)