The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 869 New Trade Routes in Europe
On November 8th, two merchant ships from Europe slowly sailed into the Strait of Malacca. These were two ships from the Republic of Venice. At this time, Venice did not belong to Italy. In the 15th century, Venice gained autonomy. Because of its special geographical location, it could control trade routes and become very rich. It began to expand towards the Adriatic Sea, and once ruled many islands in the Aegean Sea. After the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the [-]th century, it gradually declined.

Venetian merchants like to come here to buy spices, at least ten times the profit after returning, and because of their special geographical environment, merchants from all over Europe will gather in Venice.

At this time, the merchant Usos on one of the larger ships was looking around strangely.

They came from Europe, had just entered the entrance of Malacca, and were heading for the city of Malacca, looking at the northern shore with binoculars from time to time.

The Dutch controlled the trading port of Malacca City and used it to monopolize spices.

Usos' ship was approaching the city of Malacca, and suddenly a large black mass appeared in the telescope.

Taking a closer look, hiss, Usos gasped: "Why are there so many merchant ships? Oh, no, are they warships?"

"Has there been a war here recently?"

It took him several months to come from Europe, and Hong Xu happened to attack here on the way, so he didn't know the news at all.

Colleagues around also raised their binoculars to look: "Is this a warship from Aceh?"

"No, no, Aceh doesn't have such a big boat, like the Dutchman's boat."

"It's not Dutch, and the color and shape of the boat are different. Damn it, should we turn around?"

U-turn?Usos thought to himself that he was almost out of food and water, and now he had to find a place to replenish fresh water and food.

When they came, they brought plenty of water and food, but they encountered a strong wind and were blown away for a while. Now they have to find a place to land.

As their boat got closer, the boat on the opposite side got bigger and bigger, and it became more and more terrifying.

"My God, so many warships, so many big guns?" Someone exclaimed.

Even in Europe, it is impossible to see so many warships and guns.

Today is the day when some warships will evacuate back to Annan, and a large number of soldiers and warships will leave, so they are gathering.

Usos and the others were very scared, but there was nothing they could do. It was impossible to escape now, but they could also see that the other side seemed to ignore them, and almost no one cared about them, and there was a boat in front of them. After landing, flags were raised one after another, and a boat in the middle began to move to make way for the passage.

"Get out of the way, let's go up." Everyone was overjoyed, it seemed that these warships were not malicious.

Soon, their two ships sailed into countless warships, and the two sides could see each other from the bow of the ship.

They saw a lot of elite soldiers and horses on the opposite side, all of them were troops, densely packed with figures.

Many people were chatting and laughing, with smiles on their faces, and no one paid any attention to them. Occasionally, someone would glance at them and turn their heads quickly.

In order to make money and run safely in the sea, Ursos decided that these two ships were already relatively large, equivalent to a large ship with [-] materials.

But when I came in, I found that the ships around were no smaller than them, and there were many third-tier battleships like the Dutch, with many cannons.

"The Dutch are finished, is this a new force coming over?" Someone exclaimed.

"If it is true, this is not good news." Usos murmured.

Their boat docked quickly, and sure enough, the people on the shore had changed, all of them were Orientals holding muskets.

At this time, they were sure that they were orientals, from the mysterious and distant east, and he couldn't imagine how these orientals got here.

But looking at the fleet in the east, he could feel fear in his heart.

What's more terrible is that the port is full of human heads, and at least thousands of people are building new forts.

These people are all original aborigines, and there are even Dutch people in it.

"They're expanding the port, building new forts, God, you see, a lot of forts—what are they trying to do?"

As an important port city, Malacca City, Yuan Youcai has already ordered the construction of forts around the city, starting from Malacca City, and then all the way along the coast. Forts should be built in all areas that can be landed.

After the people of Usos officially landed, soldiers came over immediately, followed by local aboriginals who were similar to translators.

Ursos immediately recognized that this was the translator of the former port, the local Herus.

"Ursos."

"Herus, my good friend." Ursos greeted him with a friendly smile.

He has a lot to ask, but he doesn't know how to speak.

But Helusi has already introduced him: "Let me introduce to you, this is General Song of the Imperial Navy."

In fact, Song Shuanghu was just an ordinary captain who was in charge of guarding the port, but according to Herus, he became a general.

Of course Song Shuanghu couldn't understand what they said, he looked at Ursos: "Pay taxes."

Horus hurriedly said to Ursos.

How much did Uthos ask?

Song Shuanghu said that based on the size of the ship, you are paying two thousand taels of silver, or the equivalent gold coins, for each ship.

2000 taels, Usos almost jumped up when he heard it, and each ship paid 2000 taels.

So dark, darker than the Dutch.

The Dutch charge a maximum of 500 taels, which is quadrupled by Dagan people.

Horus explained to him at this time: "General Song said that after you pay the tax, you will be able to travel freely. Even if you go to Dayuan, to Luzon, to Dagan Quanzhou, or to Japan, you don't have to pay again."

Damn it, Ursos said, I only buy spices, I don’t know where the big officials are in Luzon, as for Dongfang Dagan, it’s too far away, I don’t want to go at all.

What did Song Shuanghu say again? Herus smiled wryly: "General Song said that if silk from Luzon is shipped to Europe, the profit will be at least twenty times one."

"If you go late, Luzon is out of stock, and you have to go to Dayuan and Dagan."

"There are still a lot of iron pots over there, all of which are more than ten times the profit."

Uh, Ursos' complexion changed slightly.

Of course, he knew about silk. Oriental silk has always been expensive in Europe, and silk from Luzon to Mexico has dozens of times the profit, which is unimaginable.

In the past few years, as Ding Yi established iron pot factories in Dayuan and Fujian and Guangdong to increase the production of iron pots, Dongfang's iron pots have also completely opened up their sales in Europe.

These are all valuable things, but they are too far away. Usos is used to running the current route, and never thought of going to the east.

At this moment, the people around him whispered: "These things are easier to preserve than spices."

The peers heard about silk, which is a good thing that has a chance of selling fifteen times, or even twenty times, in Europe.

Because silk and iron pots are easier to preserve at sea than spices.

Usos thought for a while, what to buy will be discussed later, and the tax rate must be settled first.

He gently pulled Song Shuanghu, Song Shuanghu was puzzled.

He pulled Song Shuanghu to the side, pattered, and handed over a bag, stuffing it in Song Shuanghu's hand.

Song Shuanghu opened it in front of him, and there were more than a dozen golden coins inside.

Ursos had tried this trick before, and the rulers of the Netherlands liked it.

But Song Shuanghu looked back at Helusi: "Tell him, this is the first time I saw him, and I am willing to give him a chance. Next time, if I bribe the sergeant again, I will beheaded."

Herus repeated it with a changed face.

Hiss, Urso's face turned black suddenly, the soldiers who are doing it are not greedy?
This is a terrible empire.

Compared with the massive warships and countless soldiers and horses, this was what shocked him the most.

Song Shuanghu threw the bag to him and asked him again, do you pay taxes?

If you don't pay taxes, you will encounter a large number of warships at any time along the way. If you don't have a tax flag, you will inevitably be sunk.

Ursos thought about it and finally decided to pay the tax.

But it would be more troublesome to pay taxes than when the Dutch were there.

Ursos mainly brought French gold coins and silver coins, British gold coins and silver coins, as well as a small amount of Dutch gold coins, Spanish silver pesos, etc.

The Spanish silver peso is very easy to convert, and it is [-]:[-] to Daqian silver (not silver coins). This is recognized in Luzon and Asia, and has been converted for many years.

But Ursos did not bring so many silver pesos.

He has the louis, the gold coin of France, the gold coin of England, the royal rose.

Louis in France == 12 Foer (silver coins, also known as francs).

One royal rose in England == two pounds = forty shillings.

European countries are basically interchangeable at this time, like pistol, which is about four or five royal roses.

Of course, different generations of kings and emperors in Europe made different coins, and countries also minted coins. The fineness of various coins was unstable, so the exchange rate also fluctuated. Swap is a matter of exchanging more for less.

But how to exchange with Dagan's silver now?
Song Shuanghu also had a headache, and finally decided to use the calculation of Spanish silver pesos to convert.

There are several kinds of Spanish gold coins, which are called Doblon, Escudo, and Bazi gold coins according to their face value.
One doblon = eight escudos.

One escudo = eight gold coins.

Song Shuanghu also had a headache when he saw this, why is it all eight changes?Isn't it the commonly used ten-for-one system?Spanish people are really strange.

Then one horoscope gold coin = 8 riyals.

Rials are silver coins.

One peso = one rial.

In this way, 64 pesos is equivalent to one escudo gold coin, which is roughly equivalent to nine taels of silver.

And one escudo can now be exchanged for louis or five royal roses.

After Song Shuanghu heard it, he waved his hands in a calm manner: "It's better to exchange one escudo gold coin for ten taels of silver."

For 2000 taels of silver, you can give us two hundred louis, or a thousand royal roses.

Usos was overjoyed when he heard that, Dagan is so easy to talk?But using nine to convert is really troublesome.

Inexhaustible.

Ussos happily handed over two hundred louis.

After thinking about it, maybe I wanted to make a good impression, so I paid two more royal roses.

At that time, Usos still felt that he was making a lot of money, but after he was lucky enough to get a large amount of silver coins later, he found that the so-called ten-yuan silver coins didn't even have a tael of silver in them, and he immediately screamed blood loss.

But the purchasing power of this silver coin is indeed ten taels of silver, and Ursos can't say anything.

People take his Louis and royal roses, the color inside is not all gold, of course, Europeans are not as cheap as Ding Yi.

For example, among the silver coins of the British, there is a kind called 'Staling', also known as [-] silver.

That is, the purity of a pound of silver coins is 920% silver and 75% brass.

Like Ding Yi, in a pound of silver coins, 75% is silver and 920% is brass.

Besides, Ursos was still a little upset after paying such a high tax. After taking the tax flag, he decided to observe the Orientals on the shore.

Now decided to stay in Malacca city for one night.

There are many troops stationed in the city of Malacca, and the troops have not been completely withdrawn, and many soldiers are shopping on the streets.

He saw that the soldiers in Dagan were very elite and well-disciplined. Even when they were shopping on the street, they were very quiet and would not make noise.

Such an army is even more terrifying, and such an empire is even more terrifying.

Ursos suddenly wondered what would happen if such an army reached Europe?
Is there a country in Europe that can resist it?
Perhaps only all European countries can unite to resist.

The next day they went to see the spices and found that the price of the spices hadn’t changed much. It was a little higher than before, which is normal, because the price fluctuates from time to time with the season and production. range.

Of course, Ursos is very experienced. He only buys cloves and cardamom, laksa leaves, and pepper in Malacca.

Curry leaves, nutmeg, and cinnamon can be bought on special islands, which are cheaper.

Usos left a boat in Malacca City, and set off the next day to buy nutmeg from the Banda Islands. This is the main producing area of ​​nutmeg in Southeast Asia. The place with the most production and the cheapest price.

But when their boat approached, they found that there was actually a large army on it, and there were also large warships nearby.

After waiting up, the other party checked his tax flag first, and then let him go.

He found the locals and found that the price of nutmeg was exactly the same as that in Malacca.

Damn, the Orientals controlled the price, damn, Ursos was in a hurry, and hurried north to the Moluccas, the Moluccas were just above the Banda Islands, just north.

Sure enough, in the past, they encountered the Eastern Army again.

The price is also the same as Malacca city.

The other party also kindly told him that you don’t have to travel so far in the future, you can just buy it directly in Malacca City. You must know that it takes more than half a month to come from Malacca City. One round trip takes more than a month. We are also saving time for you.

"..." Usos was speechless.

Gritting his teeth, he expressed his heartfelt "thank you" to the Dagan people. 'Thank you' Ganren for understanding their voyage, and by the way, he greeted the whole family of Emperor Daqian in his heart.

At this time, he was only ten days away from Luzon in the north. After much deliberation, Usos decided to go to Luzon because he didn't want to return to Malacca with an empty boat.

The prosperity of Luzon is far beyond his imagination. The silk, iron pots and coffee here have opened a new magic box for him to make money. However, the other party also said that this place may become a military port in the future. staff purchases.

On the way back, he took a boatload of spices and a boatload of iron pots with silk and coffee.

He also brought back the power and fear of Dagan to Europe, and also brought back new trade routes.

(End of this chapter)