Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1179 French Merchant

"Is Charles I looking for you to borrow money and borrow troops?" The Chinese merchants were a little surprised when Li Jinde mentioned that Charles I wanted to borrow money from them.

"The premise is that he can't handle domestic affairs, and we will be regarded as his retreat, and we can only be regarded as taking what we need." Li Jinde said.

"We directors may be able to decide on borrowing money, but we don't have much money in the West. And borrowing troops is a matter for the Fourth Fleet. The Fourth Fleet is stationed in Portsmouth. If something happens to the British king, the Fourth Fleet will The fleet won't ignore it, right? Have you promised him?" asked the rest of the Huaxia merchants.

"I just vaguely went to reassure him. I think people here respect the king quite a lot. There should be no accidents in the short term. Let's talk about it in a few years. Having said that, we have been here for a while, and most of the goods in the cabin After transporting to the shore, many ships have been vacated. Should we send ships to search for the goods here, and then return to the mainland? On the one hand, we can convey the situation on our side to the mainland government, and on the other hand, we can train our captains and sailors , so that they have the independent ability to travel between East and West."

With the plant established in the City of London and ready to go into production, the directors faced another problem - they needed to consider sending some of the ships back to the mainland.

Empty ships do not produce any benefit if they remain moored in the Thames.

"In my opinion, we should wait until the factory is really up and running before sending ships back to the mainland. During this time, we can send ships to Western countries for trade. After all, it is not easy to travel once. If you don't make any preparations, you will rush to send ships. If the team returns, they may suffer huge losses," said a businessman.

"Will the Western countries allow our merchant ships to enter their ports? Now the Western countries are fighting for their respective sects. If our merchant ships are attacked as enemy ships, our losses will be too unjust." Said another businessman .

"We might as well say hello to businessmen from various countries who are coming to London City first, and see if they are willing to lead us to their countries. If someone leads the way, at least we won't be sunk by their warships." Li Jinde said.

"That's a good idea. As the capital of Britain, the city of London still has many merchant ships sent by Western countries. We will find a way to contact them, and it is best to establish a relationship. It is none of our business to fight with Western countries. , we profit from it as a trader." Several directors agreed unanimously.

In the city of London, there are merchants from the Kingdoms of Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. These are all powerful countries in the European continent, and they export or import goods to Britain.

They were unfamiliar with the Chinese merchants who had suddenly come to London to set up factories and warehouses.Except for the East India Company established by various countries, the vast majority of European merchants have not been to the far east, and they do not know the strength of the Chinese merchants and what kind of transactions they have with the British king.

Li Jinde and others found businessmen from Protestant countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and France in private.

At this time, Europe was divided into two camps, Protestant Sweden, Denmark, and German Protestant princes, and Old Church Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and German Old Church princes.The two camps fought dimly on the European continent, which may be the first all-European war in history.Britain is clearly on the side of Protestantism, so it is closer to Protestant countries.Li Jinde and others also plan to deal with the Protestant countries first, to see if they can say hello to these countries in advance, and the products produced in the future will be sold to them.

Li Jinde and the others dealt with these merchants separately, intending to buy special products from them and then transport the special products back to the mainland.The money to buy special products from Protestant countries came from the money earned from Britain.Merchants make profits through production and resale.

Chu Yun sent the western company's fleet to Europe in order to use trade to open up the diplomatic situation and make arrangements for future generations.

"Do you want to buy a batch of wine worth tens of thousands of pounds? It's a pity that I'm just a cloth merchant in Reims... But aside from other products, our French wine is the best wine in Europe. If you want to buy wine, just find us By the way! I can find a way to help you connect with channels that produce high-quality wine!" A young French businessman was invited by Li Jinde to negotiate privately, and he was very interested in Li Jinde's plan to buy goods in France.

The French merchant Li Jinde found in London City was the son of a cloth merchant who temporarily replaced his father to sell cloth in London City. Li Jinde was a little disappointed at first, but this young man showed a quick mind and insisted on agreeing as a cloth merchant. Come down to help Li Jinde and others buy wine on their behalf.

"We want to send a ship and our merchants to France to check the quality of the purchased goods," Li Jinde said.

The young businessman from France rolled his eyes and said suddenly, "I'm afraid you are not just here to buy wine, but to test our government's attitude towards you, right?"

Li Jinde was even more surprised this time, he didn't expect the French businessman to see through his mind all at once.

This time, the Western trading company is not only to buy wine to fill empty ships back to the mainland, but also to send ships and merchants to the mainland of France. One of the purposes is to investigate the raw materials and commodity markets of France, as well as France's attitude towards their group of uninvited guests. .

"It seems that you are also a wise man. Our fleet came from the far east without any hostility, just to see if the king of your country will keep us out. If it is really unfortunate, then it is a pity that we I can only trade with you in London." Li Jinde admitted generously.

"I don't have any opinion on this. I heard that you have the best silk from the East. I wonder if I can buy a batch of silk from you to bring back to China? I believe you also need a partner in France. I His family is a small cloth merchant, and one of the most famous commodities in the East is silk. I believe we can have good cooperation, not only in the field of silk, but also in wine, pig iron and other commodities.” The French The businessman offered it.

"You are a bit of an interesting person. If this wine purchase order can be successfully completed, I think we can have further cooperation." Li Jinde said.

"You can trust me, Colbert," said the young French merchant.

Colbert, the most trusted finance minister of the future King Louis XIV of France and the de facto prime minister of the Bourbon dynasty, was still a young cloth merchant at this time.

(End of this chapter)