Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 146 Portuguese Expectations

May 1630, 5, Trench Mirror.

In the past half month, the entire Haojing City has been filled with a thick atmosphere of sadness, and many traders have a hint of inexplicable anxiety on their faces.

News came from Japan that the Tokugawa shogunate once again rejected the Portuguese trade application and reiterated the temporary trade ban on them. All Portuguese merchant ships would not be allowed to enter Nagasaki.

Otherwise, the ships and personnel would be seized by the Japanese shogunate.

The Portuguese did not expect that the Japanese shogunate's revenge would come so quickly and with such a firm attitude, which caught all Portuguese merchants off guard.

Two years earlier (1628), in the waters of Siam, the red seal ship led by Nagasaki Town Toyori Takagi Sakuemon was sunk by the Spanish.

The attack on the red seal ship represented a serious damage to the authority of the red seal ship and the general's "military power".

In this case, revenge must be taken.

However, the Spaniards were too far away to be attacked, so they could only find someone else to vent their anger on.

As a common ally of Spain, Portugal was naturally targeted by the shogunate.

In July of the previous year (1629), the shogunate seized two Portuguese merchant ships that arrived in Nagasaki, imprisoned all the sailors, and confiscated their cargoes as the price for the sinking of the Japanese red seal ships.

Although the Portuguese colonial authorities sent envoys to Edo to appeal and explain, they repeatedly stated that the actions of the Spanish had nothing to do with them, the Portuguese.

Although the two countries were under the rule of the same king, the Portuguese enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, especially in the East, and were not subject to the jurisdiction and constraints of the Kingdom of Spain.

This was purely a unilateral act of the Spanish, in retaliation for the shogunate authorities expelling all Spanish merchants and missionaries several years ago.

As Japan's long-term trading partner, the Portuguese have always shown the utmost respect to the shogunate and strictly abided by the many missionary bans issued by the shogunate (but in fact many Portuguese missionaries still sneaked into Japan).

However, the shogunate, enraged and humiliated, did not accept the Portuguese's appeal and brutally expelled the visiting envoys.

Just when the Portuguese were frustrated, in October of that year, the shogunate banned trade with the Dutch East India Company.

Because the Dutch built Fort Zeelandia in the southern part of Formosa Island and imposed taxes on the red seal ships that had previously used the port to trade with the Ming Dynasty, this also triggered the Hamada Yahei Incident, which made the Tokugawa shogunate extremely angry. It then closed the Dutch East India Company's trading post in Hirado, imprisoned all the captured Dutch, and temporarily cut off their trade.

After hearing this news, the Portuguese people's anger and frustration calmed down a little.

Well, if I’m not having a good time, you Dutch people won’t have an easy time either!

However, this does not seem to have brought any improvement to the deadlocked Portugal-Japan relations.

Because the merchants of the Ming Dynasty can completely replace the Dutch and the Portuguese.

If the Japanese shogunate insisted on classifying the Portuguese as part of the Spanish group and hated all of them, the temporary trade interruption might turn into a permanent ban.

This is nothing short of a huge disaster for Haojing.

You know, the Japanese market is definitely the most profitable market for the Portuguese.

If the Portuguese were subject to a permanent trade ban by the Japanese shogunate, where would they be able to earn large amounts of silver?

Without silver, why would the merchants of the Ming Dynasty sell goods to you?
At the same time, bad news came from the Spanish Philippines, the main source of silver.

In order to suppress the Portuguese commercial advantages, the Manila colonial authorities also issued a decree at the end of last year, revoking the Portuguese merchants' right to reside long-term in Manila and imposing many restrictions on their leasing or purchasing local houses (a move that Spain believed was intended to be developed into storage facilities in order to achieve the purpose of hoarding goods).

Perhaps to balance the power of Ming merchants, the Spanish did not go too far and continued to allow Portuguese merchants to trade in Manila. However, these restrictions greatly weakened the Portuguese's trade influence in Manila and made them feel a sense of discrimination and humiliation.

As the eldest brother, you shouldn't do this!

In addition, the blockade and attacks launched by the Dutch on Portuguese forces in the East Indies made the situation even worse for the Portuguese, putting them in an extremely difficult situation.

"In the past year, Haojing seems to have become increasingly depressed and deserted." Trader Martin Andel Barrenechea stood on the balcony on the second floor of the trading house, looking at the sparse pedestrians on the street below, and said quietly.

"Yes, when the Ming merchants saw that we did not have enough silver to buy their goods, they left Haojing and returned to Guangzhou." Diogo de Chavez sighed when he heard this.

"Mr. Chavez..." Barrenechea decided not to beat around the bush and stared at him intently. "I heard you secured a pretty profitable business last year, didn't you?"

"Well, my dear Martin, I have had a good deal of business last year. What is it you are asking about?"

"Helping a group of Chinese people transport immigrants to the New Continent." Barrenechea licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with passion. "It's said that one trip could yield tens of thousands of taels of silver in profit. Given the current deteriorating trade situation, could you introduce this business to us? Of course, we'll both pay you a satisfactory commission."

"Oh?" Shavis glanced at his companions and couldn't help but laugh. "You guys want to get involved in this business too? You know, this business isn't as lucrative as you might think. It's nothing like the Japanese market, where you can do round-trip trade and make a ton of money. The return trip is likely to be empty."

"Although one-way trade has lower profits, there's always some profit to be made!" trader Jon Maguna Zelea said with a smile. "The Japanese government has imposed a trade embargo on us, the Spanish in Manila have imposed numerous restrictions, and Malacca is under a Dutch blockade. This has left us with almost no business, and we can only struggle to survive in the treasury."

"If there is an opportunity to join the Chinese people's immigration business in the New Continent, it will at least help us get rid of our current predicament."

"So, do you know where the New Continent is?"

"It should be the American continent."

"Yes, it's the American continent." Shavis nodded and said, "A group of Chinese people have established a colony in an unknown part of America. They need a large number of Ming immigrants to go there to cultivate and develop the land. However, transporting Ming immigrants to America requires crossing the vast Pacific Ocean, and the round trip takes more than eight months."

"So, this business isn't easy to do, and the profits aren't as high as we might imagine. Those Chinese probably don't have anything particularly valuable that we can bring back to Ming to sell on our return trip. ...Are you sure you want to participate in this trade?"

"Just now, Jon said that as long as there's money to be made, there's no harm in doing it. After all, this business doesn't require us to spend too much. Anyway, our ship is idle, so we have to use it, right?"

"So, gentlemen, how many boats can you provide?" Shavis nodded and asked softly.

"We can provide at least three ships," Barrenechea said, raising his eyebrows. "If the Chinese need us, we can spare two or three more. We don't know when the Japanese government will lift the trade ban on us Portuguese. Instead of waiting in vain, why not start with you and do some immigration transportation business?"

"So, we might provide three to five ships, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, since you're interested in this business, I will have serious communication and coordination with the Chinese," Shavis said solemnly. "However, I need to remind you that since we're providing a large number of ships this time and we're actively seeking their cooperation, there's a high probability that they'll lower the price, resulting in a slightly lower freight rate than last year."

"So, you have to be mentally prepared."

"Not really? If we form a unified stance, we should be able to force them to continue to follow last year's prices." Someone cast a suspicious look at Shavis.

You won't make a profit from the difference between the two prices!

"Gentlemen, we're not without competition when it comes to contracting this Chinese business," Shavis said, scornfully looking at the man. "It's said that Mr. Meng, the Chinese representative, is currently contacting various Ming merchants in Guangzhou, hoping to negotiate immigration and material transportation deals with them."

"So, we'd better lower our expectations a little bit."

(End of this chapter)