Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 70 The Portuguese Who Know How to Do Business

"...In fact, in the trade between Manila and the Ming Dynasty, in addition to some Ming Dynasty merchants sailing from Yuegang, laden with raw silk, spun silk, cotton cloth, porcelain, tea, and other goods to trade with us... uh, the merchants in Manila, a large portion of the merchant ships and goods came from the Portuguese in Haojing (now Macau). In some years, the Portuguese even provided 60% to 70% of the goods."

On July 1627, 7, the "Breaking Waves" set sail, loaded with cargo and personnel, leaving the Port of Guangzhou and heading towards the Pearl River Estuary.

In early summer, the sea climate is relatively stable with less wind and waves, making it extremely suitable for ocean voyages.

However, before returning to Qiming Island, the time travelers planned to make a brief stop in Macau to purchase a batch of cannons and muskets for defense.

The Portuguese built a gun factory in Macau, and the cannons and muskets they produced have always been famous. Not only did the Ming Dynasty court purchase large quantities of them from there many times, but even the Spaniards in the Philippines would buy cannons and muskets from here to deal with the threat from local indigenous people.

As early as 1590, the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines sent an armed merchant ship to Macau, using a large amount of silver to purchase military supplies needed for fortresses and strongholds in various places in order to strengthen the security of the colonial territory.

In 1608, the Spanish royal family also issued a licensing decree specifically for the Far East, authorizing the Manila colonial authorities to send one ship to Macau every year to purchase corresponding military supplies.

Therefore, the military trade between the two places was very prosperous, mainly concentrated in the trade of guns, cannons and mercury.

Although Qiming Island is located in a very hidden place and is not on the main route of Spain's trans-Pacific trade, there is no risk of foreign invasion in the short term.

However, in order to take precautions, it is still very necessary to have a certain level of military defense capabilities to deal with the unexpected intrusion of one or two Spanish armed merchant ships.

At the very least, several artillery batteries must be built in Shixing Port to prevent the enemy from easily breaking into the port and then landing calmly, threatening the safety of the entire base.

To build a fort, it is necessary to have large-caliber coastal defense heavy artillery to enhance the port's defense capabilities and pose a strong deterrent to the enemy.

So far, Shixing Fort is poor and has no ability to cast artillery, let alone the basic steelmaking. Naturally, all its armaments have to rely on foreign arms purchases.

Although, more than a year ago, the time travelers captured the Spanish galleon "St. Louis" and seized twelve cannons and some gunpowder from the ship, which meant they had a certain amount of heavy weapons.

But this little firepower still made everyone feel unsafe, especially since they lacked the necessary 24-pound and 32-pound heavy artillery.

In addition, in addition to the port artillery being equipped with corresponding coastal defense artillery, Shixing Fort naturally also needs a sufficient number of city defense artillery to deal with the enemy's siege threat.

What if the Spaniards come one day and gather several armed merchant ships and bombard us with dozens of cannons? How can we resist them with only a few heavy artillery?

Moreover, in order to go out and rob and collect enough "travel expenses" to go to the Ming Dynasty, the time travelers also moved six cannons to the deck of the "Polang" to use as naval guns.

This made the artillery that could serve as the defense force of Shixing Fort even more stretched and unusable.

More than two months ago, the "Breaking Waves" consumed a lot of ammunition and its guns were worn out while chasing the "Chinese ship" from Mexico to Manila in the Pacific Ocean. It was in urgent need of new replenishment.

In addition, after the time travelers have made some technical modifications to some old-fashioned matchlock guns, they are also preparing to try to improve the artillery to a certain extent in order to obtain a longer range and more powerful power.

The transformation of artillery will inevitably require some technical exploration, and even physical testing of existing artillery will be required, which will more or less cause certain losses.

In this way, time travelers need to prepare a sufficient number of artillery pieces to provide the necessary "consumables" for future military development.

If you want to go to Macau to purchase arms, you must first understand the local trade rules to avoid being directly turned away by the Portuguese when you arrive at the place.

Although Harvey had never been to Macau, as a senior crew member on a trans-Pacific trading ship, he had some understanding of the situation there during his stay in Manila.

When Luo Zhenhui and others asked about going to Macau to purchase arms and supplies, he told them everything he knew and briefly introduced the current trade situation between Macau and Manila.

In 1580, King Philip II of Spain forced Portugal to recognize his succession to the throne through military means, and officially became King of Portugal on December 12 of that year, thus realizing the merger of Spain and Portugal.

Macau, as Portugal's most important colonial outpost in the Far East, became the most important trading partner of the Spanish Philippines in the following years.

At that time, the Portuguese transported large quantities of goods from Macau to Manila for commercial interests.

The Portuguese brought a wide variety of goods, including spices, black slaves (mainly from East Africa), various cotton fabrics from India (including mosquito nets, quilts, cotton and linen from Bengal), amber, ivory, gems, various treasures from India and Persia, Ottoman carpets, as well as furniture, gold-plated jewelry made in Macau and other rare and exotic items.

Of course, the most imported goods into Manila were Ming Dynasty goods, such as raw silk, silk fabrics, bean curd, veils, thread, silk yarn, cotton cloth of various colors, various military supplies, ammunition, gunpowder, mercury, saltpeter, iron, copper, tin, aluminum, iron pots, sugar, peanuts, chestnuts, dates, musk, cows, mares, candied fruit, ham, bacon, lace, figs, pomegranates, pears, oranges, strings of beads, strings of gems, gems, sapphire, porcelain, ceramic pottery, ink, colored paper, white paper, etc.

Among these Ming Dynasty goods, raw silk, silk fabrics, etc. occupy an absolute position.

For example, in 1608, the total value of goods shipped to Manila was 20 pesos, of which silk fabrics accounted for 19 pesos.

Around 1620, in order to combat the Spanish overseas colonial forces, the Netherlands continuously sent armed ships to besiege Manila and intercepted merchant ships bound for Manila in the Ming Dynasty waters, which greatly reduced the number of Chinese businessmen going to Manila.

At this time, the Portuguese emerged at the right time and actively organized a large number of ships, loaded with goods produced by the Ming Dynasty, and sailed to Manila.

As trade developed, the Portuguese in Macau gained a considerable market share in Manila. A Spanish colonial official claimed that "trade with China is shrinking, and it is mainly the Portuguese who are filling the gap."

In some years, due to the mischief of the Dutch, Manila lacked silk, a commodity necessary for the galleon trade, and there was even a serious situation where without the Portuguese in Macau, there would be no Ming Dynasty goods.

As a result, a large amount of silver continued to flow into the pockets of Portugal in Macau.

Commercial voyages between Macau and Manila were very profitable.

Portuguese merchants usually made a profit of up to 100% on a round trip to Manila. A sloop with a cargo capacity of less than 3 tons could make a profit of about 5 to pesos, allowing Portugal and Macau to make huge profits.

Decades ago, jealous of the Spanish's lucrative trans-Pacific trade, the Portuguese were eager to get a piece of the pie.

In 1590, the Portuguese sent a merchant ship loaded with tons to secretly head for the port of Acapulco in Mexico.

Unfortunately, the ship was caught by the Spanish colonial authorities in Mexico, and all the people and cargo on board were detained.

Later, the Spanish royal family directly issued an edict prohibiting any foreign ships from going to Acapulco for trade, and Portugal and Macau finally gave up.

To be honest, the Spanish were very disgusted with the Portuguese who came to Manila to trade. They thought they were a group of naked vampires, cunning and greedy, far less honest and trustworthy than the Ming Dynasty merchants. They even impacted the original trade credit system of the Manila market and destroyed Manila's existing business practices.

Before the Portuguese in Macau got involved in the Manila trade, there had always been a good trade credit system, that is, if there was a funding problem in the trade, the buyer could buy on credit from the seller and collect cash the next time he came to trade.

This was very common between Ming Dynasty merchants and the Spaniards. The Spaniards could obtain large quantities of goods without much capital, transport them to Mexico and other places for sale, and make huge profits. They would then pay the Chinese merchants for the goods after the sailing ships returned.

But the Portuguese were simple and crude, and "did not allow buyers to buy on credit", which destroyed the long-established credit system.

Moreover, Ming Dynasty merchants generally charged reasonable prices in their trade transactions, leaving the Spaniards with ample room to make money.

But Portugal was different. Relying on its special status, it asked for an extremely high price, causing the Spanish in Manila to lose greater profit margins.

As citizens of the Spanish-Portuguese Commonwealth, they could naturally live in Manila for a long time (in order to limit the growth of Chinese businessmen's power, the Spanish colonial authorities issued a decree prohibiting Chinese businessmen from staying in Manila for a long time). Even if the goods they brought could not be sold, they would not sell them at a lower price. Instead, they would store the goods year after year and wait to sell them at a high price.

These business practices of the Portuguese had a great impact on the Spanish, causing "the money originally earned for them (the Spaniards) to now be earned by the Portuguese."

A Spanish colonial official in the Philippines reported bluntly to the royal court: "Trade with the Portuguese in Macau is extremely harmful. Not only is the Portuguese attitude unfriendly, but they also drive up prices and profit, thereby draining the wealth of the citizens of Manila."

Records show that two years earlier (1625), the Macau colonial authorities had earned more than pesos in taxes from trade with Manila. They used this money not only to pay the land rent required by the Ming court, but also to repay nearly half of the local colonial government's debts.

Recorded data show that in 1602, two million silver pesos flowed into Macau from Manila, and in 1604 it reached two and a half million pesos.

Although most of the pesos and silver coins flowed into the Ming Dynasty in the name of payment for goods, the Portuguese made unimaginable trade profits, making Macau the most dazzling pearl among the Portuguese overseas colonial territories.

"So, gentlemen, when we arrive at Haojing, we... people with Spanish identity will probably not be able to appear in front of the Portuguese, so as to avoid them from misinterpreting us." Harvey looked at Luo Zhenhui and others and said with a very serious expression.

"So, Ming merchants in Macau... uh, should be more welcomed by the Portuguese than Spanish merchants in Manila?"

"Yes, sir. From what I understand, Ming merchants enjoy exceptional commercial treatment in Haojing," Harvey said with a wry smile. "For the Portuguese, Ming merchants are their most important business partners. Furthermore, due to geographical and political factors, they enjoy a special economic status. After all, this land is only a temporary lease for the Portuguese, not their legitimate territory for actual colonial rule."

"This phenomenon shows that the Portuguese are relatively 'rule-abiding' with the Ming Dynasty. They honestly obey Ming Dynasty management, which is why they are able to enjoy such favorable trade treatment," Luo Zhenhui said with a smile. "The Spanish and the Dutch, out of either arrogance or a desire for quick success, show extreme impatience with the Ming Dynasty, even to the point of being offensive. This prevents them from having the opportunity to trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, and they miss out on opportunities to make a fortune."

"Yes, sir," Harvey agreed, nodding. "I remember that over forty years ago (1586), the Manila authorities formulated a plan to invade the Ming Dynasty. They planned to march into the Ming territory with troops in an attempt to conquer this vast country. Although this plan was not approved by His Majesty the King of Spain, the Manila authorities still treated the Ming government with deep hostility and contempt. Otherwise, the Governor-General of the Philippines would not have carried out such a brutal massacre against the Ming people more than twenty years ago. ... Well, it's obvious that this was a tragedy, a tragedy that should never have happened."

"..." Upon hearing this, Luo Zhenhui narrowed his eyes slightly and his expression turned cold.

You Spaniards have committed more than just this one massacre against the Chinese in the Philippines!

"Captain, something's happening!"

Just when the atmosphere was delicate and awkward, a former naval cadet came running over with a serious expression to report.

"A small boat has been following us since we left the harbor! ... I suspect they may have other motives."

"Ok?"

"Captain, we may be targeted by an unknown force!"

(End of this chapter)