open sea

Chapter 903 Brazil
The so-called "the world and the earth are of the same power, but heroes are not free when transported", Chen Mu feels this way when it comes to iron in the New World.

When there is a shortage of iron, there is a shortage everywhere, but once there is no shortage, iron ore will flock to it as if they don't want money.

Mr. Changsheng County found iron ore on the coast thousands of miles north, and established Pingxiang Iron Factory. The iron ore vein reserves are extremely huge. At least when Chen Mu came back, there was news of iron ore being found in a radius of more than ten miles, but it was not perfect. , The iron ore of Pingxiang Iron Works is very poor.

The iron ore content in Daming is generally relatively low. Except for the iron-rich ore found in Qiongzhou Prefecture, the iron ore content is generally not high, and most of it is sulfur-containing pyrite.

However, the iron ore in Pingxiang Iron Factory has a lower iron content than the local iron ore in Daming. The only advantage is that the reserves seem to be huge, and excavation can meet the needs of some iron farm tools.

But when luck comes, it will come in droves.

Less than two months after the establishment of the Pingxiang Iron Works, Peruvian Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese came to Changsheng to express their desire to trade with the Oriental Army.

The first to rush to Changsheng was a Brazilian businessman named Simon, who seemed to be very polite and polite to a European. He brought a lot of goods and asked his black servants to put them on the open space outside the military government office. , ask Chen Mu to go out and watch.

The goods are all just a small portion, packed in the same wooden baskets and neatly arranged, mainly including mahogany called Brazil, spices, cotton, sugar and tobacco, and some wild animal furs.

Brazil means mahogany in Portuguese. In fact, the vast land of Brazil is a barren land for the Portuguese who are obsessed with finding gold and silver. Most of the reasons why they stay there to develop land are Because of mahogany.

This economical crop contains a large amount of water-soluble red after being ground into powder, which can be used as a dye for expensive clothes. Simon also introduced this dye to Chen Mu emphatically. Humans like red.

In the impression of the Portuguese, people in the Ming Dynasty preferred red, because the clothes worn by the most distinguished officials were all red.

However, Chen Mu looked helpless at Simon's goods. He picked his eyes out of boredom, and after taking Simon back to the government office, he asked, "What do you want to buy from me?"

"Gold, silver, muskets, cannon, chiefly these goods. Mahogany and spices are the best we can produce. In the past, this was a royal monopoly, but your Excellency must have known the king's misfortune."

Simon explained: "So now the governor has allowed some to be used as trade goods in exchange for some weapons that allow us to protect ourselves."

"Da Ming can buy some of the things you want to sell, but first of all, Da Ming has no shortage of dyes or spices. If the price you offer is outrageous, I don't need to buy these things. Other than that, cotton, tobacco, animal skins and Same with sugar, which is available in the New World, where we grow tobacco, sugar cane, and cotton ourselves."

Chen Mu had no intention of cheating Portuguese businessmen. He was just stating the facts. The homogenization of economic crops in this land is extremely serious. Everyone grows these things, and there is no advantage at all. He asked: "Can you tell me , How many people are there in Portugal in Brazil? It is convenient for me to calculate the output of your various goods."

"You should know that people like me won't talk about small deals with you. If I want to, I can buy the whole of Brazil."

Simon opened his mouth and said nothing, because after a simple assessment, it seems that the person in front of him can indeed buy that barren land in Brazil—if their king is still alive, maybe he only needs [-] tons, maybe [-] tons Silver will make the king tempted.

"We were supposed to have 3 or 5000 people, but now we have [-] because of those pirates from Han."

Chen Mu blinked: "Because of the Han Dynasty? So you count the black people? What if you don't count them?"

"It can't be counted, we can't work with Tupi people, black people are the main producers, we only have 2000 people, but these 2000 people are not producers."

The Tupi people are a branch of the Indians in Brazil. They live by hunting, gathering and fishing. In 1561, they united many indigenous tribes to resist the enslavement of the Portuguese and besieged the Portuguese in the city of Sao Paulo. They sued for peace, and the Portuguese began buying slaves from Africa.

"Do you have iron ore?"

Simon looked at Chen Mu with concern in his eyes: "Your Excellency, if we have iron ore, do we still need to buy muskets and artillery from you?"

Chen Mu shook his head with a smile, and said: "Even if you have them, you will still want to buy them from me, because the muskets we make are cheaper and more useful, and we have lower costs. I prefer cotton. How much cotton can it produce?"

"I'm just a businessman. I'm afraid I need to go back and ask the governor before I can answer you."

"Okay, then go back and tell your governor that I won't sell gold and silver unless you have iron ore. As for guns and artillery, if you trade in Changsheng, three hundred catties of cotton can be exchanged for a musket, thirty thousand One catty of cotton can be exchanged for one cannon; if it is traded in Brazil, five hundred catties of cotton can be exchanged for one musket, and fifty thousand catties can be exchanged for one cannon.”

Chen Mu said, shaking his head and said: "The musket is a matchlock gun, similar to yours, but the artillery is not a Franji, it is General Erjin Zhenshuo of the Ming Dynasty, it is very useful, and someone will take you to see it later."

In fact, Chen Mu was a little disappointed after hearing Simon say that Brazil has no iron ore, and he was too lazy to talk about it. Among the many goods, cotton is still useful to him, but the use is not that great, it is just better than nothing.

If they are willing to sell, Chen Mu can also make some money, but if they don't want to sell, there are many counties in Asia that produce cotton.

Just like Brazil is a barren land for Portugal, Portugal, a small country with few people, is really not profitable for the huge size of the Oriental Army.

But after thinking about it, he suddenly had another idea. He said to Simon: "I have an idea. You can go back and discuss with your governor. What Portugal is most worried about right now is how to protect Brazil without the protection of the king. My army can help him achieve this goal, and my people can help develop Portugal."

"You don't have manpower, we have, and although Ming and Portugal have fought several battles in the past, Daming is pretty good to Portugal. At least your people are still staying in Haojing. We have a foundation of mutual trust."

"Why don't we make Brazil like a mirror? If your governor is willing, I will send some people to Brazil to have a look, and then select these lands and lease them to you for a period of time; or use them for free but the output will be shared between Ming and Portugal; At the same time, both parties have the responsibility to protect this land, these things can be discussed in the future, you go back and ask your governor."

"Just tell him I'm more interested in this than trade."

(End of this chapter)