Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"With so many glass mirrors, even if they can't be sold at the same high price as those in the Venetian after they are shipped to Europe, they will definitely fetch ten times the price."

Upon hearing the enormous figure of five thousand mirrors produced annually, Lanzaro Pina understood that this would inevitably impact prices.

"This is a business that could earn millions of pounds!"

With such a generous gift, this little thing is nothing.

Mr. Frans, please tell this lady for me that the matter of setting up a trading post in Malacca is entirely my responsibility.

. . .

On a painted boat in Gongtang, Chengtian Prefecture.

"Your Highness, Miss Chen has already reached an agreement with the representative sent by the Portuguese Governor of Malacca."

Qin Fang reported to Lu Chen.

"We sell 5,000 glass mirrors to them every year, and they help us set up a trading post in Malacca to ensure the safety of our people in Malacca."

Half a year passed quickly, and it was now July of the nineteenth year of the Jiajing reign.

During this time, Lu Chen stayed in Chengtian Prefecture.

Chen Yunniang got into the swing of things quite quickly. In less than a year, she not only acquired several shipyards in Ningbo, but also set up a trading post in Shuangyu Port and started doing entrepot trade.

Simply put, the Xie family purchased silk, porcelain, tea, and other goods from within the Ming Dynasty and transported them to the trading posts in Shuangyu Port to sell to the Portuguese, Japanese, and small and medium-sized maritime merchants who did not have their own sourcing channels.

At the same time, they purchased overseas goods and handed them over to the Xie family for distribution.

Although the profits from these short-distance trades are not high, they have opened up new avenues for business.

The dozens of Imperial Guards Ding Yu sent by Gao Mingqian from Linqing also played a significant role.

The so-called "Dingyu" refers to the sons of the Qianhusuo who failed to enter the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard). Most of these people had learned martial arts from their fathers since childhood and were generally quite skilled.

At this time, the crystal and glass workshop in Linqing had already brought 85,000 taels of silver in dividends to the Qianhu garrison, and they were all beneficiaries, with high morale.

Lu Chen has been officially granted the title of Prince, so Gao Mingqian no longer needs to hide anything. These members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard all know that they are serving His Highness Prince Ying.

By the end of the nineteenth year of the Jiajing reign, the hundreds of young and strong refugees that Shen Zhui had secretly recruited in the mountainous area of ​​Yunyang Prefecture were also taken to Ningbo by Qin Fang and assigned to the sons of the Embroidered Uniform Guard as his subordinates.

Chen Yunniang's maritime trade team was quickly formed.

With ample funds and the cooperation of the Xie family in Ningbo, the Lin family quickly assembled a fleet of more than ten Fujian and Guangdong ships.

With Xu Dong's guarantee, the fleet sailed into Shuangyu Port without any hesitation.

The production of mirrors was not technically difficult. Only two or three months after Lu Chen left Yunyang Prefecture, Shen Zhui sent people to deliver the first batch of finished products.

However, it is still only one foot square in size.

During this period, glass workshops in Linqing and newly built glass workshops in Shiyan have been constantly trying to make larger flat glass, and they have made some breakthroughs.

Although we can't make a full-length mirror yet, we can already make one with a side length of about 50 centimeters.

However, another problem arose.

When the area of ​​a tin amalgam mirror exceeds a certain size, the reflection will be distorted, and the edges will have an effect similar to a funhouse mirror.

To ensure the shadow appears normal, the maximum side length can only be about 40 centimeters.

Only after obtaining this result did Lu Chen finally understand why the Venetians had never been able to make a large glass mirror in the history of another dimension.

With the technology at the time, it was indeed difficult to make large flat glass, but it was difficult, not impossible.

Without considering the yield rate, just try to make it as big as possible. Occasionally, you can still produce a larger piece, at least with a side length of fifty or sixty centimeters.

What truly limited the size of the Venetian glass mirror was the physical properties of the tin-mercury amalgam reaction.

Before the silver mirror reaction was invented, it seemed that super-large glass mirrors would never be possible.

Setting the wholesale price of a one-foot square glass mirror at one hundred taels was a decision Lu Chen had carefully considered.

In Europe, a Venetian glass mirror of roughly the same size could sell for the equivalent of tens of thousands of taels of silver.

However, this exorbitant price is due to Venice's exclusive monopoly and long-term scarcity marketing strategy.

There are no clear historical records on how many glass mirrors Venice sold each year in the 16th century; we can only infer from some scattered records.

King Francis I of France left two order records: thirteen in 1533 and eleven in 1538.

Even with the king's spending habits, that's all he could afford in a year.

Lu Chen estimates that the annual shipment volume of Venetian glass mirrors in Europe is likely only a few hundred pieces.

With such a large volume of shipments, even if the Portuguese sold some of it in Southeast Asia and India before shipping it back to Europe, and considering the losses along the way, there was still a possibility that two or three thousand pieces would eventually reach Europe.

So many glass mirrors will directly undermine the high prices that the Venetian is desperately trying to maintain.

Will prices plummet to rock bottom?

And won't!

In another dimension of history, after the French successfully stole the Venetian tin amalgam glass mirror technology in 1666, they immediately began mass production.

Venetian glass mirrors can no longer fetch exorbitant prices.

Even French-made glass mirrors maintained a price of several tens of taels of silver for decades afterward.

Given the French production capacity, the amount produced each year is definitely more than just a few thousand.

Given this, the price of these thousands of glass mirrors produced each year wouldn't be driven down too low, and the Venetian is even less likely to initiate a price war.

The Portuguese bought glass mirrors for one hundred taels of silver each and shipped them back to Europe, making at least several times the profit, or even ten times the profit.

There needs to be enough profit to keep people motivated!

Having made such huge profits, Lu Chen believed that the Portuguese would definitely bring even more silver to the Ming Dynasty.

"After receiving these 500,000 taels of silver, half of it will remain with Yunniang."

Lu Chen gave the instructions.

"Let her continue to expand the fleet. We should buy existing old ships and have our own shipyard work overtime to build more. Don't be afraid to spend money."

In terms of manpower, in addition to our own loyalists, we can also recruit a large number of sailors from the Zhoushan area.

If you find the small and medium-sized maritime merchants operating in the Shuangyu area to be reliable, you can try to build relationships with them.

We'll buy some goods for them and let them take them to Japan and Southeast Asia to sell.

This trip to Malacca is your first time away from the Ming Dynasty. You must ensure that your men are fully trained and adapted to long-distance ocean voyages.

Malacca is located in Southeast Asia, a region inhabited by foreign tribes, unlike the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty.

No one can predict what will happen. You must pay attention to safety and make decisions on the spot when necessary. If necessary, take action.

As for the other half of the silver, you can exchange it all for gold in the Jiangzhe region, even if the exchange rate is slightly higher, it doesn't matter.

Transport all this gold back to Chengtian Prefecture.