Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The next day, Liuhang Island.

"Captain Lu, that's the Portuguese trading post up ahead."

Xu Quan, a guide for Huizhou merchants, pointed to a European-style building not far away and introduced it,

"It's only been a few months since I last visited Shuangyu Port, and there seem to be even more Portuguese people here than last time."

After buying a Fujian-style ship in Cengang, Lu Chen left two hundred pieces of crystal glassware on the original Zheyang ship and ordered four of his men to guard it.

The remaining five hundred-plus pieces of crystal glassware were all transferred to the Fujian ship.

Lu Chen also followed the advice of his guide Xu Quan and hired more than ten skilled sailors from Fujian and Guangdong in Cen Port, leaving the group of sailors he brought from Yangzhou on the Zheyang ship as well.

These sailors originally only made a living on the Yangtze River, and at most sailed along the coastline, lacking experience in navigating the open sea.

To navigate a long detour from the outer sea of ​​Zhoushan to enter Shuangyu Port from the south would take several days, requiring the hiring of sailors with experience in ocean voyages.

Because of this incident, Qin Fang privately advised himself that he was worried that Xu Quan might use underhanded tactics and that there might be a trap once the ship reached the open sea.

However, Lu Chen was not worried about this.

This time, he brought Qin Fang and his entire squad, a total of eleven Imperial Guards, all of whom were sons of military officers who had practiced martial arts since childhood.

Four people were left in Cen Port, and Qin Fang and seven others were with him.

Although they didn't bring the Embroidered Spring Blade, the standard weapon of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in order to avoid attracting attention, everyone switched to other weapons that suited them. For example, Qin Fang brought two Japanese swords.

Everyone had ranged weapons such as bows and arrows.

Even if a mere dozen or so sailors rebelled at sea, they could be easily suppressed.

Even if there were pirates lying in ambush at sea, Lu Chen didn't care at all.

Naval warfare in that era wasn't about ship-to-ship gun battles like later ones; it was all about boarding maneuvers.

Lu Chen even thought it would be better if they actually encountered pirates.

Engaging in hand-to-hand combat within the confined space of a seagoing vessel, whether the opponent comes aboard your ship or you board a pirate ship, the outcome is never in doubt.

Capturing a pirate ship, or even subduing a group of pirates, would be a double blessing for him.

However, none of this happened. After four days of sailing, the Fujian ship circled the Zhoushan Islands and successfully arrived at Shuangyu Port.

Lu Chen felt that this was likely because of the existence of Shuangyu Port, where merchants could make money doing business. Also, since it was near the Zhoushan Islands, patrol boats from Dinghaiwei often appeared there, and the maritime security environment had not deteriorated too much.

As Xu Quan said, before entering the port, they encountered a sentry ship dispatched by the "master" of Shuangyu Port. After displaying a ship full of "Western crystal and glassware", Lu Chen successfully met Xu Dong.

Lu Chen had planned from the beginning to imitate Venetian glassware, and all the crystal glassware produced by the Linqing Glass Workshop was in European style.

Crystal glass with added lead oxide is much more crystal clear than ordinary transparent glass. Even a large merchant like Xu Dong had never seen such high-quality "Western crystal glassware".

They would not doubt that these things were actually produced within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Chen brought more than 500 pieces at once, which is almost as much as the Venetian glassware imported into Shuangyu Port in a whole year.

What's more, Lu Chen dropped a bombshell: he was not only willing to wholesale all the goods he brought to Xu Dong, but also promised to exclusively supply him with two thousand pieces every six months.

The average price of each item was reduced to forty taels of silver.

The only condition was that these "Western crystal and glasswares" could only be sold overseas and not within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Before going to the island, Lu Chen had already inquired about it from Xu Quan.

The Venetian glass that I bought in Linqing for 150 taels of silver was also worth around 50 taels of silver in Shuangyu Port.

These higher-quality "Western crystal glassware" will only be more expensive.

Xu Dong didn't even need to sell Shuangyu Port; he could simply transfer it to the Portuguese and Japanese and easily make a fortune.

Although the profit margin is higher when selling within the Ming Dynasty, Lu Chen told him that there were already other agents within the Ming Dynasty, and that importing too much would only cause the price of the entire market to drop.

As a businessman who has been in business for many years, how could Xu Dong not understand this principle?

Moreover, this compromise is nothing in order to secure a continuous supply.

The two sides quickly reached an agreement and completed the transaction.

Lu Chen finally had some free time, so he took Qin Fang with him and toured the largest international free trade port in East Asia in the 16th century, accompanied by guide Xu Quan.

The current Liuhang Island has not yet reached its peak after the Portuguese moved in on a large scale in the nineteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1540), when they joined forces with Xu Dong, Li Guangtou, and others to establish a municipal hall, set up urban management agencies, and built a large number of houses, warehouses, churches, and other facilities.

But there were already quite a few Portuguese people here, and there were also trading posts established by the Portuguese.

There were more Japanese than Portuguese, including merchants from western Japan and Kyushu, as well as many ronin carrying Japanese swords.

According to Xu Quan, Japan is currently plagued by constant warfare, and there are many displaced people living in poverty. These people are cheap and useful, and many Chinese ship owners are willing to hire them.

The goods brought by the Portuguese and Japanese could not be sold within the territory of the Ming Dynasty; they could only be sold to Chinese maritime merchants in Shuangyu Port.

Lu Chen also looked around the Japanese shop. The main products for sale were Japanese swords, folding fans, round fans and other handicrafts. In addition, there were many dried seafood products, such as sea cucumbers, abalone and shark fins.

The most numerous flagship product is the Japanese sword.

Japanese swords were in high demand among Ming Dynasty scholars and military officers, and there was no shortage of buyers.

Lu Chen often saw people carrying Japanese swords in Linqing. This time, because they needed to conceal their identities, they couldn't bring embroidered spring knives, so many of his men carried Japanese swords instead.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, the number of Japanese swords possessed within the Ming Dynasty was actually quite astonishing.

The idea that a Ming Dynasty martial arts figure was mistaken for a Japanese pirate because he carried a Japanese sword in a later film or television drama is absolutely impossible.

Japanese merchants came to Shuangyu Port and purchased far more Ming Dynasty goods with silver than they brought with them, resulting in a clear trade deficit.

Of course, silver produced in Japan can also be considered a commodity.

The goods sold by the Portuguese were products they had brought from Europe to East Asia, including goods from various places along their voyages, as well as goods from the Arab region, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

. . .

The backyard of the Portuguese merchant's shop.

boom!

A lead bullet accurately hit the target about thirty meters away.

"Master, this musket is quite good."

Qin Fang held a heavy Portuguese matchlock gun, playing with it with great affection.

"Since you like them, let's buy a few to play with."

Lu Chen also picked up his matchlock gun and examined it carefully.

In Lu Chen's eyes, the craftsmanship of the 16th century was actually very crude; even the gun barrel was not formed in one piece, but was made of rolled iron sheets.

However, this matchlock gun had a stock and a front sight. It was fired by pulling the trigger to ignite the gunpowder with the matchlock, and it already had the prototype of a modern rifle.