Wanli Xinming

Chapter 279 Dumping
The June of Manlaga is extremely dry under the blowing of the southwest monsoon, which makes the Westerners, Nanyang natives and Chinese who seek a living here feel like they can breathe out fire every time they take a breath.

The Muar Fortress, which stands not far from the mouth of the Mahe River, is the tallest building in Manlanga, a typical Portuguese castle.With this castle as the core, there are several rows of European-style red brick buildings.Among them, the Garden Mansion of the Harbour Master is the most luxurious one.

After the siege of Malacca more than half a century ago, the city defense of the original Manlajia is still the same as before.Up to now, the Portuguese colonial authorities have not built the city wall, and it is estimated that they have given up this plan.

Despite the fact that the colonial authorities of Mandraga charged a [-]/[-]th of the value of the goods and a [-]% surcharge on the construction of city defenses on every merchant ship passing by, just as this noisy and chaotic trading hub is famous all over the world , the corruption of Portugal before and now the Habsburg dynasty is also "well-known".

The buildings that are indispensable to the colony are, of course, churches.Directly opposite the port on the North Shore is a cathedral. The high spire tells everyone who comes to this trading hub that this is a land ruled by Catholicism.

The Portuguese expelled the Celestial Church here and asked the locals to convert to God, with great success.Of course, like the Seris merchants, those who hung a cross on their chests before disembarking probably also accounted for the majority of the so-called "Christians". 【Note 1】

Disembark from the port on the north bank of the Mahe Estuary and walk across the bridge facing the cathedral to reach the most prosperous place in the whole of Manlaga - Symington Tavern.

This tavern is just in front of the cathedral. Catholics who have traveled far and wide have done prostitutes in the dark room behind the tavern, and they can walk a few steps to enter the church to repent. The church and the tavern have thus formed a wonderful The symbiotic relationship has won praise from all those who come here to make a living.

"Mei, Mr. Mei!"

Portuguese Fernando Melo turned his face and looked at the Sirius businessman who called him behind him.The businessman's round face turned black and red under the exposure of the equatorial sun, like a ripe eggplant.He was wearing Daming's crown, and his whole body was covered in silk that Fernando could not afford.

"Gu! You're back! When did you arrive? Is there any good news?" Fernando snorted wine, raised the wooden wine glass in his hand, and looked nervously at the round-faced fat man.

The Seris surnamed Gu was full of smiles, and he threw a two-column silver dollar on the counter.

"Mr. Mei will pay for tonight's expenses." The clinking little cutie made a crisp sound on the wooden counter, and it was still clearly audible in the noisy tavern, and the silver coin was quickly accepted by the bartender. , all kinds of people around the counter soon cast greedy eyes like wild beasts.

Fernando swallowed his saliva, and then his eyes flashed fiercely. He shouted at a few compatriots who came forward: "Go away! Sir Sirius is looking for me!" Along with his shouting, two people beside Mr. Gu The short-dressed man also lifted up his jacket, revealing the Seris handgun pinned to his waist.

When the idle people around walked away cursing, Mr. Gu, the black-faced man, motioned for Fernando to sit down at the counter, and said with a smile, "Mr. Mei, I did bring you good news." Melo Fernando heard this, Breathing suddenly heavier, he looked at him with almost fiery eyes.

"Pepper is selling well, your Carroll has earned you 4000 taels, and you can pay off your debts."

Fernando's eyes filled with tears all of a sudden, he quivered his lips, and kept drawing a cross on his chest.

"Of course, I also spent 400 taels of silver in order to make this ship's goods enter the Daming market smoothly." That Mr. Gu smiled and looked at Fernando Merlot, with a little playfulness in his eyes.

Fernando wanted to hug the smiling Sirius, but he felt a little ashamed looking at the gorgeous silk.He choked: "Thank God, thank you sir, I think I can climb out of this terrible abyss."

In the ninth year of Wanli, the windy wooden stick in front of Guangzhou Customs drove Merlo Fernando, a once wealthy Portuguese ship owner, into the abyss.

In October of the ninth year of Wanli, a group of Portuguese businessmen made trouble at the gate of Guangzhou Customs because of the imposition of export tariffs in the Ming Dynasty.Because Fernando was "taken the lead", he was hit with a stick on the forehead, and he was given a shackle by the head of Guan Lei Yingzhi to show the public. The [-]-pound wooden shackle almost killed him.

Later, Ines Fernando, the secretary of Governor Alfonso, reminded that you can buy peace with money. Fernando offered to pay Director Lei 2000 taels of silver and spent all the money for all orders.

After redeeming himself with money, he had no way to buy goods, and Fernando had to turn to his fellow Portuguese for help.

At that time, he thought that the shipowners who made trouble with him would unite to help him pay the money, but unfortunately, except for a few acquaintances who helped a total of 100 taels, the rest of the people did not think that Fernando was shackled. It's for everyone's benefit, but the consensus is that he is just too stupid.

Fernando, who could not stay in Daming for a long time, had no choice but to run back to Manlajia almost empty to look for opportunities.However, he couldn't borrow the principal in Mangala, and his living expenses were quickly spent. The Carroll, who could not pay a salary, left him from the first mate to the crew, and Fernando's career entered a rapid pace. descending spiral.

Without money to buy goods, the Carroll could only park in the port and pay berthing fees.There was no money to hire sailors, and his Carroll wasn't even capable of carrying cargo.But even in desperation, Fernando didn't want to sell his only boat, leaving him with no hope of breaking out of the downward spiral.

For a full year and a half, his boat was parked at Manraga, and the bottom of the boat was covered with barnacles.So soon there was a resounding nickname: Barakuza, which means "empty ship".

Later, Fernando, who was in desperate situation, had to mortgage his boat to a loan shark and let it go after he owed a whole lot of debt.In order for the borrower to ensure that the ship is empty, Fernando could not follow the ship, and he was detained in Managa.

Many people are interested in the sale of this boat and contact him to help him sell it.And Fernando, who was so disappointed with his compatriots, finally chose the upstart Gu Mingde, who was gradually becoming prosperous in Manlajia.

Gu Mingde suggested that Fernando should not need to pack other goods, but instead pack the pepper, a specialty of Nanyang.Now the food and entertainment industry in Daming is very developed, and there is a great demand for pepper.

Fernando accepted Gu Mingde's suggestion. After the two reached an agreement, Gu Mingde brought Fernando's boat in his fleet.Fernando waited anxiously in Manlaga until today.

Gu Mingde smiled and said, "Mr. Mei, forgive me for making my own decisions and redeeming the IOU for you." After speaking, he took out the life-threatening IOU and handed it to Fernando.

Fernando's eyes were full of tears again, he picked up the IOU in Gu Mingde's hand, and big tears fell on it.Gu Mingde said with a smile: "For your freedom, I suggest a toast!"

After drinking the mellow wine, Fernando asked what goods Gu Mingde brought back from China.

Gu Mingde smiled and said, "I brought you half a boat of cotton cloth and half a boat of silk." Fernando took a deep breath and said, "My God, you won't let me owe you another debt!"

Gu Mingde smiled and said: "Of course not, I'm not as generous as you imagined. The imperial court exempted the customs duties on cotton cloth and silk. When I left Guangzhou, everyone was already rushing to grab the goods - because I had already spent 400 taels to hand over the goods. Only with friends can we get priority customs clearance."

Fernando squeezed the tin cup containing the fine wine with force.He stammered: "Duty-free? I heard right."

Gu Mingde smiled and said, "Of course. You can trust me, I never joke about business. What's even more rare is that Daming's silk and cotton are so cheap, we got unimaginably low prices!"

"Are you interested in taking me to Goa? Let's conquer them with three big ships, and I tell you, the native cloth is not as cheap as the high-grade cotton I brought in. As for the fine silk, it's only half the price of last year!"

　Note 1: "Tianfang" is another name for ***.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)