The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 130
After arriving in Fuqing, Ding Yi did not leave in a hurry. He went shopping first, and then tried to buy a boat.

In this era, there are many shipyards in Fuguang, and the quality of the ships they build is also good. Otherwise, they have to go to North Korea, but North Korea is not safe, and the quality of the ships is not very good.

He wants to buy a ship here so that he can transport supplies back.

The people were divided into several groups, and they went to various parts of Fuzhou City to inquire about news and purchase supplies.

The first is clam wood. This kind of wood can be used to grow machine tools and can also be used to make boats. There are quite a lot of them in Fuzhou.

But this clam wood is also quite expensive, about three taels of silver per cubic meter, because it is very heavy, and it sinks when it enters the water. Ding Yi's boat can't hold much, so he can only buy 25 cubic meters, which can make about 30-[-] Add a water wheel to the machine tool (the water wheel is mainly used for the intermediate bearing).

Wei Jiye took people out for a day before coming back. After all, Fuzhou City and Fuqing City are quite far away. Fortunately, they brought horses on board.

He inquired about the news that there is a government-run shipyard in Fuzhou, but the best shipbuilder is in Nan'an Shijing.

Nan'an Shijing is Zheng Zhilong's headquarters and base. He has a shipyard in Shijing to build military and commercial ships. He can build three ships and repair dozens of ships every year.

Three years later, the scale will be larger, and five ships can be built each year.

The government-run shipyard does not sell ships here, nor can it buy good ships. If you want to buy one, you can only go to Zheng Zhilong.

All other private shipyards in Fuzhou have been annexed by Zheng Zhilong.

In fact, the main shipbuilders are shipbuilders. Those craftsmen were all recruited by Zheng Zhilong. Naturally, other shipyards could not build ships.

It is impossible for Ding Yi to consider shipbuilding right now, he just wants to buy a ship.

But buying a boat has to go through Zheng Zhilong, and he also wants to see Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong is usually not in Fuzhou. After being recruited, he spends more time in his hometown of Shijing, Nan'an, so he will run on both sides of Fuzhou and Quanzhou.

Ding Yi was not in a hurry, and while continuing to send people to inquire about the news, he arranged for people to shop in Fuzhou (mainly iron, saltpeter, and sulfur, because there are many ships here, and artillery and firearms are popular, so there is a lot of gunpowder here.) artisan.

By the way, he sold the ginseng, fur, raw silk, etc. he brought from Dongjiang to foreigners here.

The silk at this time in the Ming Dynasty was first sold to Japan, and secondly sold to Southeast Asia and further afield, in order to make a lot of money.

But selling in coastal areas such as Fuzhou depends on luck. If you are lucky, you can make a lot of money if you meet a foreign guy.

But most of the foreign businessmen are very shrewd, they will not easily buy silk from merchants, they will definitely go to the place where silk is produced, and buy it at a lower price.

Sure enough, Ding Yi wandered around the Fuqing Bay Wharf for a long time, and asked four foreign businessmen successively, and the asking prices were all eighty to one hundred taels.

His purchase price in Songjiang was only 50 taels and a hundred catties, and he only doubled his income. Of course, it was too little.

These foreign businessmen were mainly from Southeast Asian countries. When he saw the right opportunity, he stretched out his hand to grab an interpreter, and stuffed an ingot of silver into the interpreter's hand.

The translator was stunned for a moment, and he looked at Ding Yi. Ding Yi was very imposing, and there were elite guards by his side. He winked at Ding Yi, and quickly found an opportunity to leave the foreign businessman and came to Ding Yi.

"What's the matter with this boss?" the translator smiled.

"Xian Ding, sir, what is your surname." Ding Yi said politely.

"The little one's surname is Fang, from Fuzhou." Fang Yao said.

He is a professional translator. When he was young, he often traveled to Nanyang with his boss and learned the languages ​​of various countries in Southeast Asia. Now he is doing translation business in Fuzhou and Quanzhou. He has no fixed boss. He has been famous for several years. Many foreign businessmen will take the initiative to find Come to the door and ask him to translate.

"I think many people come from Nanyang. It seems that Spain and Portugal are rare?" Ding Yi asked.

"At this time of year, there are more people in Quanzhou." Fang Yao said with a smile, "We are also from Quanzhou."

At this time, Quanzhou Lane is known as one of the largest trade lanes in the world, so it is naturally bigger than here, so there will be more ships and merchants there.

Ding Yi nodded and asked, "I ask you to be an interpreter, how much is it per day?"

Fang Yao was stunned for a moment, and said in a low voice, "I promised Mr. Ge Lia that I would accompany him to Songjiang. I'm really sorry."

He has been very famous in Quanzhou in the past few years. He just keeps his promise and doesn't change jobs easily.

Ding Yi had no choice but to shrug his shoulders and said, "Do you have any good friends who work in this line of work? Introduce one. I'm going to Quanzhou in a few days."

Fang Yao thought for a while, took a pen and wrote down the address and name to Ding Yi, and they parted soon.

Ding Yi stayed here in Fuqing for four days. There was nothing he could do. The main alleys were quite far from Fuzhou City, and it took time to transport goods back and forth.

Because there were originally [-] catties of silk on board, his boat was quickly filled.

At the beginning, he only listened to raw silk to make money, so he bought [-] catties in Songjiang in one go. Then he found out that Zheng Zhilong started to collect the flag money, and many merchants were watching.

However, it couldn't be sold at a high price here, so he was in a hurry to sell the raw silk and hurried to Quanzhou.

If Quanzhou can't sell, they can only go to Japan, which is too far away. He will definitely not go in person this year, and the first battle of Houjin's entry into customs will start soon.

At that time, either let Ruan Siqing go to Japan, or return to Lushun first.

On the 24th, Ding Yi's fleet finally arrived at Quanzhou Lane.

Quanzhou Lane used to be a famous big port, but due to the sea ban in the Ming Dynasty, foreign trade was greatly restricted. In addition, during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court moved the shipping department to Fuzhou, and this place gradually became inferior to Fuzhou Lane.

Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong was born. He valued Quanzhou Lane very much. In addition, Quanzhou is his hometown. After several years of operation, this place has become the largest port in Fujian.

Ding Yi and the others were even more shocked when they got here. The port here is huge and there are more ships stopping.

Those who have been collected in Fuzhou Lane are fine, but they are warned that their flags cannot go to Nanyang. If they go to Nanyang, they need to pay extra.

Of course, they will not go to Nanyang. After queuing up to land, they will immediately divide into groups.

Ding Yi first went to find the person Fang Yao wrote, his cousin Fang Hui.

Fang Hui is a teacher in Quanzhou, but he is also proficient in several languages. He ran a business when he was young.

Ding Yi quickly found this person in Quanzhou. This person is about 50 years old. He was very happy to hear Ding Yi's intention and Fang Yao's introduction.

Ten taels of silver every day.

When Ding Yi rode his horse back to the alley with Fang Hui, he heard good news from Ruan Wenyan.

There was a Nanyang businessman who looked like a Ming man (Chinese origin), spoke the language of the Ming country, and asked for their raw silk.

This person is called Xu Gonglie, and his ancestors went to Nanyang, but he can speak explanatory language.

This time he bought a large amount of silk, tea and other things from Jiangnan, and prepared to return to Nanyang.

Then when we arrived in Quanzhou, this guy sold tea to a Portuguese. The boat was empty and wanted to buy raw silk, but he didn't want to turn back, because he had to pay Zheng Zhilong the toll, and the journey was too long.

According to him, silk may be sold further afield (probably to Europe), and for raw silk, they need it in Nanyang.

Ruan Wenyan offered 500 taels of catties.

Xu Gonglie lowered the price by 100 taels.

Seeing Ding Yi, Ding Yi was also eager to sell the goods, and immediately said: "I sell this ship silk to Japan, at least 500 taels of catties."

"Everyone is a smart person, and doing business at sea is hard work, so let's take a step back and pay 200 yuan and [-] catties."

Xu Gonglie thought for a while and hesitated a little. The price is actually a bit profitable, and it is better than going back with an empty ship. If you go to Jiangnan again, it will be a waste of time.

Moreover, he has goods on board, so he is afraid of accidents when he goes back.

But he still wants to keep the price down.

Ding Yi said again: "Raw silk is different from silk. There are only two seasons in spring and autumn. The raw silk in this season is the best. The longer it is stored, the worse the quality. I have hoarded the raw silk in Jiangnan this season. Have you not looked at other merchants?" None in stock."

Xu Gonglie smiled, of course he knew in his heart that because Zheng Zhilong started to collect money, many merchants were hesitant.

But he is also eager to go back, and the price is profitable: "Just make a friend and make a deal."

Ding Yi was overjoyed at the moment, and wanted to sell all the [-] catties of raw silk at once.

Ruan Wenyan is a little bit reluctant, and wants to sell it to Japan, which can double the price.

But Ding Yi now needs to load the empty ship, and the matter of going to Japan can be slowed down and not rushed for a while.

So in this raw silk transaction, Ding Yi bought in about 50 taels, sold it for 200 taels, and made four times the profit.

(End of this chapter)