The most powerful patriarch in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 137 Good News

Chapter 135

Macau, Far East Company.

Dutch Viscount Frank Booker sat behind his desk, holding a quill in his hand for a long time without moving.
On the table, there was Booker's favorite oriental green tea, and the cup was still full until there was no trace of heat, and he didn't move it.
Booker is not in the mood for work. He has been thinking about his long-lost nephew Tom.

It was I who encouraged him to pursue his dream. For this reason, I persuaded my stubborn elder brother to take my nephew with me on the merchant ship I sailed to Daming.

Everything was well arranged, when an accident happened,
Unexpectedly, the plague suddenly appeared in Fujian. Zheng Zhilong retreated to Jilongshan, and his nephew Tom hadn't heard from him for more than two months. He sent people to search for it, but they never found it.
I really don't know how to explain to my brother when I go back.

For this matter, Booker has not had a sound sleep for almost a month, and even postponed the date of returning to China.

"Dear master, I have some good news to tell you immediately." Charlie the servant hurriedly opened the door and said excitedly.

Booker gave him a majestic look, and said as gracefully as possible: "Charlie, as a viscount's servant, you must remember the necessary etiquette, such as asking permission before entering the door."

It was so unreasonable that he rushed in without even knocking on the door. If it wasn't for the sake of being loyal to him for more than ten years, Booker would have wanted to punish this rude servant.

Charlie didn't care too much, and said loudly: "My master, Mr. Tom is back."

"What? My dearest nephew is back?" Booker stood up suddenly in surprise, probably because he moved too violently, knocking down the teacup beside him, and the tea wetted the documents on the table.

"Yes, Mr. Tom is back, thank God Almighty, he's back safely."

As soon as the words were finished, Tom's proud voice came from outside the door: "My dearest uncle, your nephew, Tom, the bravest man in the Frank family, is back."

Seeing his dark and thin nephew with a smile on his face, Booker quickly walked over, hugged him tightly, and said excitedly: "Thank you Almighty Lord, it's great to see you, welcome back, my warrior .”

The moment he saw his nephew, Booker's heart was finally relieved.

After Booker asked his nephew to sit down, he quickly asked about the disappearance of his nephew.

Tom didn't hide anything, and gave a brief account of his experience during this period.

After finishing speaking, Tom slapped his head and said quickly: "Dear uncle, can you lend me 10 gold coins? Don't worry, I will pay you back the full amount when I return to Holland."

"One hundred thousand gold coins? Why do you want so much money?"

"I owe money to a friend of Daming, well, he is still my savior." Tom said seriously.

The Netherlands is too far away. I don’t know when I will come to Daming next time.
Lu Changle is so generous, Tom doesn't want to keep his promise for too long, that's not what a gentleman does.

"Is one hundred thousand gold coins too much, my favorite nephew, can you explain clearly what happened?"

The nephew is inexperienced and easy to trust. Booker is afraid that he will be deceived.

One hundred thousand gold coins, that's a huge sum of money, I can afford it myself, but I feel distressed when I take it out.

Tom knew what his uncle was worried about, so he didn't say anything. He turned to Charlie and said, "Charlie, can you take me back to that box and carry it in? Please be careful, the things inside are very important and fragile."

No matter how much I say, it's better to let my uncle see the real thing.

"It's my honor, Mr. Tom." Charlie bowed after hearing his words and deeds, and walked out quickly.

Seeing that his uncle had something to say, Tom waved his hand and said, "Uncle, you'll see what's going on after you take a look."

Soon, Charlie directed two employees of the firm to carefully carry the box in.

After everyone retreated, Tom pointed to the box and said, "Dear uncle, this is the box. It's worth one hundred thousand gold coins. No, it's worth more than one million. I'm very sure."

It's just an ordinary wooden box, although the size is a bit big, it's not worth so much, right?
Booker complained secretly in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. After getting his nephew's consent, he opened the wooden box a little casually,

When I opened the wooden box and saw that it was covered with a thick layer of cheap linen, I was [-]% certain in my heart that my kind nephew was deceived.

There are mostly worthless antiques inside. Many friends who came to Daming to do business have been fooled by this kind of trick. The cunning oriental businessman told which important person it came from and how important the commemorative value was, and then sold it at a sky-high price to those in Europe who didn’t have much research on antiques. merchant.

When Booker lifted the sackcloth a little casually, he was startled, and a person appeared in the box,

Just about to yell, I suddenly realized that the person was a little familiar, by the way, wasn't it me.

Shaking his head, blinking again, and confirming that the thing inside was a mirror, Booker took out a mirror in surprise, watched carefully, and said in surprise: "Oh my God, such a beautiful mirror, so beautiful, and the reflection is so clear , This is the first time I have seen such a perfect mirror, which is ten times better than the mirror produced in Venice, it must be a masterpiece of God."

"Oh my god, there's so much more in here, and every side is so big and beautiful, my God, my heart can't breathe."

Seeing that the secret code in the box is full of mirrors, and the quality of each side is so perfect, Booker is about to go crazy.

Wait, Booker quickly grabbed his nephew's hand and asked anxiously: "Dear Tom, you mean, the one hundred thousand gold coins owed is for this box of magical mirrors?"

"Mostly," said Tom with a proud face. "My dear uncle, how is it? I haven't been cheated by others, have I?"

Booker is a Viscount, and he usually talks about elegance. Seeing his uncle's shocked face, as if he had never seen a big scene, Tom wanted to laugh but couldn't.

"It's worth it, it's worth it," Booker said excitedly, "42 years ago, the King of Venice gave the Queen of France a mirror. I was lucky enough to see it. It was smaller than this one, and the quality was even worse. The asking price was 15 francs. Many years have passed, and the mirrors produced in Venice have not improved much. If these mirrors appear in Europe, my God, it will drive all the princesses and ladies crazy."

"My dear nephew, how many mirrors are there in all?"

"Not much, only 100 yuan"

"100 yuan, so much, Almighty Lord, the Frank family is about to rise, such a perfect mirror, only [-] gold coins?"

"No, only eight hundred gold coins, dear uncle, I have another surprise, this time I found the best spices in the world, no, when I think of that taste, I will recall that incomparable delicacy, today I want to reveal For the first time, just take it as a reward to uncle for bringing me here, and uncle must lend me one hundred thousand gold coins after eating."

Booker said with a smile on his face: "As you wish, my dear Tom, if you can introduce your friend to me, I will be more than happy to help you return the gold coins owed to him with my own hands."

Those exquisite mirrors brought back, sold at ten or twenty times the price, will definitely cause the entire aristocratic class to snap up. If the official surnamed Lu can spend 100 yuan, he will definitely get more.

If they can establish a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with him, the Frank family will be unstoppable, and it is only a matter of time before they create brilliance.

Booker has already figured it out, after tasting the meat roasted by his nephew with new spices, the next thing to do is to gain the friendship and respect of that head coach Lu,

I heard from Tom that in order to put down the chaos, President Lu organized a large-scale army,

As long as it is an army, food and weapons are very important. By the way, there are also firearms. Daming people have always been fascinated by powerful firearms. If you give him some firearms yourself, you will definitely gain his respect and friendship.

When Tom was still ordering Charlie to prepare the barbecue, Booker had already figured out how to get close to Lu Changle.

When Uncle Tom was discussing Lu Changle happily, Lu Changle was riding a horse towards Changle Wharf.
When discussing how to fill the vacant positions in the county government office, Cheng Chao, the history of household affairs, and Xu Jiaming, the history of workshops, Lu Changsheng suddenly brought good news.

Cheng Liye came with a huge fleet, and the fleet stopped at Changle Wharf.

There are more than [-] large and small ships in total, with ironware, grain, iron, crude medicine and other materials on them, and the most surprising thing is that there are also [-] high-quality healthy horses.

The number was too large, and Cheng Liye, the young owner of Cheng's Commercial Firm, led the team personally. Lu Changsheng notified Lu Changle immediately,
There were so many people under his command at once, and Lu Changle was worrying about the lack of supplies. Hearing this, he was overjoyed, and rode out of the Yamen to welcome Cheng Liye in person.

(End of this chapter)