I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 454 The financial crisis comes early

Chapter 484

The arrival of the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet in Europe was the most sensational event in Europe.Of course, what is even more sensational is that the Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet, with its powerful fleet from the east and merchant ships loaded with cargo, docked at the port of Madrid, the capital of Spain.

The Prime Minister of the Spanish Empire, Duke Olivares, held a huge welcome ceremony and led the honor guard of the three armed forces to welcome the arrival of Deng Xianwu, commander of the Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet, and Xie Jinglin, cabinet member and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Duke Olivares delivered an important speech at the welcoming ceremony. He said: “The Spanish Empire welcomes friends from the East. Ming people can enjoy the treatment of Spaniards in the Spanish Empire, do business and travel freely, and have diplomatic immunity. "

Of course, Xie Jinglin euphemistically said: "The Ming Dynasty does not need this diplomatic immunity. Although the Ming Dynasty is willing to become the friendliest friend of the Spanish Empire, the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty are different from those of Spain, especially the people and women are more conservative, so the people of the Ming Dynasty are In Spain, Spanish laws will be resolutely enforced, and similarly, Spaniards in Ming Dynasty must also abide by Ming Dynasty laws!"

For now, Ming Dynasty's diplomacy and trade are dominated by civilians in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. However, in Europe, they are still dominated by the government. But the problem is that the Spanish Empire is a mixture of civilians and officials. The quality of Spanish diplomats, troops, and merchants is poor. Neither dare to compliment.

They have committed countless cases of rape and rape of women in Africa. Even black people can talk about it, let alone people from Ming Dynasty?If they commit a crime, in Ming Dynasty, those women who were harmed are just human lives, and there is a high probability that they will not have the dignity to live.

But it was different in the Spanish Empire. As soon as they landed, there were countless Spanish girls who were willing to go to bed with them.

Through the introduction of the translator, Xie Jinglin realized that the Spanish Empire at this time was like the Ming Dynasty at the same time in history, and it was the last glory of the empire.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, which fought hard against the slaves and was eventually usurped by the slaves, the Spanish Empire was the same. In 1581, the League of Utrecht announced the deposed Philip II (then King of Spain) and established the United Provinces Republic.Thereafter, there was a long war between the Netherlands and Spain.

Due to the destruction of the Spanish Armada, the Spanish Empire's national power began to decline rapidly. In 1621 AD (the first year of the Apocalypse), Count Olivares (later promoted to Duke) succeeded his uncle Don Balthasar as Prime Minister of Spain.

Olivares prioritized the destruction of the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands (the Netherlands). He believed that the wealth of the Netherlands was the source of opposition to the rule of the Habsburg dynasty. Dutch entrepreneurs and colonial pioneers around the world were eroding the foundations of Spanish and Portuguese hegemony.

World history often has very striking similarities. The Spanish Empire's economy was originally on the verge of collapse due to financial problems, and the continuous war seemed to have exhausted the last strength of the Spanish Empire just like the Ming Empire.

Like the Ming Empire, the Spanish Empire only had kings and governments with no money, but private capitalists and nobles, including merchants engaged in maritime trade, all had massive wealth.

Although the Ming Dynasty's ocean fleet was the first to land in Venice, the problem is that Venice is too small. A small country with a population of only 30 million people is only equivalent to a prefecture of the Ming Dynasty. Some counties even have a population larger than Venice. Also high.But the Spanish Empire was different. They had strong purchasing power.

Ship after ship of silk, ship after ship of porcelain, ship after ship of steel and swords, ship after ship of armor, shields, grenades with incendiary black powder, potato liquor, cider, wine, Ham, canned goods, spices, perfumes, including soap, have become hot commodities.

Especially perfume, which can mask body odor, has become a hot commodity in Spain, and demand exceeds supply. Spanish nobles visited Deng Xianwu, Xie Jinglin and others one after another.Of course, their purpose was to bypass the country and trade directly with the Ming Dynasty.

What they wanted was commercial power in the colonies around the world, not Spain itself.

This is excellent news for the Ming Dynasty, which means that the Ming Dynasty can once again have a vast product dumping ground. In addition to the traditional luxury goods of the Ming Dynasty, such as silk, brocade, silk satin, tea, porcelain, etc., many industrial products are also deeply loved by the Ming Dynasty. Spaniards like it.

The ocean-going fleet arrived in Europe with 120 taels of four-wheeled carriages. Twenty of them were sold in Venice, and an order for 150 carriages was left. After these carriages were manufactured, they would be transported to Venice by Catherine's fleet.

In Spain, these one hundred four-wheeled carriages were sold out, and the price premium was more than ten times, especially the customized carriages decorated with onyx, gold, and silver jewelry. In fact, the most expensive one was ordered by the Count of Moncloa, and the order amount was Forty-eight thousand taels of silver.

You must know that even the Ming Dynasty's most precious battleship, the Giant Shark-class, cost only 5000 taels of silver.

And a four-wheeled carriage, made entirely of steel with rubber tires on the wheels, cost 8000 taels of silver. The Liaodong Carriage Factory could easily make a net profit of 7000 taels of silver.

Of course, the Spanish Empire wanted to use the Ming Dynasty's tiger skin to maintain its rule. Others didn't know it, but Cheng Shijie knew that the Spanish Empire would collapse in 1643, which meant that the world's first empire on which the sun never set was even earlier than the Ming Dynasty. One year to perish.

The fall of Spain was the formal rise of the Netherlands. In order to suppress the rise of the Netherlands and Britain, and to shed more blood in Europe, Cheng Shijie instructed Deng Xianwu to hold military exercises with the Spanish Empire in Europe to deter hostile forces.

In the northwest direction of Madrid, about thirty miles away from the city center, the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish Empire held an army exercise. Of course, this was a unilateral performance of the Ming Dynasty Royal Army.

The Spanish Empire was worthy of being a barbarian. They directly transferred more than [-] prisoners of war and distributed weapons to the prisoners of war, allowing them to attack the defense lines of the Ming Royal Army.

Eight hundred Ming troops fought against more than [-] prisoners of war from various European countries, and the prisoners of war were heavily armed.

Following the order, more than [-] prisoners of war rushed towards the Ming army formation with weapons in hand.

Ying Qiu, the major officer in charge of commanding the Ming Army, looked disdainful: "That's it..."

The translator smiled and said: "Dear Fang, don't worry, the Spanish Army will protect you and will never let you suffer any harm..."

Before they could speak, the sixteen rocket launchers adjusted their firing angles.

Of course, in order to avoid overstimulating the Spaniards and to dump outdated weapons, they are now using the first-generation rocket launcher, which is also the original version of the Fire Dragon Izuku. The ultimate range is only 800 meters, and the effective range is about 500 meters.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Sixteen six-unit rocket launchers began to fire, and a scream that made one's hair stand on end was heard. Air waves rolled, smoke flames streaked through the sky, and rocket launcher shells streaked across the sky, creating a terrifying sea of ​​fire among the prisoners of war. I don't know. How many prisoners of war were blown to pieces and even became flying trapeze artists.

Suffering from this blow, the prisoner-of-war attacking phalanx inevitably became chaotic and screamed repeatedly. Then, the Ming Army held bayonets and began a hand-to-hand charge...

Then, there was no more, the battle was basically over.

This exercise made the Spanish Empire's military realize that the Ming Dynasty was stronger than the Spanish Empire in land warfare by more than 01:30 points. Of course, they also held maritime military exercises.

Although the Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet only had thirty warships, they exerted earth-shattering power. More than a dozen target ships were sunk by the first round of artillery. Even the Dutch and British observation ships were "accidentally" hit. Shen.

This accident was what the Spanish Empire wanted to see, but it was what the Netherlands and Britain least wanted to see. A new round of war of words started again.

Deng Xianwu looked at the Dutch and British representatives and said: "During our exercise, we clearly stipulated that the exercise area is a military restricted area. Your warships broke into our exercise area. This is a provocation to the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy. You must give us Ming Dynasty A reasonable explanation, if this explanation does not satisfy our Ming Empire, we will bear the consequences at our own risk!"

After the dark-faced Dutch and British representatives left, Deng Xianwu said with a guilty conscience: "Did I go too far?"

"This is in line with their code of conduct. Just wait, they will compensate for our losses!"

Deng Xianwu was stunned and said: "What have we lost?"

"We used four artillery shells. Of course, they must not know how much we consumed. According to their level, hundreds of artillery shells can sink a warship, which is bad luck!"

Xie Jinglin said: "If you don't pay a few hundred thousand taels of silver, let them look good!"

As a result, the Dutch paid compensation.

A total of 150 million Dutch guilders.The UK paid [-] pounds in compensation.

This made Deng Xianwu's three views explode.

"How is it possible that this can still happen?"

"Our past style of conduct will definitely not work in this land!"

Xie Jinglin smiled and said: "Just wait, I need to report to the country!"

In fact, while Deng Xianwu was on a goodwill visit to Madrid, more than [-] people who had originally dispersed in Venice began to go deep into Milan, Florence, Pisa and other city-states under the leadership of translators and Venetians and Italians.

These intelligence officers originally wanted to put on makeup for reconnaissance, but it turned out that there was no need for it. Wherever they went, invitations from the upper class came one after another, and everyone wanted to see the elegance of the emissary from the East with their own eyes.

The talents of these intelligence officers were brought into full play. Their handsome and elegant appearance attracted the attention of ladies and ladies. Their excellent eloquence never failed in the confrontation with the best debaters in Italy. And the oriental culture he displayed The profoundness and profoundness even impressed the governors of the city-states who had experienced a lot.

For a long time, when Europeans think of the East, the first thing they think of is wealth, very rich, as if there is nothing else but money. The second thing is terror. The Mongols used mountains of heads and rivers dyed red with blood to treat this kind of wealth. Fear was implanted in the marrow of Europeans and could never be eradicated.

But the arrival of the Ming Dynasty made them realize that in addition to wealth and the terrifying Mongolian cavalry, the East also had a splendid civilization. This ancient civilization had been passed down for thousands of years and had not declined. On the contrary, it had become more and more brilliant.

This is what the Italians do. They have always regarded themselves as the heirs of the Roman Empire. The level of civilization of each city-state far exceeds that of Eastern, Central and Western Europe, let alone Northern Europe.

Even if the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries become more and more powerful, Italians can still despise them and call them country bumpkins and nouveau riche, because these countries are too far behind them in terms of culture.

As for other countries, they are not even qualified to be despised by Italians.But today they encountered a more glorious civilization, and there was nothing else to feel except wonder and yearning.

The splendid culture of various Italian city-states also opened the eyes of the representatives of the Ming Dynasty.The Roman Empire has long since perished, but the fire left by the Roman Empire has been passed on, and it can be seen everywhere in Italy.

The grandeur of the Colosseum in ancient Rome, the superb craftsmanship of the ancient roads still in use thousands of years later, also amazed them, as well as the gorgeous cathedral, Italian wine and food, and the art displayed in the square. …

While the ocean-going fleet was still conducting military exchanges in Madrid, Cheng Shijie in Liaodong had already received intelligence from Europe.

This was handed over by Chen Dayong. The first batch of merchant ships quickly sold out of goods in Venice City, and then purchased a large amount of goods in Venice. After being fully loaded, they were ready to return.

What these intelligence officers saw and heard, as well as the reports of Deng Xianwu and Xie Jinglin, also returned home with this fleet of seven ships.

Cheng Shijie was lying comfortably in the hot spring pool. Gu Ziyi, Zhu Weiti's personal maid, beside him, said thoughtfully: "The gods today have long since declined to the Roman Empire. They are the same as our Ming Dynasty. In our Han Dynasty, they were the Roman Empire. Although they are still called the Holy Roman Empire, they are already a completely different race from the Romans, just like the Khitans who stole China..."

Although Cheng Shijie did not open his eyes, he continued: "Read it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Gu Ziyi thought to himself: "It's a good thing that I didn't become the emperor, otherwise, I would have been a foolish king!"

"It is a pity that our envoys only saw the fierceness and bellicosity of the Romans at that time, and did not have a deep understanding of their culture, art, and laws. Today, we are surprised to find that it is so great and glorious. They are His attainments in architectural engineering are unparalleled, and his talent in mechanics is equally amazing..."

Cheng Shijie really has the potential to be a faint king, and he actually fell asleep.

With this report, more content was revealed. Of course, countries are pursuing the goods of the Ming Dynasty. Can you believe that a carriage can be hundreds of times more expensive than in the Ming Dynasty?

A sword that could barely sell for three or four taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty could be sold for hundreds of taels of silver in Europe, and luxury goods made of silver or gold jewelry could be sold for hundreds or thousands of taels of silver.

Especially the plate armor of the Ming Dynasty, which is of good quality, beautiful, light and strong in defense, is loved by European knights. Especially the armor ordered by the nobles, with the emblems of various families, is worth hundreds or even thousands. Two silver dollars, the original Jiafang Department has already stopped production.

After all, the Ming Dynasty did not need to use armor. No matter how thick the armor was, it was almost useless in front of bullets. But the problem was that Europe still liked armor, especially the Ming Dynasty's Mingguang Armor.

Of course, the number is not large, ranging from hundreds to thousands to dozens, and the cumulative total is more than 3.

Mosquitoes are meat no matter how small they are.

In addition to weapons and armor, Ming Dynasty furniture was also highly praised, especially the hollowed-out and carved mahogany furniture, which became the new favorite of the royal family and nobles.

The garment industry has received a large number of orders, including hundreds of thousands of ready-made garment orders worth tens of millions of taels of silver.

And boots, and shoes, and woolen cloth.

Only then did Cheng Shijie realize that the Little Ice Age was actually a problem faced by the whole world, not just the Ming Dynasty. It is very cold in the UK now, and it is also cold in Spain. They all need light, breathable, comfortable and warm clothes, and woolen cloth came out. Guomen has become the new favorite of the European mainstream market.

Affected by this ocean fleet,

More and more businessmen are sailing to Europe, and the waterways between the Eurasian continent are gradually becoming more lively. There are also many students crossing the ocean to study in Europe. The connections between the Eurasian continent are getting closer and closer. The achievements since the European Renaissance It was quickly absorbed by scholars from the East and popularized in the East at an alarming speed.

Then the Europeans were stunned to find that many of the achievements they had not yet accepted had been promoted in ancient China and became a huge thrust to promote the rapid development of the entire country.

Achievements in the fields of geometry, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, etc. were what Ming Dynasty was most concerned about. However, Europe did not have much awareness of patents at this time. They were quickly absorbed by Ming students who had an almost infinite desire for knowledge. Then the students continued to build on the achievements of their teachers. Research, became a school of its own, and finally achieved achievements that amazed teachers.

Chinese people are not the smartest, but they are definitely the best at learning and improving.In the 50s, the Soviet Union only led China for less than ten years. China just relied on what it learned in those years to transform an agricultural country into an industrial power.

In the 80s, the United States led China for less than ten years, and then China became a crusher of developed countries...

The Italians didn't know this. They looked forward to communicating with Ming Dynasty, earning huge wealth, and getting what they needed from Ming Dynasty. They had been looking forward to this moment 2000 years ago, and now their dream has finally become a reality.

While Europe was immersed in enjoying the luxury goods from the Ming Dynasty, they would soon discover that the goods from the Ming Dynasty were of good quality, cheaper and more durable than those made by them.

So here’s the question, if it’s cheaper to buy it than make it yourself, do you still need to make it again?

Under the impact of the Ming Dynasty's commodities, the world's first economic bubble soon appeared. This was also the world's first financial crisis, because the Ming Dynasty's commodity impact arrived early.

PS: Due to physical reasons, I haven’t been able to update quickly recently. I hope everyone can forgive me. Lao Cheng is getting older and his health is not as good as before. The job of a writer is too damaging to the body. If time could be turned back, Lao Cheng would rather not fall into the trap. No money. Earn it and cross the body.

(End of this chapter)