living in 16th century england

Chapter 42

Sure enough, he looked like he was being taken advantage of.

Matthew: "...how do you call it?"

The Portuguese was about 30 years old, with a narrow face and a handsome beard.

"You can call me Leon, Leon Farrell, a hereditary knight by King Manuel I of Portugal."

Matthew stretched out his hand and signaled, "Please sit down."

He signaled to his followers: "...Go get a deck of cards."

Leon pulled back the chair expressionlessly: "Mr. Hawkins, as far as I know, you are the owner of this tavern."

"So... use this deck of cards on me..."

Matthew clapped his hands, then pointed him with his fingers: "Ha... be careful!"

"But your reasons apply to me as well."

The quality of the cards in this era is very poor, and the material is even worse. There is no need to deliberately mark them, because they are all marks.

In fact, rolling the dice is the most common form of gambling.However, playing poker is fashionable, just like those days when bars and mobile phones first appeared, it was messy and expensive.

What if you don't want to spend a lot of money to buy a license?Simple ~ draw one.

Don't laugh~ According to records, even the king would ask someone to draw a picture.Because the quality of the painting is more than one grade better than the one you bought.This thing is so popular among the aristocracy, of course it has to pay taxes.Later, French playing cards had to be sold with tax stamps. In the 18th century, the British were more ruthless and monopolized the Ace of Spades. Manufacturers had to "buy" this card.

The two stared at each other, neither willing to give in, there was nothing they could do now.Ironically, no one offered to stop the game.

In the end, Matthew coughed: "Can you play bag scissors? Let's do it, win or lose with one game, in addition to tin ore, plus a £1000 jackpot!"

Everyone: "..."

Leon laughed and leaned forward: "Mr. Hawkins, I have a proposal, you can think about it."

Matthew smiled: "What is it?"

Leon: "I heard that your shipyard has a new type of ocean-going clipper. As long as you can sell me one, all problems will disappear. You can keep the tin ore."

Matthew was a little confused. Is this guy here to buy ore or a ship?Then he realized that two hundred tons of ore could not earn much money, but the little donkey was unique.The speed alone is enough to make this kind of noble businessman jealous.

These days, who hasn't met pirates a few times?

Matthew: "...This kind of ship is temporarily out of stock."

Leon: "No, no, there is one on the pier, I... think it's pretty good."

Matthew stared: "That won't work, that's..."

Leon: "350 pounds."

Matthew suddenly got stuck: "..."

But he didn't react slowly: "I believe you can see it too... The original intended buyer of that ship is the King of England... It's exquisitely crafted, well-decorated, and expensive in materials. There's even a bronze mirror in the captain's cabin."

Leon: "...Really? Sure enough, there is a reason... £400."

Matthew was moved.Immediately, he became vigilant. There is no patent protection these days. Does this guy want to copy it when he buys it back?
He thought for a while, and tentatively said, "Is that Karak outside yours? ... Mine is only 120 tons."

Leon pondered, and decided to tell the truth. Anyway, this kind of thing has been circulating for a long time. Even if this kid doesn't know now, he will know in the future: "Have you heard of ~ Priest John?"

"Watt?" Matthew said with a dull face, "... Isn't that a legend?"

The so-called sacrificial king John appeared in Marco Polo's travel notes.It is a famous European legend from the 12th to the 17th century.Roughly speaking, east of Arabia and Persia, there is a Christian country.

For the purpose of the religious war, the Catholic Church believes that it is very important to find this Eastern ally.

However, Matthew believes that this is nonsense from the Holy See, because one of the reasons for the Crusades back then was "to save the brothers in the East", so a "brother" had to be fabricated.This is what it looks like if you spread rumors.

Leon: "I used to think it was a legend...but the Holy See ordered all Portuguese ships sailing east to search for this country along the way."

Matthew was puzzled: "What does this have to do with you?"

Leon Qi said: "Don't you know how long it will take to travel to India?... Our country has occupied Goa. This is the biggest news in Europe."

Matthew: "No no no, I mean, why are you going?"

Leon smiled: "According to the Pope's decree, the East belongs to Portugal. As a Portuguese nobleman, of course I will go to find this country. This is a great opportunity. I only need to make a trip or two, and then... I can retire."

When it came to the latter, he was a little stuck, wondering if he had slipped his tongue?
A trip or two?Nima, are you actually going to be a second-hand trafficker?In an instant, Matthew's thoughts ran wild and almost short-circuited.

He really didn't want to go to the east. On the one hand, the risk factor is too high, and on the other hand, it is because of the Pope's meridian.The third is that there is nowhere to resupply along the way.

Thousands of miles sailing in India, non-Portuguese ships will certainly not be able to take advantage of the supply points set up by the Portuguese.

In addition, there is no way to know how reliable this little donkey is. It seems that it can be said that it will die as many times as it wants.

But the Little Donkey, unlike the Karak, can outrun all the ships of this era under fully loaded conditions, which means whether it is a Barbary pirate, or an Arab in the Indian Ocean, or whoever in Southeast Asia.can be regarded as air.

This is why Leon insisted on buying a little donkey.

Isn't this person in front of you a chance to come to your door?In the blink of an eye, Matthew thought of a proposal that Leon couldn't refuse.

He tried hard to control his expression: "...I'm sorry, this boat is a bit important to me, so I can't sell it."

Leon: "... £500?"

Matthew smiled: "It's not a question of money, but because I often need to go to London, which is my special ship. I just go to trade when I have nothing to do."

"If I sell to you, others will think that I have become a poor seller, which is not a good reputation."

Leon asked: "You still care about this?"

Matthew's face turned black, Falk, what does this mean?
Leon smiled and said, "Don't get me wrong, it's just that you have a bad reputation because you eat alone in Plymouth now."

Matthew's face is like the bottom of a pot: "I clearly mark the price, and I don't look at the order. At least it is much better than the Hanseatic League?"

Leon: "That's right."

A barmaid brought two glasses of beer: "How about a beer, Mr. Hawkins?"

Matthew: "Let it go."

The waitress put down the wine glass, handed it to Leon in a coquettish way, and left with her waist twisted.

Everyone looked sideways.

Leon turned his head back: "The beauty you recruited from there...I haven't seen it last time..."

Matthew: "New here... There are always women who want to come back... I just give them a chance."

Leon: "If this one doesn't work, I see that there are many other ones under construction in your shipyard, and I can order one."

Matthew immediately reset the price of the little donkey: "Yes, 400 pounds a piece. Pay half of the deposit first."

Leon was not calm anymore: "Half?"

Matthew didn't answer, but said to all kinds of people around him, "Everyone is gone, let's go and have a glass of wine. I'll treat you."

No one is a fool, this is to avoid people's eyes and ears.Gary thought, the baron is really extraordinary, a business is 400 pounds.

Matthew whispered: "Actually, I don't want to sell any of them. To tell you the truth, some of my boats are too old and need to be updated, so according to the plan, there will be no spare boats in the next two years."

This is absolutely true, and Leon immediately believed it.

"The reason why I sold it to you is because I can give you two, but one of them belongs to me, and you can take my boat to Southeast Asia for a trip or two. If you agree, the little donkey will charge you the cost price, 200 pounds .As long as 4 months later, they can go into the water."

Leon stood up quickly, stared at Matthew for a few seconds, but sat down slowly.

Because he discovered that this actually did him no loss, it was just a delivery to the baron.

While hesitating, Matthew added: "The price I can get the spices in Lisbon is the European market price, but the price you can sell in Lisbon is obviously lower than the market price. Because you don't have the energy to sell them one pound at a time. sold by the pound."

"But I have it, so I can give you a higher wholesale price. You earn more and I spend less. Overcoming those vampires will be a win-win situation."

A thunderbolt exploded in Leon's mind.Fuck, this earns at least 20% more.

16世纪初，里斯本胡椒价格约为每50公斤18英镑。120吨就是43200英镑。这是一个恐怖的数字。

Later, due to the influx of a large number of peppers, the price fell by 4 times.Even so, ten thousand pounds.Even if the whole process takes a year, the average monthly income is 900 pounds, which is far more than Matthew's toss in Europe.

If Leon can get 20% more, even if the price after the sharp drop is calculated, he can earn more than 120 pounds for every 2000 tons.This damn is everyone knows how to choose.This number is enough to buy anyone, maybe including the king.

Buying the Pope's position may not work.This price is recorded ~ 1500 pounds of gold, about 680 kilograms.

Leon no longer hesitated, and immediately said: "Deal!"

When the two shook hands, they were already smiling like old friends for many years.

Capitalists naturally unite.With interests as the link, their unity is far beyond the imagination of the world.Here is a ready-made example.

Leon thought for a while: "Matthew...are you married?"

Matthew: "...is engaged."

Leon: "...This is too regrettable."

Matthew felt weird, so he asked angrily: "Leon, are you widowed?"

Leon: "..."

The two suddenly looked at each other and smiled, raised their glasses and said, "Do it."

(End of this chapter)