Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 42 Trading Village Society
Lin Hai said noncommittally: "No? Does the Marquis think this place is not good enough?"

Miguel shook his head and said: "It's not that you're not good enough, it's that you don't have the strength."

Lin Hai said seriously: "Master Hou, please tell me carefully."

Miguel said: "As I said, this is the only way to Nagasaki and Manila. No matter who occupies it, it will make the Dutch and the Spanish in Manila restless, and their merchant ships will There’s always a threat.”

Lin Haidao: "But didn't the Marquis just say that if this place is turned into a fortress..."

"The premise is that you have enough money to turn this place into a fortress." Miguel interrupted Lin Hai, "And any fortress must be defended by soldiers. If the imaginary enemy is the Dutch or Spanish, at least a thousand trained soldiers are needed here. There are so many soldiers stationed on the ground, and the deer skins produced from chicken coops alone cannot support this expense."

Lin Hai was silent for a while, and then said: "If I can still obtain a large amount of raw silk from Fujian or Zhejiang, and operate the re-export trade here to Nagasaki and Hirado, does the Marquis think it is feasible?"

Miguel replied: "It depends on how big your raw silk trade can be. But if the deer skins in the chicken coop can't feed the troops stationed here, why bother with this? From Fujian to Nagasaki The raw silk trade was already thriving and did not require the establishment of a colony here to develop it.”

Lin Hai smiled and said nothing, thinking that it was because you didn't know there were mines nearby, including gold, copper, silver, coal, sulfur, alum, and cinnabar mines.

If you don't consider these minerals, Miguel is actually right.

In the original history, the Spanish sent troops to occupy Keelung in the sixth year of the Apocalypse because they were repeatedly plundered by the Dutch.However, due to a poor relationship with Zheng Zhilong and a falling out with the Japanese, this colony has been unable to make ends meet since its establishment and requires continuous investment from Manila.

The fortress built by the Spanish on Sheliao Island was far more complete than Miguel said. However, due to Manila's continuous reduction of the number of garrison troops, only 13 men were left at the Battle of Keelung in the 400th year of Chongzhen.In the end, the Dutch won the war in just six days and successfully captured Keelung.

While talking, the Bowang had stopped in the harbor.

As soon as we anchored, two canoes rushed over.The canoe was about three to four feet long and more than ten feet wide. It was hollowed out of a camphor tree that had grown for hundreds of years.

"Guests from afar, welcome to the chicken coop." The canoe that approached first came out with a sentence in southern Fujian, and then another sentence in Japanese. Lin Hai guessed that it also meant welcome.

The speaker was standing on the canoe. He was about in his early twenties. He was wearing a deerskin on his upper body and two fig leaves around his lower body. His hair was only left on the top of his head, and it was spread around the back of his head like a tutu.

The most eye-catching thing was his ears. A large round hole was punched in both earlobes. A short wooden stick as thick as a thumb was placed in the hole, which stretched his earlobes so much that it looked painful.

However, this man had long been used to it and did not feel any pain. He smiled when he spoke, revealing two yellow teeth that were missing.Besides him, there were several rowers in the boat, all of whom had similar shapes.

This man didn't look like a Chinese or Japanese, but he could speak fluent Chinese and Japanese, which was really beyond Lin Hai's expectations.

"Thank you, are you from Jin Baoli or from Big Chicken Coop?" Miguel shouted to the canoe in Cantonese.

"Jin Baoli, I'm from Jin Baoli Club, my name is Ou Wan." The man switched to Cantonese and grinned at Miguel, then turned to mutter a few dialects to the canoe behind him, his eyes filled with laughter. With a hint of sarcasm.

There was also a native standing in the canoe behind, and there were several seated paddlers, dressed similarly to the Owan group.

The man standing looked unhappy when he heard Ou Wan's words.He first mumbled something back to Ou Wan, then squeezed out a smile and shouted to Bowang in Cantonese: "Guests from the Ming Dynasty, after you finish the transaction with Jin Baoli, you are also welcome to come to our big chicken coop." "Easy to say." Miguel smiled and waved to him.

So the canoe behind was rowed away, and Ou Wan, who had spoken before, said: "Then, all guests from the Ming Dynasty, please come with me."

Miguel said to Lin Hai: "Let's follow this Ouwan and go to Jinbaoli Club first."

Lin Hai wondered: "What's going on with these two canoes?"

Miguel laughed: "They are competing for the opportunity to be the first to trade with us."

"Using canoe racing?" Lin Hai recalled that the two canoes seemed to be parked together, and they rowed over at the same time after the Bowang docked.

Miguel said: "Yes, as you can see, the ship Ouwan won."

Lin Hairuo realized something: "In other words, these two boats represent the two village communities you just mentioned. These two village communities compete with each other in business, but overall the relationship is relatively harmonious, so they adopt peaceful methods Come and decide the order of trade here.”

Miguel said: "Yes, these two village communities rely entirely on trade to survive. For them, canoe racing is the best mechanism, which not only avoids fights between the two village communities, but also allows outsiders to It is difficult for maritime merchants to take advantage of their competition to raise prices.”

Lin Hai finally understood what Miguel said in Yilan. Seeing the scene in front of him, he had no doubt that the Kavalan people's trading partners were the two villages in Keelung.

No wonder the profit margin of Yilan trade is as high as ten times. Compared with the group of people in front of them, the Kavalan people are simply novices in business and can only be exploited by others.

Lin Hai smiled bitterly: "It seems that the next transaction is not so exciting."

Miguel joked: "It's not that bad. Except for the Indian saltpeter in the ballast, you can empty all the cargo holds here. Aren't we leaving Formosa soon? Those gadgets can be found elsewhere. It’s worthless.”

While he was talking, the Bowang had already followed Ouwan's canoe and stopped in the harbor of Sheliao Island.

"Guests from the Ming Dynasty, please follow me to the island. Our Jinbaoli Club is right in front. Do you want to do business first or eat first? We have delicious dishes here, as well as local millet wine. Both are fine. Pay the bill in silver or copper coins.”

Listening to Ou Wan's enthusiastic introduction, Lin Hai had the illusion that he had arrived at a tourist attraction in later generations. Is this a one-stop service?

At noon that day, the crew of the Bowang had dinner at the Jinbaoli Club.After wandering around on the bumpy sea for more than half a month, I can finally have a down-to-earth meal, and the food is not bad.

Delicious sea fish, tender venison, and golden roasted Lanyu pig... Although the cooking skills are not exquisite, they are better than the freshness, which is much better than the cured meat on the ship.

Just as Lin Hai was enjoying his meal, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Brother Lin, is that you?"

Lin Hai turned around and saw a familiar face.

(End of this chapter)