Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1268 The Striking Fleet: Sweeping

The north wind is gradually picking up. This season is a good time for the merchant ships returning from India to return to Europe.If God is blessed, if there are no pirates or bad weather on the road, then you will definitely be able to make a fortune, even for the bitter sailors on each ship-sailors can generally store a certain amount of money in their personal chests. Although the cargo does not conform to the rules, it is an unspoken rule and is acquiesced by the captain and officers.

At this time, the fleet of the people on the east coast was also cruising in the coastal waters of East Africa, capturing every detail of the sea with sharp eyes, trying to find the Portuguese merchant ships sailing to Mozambique Island, and preparing to supplement their own war expenses.

"Kambay is on the side of Persia. It is adjacent to Rajput. It faces the sea on one side and borders on the Great Deccan and Delhi on the other. It is rich in barley, wheat, corn, vegetables, fruits, and there are many horses. , elephants, falcons, the land is densely populated, on the coast and in the interior there are beautiful cities and great villages, it has knights, a lot of firearms and armaments of all kinds, and many horses in horse clothes, very beautiful armor, sharp Beautiful spears, long swords, daggers, all beautifully decorated. The main cities along the coast are Surat, Rundal, Diu, and the ports are Daman, Goa, Diu, etc. The ruler of Goa is called Malik Yaz , a Moor from Persia..." In the Governor's Mansion of Mozambique Island, a Portuguese woman with most of her chest exposed was reading a note in a melodious voice. What I have seen and heard in India, I don’t know why there is a manuscript here in Mozambique Island, probably some governor left it here.

Well, although most of this notebook was written in the last century, it is still of great reference significance in terms of trading commodities, and this is why Li Yi wants to understand the content of this book.To put it bluntly, if people on the east coast want to develop Indian trade someday, then those merchants, sailors, and soldiers who are about to be sent there should read this notebook first, which will help them to develop trade there. Work pays off.

By the way, the Portuguese woman in front of me is the wife of the former governor. It is said that she is still a baron in Portugal. She is about [-] years old, which is a graceful age.After her husband was executed—because he participated in signing the inquisition order against the sailors on the east coast—this woman wisely took refuge in Li Yi, no, this society has already begun to recommend herself.

"Let's get straight to the point. When, how many ships, and what goods will they carry come to Mozambique? I only care about these. As for the narratives of travel notes, don't tell me." Li Yi touched the baroness's fat chest Hip, said impatiently in fluent Portuguese.

The woman twisted her body when she heard the words. She had just been ordered to take a bath before, and now she was still a little uncomfortable. She quickly flipped through the notes a few times, looked at them, and said: "There are a lot of shellac, indigo, It is easy to sell in any city; there are medicines such as woody incense, catechu (a natural aromatic oil essence), opium, capillary, borax, etc., which are very popular in Mozambique, Angola and Brazil; Carnelian, gemstones, fine textiles, cumin seeds, fennel, wild fennel, fenugreek, styrax oil, etc. are available at the fairs, which are easily sold in Lisbon go……"

"Goa—including the neighboring Deccan states—has a smaller variety of goods, but they are very plentiful, good quality, and popular, such as calicoes, muslins, soft cottons (in Europe and Asia), betel nuts (Indian hazelnuts), pearls, etc. While on the Malabar coast, there are copra, coconut oil, coco peel, khalila, palm sugar, pepper, ginger, tamarind, etc. , especially the last four condiments, which are very popular in Lisbon, and many people like to buy them. The rigging made of coconut fiber is also used by many people in Mozambique. These are very good things and can be sold at a good price... "

"There are also some pepper, raw silk, opium, sandalwood, white porcelain, brocade, fine carpets, etc. bought from the Coromandel coast; the best ruby, musk, benzoin, mustard, etc. bought from Arakan and other places; Shellac, benzoin, ivory, cinnamon, pepper, white sandalwood, realgar, brocade, camphor, feather gauze, musk, cinnabar, damask, agarwood bought from Siam and Burma, as well as sulfur and saltpetre bought from Annan , lead and other commodities, the quantity is very large and the value is very high..."

"Hehe, there are a lot of goods. I thought you bought opium, pepper, perfume, and gemstones all day in India. There are so many tricks. How many ships usually come to Mozambique Island?" Li Yi's hand flickered. Kneading the baroness's fat buttocks hard, the woman was a little panting, maybe in her past life, she has never experienced such a shameful thing?

“No less than… less than 14 boats, most of them come to Mozambique. Because… because this is the only place where the boats can be repaired so that they can cross the Cape of Good Hope safely and arrive at… Benguela or Luanda – well, sometimes There will still be people who secretly go to San Salvador, but not many." The baroness blushed violently, and said with some difficulty—of course, there may be elements of acting, who knows.

Fourteen boats!Li Yi stood up excitedly, these are fourteen merchant ships full of cargo!Calculated according to the tonnage of the Portuguese ships (the ships built by the Iberians are generally one size larger than those of the Dutch East India Company), this may have a transportation tonnage of 160 to [-] tons. What a huge sum wealth!Grandma is a bear, no wonder Portugal, a small country with a population of [-] million, always has endless money to spend. It turns out that the trade profits during this period are too great!

The huge profits from the Eastern trade, the ivory, gold and slaves on the African coast, and the massive income from Brazilian sugar, cotton, sumac, and tobacco, these are the main sources of the huge income of the Portuguese royal family and big businessmen!No wonder they can recruit a large number of sailors from Europe, can continue to build ships, can continue to buy cannons, can continue to spend money, and can maintain a large-scale elite army to invade Spain. Co-authoring is a lot of money!Nima, such a small country controls so many territories in the world and controls so many lucrative trade routes. Isn’t this a child holding money to live in a busy market?Now, let us people from the east coast teach you, everything is illusory without strength, Iberians!

On December 12th, Christmas in the Western calendar, warships on the east coast patrolling the waters south of Sambibar Island spotted a ship sailing along the coast from north to south.Flying the flag of Portugal, the ship is estimated to have a tonnage of more than 25, and is sailing towards Mozambique at a high speed of six knots.

After receiving the report, Captain Morie eel commanded the battleship "Fubo Wanli" to approach it immediately. They lowered most of the sails, used steam power to slowly approach at a low speed of 1-2 knots, and continuously fired warning shots. Ask the Portuguese to stop and surrender.

If someone interviewed the Portuguese sailors on this ship at that time, it is conceivable that these people's hearts must have collapsed at that time-a powerful warship with 66 artillery pieces came to rob, and it was able to sail against the wind and the current (which means the wind faster than their boat when going down the river), what else could they do?Escaping and not being able to escape, resistance is courting death, probably the only way left is to surrender, right?

Therefore, after a period of confusion, the Portuguese on this ship surrendered without ambition, which surprised the officers and soldiers on the east coast who were ready to fight.Soon, they sent out small boats, carrying dozens of troops and boarding the Portuguese merchant ships.An hour later, after a senior naval officer on the "Fubo Wanli" also passed by, the ship raised its sails again, still following the original route, still heading for the original destination Mozambique Island, of course They don't know what the situation on the island is now, but they know that it must have been controlled by the people on the east coast.

God!Many Portuguese sailors started praying immediately, have you abandoned your faithful believer?Even the impregnable island of Mozambique fell, and it still fell into the hands of the hateful yellow-skinned heathen...

Before the army soldiers left, they also gave Mo Lieel a rough list of goods, including 25 pieces of high-end Indian textiles such as soft cotton cloth, fine cloth, and printed cloth, more than [-] pieces of oriental brocade, and [-] pieces of raw silk. In addition, there are very scattered cargoes, such as indigo, opium, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, mustard, musk, perfume/sesame oil, precious stones, ivory, etc., all of which add up to a total value of more than [-] Ten thousand yuan (of course, this is converted according to the market price, and it must be discounted if it is really handled), which is extremely astonishing.

Although Molie Eel was limited by the lack of market information and didn't know how much the goods were worth, his intuition told him that even if the ship was pulled to the east coast where the market capacity was somewhat insufficient compared to Europe, he could still sell a very Amazing numbers.Not to mention that because they have not participated in the Indian trade, these exotic but very popular products rarely appear in the domestic market on the east coast. Maybe they can really sell for 30 million yuan, who knows for sure!

On December 12, another Portuguese merchant ship was captured by people from the east coast in the waters near Lamu. In addition, there are some lead ores in the ballast bottom-these are also very valuable, lead can be used for rifle bullets and grape bullets, and silver should be extracted from the ore.In general, although the total value of the goods on this ship is not as good as that of the previous one, it still looks like 26 to 20 to [-] yuan, and similarly, if it is sold on the east coast, it might sell for [-] yuan The above high price is definitely a big gain.

On December 12, people from the east coast "playing" in the island of Mozambique also "picked up" two Portuguese merchant ships for nothing.The two ships set sail from Diu and arrived in Mozambique after more than a month of voyage. They only stopped in Mogadishu for one day (loading hundreds of black slaves in the cabin). The captains had no idea that Mozambique Island had After changing hands, he rushed into the harbor to repair the leaking ship deck.

People on the east coast still remember the "stupid appearance" when they entered the port. A potbellied businessman jumped directly onto the pier, and then ordered someone to repair the ship quickly, because the palm sugar he put on the bottom of the ship as ballast had been soaked and melted. He couldn't stand the damage to his property, so he continued to find skilled craftsmen who could fill the gaps in the ship's planks.

However, when he saw seven or eight soldiers from the island and the Eight Banners arresting him under the command of the people from the east coast, this fellow woke up like a dream, and immediately collapsed on the ground.Because only he knows how many amazingly valuable goods are loaded in the cabins of the two ships: 59.2 pieces of fine Indian calico; spices such as pepper, fennel, ginger, palm sugar, mustard, cinnamon There are countless cloves and nutmegs obtained from hidden sources at high prices; in addition, there are many Chinese white porcelain, Ryukyu celadon, Wuyi green tea, Guangdong raw silk, Tokyo raw silk (Hanoi raw silk), Punjabi raw silk, Chinese Finished brocade, Indian feather yarn and other luxury accessories, the total value of the two ships’ goods is no less than [-] cruzado (the ancient cruzado is a lot of gold coins, one gold coin is about [-] yuan of silver dollars on the east coast, which has been out of circulation many years ago and has become a Portuguese One of many accounting currencies).

In order to buy these goods, he took out loans in Lisbon and Macau, and the interest was extremely high. He originally planned to go back to Lisbon and sell the goods to make a fortune, but this is hopeless.God, the goods are all cheap for the pagans on the east coast. He not only lost his cargo, but also faces the danger of losing his freedom and life. How can this not make people despair and even collapse!

And when the time came to January 1661, 1, the people on the east coast had captured more than 10 Portuguese merchant ships and sunk one at the same time (unfortunately they failed to capture it). A total of various goods worth about 7 million yuan were obtained, as well as more than 150 Mogadishu black slaves.If you include all kinds of materials, gold and silver, and works of art captured in the attack on Mozambique (which is more difficult to realize), the total value may have been close to 300 million yuan. This batch of goods, even if the "sold goods" are discounted, At least it can bring back more than 200 million yuan for the people on the east coast. What a huge sum of money this is for the East Coast Republic of China, whose annual revenue is only 600 million yuan!

The richness of the coast of East Africa and India, and the lucrative trade routes, are indeed remarkable!The above are the aspirations of the officers and men of the navy and army on the east coast—they have made so much money by robbing Indian goods here. If they really go there to build a trading station, how much money will they make!

(End of this chapter)