Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 153 Staff Travel ([-])

The other party's reaction was completely within Mo Ming's expectations.

Although the two are researchers who are obsessed with science, they are not three-year-old children. They will not follow you just because of your few words, even if you have something they are extremely interested in.Of course, there may be other reasons, such as unwillingness to leave hometown, unwillingness to give up career and other factors.

Mo Ming didn't force it, anyway, he didn't expect to succeed in this matter once.Before he left, he signed an agreement with Galileo, and Galileo sold the publishing rights of all his books in the East Coast Republic to the Academy of Natural Sciences that entrusted Mo Ming.Mo Ming left Galileo 10 golden French Grand Aige coins (valued at 66 francs) as a reward, which was definitely a considerable amount of royalties at this time.You must know that Galileo's books are clearly recognized as banned by the Holy See. The price of 66 francs is definitely a sky-high price. It can only be said that there are factors in the money that people from the East Coast befriended Galileo.

Galileo did not refuse the money.He is now under house arrest and has basically lost any income. In order to maintain his life, conduct scientific research and even publish his books in Italy, he needs a certain amount of money.Previously, he relied on gifts and sponsorship from his students, friends, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Now with this money, many of his studies can continue.

Mo Ming and Frank returned to their residence, which was the property of Frank's mother before she got married, and was later transferred to Frank as compensation for his lack of family inheritance.

The next two days were a boring wait.After instructing their entourage to stay in the residence quietly, Mo Ming and Frank began to wander around the small town of Archetri.

To be honest, this town is really lackluster, just like Florence and the Duchy of Tuscany at that time.There is only one street in the town, and there are very few local commodities sold on the street, only some books, handicrafts, art and so on.The once glorious textiles disappeared, replaced by woolen and cotton products from the Netherlands.

In addition to these things, there is a large amount of oriental goods that flowed in from the Republic of Venice.Although the Venetians have been fighting endlessly with the Ottoman Empire over the years, the war between the two sides is war, business is business, and most of the trade between them has been persisted intermittently.

The Venetians mainly imported local products such as wool, cotton, and raisins from the Ottomans, as well as re-exported oriental commodities such as silk, porcelain, gemstones, and spices, which were extremely profitable.Even though the countries along the Atlantic Ocean have opened up the African route to the East by bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, at this moment, the amount of Eastern goods entering Europe through the Red Sea via Ottoman is still several times that of Western European countries through the African route.

Naturally, as an Italian power, the merchants of the Republic of Venice are naturally more comfortable in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

As a qualified intelligence officer, Mo Ming actually paid great attention to collecting economic intelligence, so he was bored anyway, so he and Frank went shopping in the Venetian store.Not surprisingly, the goods in these shops are full of strong Ottoman style, leather goods from Anatolia, gemstones from Kashmir, raisins from the Levant and so on.

"Hehe." Mo Ming whistled cheerfully, he saw a good thing.

"My lord, this is a very sharp saber from the far east, and the price is only 5 ducats. Whether it is a battlefield or a duel, it is worth having." A fat middle-aged businessman fucked Italian with a strange accent came over.

General Mo Ming pulled out the saber from the scabbard, and a row of inscriptions on the bright saber were displayed: "32-year-style non-commissioned officer's sword", "produced by Dayuhe Arsenal", "March 1634".

"Haha, the authentic Dayuhe Armory machine-made knife, produced in 1634, has a total length of 102 cm. But your scabbard has been re-made, and the original simple handle has also been re-decorated, which makes it look different. It is a killer weapon, and the taste of handicraft is stronger, it looks like what Arabs like to do most." Mo Ming played with the saber, then looked at the fat businessman in front of him with playful eyes, and said: "You say Is this a commodity from the East? The price is 5 ducats, tsk tsk, its ex-factory price is only 1 ducat.”

Frank translated Mo Ming's original words in Italian.

The fat businessman was a little embarrassed after hearing this.However, he is also thick-skinned. After seeing that Mo Ming seemed to be very knowledgeable, he tentatively asked in French: "Are you a guest from the east coast of the New World?"

Mo Ming glanced at him and said, "You are a businessman who is well-informed. Yes, I am from the East Coast Republic of China. I have to say, Venetian, your vision is very vicious."

"I may have misunderstood you, honorable guest." The fat businessman said with a smile, "Correct me, I am not a Venetian. I am from Izmir and am an Armenian."

"Ottomans!" Frank exclaimed.Although large-scale wars between Europe and Turkey have ceased over the years, local conflicts continue.After all, the Battle of Lepanto has only been a few decades past, and the animosity between the two sides has not disappeared (and cannot be eliminated).At this time, the major ports in Europe generally did not allow *** to enter, unless a special permit was granted. For example, the Ottoman fleet was stationed in the port of Toulon, France.But generally, based on centuries of animosity between the two parties, such a charter is hard to come by.

Of course, there are exceptions to this.In view of the Western world's extreme thirst for Eastern goods, the Christian countries allowed Christians in the Ottoman Empire to go to Western Europe to do business, acting as middlemen and agents between the Christian world and the Western world.For example, the Armenian in front of him is an example. Although he believes in the Gregorian sect of the Orthodox Church, which belongs to the heresy, he is still a child of the Lord, so he can freely enter and exit various ports in the Western world. with the city.

In fact, it was for this reason that the business of the Ottoman Empire was completely controlled by the Greeks, Jews, and Armenians hundreds of years later, which indirectly caused the collapse and disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century.

Mo Ming is not that kind of extreme religious person, so he doesn't have any different views on people from the Ottoman Empire. On the contrary, he thinks that the businessman in front of him may play a big role.

Mo Ming is not the decision-maker of the central government, but as a senior intelligence officer, he has a relatively thorough understanding of the policy direction of the central government.At this time, Ottoman Turkey had a population of more than [-] million and was relatively wealthy. There was no direct conflict of interest or historical hatred with the East China Republic. It was an excellent place to dump products.

The British can sell their woolen products to Turkey, which already produces a lot of wool. Why can't the East Coast Republic?Damn, you can also take the opportunity to attack the British, why not do it?

Therefore, this fat Armenian businessman suddenly became a favorite in Mo Ming's eyes.Of course, Mo Ming is not a sweet pastry in the eyes of others?People obviously also took a fancy to the potential value of the goods of the East Coast Republic of China.

"Let's meet, John Petrovich Hornician, from Izmir." The Armenian businessman introduced himself, and then extended his right hand.

"Mo Ming, assistant to the commercial representative of the Eastern Republic of China, from Dongfang Port." Mo Ming also extended his hand to shake hands with him, and then introduced himself.

"Assistant to the business representative, maybe we have a lot of common language. Come and sit in my shop." Hornician looked at Mo Ming with a meaningful smile and invited.

"Very happy." Mo Ming nodded, and then the three of them entered the backyard of the store together.

"I want to act as an agent for the sales rights of goods on the east coast in the Ottoman Empire." Hornician said straight to the point, looking at Mo Ming with eager eyes, making no secret of his desire.

"First of all, I'm just an assistant and have no right to make any decisions. If you want to reach a formal agreement, I think you'd better go to Bordeaux in person, and our plenipotentiary business representative will give you a clear answer. "Mo Ming waved his hand and said, "Uh, and I would venture to ask, do you have enough strength to deal with complicated situations? I don't mean to belittle you, just want to confirm whether you have enough funds, contacts and political You know it is not easy to take on the heavy responsibility of an agent. As far as I know, in your country, if there is no senior official at the pasha level to take care of you, business is generally not very big."

"I understand your concerns, and this is not a problem." Hornician smiled mysteriously, "My family has a wide network of contacts whether in Izmir or Aleppo. Especially Aleppo Pasha of Lepo, has been working with my family happily for many years. Through his relationship, you can even extend your tentacles to Persia. Don't look at me like that. Although the Persians are our enemies, war It's war, it's business."

"Well..." Mo Ming pretended to ponder for a while, and then slowly said: "It sounds like there is no loss for us. Well, Armenian, you convinced me. I will stay in Florence After a few days, we will return to Bordeaux, if you are interested, you can go to Bordeaux with me at that time. There, our plenipotentiary business representative will discuss the details with you."

"That would be great." Hornician said with a smile, "Then it's a deal. I will go to Bordeaux with you."

(End of this chapter)