Iron Dynasty

From the top-floor window on the Michira Castle, you can see the entire view of the city of Reranj. Tian Lai

At this time, Xiao Ming and Claire looked at the merchant ships that shuttled back and forth in the port of Geranj. These merchant ships came from Manila and, after being filled with cargo, headed to the Dutch colony of Manila again.

In Manila, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce will forward the goods back to the country.

Since the relationship with the king of Chu broke down, and now the Japanese Kingdom tried to invade Ryukyu, Claire has no choice but to do business with Xiao Ming. After all, Dutch merchants who have arrived at the port have been complaining about the shortage of goods since this time.

"His Royal Highness, we have been looking forward to it for a long time. Now our merchant ship is staying in the harbor waiting for the goods. I hope that His Highness can provide us with the goods." Claire looked solemn.

The chaos in East Asia during this period has severely affected commerce and trade.

"In that case, you can now hand over the required goods to this king, and this king will ask the merchant ship to transport the goods you need back from Dengzhou. Of course, you have to pay for the goods."

Claire looked at the sea and said calmly, "Of course, we have always abide by the business rules. Now Europe has a great demand for porcelain, raw silk, silk, and tea from the country. The prices of these products in Europe are also relatively high. It is our main trade commodity, and I hope that His Highness can provide us with it as soon as possible."

"No problem, this king will return to Dengzhou in these two days, and then the goods will arrive." Xiao Ming smiled with a smile. Before the sea trade was almost monopolized by the king of Chu, now this piece of fat has finally fallen into his mouth. But remembering something, he asked curiously: "Should I take the liberty of my king, can Earl Claire tell my king how much silver has flowed into King Chu's hands."

Upon hearing this, Claire frowned, but thought that there might not be any intersection with King Chu in the future, so he said to Rod, "Rode, you should know this better than me."

"The total amount of silver we gave to the King of Chu in the past 40 years is 3,000 tons. If measured by the country of Great Yu, the total is 60 million taels of silver." Rod said, recalling these years of accounts.

"Sixty million taels of silver!"

Xiao Ming almost jumped up from his chair. He finally understood why the Cao family was so wealthy and why the King of Chu was so confident. It was all because of the money.

Closing his eyes, Xiao Ming let out a sigh of relief. He rummaged in the science and technology database for contemporary economic data, and his heart suddenly fluctuated.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China’s long-term surplus in overseas trade, and most of the time the exchange price of gold and silver was lower than that of foreign countries, which made foreigners think that they were taking advantage. unwilling?

Just thinking of this, this led Europeans to use silver as a currency to buy goods. At first, the silver was mainly imported from Spain and Portugal. Later, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom established the absolute status of silver export.

This large net inflow of silver lasted roughly from the 1570s to the 1830s. Scholars at home and abroad have made various estimates of the silver inflows into China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They concluded that in the 250 years before 1800, China received nearly 48,000 tons of silver may be obtained from Manila 10,000 tons or more, plus other, a total of about 60,000 tons of silver, a total of 1.6 billion silver inflow.

"1.6 billion taels of silver!" This data was constantly circling in Xiao Ming's mind. In fact, because of the lack of some data, this data was even seriously underestimated in Xiao Ming's view. After all, there was no regulated trade in the atmosphere at the time. a lot of.

Claire noticed Xiao Ming's expression, and he smiled: "This is indeed a big number, but as long as His Highness can sincerely do business with us, I guarantee that His Highness will get more than King Chu. There is no shortage of silver in Europe. In addition to having a large open-pit silver mine in Mexico, the country of silver, Europeans have now discovered that the Peruvian silver mines in South America are more abundant than Mexico. European countries are now intensively mining. Oh, sorry, your Royal Highness may not know Mexico and Peru. Place it."

Speaking of North and South America dominated by Europe, Claire's face once again showed the arrogance peculiar to Europeans in this period.

Pouting his lips, Xiao Ming didn't bother to refute Claire, because it seemed to be as boring as a primary school student showing off one plus one in front of college students.

"One day my king's warship will tell me where Mexico and Peru are." Xiao Ming smiled lightly.

Claire and Rod looked at each other while holding back a smile. Although they admitted that Xiao Ming was very powerful in this sea area, it was only in this sea area. If in Europe, any country's fleet could easily defeat him.

So in their eyes, Xiao Ming was just telling a cold joke.

"Humph."

From the expressions of the two, Xiao Ming could see that they did not believe that there would be such a day, and he was too lazy to explain. For him, he likes to prove himself with actions rather than tongues. What he needs now is to make the fief rich and improve. Own comprehensive strength.

They seemed to feel that their behavior was a little wrong, and the two returned to their normal colors. Claire said, "Your Highness, I hope the goods will arrive as soon as possible."

Xiao Ming nodded, and then he discussed with Claire the specific trade details and the establishment of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Office in Dengzhou.

At the same time, in order to prevent Dutch businessmen from espionage in Dengzhou, Xiao Ming decided to establish a business hall. Dutch businessmen could only live in the business hall during their stay in the port.

Having agreed on these matters, Xiao Ming formally held a ceremony with Claire about Michra Bastion, the main island of Ryukyu and the garrison in the city of Jeranj.

According to the agreement~www.ltnovel.com~Xiao Ming will garrison two thousand troops in Michal Bastion, two thousand troops in Jeranjo, and six warships including Class 2 and Class 3 warships in the Qingzhou fleet will be It is anchored at the port of Jeranja City all year round, and at the same time is responsible for **** and patrol missions within a thousand miles of the Ryukyu waters, and this number will continue to increase.

After completing these things one by one, Xiao Ming basically completed the control of Ryukyu Island and the maritime trade route. After a two-day rest, he was ready to return to Dengzhou.

Sea routes are only part of his trade strategy, and he has more important things to accomplish, that is, to eliminate threats from the north. Whether for complete control of Goryeo or his own security considerations, he must resolve the barbarians.

Because in his opinion, as long as the barbarians are immortal, he cannot spare all his energy to solve the problems in Dayu.

A formidable enemy is staring at him, he can't act rashly, which is why he strives to maintain the current status quo of Dayu.

"His Royal Highness, I will visit Qingzhou City in person in a few days."

Under King Qi, Claire took officials from Geranzse City to see Xiao Ming off. Now Qingzhou Holland has formally cooperated, and he is looking forward to making huge profits.