Dressed in crisp tuxedos, Lorraine and Henna sit in the shiny and tacky golden parlor.

Opposite them was the owner of the room, Mr. Frey, a glassware merchant from Black Harbor.

"Thank you, Mr. Frey, for your willingness to accept our request for a meeting in the midst of your busy schedule."

"Uh-huh."

"We scooped up a boatload of fine glassware from the Kingdom of Norway, which was not a master's handiwork, but it was clearly shaped and in excellent condition. I wonder if I can waste a little time and take a look? ”

"Didn't you bring it with you? If you don't let it out, it will probably delay me longer. Frey pulled out his silk scarf and slowly wiped the emerald from his finger, "Time is money, young sir. ”

"I feel the same way."

Lorraine smiled like a spring breeze and waved her hand, allowing Henna to take out the boxy box and open it in the direction of Frey.

Frey glanced at the back of Henna's coffee-colored hand in disgust, "Moorish? ”

"She's a Copt, sir."

"Hey, it's no different."

Frey, completely unaware that he had just walked on the line of life and death, put away the silk scarf, took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket, and carefully picked up the glass bowl in the box.

This is a large bowl with curved diagonal patterns, crystal clear, blooming like a flower.

It has carved paintings on all four sides, namely the Virgin Mary, the Embrace of Christ, the Son of the Salvation Mother, and the Trinity.

Frey looked at it fondly for a long time, and suddenly asked, "Young sir, you should be under twenty, right?" ”

"Sixteen, sir."

"Sixteen years old...... When I was 16 years old, I was still soliciting business in a relative's shop, and my father didn't want me to touch his own shop at all. ”

Lorraine knew exactly what Frey was trying to ask, and he had heard similar questions many times in the past few days.

He shook his head: "Sir, I am English. For the English, it was normal to get on board at the age of thirteen or fourteen. ”

"But their job is limited to interns, and maybe the best of them can become seafarers, but they can't be captains." Frey put down the basin and narrowed his eyes, "Young sir, I'm curious, how can your family rest assured of your safety at sea?" ”

"Perhaps...... That's the benefit of not having a family? ”

"......No," Frey groaned, sweeping the edge of the glass basin, circle, or two, before finally stopping, "in good condition, and if you have all that in your hand, I'm willing to bid £2.5 for each one, how much and how much I charge." ”

Lorraine closed the box lightly and got up to leave the table: "Mr. Frey, excuse me. ”

Frey sat up straight and crossed his legs: "Young people should be realistic. You don't have a residency agreement, in Bermeo, want to find a higher bidder than me...... Not easy. ”

"Thank you for your heartfelt words, see you soon."

……

In the black port of Belmeo, Spain, on the seventeenth day of anchoring the Artis Beauty, Lorraine still failed to sell his glass.

Each Black Harbour has its own unique character.

Cherbourg is characterized by chaos, and Elgin is characterized by order.

Stavanger is as reckless and xenophobic as the Vikings, while Bermeo is like the twilight kingdom of Spain, open on the outside and conservative on the inside.

The business model of this black harbor was an eye-opener for Lorraine.

First of all, she does not set a threshold for merchants to enter the port like other black harbors, anyone can come to Hong Kong to do business, and everyone can enjoy the protection of the system.

There is no need to worry about buying and selling, and there is no need to worry about encountering the bad things like Lorraine did in Cherbourg, who were sold and helped to pay for money.

However, Bermeo, which has the fairest business environment in Black Harbor, has not really been fair.

Bounded by the tax rate of the management committee, the local merchant community has established strict trade barriers, and adopted a completely different valuation system for resident merchants and tourist merchants.

Residents can buy at a low price and sell at a high price in Bermeo, while enjoying a lower port tax rate; Traveling merchants like Lorraine, on the other hand, have to pay higher taxes while buying at a flat price and selling at a low price.

When he first entered the port, Lorraine thought it was a short-sighted practice of the local merchant group to kill chickens and collect eggs. However, after being rejected three times in a row, his view changed.

It is likely that this outlandish secondary market was not a spontaneous act of businessmen, but a premeditated act of government.

The aim was to force a trade surplus through subtle administrative intervention, to slow down the outflow of the country's gold and silver reserves while finding dumped exports for Spanish goods.

This kind of roundabout is highly likely in Spain

The once mighty kingdom of Spain is already a thing of the past.

The royal family was extravagant and politically conservative, and as the leader of the Age of Discovery, she failed to cultivate a solid and reliable middle class in this unparalleled geographical discovery, and as a result, the market was weak in hematopoietic capacity, and after the dividend period of colonial reclamation, the economy showed a sharp downward trend.

On the one hand, the people were in dire straits, and domestic purchasing power was weak, and on the other hand, the maturing colonies were constantly bringing their products back to the country and piling them up in warehouses.

Under the contradiction between the two sides, overseas products, which are in short supply throughout Europe, show a strange surplus in the Spanish market.

That's why a black harbor like Bermeo appears.

In the shrewd calculations of the Spaniards, they had never thought of accepting the products of other countries through these coastal black ports, but only wanted to use the power of the black market merchants to sell the goods of the colonies that had accumulated in the country, and the more the better.

With this in mind, Lorraine completely gave up on the idea of changing ports.

This is true of the Black Harbour of the entire Gulf of Cabes.

Not only the Black Port, but perhaps even the official ports of Spain. Otherwise, how could a super port like Bilbao break down so quickly and catch people off guard?

It's not ...... Trouble me!

Walking out of Mr. Frey's exchange with Henna, Lorraine dropped her disguise and rubbed her brow wearily.

"Henna, how many are these?"

"Ten."

"The maximum price is two pounds and twelve shillings, and the lowest is one pound and sixteen shillings. These Spanish businessmen are so good at settling accounts, but how good at doing business are they? Or won't do business? ”

The two walked happily, walked to a small square, and found a bench to sit down.

Lorraine is in a dilemma.

On the one hand, overseas commodities are the most important part of the triangular trade ring designed by Lorraine, which can ensure the diversity of the chamber of commerce's commodities and help Lorraine quickly accumulate contacts.

The special market environment in which Spain is eager to sell goods abroad is something he absolutely cannot give up.

On the other hand, accepting unequal treaties with the Traveling Merchants would greatly slow down his accumulation of wealth, and even ruin his good start in Scotland and Norway, eventually ending him up in the small trading circle of black marketeers for the rest of his life.

The best way out of this dilemma is to get Bermeo's residency.

He had already inquired clearly, the Bermeo Black Port Management Committee was made up of seven gentlemen, and it was necessary to obtain the approval of four gentlemen at the same time before the application for residency could be approved.

Lorraine is unfamiliar with the city, and it is very difficult to achieve this condition in a short period of time.

Thankfully, he had another way out, Viscount Alfonso.

The Viscount is a member of the seven-member group of the Council of Governors, with a great prestige and strong influence over the other members. Only with his help will Lorraine have the possibility of opening up the situation for Bermeo.

But......

"The two sides are not related, and the viscount is often absent from Hong Kong, how can I catch up with him?" Lorraine thought with all her heart, without distractions, and unconsciously spoke what was in her heart.

Henna raised her eyebrows: "You can find out his home address, I will first kidnap his child in disguise, and then you will save people in front of him and beat me away." In this way, friendship is established. ”

Lorraine couldn't laugh when she heard it: "Such a deliberate script, are you a fool to be a viscount?" ”

"It can be done realistically." Henna was murderous, "For example, when you rescue, I'll poke a few holes in your body and bleed more." Out of guilt, the viscount was not easily suspicious. ”

"You...... It can't be serious, right? ”

Henna was serious.

She's had enough of being angry these days, and her mind is full of wanting to poke transparent holes in people's bodies, and she can't fake it at all.

Lorraine saw it and was dumbfounded.

He swallowed, his eyes wandered, and suddenly he saw a dozen colorful domed caravans driving at the end of the square, occupying a corner of the square by themselves.

Gospel from heaven!

Lorraine was overjoyed and anxiously diverted the subject: "Look, Henna, there are gypsies here!" ”

Deathly silence......

Henna looked at him coldly, word by word, and the words were round: "You are the gypsy!" Your whole family is gypsies! ”