These colonial robbers have this virtue, they will reason with you when they are inferior to others, but when they feel that you are inferior to them, they will talk to you about their fists.

At this time, Frandic obviously felt that he couldn't do the navy of the Ming Empire, so he seemed quite polite, although Yang Cong clearly looked at him with contempt, he still pretended to be very polite, stroked his chest and saluted: "Your Excellency the Governor, I am very offended, please forgive me." ”

You big-tailed wolves, pretending to look like you, think I don't know what your virtues are?

Yang Cong secretly scolded himself for a few words, then pretended to be generous, and waved his hand: "Forget it, those who don't know are not guilty, let's say, what are you looking for this official?" ”

With a pretense of respect, Frandick explained: "Your Excellency, I have heard that your country intends to resume foreign trade, so I have come to ask Your Excellency the Governor to allow us Portuguese merchants to enter the coastal cities of your country and engage in trade activities. ”

This sounds good, but in fact, it is to let you open the treaty port!

At this time, there is no such thing as tariffs, and once the treaty ports are opened, these guys will definitely make money and cramps.

Yang Cong was not so stupid, he pretended to be confused and said: "Who did you listen to, why didn't the official know?" ”

This!

When Frandick heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned.

However, he soon understood.

At this time, the Ming Empire was not allowed to officially trade with foreign trade, and they used to bribe some local officials to be allowed to purchase goods in a limited number of places in private, and this kind of thing could not be said on the surface.

He hurriedly changed his words: "No, no, I didn't hear anyone say it, I just saw the goods sent by your country recently in Dongying and asked curiously, what do Dongying people mean, it seems that there is now a way to buy things from your country." ”

Yang Cong nodded slightly and said, "Well, what, do you want to buy some too?" ”

These greedy guys are really one thing on the surface, and one thing behind the scenes.

Frandic secretly despised it in his heart, but he still said respectfully on the surface: "Yes, Your Excellency the Governor, we also want to buy something, I wonder if Your Excellency the Governor can help introduce it, Your Excellency the Governor can rest assured, I know the rules." ”

When Yang Cong heard this, he couldn't help but be curious: "Rules, what rules?" ”

What do you pretend?

Frandick was helpless, so he could only continue: "According to the previous rules, we will pay as much introduction fee as we buy goods, I don't know if this is still the market?" ”

, who were "introduced" before?

These guys are greedy a lot, and they will pay as much introduction fee as they buy for the goods, which means that they don't charge tariffs, but only bribes.

Yang Cong understood as soon as he heard it, what this guy meant, they used to buy goods at the market price of Daming, for example, this Frandic's fleet can pull at least tens of thousands of taels of silver in one trip, and when he buys these goods, he will pay tens of thousands of taels of silver, and he doesn't have to pay any tariffs, as long as he bribes the corresponding silver to the local officials afterwards.

A trip of tens of thousands of taels of silver is naturally a big profit for individuals, but for the entire Ming Dynasty, it is a big loss, these local officials are equivalent to stuffing all the money into their own pockets, but the court has not made a penny, how can this work!

He is now collecting tariffs on behalf of the imperial court, such as the sale in Dongying, the tariff he collects is about five times the price of the goods themselves, and this European country naturally has to collect more tariffs.

Yang Cong said without hesitation: "The introduction fee is free, and it is not impossible for you to get the goods from this official, but this price cannot be calculated as before." ”

This guy is so greedy!

Frandic had already cursed in his heart, but on the surface, he still said respectfully: "Your Excellency, how do you think this price is appropriate?" ”

Yang Cong estimated for a while, and then said undoubtedly: "In this way, if you want to get the goods, the price will be calculated at ten times the local price in Daming." ”

Yes!

As soon as he said this, not only Frandic was stunned, but even Yu Dayou and other generals on the side were also surprised.

Just kidding, right?

If you don't want to sell it, just say it, ten times the price, who can accept it!

Is Yang Cong joking?

Of course not.

He had already inquired that the price of Daming's goods would increase by at least twenty times after they arrived in Europe!

As for the reason, it is very simple, because they can't produce many things, and some things, even if they can produce them, the quality can't be compared with the production of Daming.

At this time, the European continent was not as developed as later generations, and they were basically backward in other aspects except for shipbuilding technology to catch up with the Ming Dynasty.

"High-end" goods such as porcelain and silk satin, they simply can't produce them.

Like ordinary cloth, they can be produced, but the quality of the production cannot be compared with that of the Ming Dynasty.

There are also things like tea and medicinal herbs, which they don't grow at all.

To be honest, these things are not necessities in the first place, so why do they seek them so much?

The reason for this is also very simple, because they opened the Age of Discovery, colonizing everywhere in the world, robbing everywhere, becoming nouveau riche, and burning a lot of money!

The gold and silver they plundered from the African and American colonies every year were calculated in tons, which was converted into the Ming measurement method, that is, tens of millions of taels of silver a year, what should I do if I suddenly have so much extra money?

It's naturally a powerful flower, and you can buy whatever you like.

For example, porcelain, originally the Europeans were not without things to hold food, the nobles generally used bronze, silver or even gold, the commoners generally used wood, as for bread or something, just use baskets directly, and there is not so much exquisiteness.

However, there is a downside to these things, and that is that they are not easy to clean.

At that time, the craftsmanship was not as developed as it is in modern times, and bronze, silver, gold, and wood were all processed by hand, and the surface was quite rough.

As for the TV, it is basically a lie, and the gold and silver used in the European medieval aristocratic families are smooth as a mirror and shiny, which is an international joke.

Those are all processed by modern technology, die-cast by machine, and then evenly plated with a thin layer of gold and silver on the surface, or even decorative chrome, which is naturally as smooth as a mirror.

Where is there any die-casting technology in Europe at this time, and there is no electroplating technology, and it looks good if the gold and silver are processed and it looks flat, but in fact, the surface is not flat at all, and the vegetable juice is difficult to clean, and it will have a great odor after a long time.

Porcelain is different, the surface is burned, basically as smooth as a mirror, no matter what dirty, wash with water, and then wipe with a cloth, basically clean as new.

Now that they have money and become nouveau riche, they naturally want to use better porcelain.

Therefore, after the porcelain of the Ming Dynasty was introduced to Europe, it was highly sought after, and sometimes some porcelain even needed to be obtained through auction.

This is no joke, for example, the price of cloisonné rose through auctions on the continent during this period.

The craftsmanship of cloisonné was naturally quite advanced for the Europeans at that time, but for the Ming craftsmen, it was just like that, if it was counted as a few taels of silver, and the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty gave the official porcelain for free, as long as the rice was managed, as for the materials, it was also made locally, and it didn't cost anything at all.

Therefore, at the beginning, the price of cloisonne was not high, and it was good that a half-person-high cloisonne vase could be sold for dozens of taels of silver.

However, once this thing is transported to Europe, it will be very bad, and the rare thing is expensive, and the porcelain that the Ming Dynasty passed to the European continent is not much, and the cloisonné is even rarer, and it generally needs to be auctioned to obtain.

This thing is actually not practical, it just looks good there, no way, at this time, the European nobles are rich, the money is burned, and they are naturally desperate to grab rare things, and it is possible for an ordinary cloisonne to be auctioned to thousands of taels or even tens of thousands of taels in Europe!