How Marin hoped that this time Columbus's fleet would come back, and he would be able to bring him Taihu pigs. In this way, the great cause of raising pigs in Taihu Lake can also be carried out immediately.

However, Marin knew that this was impossible. Because, Columbus's fleet could not go to the Taihu Lake area in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was impossible to get Taihu pigs.

Speaking of which, the formation of the real breed of Taihu pig is probably a matter after Wanli, and it is still early. However, Ma Lin can be sure that at present, in Suzhou and Changzhou around Taihu Lake, Taihu pig breeds have appeared and become popular, but they have not yet been taken seriously.

And the lack of attention also brings a bad place, that is, it is impossible to appear in the market of Guangzhou Prefecture. After all, the goods that can be sent all the way to Guangzhou for trading must be well-known specialties in various places. Taihu pigs have not yet become famous, so naturally no one has enough to bring Taihu pigs to Guangzhou. After all, the cost of shipping can be very high. And it is not realistic to send people to Nanzhili, the area of Suzhou has always been the center of finance and taxation of the Ming Dynasty, and it is very strictly protected. Unless you're uninvited like the Wakos. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get permission to go to the Jiangnan area.

Therefore, it is impossible for Columbus and his entourage to buy Taihu pigs this time......

"That's not right!" Marin suddenly slapped his head.

He also thought about it, even if he couldn't buy a high-quality Taihu pig this time, but in Guangzhou, he could always buy a local pig breed in Guangzhou. It's better to bring it back than European pigs......

"What a mistake! What a mistake! Marin slapped his head in frustration......

……

At this time, the fleet led by Columbus, which Marin was very worried about, had rushed back to Europe. However, Columbus's fleet had just arrived in Portugal, the southwestern part of Europe, and had made a call at the port of Lisbon......

Why did Columbus's fleet dock at the port of Lisbon? This was actually specially arranged by Marlin. Why? He needs to take this opportunity to fool the Portuguese......

Because of Marin's incursions, history has now been greatly changed. Marin doesn't know if Portugal will occupy Malacca as it did in the original history and fall out with the Ming Dynasty if the current situation continues. So, he wasn't very reassured.

The trade with the Ming Dynasty has long been targeted by Marin, how can Portugal be allowed to interfere? So, Marin needs Portugal to fall out with Daming. Then, he can enjoy the benefits to himself.

And it is a very good idea to let Portugal fall out with Daming and bewitch Portugal to occupy Malacca. Moreover, this is how Portugal fell out with the Ming Dynasty in history. Because Portugal invaded the Ming vassal state of Manchuka (Malacca), the Ming court did not establish diplomatic relations with Portugal for the sake of face, even if Portugal later softened. In the end, it was the Portuguese who bribed local officials in Guangdong to gain a foothold in Macao. In fact, without the acquiescence of the Ming court, where could the Portuguese gain a foothold in Macao? Jin Yiwei doesn't eat dry rice. It's just that Portugal is unwilling to withdraw from Manchuria, and even if they are soft, the Ming court will not be able to erase their face and forgive them. Therefore, it is best to let local officials quietly open the net. You must know that the introduction of arquebuses and Furlong cannons was the result of Portugal's softness. The Ming court has benefited, but it can't be said at all. Therefore, they simply acquiesced to the Guangdong region to give them a foothold. But Macau has always been under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, and it was also in the early Qing Dynasty. Portugal only has residency and no administration. It was not until after the war that Portugal saw an opportunity to fish in troubled waters, so they took the opportunity to drive away the local Chinese officials.

Of course, that's the original history. With Marin here, he won't let the Portuguese have a chance to curry favor with Daming and get forgiven. Even if there is no contradiction between the two sides, Marin will create a contradiction for them. For example, this time Columbus's fleet specially docked in Lisbon in order to fool the Portuguese......

……

Columbus's excuse for stopping was very simple, that is, to notify the Portuguese authorities, and say that he had discovered the route to China. Therefore, I came to say hello to the Portuguese authorities and friends in the nautical world in order to confirm the name of the first discoverer.

As for why Columbus went to the East to "discover" China, this is easy to explain - Columbus was ordered by Marin to find a route to Japan. And the "discovery" of Huaxia is because of passing by......

In fact, Columbus did not arrive in Japan before returning home. But he could not say that, after all, in the Pope's ruling, China was assigned to Portugal as a "sphere of influence". Marin, on the other hand, was qualified to colonize Japan, so it made sense for him to send Columbus to find a route to Japan. And then it is also normal to "pass by" Huaxia by chance.

……

This excuse of Columbus was obviously understood by the Portuguese. However, the Portuguese still did not believe that Columbus had discovered the route to China by accident. Therefore, Columbus needed to prove himself.

This was very easy, and the envoy Kong Tai, who accompanied Columbus to China, directly ordered his sailors to move hundreds of exquisite official kiln porcelain from the ship, which blinded the eyes of the Portuguese dogs.

Even King Manuel I of Portugal stumbled over and carefully touched the intricately shaped porcelain. Then, he directly hugged the porcelain and refused to let go......

Seeing that this batch of porcelain could not be brought back, Kong Tai simply organized an auction on the spot and publicly auctioned this batch of exquisite porcelain. Then, these hundreds of pieces of porcelain were auctioned by Kong Tai for a high price of tens of thousands of gold coins......

In fact, when these porcelains were purchased in the Ming Dynasty, even if they were fine porcelain from the official kiln, the purchase price of each piece of porcelain did not exceed 0.5 taels of silver (one tael of silver is equivalent to 0.87 gold coins). This is still the top official kiln porcelain, ordinary official kiln porcelain, basically no more than 0.1 taels of silver (100 Wen).

The hundreds of pieces of porcelain that Kong Tai moved down this time were originally displayed, and they were all top-level official kiln porcelain, and their value was close to half a tael of silver. However, the price for which it is sold is higher. More than 300 pieces of top-grade official kiln porcelain were sold at a sky-high price of more than 10,000 gold coins, equivalent to 30 gold coins, and the value has basically increased by more than 60 times.

In fact, this is the reason why Comté uses the finest porcelain. If you take ordinary official kiln porcelain, you can also fetch a sky-high price of one or twenty gold coins, and the profit is more than a hundred times.

In the Ming Dynasty, the porcelain bowls and porcelain plates produced by ordinary kilns were only a few pennies, and generally did not exceed 10 cents. As for the porcelain vase with a more complex point, it is only a few tens of dollars at most. More than 100 Wen can be regarded as luxury.

However, the silver of the Ming Dynasty was also very valuable. The annual salary is only 45 taels, with an average of about 3.75 taels per month. 0.1 taels of silver, which is almost catching up with the county master's income in a day. In the afterlife, it can be regarded as something worth hundreds of dollars. Of course, it is a few hundred yuan at the beginning of the century, not a few hundred yuan after the depreciation of the soft sister coin.

……

Seeing that these hundreds of pieces of porcelain really shocked the Portuguese turtles, Columbus and Comté looked at each other and smiled, and launched the second phase of the plan, that is, to fool the Portuguese......