It has been said that to capture a man's heart, the most important thing is to grab the man's stomach. I don't agree with that. I think this should be said: to grasp a man's stomach is to capture a man's heart even more. After all, if there is no emotional premise, or if he is a man at all, then no matter how well the food is cooked, he can only be a cook......

But objectively speaking, for people who have been away for a long time, it is really extremely important to have a good cook - for example, Mavi in front of him, this handsome mixed-race child, through a few skewers of barbecue, quickly got the approval of everyone present!

I ate two more bunches before I stopped, picked my teeth, and smiled contentedly: "Then Mavi, tell me your intentions!" ”

Mavi grinned, showing her white, straight teeth again, and said in his characteristic tone, "I think I have the basic ability to find an errand in your fleet, right?" Mr. Sun Qilan! ”

I spread my hands, pointed to the guys next to me who were eating meat skewers and fruit skewers like wolves and tigers, and said helplessly: "You know me?" What an honor. When it comes to the question of whether you're hired or not, I think facts always speak louder than words. Isn't it? ”

After that, I asked again, "How much salary are you going to ask?" Chef Mavi! ”

Mavi smiled and asked rhetorically, "Your fleet is covered with food, right?" ”

I replied, "That's nature!" Plenty of empty rooms on the upper deck of the ship. Besides, who is hungry, can you still starve the cook? ”

Mavi laughed and replied, "That's it!" Let's do this for the probationary period, and you can set the specific salary you will get! After thinking about it, he sighed, "I went to sea with my father many years ago. Now I have left this town and returned to the sea because I am tired of such calm and monotony. Hopefully, in your fleet, something will make me forget something. As for the salary, it doesn't matter! ”

I nodded and smiled, "Then it's a word!" Come to the ship first, and if you can cook up to today's standards, I'll give you two gold coins a month. Well, how much do you get a month in this town? ”

Mavi narrowed her eyes and smiled, "You are so generous and benevolent! My current salary is no more than a silver coin. Even if there is a major festival that needs to be added, it is just a few copper plates! ”

I said half-seriously and half-jokingly: "You are here, all of you cook for guests." The guests leave after eating, and the repeat customers don't come back every day. But it's different when you get on the boat, we all put our lives in your hands, so it's completely worth it to pay a higher salary! ”

Mavi put her right hand on her chest, bowed deeply to me, and said, "As you wish!" Trust me in my kitchen skills and ethics! Time will tell. ”

To be honest, listening to this guy, I always felt that he wouldn't stop at being a cook. How to say, observe and see!

However, his presence reminds me of a problem - there is still a lack of a serious accountant in my fleet, or the treasurer, the CFO! Well, in the words of this era - called the Comptroller.

On Toei's side, it seems that he used a master borrowed from Hakataya, but he has been completely bribed and has become one of us. Uncle Ye and his uncle's trade in Malacca, Nanyang, used a local.

In this era, in addition to calculating prices and controlling costs, the comptroller is also responsible for negotiations in trade, as well as the formulation and implementation of personnel salaries. Our current comptroller is concurrently served by Mo, and after Mo and Wu regret left first, he is now concurrently served by Kite. This guy has already proposed to me several times that he doesn't want to care about the money anymore, which makes her stink all day long.

I once joked, "Isn't it the proprietress who takes care of the money in other stores?" ”

The kite pouted and said, "Then you can find another one who cares about money!" I can't, I think Lan is good, go ahead! ”

It made Arashi and I laugh maniacally. But this is really a pressing problem - in the past, in Daming or Dongying, in fact, it was mainly based on land work, the risk was not so great, and the salary was easy to control - the salary I gave everyone except my henchmen was a 50% increase from the salary of the local industry in the same industry.

And these henchmen, what do you say? The Nine Ghosts Zhengxiao, Kite, and Mo originally didn't have any salary requirements, but I thought about it, I couldn't let these closest people do the most dangerous work, and get unclear and unexplained salaries. We can't rely on loyalty alone, we must use the system to retain people.

Prince Rakshen was born and has no concept of gold and silver, and it seems that his family background is also very strong...... Every month, he always laughs and invites everyone to dinner and squanders it. But this guy is never short of money samples......

Halleha is responsible for casting, including the procurement of raw materials. To be honest, I don't think there is a salary at all in this business. However, the price of his purchases was not high, and it was even very economical, so I generously gave him three gold coins a month, which was already three times that of similar blacksmiths, and he happily accepted it.

Another example is Chen Kui, who is in charge of a fleet, completely self-financing, and their accounts are also reported to me. I paid him and Arashi 10% of their net income, which is also a very generous fortune. So the real landlord around him is Lan Cai.

However, now that I have gone overseas, the risks in all aspects are superimposed, and I must not use such a fixed salary mechanism, and I need a financial executive who knows at least Chinese and English, and it is even more reliable if I know some Italian, Spanish or Nordic languages. It seems that it is time to discover a professional talent!

I was momentarily distracted, knowing that Mavi's voice had woken me up.

The guy spoke, "Captain! As proof of joining the team, I have two pieces of news to bring to you! Good news, bad news, which one do you want to hear first? ”

I laughed, this guy didn't recognize life, but it was okay, at least there was no barrier to communication. So I laughed and said, "As is customary, listen to the bad first." ”

Mavi nodded, put down the barbecue skewers in his hand, and said, "First of all, I want to ask, how much do you know about the trade of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce?" ”

I laughed, this guy gave me the test first. So I smiled and said, "It is said that here in Nanyang, there is Kuhn in the south and Memphis in the north, and it seems that the two sides are not very good at dealing with each other, I don't know if it is or not?" ”

Mavi nodded and smiled, "The captain understands the general trend. However, the specific situation needs to be explained in detail. Hear me out—"

He picked up a barbecue stick and lowered his head to draw on the beach. When I looked closer, it was the approximate shape of the South Seas. I have to say that in this era, nautical charts are still a very rare thing, and he can easily draw such nautical charts, which shows that he must have studied this field for a long time, and it is definitely not as simple as a cook.

Mavi drew for a while, raised his head, and drew a circle in the southern part of the South Seas with the barbecue stick in his hand, mainly Indonesia and the surrounding islands, and said: "This range is mainly under the control of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce. The Kuhn Chamber of Commerce has always been engaged in the flesh trade, and in their eyes, there is nothing that cannot be sold. ”

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand: "From plants, animals, minerals, goods, all aspects, all kinds of things, including people!" ”

I have heard of this, it is said that the slave trade of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce is rampant, but because he sells slaves from overseas to the location of his chamber of commerce, the local officials in Jakarta also turn a blind eye. What's more, if you often walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet, and local officials may not have a piece of the pie.

Sure enough, Mavi continued with a calm expression: "It is said that last month, the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce raided southeast of Manila - an indigenous tribe in that direction, and when I went to see it the other day, there were no living people there...... All the living were enslaved and sold into the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce's sphere of influence! ”

"Especially their princess, Her Highness Maggie, who is said to have been captured by the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce as a treasure! After cleaning and dressing up, an auction was held in Jakarta, and Princess Maggie was auctioned as the finale, and finally sold for a whopping 11,000 gold coins! Mavi continued: "However, it was photographed by the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce itself and passed on to the local governor as a gift. ”

I let out a faint oh and asked, "So what did they get?" ”

Mavi's face twitched, and he continued: "It is said that recently, the forces of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce have been infiltrating in the direction of Felipping (Philippines) in the northeast, and they have all been supported by the Jakarta region, I don't know if it has anything to do with this." ”

I looked at his expression and asked three questions.

"Whose sphere of influence is the land under my feet in Manila today?" That's my first question.

"Manila has always been a neutral port, and it has been for decades," Mavi replied. Recently, however, the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce has been speaking to the local governor several times in a row, and it seems that it wants to monopolize Manila's trade - after all, this is the choke point closest to the East in the South Seas, isn't it? ”

I asked, "What happened later?" ”

Mavi spread her hands and replied, "Then they left, but it is said that they left a lot of cruel words. Then he went to plunder the indigenous tribes I just mentioned, which can be regarded as a warning to the local governor! ”

I nodded, this information is very important, my first stop here was to sign a trade agreement with the local governor. After all, the geographical location of this place is too important, if it can be connected with this place, the importance of the blade sea is not even below that of Malacca!

However, if the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce also intervenes, then there will undoubtedly be a lot of variables, and the cost problem needs to be recalculated.

I hummed, as an affirmation of Mavi's previous words, and then asked, "Second question, what is the attitude of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce towards other chambers of commerce?" ”

Mavi smiled again, and the young man's smile was contagious: "The Kuhn Chamber of Commerce has a nickname, called Vampires!" They never let go of any prey, especially their competitors. In the days when my father went to sea, there were more than a dozen large and small chambers of commerce in the southern part of the South Seas. However, after the arrival of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce, only the Kuhn family was left in the entire southern part of the South Seas! ”

I smiled and said, "What about the Memphis Chamber of Commerce?" Why wasn't it annexed? ”

Mavi snorted heavily and said: "The Memphis Chamber of Commerce has the shadow of the British royal family behind it, and Kuhn naturally set out to attack Memphis in many ways, but unfortunately he has not been able to do so." Especially in recent years, with the intervention of our Blade Sea Chamber of Commerce, Memphis has formed an alliance with Blade Sea, so the northern part of the South Seas has become a forbidden area for the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce, but the two sides continue to fight openly and secretly. ”

I pressed again, "So do you think he knew I was here?" If you knew, would you come and take the opportunity to sneak up on me? ”

Mavi laughed, "That's the most important question I'm going to talk about!" Captain! When you arrived here yesterday, I got the news that the well-informed Kuhn Chamber of Commerce must not be unaware of the situation - so you, no, it should be very lively when we go to sea! ”

He said it lightly, but I knew that this trip to sea was definitely a big war! And I have more doubts about Mavi's true identity, or purpose.

So I opened my mouth and asked the third question: "So, Chef Mavi, please tell me, what is your relationship with that indigenous princess, Maggie?" ”

Hearing my words, Mavi, who had been talking and laughing, finally changed color!