The ship sailed for another three days and arrived at the trading port of Hirado in the northwestern part of the Wakoku Kingdom. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Hirado is an island, the domain of a Japanese prince named Hirado Domain.

Before the Nova entered the harbor, two small boats departed from the harbor. In addition to the boatmen and sailors, there were three Japanese samurai and two Japanese translators standing on the boat.

The boat sailed to the side of the Nova, which lowered the rope ladder and allowed the samurai and interpreter to climb up.

The envoys and interpreters of the Hirado Domain of the Wa Kingdom came to check the way of the ships, and Li Zhi asked Zheng Kaida to take these samurai to inspect them.

The three Japanese samurai were very happy to see that the ship was full of Ming people, and chatted with Zheng Kaida for a few words, which was extremely enthusiastic.

The three warriors checked it and made sure it was the Ming ship, so they took the boat back to port. A quarter of an hour later, two more boats came out of the harbor. On each boat stood a samurai with a shaved head and a hatori in his usual clothes. The two samurai would speak the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty and shout loudly in the official dialect of the Great Ming Dynasty, guiding the Astar into the port of the Hirado Domain, Kawachiura.

When the Nova entered the port, it was operated by paddle wheels, and the samurai who guided it were stunned. However, they all thought that the paddle wheel was turned by the sailors in the ship, so they didn't ask much.

When they entered Hanochiura, the port of the Hirado Domain, they saw a thriving trading city.

I saw that there were about 40,000 or 50,000 residents in a radius of more than ten miles from Nagang Town. Hanoi Puri is full of black-tiled wooden wall merchants, shops, inns, samurai houses, and entertainment venues. Not as simple as the humble houses, the architectural structure in this port town is decent and looks very prosperous.

There are people of all kinds walking through, including Tang-clothed Chinese, Japanese with shaved hair and bearded hair, and blonde Dutch. The largest number of them are Chinese, and at least half of them are Chinese. Li Zhi got off the boat and led everyone to walk in the bazaar, constantly hearing people speaking the official language of the Ming Dynasty.

It's the middle of July, and it's time for the southern ships to sail downwind to Japan. At this time, there were hundreds of ships of all kinds moored on the wharf, and there were 30 or 40 large ocean-going ships with multi-decks alone, most of which were Chinese-style ships with low fronts and high backs, as well as Dutch merchant ships with spacious bellies.

A large number of goods are piled up on the shore of the wharf. The guys of the various merchant halls were busy sorting out the transportation, shouting one after another, and they were in full swing.

Li Zhi walked around the bazaar, and then returned to the dock, where he found that there were already more than a dozen Chinese and Japanese merchants gathered around his boat. Seeing Li Zhi coming over in front and back, those merchants knew that this was the captain's return, and they crowded up to woo the business, asking Li Zhi to sell the goods to them.

Li Zhi looked at the ship's chief manager and asked, "How are these goods sold?" ”

The manager said: "Originally, Zha Gongzi had a merchant house in Hirado, and he slowly sold the goods to the merchant house. If you want to do business in Hirado for a long time in the future, it is best to build a merchant house as well. ”

Li Zhi thought for a while and said, "Call the lord of the Hirado Domain, and say that the Zuodu Governor of the Ming Dynasty is here and wants to see him." We met him on the boat. ”

The governor nodded and said, "Okay Governor, I'll go to the lord of the Hirado Domain." ”

Li Zhi sent the manager away and asked the merchants who gathered around him for a price. Many of those businessmen were Chinese and understood Li Zhi's words. Even Japanese businessmen can communicate with an interpreter.

Li Zhi first asked about the sale of soap, and after asking around, he found that these merchants knew the use of soap, and it seemed that some people had sold soap to Hirado before. Li Zhi tried to bargain with the merchants, and finally sold two boxes of soap for 35 yuan a piece.

It seems that soap is a bestseller even in the Wa country. In this way, a box of soap shipped to Japan to sell is a full 100 taels more profitable than selling it in China. A box of soap weighs a ton, and the new star can hold more than 300 boxes of soap. If Li Zhi's ship comes to Japan with soap in the future, there will be a profit of more than 30,000 taels for one trip.

Li Zhi showed the Li Jiajing cloth to these merchants, and these merchants touched it carefully, looked at it, and finally gave a price of one or two or three dollars.

This price made Li Zhi a little surprised. This Li Jiajing cloth is only sold for one tael of silver in Tianjin and Beijing, and there is a price difference of three coins of silver when it is sold to Japan.

Those businessmen said that the retail price of cotton cloth in Japan is generally about one or two or five yuan, one or two or six yuan. Li Zhi's fine cloth is of good quality, and the sales will not be bad, and it is profitable for businessmen to buy it for one or two or three dollars, and to wholesale it for one or two or four dollars. Li Zhi sold 10,000 pieces of fine cloth to those merchants at a price of one or two or three dollars, and spoiled those merchants.

The cloth was very light, and the Nova could hold 100,000 horses if it was filled with cloth. In the future, if the Nova came to Japan with cloth every trip, it would be calculated that there would be a profit of 30,000 taels of silver for one trip.

Li Zhi asked the price of raw silk again, and those merchants all quoted two hundred taels, and the price was two hundred and ten taels at most. It seems that the competition in the raw silk trade is too fierce, and there is no profit left. If Li Zhi's ship came to Japan with all raw silk, a ship would have a profit of 20,000 taels of silver.

Li Zhi showed the Li family's steel to the businessmen again, and the businessmen looked around and showed little interest. I don't know if these businessmen don't know the goods, or if Japan's demand for good steel is not high.

Li Zhi also inquired about luxury goods such as glass mirrors and transparent glassware, and found that the price was similar to that in Daming, and it could only be sold slowly, and the sales were limited. Li Zhi thought about it and felt that it should be the same. These luxury goods do not occupy space, and if the price difference is large and the demand is strong, other maritime merchants will already come to Japan.

After inquiring with the merchants, Li Zhi returned to the stern of the ship and waited for the lord of the Hirado Domain.

After an hour, Li Zhi saw that the crowd on the dock had dodged to both sides, and dozens of Japanese samurai rode fast horses to the port. The samurai rode tall horses and wore silk feather weaving. Surrounded by these samurai, a middle-aged samurai with a shaved head rode to the side of the Nova and jumped off his horse.

The man who came was the lord of the Hirado Domain, who expertly boarded the boat from the gangway and walked with two guards to the tail tower where Li Zhi was.

When they arrived at the last building, two guards stood outside the last building, and the lord of the Hirado domain walked into the last tower alone.

Li Zhi changed into the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty at this time, and was sitting there and drinking tea with the translator. The lord of the Hirado Domain was taken aback when he saw Li Zhi so young. However, he quickly regained his composure, and shouted in Japanese.

The translator said: "Matsuura Zhenxin, the lord of the Hirado Domain, has met the Governor of the Tang Dynasty. I heard that Zuo Dudu defeated the Jurchens, and I admired it very much! I didn't expect to see Governor Zuo in Hirado. ”

There were a lot of Daming maritime merchants in the Hirado Domain, and this Matsuura Zhenxin often came into contact with Daming maritime merchants and basically knew about the major events of Daming. When Li Zhi saw that Matsuura Zhenxin knew this, he laughed and said, "Okay, the feudal lord sits!" ”

Matsuura Zhenxin sat down on the chair, and Li Zhi said, "Lord, I will have a few ships to come to Hirado every month to do business, and the business will become more and more. ”

Matsuura Zhenxin was stunned and asked, "Every month?" How do you drive a boat with different monsoons? ”

Li Zhi said: "My boat does not need wind, it is driven by machines!" ”

Matsuura Zhenxin thought about it and didn't understand it, but he didn't ask too much. Anyway, if a Ming merchant came to Hirado, Matsuura Zhenxin would be able to collect taxes and make money, and he couldn't ask for it. Even if Li Zhi's boat was rowed with oars, he welcomed it.

Li Zhi said straight to the point: "The purpose of my search for you is to set up a merchant house in Hirado, do you have a suitable place to sell it to me?" ”

Matsuura Zhenxin thought for a while and said, "Yes! The Zuodu Governor of the Tang Dynasty, Ming merchant Li Guozhu decided not to do maritime trade, and he has been looking for someone to sell his merchant house during this time. His merchant house has more than 50 houses, two large warehouses, and a large area, making it the largest merchant house in Hirado. (To be continued.) )