The last day of November 1633 was black for the English cotton or woolen merchants who came all the way to Colonia.

In the bright spring light of Colonia, in the barn where British merchants gathered, the large black wooden board was written in chalk: Indian white calico, priced at 4 pesos per horse; Worsted tweed 45 pesos, tweed 33 pesos, suede 40 pesos (1 peso≈ 0.8 yuan ≈ 0.2 pounds). A dozen employees of an English merchant laboriously unloaded bundles of cotton cloth or woolen from the ship, and then, according to the rules of the merchant venture company (1), each merchant presented his goods to the customer at the same time, and the price was set by the company.

In the morning, there was an endless stream of businessmen who came to see the goods. These are the native-born whites of La Plata who have joined the Rodrigues Chamber of Commerce, and they have ample capital and smooth sales channels, and are the favorite customers of British businessmen. Most of these merchants were small and medium-sized merchants, who bought hundreds of cotton cloth and woolen woolen pieces in a scattered manner. And this is just a drop in the bucket for the huge inventory of the British, who are not in a hurry, they know that those big customers have not yet appeared, and what is now sold is just appetizers.

An hour after the end of the morning, the number of merchants in La Plata who came to see the goods suddenly decreased, and there was not even a single one at the end of the morning. The British didn't realize anything at the moment, and it was almost noon, so the British simply closed and rested.

After a few woolen merchants from the London Merchant Adventure Company and the East India Company cotton merchants had lunch together, they were even interested in sitting down for a drink and chatting, and in the past, it was just a light and pleasant business trip.

"I have to say that the beef in La Plata is really good. Fatty, silky, and juicy, God testifies that the vegetable cattle of East Anglia (2) are as tasteless as leather. George Hampton, a woolen merchant from Norwich, made an exaggerated gesture.

Some of the merchants smiled good-naturedly, and then someone quipped, "So, George, is that why you slaughtered all the vegetable cattle on your pasture and replaced them with sheep?" ”

"Yes, John." George Hampton took a sip of his wine and said, "You know, I recently bought a monastery farm. I've decided to get rid of all the stupid barley farmers on this farm from next year, and I'm going to just want the smartest ones to keep me grazing the sheep. ”

"George, those farmers are stupid, but they are still up to the task of spinning and weaving." "Mr. Charlop of Malmesbury had recently rented a handicraft workshop and gathered the farmers to work as shearers, spinners, weavers and rinsers, for a small remuneration for a steady output of wool. When I'm done with this business, I'll follow Mr. Charlop's example when I come back to Bristol, because it's a great deal. Isn't it, Mr. Sheldon? Your family owns a large area of work in Suffolk and you should be able to appreciate the benefits. ”

A middle-aged man sitting in the corner of the wine table chuckled, and then said in a deep voice, "George, John is right. Times are different, and we have to abandon the old traditions of rural textiles. A farmer who spun the yarn and walked for most of the day to reach my workshop, handed the yarn to me in exchange for wool and then spent half a day walking home to spin the yarn, we wasted so much time on this that we were always very inefficient. It's time for a change, gentlemen! We need to get those farmers out of their damn crops, and then plant alfalfa on the crops, and raise lovely flocks of sheep. And those farmers, all concentrated in the factory to work, this is the most efficient way, and it can bring us the most lovely gold coins. ”

The middle-aged man nodded their heads again and again, and then someone proposed a toast to Mr. Sheldon's workshop, and the atmosphere was extremely warm for a while.

Suddenly, the door of the inn was slammed open, and an employee walked in briskly and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, we may be in trouble. I had just heard a rumor in the market that the people of the East Coast had brought in large quantities of cotton and woollen fabrics, and that they had sold them at an unbelievably low price to the Rodrigues Chamber of Commerce, which monopolized most of the trade in the city. And this price is rumored to be about half of what we sold for, which is probably why no one came to buy our goods in the last hour of the morning, because the Spaniards got the news. ”

The room suffocated, but was soon drowned out by a burst of laughter.

"Half the price! God, how is this possible? Can they still make money? ”

"No one can afford less than the English in textiles!"

"Did they rob a cargo ship transporting textiles? That's the price of dealing with stolen goods, shameless pirates! ”

"It's not a funny joke, but you're finally starting to get a little humorous, Nick, come on, cheers!"

Nick didn't laugh at this time, but he still said with a calm face, "Gentlemen, I'm not joking. In fact, all the Spanish merchants are now crowded at the door of the East Coast people's inns, and I think it will impress you if you go and see it. ”

The group was stunned by Nick's words, and there was some silence in the room for a while.

"All right, gentlemen. Perhaps, as Nick said, the East Coasters are handling goods at an unbelievably low price, so let's take a look and see what they're up to. William Clifford of the East India Company stood up. He was a cotton merchant, and he couldn't talk to the woolen merchants of the merchant adventure company, and he had been sitting quietly in the corner drinking until he got up and walked out the door.

Clifford was a relatively large cotton merchant, with a total fortune of more than £5,000, which was a standout among their group of small and medium-sized merchants. After he left, the others couldn't help but look at each other, and the last one simply got up and walked outside.

The East Coast Company's warehouse is located in Xiao Baitu's office premises. Four Ministry of Internal Affairs policemen and a group of sailors kept order at the door, and then Xiao Baitu, the only one of them who could speak Spanish, was holding a tin horn and explaining to the merchants of La Plata who were crowded at the door.

"I'm sorry, guys. All of our goods have been bought by Mr. Rodriguez's Chamber of Commerce, and this is the end of this cloth transaction. Rest assured, we will go back soon to organize production as soon as possible, and we will come to Colonia again to sell goods in a month at most, so please be patient. ”

"Yes, the white cotton cloth is 1.6 yuan per horse, the worsted wide woolen wool is 25 yuan per horse, and the price will remain the same next time! Please rest assured that there will be an abundant supply of goods in a month. Our East Coast cloth is of high quality and low price, please be patient. ”

After Xiao Baitu finished speaking, he simply asked his subordinates to close the door of the store, isolating a group of disappointed merchants outside. In the warehouse, Álvaro, who had arrived after hearing the news, was leisurely drinking yerba mate. His son, Alvarez, bought the textiles from the East Coast for a total of 9,100 yuan, which was incredibly low. The only thing Alvaro wanted to figure out at this time was whether the East Coaster's business was a one-shot deal or whether it was going to be a long-term deal.

"Of course, I'm going to do it for a long time." "In the future, we are going to set up a Mercosur market, including the East Coast, La Plata, Brazil, Chile, Alta Peru (3) and other regions, where everyone's goods can be traded freely without any transit duties," Xu explained to Álvaro with a smile. This will inevitably greatly promote the commercial prosperity of the regions, and thus increase the prosperity of the people, which is many times stronger than the current backwater designated trade model. Mr. Álvaro, you are our friend, and we East Coasters will never let our friends suffer, and we will definitely provide you and your family with the best prices when the time comes. ”

"Of course I'll think about Mercosur. But now I want to know how much cloth you East Coasters can provide to my Chamber of Commerce every month, and this is the most important thing at this stage. You know, La Plata has a huge market, and at least 1,500-2,000 woolen woolen and much more cotton can be consumed every year, and everyone knows what this means. So, please give me an accurate message, how much is your production capacity? ”

"If the raw materials are sufficient, it is not a problem to produce 1,000-2,000 woolen wool and several times the amount of cotton cloth per month." Xu Xin didn't answer, at this time Tao Chenxi stepped up, he looked at Álvaro's eyes, and said firmly: "As long as the raw material problem is solved, we can continue to expand production capacity, even if we eat the entire southern market." Dear Mr. Álvaro, please take care of the source of raw materials, especially wool, this is a big business, for you and me, please work together. ”

"What do you do with the British? They are not profitable at this price, the merchant adventure company and the East India Company are both powerful large companies, and although the market of La Plata is not as vast as that of the Old World, it is not something they can afford to lose casually, and they may do something about you. Be careful! Álvaro earnestly reminded that he didn't want to lose such a good partner.

"Thank you for the reminder, Dear Mr. Alvaro, that we will take care of the British."

(1) Merchant Adventure Company: A company authorized by the King of England to monopolize the export of woolen wool, which was originally funded by the London Silk Merchants Guild, the Woolen Fabrication Association, the Clothing Merchants Guild, the Grocers' Guild, and the Wool Merchant's Guild. In the 15th and 16th centuries, he defeated the Hanseatic merchant league and regained the right to export woolen wool from England. Initially based in Antwerp, it has moved to Hamburg.

(2) East Anglia: the most important agricultural and pastoral area in eastern England and one of the three major wool spinning centers. The main area includes all of Norfolk and Suffolk and parts of other counties connected to it. The capital, Norwich, was the second largest city in the United Kingdom at the time. After a large influx of Dutch Protestants, he was famous for weaving new wool after absorbing Dutch techniques.

(3) Upper Peru, the district of the Chalcas Prosecutor's Court, roughly equivalent to the area of present-day Bolivia.

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