The fleet slowly sailed into Hirado Port, and under the guidance of the guide ship, anchored at the vacant berth, and immediately a toll clerk came to collect the berth fee.

"Trouble, ten taels per ship." The toll clerk bowed politely and said to the shipowners of the fleet with a smile on his face. Although Japan uses gold to judge, foreign trade is still denominated in silver, which is equivalent to the current US dollar, which is common to all countries.

Several shipowners were people who had been to Hirado many times and knew the price, so Zhou's shipowner handed over a silver ingot of fifty taels on behalf of the fleet and obtained a handwritten fee voucher from a small official. Ships are charged according to size, 400 warships are counted as small ships in the ocean-going sea trade, and large cargo ships are charged from tens of taels to 100 taels, depending on the number.

When they arrived here, it was mainly the five shipowners, Yang Yiteng became the leader of their guards, and the shipowner Zhou said to him: "Master Shi, a few of us are going to go ashore to contact the merchants, you just stay on the ship, don't go ashore casually." ”

"A few please, I will restrain my subordinates." Yang Yiteng nodded and agreed.

Several shipowners went for most of the day, and at about midnight in the afternoon, they returned one by one drunk with a group of Japanese merchants.

Back in the cabin, Zhou Shipowner unceremoniously sat down and beckoned several Japanese businessmen: "Tagawa-kun, please take a seat." ”

Several shipowners and Japanese businessmen sat down around the next minute, and Zhou shipowner ordered the slave soldiers standing under the hall to serve tea, and then said politely: "Tian Chuanjun, the conditions here are simple, and I hope you Haihan." ”

"Zhou Jun is polite, we are honored to be entertained. However, Zhou Jun's guards are all born and strong, which is not simple. ”

"Hahahaha! Generally average! Although we maritime merchants can make some money, safety is also very important. ”

Zhou's shipowner is very good at pretending, so he turned into a fleet treasurer, trading with Japanese merchants, looking at his style of talking, people who don't know the inside story will really mistake him for a sea merchant.

"Zhou Jun, everyone is not an idler, please take out the goods and take a look, we will trade together, if you are not satisfied, you can find a home." After the politeness, Tagawa Hyotaro, who was led by Japanese businessmen, began to get to the point.

"Hmmm! You're welcome! ”

Zhou Shipowner responded with a smile, and then instructed Yang Yiteng, who was standing on his left hand, to say, "Yiteng, quickly arrange for someone to carry the goods up and let a few guests take a look." ”

"Yes," Yang Yiteng habitually bowed with his hands and feet in response. But it caught the attention of Tagawa Hyotaro, because this kind of bowing is Japanese etiquette, and the Akito usually holds the strings.

After Yang Yiteng went down to arrange for someone to carry the goods, Tagawa Hyotaro couldn't wait to ask: "Zhou Jun, could it be that your guard is my Yamato samurai?" ”

"Huh! No, no, no, we are all Ming people, and Tagawa-kun should know it when he looks at his height and physique. Zhou Chuandong replied with a smile. He explained it casually, but his words greatly hurt the self-esteem of several Japanese businessmen, and it is true that Japanese people are generally short, which is why they are particularly sensitive and arrogant.

"Oh!"

Tagawa Hyotaro didn't want to mention this topic of hurting his self-esteem again, but he didn't follow up, just in line with the wishes of several shipowners, only drank two sips of tea, a few soldiers carried two large boxes, Yang Yiteng came to the cabin with a small box, and opened the lids of each box.

"Tagawa-kun, a few of you, please inspect the goods!" Zhou Shipowner stood up and asked for help.

Several Japanese didn't care at first, because these porcelain glass mirrors were packaged in brocade and did not reveal the true face of Lushan. But when Tagawa Hyotaro casually peeled off the packaging of a piece of bone china, he immediately changed color, opened his mouth wide, and said "Yo Xi Yo Xi" endlessly.

I think he Tagawa Hyotaro is also a famous businessman in Hirado, and he has never seen any porcelain, but now he has seen the porcelain boutique that he has only seen in his life, so white and crystal clear, more warm and lustrous than jade, and much more high-end than the official kiln boutique, so he forgot the honor of the superior people to speak the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty, and blurted out a Japanese native dialect.

When he peeled off the flat glass mirror with trembling hands, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated a few points, as if he would jump out of his mouth in the next second, this is another kind of glass mirror he has only seen in his life, the mirror himself is delicate, there is no trace of distortion, there is no trace of variegation, the glass mirror is so flat and smooth, compared with the mirror from the Dutch, the judgment is high, but unfortunately, the frame is relatively simple, can not bring out the dignity of the glass mirror.

But this is just a small flaw, you can go back and ask a famous teacher to frame it, Tagawa Hyotaro thought in his heart.

"Zhou Jun, please make a price, I want all these goods." Tagawa Hyotaro immediately got up and asked Zhou Chuandong with hopeful eyes.

"Haha! Tian Chuan-kun, please rest assured, I invited you to come and see the goods, just to trade with you, otherwise, these goods, the Hongmaoyi people should be more like. ”

Zhou Shipowner's words made Tagawa Hyotaro very nervous, he knew that these Ming maritime merchants were not junior brothers, and they even knew the preferences of the Dutch, so he immediately opened a suitable price by himself and said: "Zhou Jun, I will pay 30,000 taels of silver, please transfer it to me." ”

Tagawa Hyotaro offered a high price of 30,000 taels of silver, which surprised several shipowners, but Zhou shipowner still pretended to think about it for a while, and then gritted his teeth and decided: "Okay!" Tagawa-kun, I should make you a friend, but we are not responsible for the customs duties on the goods, and I don't need silver, I just want the same value of sulfur, lead, copper, and other Japanese specialties of yours. ”

"No problem, no problem at all, haha! Zhou Jun, I wish us a happy cooperation! Being able to barter goods is a businessman's favorite, and you can make twice the difference, so Tagawa Hyotaro immediately laughed and agreed.

"Hahahaha! Happy working together! Everyone present burst out laughing, and Zhou Shipowner also replied.

The reason why they only looked for Japanese merchants was because they needed Japanese specialties such as sulfur, lead, and copper for this trip, not silver, and the Dutch might pay a higher price, but they didn't have the supplies they needed, so trading with the Japanese was the first choice.

In fact, at this time, Hirado already had the germ of capitalism, and after the shogunate banned the Matsuura clan from conducting sea raids, the Matsuura clan began to do its old business again, and the Matsuura clan itself was a merchant, so it attached great importance to the commercial order. Once the two parties have negotiated the price, there will be no surprises.

Tens of thousands of taels of business, although very large, but in Hirado, one of the only two foreign trade ports in Japan, but not too big a business, the goods are immediately available, no need to wait, sulfur, lead, copper are very heavy substances, only enough for a few ships to make ballast, therefore, under the hard work of hundreds of coolies, it takes half a day to load the goods.

The fleet was also replenished with food and fresh water, and it was ready to sail back, Tagawa Hyotaro came to see him off, and when he parted, he asked with hope: "Zhou Jun, you and me, the first cooperation between the two sides, it was so smooth, I don't know if we will have a chance to cooperate next time?" ”

"Don't worry, Tagawa-kun, there must be, we will definitely come to Japan again next year, and we will definitely give priority to you when the time comes." Zhou Chuandong replied to Tagawa Hyotaro's words in a firm tone.

After receiving such affirmation from Zhou Chuandong, Tagawa Hyotaro immediately smiled, and he waved his hands and said: "Zhou Jun, I wish you a smooth journey!" ”

"Tagawa-kun, thank you!" Shipowner Zhou also happily replied.

……

In the evening, the fleet set sail at sunset over the sea, and when it was dark when it sailed out of Hirado Harbor, it just covered up the whereabouts of the fleet, so that some forces who wanted to do business without capital were confused, and they all went to the Ryukyu waters to intercept, just because they were Ming people, the pirates concluded that they would pass through the Ryukyu waters, and by mistake, the fleet actually went all the way through the Korean Strait and returned to Liaodong.