Soon after the capture of Keelung, the orderly warships entered the Spanish dockyard for maintenance, which was nearly completed in a month's time. In late July, a typhoon hit Keelung Harbor, and the big trees hugged by the two of them could be uprooted due to strong winds and waves in the open sea. The pouring rain seemed to fall from the sky, and the rain had already been connected. Sewage is poured out of the wellhead of the sewer, like a black fountain.

The old sailors had a hunch in advance. The battleship lowered all the sail booms, strengthened the anchor cables, and suffered little damage. The construction site of Tamsui Fort was miserable, and half a month's work was in vain. In the face of the devastation after the typhoon, the orderly plan was forced to be postponed. He decided to stay a little longer, repairing the ship and recruiting some sailors along the way. Thus the shortfall in personnel caused by the unplanned transfer of black officers and men from the fleet was filled.

Shou Xiang took out some supplies and silver from the booty of Keelung City, which was used to recruit Chinese. Speaking of which, Taipei's advantage over Jincheng is here, it is closer to China and easier to attract immigrants.

The western route occupied by Jincheng is north-south, and it can only travel in one direction downwind during a monsoon period. From China to Jincheng, merchant ships can only make one round trip a year. It's not impossible to sail against the monsoon, but it's too costly and takes too much time. From Dayuan to Batavia, it can be reached in one month with a tailwind, and three months with a headwind. Ordinary merchant ships would easily not do this, and would only attempt to sail long distances against the wind if they carried important information such as valuable supplies and military intelligence.

Sailing from Fujian to Taiwan is an east-west route, whether it is the south wind season or the north wind season, there is always a suitable sailing wind direction in the middle, and merchant ships can repeatedly sail in the Taiwan Strait many times in a year. Moreover, because of the short voyage, large ships are not necessarily needed to go to sea, and the Dutch can count more than 400 Chinese merchant ships in Geranja a year, of which most of them are naturally small and medium-sized ships.

The Spanish trade with China at Chicken Coop was a tragedy for a number of reasons: the Dutch were too competitive; Manila acquisition price is higher; The inability of the Spaniards to provide a stable trading environment and many other factors are influencing factors.

More than a month was enough for the news of Keelung and Tamsui changing hands to reach Chinese mainland, and maritime merchants gathered a group of China's most pioneering adventurers at this time. During the recuperation period after the typhoon, the fortification troops of Tamsui Fort sent a reasonable and unexpected guest to Shou Order.

Shou Xuan borrowed the Maiden Chief's Office for reception, and after greetings, he asked, "Mr. Pan is from Zhejiang?" ”

"A native of Lanxi, Jinhua Prefecture."

Pan Xuezhong, whose name is Xinliang, is different from many Fujian and Guangdong merchants who wander between the identities of maritime merchants and pirates, and this Zhejiang businessman with the identity of a student is more elegant.

Shou Xuan smiled, "Mr. Pan, don't blame me for asking more, most of the people I have seen at sea are Fujian and Guangdong maritime merchants, and today is the first time I have met a friend from Zhejiang." ”

Pan Xuezhong sighed slightly, "That's true." During the earlier Jiajing period, the trade center on the Daming Sea was Shuangyu Island, and the bosses of the sea boats at that time were all from Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong just worked for us. Since the imperial court destroyed Shuangyu and Haicheng opened the sea, the situation has been reversed. ”

Shou Xuan probably knew that Shuangyu was the past of the Jiajing Dynasty, and he continued to ask: "What does Mr. Pan mean that now Zhejiang merchants are mainly going to Fujian to run boats?" ”

Pan Xuezhong: "We don't have a reliable channel to communicate with Yangyi now. Except for a few powerful maritime merchants who were able to run to Ryukyu and Luzon, everyone else had to sell goods to Anhai to the Zheng family. ”

Zhejiang merchants could not directly do business with the Dutch and Portuguese, and the order could be understood, the Zheng family controlled the coastal waters of Fujian, and the sea ships in Zhejiang could not pass. He asked, "Nagasaki can't go either?" Japan is big business. ”

"On our voyage to Japan, it will be very dangerous if we encounter the Hongyi warship or the Zheng family's fleet." A wry smile appeared on the corner of Pan Xuezhong's mouth, "Even when we arrived in Japan, we didn't have a relationship with the Zheng family, and the goods were not so easy to sell." ”

Shou Yu understood, "So you will go to the Ryukyus to make a deal with the Satsuma Domain." ”

It has been more than 30 years since the Ryukyus were conquered by Satsuma, and Satsuma has not abolished the Ryukyu king. The king of the Ryukyus was actually a vassal of the Satsuma Domain, and Satsuma set up in the Ryukyu to rule over the Ryukyus. Before Japan banned the sea, the Ming Dynasty forbade Japanese merchant ships to go to the mainland, and Satsuma could make profits from it by wearing Ryukyu vests. After the ban on the sea, it was announced on paper that only Chinese and Dutch merchant ships could go to Nagasaki for trading. At this time, the Ryukyus actually became Japan's second trade window outside of Nagasaki. Merchants who could not afford to go to Nagasaki would go to the Ryukyus to do business with Satsuma.

"Your Excellency is right." Pan Xuezhong shook his head, "But Satsuma is just a transit person after all, and the purchase volume is not as good as Nagasaki." In many cases, they still have to pay on credit, and the Chinese merchants have to wait for them to sell the goods they have shipped before they can get their money back. As for Manila...... Although Luzon Yi is rich, it is too far away. Even a few wealthy businessmen in the province have to cooperate with Songjiang Prefecture to get a few ships, which is not as convenient as Fujian and Guangdong. ”

Shou Xiang nodded, it is indeed not easy to survive in the cracks.

Pan Xuezhong smiled bitterly: "I don't have the strength of those wealthy businessmen now, so I can only transport raw silk cotton cloth to Anhai and earn a little hard-earned money from the Zheng family." ”

"Then why did the gentleman come to Taipei? I've heard that you've made Taipei a plague land. ”

Pan Xuezhong heard some hatred here, "The people over there in Anhai are too difficult to deal with. I heard that the sky had changed in Tamsui and that Luzon had been beaten away, so I wanted to come and try my luck. I can't take care of the plague or anything. ”

Zheng Zhilong is very famous for being unreasonable in business, people are forced out, and he can understand why Pan Xuezhong took the risk to come to Taipei.

"What kind of business did Mr. come to Taipei?"

"Brimstone. Fresh water is produced with sulfur. ”

Shou Xiang naturally knows that Taipei has natural sulfur production, which is actually one of the important reasons why he likes Taipei. The three major components of black powder, charcoal is not a problem, sulfur and saltpeter are troublesome. Saltpeter is very scarce, relying on nitrate, nitrate fields are unreliable, even if Jincheng is calculated by 100,000 people, it is estimated that the gunpowder made by collecting soil nitrate every year will not reach 2 tons, which is a drop in the bucket. To meet domestic demand, saltpeter ore must be imported. In fact, the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty also lacked saltpeter, and the most stable source of saltpeter that could be obtained by the order was India.

The British East India Company did saltpeter business in Bengal, and its profits were higher than the salt tax, and without the British selling Indian saltpeter at both ends, the American Civil War would not have been fought at all. Not to mention Chile, which later fought a saltpeter war.

Relying on the collection of toilet soil to make gunpowder can only be supplemented by talk. The Dutch stuck the Strait of Malacca, and Indian saltpeter could not cross, which made Jincheng's current arms replenishment heavily dependent on the Dutch. Shou Xian sometimes can't sleep at night when he thinks about this problem, and he can't do anything about it at the moment. We can only take advantage of the fact that we can still have a good relationship with the Dutch and reserve some more Bengal saltpeter.

He had to take care of the sulfur on his own. Although there are many volcanoes in the South Seas that produce sulfur, they are not under their actual control. By occupying Taipei, he will be able to produce sulfur on his own, solving at least one important problem of self-production of raw materials for arms.

Out of sensitivity to arms production, Shou Xu asked, "How did Mr. Pan know that fresh water has sulfur?" ”

"My lord, although it is my first time to come to Taiwan, it is not a secret that there is sulfur in Tamsui and chicken coops, before Luzon Yi occupied this place, there would be four or five ships every year, and sometimes seven or eight ships came here, all for sulfur. The predecessors exchanged old cloth with the natives for sulphur soil, which was transported to Fujian to be refined with butter. ”

It also has to be refined with butter, and the cost is not low. Shou Xuan said: "Mr. Pan, now that we control Tamsui and Keelung, you can go back and tell the merchants of Daming that we welcome them to do business, provide trading venues, and ensure their safety." We have money and goods, and you can learn about our credibility from Guangdong. ”

Pan Xuezhong stood up and bowed to Shou Xuwei, "Thank you for your trust in Pan, Jincheng's reputation, we also know." But I beg your pardon that I may not be able to do what you ask. ”

Shou Xuan said in surprise: "Why is this, Mr. Pan is worried that there is no profit, I never let the friends who cooperate suffer." ”

Pan Xuezhong shook his head, "What your country needs, Pan wants to come, it is nothing more than raw silk, Songjiang, Nanjing cotton cloth and porcelain, please understand, these goods must be sold to Zheng Zhilong along the coast of Fujian, otherwise we will be in danger when we go to sea." ”

Suddenly, Zheng Zhilong monopolized the offshore sea control power, which is where his core interests lie. "Don't worry, Mr. Pan, I don't need those things."

Pan Xuezhong may have heard for the first time that there are still maritime merchants who don't want to give birth to silk, and his expression was a little surprised, "Then what does your country need?" ”

"Rice, population, cattle, and ......" Shou Xiang smiled slightly, "Tea tree." ”

Cotton cloth is actually a material needed by Taipei, but due to its sensitivity, Shou Xiang does not plan to purchase it for the time being. The Spaniards' stock of cotton cloth in Keelung is sufficient for a short time. As for the tea plant, he didn't want to get tea products, he wanted to grow tea trees in Taipei. The area around Taipei is the best place in Taiwan to grow tea.

Pan Xuezhong became interested, he raised his head and asked, "What does your country pay for?" ”

Shou Xuan clapped his hands, and someone under him brought in a plate.

"Sulfur, mercury, copper......" Shou Xuan lifted the red cloth covering the plate and smiled, "And gold." ”

A large piece of raw gold was placed in front of everyone, shining in the sunlight and shining with a touching light.

All the words of man describing wealth are pale before gold. Needless to say, Pan Xuezhong left Keelung with the common expectations of both parties for the future.