Malacca Castle is trending northwest and southeast, almost parallel to the Malacca waterway, and is only more than ten miles away from the waterway. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Zhu Youzhen and Wang Mujiu were dressed in gray robes, pretending to be merchants, but the five guards were short, both their entourage and their guards, and Fu Xiaojian did not show up because he wanted to pretend to be a common man when he was going to worship Sanbao.

Entered the city from the south city gate, Zhu Youzhen first went to the city head to see, the city wall made of bluestone is more than one zhang thick, this is the city wall built by the Portuguese, after the Ming army entered the city, an earthen wall was added in the city, it is half a zhang thick, the current Malacca city can be regarded as a strong city.

From the south gate to the inside, there is a wide and smooth avenue, four or five zhang wide, the avenue and the south city wall are almost perpendicular, Zhu Youzhen at the entrance of the city gate, see a stone road sign, it reads: South Gate Street, the handwriting on the road sign is brand new and clear, obviously it has not been erected for a long time.

There are many merchant houses on both sides of the street, along the north of Nanmen Street, every ten zhang, there will be a horizontal street on both sides, similar to the second street.

Zhu Youjian found that the buildings on the South Gate Street are basically bluestone domed houses, typical European style, covering a large area, the palace is also wide, and there are some domed shops on the second street, but most of them are ordinary two-story small wooden buildings and tile houses, which are Han people's shops at a glance.

"It seems that when the Portuguese occupied Malacca, the closest to the pier outside the South Gate and the best place to occupy the main street were occupied by the Portuguese, and the Han people could only retreat to the second, and the shops were almost all on the corner of the second street."

"Lord, aren't the Portuguese driven away now? Did these bucket houses be returned to the Han Chinese? Wang Mujiu had never seen this kind of igloo before, and felt that the roof was similar to a bucket.

"Let's go inside!" Zhu Youzhen took the lead and entered a European-style shop called "Mingzhou Silk" on the street.

Seeing so many guests coming in, Xiao Er thought it was a big customer, so he greeted him warmly, "Do you want to see the silk?" Our shop is the best Cantonese embroidery! ”

"Cantonese embroidery?" Zhu Youzhen remembered the four famous embroideries, Guangdong embroidery is not as good as Suzhou embroidery, but Guangdong occupies the advantage of geographical advantages, Guangdong embroidery is far more marketed overseas than Suzhou embroidery, so the fame is much greater, "Xiao Er, are you all Cantonese embroidery?" ”

"Yes, yes, all the products distributed by this store are Cantonese embroidery," Xiao Er had already peeked at it, knowing that Zhu Youzhen and Wang Mujiu were the leaders of this group of people, "Guest officer, this store operates authentic Cantonese embroidery, do you want to take a look?" ”

"Then take a look," Zhu Youzhen, under the guidance of Xiao Er, looked through a few pieces of silk, and the silk surface was mostly a hundred birds, "The pattern is full, complex but not chaotic, the colors are gorgeous, and the silk surface is smooth." ”

"The guest officer has good eyesight!" Xiao Er stretched out his thumb to Zhu Youzhen, with a flattering smile on his face: "The villain said that our store operates authentic Cantonese embroidery." ”

"Authentic is authentic," Zhu Youzhen smiled, "However, it is not a top grade." ”

"Guest officer...... The smile on Xiao Er's face froze for a moment, and he glanced outside the shop, but there were no other guests at the door, and it was difficult to leave.

"The pattern is similar, but the workmanship is not fine enough, the embroidery needle used is too thick, you can only look at it from a distance, you can't appreciate it closely," Zhu Youzhen turned over the silk and showed it in front of Xiao Er, "Xiao Er, these are single-sided embroidery, compared with double-sided embroidery, not only the workmanship is greatly simplified, but the embroidery technique, hey......"

Xiao Erqing knew that he met an expert, so he had to divert the topic: "The guest officer is also in the silk business?" ”

"No, we are passing by Malacca, and we will see if there is any good silk," Zhu Youzhen put down the silk very casually, "Xiao Er, how much is this silk?" ”

"The same money, the same goods, guest officer, our silk is cheap," Xiao Er suddenly came to his senses, he stretched out two fingers, "Each piece of silk is only two taels of silver!" ”

"Two taels?" Wang Mujiu couldn't wait to throw these silk satins to the ground and stomped on them a few times, "Are you doing business or robbing?" ”

Zhu Youzhen was worried that Wang Mujiu had missed the bottom line, "People are businessmen, so they naturally have to make money." ”

"Yes, yes, it's still this guest officer who understands our hardships," Xiao Er only regarded Zhu Youzhen as a customer, "This guest officer, the villain is far away from his hometown, and he always has to earn some travel to return to his hometown in the future." ”

"Xiao Er, it's also time to earn some travel," Zhu Youzhen remembered the scene in Suzhou, authentic Suzhou embroidery, each piece is less than one or two silver, "But, this price, I'm afraid it has doubled, right?" ”

"This ......" Xiao Er was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses, "This guest officer, in Malacca, of course, Cantonese embroidery is more expensive than Guangdong, and it is a lot of money to ship it by such a long way......

"Why don't I bring you some embroidery?" Zhu Youzhen laughed, "Xiao Er, at what price will you buy?" ”

"Acquisition?" Xiao Er was stunned for a moment, and suddenly froze, but Zhu Youzhen's laughter made him come back to his senses, "The guest officer was originally going to sell embroidery?" Listening to the accent of the guest officer, he is a person from the capital, and there is no famous embroidery near the capital! ”

"Jingshi does not produce famous embroidery, but I have seen a lot of Suzhou embroidery, Hunan embroidery, and Guangdong embroidery, which is a rare Shu embroidery, in my eyes, it is not unusual," Zhu Youzhen rummaged through the pile of silk again, and there was indeed no good product, "Xiao Er, I have a friend who is in the embroidery business, ask me to help him inquire about the way, or I will sell some to you, and I will pay for the freight, as long as you give me a reasonable price." ”

"This ...... Guest officer, the villain is only responsible for selling," Xiao Er didn't know the depth of Zhu Youzhen, so he quickly shirked and said: "If the guest officer has silk for sale, he must talk to our proprietor...... But the proprietor was not in Malacca at this time. ”

"Haha, it's okay, if I have time, I'll visit your proprietor." Zhu Youzhen naturally knew what Xiao Er was worried about.

"Guest officer...... To tell the truth," Xiao Er's eyes quickly turned, "After all, there are very few people who know the goods in Malacca, and it is even more rare for Westerners to see the top grades, so ...... Therefore, if the quality is too good, it will not be able to buy a good price - I wonder what kind of silk the guest officer has? ”

"Well, let's talk about it when we have a chance to meet your proprietor, you can't be the master anyway." Zhu Youzhen waved his hand to Xiao Er, and swaggered out of the hall with Wang Mujiu and others.

"Master, this 'Mingzhou Silk' is a pit person, right? This kind of quality silk is even more expensive than that of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Mujiu said as he looked back at the shop behind him, and saw Xiao Erzheng looking at the door with a ghostly look, and his heart was even more angry.

"Mu Jiu, Yue embroidery was transported from the mainland of Daming to Nanyang, and the price naturally rose," Zhu Youjian patted Wang Mujiu's back, "Mu Jiu, this is the profit of maritime merchants, compared with mainland merchants, I am afraid it is several times higher." ”

Wang Mujiu didn't understand Zhu Youzhen's voice, "Master, are they allowed to operate so blatantly?" ”

Zhu Youzhen pretended not to understand what Wang Mujiu meant, "Allowed? What does Mu Jiu mean? When people come to Nanyang to do business, as long as they don't evade taxes and don't violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, can they seize his shop? ”

"Master, that's what I said, but the businessman is so profitable......"

"Mu Jiu, without these maritime merchants, how could the goods produced in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, such as these exquisite silks, be bought at such a price?" Zhu Youzhen laughed, not caring about the profiteering of the businessman, "I'm afraid Mu Jiu doesn't know yet, right?" For these ordinary silks, once they enter the Western market, the price of each horse is probably not less than 20 taels. ”

"Twenty taels?" Wang Mujiu was stunned for a moment, he even forgot to move his steps, and the expression on his face froze there, as if he was performing a pantomime.

"Mu Jiu, the South Sea and the Western Ocean, are very far away from the interior of the Ming Dynasty, the wind and waves are high, there are pirates on the way, and the risk is also very high, if there is no such high profits, who else will engage in overseas trade?"

Wang Mujiu was still not convinced, he took two steps to catch up with Zhu Youzhen's pace, "But...... Master, if a businessman accumulates these huge profits, within three generations, he will definitely be rich and rival the country, which is not a good thing for the country. ”

"Mu Jiu don't worry, it's true that maritime merchants have high profits, but long-distance transportation and high expenses," Zhu Youzhen wants to create a merchant culture, so he must protect the legitimate rights of merchants, and the strength of merchants can be enhanced, so as to improve their right to speak in life, "In addition, maritime merchants are highly profitable, but the taxes will be heavier, and the tax rate will reach five taxes and one, which is twice as high as that of ordinary merchants, that is, the higher the income of maritime merchants, the more taxes they will pay to the imperial court." ”

As long as the maritime merchants did not evade taxes, it would be a win-win situation for the merchants and the imperial court.

As for the future when the economic strength of maritime merchants is strong to a certain extent, they may appeal for political interests, and this is exactly what Zhu Youzhen cannot ask for.

"Ao ......" Wang Mujiu doesn't understand these complex economic issues, but he understands one thing: the higher the profits of maritime merchants, the more taxes the imperial court will have, "Master, there are not a few such merchants, right?" ”

"Hmm!" Zhu Youzhen snorted lightly, before the South China Sea fleet came to Nanyang, these maritime merchants paid taxes to Westerners, and now that the Ming Dynasty basically controls the South China Sea, they get the taxes paid by these maritime merchants in vain, compared with the investment of the Ming Dynasty in the Nanyang provinces, the imperial court should be sure to make a profit and not lose money, "Mu Jiu, don't worry about the merchants accumulating wealth, the master plans to build a mainland goods gathering place in Nanyang, specializing in selling Ming goods to Westerners." ”

"Master?" Where did Wang Mujiu understand Zhu Youzhen's thoughts, and when he followed Zhu Youzhen's side, he could only stare dryly.

"Mu Jiu, if all the goods sold by the Ming Dynasty are concentrated in a certain area of the South Seas, Westerners will not covet the vast world of the Ming Dynasty, and even other areas of the South Seas will lose their attraction to them."

"Master, Daming is rich in products, these goods are gathered in one place, I'm afraid it's not easy, right?"

"Mu Jiu said that the products of the Ming Dynasty are too rich, and they are concentrated in one place, and they are afraid that it is unrealistic, so they will open up two or three trade places in Nanyang to trade with Westerners," Zhu Youzhen hopes to use Nanyang as a transit station for Ming goods, and between Nanyang and the Ming mainland, it will be monopolized by Ming merchants, "If there are only these few trade places, it will be easier to manage in the future, especially for the goods that are prohibited and restricted from export by the Ming Dynasty." ”

Wang Mujiu asked, "Where does the Lord plan to establish a trade port?" ”