At this time, it was already late at night, and when he heard this sudden low voice outside the door, Wang Fulin couldn't help but be very surprised. He frowned, ignoring it. The most strange thing is that he only knocked on the door and did not call the door, which also made him dare not open the door rashly. When he goes out, it's always good to have multiple hearts, not to mention that he is on a private visit to Weifu right now? But the knock on the door was very low, but it was also very rhythmic, knocking three times, stopping for a while, persevering, so that people could not ignore it. In the end, he could only get up with a bone, pulled his shoes and got out of bed, grabbed the pillow sword and came to the door.

"It's so late, who is it?"

"Do you want a late-night snack?"

Three watches knocking on the door in the middle of the night to sell supper? Are you kidding!

Wang Fulin's brows furrowed even deeper, but he shouted impatiently: "Disturb the quiet, go quickly!" ”

"It's a long night, do you want someone to talk to?"

Finding that the rough voice outside the door suddenly became delicate, Wang Fulin strangely remembered the fox girl ghosts who recommended themselves as pillows in Liao Zhai Zhiyi. Suppressing this sense of absurdity, he stiffly said, "No need! ”

"Do you want the fruit that has been gushing from the well, just go to the fire ......?"

And there's no end to it!

Wang Fulin couldn't hold back any longer, he touched the short sword in his sleeve and strengthened his courage, he really opened the door angrily, but when he saw the people outside the door clearly, he was really a little dazed, and his first feeling was that he was dreaming. But after rubbing his eyes, he found that the familiar face was still in front of him, and finally took a deep breath, directly reached out and dragged the person into the room, and then closed the door heavily.

Even though there was no light in the house. But he knew it well with that hand. It's impossible to recognize the wrong person. That's clearly Xiaobei! Without saying a word, he dragged the person to the bed, and then he asked in a low voice in disbelief, "Why did you come here so quickly?" ”

"I'll leave five days later than you, and I can go as fast as you can, and I'll not take a boat."

In the dark, hearing such an answer, Wang Fulin had to smile bitterly at her kind of action, which is rare for men. But the next moment, he thought of an even more difficult question: "How do you know I'm here?" ”

"Don't forget. Five years ago, when I met those two Buddha machine people on Putuo Mountain, I was also there. Besides, you asked me to pick a business-minded person to come to Guangdong, isn't it for the sake of Macau in the south of Xiangshan County? I waited for the rabbit in Xiangshan County a day earlier, and the four city gates have sent people, and I am afraid that it will miss you? ”

All four gates were sent? Yes, when he entered the city, he only cared about seeing what was going on in Xiangshan County, which is closest to Macau, so he didn't pay attention to whether there were any acquaintances at all, and those guys also knew how to hide!

"Well, if all those officials on the ground in Guangdong learn from you, I won't be able to play!" Wang Fulin patted his head. Only then did he pull Xiaobei to his side and sit down, and waited until he asked carefully about the journey. Knowing that Shun Shun Dangdang did not encounter any danger, he secretly sighed God blessed, and then reminded, "But you can't go with me, Chen Atian has only been with me for a short time after all, and I have a new secretary ......"

"I know, I don't need you to remind me, I will naturally pretend to be two people with you when I turn back." Xiaobei interrupted Wang Fulin's words with a smile, and then suddenly reached out and hooked his neck. Feeling Wang Fulin's body stiffen, she curled the corners of her mouth and said, "For the sake of you acting so well when I knocked on the door just now, I'll comfort you and leave later!" ”

"Don't! There is no precaution when you go out, and others think that you are staying in Huizhou, if it is coincidental that there is something during this time, it is not clear...... Hey, I warn you, I haven't touched a woman in so many days, I can't stand the teasing...... Hiss! ”

When he suddenly rolled down on the bed, Wang Fulin had forgotten those concerns, only full of joy and passion.

Just now he was melancholy alone in a foreign land as a stranger, and now he is a melancholy ghost!

Quietly coming, drifting away, when Wang Fulin opened his eyes early in the morning and woke up, he only felt that the lingering fragrance on the pillow was still there, but the beauty was gone. If it weren't for the old husband and wife, they would be so familiar with each other that even he would think that last night might be a spring dream. It's just that after Xiao Biesheng's newlywed spring breeze for a while, because he went directly to Xiangshan to wait for the rabbit, Xiaobei also provided him with a lot of additional information, because before him, the little girl had already played back and forth from Haojing, that is, Macau.

According to Xiaobei, there are about two or three thousand Franc Ji people, that is, Portuguese, who now settle in Macao, while there are more than four or five thousand local residents, some of whom are fishermen and farmers who have settled here in the first place, and some are brought by merchants who come and go. In addition to the locals who settled here before the Portuguese, the Portuguese regarded the other land of Ho Mirror as their own because they had paid rent, and even subleased the land to many merchants to open businesses. The rent of 500 taels was first put into the pocket of Wang Bai, the deputy envoy of the sea route at that time, and later the successor of the deputy envoy of the sea channel claimed that the money was the rent from the county to the imperial court when he saw the end of Wang Bai's impeachment. Although his personal integrity was preserved, the Portuguese was transformed from a tenant to a second-hand landlord.

Therefore, the ban on the entry and exit of the Lotus Stem Gate could not control the merchants who rented land and shops from the hands of the Franc Robot and simply took root in Macao. Not only that, but these businessmen colluded with the city department and the Macao officials, known as the 36 Banks, and even directly participated in the valuation and taxation of commercial goods. The so-called 36 lines are just a general term, and there are about more than 20 wealthy businessmen who really have the absolute right to speak.

When he heard the news last night, he was exhausted to death, and Xiaobei directly stuffed a booklet full of words, Wang Fulin didn't have time to think about it at all, and now he recalled that the first one he remembered from the thirty-six lines was the famous thirteen lines of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty. Although the thirteen lines of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty and the thirty-six lines of Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty may not be completely identical, it is clear that the monopoly trade has begun to take shape. However, although Xiaobei has seen and heard it with his own eyes, he is still ready to take another look with his own eyes. So that conclusions can be drawn.

Wake up refreshed and wash up. Change clothes and go out. When Wang Fulin and the others sat in the lobby in front of him, Zhao Sanmazi, who was most familiar with him, looked at his face and couldn't help muttering.

"Childe doesn't look like the other day."

Chen Bingchang and Wang Fulin weren't that familiar after all, but after listening to Zhao Sanmazi's words at this time, he glanced at his face a few times, and couldn't help but echo: "Big brother does look a lot more energetic. ”

After being away from home for more than a month, where can you not be spiritual?

Wang Fulin thought so in his heart. Of course, he would not admit it, and after diverting the topic and urging everyone to have breakfast, he packed up his luggage and horses, and set off with the other merchants.

This time the stay in Xiangshan County was too short, so he was ready to come back to see Xiangshan County Ling when he was going back, but now he had no intention of alarming the other party. As for where Xiaobei and his entourage were, he swept left and right when he cleared the customs and didn't see anyone, so he put it down for the time being. In any case, with Xiaobei's vigilance and skill. In addition, he also brought an entourage, so he didn't suffer a loss casually.

Macau. That is, the current Haojing, located in the southeast corner of the entire Xiangshan County. From Xiangshan County to Haojing, the only way is the lotus stem gate. This was built in the second year of Wanli in order to prohibit the Francophile from entering the mainland, and ordinary businessmen went to Macao without authorization, but at the same time, it was also built to choke the supply of the Francophile. Because Macao is hilly, farming is not as cost-effective as doing business, and even being a man earns more than farming, so almost all of the grain depends on external imports. It can be said that in the eyes of the imperial court, in case the Buddha Lang is restless, as long as the gate is closed, the sea route is locked, and the Macao is directly closed, and the food supply is cut off, and the people are trapped to death.

But in Wang Fulin's view, the Francophone has a ship, which means mobility, with strong ships and artillery, the entire coastline can be said to be at their disposal, as long as there is no strong navy, cutting off supplies such a means can indeed be effective for a while, but not for a lifetime. Therefore, it can be said that the two sides are at peace with each other.

The lotus stem gate is opened every 16th, this day is the sixth day of the first month of July, Wang Fulin who set off early in the morning mixed in the mighty crowd, quite a feeling of queuing up to go to Hong Kong and Macao in later generations. Anyway, he walked slowly, so he simply looked down at the notebook that Xiaobei gave him, and unconsciously indulged in it, just mechanically moving forward with the flow of people. Fortunately, he was his own people on the left and right, so he was not afraid of being seen by outsiders.

When passing through the gate, I saw that in addition to the carriages and horses, the endless stream of porters almost blocked the entire road. Most of them are goods. The guards at the gate were careless when they were checking, even if they couldn't get the person who drew the ticket, as long as they paid for the bribe, the guards could turn a blind eye. For example, what Wang Fulin has in hand is of course a regular road guide from Ling Yunyi, the governor of Liangguang, but Chen Bingchang is something from Nanhai County, if you carefully study the different surnames on the two brothers and two roads, and check them in detail, they will definitely ask for clues, but after receiving the five taels of silver rewarded by Zhao San Mazi, the guards didn't ask a word.

Regarding the dereliction of duty of the guards, Wang Fulin can only see it in his eyes and remember it in his heart. When he came out of the gate and walked a downhill road, he noticed that there was a clear diversion of the people as all kinds of noise and clamor came from the front, and most of the porters who carried the burdens and the merchants who hired them still walked along the main road, while the scattered people walked down the hill to the southwest.

It turned out that on the southwest side of the gate, there was a large trading market on a flat land with a back to the sun. In addition to many well-dressed locals in the big bazaar, you can also see some very obvious Westerners, but there are few blonde hair and blue eyes, most of them are black-haired and brown-eyed.

At this moment, the big bucktooth immediately came over. Although he was ridiculed in the lobby last night, he woke up early in the morning as if he was fine, and he spotted Wang Fulin, the son who had a lot of money in his pocket, and took the initiative to come over along the way, claiming to be a veteran, so he had never heard of the set, and the bottom of the plate was fine.

At this time, he explained diligently: "Every Monday and Saturday, when the gate is closed and the door is opened, the people over there will come out to buy, and most of the people who buy vegetables, vegetables and rice are locals, and the small businessmen feel that there are still dozens of miles to Haojing, and it costs money to stay and eat and drink there, so they are waiting here for the Franc machine people to come out to buy some goods." Of course, there are also a few people on the ship who will take things out and go to a place close to the gate to see if they can sell them for a high price. It's just that, generally you can't sell goods here at a price, and you can't buy good things when you buy goods, so if you want to have a big harvest, you have to go directly to Haojing, preferably the wharf, where you can sell at a good price. ”

"In fact, the really powerful merchants do not take the land route, but directly through the waterway, so that it is convenient to transport the silk and porcelain needed by the Francois people, and it is also convenient to transport fresh gadgets or gems and spices from overseas to the interior, but that must completely open the joints of the government. Most of the businessmen who take the land route are like us. Of course, whether by land or by water, Xiangshan County is a must-pass place, and most of the ships on the waterway are parked at sea and sent small boats to the county seat to replenish supplies. That's how we go by land. In short, listen to me right, you must go to the Ho Mirror Pier to trade. “

Wang Fulin guessed that the big bucktooth was the idea of slaughtering a fat sheep, but he pretended not to be aware of it, nodded and smiled: "Then listen to Master Huang." But I'm a little curious, these Franc Men are said to be using their gold and silver. I used to ask at home, but the stewards told me perfunctorily that all the gold and silver they had collected had been melted into silver ingots and silver cakes that were common to us, and I wondered what their gold and silver were. ”

Big Buck Tooth wished that Wang Fu Lin would confide a little bit about his family, and at this moment, he felt more and more that this was a boy who had never seen the world, and his eyes lit up with a smile at the moment: "It's not easy, I'll open my eyes to Mr. Chen." ”

He took out a few irregular silver pieces from his arms, handed them to Wang Fulin and said: "There are several kinds of money in the Franc machine, one of which is quite beautiful, with words printed on it, and an avatar, I have hidden them at home, and I can still use it as a family heirloom in the future." And this is wedge silver, most of us call it Benyang, and each weight is different. You see, the largest one is about half a tael, and the smallest is also called a silver quill, which is less than two cents of silver. ”

Wang Fulin took the irregular silver nuggets handed over by the big buckteeth, and after weighing the weight, he knew that it was no more than two taels, so he asked Zhao San Mazi to take a piece of silver that weighed three or four taels in exchange. Seeing that Big Bucktooth was very proud of his generous move, he went back with a smile and continued to brag with those small businessmen, so he looked down at the so-called Benyang at hand.

He only knows English, and he barely understands French, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish, and the English of these years is probably still relatively old English, and the words and grammar he learned in those years are not very different, so he doesn't know how to pronounce those letters at all, and can only guess from the alphabet pinyin.

The things at hand were not so much silver coins as silver nuggets, with irregular sides and uneven sides, and the letters engraved were not neat and difficult to distinguish, but the coat of arms on the front and the cross on the back gave him some clues. In later generations, he collected more elaborate silver coins than the two ones in his possession, and also had such crosses and coats of arms on the obverse and reverse, which are said to have come from the Spanish mint in Mexico, which means that these Portuguese merchants probably used Spanish silver coins.

Now that he had guessed that it was a Spanish silver coin, it was much easier to do the following, the one that was half a tael, and the one marked 8R should have been eight riyals, or one peso. The others, according to their weight and notation, are 4 riyals, 2 riyals, and one riyal, and as for the two pieces that are as light as goose feathers, most of them are auxiliary coins. It is conceivable that it is precisely because a large amount of silver was imported into the Ming Dynasty through such trade that there was a gradual change from the original currency copper standard to the current rudimentary silver standard. Otherwise, in this Ming Dynasty, which was originally short of silver, it would be impossible to carry out the consecration of silver.

Later generations said that a small Macao, in the late Ming Dynasty to the end of the year, the annual trade volume of more than one million taels of silver, and even said that this figure is too conservative, the value of goods shipped by Portugal to Japan alone is more than one million taels of silver, and the sales to Southeast Asia and the mainland will only be more, not less, he wants to see, what kind of prosperous scene is there in Macao!

PS: It's still a change today...... I'm sorry, but it's because a certain joint didn't figure it out (to be continued.) )