Shipbuilders were recruited, and Litu's purpose in Manila was achieved. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Li Tu has been fine for a few months, so he visits around the Chinese circle of Balian, makes friends and asks for news. Listening to the chatter of the merchants, Li Tu learned that now Portugal and Spain have merged, and this Manila is the counterpart of Macao, and twenty long ships come from Macao every year full of silk. Because of the supply of the Macao fleet, the price of silk in Manila is not as high as in Japan.

Over the years, however, the Dutch have gradually arrived. These reds were even more aggressive, and the Spaniards raided the waterways aggressively, affecting Manila's trade.

Li Tu also learned that Li Dan, the old man of the Oriental ship, was the leader of overseas Chinese in Manila, and later the cadres saw him sitting big and found a reason to lock him up. Li Dan escaped from prison and fled to Japan. Since then, there has never been a leader as influential among the Ming people in Manila.

Hearing this, Li Tu was a little more wary of the Spaniards.

The local goods that Li Tu entrusted to the Chinese traders to buy were gradually collected, and in April of the fifth year of the Apocalypse, the southwest monsoon rose, and Li Tu was about to return to Zhangzhou.

On the day of the sailing, the five shipwrights dragged their children and daughters aboard Li Tu's ship before dawn. These craftsmen were all petty craftsmen, and Li Tu did not allow them to sell their personal goods, so they loaded the caravan with luggage and loaded it onto the ship, and almost removed all the things in their own houses, saving each of them a dozen taels. Fortunately, Li Tu's fleet has been buying goods everywhere these days, and there are more than a dozen wagons loaded with goods. The Spaniards only took those craftsmen's luggage as goods purchased by Litu and did not attract attention.

Once on board, Li Tu fulfilled his promise and gave each of the five Manila boatmen ninety taels of silver. Clutching the heavy silver, the faces of these craftsmen glowed.

When it was time to leave the port, the Spanish port officials came on board to inspect the ship and asked a few questions to several artisan families.

"Why are there women and children on board?"

Li Tu had already unified his tone, and the boats of each ship replied: "This is the Ming man who went bankrupt in the eighth company, and took our boat back to his hometown to join his relatives and friends." ”

There is a lot of personnel exchange between Manila and Daming, with thousands of people coming and going every year, and the officials of the port are also commonplace and no longer check it. However, these Spaniards were used to bullying the Ming people, and the officer did not find a fault in the fleet, and before getting off the ship, he went back to the Zaixing to find a fork in Li Tu.

Li Tu smuggled the shipbuilders back to China, and he had something in his heart, and when he saw that the port official came to find him, he was still a little uneasy. But hearing the official's words, Li Tu let go of the stone in his heart.

"Captain Li, your fleet is too large and occupies too many resources in Manila, so you have to raise taxes!"

"Why didn't I know there was such a rule, and the Governor didn't tell me!"

"The Governor doesn't care about this, this is the latest regulation of the port!"

The official said that he wanted money. Li Tu was afraid that the shipyard's stakeholders would find the craftsman fleeing after going to work, so he didn't dare to delay time, so he could only satisfy this official, and he blackmailed eighty eagles.

As soon as the sun climbed above the horizon, Litu's fleet sailed out of Manila with the morning sun on its back. Out of Manila Bay, the fleet loaded with spices and pepper sailed north, spending eighteen days back in Zhangzhou.

On the way, they encountered a group of small pirates, but when they saw Li Tu's four lucky ships coming together, the group of pirates fled far away.

Arriving in Zhangzhou safely, the four boats of people cheered and were not happy, and they waited for Li Tu to pay the honorarium.

When he arrived in Zhangzhou, Li Tu parked the boat in Meiwan. Xiao Xiangui heard that Li Tu's fleet had returned safely, and brought the eldest son and second son to Meiwan to meet Li Tu. He brought a few horses and two large carriages, and wanted to go to Yuegang with Li Tu to sell goods.

The two stayed in the Moon Harbor for ten days and sold all the goods.

From Manila back and forth, the gross profit is 118,500 taels. After removing the remuneration of the crew, the bribes given to the county order and the thousand households, the cost of repairing the ship and miscellaneous expenses, the net profit was 102,700 taels. Li Tu owned 47.5 percent of the shares, and the profit belonging to Li Tu was 48,200 taels. Hsiao Hsiao had 40 percent of the shares and made a profit of 41,800 taels. The rest belonged to Shimazu Tadashi, the lord of the Satsuma domain, and was converted into 12,700 taels of silver.

Li Tu earned nearly 50,000 taels of silver this time, which is more than Xiao Xiangui, which can be regarded as a huge amount of money. But Li Tu has something bigger to do, and it is estimated that the silver will be invested again before it arrives.

But Xiao Xiangui noticed that this trip did not make as much as last year, and said with a pout:

"Owner, the profit of this Manila route is not as high as that of Japan!"

Li Tu's trip was made possible by the Spanish shipbuilding technology and soft sail technology, and the gains were huge. These technologies never flowed into the Ming Dynasty in the original history, and after the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was closed off from the country, came to power, China did not make any progress in the field of sailing, and became a dinosaur empire isolated from the world and isolated in East Asia. Until the colonial empires with strong ships and guns came one after another, knocking on China's door with cannons and unequal treaties.

Li Tu changed all of that and brought these technologies to China. It is conceivable that it will not be long before a new type of fortune ship will appear on the surface of the East Asian Ocean that can compete with Western ships, changing the history of this time and space.

But these huge gains in technology, these technologies that are enough to change the national strength, are not something that Xiao Xiangui, who is in the eyes of money, can understand. Seeing people talking about people, and talking about ghosts, Li Tu didn't have the heart to popularize the knowledge of these world trends with Xiao Xiangui. Merchants are heavy on profits, and they can only be lured by profit. After thinking about it, Li Tu turned around and said: "Don't worry, the shipowner, I still have a way to make money for you." ”

Xiao Xiangui's face was overjoyed when he heard this, and he asked with a smile: "What is the good way for the owner?" Dignitaries listen to you! ”

Li Tu said lightly: "Lend me another 30,000 taels of silver for me to lead people to open up Xiaoliuqiu!" ”

Xiao Xiangui thought for a while and said, "Last year's 20,000 taels, with principal and interest, is now 27,200 taels, and the owner hasn't paid me back yet." ”

Li Tu waved his hand and said, "The shipowner knows my details, can't he trust me?" In this way, I will give you 7,200 taels of interest this year, and the cost of shipbuilding is huge, and the shipowner will slow down the principal. After a pause, Li Tu said again: "If the shipowner is in a hurry, I will give you all the money, it's not impossible." It's just that in this way, the shipowner has one less way to make money! ”

Now Li Tu's four lucky boats are running to the sea, as well as tens of thousands of acres of paddy fields in Xiaoliuqiu, with a profit of nearly 100,000 taels a year, and his income has exceeded Xiao Xiangui, and Xiao Xiangui is not worried about Li Tu's ability to repay. Hearing Li Tu's words, he smiled and said, "I can trust it, how can I not trust the owner?" Since there is interest, the principal is not in a hurry to get it back! I'll lend another 30,000 taels to the owner! However, how much interest does the owner give this time? ”

"Three points! In this way, the shipowner can receive 18,000 taels of interest a year! ”

"Haha, three points is three points!"

After thinking about it, Xiao Xiangui sincerely persuaded again: "Now that the owner of the ship is also a family man, you must be careful in everything." If you accidentally get on the road, there will be no one to inherit the owner's business! ”

Li Tu knew that he was worried that he would be hung up and no one would help him go to sea to pay him back, so he replied with a smile: "Thank you for the reminder from the shipowner, Li Tu knows."