As a result, when the amount of silver flowing into Manila from Spain suddenly decreased in 1630, deflation began in China. At that time, China did not have a circulating currency that could be used as capital, but it lacked an effective system to combine huge amounts of precipitated capital with labor, technology, equipment, and force to bring the blood-stained giant of capitalism to the world. And Zhao Youcai, under the guidance of Liu Cheng, intentionally or unintentionally opened this Pandora's box, releasing hope and disaster at the same time.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already afternoon, and the early summer sun shone on the water, which looked a little hot. The considerate captain had already parked the boat on the edge of the Bachelor's Bridge, which was originally the imperial garden of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the shore was planted with willows, purple nan, magnolia, plum blossoms and other flowers and trees, and the servants spread straw mats under the shade of the trees, and put brocade mats, fruit plates, and tea for everyone who had already had enough to eat and drink to rest and eat. But not everyone got off the boat, Mr. Cheng Er, Silva, Zhao Youcai, Du Gu, and Lin Heshui still stayed on the boat, gossiping while drinking tea.

"Mr. Cheng Er, thank you for today's events." Zhao Youcai got up and bowed solemnly, if the previous Wang Yushi recommended this Mr. Cheng Er to himself, he said that he was "although he is a businessman, but there is no copper smell, he often prides himself on Tao Zhugong, there are strange festivals, and he is bright but not grouped!" At that time, he was still a little unimpressed, after all, the scholars of the late Ming Dynasty were famous for their good words, not practical, and the words that came out of the mouth of the king must not be taken seriously, otherwise it would be no wonder that others would be trapped. He also looked at Wang Ke's face, with the mentality of giving it a try, he didn't expect that after hearing about this matter, after a little understanding, he summoned a group of high-ranking businessmen in Hangzhou, and played a decisive role at the party, no matter what the outcome of this matter is, he is a great favor from this person.

"You don't have to thank me." Mr. Cheng Er waved his hand: "I am a businessman, I don't do things that harm myself and others, you are a two-way thing, I only spoke." But I have one more question, which you must answer me, or my friends will not come out with the money. “

"Mr. Cheng Er, please speak, I must not be able to say anything in the future!"

"Well, let me ask you, the Spaniards and you will join forces to attack the Dutch castle, but the alliance must be mutually beneficial, the Spaniards will send men and ships to take the city of Geranza, you can get the castle and the land, so what will the Spaniards get? How can you guarantee that after taking the city of Geranza, the Spaniards will not turn their backs and take it for themselves? ”

Zhao Youcai just wanted to speak, but Silva, who had been silent next to him, replied in Chinese with a strong accent: "I think it would be better for me to answer this question!" Then he turned around and nodded to Lin Heshui, motioning for the other party to translate for him.

"The Empire (referring to Spain) was at war with the Dutch, and the Dutch had co-opted the natives of Luzon and Mindanao, sold them weapons, and sent instructors to train them to help them train their soldiers, so that they could send fleets to attack our merchant ships and besiege our trading posts, so the Governor sent me to Daming to seek allies at war with the Dutch. In other words, regardless of whether the city of Geranza can be taken or not, as soon as the siege begins, the Dutch will have to deal with it, and the kingdom will already be benefited! “

"Wai Wei to save Zhao?" The corners of Mr. Cheng Er's mouth turned up slightly, revealing a mocking smile: "These barbarians are not stupid!" Lin Heshui smiled slightly, naturally this sentence was skipped without translation.

"But what about after you take the city of Geranza? Will you give us the city of Geranza? ”

After listening to Lin Heshui's translation, Silva had a wry smile on his face: "Rank, conquering the great officers is just an adventure for you; And for us it is part of the ongoing war of the Empire, which is waging a difficult war against its enemies in Europe, in Africa, in the Americas, in every corner of the world. If the Empire breaks the treaty after taking the city of Geranza, it will only add a new enemy, and the new stronghold will be blockaded by you and the Dutch, the output will not be able to be shipped, the trade will not be able to take place, and you who are hurt will probably unite with the Dutch, which will be very harmful to the ongoing trade between Manila and the Ming Kingdom, and the Empire will have to invest more manpower and material resources to defend this place, which is tantamount to making matters worse for the Empire. Remember, the order given to me by the Governor is to contain as many Dutch as possible with as few men and materials as possible, rather than throwing more and more troops into fighting for this red land where birds don't. We lack people, we lack money but we don't lack land, you have people, money but lack land, and that's the foundation of our alliance. “

Mr. Cheng Er and Zhao Youcai exchanged glances, Silva's answer made him a little dizzy, he was like a blind man who was blind from birth, and suddenly was removed from the layer of white obstacles covering his eyes, and the rich colors and images that came to his face made him panic and excited, he took a few deep breaths, calmed down, raised the teacup in his hand and said with a smile: "We Ming people have a saying, 'Lu Yao knows horsepower, and sees people's hearts over time!'" Making friends is not a one-day thing, I hope our two families can hold each other for a long time, and each will benefit from it! “

"Me too!" Silva raised the teacup and touched the cup with Mr. Cheng Er and Zhao Youcai: "I hope to start acting as soon as possible!" ”

"Then you should already have a plan for the siege of this city of Geranza?" Zhao Youcai asked Silva.

"Yes, I've had a preliminary plan in place these days." Silva walked up to the hanging map, pointed to the northeast corner of the island of Taiwan on the map, and said: "The kingdom has two strongholds here: Fort Santo Domingo and Fort San Salvador, there is an inland waterway communication between them, we can use this as a logistics base, and then from the city of Santo Domingo, sail northwest along the coastline, and after three to four days we can reach the stronghold of the Dutch." The Dutch had two strongholds, the city of Geranza as their military fortress and the latter as their commercial district, warehouse, and residence. The two were separated by a narrow strait, the former built on a sandbar separated from the land by a shallow sea, and was an extremely strong bastion that could not be taken by direct attack; The latter, on the other side of the sandbar, was fortified in the strait, which sealed off the strait and made a very good harbor on the inner side of the bay. There were two waterways into the bay: one was the main one, under the control of the Dutchman Geranzaborg; The other one is called Luermen, and there is only a small fortress next to that waterway, but the waterway is tortuous and shallow, and it is difficult for ordinary large ships to pass. “

"You can't take it by direct attack?" Du Gu, who had been silent, sneered: "What art of war do you know when you wait for a barbarian?" All you have to do is send my army ashore, and you won't have to worry about anything else! ”

A hint of anger flashed across Silva's face, and he disappeared immediately: "General Du, I know that you have an excellent cavalry, which is very useful in field battles. But the Dutch are not fools, they will hide behind the walls and repel your attack with cannons and muskets, and near Formosa is a sea area with a lot of storms, and if our fleet cannot enter the bay, then as soon as the storm comes, everything will be over. The Dutch were seafaring, and if besieged, they would cut off the enemy's supply lines by sea with their fleets, making starvation their allies. “

Mr. Cheng Er looked at the map intently for a while and asked, "What kind of goods do the local natives like?" “

"This-" Silva was stunned by Mr. Cheng Er's question, and subconsciously shook his head.

"No, I haven't been to war. But in my opinion, this siege is more about who can hold it better. Mr. Cheng Er said with a smile: "Whether it is the Dutch or we, we are all guests on this Yizhou Island, and the natives are the local hosts. As far as I can see, why don't you first make peace with these natives, whether it is goods or silver, and exchange grain from these natives for food, which is far better than feeding grain for a thousand miles? “

Zhao Youcai nodded: "Mr. Er, this is a good way, but this requires someone to go to the big staff, I don't know who is willing to take this risk?" ”

"If you don't have a good candidate, the villain is willing to go!" It was Lin Heshui who spoke, and he smiled and said: "There are many Min people on Nayizhou Island, and I can speak Spanish, Dutch, and Min languages, so I should be able to communicate with the locals." ”

"Good!" Mr. Cheng Er patted his thigh: "Mr. Lin, I Xiuning Cheng Er wrote down this favor, if this matter is successful, it will definitely be indispensable to your benefits." Mr. Zhao, it is already early summer, and the sea will be windy in the next few months, so the time to start is set after autumn. “

"It's good!" Zhao Youcai nodded: "I heard Mr. Silva say that the Dutch garrison has about 300 people, and the siege soldiers are ten times more than that, that is to say, at least about 4,000 people, and there are a lot of salaries, medicines, ships, etc., but I also ask Mr. to help!" ”

"Don't mention the help! We are doing business in joint stocks, how much capital each family makes, and how much profit is distributed in the end, we have to make it clear at the beginning, the villain can be the gentleman first. So, how many shares do you plan to give us, and how much capital do you plan to contribute to yourself? ”

Zhao Youcai has also experienced a lot these days, and he has changed a little bit, so he said according to what Liu Cheng mentioned in the strategy in advance: "I plan to divide twenty shares, one of which is the captain and the officers, only red, and the remaining nine shares are distributed to you, and the remaining ten shares belong to my family, Kodusi and this Mr. Silva, my family and Kodusi each have four shares, and Mr. Silva has two shares." “

"Oh?" Silva couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard that there was still his own share, but Mr. Cheng Er was still not surprised, and asked, "Then what are we going to do?" ”

"Each of the nine of you is 25,000 taels of silver, and if you have ready-made ships, food, and gunpowder, you can also deduct it according to the market price!"

"Then why do you take ten shares?"

"My lord has taken out ten thousand taels of silver, and two hundred and fifty elite soldiers, and you can buy armor and firearms from him; This Mr. Silva is well versed in naval warfare, gunnery, siege, and a plywood gunboat, a hundred elite soldiers, and the heavy artillery necessary for the siege. Mr. Cheng Er, is this arrangement still fair? “

Mr. Cheng Er closed his eyes and calculated, and said with a smile: "Fair, then let's follow this, when you want money, I will let people send it!" With that, he got up and hugged his fists at the crowd, made a gesture and turned to leave.

"Mr. Zhao, this Mr. Cheng Er is a character!" Du Gu said in a low voice: "Acting like a trader is not at all. ”

"Hmmm! Lord Du! Zhao Youcai said in a low voice: "This time the matter is not trivial, as the saying goes, the cunning rabbit has three holes, although our handsome is beautiful at the moment, but in the end there is only one hole, there is no way out, if this time the matter is lost, there is no need to mention, if it is done, we will dig one more hole for the handsome, do you understand?" ”

"I understand it below!" Du Gu nodded understandingly: "Mr. Zhao, you are asking me to let that red hairy Yi a few points, focusing on the overall situation." ”

"It's good to understand! Dashuai is in the northwest of the great cause of grass, there are many places to use people and money, silver and manpower are squeezed out between the teeth, we can't mess up the errand! Speaking of this, Zhao Youcai's voice became low: "Lord Du, I, Zhao Youcai, don't want to be sent to the Lijin Bureau, you lost the battle on the river, you and I can't afford to lose!" “

Hearing Zhao Youcai mention his defeat on the river, Du Gu's eyes turned red, and he gritted his teeth: "Zhao Youcai, I don't need you to remind me, I will be careful to do my errand!" With that, he turned and departed, his heavy footsteps thumping on the deck.

Seeing Du Gu leaving, Zhao Youcai also felt that his mouth was dry, and he was about to turn around and pour a cup of tea, but when he turned around, he saw Silva standing in front of him, with a strange expression, looking like he had something to say but couldn't say it.

"What's the matter?"

"Why do you want to divide my shares? You can leave it to me! Silva gritted his teeth and asked, he naturally understood the difference between shareholders and employees better than Ming Guoren. The Dutch East India Company, the sworn enemy of the Spaniards in Southeast Asia, was a shrewd and stingy employer, and the salaries of soldiers and sailors were sufficient to pay for rum and inferior prostitutes after paying for food and clothing; In addition to a good salary, mid-ranking officers and captains could quickly accumulate wealth from auction booty, trade dividends, smuggled goods, and embezzlement, and if they had not been killed by lead bullets and all sorts of strange tropical diseases, they could return to their homeland when they retired to live a very decent life, and give their children a good inheritance; At the top of this pyramid of wealth are the majority shareholders of the company, who are generally parliamentarians, big aristocrats, big businessmen. These pot-bellied lucky ones can sit in their offices and get up to 30 percent of their annual dividends without having to sweat a drop, and the money rolls into their purse like running water. Kings, dukes, bishops, and even His Majesty the Emperor had to bow their knees to them for their gold, and though he was a nobleman with only goats and donkeys in his barren territory, he now had the opportunity to step into the ranks of those who were in the clouds. (To be continued.) )