At this time, he saw Lu Yan who was smiling on the main seat, so he smiled slightly, and then said to Lu Yan: "I don't know what my lord thinks Mr. Jia said just now?" ”

Hearing this, Lu Yan was stunned at first, and then almost scolded.

This Steward Lin is really bad enough, and he actually intends to bring the disaster to him.

But Jia Xu's expression remained unchanged, as if Steward Lin's thoughts had been expected by him.

"My family is a family of generals, I have been familiar with military books since I was a child, I am strong in martial arts, and I think about the strategy of killing the enemy and serving the country every day.

While accusing Steward Lin, Jia Xu teased Lu Yan a little.

Of course, whether Lu Yan was from a family of military generals or not, how would Steward Lin know about a housekeeper thousands of miles away.

"It's Lin and Meng Lang."

Steward Lin said helplessly.

So, then he began to discuss the academic journey with Jia Xu.

It didn't take long for Steward Lin to smile bitterly, then stood up, gave Jia Xu a long salute and said, "Mr. Dacai, Lin is served." ”

Jia Xu chuckled lightly and said to Steward Lin: "Seeing Steward Lin, Jia Mou was also happy to see Steward Lin, and couldn't help but discuss some knowledge with Steward Lin. ”

Steward Lin smiled bitterly again, this is called asking for school knowledge, this is simply being humiliated, and he was so humiliated that he had nothing to say.

He can't say, your knowledge is too big, can you speak more simply, so that I can understand, then what kind of person has he Lin An.

But Lu Yan was secretly thinking to himself, and he would call Zhang Juzheng over later, and let Zhang Juzheng clean him up fiercely, so that he could know how ignorant he was.

even looked down on him, how could he, Lu Yan, be so easy to bully.

Now that he has admitted defeat and relented, Steward Lin has also talked about the business directly, so as not to discuss school knowledge with Jia Xu again.

"Actually, I already know your purpose this time."

Steward Lin coughed lightly and said.

Lu Yan looked at him quietly, and Jia Xu also had the same smile on his face.

"Our Lin family is also willing to maintain a friendly relationship with you, including handling some inconvenient goods for you."

Steward Lin said with a smile.

Lu Yan's power is much stronger than that of Li Kuiqi, a little pirate, and if he can help him, it will also be a good thing for the Lin family.

"How was the purchase price negotiated?"

Jia Xu asked with a smile.

"Of course, it's the same as before, but I can report it to my lord and try to get a better price for you."

Steward Lin said.

Hearing this, Lu Yan and Jia Xu both sank in their hearts.

The Lin family's purchase price of stolen goods is very low, generally between 10% and 5% of the market price.

If the transaction is made at this price, then Lu Yan's loss is too great.

"Your original price is too low to raise it a little more?"

Lu Yan asked with a calm face.

The big families were only responsible for selling the stolen goods, and they took most of the profits used by the pirates.

Coupled with the fact that the grain sold to them had to be increased in price, the life of these pirates was far from as glamorous as it seemed.

"Don't hide it, my lord, the price of our Lin family is quite fair. You must know that we not only have to open up a lot of joints when selling these things, but also need to take a lot of risks. In case the news comes out, it will be light to raid the family and exterminate the clan. ”

Steward Lin also began to complain.

"And we also have the rent of the store, the monthly silver of the man, plus the freight on the road, all of which need money."

"If you think the price we are offering is too low, can we discuss it slowly? I will definitely go back and tell my lord what you mean. ”

Lu Yan didn't say anything with a calm face.

He didn't have any thoughts about it now, and the medicine he bought before was almost exhausted.

Now, whoever is sick has to stand up.

If you can get through, you will live, and if you can't survive, you will die.

Jia Xu smiled and said, "I don't know if your family can help us get gunpowder, refined iron, lead, and some medicinal materials?" ”

"This?"

Hearing this, Steward Lin couldn't help but feel very embarrassed.

Iron, lead, and medicinal herbs are easy to say, but gunpowder is difficult to use, and those things are only available to the army.

If you want to get these things, you have to open the joints in the army.

It's just that their Lin family's power in the army is not very strong, and if they want to get through those joints, it is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also in case they leak out, the risk is not small.

"Refined iron and lead are not a big problem, but the price should be three times the market price, and the quantity should not be too much. As for gunpowder, it's unlikely, that thing is just too sensitive. ”

Steward Lin shook his head and said.

Hearing this, Lu Yan was silent, but his face was a little ugly, and Jia Xu also shook his head.

The price of goods can only be sold at 10% to 10% of the market price, but the purchase price is four times the market price.

This is a difference of nearly thirty times, they worked hard to rob, but in the end, all the benefits were taken away by the Lin family, and their losses were really too great.

Steward Lin looked at Lu Yan and Jia Xu's expressions, and he felt that things might be worse today.

If it's the original Li Kuiqi, it's okay to say, after all, it's just a small pirate, and no matter how noisy it is, it can't make much waves.

But this Lu Yan is different, with thousands of elite subordinates, once he enters Kou Daming, he will definitely set off a huge wave.

Thinking of this, he pondered for a moment, and then said: "Actually, this price is not non-negotiable, if my lord knows that you are a young hero, he must be willing to give up some profits." ”

A mocking smile appeared on Jia Xu's face, and soon this smile disappeared, and he still looked light.

"Okay, I know, Steward Lin will go down and rest first, I have already asked someone to arrange a guest room for Steward Lin."

Lu Yan said with a calm face.

"Master Lu, do you think our trade will continue?"

Steward Lin said tentatively.

"Let's think about it again."

Lu Yan said.

In fact, Steward Lin is also very contradictory, if he can trade with Lu Yan, then he will definitely let the Lin family get huge benefits.

But Lu Yan is a big pirate, and they may become the focus of the official army.

Trading with this kind of big pirate may bring a lot of trouble to the Lin family.

Thinking of this, he no longer insisted, so he confessed his guilt and decided to discuss the matter with the head of the Lin family after he went back.

"I didn't expect the Lin family to be really greedy."

Lu Yan said with a smile.

In fact, even now, even in later generations, many businessmen have lost even their basic humanity for the sake of money.

For example, gutter oil, such as Sanlu milk and so on.

"How ignorant are the people of the world, how many people can see the general trend clearly?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "My lord, you are now in the abyss, those merchants don't know about the tail, it's just their loss, why don't I offer a strategy for the adults." ”

"Mr. Jia, please speak."

Lu Yan said.

"With your current situation, it's not wise to make enemies everywhere."

Jia Xu said.

Lu Yan was silent for a while, but then nodded and said, "Mr. Jia's words are reasonable. ”

If he has abundant resources, it's okay to say, no matter how he beats, he is not afraid.

But now he is very short of resources, and if he wants to obtain these materials, he must deal with other forces, because some materials cannot be grabbed at all.

"The best way for us to realize our goods is to trade, but not with these Ming merchants, but with the Nanyang countries or the small Western countries."

Jia Xu said eloquently.

Sea trade?

The current sea trade has always been a huge profit, and all his goods are robbed, of course, it is a huge profit in the huge profit.

"Wenhe Zhizhugong, you don't like to trade with small Western countries, but if we want to sell the goods of the Ming Dynasty to the four seas, these Hongyi people are indispensable. If all these Hongyi people are killed, then who will our Ming Dynasty's commercial goods be sold to. ”

Jia Xu said.

Hearing his words, Lu Yan couldn't help but think so.

The Ming Dynasty is now in a stage of complete transcendence in its trade with those Western countries, and the silver that Westerners have dug up from the colonies is flowing into the Ming Dynasty through these Western merchants.

According to incomplete statistics, since the opening of Longqing, about 160 million taels of silver have flowed into Daming from the west.

What a huge number, at least half of the silver mines captured by Western colonists and mined by them flowed into the Ming Dynasty through this route.

This situation is what many countries in later generations cannot ask for, and Lu Yan, who came from later generations, certainly knows the importance of maritime trade, which is an important way for the country to accumulate wealth.

If Lu Yan drove away all those Westerners, then who would sell the goods of the Ming Dynasty?

"Wenhe also asks the lord to choose a small Western country to trade with."

Jia Xu said.

Lu Yan thought about it, in the coastal areas of China and in the South Seas, there are mainly four forces.

Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Originally, his best trading partner was Spain, which had world-famous silver mines in Mexico, and it could be said that Spain was the richest of the four countries.

However, the Spaniards had been massacring the Chinese in Luzon, so it was impossible for Lü Yan to trade with the Spaniards.

The Netherlands, once again among the four nations, is now in full swing, and now has more ships in total tonnage than the four nations of Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal combined, and has become a real coachman of the seas.

Dutch ships were used all over the world, and the Dutch had recently driven the Portuguese out of the Strait of Malacca, taking complete control of the Strait of Malacca.

But the Netherlands were not a good thing either, often robbing Chinese and selling Chinese into slavery. Moreover, the anti-Chinese place in Indonesia was cultivated by the Dutch.

So it is impossible to trade with the Dutch.

The weakest of the four countries is the United Kingdom, and the current Britain is definitely a poor ghost and has no money at all.

The only identity of British ships in East Asia today is pirates, robbing passing ships and selling them to the Dutch for money and supplies.

Therefore, it is impossible to trade with the British, and if he encounters the British, Lu Yan will kill them.

The last one is the Portuguese, who played a very special role in both the Ming and Qing dynasties.

That is to guard the sea frontier for the Ming and Qing dynasties!

Ever since the Great Voyage, Westerners have flocked to it.

Due to the long-standing tradition of Westerners, many merchant ships also play the role of pirates while doing maritime trade.

Coupled with the pirates of the Ming and Qing dynasties themselves, this gave the Ming and Qing dynasties a headache.

The sea frontier is so chaotic, and they are not interested in doing business with Westerners, they think that they are the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and their own products can fully meet their needs.

In addition, they are very wary of Chinese people going to sea, and have been carrying out a policy of closing the country to the outside world.

Therefore, they came up with a solution, that is, to use razing to control the bandits, and let the Portuguese help defend the sea frontier.

For example, in the thirty-third year of Jiajing (1554), the Portuguese claimed to have assisted the Ming in defeating He Yaba's "pirate" group.

As a result, it was allowed to enter the vicinity of Guangzhou, including to trade with Macao.

In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557), the Portuguese once again claimed to have assisted the Ming Dynasty in suppressing the "Ah Ma Thief" (pirates worshipping Mazu) in Xiangshan Trench Jingao, and was allowed to live in Macao and become the screen guard on the Xiangshan Sea.

In 1581, the Portuguese even gave money, guns, and people for free to help the Ming Dynasty exterminate the great pirate Lin Daoqian.

Portugal's attitude of allegiance made the Ming extremely satisfied, and it became the only Western country that could trade with the Ming Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty also followed the wisdom of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1804, the Qing Dynasty and Portugal formed an alliance to encircle and suppress pirates.

Portugal dispatched 6 warships and 730 men, and the Qing Dynasty invested 80,000 taels of silver in cash, and promised to lend Macao to Portugal temporarily after the completion of the matter.

The Portuguese, who were proficient in naval warfare, drove away the nearby pirates with three strikes and two divisions, and achieved the pleasure of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1807, the Qing Dynasty once again formed an alliance with Britain and Portugal to encircle and suppress the "Red Flag Gang", the most powerful pirate gang in the South China Sea at that time.

At that time, the "Red Flag Gang" had 600 warships, most of which were about 70-150 tons, and the number of people reached more than 40,000.

In "Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - The End of the World", the Chinese pirate Xiaofeng played by Chow Yun-fat is the prototype of Zhang Baozai, the boss of the "Red Flag Gang".

Of course, what the Ming and Qing dynasties paid was only the mutual market with Portugal, which was not worth mentioning in their opinion, but it made Portugal happy.

If it weren't for Portugal's lack of strength, I'm afraid he would have driven away all the surrounding Western countries, and then monopolized trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Portugal was by no means sincere in exterminating pirates for the Ming Dynasty or the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but involved the West's policy of eating two seas.

First, he first gained a foothold in the local area by being a pirate, and then eliminated all competitors in the name of anti-piracy in order to grab greater profits.

When they first came to Daming, the identity of the Portuguese was pirates. Before the opening of Longqing, on Nanao Island in Fujian, the Portuguese had been cooperating with the pirates of the Ming Dynasty and almost built Nanao Island into a World Trade Center.

But after Longqing switched, the Portuguese immediately changed their faces, and began to change from collaborators of those pirates to chasers, actively helping the Ming to clean up the portal.