The reason why Zhu Daolin brought Saïd and Moreno to the shipyard was because Moreno suddenly asked to take a stake in the Tamsui shipyard where the group was located, and also took the initiative to promise to transfer 300 shipbuilders and 3 ship designers from Goa, the headquarters of the Portuguese East India Company.

Subsequently, Sa Yide, who was unstable in Quanzhou, also asked to take a stake in the Tamsui Shipyard, and Zhu Daolin agreed to their request after only ten minutes of consideration, and took the two to the shipyard construction site for a field visit.

After listening to the discussion between the two, Zhu Daolin, who was thoughtful, asked Moreno: "Mr. Moreno, can you recruit a group of retired soldiers of the Portuguese Navy and skilled sailors of Portuguese nationality for me in Goa, where your company headquarters is located, or other Portuguese colonies?" ”

Moleno smiled briskly: "Of course, Portuguese veterans and sailors are the best in the world, definitely no worse than the Spaniards, I appreciate the general's decision very much, and I am also willing to see more Portuguese people serving the general, how many people does the general plan to recruit?" ”

"Let's recruit 2,000 to 3,000 people first." Zhu Daolin replied.

Madeno and Saïd were startled, and Moreno asked suspiciously, "Is it enough to use so many people...... Forgive me, General, I am not questioning the General's wealth. ”

Zhu Daolin explained: "Since the three of us have established a trade alliance to expand trade between the East and the West, we must have a large trading fleet and enough escort warships!" ”

"Mr. Moreno has said that the Portuguese East India Company has six cargo ships and two frigates on the east-west route all year round, and Mr. Saïd's fleet is also of this size, and in the next six months, my seven new armed merchant ships of 800 tons will join it."

"This brings the total number of our tripartite joint trade fleets to 18 vessels. However, there are only 4 frigates, which is not enough to ensure the safety of our huge trading fleet. ”

"Therefore, I would like to add 5 new warships of more than 700 tons to escort the ship, which need to be ordered from the Goa shipyard, plus my 7 armed merchant ships are 12 ships, and I can only provide 1. With 500 marines and gunners, at least 2,000 skilled sailors would have to be recruited to meet the demand. ”

Moleno immediately understood: "Is the general going to monopolize the trade between the East and the West?" ”

Zhu Daolin said with a smile: "Monopoly is impossible, the Dutch will not agree, the British have quietly set up a merchant house on Cebu Island in the south of the Philippines, and they do not want to see our tripartite monopoly on the trade between the East and the West, but we can expand the share of trade between the East and the West through close union, and then achieve the monopoly of certain commodities, such as porcelain and silk." ”

"Secondly. We also have a huge advantage that others do not have, this advantage is the huge market demand of the Ming Empire, after our trading fleet arrives in Europe or Arabia, we can buy a large number of local cotton, wool, leather, various metal materials and even female slaves to transport back to the Ming Dynasty. ”

"If we wish, we can also use the 300-to-500-ton cargo ships that have been phased out to form a special trading fleet between the freshwater port and Goa and Mecca, bringing in Ming silk, porcelain, agricultural processing machinery, and precious timber such as cotton, blankets and rosewood."

Moreno and Saïd were no longer in the mood to visit the Tamsui shipyard. Zhu Daolin was asked to immediately go back to conduct in-depth discussions and formulate a plan and a timetable for step-by-step implementation.

Zhu Daolin asked the two of them not to worry. Pointing to the construction site where thousands of people were toiling in, "Let's settle things here, Mr. Moreno, how much do you estimate this shipyard under construction?" ”

Moleno looked around: "Considering that the upper reaches of this river have abundant and convenient timber for shipbuilding, I estimate it at 500,000 taels of silver, which is basically the same value as the two medium-sized shipyards in Goa, and I personally contribute 100,000 taels of silver. How about buying a 20% stake? ”

Zhu Daolin turned to Sayide, who smiled and nodded: "I agree with Mr. Moreno, but I want to come from 200,000 taels of silver, accounting for 40% of the shares." ”

Zhu Daolin thought for a moment: "I agree." The remaining 40% of the shares are my own and will not be handed over to the local government, Mr. Moreno, when will your craftsmen and designers arrive? ”

"It will be in two months, and it is estimated that there will be no delay." Moleno replied.

Zhu Daolin was finally relieved, and he decided to quietly select 500 highly skilled senior craftsmen from more than 2,000 craftsmen from Dengzhou to send them to the Yangtze River Shipyard on Baguazhou, and according to the current construction progress, the construction of eight large and small docks and wharves could be basically completed in three months.

As long as 300 skilled craftsmen and 3 senior designers from Portugal join, the construction of all ancillary facilities will be completed within half a year, and the results should be seen by the end of the year.

With common interests, the negotiations between Zhu Daolin, Moleno and Sayid went very smoothly, and the cooperation between them changed after in-depth discussions.

The cautious and arrogant Portuguese did not join the Oriental Xingyue Company jointly established by Zhu Daolin and Sayide, but formed a close trade alliance with the Oriental Xingyue Company in the name of the Portuguese East India Company, and jointly signed a ten-year trade alliance agreement.

According to the requirements of the agreement, each of the three parties sent five representatives who were proficient in law to jointly set up a maritime arbitration tribunal in the port of Tamsui where the trade originated, and formulated a set of rigorous and fair legal provisions and arbitration systems on the basis of the relevant laws of the Ming Empire, Portugal and the Arab region, so as to regulate the chaotic maritime trade and ship navigation for a hundred years, and form a normative norm to be observed by the three parties.

Saïd and Moleno have not yet realized the great significance and far-reaching impact of the two agreements, but Zhu Daolin is full of expectations, and he knows that as long as the three parties hold together and continue to grow their strength and expand their influence, the trade cooperation agreement and maritime arbitration agreement jointly formulated by the three parties will surely develop into a universal trade norm and navigation norm, and as the formulator and controller of this set of laws, the benefits obtained in the future will be far greater and more lasting than the tripartite trade.

Because of this, Zhu Daolin agreed that the Portuguese East India Company should dominate the European trade routes, and accordingly, the Portuguese should be subordinate to the Indian Peninsula and the Arab trade routes.

The end result was that the Portuguese East India Company was dominant on the annual round-trip European trade routes, with 55% of the trade revenues and assumed the responsibilities and obligations corresponding to the profits, while Zhu Daolin and Sayid's Oriental Star and Moon Company had 45% of the trade revenues and assumed secondary responsibilities and obligations.

The two sides set up a trading fleet with 15 small and medium-sized ocean-going cargo ships and 6 frigates, which traveled from the port of Tamsui to the Indian Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula all the year round, with the Oriental Star and Moon Company occupying a dominant position and owning 75% of the revenue and corresponding rights and responsibilities, and the Portuguese East India Company owning 25% of the revenue and assuming secondary responsibilities and obligations. (To be continued.) )