"The various farms, plantations and mines that the Republic of China has invested in all over South America for a long time have prospered the local economy and made the people here more complacent and unmotivated.

"When, in the middle of the 19th century, European scientists finally uncovered the secrets of rubber, one wondered how the merchants of the American Republic of China had come up with the lame excuse that it was used as a black dye additive. And this excuse has been used for more than 200 years.

"In the diary of a Genoese merchant from the first half of the 17th century, we can see that Europeans used to pay $10 worth of silver for a black rubber raincoat, and then wear it complacently, deliberately walking around the streets in the heavy rain. Now it seems that the rubber products that cost less than $2 at the factory price were slaughtered by middle-class families all over Europe in the 17th century. ”

……

……

18 January 1623, Twin Bay, Bermuda.

Two sail galen ships and a flying scissor merchant ship belonging to COSCO International Trade Company are loading goods at the dock, and unlike the mainland, there are not only European immigrants among the dock porters, but also many Chinese immigrants from the Ming Dynasty.

Ren Changle, who can endure hardships and stand hard work more than anyone else, did not consider the country's rest and recuperation arrangements in winter, and he personally led the team this time to complete the last trade before the Lunar New Year.

This time, there were no ships of the state-owned import and export group to grab business with him, and more than 300 tons of chromite, more than 100 tons of phosphate rock, and a small amount of natural rubber were eaten by him, and other miscellaneous cane sugar, tobacco, cotton, precious timber, and other miscellaneous goods also filled the last gap in the warehouse.

Logically speaking. The North Atlantic in winter is really not suitable for sailing, but it is not without reason that Ren Changle is so desperate.

At the end of last month, on the slipway of the Beiyang Shipping Company, a newest flying shear merchant ship belonging to the state-owned import and export group began to place its keel.

The flying scissor merchant ship, named "Ao Guang", is the largest ship designed and built by the Beiyang Shipbuilding Company so far. The length of the waterline is longer than the Republic-class light cruisers under construction, reaching 76 meters!

The total length is 90 meters. The ship has a beam of 11 meters, a draft of 6 meters, and a design standard displacement of 2,000 tons. Full load displacement 2500 tons. It can carry 800 tons of cargo, which is almost the cargo capacity of two short shirt-class flying scissors merchant ships! With the help of the steam-assisted sail lift, the number of sailors on board was only half that of a short shirt class.

The scariest. It is also the sail design scheme of the Ao Guang class flying scissor merchant ship, with three masted sails and bow teeth, and the full sail area has reached 3,200 square meters! In the canvas processing workshop under the shipyard, the female workers who sew canvas estimate that it will take half a year to sew such a huge amount of sails.

This means that the Aoguang-class flying shear merchant ship can run at least 17 knots or more in a fully loaded state and in a tailwind state! Even in the case of poor winds, the average speed will not fall below 12 knots. Travel across the Atlantic to London, England, with a maximum of 15 days at sea!

The resulting difficulty in building is correspondingly much higher. Although it is still relatively simple compared to the military's Republic-class light cruisers, the overall construction period has also been increased to 9 months. Presumably, such a "majestic" 2,000-ton sail shear will cause much shock once it reaches Europe.

The cost of the Ao Guang is not cheap, reaching $250,000. The price is a little more than the price of two short shirt-class flying clipper merchant ships, and even the state-owned import and export group with deep pockets can only set a contract for two, but the comprehensive use cost performance is much higher.

The start of the construction of the Aoguang-class large-scale flying scissors merchant ship made Ren Changle, who only got the 1,000-ton flying scissors merchant ship of the "Weiyang Palace" in December, sullen again. In his opinion. You Qi and Shi Yige are simply cheating on him, why did they just get the goods, and they announced that something better would appear? And this better thing is still in the hands of its biggest competitors. …,

According to Ren Changle's future trade development plan, COSCO International Trading's Weiyanggong Flying Shear merchant ship will run exclusively on the Azores route, while Wenwen and Changle will be responsible for trade in Shuangwan City, Bermuda Island.

Now the situation looks like this. It has become much more difficult to grab the share of trade imports and exports with state-owned import and export groups. Ren Changle couldn't help but think of the path that Su Zining and Yan Xiaosong revealed to him - Brazil.

Wenwen and Changle will continue to undertake the trade route of Bermuda, while the Weiyang Palace will abandon the Azores trade route and use its high speed and 400 tons of cargo capacity to run directly to the Brazilian trade route!

Whether it's Recife or San Salvador, a one-way trip is a maximum of one month, and ideally one trip per quarter, including loading and unloading and maintenance breaks.

In order to achieve higher efficiency, Ren Changle and Yang Wenwen gritted their teeth and jointly placed an order for a short shirt-class flying shear merchant ship in Beiyang Shipbuilding Company. Although You Qi climbed the contract cost to 130,000 US dollars on the grounds of difficult workmanship in the cold season, after the completion of the two flying shear merchant ships alternately sailed, they could grab Brazilian products at a lower price, especially rubber, phosphate rock, tungsten ore and chromite ore, these industrial raw materials are unambiguously sought-after goods in China.

It is even possible to intercept Ming Dynasty goods from the Far East directly in Brazil. Cheap cotton and silk, medicinal herbs, tea, porcelain, lacquerware, spices, any of which could be sold at far higher profits in Europe or North America than from the Azores or Bermuda.

In just one year, these specialties from South America and the East will allow COSCO International Trade to recover all the costs and make a lot of money.

Ren Changle's ambitions are not limited to this, when private agriculture in the country has been temporarily banned, he has decided to be the first investor to eat crabs in Brazil, and is ready to cooperate with the governor of San Salvador to invest $30,000 in the Portuguese colony to build a large plantation, transplant rubber trees, and open a chromite mine.

As for how the governor of San Salvador solved the labor problem, it was not a matter for Ren Changle to worry about, and when most of the entire African route was monopolized by the Portuguese, it was easy for the Portuguese to fill the black slaves.

In addition, Ren Changle is also preparing to open the approval joints of the Ministry of National Defense, obtain the qualification for arms trade in South America and the Far East, and sell the bridgehead of arms to Portugal in India and the Far East. I believe that the Portuguese in Brazil are extremely welcome to this.

Such a crazy plan that began in 1623 basically hollowed out most of the gains that Ren Changle and Yang Wenwen had earned last year.

The annual dividend is quite satisfactory to the investors of COSCO International Trading Company, and the reputation in China is also rising. Many nouveau riche who missed the first year of investment also expressed interest, otherwise Ren Changle and Yang Wenwen's assets would not be able to support this ambitious plan on their own.

In a merchant hall in Shuangwan City, which had only been completed for less than a month, the merchant representatives of the Portuguese merchant fleet and Ren Changle, the owner of COSCO International Trading Company, sat together.

The Portuguese merchant was the trade agent of the Governor of San Salvador, Brazil, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that the big American merchant in front of him was actually planning to buy a series of goods from the Portuguese colony in Brazil.

Traveling the entire Caribbean to Bermuda or the Azores is a good profit, but it's too much work. After all, Brazil is only a colony of Portugal, the local European population is limited, and the consumer goods market is certainly not comparable with the big cities in Europe. …,

The fact that American merchants were willing to come to their homes to buy and sell property was something that was highly desirable for the Portuguese colonies in Brazil. With less navigation risk and less Bermuda cargo tax, even if the price of goods is not as high as in Europe and Bermuda, the profit will not be much less, and it can be done no matter how you look at it.

And the idea of joint ventures to establish plantations and mines proposed by American businessmen made Portuguese businessmen laugh even more, what better thing than the Americans to spend money to set up plantations and mining farms, and also pay their wallets to purchase all the output, and finally share the two sides in such a good thing?

Not to mention the sugar cane plantations, and the kind of tearful rubber trees, there are simply too many in the forests of Bahia and Pernambuco, not to mention the cultivation of seedlings, thousands of mature trees can be transplanted at almost zero cost.

Without much thought, the trade agent of the Governor of San Salvador, Brazil, signed a contract with Ren Changle. As for the guarantor of the contract, Ren Changle brought in the mayor of Shuangwan City, Di Zugong.

When Di Zugong, who had a straightforward personality and a strict expression, saw the original contract, his eyes widened. This is simply the export of bare capital and the plundering of colonial economic control! It is conceivable that once Ren Changle succeeds, domestic capital will burrow into South America and Brazil like a swarm of bloodsucking worms.

Originally, I wanted to seriously educate Ren Changle, who had already "degenerated", but looking back, the benefits of such a prosperous trade exchange to the city of Shuangwan in Bermuda would only increase, not decrease. Di Zugong, who has already done "sadness" in his homeland, has already regarded Bermuda as one of his children at this time, and everything that can bring benefits to his children will be given the green light!

At the end, Di Zugong also shyly asked Ren Changle if COSCO International Trade Company still wanted to expand its capital, and his investment dividend last year exceeded 8,000 US dollars, and he didn't know how to spend it.

Ren Changle, who sent away the Portuguese, was dizzy again, quickly spread out the paper on the spot, and immediately signed a letter of intent with Di Zugong for $5,000 to invest in shares, and then go back to China to complete the relevant equity certificate procedures. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )