Weihaiwei belongs to a military fortress-type city, the city wall is not big, but the city wall is very high, and the flow of people is very large, Major Bert and his party walked on the street and looked at the surging flow of people almost dazzled.

Bert, who came to Daming City for the first time, asked his companion on the side: "Lawrence, are there so many people in the city of Ming Kingdom?" ”

The merchant named Lawrence nodded: "Although not necessarily, I estimate that it should be about the same, at least the people I have seen in Quanzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other cities are not less than here, and they are more prosperous." ”

A businessman exclaimed on the side: "It's incredible, if there are so many people in all the cities, how many people are there in the Ming Kingdom?" ”

"I haven't estimated this, but I've heard the official statistics of the Ming Kingdom, and the population of the Ming Kingdom should have exceeded 100 million!"

"Oh...... Oh, God! ”

The people next to him let out an exclamation almost at the same time, and even Major Bert was stunned, 100 million people was simply an astronomical number for them, you must know that the population of the whole of Europe is only about 80 million now, and the population of this country is more than the total population of all the people in the whole of Europe.

A merchant trembled his lips and said, "If this is the case, if war breaks out, according to the conscription rate of ten to one, then they can not recruit ten million soldiers?" ”

The crowd fell silent, and Bert's lips felt only a little dry and white. Ten million soldiers, a number that makes one feel desperate just by listening to it.

However, among these people, only Bert was a soldier, and the other businessmen only marveled for a while after hearing this, and then stopped thinking about it, after all, Daming was so far away from their country, whether it was 10 million or 100 million, no matter how many people did not have a strong enough navy and enough ships, it would be in vain.

Suddenly, a merchant pointed to the shop next to him and shouted, "Look...... What are the pùs for sale in these shops? ”

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and everyone's eyes lit up, "This...... It's glass...... There is glass for sale here, and it's such a big piece of glass! ”

No need to talk to others. As soon as they entered the store, they saw that the shop was filled with a wide variety of goods, including porcelain, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and a large number of glasses, and they were surprised that these glasses were very delicate in terms of quality and color, and the most rare thing was that they were still very large, and the largest was half a person tall!

Lawrence pointed to the shelves and shouted, "Oh, look, it's amazing that there's such a good quality glass here!" ”

In fact, not only Lawrence, but also Major Bert and the remaining businessmen were stunned. Although glass manufacturing technology was already very developed in Italy as early as 1291, glass manufacturing technology gradually spread throughout Europe in the following centuries. But so far, making large pieces of glass is still a big problem for glass craftsmen, who can only make glass the size of a book, and for larger glass, it can only be a matter of luck. But here they saw several pieces of glass the size of half a man being placed on the shelves at random, knowing that glass of this size and flat could be sold for a lot of money in Europe. Thinking about the porcelain, tea, silk and other items they had just seen, Lawrence and the others felt that their breathing was a little unsmooth.

"No, I have to buy all these things, and if I can't move them all back to Europe, I can't even forgive myself." Several people, including Lawrence, had their eyes shining.

"Oh my God, this is a treasure here, if you could buy it all. All of us will become rich! ”

The thirst for wealth and greed made the eyes of the newcomers all light up.

When a few enthusiastic people came to the shop and asked about the price of these things, the answer they got made their hearts cold, and the shopkeeper here told them very clearly. Foreigners who want to buy these things can do so, but they must have a license from the government to buy and sell them. God, this is simply the worst news, who can tell them what this buying and selling license is. Who made this thing? Where are they going to get this thing?

The saddest thing for a businessman is to see a lot of money in a business but not be able to do it, and just when Lawrence and a few people are itching, the kind shopkeeper sues them. If they want to buy these things, they only need to get the approval of the governor's yamen, and as long as the governor is the marquis of Yue agrees, they can buy whatever they want here.

Bert ...... We must do our best to meet the governor, we must do our best! Lawrence changed his previous calmness, and paced in circles like ants on a hot pot, as did the expressions of the other merchants.

Over the next two days, they tried their best to question the local officials, even at the cost of bribes, but the answers they received were almost identical, and all the officials told them that the buying and selling permits was a new trick created by the government to restrict foreign merchants from buying Ming goods for profit.

Lawrence hadn't thought of bypassing this damn license to buy and sell these things in private, but the attitude of these Ming merchants in this matter was surprisingly consistent, and they told Lawrence and his party that if their actions were discovered by the government, they would never want to get even a little more goods from their suppliers, and they would face a fine that would break their money. Several businessmen had already set a good example for them before that.

Fortunately, Lawrence's wait was not too long, and on the third day, a Ming official approached Bert and told him that his esteemed Marquis Yue could allocate an hour to meet them at noon today.

After learning that the venerable Lord Yue was finally willing to meet them, Lawrence and the others spent a full hour rearranging their appearance and combing their hair, while Bert changed into a brand new military uniform and carefully wiped his saber and leather boots over and over again.

Seeing this, Lawrence quipped, "Bert, I feel like you're going to the king's banquet at the palace." ”

Bert rolled his eyes, and at the same time felt a little embarrassed to explain: "I am a soldier, and the other party is a famous commander who has defeated more than 100,000 Tatars, so naturally I should dress formally. ”

"Well, you always have a point!" Lawrence smiled noncommittally. He was clever enough not to say a word about Bert's change in attitude.

At noon, Bert and his party followed a Ming official to the marquis's temporary residence. It was a residence firmly guarded by hundreds of soldiers in green uniforms and armed with firearms, and although the mansion was ordinary, Lawrence only felt his scalp tingle when he saw the eyes of the soldiers guarding the house looking at them.

"Lawrence, how do I feel that these soldiers always look at me with an eerie look at me, and I feel uncomfortable, and I always feel like they are going to pounce on me at any moment." A businessman next to him whispered to Lawrence.

"That's because these soldiers are elites who have been on the battlefield and killed people." Major Bert on the side added with a solemn expression, "Although I am a navy, at least this can still be seen." ”

A few people came to the door while they were talking. The officer said a few words to the soldiers at the door, and then he turned back to Bert and the others, "Before entering, these soldiers will search you to make sure you are not armed, if you can agree, I will let them start the search, if you don't agree, it doesn't matter, I can send you back now." ”

"No problem, let them search!" Major Bert expressed his understanding of this, after all, it was the Marquis of Daming who was going to meet now, so the other party naturally had to be cautious. Otherwise, it would be a lot of fun if one of the fellows hid a musket in it and shot the Marquis, let alone Lawrence, the merchants, what...... Will it be faceless to check...... Please, talking about chastity with a businessman is as unreliable as talking about chastity with a prostitute. However, these soldiers did not make it unduly difficult for them. After only a brief inspection, they were let in, and even the saber on Bert's body was not confiscated.

After entering the second room, they came to a living room, where the officer led them straight in, and soon they saw a young man in a green military uniform watching them from a seat facing the door. The official said aloud to the man, "Lord Qiqi." The lowly post has waited for the envoy of the Yiren! ”

The young man stood up and nodded faintly: "Okay...... You can go down! ”

"Yes!"

When the officer went out, the young soldier walked towards Bert and the others, who immediately became a little nervous when he focused his attention on Bert and the others. Although his demeanor was very calm and there was a faint smile on his face, they felt an inexplicable pressure begin to envelop them. Especially Major Bert, out of the intuition of a soldier, he felt a unique iron-blooded temperament of a soldier from the body of this Marquis of Mingguo, as if a high commander was watching him, so that he involuntarily stood up straight and gave him a military salute and said loudly: "Your Excellency the Marquis, Lieutenant Bert of the Royal Spanish Navy. Bushby salutes you! ”

As soon as Bert's words fell, something surprising to him happened, and His Excellency the Marquis of Daming immediately returned a dashing military salute to him, and at the same time said: "Major Bert, I am Yueyang, the loyal and brave Marquis of the Ming Empire, welcome to Daming!" ”

After listening to the translated words, Bert was a little surprised and said, "Your Excellency the Marquis, will you also give us the military salute of the West?" ”

"Why not?" Yue Yang laughed: "I think the etiquette of soldiers should be the same, and it will not change due to different regions and countries. All right, gentlemen, you may be seated. ”

When everyone was seated, a maid soon served tea, and then Bert introduced Lawrence and the others to Yue Yang, and Yue Yang took a sip of the teacup and said, "Major Bert, I think you should tell me about your intention now, right?" ”

"Absolutely!" A few days after coming to Weihaiwei, he learned about the huge gap between Spain and the Ming Kingdom, and Major Bert's original reserve and sense of superiority had long been thrown out of the clouds, and after hearing Yue Yang's words, he immediately took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Yue Yang, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency the Marquis, this is a handwritten letter from your Grand Admiral Antony, please take a look." ”

Yue Yang took the letter and swept it slightly, then put it on the table and said indifferently: "I won't read the letter, anyway, I don't know Spanish, you can tell me." ”

"Yes!" Major Bert nodded: "Your Excellency the Marquis, to put it simply, our Grand Admiral Lord Antony hopes that your country can send troops with us to drive out the Dutch who are entrenched in the Grand Commander, and we are willing to share the interests of the Grand Commander with your country." ”

Yue Yang was silent for a while before he raised two fingers and said, "I also ask you to convey to your Admiral, Mr. Antony, that the first commander belongs to the inherent territory of our Ming Dynasty, but in the past, the energy of our country was restrained by the Tatars in the north. So there's no time to pay attention there. Now that I have dealt with the Tatars of the north more or less completely, our attention will henceforth turn to the South Seas, and we will never give in to the question of sovereignty, even if it is necessary to defend it by force.

Second, I can give you half a year to prepare, and if your army does not evacuate after half a year, then I will personally lead the fleet to recapture him. ”

Yue Yang's words could be described as loud, and Bert was dumbfounded when he heard it. Then he shouted angrily: "Lord Marquis, you are too unreasonable, we found out first." How did it become the land of the Ming Kingdom? ”

Yue Yang sneered: "If you want to find out first, we have been living in Dayuan more than a thousand years ago, and even the Dutch arrived in Dayuan before you, if it weren't for the fact that we have been dragged down by the peasant rebels in the country and the Tatars outside the Guanguan over the years, which would be your turn to take advantage of this." Now I'll leave it here, if your army doesn't withdraw in half a year, I'll drive you out with the Dutch! ”

"I ......"

Major Bert felt that he had nothing to say, this guy was so domineering that as soon as he opened his mouth, it was an ultimatum to give you half a year to retreat. Otherwise, I will destroy you, no one has ever seen such unreasonable words.

Seeing Major Bert's speechless appearance, Yue Yang smiled faintly: "I know that you can't be a small major in this matter, but it doesn't matter, you can ask your superiors for instructions." You can even ask for instructions from your country, anyway, you still have half a year, enough for you to go back and forth from home. ”

Major Bert took a deep breath before he said, "Lord Marquis, I will convey your words to our Lord Governor. ”

"That's good!" Yue Yang bowed his head and said, "Do you have anything else?" ”

"Yes!" This time he didn't wait for Bert to speak. Lawrence, who was on the side, hurriedly stood up and saluted Yue Yang's chest, "Dear Marquis, we have seen a lot of things here and want to purchase them. But I was told that if you are not a person from the Ming Dynasty, you must have a trading license if you want to purchase these things, and this kind of certificate can only be issued by you, is that so? ”

Seeing that although Lawrence was forced to calm himself, there was still a hint of longing in his eyes, Yue Yang said with a smile: "You want this trading license?" ”

"Yes, Lord Marquis, we need it very much." In the face of this noble Marquis of the Ming Empire, Lawrence knew that any clever behavior was not advisable, and he happily admitted it.

"It's not that this license can't be issued to you, but I declare in advance that this license will not be issued to you in vain, each license is only valid for one year, and there is a lot of commission to be paid every year." At this time, Yue Yang smiled like a cunning fox.

Lawrence and the others glanced at each other and asked tentatively, "I wonder how much the Marquis thinks we need to pay every year?" ”

Yue Yang smiled and stretched out a finger, "Ten thousand silver coins per license per year, and I don't guarantee that there will be no price increase in the future!" ”

"What? 10,000 credits! Lawrence and the others were taken aback. They weren't big merchants, and 10,000 silver coins was a lot of money for them. Now they have to hand it over to this marquis for nothing, how can this not make them feel distressed.

Lawrence said with a bitter face: "This ...... Dear Marquis, this is too expensive, I don't know if it can be cheaper. You know, if we pay the commission, we won't have much money left! ”

"No...... The reason why a rule is a rule means that it cannot be broken at will, and I can't break the rules I have set because of you! Yue Yang's head shook like a rattle.

"That'...... Can we buy a license for several people in partnership? Lawrence quickly figured out a compromise.

"Huh...... You're smart! Yue Yang smiled and shook his head: "Of course you can, but there is a limit to the number of items you can buy at a time per license, if you want to buy a license together, you will have to redistribute your share." ”

"What...... And what's going on? Lawrence and the others were dumbfounded, they originally wanted to take advantage of the loophole and go through the back door, but now it seems that let alone the back door, even the windows are blocked.

In the end, Lawrence and the others gritted their teeth and said that each of them bought a trading license, and this time they would make less money, and they would make money back after a few more trips.

This trip to the Marquis's Mansion Bert was sulky, but Lawrence and a few other businessmen had a lot of gains, but in any case, they figured out the attitude of the Ming Empire on this trip, and they were able to explain it to the head after they went back.

What they didn't know was that on the night after they left, the Marquis had taken advantage of the moonlight to come to modern time and space...... (To be continued......)