Friday, March 25, 1622.

Today there was another buzz in the Azores, as 5 Portuguese merchant ships from Brazil entered the port. Portuguese territories in the depths of the North Atlantic, such as Angra de Gratismo, are rarely accompanied by such a concentrated American merchant fleet, especially from Brazil, since in previous years most of them return to Portugal via West Africa.

Governor Garcia greeted the fellow from Brazil, and after some greetings, he learned that it was to transport a batch of trade supplies ordered by a certain American congressman in Brazil, along with several letters to be forwarded to the U.S. Consulate General in Anglo Sanjura.

Governor Garcia, who knew the inside story, did not dare to slack off at all, and hurriedly ordered someone to send the letter to the American concession, and then began to check the list of supplies ordered by the Americans from Brazil.

A "low-quality" iron ore and several unknown ores add up to 500 tons, followed by almost worthless more than a dozen tons of rubber blocks that can only be thrown around casually by Brazilian Indians as toys, and then a large number of Brazilian specialties such as tobacco and cane sugar.

This is the most important shipment to the Americans to date, with a total value of about 150,000 Spanish dollars, and it must be a cash transaction, not from the previous trade advance deductions, because this is a trading fleet belonging to San Salvador, Brazil. Garcia smiled after a slight calculation, because this kind of cash transaction meant that he was more likely to receive at least a thousand Spanish silver dollars from it.

It's a pity that just a day ago. All American merchant ships left the Azores under the escort of warships, and the final deal had to wait for the next one.

Different from the bustle on the wharf, in the Consulate General of the US Concession, on the desk of Su Zining, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the American Republic of China, there are three open letters. Even if someone has dismantled it. It is believed that the mixed writing style of Hanyu Pinyin and Martian simplified Chinese characters is not something that the Portuguese merchants from Brazil can understand.

The first letter came from San Salvador, Brazil, dated mid-June 1621; The second was sent from Malacca, a Portuguese colony in Southeast Asia, more afield. The letter was sent in early September 1621.

The last letter is from Macao in the Ming Dynasty! The letter was sent in mid-November 1621.

Except for the last one, which was sent by clipper all the way without stopping, the other two letters took so long. was actually sent to Porto Heroma in the Azores by a Brazilian and Portuguese merchant ship at this point in time, which made Su Zining once again express his helplessness about the chaotic and bizarre communication beat of this era.

"Brazil? It's Yan Xiaosong, right? Why are you unhappy? A cup of coffee was put on the table, and his girlfriend Yuan Xinyi, who served as the chief translator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came over, picked up the first letter, and after reading a few lines, he smiled: "Brother Yan is really charming, and he is lucky, he actually found a guide in the Ming Dynasty, and he is still a relative of a big celebrity in the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"Well, Yan Xiaosong's history teacher is quite healthy. Let him still remember that there is a Yan Siqi, I don't know if he is lucky, or if that Yan Sihai is unlucky enough......" The corners of Su Zining's mouth also turned up slightly.

Glancing at her boyfriend's habitual poisonous snake remarks, Yuan Xinyi continued to look down, just a few lines. Even happier: "Wow, rubber, tungsten ore, chromite? No wonder you just said that this time it was 'developed'! ”

A full 300 tonnes of chromite from the Bahia region of Brazil, as well as 200 tonnes of tungsten ore and phosphate rock from the Ceará region of Brazil, and even a dozen tonnes of natural rubber blocks. It is estimated that the next time they are sent back to the mainland, Lin Youde and Jiang Zhaolong will laugh from ear to ear again. …,

With high-grade chromite in Brazil, it is believed that it will not be long before that. Stainless steel products will become another kind of gold attraction weapon in the United States of America. Compared with the current level of crucible steel metallurgy in the whole of Europe, stainless steel products will become a kind of magical alchemy.

Not to mention the Brazilian natural rubber block, even if Yan Xiaosong offered a "sky-high price" of 1 riyal per pound for this ugly rubber block, rubber will be more important than any industrial raw material for the industrial technology restoration project of the United States of America today. God knows how much thought the Portuguese of San Salvador put into collecting up to a dozen tons of natural rubber.

happily put down the letter from Brazil, and picked up the letter from Malacca, Southeast Asia, and after seeing the end from the beginning, the female translator's expression was even more surprised.

"Portugal's colonies in East Africa and the East Indies have all accepted the secret instructions of the Duke of Bragança, and have decided to fully cooperate with Yan Xiaosong's immigration transportation in the Far East.

Speaking of this, Yuan Xinyi's eyes seemed to be Yan Xiaosong and the Portuguese talking nonsense.

"Well, but none of these are free, all of them require us to pay the Portuguese." Su Zining took a deep breath and handed the last letter from Macau to his girlfriend, "Look at this letter from Macau again, you will know how crazy this Yan Xiaosong is." ”

Slowly swept the letter with a suspicious expression, and saw that at the end, Yuan Xinyi had already opened his mouth wide.

"Oh my God, how could Yan Xiaosong agree to such a demanding request from the Portuguese?!" Yuan Xinyi couldn't help but exclaim in the end, and her little hands covered her mouth, "We signed a final transportation agreement with the Portuguese, hired more than 40 Portuguese or Spanish merchant ships, and spent 2.4 million Spanish silver dollars to transport more than 4,000 Ming immigrants to Brazil!" It's just an exaggeration! ”

Quietly watching the change in his girlfriend's expression of joy and surprise, Su Zining took the letter in his hand and folded it gently, "Among them, 400,000 yuan is used to establish a rest point for immigrants in important Portuguese colonial ports along the way, this Yan Xiaosong has surplus funds to pay, and it is also worth it, it is basically a one-time investment, laying the foundation for continued immigration in the future." Another 2 million was used to pay for the Portuguese merchant ships to transport migrants, with an average of 500 Spanish silver dollars per emigrant. ”

"How is this possible! Congress will not approve this funding! When we left Manchester. Some people say that this year's budget will be very tight, which is much more than expected! Yuan Xinyi frowned and shook her head, obviously extremely worried about Yan Xiaosong, who didn't know the local situation, about such a large-scale private agreement.

"I don't think Congress has thought about the scale of immigration, and no one has really calculated this account, thinking that we can really fool Europeans with a few pieces of glass, and this is not compulsory labor." Su Zining smiled bitterly and put his head on the back of his head and leaned back in the chair. His eyes looked at the ceiling, "Yan Xiaosong is bold and careful, he won't mess around." And in fact, the price is quite fair. In the 17th century, slaves from East and West Africa came to the Caribbean, and the price of a slave was about 30 to 50 pounds. Convert to Spanish silver dollars, which is between 300 and 500. What's more, we are getting people from the Ming Dynasty farther away, and it is the first time, so the price will naturally not be much lower. Crucially, the number of ships used this time was almost twice as large as that of transporting slaves, taking into account the safety of the migrants on the voyage. ”

"But we're not buying and selling people, we're just letting them transport it!" Yuan Xinyi twisted the corners of her mouth, very dissatisfied, "Don't we charge a fee if we help them restore the country?" ”

"Huh. You think so, I think so, but the Portuguese understand it as human trafficking, and they've been doing it for more than 100 years. Su Zining stood up. Walking back and forth in the room several times, "The first time you immigrate, you must not make a problem, there are still many places worth taking advantage of in Portugal." The problem of funding must be solved, I need to go back to my homeland! ”…,

"Huh?! Take that Flying Cloud! Last time I tried to sit it. It's just too dangerous! It's better to let it send the letter back. Yuan Xinyi shook her head vigorously when she heard this, grabbed her boyfriend's arm, and her face turned a little pale.

"It's not a trivial matter of tens of thousands of dollars, if I don't go back, I'm afraid that the Congress will make a fuss, and Qi Jianjun's position as prime minister will not be kept." Su Zining sat back and rang the bell on his desk. "The Feiyun is fast and can return to mainland within a week. It's okay, I won't be more unlucky than the Mayflower! ”

Feiyun, a small clipper ship specially used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for transatlantic emergency communication, has a full load displacement of only about 200 tons, but the maximum speed is more than 17 knots.

A European female employee walked in, lifted her skirt and saluted Su Zining slightly: "Your Excellency Minister Su, do you have any orders?" ”

"Immediately invite Miss Yang Wenwen and Consul General Mr. Shi Wenbo to my office!" As he spoke, Su Zining took out a piece of paper and began to write rapidly in Spanish that he had learned so hard, "Later, you will help me forward these two letters of mine to the Spanish merchant ship bound for Lisbon, one to His Excellency Fernando, the political officer of Lisbon, and the other to Mr. Migu of NORINCO!" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!" The female employee bowed slightly again and walked out of the room.

Seeing that her boyfriend was stubborn, Yuan Xinyi had no choice but to retreat silently to the side.

In the afternoon, Yang Wenwen, who was wearing a parasol and a gorgeous suit, and Shi Wenbo, who was wearing a suit, walked into Su Zining's office. Half an hour later, the cries of surprise from a man and a woman pierced through the wooden door of the office.

"You're crazy! You and Yan Xiaosong are both crazy! 4,000 people, just pay the equivalent of 240,000 pounds! The French will only spend £400,000 to buy back the whole of Normandy from the English! Shi Wenbo clenched his fists and walked around the room, looking excited, "I guess if you go back and talk about this, the grandfathers of the Congress and the government will treat you as a psychopath!" There's still $2 million left, and you're about the same as having them sell the whole of Long Island! ”

"Su Zining, is it really worth it to fulfill the agreement?" Yang Wenwen regained her composure after being surprised, and sat down on the chair with a smile, "When they come over first, let's talk to them...... Moreover, they also ask for us. ”

Looking at the two companions, Su Zining shook his head with a wry smile, "It's really hard to say who asks whom...... The Portuguese were not fools, they monopolized most of the routes from Europe to the Far East, and the Dutch had to take a detour in the Indian Ocean. This time, Yan Xiaosong went east to handle the transportation of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, which was the content of the cooperation agreement reached with the Duke of Bragança, if we use other means to break the contract this time, then it will be difficult for us to gain a foothold in Europe, and the entire Far East layout will be in vain, and there will be no return. ”

"So what are you going to do? Go back and cry poor. Then let Premier Qi Jianjun and the bigwigs of the Congress use a big move to conjure up more than 50 tons of silver coins for you? Shi Wenbo spread his hands, looking like a scoundrel who had lost all the borrowed capital.

"The state-owned import and export group has about 300,000 yuan to save the Zài Azores Heropo, and after deducting the imported materials from Brazil this time, there are 150,000 left; The goods for sale in the warehouse, excluding the arms, should also add up to 300,000. used as collateral, the mortgage guarantee is borne by the Consulate General; Portugal has not completed the order for the export of our supplies last year, and it still owes us 500,000 worth of goods. This time it is offset. Sister Yang, we will most likely need at least 20,000 sets of two-season clothes worn by Ming Dynasty immigrants, and they need to be made within six months. Giving you a profit of 50 cents per set, you're okay there, right? By the way, Shi Wenbo, you want to find a way to borrow 50,000 yuan in your private name. In this way, we can get 1 million funds as soon as possible. ”

Su Zining spread out the paper, wrote the way he could think of to make up money, and "pitted" Shi Wenbo with a blushing face and a heartbeat. …,

"I'll it, Su Zining! Where do you want me to borrow 50,000 Spanish dollars?! You and I are the governor here, huh? Even if you borrow money, you should go to that Garcia, who has eaten at least tens of thousands of bribes from me and Migu for more than half a year! Svenbo jumped up immediately, shaking his head like a rattle.

Su Zining and Yang Wenwen heard this. Almost at the same time, he stared at the consul general's face and showed the same, playful smile.

"Well, I'll admit that the man from the Marquis de Santa Cruz family in Spain is a good deceit, but Miss Anna and I are just ordinary friends." Shi Wenbo was stunned for a moment, and quickly coughed. Lowered his voice.

The bright eyes of the two thieves swept over, and Shi Wenbo finally raised his hands as if surrendering: "Okay, it's a better relationship!" In the past few days, I have been paying for you all the time...... But now, how else can we import supplies from Europe?! ”

"I wrote to the Fernando Magistrate in Lisbon and said that his parliament had officially enacted a ban on arms exports from Europe. The reason is that there is strict neutrality, and the batch of 5,000 flintlock muskets in the current arms warehouse cannot sign the trade export certificate! He also sent a letter to Mi Gu, asking him to smuggle the arms out at a rate of 90 Spanish silver dollars each! The Spaniards were at a stalemate on the Dutch front, and if they didn't accept the price, they would sell to the Dutch or the Portuguese, anyway, the Dutch were not satisfied with the last 500 sticks and were always obsessed! ”

"Are you really unkind, and would rather lower your profile towards the Portuguese than offend the Spaniards? They are now a European superpower! Shi Wenbo frowned, a little confused about Su Zining's strategy.

"It's still that excuse, the congressional arms export ban is a neutral position against the war between the Netherlands and Spain, and the Spaniards are not fools and will understand why I sue them for this!" Su Zining said and drew another stroke on the paper, "No matter who buys it, there will be 450,000 yuan, and 150,000 yuan will be left for the state-owned import and export group as a reserve fund." Together, we were able to raise a total of 1.3 million yuan, and the last 700,000 yuan shortfall, I can go back and speak. ”

"You men, you are more ruined than us women...... Forget it, for the sake of you placing such a big order to make me money, I will personally lend the country another 2000! Yang Wenwen fanned the small fan and walked lazily towards the door, "Remember to write a government IOU, with interest of 1% per month......"

After smiling and watching the big capitalist rich woman Yang Wenwen leave, Su Zining looked at Shi Wenbo seriously: "I estimate that Yan Xiaosong's immigration plan has now reached the most critical stage of implementation, and it is expected that the first batch of immigrants will finally arrive in Brazil between August and September this year, and we have enough time to complete the preparations for this immigration." After I go back this time, I won't come back until at least September, and the operation of the European intelligence organization will only depend on your coordination! I have a copy of the text in my drawer, and I have already written some details, and you can play the rest on the spot! ”

"Well, I knew the worst was yet to come! You have embezzled the funds of the state-owned import and export group on which the whole country depends, and the money is all someone else's to you, so you don't feel sorry to use it...... I'll help you hold the stall here, and I still have a lot of experience in fooling the European old hats. By the way, remember to help me get the 50,000 back, otherwise I will be torn apart by the Spaniards! Shi Wenbo took out a cigarette and lit it, saying that he had done his duty.

Everyone is gone, and Su Zining's whole body is relieved.

The door opened again, and Yuan Xinyi walked in with a cup of hot coffee and handed it to Su Zining. It took a long time before he said, "I'll go back with you!" ”

Slightly stunned, looking at his girlfriend's serious face, Su Zining shook his head lightly: "The tonnage of the Feiyun is small and fast, and the navigation is risky, I'm afraid you will still be seasick, so you will stay here and wait for the next merchant fleet." ”

"Nope! I'm with you when there's danger! ”

The female translator suddenly stood up, threw herself into Su Zining's arms, and grabbed the other party's tie tightly.

On March 26, 1621, the Feiyun Clipper Clipper, flying the flag of the American Republic of China, left the Azores Porto Heromas, with samples of industrial raw materials that would fascinate some people in the domestic factories, in addition to Foreign Minister Su Zining and translator Yuan Xinyi. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )