Chapter 146: We Are a Big Fat Piece (Three More!) ）

PS: I persevered, and although the illness tormented my body, I felt that I could do miracles!

Historically, the Spaniards were killed by themselves.

After they got the gold and silver of the Americas, they began to become blindly arrogant and greedy for pleasure.

The people in the country who have been made by them are miserable, and the people are miserable.

And the European continent, also because of the gold and silver of the Spaniards, has caused prices to skyrocket.

The reason is very simple, before the discovery of the New World of America, there was not much gold and silver in Europe. As a result, gold and silver coins were fairly strong, and the limited number of products and commodities on the continent kept a balance in place.

But after the Age of Discovery, the Spaniards, who were the first to benefit, became rich. Wielding gold and silver, they began to raise the price to get the supplies they needed.

Originally, there were so many goods and goods, and if the Spaniards wanted to buy most of them, they would need to pay some extra money.

In this era when productivity is restricted, skyrocketing prices are inevitable.

After the Spaniards had money, they expanded their armies everywhere and started wars, and the gold and silver they had obtained began to be quickly consumed.

When the British and the Spaniards went to war, they were forced to have no choice.

First of all, the British were very greedy for the windfall profits of sailing, and at the same time they needed to alleviate the pain of domestic prices.

It's just that what the Spaniards didn't expect was that their fleet, which they thought was invincible, was actually defeated.

At this point, the loss of strength at sea made the Spaniards begin to go downhill.

Of course, the decline of Spain could not be so fast, after all, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse. It will take some time for such a large empire to collapse.

And damn it, the Spaniards still did not repent and did not adjust their policies. He continued to send troops everywhere to fight, consuming gold and silver in the treasury.

In fact, in Spain in 1620, the treasury was almost exhausted.

In many colonies, even salaries began to fall in arrears.

This is a phenomenon that is not very good, but the nobles in Spain do not pay attention to it at all.

At the same time, the British and Dutch continued to attack the Spanish ships transporting gold by sea, plundering the gold that was ready to be shipped back to Spain.

This has made Spain's finances, which are already a little difficult, even worse.

"Your Majesty, you mean that the trade brought about by ceramics can ease Spain's finances. That's why this messenger came out with such a posture? Speaking of the most reluctant, Wang Shan heard some extraneous meanings.

Zhao Hongyu nodded: "The Spaniards are eager to bend down to pick up gold now, they are poor and almost like pants, do you say they are greedy for our ceramics." For the Spaniards' careful thinking, how could Zhao Hongyu not understand.

"It's true that the messenger is arrogant, but it's also true that he wants to get a monopoly. If my guess is correct, we'll be threatened by him in a few days. ”

Thinking of the Spaniard's cāo egg xìng grid, Zhao Hongyu reminded Wang Shan to say.

"Threats? It's ridiculous, are we still afraid of threats. Wang Shan was noncommittal.

Zhao Hongyu sighed and said to Wang Shan: "Of course we won't be afraid on the road, the Central American Spaniards' legions are only four in total, with a total of less than 50,000 people. But I'm worried about the threat from the sea, and they're not going to give up this opportunity. ”

Thinking of the huge profits that ceramics can bring, Zhao Hongyu will also know with his buttocks, which will make many people crazy.

"By the way, I have one more thing to say to you. I made inferior tea yesterday, although the quality is not very good, but this is also a very popular commodity in the European continent, plus Wang Shouyi's thirteen spices and those bulk peppercorns, do you think we can be regarded as a piece of big fat meat? ”

Zhao Hongyu's words made Wang Shan silent.

Yes, now they have more and more Manhattan goods, and at the same time, these goods are definitely profiteering goods in Europe. Countless businessmen will go crazy about it, and it will also attract the peeps of European countries.

Now the Europeans in the East are not unfounded, but the voyage is too far.

It takes at least five months to travel from Portugal to the East to Macau, and this time it takes a year to go back and forth.

From the East, there are only porcelain, tea, and silk, but Manhattan has the same.

From Portugal, a boatload full of junk goods was available for a trip to the coast of West Africa, where to exchange for a group of slaves. They then come from West Africa to the Port of Manhattan to sell and buy tea and porcelain or other goods.

It's all triangular trade that has ever existed in history, and it's more lucrative than that trade in history.

It can be said that in the course of triangular trade, the value of all commodities doubled. And compared to the voyage to the East, the voyage of the triangular trade takes only three months, which is four times less than the trade route from the East.

But the profits are even higher.

Those merchants will calculate this account.

Now some people are already doing this, and the Governor of Virginia's private merchant ships are the forerunners of this trade. Of course, he also made huge profits for it.

The merchants who had traded with Manhattan Island began to follow suit and began this bloody triangular voyage of trade.

Zhao Hongyu is clear about this.

However, he did not intend to stop the merchants.

However, Wang Shan and the others also gathered some information, and some businessmen began to have some small ideas about the lack of sea power in Manhattan.

And in the waters near Manhattan, there are also many pirate ships.

Thanks to Zhang Tie's proposal at the beginning, more than a dozen forts were built, so that those guys did not do anything rashly.

But Zhao Hongyu can be sure that if this situation continues, it won't be long before those guys with bad intentions can't help it in the face of huge interests.

"We're just a big piece of fat, and everyone wants to take a bite." , Without waiting for Wang Shan to reply, Zhao Hongyu continued to talk to himself. "It's just that our defense is not enough now, which gives those people hope. Now the envoy of the Spaniards probably saw this, so he made this request. ”

Zhao Hongyu also had a headache, he couldn't imagine that the Spaniards would come so quickly.

Originally, he also knew that it would be a matter of time before he dealt with the Spaniards, but he didn't know that Lu Dao would be so fast. If you were given something to him, by the time the shipyard had built a double-decked battleship, the situation would have changed when dealing with the Spaniards.

"Your Majesty, it is also true that our defense strength at sea is insufficient, and we have no way to change this situation for the time being." , Wang Shan also showed a helpless look.

"We can't buy ships in the space-time trader, otherwise we're afraid of the Spaniards." Zhao Hongyu said to Wang Shan indignantly, "If I can buy a steel ship, the Spaniards who can fight with only one will cry and cry for their mother." ”

What's the use of saying this, it's still impossible to buy it.

As he spoke, Zhao Hongyu thought of the key point, and suddenly withered like a deflated ball.

"Don't look at the fact that the Spaniards were defeated by the British and lost a lot of ships. But in the Caribbean, they still have a fleet of about fifty-three warships, protecting their interests in Central America. At the same time, in mainland Spain and in Central American shipyards, a ship is launched every three months. ”

Song Hu had already told Zhao Hongyi about this information, so he believed it very much.

"So, the Spaniards are still very easy to deal with us." , Zhao Hongyu told Wang Shan the truth very helplessly. At the same time, his heart was very aggrieved, and he held his breath in his heart.

Today, Manhattan Island has only four covered sailing boats. This is all the sea power that Zhao Hongyu has at hand, and these four ships were not built by him, but snatched from the British.

Strictly speaking, under the control of Zhao Hongyu in Manhattan, the navy had only five fishing boats......

But the question is, will those five fishing boats be able to participate in naval battles?

This is obviously impossible.

"Your Majesty, but if that messenger really threatens us, should we give in?" Wang Shan asked with some worry, he knew very well what the Spaniards were like.

If the threat succeeded, giving them a monopoly on the porcelain trade and other goods, the Spaniards would recover.

With money, the Spaniards will become stronger.

And the powerful Spaniards, in turn, may not only monopolize goods, they may even destroy Zhao Hongyu's Manhattan City, and then acquire skills and craftsmen.

It's not impossible for this kind of thing to happen.

However, although Zhao Hongyu said something terrible, there was no panic on his face.

It seems that Zhao Hongyu is not worried about this at all.

After seeing Zhao Hongyu's graceful expression, Wang Shan felt that he might be thinking too much, and his own majesty must have a countermeasure to this.

Thinking of this, Wang Shan asked: "Your Majesty, seeing that you are confident, do you already have a countermeasure?" ”

Zhao Hongyu took out a pack of large front doors from his pocket, took out one and lit it with a match, and took a deep breath.

Ahem!

2.5 yuan a pack of cigarettes, really flushed.

This kind of cigarette was made by Zhao Hongyu some time ago, but the brand made him a little painful.

Daqianmen is 2.5 yuan a pack in the 21st century, which is basically a cigarette that cannot be bought in the city.

However, it is still available in the vast remote rural areas.

After Zhao Hongyu made the big front door cigarettes, he replaced all the packaging, dismantled them and sent them to this era.

It can be regarded as a big problem for the majority of genetic smokers.

And with the development of Daqianmen cigarettes, there is also a fake cigarette made from plantain leaves......

"Hmph, the Spaniards think well. But they also don't want to think about it, will the British and Dutch give them a monopoly so easily? ”

After Zhao Hongyu spit out a green smoke ring, he said to Wang Shan.

Wang Shan's eyes lit up, and he understood the meaning of his majesty.

Zhao Hongyu is right, although the Spaniards have good ideas, they are a little unrealistic.

They want to monopolize trade, but they also have to think about the attitude of the British and Dutch.

In the Americas, they are not the only Spaniards.

On the Canadian side of the north, there are even the French.

"Your Majesty means to reveal the demands and threats of the Spaniards, and let the English and Dutch deal with the Spaniards?" , Wang Shan asked.

Zhao Hongyu nodded, but shook his head again: "Until the last moment, we can't pull the British, the French and the Dutch in." Spaniards are wolves, but the rest of the people are also wolves that eat people and don't spit out bones, and they are no different. ”

Wang Shan was a little puzzled, "Your Majesty, what do you mean?" ”

Zhao Hongyu flicked the cigarette ash and sat up straight: "Hold off the Spanish envoy first and buy time." We try to build up our maritime capabilities in the short term, so that we can have a greater voice. And we dragged the rest of us in to confront the Spaniards, and that was a last resort. Because it will tell them what our weaknesses are, and it will make them have some bad thoughts. ”

At this point, Wang Shan completely understood what Zhao Hongyu meant.

"Your Majesty, dinner is ready, will you eat right away?"

At this time, a guard gene man appeared at the door.

Hey, it's night.

Zhao Hongyu raised his hand and patted his forehead, "Look, we've been talking for so long, and it's evening all of a sudden." Then I'll go to dinner first, and you can go and rest too. ”

While speaking, Zhao Hongyu stood up and walked towards the dining room under the leadership of the gene man.

Dividing line

"Reago, what do you think of this city? Did it give you any feelings? ”

In a small hotel room run by a genetic, near the docks in Manhattan, two Spaniards are talking in a low voice.

They were all dressed in black sè costumes, with a small half-length cloak draped over their shoulders and black sè hats with wide brimming, typical of the Spanish style.

"The city is vibrant, and people's faces are full of yearning for a happy life. Compared to the lifeless Madrid, it is much stronger here. ”

The middle-aged man named Reago who was questioned replied after thinking about it.

"That's not the point, don't you see something else?" , the man who asked continued, his eyes flickering for a moment.

"Their soldiers?" , Reago glanced at the other party, "Those soldiers give me the deepest feeling, you can't see the shadow of laziness on them, you can also feel their tyrannical emotions hidden under the gorgeous military uniforms." ”

Reago's companion nodded, "yes, these guys' costumes are really good-looking. Such a set of clothes will cost a few gold coins in Madrid. ”

The fellow, Francisco, said in a tone of envy. (To be continued.)