"One hundred and sixty miles southeast of Xindeng, there is a strait, through the gorge and entering, containing Qiankun, there are big bays in the north and south, you can anchor anywhere, this natural harbor also. With the name of the indigenous people, I tentatively call it 'Oro' (San Francisco), or 'Oro'. ”

"The native of Xindeng is short and stocky, with a reddish complexion. Oro native, slightly slender in shape, brown complexion. The customs of the two ethnic groups are very different......"

"The new land is full of towering mahogany. In the land of Oro, there are mahogany trees and oak trees everywhere. The imperial court lacks a century-old oak to build a big ship, and there are countless oaks here, and the pitching of hundreds of years old trees can be seen. This place in Oro can be used as a good harbor and a dock can be built ......"

The so-called "Oro people" is actually "Oloni people", translation

Near San Francisco, in addition to the Oroni, there are also Miwalkers. The two tribes share the same customs, speak a similar language, and belong to the same tribal alliance.

The Kashaya, who traded land with Li Quan, spoke another language and belonged to another tribal confederation, although they were only a hundred miles away from San Francisco.

Two alliances, enemies of each other, often at war.

Li Quan is a newcomer and does not understand the language, so it is difficult to understand the relationship between these natives.

When it becomes clear in the future, most of them will help one side to attack the other side.

As far as the situation is concerned, Li Quan first made friends with the Kashaya, and then coveted the land of the Oloni (San Francisco). Most of them allied with the Kashaya, took down the vicinity of San Francisco, and gained territory to open up a colonial base.

The fleet continued south, exploring bays and estuaries along the way, discovering that it was all inhabited by similar indigenous people.

Spain has colonized the Americas for more than 100 years, and has not polluted the west coast of North America, firstly, because the road is too far and too remote, and secondly, there is no oil and water to squeeze.

Like the Aztec Empire, the Inca Empire, agriculture and handicrafts were developed, and there was a lot of gold. Conquering a tribe or town can grab the old nose money, while coming to California can only grab the fresh fish of the natives.

More than 2,000 kilometers south from San Francisco, Li Quan and his team encountered a Spanish colonial port.

It was called Banderas at this time, and Vallarta a few hundred years later. At present, the silver mines are mined only on a small scale, mainly as a supply port for the galleon trade.

Five Chinese ships docked, which immediately caused a sensation.

The colonial prefect named Reyes personally went to the port to greet him, and saw that the Chinese were a little stunned, but quickly came to his senses: "Are you here to trade?" ”

Li Quan learned Spanish himself, and there was no need for a translator at all: "We came to explore the ocean, and of course, we also brought a small amount of goods. They are all expensive goods, such as high-grade silk, high-grade cloud brocade, high-grade lacquerware, and so on. ”

This time he came to the Americas, not for profit, and sold a large amount of cotton cloth in Japan, and then stuffed the ship with food and water.

However, expensive goods are also retained, all of which are light and do not take up space.

"Wait a minute, everybody."

Reyes returned to the port town and called the tax collector, the overseer, and the missionary to consult.

Throughout the ports of Spanish America, there were strict trade restrictions: first, only official transactions were allowed, and private transactions were not allowed. Second, foreign vessels are not allowed to enter the harbor without the permission of the Governor-General.

Not only that, but there are also restrictions on the Philippine side, after Chinese merchant ships arrive in the Philippines, they are not allowed to trade privately, nor are they allowed to retail sales. Only the whole shipload of goods can be negotiated with the Philippine government, and a variety of goods must be sold together, and a single commodity cannot be sold.

The Spanish royal family was wary not only of foreign merchants, but also of its own people.

The annual trade quota for goods shipped from the Philippines to the Americas is only 250,000 pesos.

The galleon's cargo hold was divided into several spaces, each with a permit, and only Spaniards who had lived in the Philippines for many years could obtain a permit. There are also supporting restrictions, that is, Spaniards are not allowed to immigrate freely to the Philippines, and those who want to immigrate to the Philippines must obtain the king's permission and have lived in the Philippines for eight years to be eligible for a trade license.

Today, the Philippine galleon trade license has become a financial securities like the salt introduction of the Ming Dynasty.

There is a group of nobles who can easily get a license, sell it, and make a fortune by doing nothing. The price of the license was getting higher and higher, and the Spanish small merchants could not afford it, so a few people pooled their money to buy one and get a space in the warehouse of the galleon.

And the more awesome aristocracy, such as the governor, the commander of the fleet, etc., directly fought with the royal family to engage in smuggling. They used the space to store ammunition, and even the space to store food, to store their own cargo, resulting in the crew often facing the danger of food shortages.

At the same time, the American colonies were also annoyed by the small trade quotas, and the goods from Asia could not meet the needs of the American market.

The Americas and the Philippines are full of resentment because of the royal policy!

Why, then, to restrict trade?

Of course, according to the policy formulated by the big nobles and big merchants, Asian goods were too cheap, to the detriment of some nobles and merchants, and at the same time, the long-term trade deficit also made the royal family unbearable.

Like the port of Banderas is even worse, there are silver mines here, and they are not short of silver. Every year, galleons came to replenish the supplies, but with the silver, they could not buy goods, but could only sell grain and fruits to the fleet. Because in the Americas, there was only one legal port, which served as a trading port for galleons.

"Chinese friends, we want to go on board the ship to inspect the goods and guarantee to buy them at a price that exceeds the market." Reyes came back to talk.

Li Quan smiled: "Of course you can." ”

A group of Spaniards rushed into the cabin, and Li Quan also showed the goods to his heart's content.

The two sides bargained, and the Spaniards bought some of the goods. As for the selling price, it is 15 to 25 times the purchase price in China!

No way, the Spaniards here are so poor that they only have money left.

Forty-three years ago, Montescolaros, a colonial official in the Americas, wrote to the King of Spain: "······ Here, you pay 10 gold pesos for a bundle of paper, 100 gold pesos for an hour, and 3,000 to 4,000 gold pesos for a horse......"

The reason is simple, too much gold and silver were mined in the Americas, but daily necessities were extremely scarce, and the colonists could not buy anything with gold and silver.

Although with the rise of the galleon trade, with the development of the American colonies, there was no longer such a shortage of goods in the Americas. However, the royal family set a limit on the galleon trade, and many goods were not allowed to be sold in the Americas, which was still in a state of more money and less goods.

On the one hand, the Spanish royal family went bankrupt several times, and on the other hand, the colonies could not buy things with money, and the fundamental reason was the prohibition of private cross-sea trade.

The result was a miraculous situation in which the smuggling of trade between Europe and Spanish America far exceeded the official trade.

In order to prevent embezzlement and smuggling, the King of Spain set up various officials

Duty. Layers of supervision, cross-supervision, and various types of official positions, so complex that even the governor could not rationalize them. But if there is no use for fart, everyone can manage one thing, and it will become that everyone does not care, and officials from all walks of life embezzle and smuggle together.

This is the situation at the moment, and many officials at the port reached a consensus in half an hour.

They want to cooperate in illegal transactions, not to mention that the transaction partner is Chinese, even if the devil comes.

Li Quan was very happy when he sold the goods, but his brows were furrowed when he was supplying food.

The vegetables and fruits here are so expensive, and the price is several times that of China. The five ships were damaged by the storm and were only briefly repaired in Xindeng, which needed to be carefully repaired at the shipyard here, and the labor costs were as expensive as if they were grabbing money.

Buying vegetables, melons and fruits and repairing boats used thousands of taels of silver, which made Li Quan feel a pain in his flesh.

A grain base must be created, a shipbuilding base must be built!

The ship has not yet been repaired, and another wave of shopping is ushered in.

The Spanish plantation owners in the vicinity, with a large amount of agricultural products and silver, came to the port to buy Chinese goods. The residents of the town also organized groups to shop, and bought silk, cloud brocade and other items in joint ventures, which could be transported to other places to sell and make money.

All the Spaniards were moved to tears, they were finally able to participate in smuggling in these West Coast situations!

Until then, only the East Coast and the various islands could be smuggled, and no European smugglers came to the West Coast. Thank you to the compassionate Chinese for allowing them to enjoy smuggling activities as well, what a wonderful experience.

Reyes excitedly took Li Quan's hand and asked, "Dear Chinese friends, will you come again next year?" If I do come back, I will contact the nearby towns in advance to raise more gold and silver to buy goods. We need not only silk, lacquerware and cloud brocade, but also cotton, blankets, porcelain, dried fruits, iron pots... …… We can eat these goods, no matter which one they are shipped! ”

"Does the Governor care?" Li Quan wondered.

Reyes smiled and said, "Of course he will, but not to ban you from trading, but to take profits from it." According to friends on the East Coast, smuggling was everywhere, and if the Governor really wanted to take care of it, how could he allow it to exist? Of course, you can't go to Acapulco, which is the only legal port for galleon trade. All the people there were beneficiaries of the galleon trade, and any smuggling would cause them disgust.

Li Quan asked, "How far is the port of Acapulco?" ”

"It's 130 miles to the south." Reyes said.

130 Spanish miles, about 730 kilometers.

Reyes suggested: "There is a port in the middle called Manzanillo, and although there are no silver mines and the inhabitants are not as wealthy as ours, they can eat some of your goods. There is a well-developed fishing industry, which can provide you with salted fish and fresh fish, as well as vegetables and fruits. Remember, when you get to Manzanillo, you can't go any further, there is a high probability that you will be attacked by the fleet. ”

Li Quan asked, "If we can't go any further, how should we go?" Reyes said: "Departing at Manzanillo and heading directly southwest into the ocean, I suspect that it will soon be possible to enter the shipping lanes of the galleon trade." Dear Chinese friends, you must come next year, everyone here is looking forward to you. ”

It's going to make people laugh to death!

The Spaniards here, although they lived in the supply port of the galleon trade, and although they owned a nearby silver mine, they were stupid enough to buy Chinese goods every year. If they want to buy Chinese goods, they have to resell them second-hand through Acapulco merchants. Acapulco merchants, on the other hand, had to obtain a license at a high price to buy goods and sell them everywhere, and coupled with the high exit tax, the retail price was simply deadly.

Li Quan said: "For the sake of my Spanish friends, I will come again next year. ”

Reyes was very caring and continued to help with ideas: "You have smuggled goods this year, and after these goods are sold, they will definitely attract the attention of the governor. When you land here next year, you'd better send someone to Mexico City and pay a private bribe to the Governor with fine and expensive Chinese art. The Governor will help you settle other officials, but those officials will also need to pay bribes. These bribes are tariffs in disguise, and that's what the East Coast does. ”

No wonder the Spanish royal family would go bankrupt and the volume of American smuggling trade has been

By far exceeding the volume of official trade, customs duties were earned by colonial officials.