But who knew that the wool that was loved by the upper class was unsalable in Batavia, and those Dutch nobles and officials in Batavia, as well as the wealthy merchants, preferred the silk and cotton cloth brought by the open sea, and even the nobles of Banten sent people to Batavia to buy silk and cotton cloth, which made Anderson distressed, knowing that the current East India Company was in urgent need of profit to make up for the losses caused by the war.

"Haha, Anderson, I can only say that the silk fabrics produced by our Su family are better than the wool of your English." A businessman of the Su family laughed out loud, in just a few days, the Su family had already earned more than 5,000 silver yuan in Batavia, which was really a daily gold.

"The wool is a Western product, Batavia is the territory of the Dutch, there is no shortage of Western products, but because of the Qing court's sea ban, Chinese merchant ships have not been to Batavia for a long time, this silk and cotton cloth and other Chinese specialties have naturally become scarce goods, and it is inevitable that the supply exceeds demand." The mayor of Chinatown on the side heard Anderson's complaint and smiled at Anderson.

"Anderson, if the English merchants of Laoag are really willing to do business, they can go north to Guangzhou with the open sea, and the nobles of the Qing Dynasty are very fond of these Western gadgets, and they will be slaughtered when the time comes." The Su family merchant spoke.

"Yes, for you Chinese, this wool is as scarce as silk in the eyes of us Westerners, just as the so-called strange goods can live, presumably the dignitaries and nobles in Chinese mainland will definitely fall in love with these woollen wool." Anderson was not discouraged, and nodded after hearing this.

This time, with the help of local Chinese merchants, most of the goods carried by the six merchant ships that came to Laoag were sold, and the open sea also earned a lot of silver taels.

Zhao Tianming, the owner of the offshore ship, was not satisfied with this, and after obtaining the permission of the governor, Zhao Tianming directly paid a sum of money to buy a piece of land on the outskirts of Batavia.

"Why, you're going to farm in Batavia." Zeng Qilu was very puzzled by Zhao Tianming's actions, so he asked.

"Yes." Zhao Tianming smiled and nodded.

"But instead of rice and sweet potatoes, we grow sugar cane." Zhao Tianming pointed to the land in the distance and the Dutch plantations.

"Sugar cane." Zeng Qilu suddenly realized.

"It is very convenient for this Batavia to reach Malacca soon after the sea, and it is very convenient to go to Banten, the East Indies, etc., and it is indeed much more convenient to grow sugar here and produce cane sugar than to plant and process it in Luzon and then transport it to the South Seas." Zeng Qilu agreed with Zhao Tianming's idea very much.

In fact, successive Dutch governors have always had the idea of growing sugar cane in the suburbs of Batavia, where there are also some small sugar cane plantations.

However, because there were not too many slaves and merchants, the scale was not large, after all, such a large plantation and the processing of sugar had to be transported out of the port of Batavia to various places, which was very troublesome.

In the past, when the city of Batavia had just been built, and the Dutch merchants lived and traded in the city, and no one cared about planting anything on the land, the governor intended to build a plantation, and this was the result of this large vacant land.

Zeng Qilu pointed to a large area of land in the distance and said.

"Cane sugar is a good thing, not cheaper than spices, in fact, the governor of Combrook is also very happy to hand over the cultivation of sugar cane to the Chinese merchants, in fact, there are more than a dozen sugar cane plantations and sugar factories over there are all in charge of the Chinese merchants, if you can, you can go to those Chinese merchants to learn from them."

"If I can, I plan to buy all the dozen or so plantations directly, and silver is not a problem." Zhao Tianming said with a smile.

"What's the matter, Brother Zhao is rich enough to rival the country?" Zeng Qilu quipped.

"Sihai is a chamber of commerce, and the affairs decided by the chamber of commerce must be done with all its money." Zhao Tianming said.

"Hearing you say this, the old man is a little moved, so how about I also contribute 5,000 taels." Zeng Qilu stretched out five fingers and said.

"Haha, the dignified Batavia Kapitan only paid five thousand taels of silver." Zhao Tianming laughed and walked towards the plantation in the distance.

"Eight thousand taels, no more." Zeng Qilu also followed with a smile. valley

"How long are you going to stay in Batavia?" Walking on the trail, seeing that there was no one around, Zeng Qilu said slowly.

"When all six merchant ships are sold out, we will return to Laoag." Zhao Tianming said.

"Then you have to be careful." Zeng Qilu saw that there was no one around, and said softly.

"This season is full of piracy, and many merchant ships have been plundered, so you must be more careful when you go back this time." Zeng Qilu reminded.

"Oh, pirates are rife." Zhao Tianming frowned.

It is inevitable to encounter pirates when going to sea to trade, and it is not uncommon for merchant fleets to trade in the South Seas to encounter pirates.

It's just that since the Ming court occupied the northern part of Luzon Island, the Ming army sailors swept away the pirates along the coast with a thunderous force, so that the Chinese merchants in Luzon could go to sea with peace of mind.

And out of the open sea, the merchant ships from all over the world also have artillery carried by the ships and the mercenary musket team retired from the Ming army, so Zhao Tianming didn't care about the ordinary pirates in the South Seas, but what he didn't expect was that there were pirates near the waters of Batavia.

You must know that if there were more than ten ships of pirate forces in the vicinity of Luzon Island for more than ten nautical miles, the Ming army would have been wiped out long ago.

"Does this Dutch governor of Batavia care?" Zhao Tianming asked suspiciously.

This time, Zeng Qilu didn't respond, just shook his head.

"Ship Master Zhao, this time our merchant fleet has gained a lot, the goods of the six merchant ships have been sold, and at the same time, we have recruited more than 20 craftsmen with rich experience in Batavia, and now the fleet can leave the port at any time." A merchant ship owner said.

During these days, the Far Seas not only sold goods from Luzon to Batavia, but they also recruited all kinds of artisans in Batavia.

For example, gun designers, craftsmen who cast iron armor, glaziers, coppersmiths, etc.

However, because many craftsmen who had mastered the core technology, such as gun designers and watchmakers, were under the supervision of Dutch officials, it was difficult for the merchants to dig into the wall, and only more than 20 people were recruited during this period.

"Well, it's time for me to return to Raag later." Zhao Tianming nodded, after all, he had to send the news of the Governor of Batavia agreeing to trade and the reply of the Governor of Cambridehouse to the Ming Court back to Luzon in time.

"Brother Zeng, these days I still bother you to take care of the far-sea merchants in the city." Port, Zeng Qilu who saw off Zhao Tianming Dynasty.

Since he had purchased a large piece of land in Batavia to grow sugarcane, Zhao Tianming naturally left some businessmen to take care of it and go through the relevant procedures.

Now that the governor of Batavia has allowed merchants from all over the world to live and settle in Batavia, the merchants from far seas have naturally purchased a lot of real estate and houses, and their generosity has made the Dutch nobles in the city look at it.

Zeng Qilu also set aside a vacant land for the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce in the Chinese Commercial City, planning to directly establish a commercial hall for the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce on this vacant land.

To this end, Zeng Qilu also specially found more than 300 laborers to prepare to start construction.