Liu Shimin quickly calculated in his heart, judging from the report from the household department to the cabinet and the celebrant supervisor, the Portuguese in Macao shipped 2,000 quintals of raw silk and colored silk out of the port last year, and the silk goods that he easily brought to the port this time were 200 quintals, not to mention the high-grade silk brocade and embroidery that ordinary merchants did not have in their hands and could only be obtained by the weaving bureau.

Such a large ship of silk goods and fabrics, if the public seller leaves the port smoothly and the cost is removed, how can there be a profit of 50,000 or 60,000 taels of silver.

But this will not be all in the emperor's bowl, according to the promise made to his predecessors during the secret conversation in the ancient temple of Songjiang, he Lao Liu will at least pay 20,000 taels and try to send it to his own team.

Giving up one or two at the selling price is to add a point of difficulty to your own dark account.

No, you can't give an inch.

Liu Shimin then beckoned to Ma Xianglin: "General Ma, accompany our family to have a cup of tea, and let Azhu talk to them." ”

He turned his head and threw Zheng Haizhu a simple eight words: "You can talk about it as much as you want." ”

The Dutchman Gullit's gaze followed the nobles and generals of the Ming Dynasty, and when he saw them sitting at the stone table under the banyan tree, the servants began to pour tea and offer it.

"Ma'am, your boss, is he angry?"

Gullit's hypocritical politeness was accompanied by a hint of even more false trepidation.

Zheng Haizhu laughed, and said in an affirmative tone: "Sir, of course we are going to be angry, we Ming people like to deal with honest businessmen the most, and you deceive us like fools." ”

"Huh? What do you mean by that? ”

Goullit continued to pretend to be a pig and a tiger, drawing a cross on his chest: "We who believe in God are the most honest." ”

Zheng Haizhu took the tobacco bag from his hand and pointed to the red clothes of the bishop with poor embroidery skills: "This dye, I guess, is very strange, not from plants, nor from minerals, but from a kind of insect, right?" ”

Gullit's blue eyes widened a little, and then he put on an expression of not admitting or denying it, and said, "Thank God for the mercy of God for giving the world so many beautiful dyes. ”

Zheng Haizhu thought to herself, this is really textbook diplomatic rhetoric, and the essence is to avoid answering.

She then stared straight at Gurit and said, "From where we are standing to the east, there is a land as vast as our Ming Dynasty. The Frankians discovered it many years ago by boat and took possession of a lot of land. One of them, called mexico, Mexico, has thorny plants and many small insects growing on them. ”

Zheng Haizhu is talking about the cochineal found after the Spanish colonized Mexico.

Before the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europeans could only grind bone snail snails into powder and dye them purple-red. To obtain bright red fabrics, they had to import them from China via the land and maritime Silk Roads.

But when Columbus's fleet found the American continent, the Spaniards flocked to mine not only gold and silver, but also the Mesoamerican industry dyed with cochineal from cacti. The colonists drove the Indians to raise cochinealal, then scraped off the heads and limbs of the worms, squeezed their stomachs, mixed the pulp and alum in the sun, dried them into small balls, and shipped them back to Spain as dye to sell to European merchants.

When Yaxing's interpreter translated Zheng Haizhu's words to Gullit, especially when he parroted the name "Mexico", the pretense of composure on the faces of Gurlitt and his Dutch companions was finally replaced by surprise and embarrassment.

Zheng Haizhu threw out the last few sentences that broke the truth: "You can indeed get such a dye, but you can't get it from the land of the Netherlands, and you can't get it from Mexico, which is occupied by the Francis, you can only ask the Frankies to buy it, well, but you have just fought with the Franky, then you can only ask the Venetians who ask for a higher price to buy it." ”

"Uh......"

Gullit stroked his red beard, pinched his big nose again, and smiled.

The merchant didn't take face seriously, so Gullitt didn't show any anger when he was offended.

Who told this Chinese lady to tell the truth?

It is true that the Netherlands were ruled by the Spaniards, and after the falling out, the transaction with the Spanish had to go through a third party, and the cost increased a lot. Otherwise, Governor Cohen swore that he would seize as many Spanish colonies overseas as possible!

Gullit just didn't expect that the experience of dealing with Ming people in Macau last year would not work.

It turns out that the officials and subordinates of this empire are not all frogs at the bottom of the well, and the eunuchs and women who fight with them today seem to be very familiar with things outside the borders and are very difficult to deceive.

Over there, Zheng Haizhu turned around and beckoned Fan Poyu and himself to move the hanger with the baroque skirt hanging over, and then made a kind look of "buying and selling", and smiled at Gullit.

"Sir, our field is the rule of a fixed price, whether it is silk or cotton, no bargaining.

It doesn't matter, I always open the door open, and Yuegang welcomes you.

In this way, everyone's time is very valuable, why don't you go to other docks in the county to have a look, and we, also invite other overseas friends to come and see the goods. ”

As soon as the interpreter translated Zheng Haizhu's gentle but resolute eviction order, Gullitt laughed aloud a few times.

He first set up his own steps, and gave a thumbs up to Gonggong Liu, who was leisurely drinking tea, in an exaggerated manner, and then tilted his head and motioned to a few entourage merchants to go to a corner of the courtyard to discuss.

After a short time, Gullit turned back and walked up to Gonggong Liu.

"Honorable lord, we accept the price of raw silk and colored silk, and if the rich and comfortable silk and cloth are counted, we will also take them with us. But we also kindly ask you to give us some convenience, because there are so many cargoes, can you allow our sailing ship to come in and ship in the harbor to load and unload the goods directly. ”

Zheng Haizhu heard what the Dutch said and began to settle accounts in her heart.

At present, according to the decree of the imperial court, the seven major wharves at the intersection of the river and the sea in Yuegang are absolutely forbidden to berth the galleons of the merchants, and the merchant ships of more than 40 countries, including the Franky, must be berthed on the nearby islands, and the goods they buy must be transported by the Ming Dynasty's shuttle ships.

In the past two days, Zheng Haizhu was busy and went to various wharves to feel the freight market, and estimated that if the Dutch wrapped this batch of goods from the Circular Weaving Bureau, the ferry freight would be 1,000 taels of silver. If you can drive your own sailboat in, you will save this cost.

Zheng Haizhu recalled that in modern China's coastal ports, there was no prohibition on foreign ships.

In fact, as long as a sovereign country does a good job of military coastal defense and facilitates cross-border trade procedures, there is nothing wrong with it.

Sure enough, after listening to the Dutchman's request, Liu Gonggong did not show the meaning of "this matter is completely impossible", but whispered a few words to Ma Xianglin.

Ma Xianglin nodded, got up and left the official post.

The Dutch felt that most of them were playful, and their demeanor was a little relaxed. Their attention was quickly drawn to the baroque dress.

Zheng Haizhu lost no time in ordering Fan Poyu to take out the men's collar as well.

"Gentlemen, to tell you the truth, the embroidery of these garments on your body is so comical, and the material is as hard as donkey skin, is it the homespun cloth of the Hunni, Manrakar and the old port? It's a lot worse than our Ming Dynasty's wide cloth, let alone compared to this Songjiang muslin cloth. ”

Gullitt put on the big collar with great interest, and went around the stage with a playful spirit, with "Brother handsome no" written all over his face.

I also have to admit in my heart that the people of the Eastern Empire are indeed taken care of by God, rich in products, and skillful.

Zheng Haizhu took the opportunity to pick up the silk and cotton blended face towel, handed it to Gullit, and said with a smile: "All textiles that come into contact with the skin should make people feel happy. Mr. wipes sweat with this part with a fluff ring, which is very comfortable. And the color scheme is very similar to your kind of painting made with oil, right? ”

"Ma'am, how much does this shirt collar and skirt, and these handkerchiefs? Oh God, we're afraid we don't have enough money to bring. ”

Gullitt began to show pompous and useless acting skills again.

Zheng Haizhu took off the dress and handed it to Gullit, and her tone returned to a cold and crisp tone: "Sir, the face towel mixed with silk and cotton was set by the imperial court, and three taels of silver a piece can't be given for a penny." But dresses and shirt collars, we can give you. You can't possibly customize it better anywhere else, so if you need to buy in bulk, please come to us. In addition, I would like to exchange one thing with you. ”

A moment later, Fan Poyu followed Zheng Haizhu's instructions and took a folding fan from their room.

Zheng Haizhu opened it with a "snap" and showed it to the Dutch.

I saw that the silk fan surface was snow-white and delicate, and the top of the fan bone also changed the simplicity of the Chinese fan, but was decorated with a hollow pattern, such as lace-like curled edges.

What fascinates the Dutch the most is that on the fan surface, there are seven or eight oriental beauties embroidered on the ground.

Gullit, who has been trading at sea for nearly ten years, can recognize that some of the beauties wear 12 orders from Toei Japan, some wear sari full of raka, and some wear Daming skirts and shawls that look like a colorful cloud.

These oriental beauties, embroidered with the unique style of birds and birds, fell second, what really made the man Gullit feel new was that their beautiful facial features were filled with a kind of free and rejuvenated demeanor, which had nothing to do with solemn and sacred, charming and charming, well-behaved and pure, heroic and powerful, etc., but as if in front of the viewer staring at them, Shi Shiran unloaded the chains and rose into the air.

Gullitt estimated that there must be nearly 100 colors of silk thread to embroider such a beautiful fan.

However, Gullit, who had seen Cantonese embroidery at the Macau Pier, was keenly aware that the style of this embroidery was very different, not full of flowers, but between the beauties, leaving a lot of blank space, embroidered with black silk thread with a few oriental characters.

"Oh my God, this work of art is so beautiful! Ma'am, what are you going to trade it for me? It won't be my life, will it? ”

Gullitt stared at him for a long time before asking Zheng Haizhu in a tone of voice.

Zheng Haizhu pointed to Gullit's waist: "I want to change you for this." ”