It took a lot of effort for Zhu Wenkui to understand her purpose.

According to Joanna, she quickly got the news after the chaos in the city. However, Joanna believes that her own strength may not be enough, so she hopes to get the support of other big businessmen within the Chamber of Commerce.

However, there is a dispute within the Chamber of Commerce over what exactly should be done.

"My original idea was simple, it was to work together." She told Zhu Wenkui: "Our chamber of commerce has been operating here for many years, can its influence not be as good as those Roth nouveau riche?" Now that they're in trouble, isn't this our chance to come out? ”

"If that's ......" Zhu Wenkui thought for a while and nodded: "Indeed." My family used to buy wood from a Venetian merchant, but the year before last, when I went there, I saw that his shop had been burned down, and the merchant and his men were gone. The people over there said that they had a fight with the Rus, and they didn't fight, and they were driven away. ”

"That's not unexpected." Joanna said: "Not only the Venetians, but also we, the merchants of other city-states, were deliberately squeezed and persecuted by the Rus. Moreover, we may suffer more losses than they do. ”

"Venice is the city-state with the largest share of investment here." After all, Zhu Wenkui often deals with businessmen, and he still has some numbers.

"Their investments are more diversified. The Venetians have been in business for a long time and had many trading points throughout the Roman Empire. However, we came relatively late, and the suitable opportunities were limited, so we concentrated a lot of money in the emerging Rus' - the Dadu trade route. This also led to the fact that, in the course of the provocation of the Rus', we were the one who lost the largest proportion. ”

"There's more." Zhu Wenkui was a little surprised.

"That's right. Originally, the trade routes along the river south of Kiev were controlled by these big merchants, especially the Venetians and Genoese. They imported goods from the Rus' region and sent them by water to the Crimea, to the Black Sea coast, and even to the whole of Europe through the capital. ”

"In the past, this trade was lucrative, but it was also risky. Moreover, there were many lords along the way, and no one was willing to maintain the roads and docks, but they competed to collect toll taxes under various names. If you want to do business well, you have to maintain your own arms there and run a stronghold. ”

"But it's very expensive and only a city like Venice can afford it. And they are even more harsh on us merchants - the local lords often just want more money from the caravan, but they want the caravan to come more often; The Venetians, on the other hand, will attack us directly and want to finish us off. ”

"Peers are the enemies." Zhu Wenkui said with emotion.

"Hey." Joanna shook her head: "Originally, many people thought that the unification of the Black Sea coast and the Rus region would be conducive to trade in the northeast. Because Rome was in charge, the Venetians at least couldn't mess around like they had before. But over the years, the business has become more and more difficult to do. ”

"It's because there's an extra Ross Toast force." Zhu Wenkui probably understood.

"Yes." Joanna said: "The development of the Ross region is a double-edged sword for us. On the one hand, it does lower the threshold for trade and expand the room for operation. ”

"After the trade routes were opened, we increased the channels for purchasing, and we could even go directly to the production area to buy furs and minerals; In the same way, the market where we can sell has expanded a lot. This time and again, there is no need to be blackmailed by various second-class dealers and local snakes, which can bring huge profit margins. In addition, the trade routes are relatively stable, and businessmen who are not so rich in capital and power can also participate, so it is very beneficial for us 'latecomers'. ”

"But on the other hand, these Rus' have also learned." She said: "They were all confused, just at home waiting for people to come to the door, except for the Novgorod merchants, it is rare to see anyone running too far." But after entering this larger system, many people went to Dadu, as if they had opened their minds. The local snake, who would have collected tolls, is now running a caravan in a decent manner, taking advantage of his local power to steal business with us. ”

"The Rus' are also very rough and unreasonable." Joanna shook her head again: "Whenever they have the opportunity, they will be as rough as you encounter, directly against the competition." Let the power of these people swell, and we will all be very uncomfortable. My family's property has also suffered. ”

But Zhu Wenkui listened, but did not show sympathy for her.

"As you said, the Venetians will also be rude to their competitors directly. I believe that this is not uncommon for Italian businessmen, and everyone will do it if they have the opportunity. He said bluntly: "You are doing the same thing as the Rus, right?" ”

"Uh......"

"When I was buying tools, the Greek complained that the Italian businessmen couldn't compete with him, so they bought the chef and tried to poison him. Fortunately, he has a ...... relationship with the chef Unusually, the cook immediately warned him, and he escaped. Zhu Wenkui thought about it for a while, and then thought of an example:

"So you see, it's nothing more than that these Rus people have relatively simple brains, and they always can't cover up bad things. But in fact, they do the same thing as you. Since everyone is black and black, it is nothing more than success and defeat, and there is no one more innocent, right? ”

Joanna didn't expect him to say this, and couldn't come up with a rebuttal for a while.

"Hey, I've been talking too much for a while." Instead, Zhu Wenkui waved his hand and said, "What you mean is to fight poison with poison." ”

"These Italian businessmen are not good people, and they must have a lot of families in their hands." He speculated, "In addition, there must have been operations in those places such as barns and docks." As far as I know, these businessmen have always liked to organize some societies that they can control, so as to win over some people in the industry and suppress others. I don't know if they will be of use, but the Rus' organization is the same, and it is always useful to have a few more people. ”

"But you say they're not happy? Is the benefit not enough? ”

"Not really. Maybe there are too many possible benefits, so it's troublesome. Joanna explained, "I managed to convince them, and most people now think that the Ross gang and their supporters are killing themselves." However, they were too confident again, and quarreled again over the possible distribution of benefits after the fact......"

"I really didn't want to wait, so I came by myself." She spread her hands and said helplessly: "Fortunately, my family also has some strength, I hope it can help." ”

(End of chapter)