Nagasaki Office.

The night wind blew the lanterns under the porch, swaying non-stop, just like Zheng Tai's mood at this time.

As the head of the Zheng family in Nagasaki, it is not only in the interests of the Zheng family to clean up the trade competitor of the Oriental Trading Company, but also in his own interests, but now, the eldest prince Zheng Sen is in the hands of Li Zhaoji, and all the previous arrangements must be changed.

"This season, Nagasaki is really stormy." Baba Toshishige, who is the leader of Nagasaki, said with a smile and a pair of chopsticks in his hand.

Delicious fish porridge, fresh boiled eggs and freshly fried tuna all make him have endless aftertastes, but the horse farm Lizhong, who is not from a high background, still likes tofu mussel soup, and he is in a good mood at this time.

Of course, Baba Toshishige is not entirely for himself, what he does is good for the whole of Japan, and it is this that makes him act unscrupulously.

Just now, Zheng Tai asked for the changes brought about by the arrival of the Hongyan to the Nagasaki Office, and the horse farm Toshige took the opportunity to propose that the Zheng family send 2,000 quintals of raw silk next year before the price of silk fabrics in April to lower the price of life and death next year, which made Zheng Tai hesitate.

Therefore, the horse farm is profitable, enjoying the food, and waiting for Zheng Tai's reply.

"What kind of person is Li Zhaoji, Zheng Tai, I have never heard of him, but a person who can rise to the point that your Zheng family is afraid of within a year must be a hero, and heroes have some common qualities, such as shamelessness, such as ruthlessness." Baba Toshishige said seemingly unrelated words, but in fact, he was reminding Jung Tae that Jung Sen was very dangerous with Lee Siu Ki.

Zheng Tai's face was colder than the stone slab outside, but he didn't dare to take Zheng Sen to take the risk, so he could only cooperate.

"I can grant your request and follow your wishes, but I need more cooperation from you." Zheng Tai said in a low voice.

Baba Toshishige put down his chopsticks and said, "As long as you agree, there is nothing I will not cooperate." ”

Zheng Tai said: "When Li Zhaoji is caught, the first thing is to blackmail his subordinates to send the eldest prince." ”

"Of course, that's important." Baba Toshige also knows the significance of Zheng Sen to the Zheng family, not to mention that the mother family of this Zheng family son is still a noble person of the Hirado Domain.

Zheng Tai said again: "Then at that time, Guo Xu and Shi Lang, who delivered the letter, will be handed over to me to deal with." ”

When Ma Chang Li heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then understood Zheng Tai's intentions.

If from Zheng Zhilong's point of view, Zheng Sen fell into the hands of Li Zhaoji, then the focus of this matter is not against the Oriental Trading Company, but on rescuing the heirs of the Zheng family. Then Zheng Tai should take the initiative to contact Lee Siu Ki to see how he is willing to release Zheng Sen.

Obviously, Zheng Tai's arrangement is to put Zheng Sen's safety behind completing the task and protecting vested interests. If Zheng Zhilong knows about it, Zheng Tai will inevitably be punished, and Zheng Tai also knows how to avoid this, that is, to execute all the insiders, whether it is Guo Xu or Shi Lang.

Baba Toshishige said: "Lord Zheng Tai, you also have the potential to become a hero." ”

Zheng Tai didn't want to talk nonsense with him, and directly stated his plan, he wanted to trick Lee Zhaoji to Nagasaki in the name of pursuing the horse farm in Nagasaki.

The next day, in the presence of Chen Si'an and Guo Xu, the people of the Nagasaki office came to the warehouse and picked up a lot of exquisite goods at a fairly low price, including snow-white raw silk and white sugar, and those nitrated deerskins were also the king's favorite.

In fact, there are not many goods on the ship, mainly samples, but no one expected that the Nagasaki commission would be so shameless, Chen Si'an couldn't help it in the warehouse, and said to He Ren Youemon: "The price they give is too low, if this is the case, how can we sell those goods in the open sea to Nagasaki?" ”

Ho Ren Emon said, "Shopkeeper Chen, this is the rule, as for your appeal, I think you can explain it to the Lord in person." ”

"Do you want to see me?" Chen Si'an couldn't believe it, after all, he had already learned that ordinary Tang ship merchants could not see such a high-ranking official in Nagasaki.

He Ren Youemon nodded: "Yes, it's about raw silk." ”

"Oh yes, that's exactly what I'm responsible for." Chen Si'an became excited.

Li Zhaoji guessed in advance that the Zheng family might be unfavorable to him in Nagasaki, so he forced Zheng Sen to move with the fleet, even if he guessed, he still came to trade, because he was somewhat sure, and his grasp came from raw silk and his understanding of the Nagasaki of the horse farm.

From He Bin's mouth, Li Zhaoji knew that the Zheng family manipulated the price of raw silk in Japan by bringing less raw silk in the spring, and also knew that Baba Toshishige was loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, and Li Zhaoji believed that if he could directly cooperate with Baba Toshishige to reduce the price of raw silk to gain his trust and support, then the trading company's trade in Nagasaki could also be expanded.

After all, this is Nagasaki, not Fujian, and no matter how powerful the Zheng family is, they can't cover the sky with one hand.

At the Nagasaki Office, Chen Si'an met with Baba Toshige, where he and several officials were inspecting the cargo carried by the Hongyan, several of which were unknown to experienced officials.

"This is healing holy water, but if the body is injured, you can take the holy water to reduce the probability of infection, which is quite useful in the battle array."

"This is MSG, the source of taste, and when added to dishes, it is even more delicious."

Chen Si'an introduced all kinds of novelties produced by the trading company to the Japanese officials, and Chen Si'an was happy to see these things brought, anyway, they were just some samples, and he was also responsible for selling.

"Your goods are very good, especially raw silk, I can't imagine that the raw silk in the south is only slightly inferior to that in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is the same as the one produced in Fujian." The horse farm is very satisfied with the goods.

Chen Si'an nodded and said, "Yes, Lord Pursuer, we have put a lot of thought into preparing for this trade. ”

"I've read your wind story and the information you submitted, and your fleet is from freshwater, right?" And as far as I know, Tamsui is not the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so you are not a Tang ship.

You are equivalent to pretending to be a Tang ship to trade in Nagasaki, and this is a very serious problem. ”

Chen Si'an immediately said: "This is a misunderstanding, my lord, Tamsui is a new land, and the people in my fleet are also Ming people, we are indeed Tang ships, this is not fake, if it is not a Tang ship, how can we get these Ming goods?" ”

Ma Chang Li thought about it again: "You do have some truth in saying this, but whether it is so, you have to see it with your own eyes." The lord of the Fukue domain of our country sent a letter to Wenshi, saying that there are several large ships anchored in the territory, and they are the ships of your trading company. ”

"Exactly, the big ships of the trading company are all foreign ships, so in order not to disturb your country, they did not rush to the port." Chen Si'an hurriedly explained.

Baba Toshishige said: "Since it has been reported, it is okay to call at the port, and the official is also about to see if you are a Tang ship." ”

Chen Si'an said: "But now that the price of goods is set, the profits are really meager, and the shopkeeper of my trading company may give up trade." ”

"In your trading company's fleet, how much raw silk is there?" Baba asked again.

Chen Si'an said: "There are more than 4,000 quintals in the fleet, and our trading company can supply raw silk in Guangdong Province, and the trading company can supply as much as the adults want, and the price is cheaper than that of Fujian and Jiangnan raw silk." ”

Machang Li Zhong laughed: "This is a great good, the Zheng family monopolizes the raw silk trade, the price of silk increases every year, this year's silk price, a load of high-grade silk is more than three hundred and forty taels, it is really too high." The raw silk supplied by the red hair was too small to be affected, and the same was true for the rest of the Tang ships.

The raw silk in your fleet, I would like to purchase it for two hundred and eighty taels on behalf of the silk cutting Fu Zhongma, what do you think? ”

Chen Si'an tried to maintain a difficult look, but his heart was greatly frightened, this time the Pearl River Estuary pirates, the price of silk in Guangzhou fell, the lowest time of the best spring silk, only less than ninety taels and one quintal, although later the Oriental trading company and the major gentry had to buy, the price rose, but the highest price was only one hundred and fifty taels.

It can be said that this is double the profit, but as a businessman, even so, he Chen Si'an has to bargain well.

"The price of the lord is lower, but it's not negotiable, but it's not up to the decision." Chen Si'an said.

Baba nodded: "It's also true, you can't be in charge, so when a decision-maker comes to Nagasaki." Shopkeeper Chen, come on, I'll talk to you. ”

Chen Si'an followed the racecourse and left, but it didn't feel right, because Guo Xu, who was following behind him, was blocked.

"Shopkeeper Chen, go, I'll wait here." Guo Xu said to Chen Si'an.

Ma Chang Lizhong took Chen Si'an into the side hall, he sat cross-legged and said to Chen Si'an, who was kneeling in front of him: "Shopkeeper Chen, this official has found out that in your fleet, those from Guangzhou are Tang Ship Tang people, and Dongfang Trading Company is not Tang people, so there is no Tang ship." ”

"It's ......." Chen Si'an didn't know how to answer.

Ma Chang Li raised his hand to stop his answer: "You don't need to say much, I just ask you, the berthing ship on Fujiang Island can have a Tang ship belonging to Guangdong." ”

Chen Si'an shook his head slightly and said, "Those are all ships of the Oriental Trading Company, all of them are foreign ships, some of them are captured from England, and some of them are made by the trading company itself. ”

"This official is puzzled, why don't you Guangdong businessman come to Nagasaki from shipbuilding, why do you borrow the ship of the Oriental Trading Company?" Baba asked again.

Chen Si'an sighed, his voice full of helplessness to explain.

"If you want to come to Nagasaki to trade, you must go through the Min Sea controlled by the Zheng family, except for the Dutch red hair with strong ships and guns, the rest of the people must buy water flags from the Zheng family, but the Zheng family does not sell them for money. Therefore, when you come to trade with Japan, you have to take risks, and you don't have to go down to the South Seas.

Therefore, Guangdong businessmen go to the South Seas more often and come to the East less. Chen Si'an said.

Ma Chang Li nodded: "If you have a foreign ship like the Oriental Trading Company, can you come?" ”

Chen Si'an immediately said: "It is very likely that although the fleet of the Oriental Trading Company also bought the Zheng Jiaxing Water Order Flag, it also relied on its strength to run rampant. The foreign ships of the trading company are strong and sharp, and the speed is extremely fast, and the sailors of the Zheng family can catch up with it, not their opponents, but their opponents, and the speed is not as high. ”

Chen Si'an had never thought about this, and the more he talked about it, the more excited he became, and he suddenly felt that something was wrong, and asked, "What does Lord Feng mean by asking this?" ”

Maba Li nodded: "The price of Nagasaki silk is higher than a year, and the Zheng family is doing ghosts." The Oriental Trading Company came to the voyage this time, bringing a large amount of raw silk, and the official was very pleased. But this official also heard that the Li family of the Oriental Trading Company was not in harmony with the Zheng family and the Dutch red hair, and he was afraid that he would not see him in the coming year, so he asked the merchants of Guangdong Province if they could fill this role.

So that the shopkeeper Chen knew that there was a message from Edo, asking the official to find a suitable owner of the Tang ship, and to book raw silk and high-quality silk, and the annual price could be set at 280 taels, 1,500 quintals per year, for five consecutive years.

After you return to the fleet, inform the shopkeeper Li and ask him to come to discuss in person, this matter is not good for the Zheng family, you don't have to tell too many people, remember. ”

Chen Si'an nodded again and again, coping with it, but other thoughts rose in his heart, and as soon as this thought appeared, it was like a spark burning the prairie and out of control.