Outside the port of Tamsui, five Dutch gunboats, cruising on the surface of the sea, did not enter the harbor.This made the businessmen who were originally happy and ready to purchase goods from the Ming Dynasty couldn't help but feel a pang in their hearts.The Dutch couldn't help Donghai Town, but it was more than enough to govern them, and they more or less heard the news of some Dutchmen fighting with Huaxing Company, and they didn't dare to get involved in this struggle rashly.The Dutch and Donghai Town are both overlords of the sea, they fight with each other, it is a fight between the gods, and they can't afford to provoke them at all.Mousse did not let the armed merchant ships into the harbor, and they arrived in small boats to Tamsui City, where they stopped at the arranged hotel.The arrival of Hongmaoyi made the atmosphere suddenly tense, but Zhao Ming had already explained and treated it normally, so that his subordinates did not have to be overly nervous, and almost showed a calm and unhurried bearing.The next morning, just after dawn, breakfast was prepared for the guests in the inn.After five years of development on Taiwan Island, the land is fertile, the output is very large, and the abundant products are abundant, and the people who went to the island to colonize have gained a firm foothold in two years, and it took another two years to pay off the money for ploughing cattle and seeds.The breakfast prepared for business travelers from all over the world is very rich, and Tamsui is a seafaring city, bringing together people from all over the world, so the breakfast has rice noodles and gruel from southern China, noodles, steamed buns, and spicy soup from the north, as well as rice balls from Japan and kimchi from North Korea.Merchants from all over the world had a beautiful breakfast, and their hearts were full of admiration, compared with the Chinese diet, the food in most countries is like pig food.Mousse used chopsticks with difficulty, ate a bowl of pork rice noodles, wiped his mouth, and said to several Dutch businessmen in the same company: "After the expo starts, according to the bid negotiated before, who bids, remember his identity, and when he goes to sea, sink him immediately." ”"Your Excellency, will this cause a war with Donghai Town!"
A businessman worried.Mousse sneered: "The company is not a merchant ship attacking Donghai Town, besides, on the sea, anything can happen, right?"
”A few years ago, after the conflict between the Dutch and Zhao Ming, they lost seven warships, which greatly damaged the strength of the Taiwan branch of the East Indies, but in the past two years, the Dutch transferred seven more warships from Batavia, Malacca, India, and Europe and allocated them to the Taiwan branch, so that the strength of the Dutch gradually recovered and had a certain confidence."
Your Excellency, it's just that if something happens to those merchant ships, it is inevitable that some people will suspect the company!"
Business remains worried.Mousse laughed: "The company is to make them suspicious, to understand that without the nod of our East India Company, no one's ship can sail on the sea."
In this way, those businessmen understood that they had purchased materials and could not transport them back, so they naturally would not buy the goods of Huaxing Company, and Huaxing Company could only give in to us. ”The merchant nodded, and then asked, "What if the Spaniards and Portuguese are bidding?"
”"The Spaniards and the Portuguese will definitely wait for us to bid first, keep the price down for them, and will not bid rashly.The company has already communicated with them, so don't worry!
”Mousse was confident: "At that time, for the cloth, I will give one or two to see who dares to offend our East India Company." ”Several businessmen looked at each other, nodded their heads, and decided.At this time, an official from Tokai Town walked into the lobby of the hotel and informed the merchants who had finished breakfast that the fair was about to begin, so that everyone should not forget the paperwork for admission.Mousse and the others immediately got up and left the hotel with a group of merchants, and the merchants in other inns and inns were also gathering.When a few Dutchmen saw it, they couldn't help but be stunned, it was densely packed with people, and they didn't expect that so many merchants had come.At the foot of the hill by the harbor, 10,000 Ming soldiers stood in muskets and cloth armor to maintain order.The businessmen participating in the exhibition gathered in the square before the venue, while Zhao Ming and others stood on the high platform built and whispered a few words with the people around them."
Guogong, everyone is here!"
Cheng Bi bowed and saluted.Zhao Ming bowed slightly, then stepped forward and said to the gathered merchants: "Everyone, be quiet!
”Waiting for the quiet below, Zhao Ming continued in a loud voice: "In order to facilitate trade, make the goods easy to sell, and make it convenient to buy goods, Donghai Town held an expo in Tamsui Wei, and the goods and orders traded during the expo will be reduced by 30%. ”When many merchants heard this, they were all moved, but at the same time, they were a little worried, the fleets of Spain and Portugal had to avoid the Dutch fleets at sea, not to mention the merchant ships along the coasts of Japan, Ryukyu, Korea, Annam, and Daming.Merchants are very interested in the preferential policies, but they are worried that they have spent money to buy goods, but they will not have the strength to ship them back.At this time, Zhao Ming continued: "Now that the expo has officially begun, every year on December 12 in the future, Donghai Town will hold an expo to facilitate trade. ”Mousse and the others in the crowd had a sneer on their faces, Donghai Town still wanted to hold it once a year, it was really a joke.At this time, a businessman next to him suddenly looked shocked, poked Mousse with his elbow, and said urgently: "Your Excellency, look, there is a fleet sailing into the harbor!"
”Mousse was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly looked towards the bay, and sure enough, he saw a huge fleet of more than 20 seagoing ships on the sea, sailing from the northeast direction, slowly lowering the sails and mooring into the harbor.Among the more than 20 sea ships, there were eight Western gunboats, which made Mousse and the others stunned.In the hands of Donghai Town, there were originally only seven Western warships, but in the battle with the Qing army and Spain, two gunboats were sunk, and only five gunboats remained, and now there are eight, which shows that Donghai Town has mastered the imitation technology of Western warships, which surprised the Dutch.After the Ming army defeated the Qing army's naval division and occupied Fujian, Zhao Ming took the opportunity to recruit a large number of craftsmen who originally served the Zheng family.This made Mousse's face sink, the East India Company originally thought that after mobilizing the ships to the big staff, its strength had approached or surpassed that of Donghai Town, but now it seems that Donghai Town has replaced Zheng Zhilong and will become the overlord of the sea.At this time, the merchants were all shocked when they saw the fleet slowly mooring into the harbor.Zhao Ming smiled and said, "Everyone, this is the fleet of Donghai Town that purchases raw silk from the Wa Kingdom.Here, I would like to tell you that Huaxing Company will set up a China Merchants Shipping Company to engage in maritime transportation business.If you buy too many goods and can't complete the transportation by yourself, you can entrust China Merchants Shipping Company to complete the transportation for you. ”From Tamsui to Japan, thousands of miles away, Tokaizhen's fleet can buy raw silk from Japan and ship it back, so the fleet will have no problem going to Korea, Annam and other places.Listening to Zhao Ming's words, the Dutchman Mousse's face turned pale in an instant, the East India Company obviously sent a fleet to interfere with the fleet of Donghai Town and prevent them from transporting raw silk away from Japan, but they didn't want Donghai Town to send a fleet to meet them, and at this time, return to Taiwan.
(A little late, there's another chapter, to turn the clock) ()