The city of Malacca runs northwest and southeast, almost parallel to the Malacca waterway, and is only more than ten miles away from the waterway.
Zhu Youjian and Wang Mujiu were dressed in grey gowns and looked like businessmen, but the five guards were in short dresses. They were both their entourages and their guards. Fu Xiaojian had to pretend to be common people when worshiping Sanbao. Did not show up.
Entering the city from the Nancheng Gate, Zhu Youjian went to the city to take a look. The wall made of bluestone was more than one foot thick. It was a wall built by the Portuguese. After the Ming army entered the city, he added it to the city. There was an earth wall, half a foot thick, and the current city of Malacca could be regarded as a strong city.
Inward from the Nancheng Gate, there is a wide, flat avenue, which is four or five feet wide. The avenue is almost perpendicular to the southern city wall. At the entrance of the city gate, Zhu Youjian saw a stone signpost that read: On Nanmen Street, the handwriting on the road signs is brand new and clear, and it has obviously not been erected for a long time.
There are many commercial halls on both sides of the street, along Nanmen Avenue northbound, every ten feet, there will be a horizontal street on both sides, similar to the second street.
Zhu Youjian found that the buildings on Nanmen Street are basically bluestone domed houses, with a typical European style, covering a large area and spacious halls. There are also some domed shops on the Second Street, but most of them are ordinary. The two-story small wooden buildings and tiled houses are just Han Chinese shops.
"It seems that when the Portuguese occupied Malacca, the nearest pier outside the South Gate and the best place to occupy the street were all occupied by the Portuguese. The Han people had no choice but to take the second place. The shops were almost all on the corners of the Second Street."
"Master, aren't the Portuguese being driven away now? Are these bucket houses returned to the Han?" Wang Mujiu had never seen this dome house, and felt that the roof was similar to a bucket.
"Go, let's go in and take a look!" Zhu Youjian took the lead and entered a European style shop called "Mingzhou Silk" on the street.
Seeing so many customers came in, Xiao Er thought it was a big customer and greeted them enthusiastically, "Does the guest officer want to see silk? Our shop is all excellent Cantonese embroidery!"
"Cantonese embroidery?" Zhu Youjian thought of the four famous embroidery. Cantonese embroidery is inferior to Suzhou embroidery, but Guangdong occupies a geographical advantage. Guangdong embroidery is far more marketed overseas than Suzhou embroidery, so it is much more famous. Are they all Cantonese embroidery?"
"Yes, yes, all of our store is Cantonese embroidery," Xiao Er had peeped a long time ago, knowing that Zhu Youjian and Wang Mujiu were the leaders of this group. "Guest, our shop is all authentic Cantonese embroidery. Should the guest officer take a look?"
"Let's take a look," Zhu Youjian looked through a few pieces of silk under the guidance of Xiao Er. The surface of the silk was mostly aviary. "The pattern is full, complicated and not messy, the color is bright, and the silk surface is flat."
"The guest officer has good eyesight!" Xiao Er stretched out his thumb to Zhu Youjian, with a flattering smile on his face: "The villain said that this shop sells authentic Cantonese embroidery."
"Authentic is authentic," Zhu Youzhen smiled, "However, it's not top grade."
"Guest..." The smile on Xiao Er's face instantly froze. He glanced at the outside of the shop, but there were no other guests at the door, so it was difficult to leave.
"The design is similar in shape, but the workmanship is not fine enough. The embroidery needles used are too thick and can only be viewed from a distance, not close." Zhu Youjian turned over the silk and displayed it in front of Xiao Er, "Xiao Er, these are all single-sided. Compared with double-sided embroidery, embroidery not only greatly simplifies the workmanship, but also the method of embroidery, hey..."
When the little second love meets an expert, he has to change the subject: "The guest official is also in the silk business?"
"No, we are passing by Malacca. Let's take a look at if there are any good silks." Zhu Youjian put down the silks casually, "Xiao Er, how much is this silk?"
"The same money, the same goods, the guest officer, our silk is cheap," Xiao Er suddenly came to the spirit, he stretched out two fingers, "each silk only costs two taels of silver!"
"Two and two?" Wang Mujiu wanted to throw these silks and satin on the ground, and stepped on a few feet, "Are you doing business or robbery?"
Zhu Youjian worried that Wang Mujiu had missed the bottom line, "People are businessmen, so they naturally have to make money."
"Yes, yes, it is the guest officer who understands our difficulties." Xiao Er only regarded Zhu Youjian as a customer. "This guest officer, the villain is far away from home. He always has to make some business trips so that he can return to his hometown in the future. ."
"Little Er, it's right to earn some travel." Zhu Youjian remembered the scene in Suzhou. The authentic Su embroidery was less than a tael per piece. "But, the price is probably doubled, right? "
"This..." Xiao Er was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses, "This guest officer, in Malacca, Cantonese embroidery is of course more expensive than Cantonese. It is expensive to transport it over such a long distance..."
"Or, I will bring you some embroidery?" Zhu Youzhen laughed, "Little Er, at what price will you buy it?"
"Acquisition?" Xiaoer froze for a while, but Zhu Youjian's laughter regained his sanity, "The guest officer originally wanted to sell embroidery? Hearing the accent of the guest officer, he is from Beijing. No famous embroidery is produced near the capital!"
"It is true that the capitalist does not produce famous embroidery, but I have seen Su embroidery, Hunan embroidery, and Guangdong embroidery a lot. The rare Shu embroidery is not unusual in my eyes," Zhu Youzhen turned through the pile of silk again. There is indeed no good product. "Xiao Er, I have a friend who is in the embroidery business. Ask me to help him find out the way. Or I will sell you some, and I will pay the freight, as long as you give me a reasonable price."
"This... the guest officer, the villain is only responsible for the sale," Xiao Er didn't know the depth of Zhu Youjian, and quickly pushed away: "If the guest officer has silk for sale, he must talk to our proprietor... But the proprietor is not in hell at this time. Liujia."
"Haha, it doesn't matter, if I have time, I will visit your proprietor." Zhu Youjian naturally knows what Xiao Er is worried about.
"Guest... To tell the truth," Xiao Er's eyes rolled quickly, "After all, there are very few people who know goods in Malacca, and it is rare for Westerners to see top grades, so... So, if the quality is too good, you won’t be able to buy them. Good price—I wonder what kind of silk the guest officer has?"
"Well, I still have a chance to meet your proprietor, let's talk about it, anyway you can't be the master." Zhu Youjian waved to Xiaoer and swaggered out of the hall with Wang Mujiu and others.
"Master, this'Mingzhou silk' is a pitfall, right? This kind of quality silk actually has such a price, which is several times higher than that of the inland areas of Daming." Wang Mujiu said, looking back at the back. At the shop, seeing Xiao Er looking at the door spookyly, he felt even more angry.
"Mujiu, Cantonese embroidery was shipped from the inland of Daming to Nanyang, and the price naturally rose." Zhu Youjian patted Wang Mujiu on the back. "Mujiu, this is the profit of marine merchants. Compared with mainland merchants, it is afraid that it will be higher. Several times."
Wang Mujiu didn't understand Zhu Youjian's overtones, "Master, do you allow them to operate so blatantly?"
Zhu Youjian pretended not to understand Wang Mujiu's meaning, "Allow? What does Mujiu mean? When people come to Nanyang to do business, as long as they don't evade taxes and violate Da Ming's laws, can the Lord seal up his shop?"
"Master, say so, but the merchant is so profitable..."
"Mu Jiu, without these maritime merchants, how can goods produced in the mainland of Daming, such as these exquisite silks, be bought at such a price?" Zhu Youjian laughed, not caring about the merchant's huge profits, "Mu Jiu probably doesn't know yet. Right? Once these ordinary silks enter the Western market, the price per horse is probably not less than 20 taels."
"Twenty taels?" Wang Mujiu was stunned. He even forgot to move his footsteps. The expression on his face was frozen, as if he was performing a pantomime.
"Mujiu, Nanyang and Xiyang are very far away from the mainland of Daming. The storm is high and the waves are high, and there are pirates in the middle. The risk is also very high. If there is no such high profit, who will be engaged in overseas trade? "
Wang Mujiu was still not convinced. He took two steps to catch up with Zhu Youjian, "But... Lord, if the businessman accumulates these huge profits, he will become richer than the enemy's country within three generations. For the country, that is not a good thing."
"Don't worry about Mu Jiu, the profits of maritime businesses are high, but long-distance transportation also costs a lot." To build a merchant culture, Zhu Youjian must protect the legal rights of merchants, and increase the strength of merchants can improve their lives. The right to speak in China, "In addition, marine merchants have high profits, but the tax will be heavier. The tax rate reaches five taxes and one tax, which is twice as high as that of ordinary merchants. In other words, the higher the income of marine merchants, The more taxes will be paid to the court."
As long as maritime merchants do not evade taxes, this will be a win-win situation for merchants and the court.
As for the future economic strength of maritime merchants to a certain extent, they may appeal for political benefits. This is exactly what Zhu Youcan cannot ask for.
"Oh..." Wang Mujiu doesn't understand these complicated economic issues, but he understands one thing: the higher the profits of maritime merchants, the more taxes the court will have. "Master, such merchants are not rare, right?"
"Yeah!" Zhu Youjian snorted. Before the South China Sea Fleet came to Nanyang, these maritime merchants paid taxes to Westerners. Now Daming basically controls the South China Sea, and he has received the taxes paid by these maritime merchants in vain. Compared with the province’s investment, the imperial court should make a steady profit without losing money. “Mu Jiu, don’t worry about merchants accumulating wealth. Lord plans to build an inland goods gathering place in Nanyang to sell Daming goods to Westerners.”
"Lord?" Where did Wang Mujiu understand Zhu Youjian's mind, and he could only stare at Zhu Youjian's side.
"Mujiu, if all the goods sold by Daming are concentrated in a certain area in Nanyang, Westerners will not covet the vast world of Daming. Even other areas in Nanyang will lose their attraction to them."
"Master, Daming is rich in products. These goods are gathered in one place. I'm afraid it will not be easy, right?"
"Mu Jiu is right. Daming has too rich products. If you concentrate in one place, if you are afraid that it is unrealistic, then set up two or three trading areas in Nanyang to trade with Westerners." Zhu Youjian hopes to treat Nanyang as The transit point of Daming goods between Nanyang and Daming will be monopolized by Daming merchants. "If there are only these trading places, it will be easier to manage in the future, especially for goods that Daming prohibits and restricts exports."
Wang Mujiu asked: "In which places do you plan to establish trade ports?"