The nearest port in Longyearbyen is called Green Bay. Only in September every summer, the ice floes in the bay will melt, and large ships will come in and out at this time. Its prosperity is no less than that of Amsterdam.
There is indeed greenery in Green Bay. There are 11 days of extreme daylight in summer here every year. Not only people who are used to seeing glaciers, but also Huang Xuan, who just set off from Brazil, also feels that this harbor is called the last green. Especially on the sunny hillside, all kinds of flowers are colorful. Except for the still cold air, the short section is completely southern scenery.
Masset seems very proud of this. He is a Dutchman born in Spitsbergen, but apart from fishing, he has never left Longyearbyen. This year is said to be a good harvest year. He is ready to find a job and work with The benefits of going out to sea with a large boat are much higher than fishing alone.
For the Chinese who lived in the 1st century, Longyearbyen was not even a small town. Perhaps we could call it a large village. The permanent population here was about 100 people. Only in the summer every year, people could fish. People will flock to it. Even so, Longyearbyen is the largest city in the entire Spitsbergen Islands, housing one-third of the population of the entire archipelago.
Seeing this scene, Huang Xuan, who had just been inspired by the jellyfish and shrimp, shuddered again. This time when he went out, the supplies he carried were mainly food. Sugar and spices could only be regarded as incidental, but as long as he thought about the thousands of people under his feet In the city, he felt discouraged. 1,500 tons of grain should be sold to each person for 1 ton
Masset did not notice Huang Xuan's depressed mood. He originally only accompanied Huang Xuan to Longyearbyen. Now that they have arrived, he is ready to leave. He is anxious to find a boat to get out. There is still one month left in summer. It's too late, it's too late.
"Wait a minute." Huang Xuan first grabbed Masset and said with his last effort, "Where is the government here?"
"East India Company? This is it?"
Huang Xuan blinked. Behind him was a dozen bungalows, forming a courtyard. He originally thought they were residential buildings, but he never thought that this was the headquarters of the famous Dutch East India Company in the archipelago.
There wasn't even a guard.
"Where are the people?" Huang Xuan looked at the closed door and asked strangely.
"A group of fishing boats should arrive at the port today, and the governor will naturally go to the port." Masset was a little annoyed. He was not willing to waste his precious time on a guy from Guawa Island. Well, maybe Guwa Island, who cares
Exhaling a breath of white air, Huang Xuan tightened his clothes and said, "I'll go to Green Bay with you."
"Whatever." As long as Massett can go to Green Bay.
Huang Xuan followed Masset dejectedly. This emotion lasted until Greenport, and then was replaced by infinite shock.
For this era, Green Port may be a huge port. There are two sailing ships with a displacement of 100 tons docked near the road. According to the information provided by Lorraine, the largest ship that can be built in this era is only 600 tons. , similar to a destroyer from World War II.
However, the stupid sailing boat could not make Huang Xuan open his mouth and unable to close it. What attracted him was the huge stone platform on the shore and the huge body on it.
"That's a whale!?" Huang Xuan's voice was trembling, and he forgot to cover up and said it directly. Lorraine's translation caused a heavy sound. Fortunately, Masset was also immersed in excitement and couldn't care less. A voice next to my ear said: "That's the first batch of whalers coming back. I want to get on the ship to find a job."
Therefore, Huang Xuan could only stand there alone in the huge Green Bay, watching more than a dozen people working hard to dissect the whale.
Since he was a child, Huang Xuan has known that blue whales are the largest animals in the world. He once thought that whales were as huge as blue whales, but when he actually saw these behemoths, he could only express shock.
Now, when he saw dozens of whales being cut into pieces, Huang Xuan's shock began to turn into saliva... As for the legendary guilt, the guilt of eating whales? If eating beef only makes people happy, then eating whales should also make them happy—especially in this era, when whales are common commodities rather than rare animals.
I just don’t know how to sell whales, but the important thing is that it takes no energy to transport this thing.
"This is a minke whale of the suborder Baleen whales, family Baleen whales, weighing about 9 tons. The one next to it is a member of the family Baleen whales, a genus of humpback whales, weighing about 0 tons. In addition, there are two gray whales on the sailboat in the south, weighing about 9 tons. They are about 8 tons and 5 tons respectively. There are currently no toothed whales found, and the largest number are Arctic whales, with a total of about 70. "After saying this, Lorraine started talking about whales again. I don't know when. , Lorraine tends to spread knowledge to Huang Xuan, not only during travel, but also in daily life. It doesn't matter to Huang Xuan, as long as he doesn't make too much noise and talks more.
"Lorraine, how to sell whale meat in the international market?" This is the core issue that Huang Xuan is concerned about.
Lorraine quickly searched and said: "Due to whaling restrictions, the price is gradually rising. The price of better parts, such as the lean meat of the whale tail, can reach 60 US dollars per kilogram, but the price of ordinary parts is only 60 US dollars per kilogram." Around US$.”
"It's not very high." Huang Xuan's enthusiasm dropped a bit, but looking at the large number of thousands of tons of whales in front of him, he felt inspired again. He looked around and asked Lorraine: " Do you know where the governor is?"
"There is a large group of people 100 meters ahead on the right, you can ask." Of course Lorraine's priority is to save energy.
Wiping his red nose, Huang Xuan raised the scarf that covered his face and walked to the right against the fishy sea breeze. There were large ships of two to three hundred tons parked here, and there were not only sailors cutting up whale meat. , and there were Dutch sailors standing guard against the wind. The Dutchman standing in the center of the crowd had his hands behind his back and was talking to a few guys in high hats.
When he was a hundred steps away, a guard stopped Huang Xuan. This was a spearman. In the army sequence of the 17th century, he existed as a protective musketeer, but in Spitsbergen, his rank was obviously Extraordinarily increased.
The guard could tell from Huang Xuan's forehead and eyes that he was not a white man. That was enough. The guard put the spear on the ground and only blocked his sight with his body, saying: "Hoi, let's go."
"I am an employee of the East India Company." Huang Xuan shrugged. It is inefficient to reason with the big-headed soldiers at any time. He did not take off his scarf because he could not match the mouth shape, so he just moved his lips slightly. , let Lorraine say on his behalf: "I brought a whole boat of food, and I want to see Mr. Governor."
Green Bay was in chaos today. How could the guard know if a grain ship was arriving? He just stared at Huang Xuan with suspicion and said loudly: "Indigenous people, pull down your mask."
Huang Xuan pulled down his mask obediently, moved his lips as little as possible, and said, "Soldier, you just need to do your job well. I want to see the governor, but you can't decide whether to see me on behalf of the governor. Understand. ?"
The Dutch in the crowd seemed to hear the sound here. A guy with feathers on his head said something to the people around him. Another soldier came over and said: "Let him go, the governor said he wants to see him." ”
The spearman looked at Huang Xuan with hatred, but moved away. Huang Xuan shrugged again. The people who came here were all guys who couldn't survive in Europe, even criminals. If Spitsbergen had not become a center for whale hunting, the East India Company would never have thought of this land in the northernmost part of the world. Therefore, there is no need to discuss politeness issues with these people.
"Who are you?" Huang Xuan pulled down the hat on his head and bowed slightly.
"Fan Houge V Wei Lu Wei."
An arrogant old guy. This was Huang Xuan's first judgment. He was older than the people around him. At the same time, as the center of the conversation, he was the first person to speak. Huang Xuan smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Governor, on behalf of Jorma Greetings from Mr. V Ollila.”
Huang Xuan's judgment was correct, but Wei Luwei thought he had heard his name, so he waved the guard away and said, "Who is Mr. Ollila?"
Huang Xuan chuckled and said: "He is the president of Nokia, sir. I was sent here by fate to send a batch of grain, which was originally intended to be sold."
Everyone around laughed, and a man with a big nose smiled particularly exaggeratedly. He held down his hat and said: "Come to Spitsbergen to sell food, my child. We feed the whole of Europe."
Arrogant guy. Huang Xuan's second comment, but he still said with a smile: "Nokia has just been established and I don't know much about the situation, but the food has arrived and the fleet has left, so I want to find a buyer. , sell the grain.”
"Oh?" Wei Luwei was obviously interested. Although he was called the Governor, he was completely different from the Chinese understanding of figures such as the Governor of Hong Kong. The East India Company in the 17th century was like the Dutch colonial advance army. He led the Ministry of Tertiary Industry Development, and the latter was the source of colonization. Therefore, the governor's actual identity was a businessman, a greedy businessman with force.
"Mainly rice and wheat, with a small amount of spices and cane sugar, all good things."
In Europe, spices and cane sugar have just passed their peak prices, but they are still expensive commodities. As for food-Europe is always short of food. The rise of the Netherlands was largely due to its fishery supplying a large amount of food. According to technical theory, it was the Dutch who invented a method that could remove fish intestines with one knife, and the wheel of history began to turn. got up.
"They are all good things." Big Nose was honest, but as soon as he sighed, he was stopped by Wei Lu Wei's stern eyes. Mr. Governor said calmly: "Now is the season for whaling and going to sea, I'm afraid there aren't many The ship is ready to transport your goods.”
Huang Xuan knew that this guy wanted to lower the price, but he really couldn't wait. If the transaction couldn't be completed within three days, he would take this batch of grain home and lose millions of kilowatt hours of electricity. Besides, he wasn't actually planning to ship it away.
"Lorraine, can't we grab a batch and take it back?" Looking at the whales being divided, Huang Xuan couldn't help lowering his head and said: "Anyway, you stuffed it directly into the surface channel, we just took it away, why bother paying for this garbage? ?”
"If you are satisfied with just taking away a dozen whales, that's fine." Lorraine did not object. "It's just that if these Dutch attack you, I can't guarantee your safety. The current level of the base is only Level 1. If you pass The use of energy in the plane channel has a high loss. Once the energy consumption exceeds the storage capacity, you will not be able to go back. "
"You can't even beat someone from the Middle Ages?"
"It will no longer be the Middle Ages after the Renaissance." Lorraine corrected: "Your body strength cannot even resist the piercing of a spear. Facing so many people, I think the cost-effectiveness is too low."
"What's the cost? It's a mess." Knowing that he could only endure the exploitation, Huang Xuan calmed down, gritted his teeth, and said: "Mr. Governor, there is a lot of food. If we really can't transport it all, I can leave some here. , I’ll wait until the fleet arrives next year, but I’m willing to trade food for Longyear’s whale meat.”
Wei Lu narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Huang Xuan, "Keep some?" He seemed to be considering whether this was a bribe, and behind him, the Dutchman, who was dressed in orange and looked like a big orange, said at this time: "Whale oil, we You can transport it to Europe yourself, Svalbard doesn’t need food, and it doesn’t need whales either.” Everyone laughed again.
Whale oil is the fat layer of whales. It is an important industrial raw material and fuel. It is also the main edible oil in Europe and can be used to make margarine, soap, lamp oil, etc. During this period, if the whaling ship was too small, people would cut off the whale oil and throw the other parts of the whale into the sea. Hearing Lorraine's explanation, Huang Xuanxiao felt a little regretful, but he slightly He said happily: "Mr. Governor, I can purchase the entire whale. In short, the price is negotiable." (To be continued)