As soon as business was mentioned, Gullit immediately put away his slick expression and signaled his entourage to open the suitcase in the corner, take out a large paper bag, and put it on the table.
In this era, except for precious letter paper, most of the papers in Europe were rough brown paper, which was not comparable to the products of the Ming Dynasty.
But Zheng Haizhu only pays attention to the contents of inferior paper bags.
Ivory white solid, exuding a very light fishy odor.
"Is this a mixture of fat and oil? So it won't melt at this time of year. What about the purified oil?" Zheng Haizhu asked.
Gullit waved his hand, and the attendant quickly brought over a tin can.
After opening the lid, there is no smell.
"Click it." Zheng Haizhu said to Zheng Zhilong.
The latter brought over the two oil lamp stands prepared by the postman, put solid grease and liquid oil in them respectively, lit them, took them to the natural light in the yard, observed them carefully, and then came closer to smell them.
Gulit looked at Zheng Zhilong's back, raised his eyebrows and said to Zheng Haizhu: "My goddess, don't worry, what I brought you is the finest whale oil."
Zheng Haizhu didn't take his advice and said calmly: "It's not the brain of a sperm whale, it's just ordinary fish oil. It doesn't matter whether it's good or bad. As long as you don't mix any messy things into it to deceive us, it can
use."
Gullit's red beard trembled, and his accent became exaggerated: "How can it be ordinary fish oil? This is a whale, madam!"
"Okay Gulit, I've been switching to the Ming Dynasty for several years, and I'm not the only one who knows you. You Europeans have a saying that there are as many whales in the ocean as there are bees around you. When you hold a banquet in Amsterdam, click on
Isn’t it all whale oil?”
The women of the Ming Dynasty and the men of the Netherlands, as if they did not remember the past of seducing, setting traps, tug-of-war, and suppressing each other during the Ming Dynasty naval war, returned to their true nature as businessmen and began to pave the way for bargaining.
After a while, Zheng Zhilong came in and said to Zheng Haizhu in Minnan dialect: "It's okay, it's better than the Japanese goods."
Zheng Haizhu leaned back in his chair and directly reported the terms of business to the Dutch: "The oil cargo, by weight, will be exchanged for Chinese sugar at a ratio of two to one; the refined oil, by volume, will be exchanged for one liter of your Europa whale oil.
It’s almost ten pounds of our Ming Dynasty’s sugar, which is exchanged for Chinese sugar on a one-to-one basis.”
When Gulit heard this, he knew that no matter how cunning the woman opposite was, she was sincere in negotiating a deal at this moment.
But now in Europe, the British, who are rapidly rising on the Atlantic, are hungry for sugar. Of course, the Dutch East India Company must get more sugar back in order to make a lot of money.
Luzon and the Americas were occupied by the Spanish. Sugar cane grew well in the Indonesian archipelago where the company's headquarters, Batavia, was located, but the sugar refining technology of the local natives was not comparable to that of the ingenious Ming Dynasty people. The Ming Dynasty's sugar
, very popular in several European countries.
Gullit reacted in surprise: "What? Madam, the price you paid is the price for butter, right? This is whale oil! Look, after lighting the lamp, there is no black smoke and it burns very slowly. The world
There is no better treasure than this in the world.”
Zheng Haizhu did not retort immediately, but changed the subject: "By the way, the Tokugawa shogunate, has it not happened with the Portuguese a long time ago? In several ports, only your Dutch ships are allowed to dock?"
Gulit was stunned, but what the woman surnamed Zheng said was a fact, a fact that made the Dutch complacent. Gulit did not feel the need to hide it and nodded: "Yes, your neighbor on the sea from the Ming Dynasty is not
As stingy as you are."
“How much are they offering you for your whale oil?”
"They hunt their own whales." As soon as Gullit said this, he felt something was wrong.
Zheng Haizhu looked at the red-bearded "gentleman" with a smile: "Yes, I can also ask the Japanese to buy whale oil."
Gulit was still struggling: "When you were the predecessor of this emperor, you cut off sea trade with the Japanese. Buying it smuggling will only make it more expensive."
Zheng Haizhu smiled even wider: "Gulit, you already said you are your predecessor. Your predecessors are all dead, so what's the use? Your previous masters of the Netherlands were Spanish, and now you still pay taxes for them
Really? I’m not bragging, I’ve already convinced our current Emperor to resume sea trade with the Japanese.”
Zheng Zhilong folded his arms and said impatiently in Mandarin: "What nonsense are you talking to Hong Mao? Are you going to give this slick guy a chance? Are you attracted to him or something? If you want whale oil, just ask my father-in-law's house to buy it. That's it.
Got it!"
Father-in-law... As a China expert, Gulit first understood the relationships between various characters in Chinese. Of course he understood what "father-in-law" meant.
No wonder this young Ming Dynasty man wears an expensive Japanese sword and is so arrogant.
Zheng Haizhu also stopped smiling and said to Gulit: "That's it. I hate wasting time the most. What I pay is the real price."
Gulit twisted the corner of his mouth, tapped his furry fingers on the table for a moment, and murmured: "Mrs. Zheng, to be honest, you have taken a lot of money from your general Yan's command flag over the years, right?
?That was also given to you by our Dutch ship."
Zheng Haizhu said coldly: "Gulit, that should be regarded as the leeway I persuaded our governor to give you the Netherlands, right? In Xiamen that year, if our Ming Dynasty really overturned the negotiation table, you, as the
So what if you are a defeated country? If it is not still profitable in these years, can you honestly give our Ming Dynasty navy money to hand over the command flag? I didn't ask your East India Company for salary, that's good."
Gurlitt choked.
This woman's brains and momentum were beyond the control of a smart and experienced senior advisor like him.
Zheng Haizhu, who was opposite him, suddenly sighed again and softened his tone: "Well, Gulit, how about I sign another wine contract with you? In addition, I can try to persuade us over at Xiangshan Ao in Guangdong Prefecture.
His Majesty the Emperor and members of the cabinet will open a port for you Dutchmen. If the Portuguese are arrogant, you can use your heavy matchlock guns to teach them a lesson."
Gullit studied the cunning look in the woman's eyes.
I heard that this woman had hired Frankie gunners for her country's army, but now she made no secret of her intention to use the Dutch to balance the Frankies.
She is a person who is too lazy to talk in circles, unlike most of the sluggish officials in this Eastern Empire.
Gullit finally made a gesture of surrender: "Then let's sign the contract."
I couldn't help but ask: "Mrs. Zheng, are you doing some magic trick when you buy our whale oil?"
"Light up the lamps," Zheng Haizhu said to the two lampstands burning quietly in the yard, "didn't you say so? Whale oil is the best for lighting lamps."