Chapter 2146, By the way, buying and selling slaves
In the Principality of Bohemia, after several days, the convoy led by Wang Xiyang finally arrived in Prague smoothly.
At this time, Prague was not only the capital of the Principality of Bohemia, but also the center of the Holy Roman Empire, but it was still a small city with a population of only a few hundred thousand.
Compared to the huge cities of the Ming Empire, which often numbered hundreds of thousands or millions, this Bugela was just a small city.
"Dudu!"
The convoy drove towards the city of Prague. There were still a lot of pedestrians, cars and horses on the road, so the cars also honked from time to time, frightening many surrounding Prague citizens who looked at these dozen cars.
The size of the car and its mobility made everyone in Prague wide-eyed.
"What is this?"
"It seems to be a car, right?"
"If we've seen cars, how big of a car can we see?"
"This may be a larger car, a Ming Dynasty car. You see, the person sitting in the car is an Oriental with black eyes and black hair."
"That's really true."
Compared to the unsophisticated country folk in other places, the citizens of Prague are finally more knowledgeable and can recognize that this is a car.
This was not the first time that the Ming Dynasty’s convoy came to Prague. In the past, convoys also brought goods to Prague, which was the center of the Holy Roman Empire.
Although the Holy Roman Empire is neither holy nor in Rome, and is an extremely loose alliance, as the center of the Holy Roman Empire, it still benefits a lot.
Wang Xiyang delivered the goods to a castle. Earl Lawrence, who had just returned to Prague for only one day, found it hard to believe that the goods he purchased in Hong Kong had been delivered.
I rushed back non-stop all the way, just to recruit soldiers and horses in advance, train the army, and when the weapons, weapons and food arrived, I could quickly arm them and then counterattack the Spaniards and take back my principality.
He originally expected that Daming people would be very efficient in doing things, and that it would take him at least ten days and a half to get here at night.
The original time given to Tianjin Ocean Trading Company was just to hope that they could deliver the goods as soon as possible. Who knew that they could actually deliver the goods to themselves within the stipulated time?
Lawrence led people to carefully inspect and verify the goods, and there were no problems at all.
What was delivered was the Type 26 rifle. All of them were brand new rifles. There was no problem with the quality, and the quantity was quite good. The bullets were delivered, as well as the grain purchased by myself, and the sabers were given as gifts.
Quantity and quality are no problem at all.
"Bang! Bang!"
Earl Lawrence picked up a Type 26 rifle, loaded a few bullets into the chamber, and fired twice. Although he did not hit the target, he nodded with great satisfaction.
"Mr. Wang, you are so fast. It's a long way from Hong Kong to here, but you were able to deliver the goods on time without any damage. It's really amazing!"
Earl Lawrence gave Wang Xiyang a thumbs up. These Ming people are so efficient in doing things. With only money, these Ming people can really make things beautiful and comfortable for you.
Thinking of the silver, Earl Lawrence felt heartache again.
The goods of this Ming Dynasty are good and the speed is fast, but the charges are really expensive. The huge wealth accumulated by my family for generations has been wiped out in a short time. Next, I have to recruit troops, fight wars and so on.
It is a place where money is spent, so Earl Lawrence has been trying every means to make money recently.
"Mr. Wang, I have a piece of goods in my hand. I wonder if you are interested in taking over?"
Earl Lawrence discussed with Wang Xiyang in a low voice.
"What kind of cargo is it?"
When Wang Xiyang heard this, he thought about it and asked.
If I go back this time, I will have to go back empty. If I can bring some locally produced goods back, I can make a fortune.
The main business of these escort bureaus has always been transportation and escorting, and their side business is the trading of goods.
For example, Hong Kong has a wide range of goods and the prices are relatively cheap. If you can transport them to various places and sell them, you can make a lot of money.
After arriving at the destination and delivering the goods, you can also bring some goods back to Hong Kong and make another profit. Only in this way can you maximize the profits every time.
This time it was the goods from Tianjin Ocean Trading Company. The time was tight and the volume of goods was large, so I didn’t bring any other goods. But if I go back this time, I can definitely bring some goods back.
"Slave girl!"
Earl Lawrence said in a low voice.
Doing this kind of slave trade is not a very honorable thing, but the money comes in very quickly.
When he was in Hong Kong, he went to the slave market in Hong Kong and carefully inspected it. In the slave market in Hong Kong, the retail price of a slave was about sixty-seven taels of silver, and the wholesale price was not less than thirty taels of silver.
The price of high-quality female slaves is even more expensive, ranging from hundreds of taels, hundreds of taels, or even thousands of taels of silver each, it all depends on the quality of the slave girl.
Earl Lawrence, who was worried that he had no money, thought of buying and selling slaves. Now that the war was in chaos, slaves could still be obtained easily.
Although Earl Lawrence lost his territory, he still had an army of tens of thousands of people under his command. This was the foundation of his current position. In the era of war and chaos, with such an army, it was still very easy to capture slaves.
matter.
Of course, this kind of thing cannot be seen in the light, so it must be done secretly.
In addition, the Holy Roman Empire is also in chaos now. The Spanish have put huge pressure on it. The powerful Spanish army is attacking from west to east and has wiped out principalities, princes and so on one after another.
This put tremendous pressure on the Holy Roman Empire. A large number of nobles and principalities were levying heavy taxes on a large scale, forcing conflicts in various places to continue to intensify. The lives of a large number of farmers and urban citizens became more difficult, and there were also many people who sold their sons and daughters.
Slaves can be bought with very little money or food, and the price is very low.
Earl Lawrence easily acquired a group of slaves.
But he didn't want to sell these slaves to slave merchants. The price offered by slave merchants here was too low, only less than ten taels of silver, which was less than half of the wholesale price here in Hong Kong.
Now that I happen to meet people from the Ming Dynasty, I might as well sell directly to these people from the Ming Dynasty and do business directly with the people from the Ming Dynasty.
"Slave girl?"
"how many?"
When Wang Xiyang heard this, he immediately became energetic. The slave trade was very profitable, and the most profitable one was the trade of female slaves.
It may be enough to buy a female slave for more than ten taels of silver. After raising and training her, she can easily sell it for tens of taels of silver, or even hundreds of taels of silver. There is no problem at all.
"Now there are only about 300."
"But if we cooperate well, we can have more slaves later, as many as we want."
"It's very chaotic now. People are selling their sons and daughters everywhere."
Earl Lawrence said in a low voice, the meaning is actually very obvious, it depends on the price you give. If it is acceptable, we can cooperate for a long time in the future. The hundreds of slaves now are just a small thing, just the beginning.
"300?"
"The quantity is just right enough to take back."
When Wang Xiyang heard this, he silently calculated that he had more than a dozen large trucks, so it was no problem to bring hundreds of slaves back.
But according to Earl Lawrence, if we can cooperate for a long time in the future, it will be a big deal for our escort agency.
Earl Lawrence is a great nobleman and has an army under his command. Now that he has these arms and weapons, his strength will definitely increase rapidly.
If he starts the slave trade, it will really be a big business from now on.
Maybe your own escort agency will be able to open a new slave business in the future. This slave trade is very profitable.
"Lord Earl, I wonder what price you want?"
"If we can cooperate for a long time in the future, our escort agency can give you a lot of help. For example, our escort agency can be responsible for transporting this slave. You only need to have the slave and then send a telegram to inform our escort agency."
"If you want to buy any arms, weapons, food, etc., you can let us do it for you."
Wang Xiyang thought for a while and said.
"Now that Mr. Wang has said so."
"Let's do this. From now on, all male slaves will receive 20 taels of silver and female slaves will receive 30 taels of silver. You will be responsible for transporting them."
Upon hearing this, Earl Lawrence suggested after careful consideration.
"A male slave is worth 20 taels of silver and a female slave is worth 30 taels of silver?"
"We can't make much profit at this price."
After Wang Xiyang heard this, he immediately frowned. This was not the first time he had engaged in slave trading. In the past, when he went to various places, he had to bring some slaves back to make some money. He was still very clear about the situation in the slave market.
"Mr. Wang, I know the slave market in Hong Kong very well. At this price, you still have a lot of room for profit."
Earl Lawrence smiled and said.
The reason why he was unwilling to sell to the local slave traders was because those black-hearted slave traders were not willing to pay even half of the price.
"Okay, just follow this price, but the quantity in the later period must be large enough."
Wang Xiyang thought for a while and nodded in agreement. Slaves are now a popular commodity, and the supply of goods is in the hands of the big slave trading houses. As long as the quantity is large, the profits involved are very considerable.
"Don't worry, you will definitely be satisfied."
When Earl Lawrence heard this, he immediately said confidently.
Now that I have advanced weapons and weapons, I still want as many slaves as I can.