Toledo, in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Castile.
Queen Isabella I and Ferdinand II are summoning Zhao Houhou, Jiang Liang and others from the distant Ming Dynasty.
In the huge palace, all the nobles and ministers of the Spanish Royal Palace gathered.
"See His Majesty the King and His Majesty the Queen~"
Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang came to the palace wearing bright red clothes, and bowed slightly to salute the two deceased people. After arriving in Europe, they realized that there were many queens in Europe, and the Spain in front of them turned out to be two kingdoms.
Merged together, there are two kings at the same time.
Although it is a bit difficult to understand this phenomenon, there are still some etiquette that should be followed. After all, I come from the Ming Dynasty, a country of etiquette.
"No gift~"
Ferdinand II spoke slowly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty~"
Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang thanked them, then waved, and someone came up from behind carrying gifts one after another.
"Dear Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, please accept our little kindness this time."
"The first gift is a full-length mirror~"
Zhao Houhou opened the full-length mirror that was blocked by white cloth. Even in the Ming Dynasty, mirrors are already expensive. Especially this kind of full-length mirror, which costs hundreds of taels of silver for any one side. It is the most expensive thing brought here.
Something.
Following Zhao Houhou's introduction, someone came to Ferdinand II and Isabella I carrying a mirror.
"Oh God~"
"There is such a big mirror!"
The two of them looked at themselves in the mirror with incomparable clarity. Everything was reflected clearly, and they couldn't help but exclaimed.
Historically, it would take decades for businessmen in Venice to create such a thing as a mirror. As soon as the mirror appeared in Europe, it immediately became popular among the aristocracy throughout Europe. The price of a palm-sized mirror would reach
One hundred and fifty thousand francs.
Therefore, Venetian businessmen also made a lot of money by relying on glass mirrors. In order to keep this secret, they even agreed that anyone who leaked the secret of making mirrors would be executed, and even the place where the mirrors were made was placed on the map.
On a secret island.
It was not until the 1770s that the French worked hard to steal the technology of making mirrors from Venetian merchants in Italy.
Of course, in this era, because of the arrival of Liu Jin, the Ming Dynasty had already manufactured mirrors. Persian merchants sold mirrors from the Ming Dynasty and then sold them to the Mediterranean side, and then flowed into Europe.
This mirror itself was extremely expensive in the Ming Dynasty. After changing hands many times and traveling thousands of miles, a palm-sized mirror has already reached sky-high prices in Europe. Only the truly wealthy royal family and nobles can own a mirror.
.
Obviously, the Spanish royal family in this era was very poor. Queen Isabella I had always wanted to own a mirror, but she could never buy one. Moreover, the mirror was too expensive.
Now it's okay, Zhao Houhou, Jiang Liang and the others directly gave her a full-length mirror.
She couldn't help but stood up excitedly, looked at herself in the mirror, and was so happy.
The surrounding Spanish nobles and ministers all looked at the mirror curiously. Everyone already knew about the mirror, but very few people had seen it.
There are really too few mirrors that have been exiled to Europe. Every one of them is a treasure, collected by some princes and nobles.
Now that we have the opportunity to see the mirror, everyone is naturally very curious.
"I like this gift very much!"
Isabella I was very satisfied with the gifts given by Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang.
Such a full-length mirror? In Europe at this time, it was a priceless treasure.
Kolster bought several small mirrors from Penglai City in America and brought them back. It is said that each mirror was auctioned for a sky-high price, making him rich overnight.
"It's my honor to satisfy Her Majesty the Queen~"
Zhao Houhou smiled, and then introduced other gifts one after another.
Before coming to Europe, Tian Erniu had already prepared these things. But because it was here in Golden Continent, there were not many things that could be brought there, and they were not too precious.
It's nothing more than mirrors, porcelain, silk and tea. These things were very common in the Ming Dynasty, but in Europe, they were still acceptable as gifts to the King of Spain.
It doesn’t cost any money, but it also gives you face and courtesy.
Needless to say, mirrors. When a full-length mirror arrives in Europe, it is a priceless treasure. If you put it in a European auction house, it can easily be sold for millions of francs, which is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of Ming francs.
Two pieces of silver.
As for porcelain and silk, these things are equivalent to gold and are also highly sought after in Europe. The original intention of their great voyages was to obtain silk and porcelain from the far east and to find the wealth of the far east.
After some tedious gifts, Ferdinand II and Isabella I had a great impression of Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang. The gifts they gave were all valuable things, and they were also the most popular among Europeans in this era.
The things I love.
"Thank you very much for the gift from Ming Dynasty, a great country in the far east~"
"I heard that Mr. Zhao and Mr. Jiang have not yet received the title of nobility in the Ming Dynasty. Here I give the two gentlemen the title of Spanish Viscount in the name of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon."
Ferdinand II and Isabella I looked at each other, then Ferdinand II stood up and said loudly to Zhao Houhou, Jiang Liang and the ministers.
"Ah~"
Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang were both slightly stunned. They just gave some gifts, but they didn't expect to be able to get a noble title. Although this title seemed to be unavailable to them in the Ming Dynasty.
of any use.
But it is still a title of nobility, and the identity and status are different.
"Thank you, Your Majesty~"
After the two of them were stunned, they quickly bent down slightly to express their thanks.
As for the surrounding Spanish nobles and ministers, they applauded one after another. They did not feel that it was inappropriate or inappropriate to grant the Ming people noble status.
Although the Ming Dynasty in this era had little contact with them, everyone could still know some things about the distant eastern countries from Marco Polo's writings.
In addition, during this period of time, Corster and other Spaniards continued to talk about the process of their interactions with the Ming people in America after returning to Spain, and listened to Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang's descriptions of the Ming Dynasty.
In their impressions and minds, Ming Dynasty is synonymous with power and prosperity.
Especially when they learned that the Ming Dynasty conquered the Mongols and the Whip of God that whipped Europe, they knew that the Ming Dynasty had strong military power. For such a powerful country, they were happy to interact with the Ming Dynasty people and would not feel that
The Ming people received their noble titles as an insult or something.
The people of Ming Dynasty in this era, no matter where they go, they always hold their heads high and their chests high. Not only do they feel that they are awesome, but people in other places also think that you are awesome, which is far from what future generations can compare with.
The two kings of Spain were summoned, and then a grand banquet was held in the palace to celebrate the communication and exchanges between them and the Ming Dynasty.
The gifts presented by Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang were also displayed by Ferdinand II and Isabella I.
The full-length mirror was very precious, and they had to send guards to guard it carefully. Every noble could not help but go to the full-length mirror to take a look, take a look, and marvel at the magic of this mirror.
The mirror that had been rumored for a long time, the mirror from the distant Eastern Ming Dynasty, was now placed in front of them, reflecting everything about them clearly.
These Spanish ladies were immediately deeply attracted. They gathered in front of the full-length mirror one by one and kept looking back and forth in the mirror. They wished they could have a mirror like this right away.
So the husbands of these ladies suffered, and all of them clamored to have such a mirror immediately, which made them very helpless.
Where can I buy a mirror like this?
Not to mention there is no place to buy it, even if there is a place to buy it, the price is too expensive.
People who saw business opportunities approached Zhao Houhou and Jiang Liang one after another.
"Dear Zhao, do you still have such a mirror in your hand?"
"I'm very sorry, there really aren't any anymore. There's only one full-length mirror like this. As for the other small mirrors, they're all gone. If you want them, you can only wait. When I get back to America, I'll write back to us.
Ming Dynasty, after shipping to America, it will be shipped here, but in terms of time, it may take about a year."
Zhao Houhou shook his head helplessly. This was not the first time he was asked this question twice.
Although I had a hunch that this mirror might be very valuable in Europe, I still underestimated the beauty of the mirror. The mirror purchased by Carlst Tianjin Ocean Trading Company has already sold for a sky-high price here in Europe.
And those mirrors are only the size of a palm, and this full-length mirror only has this side.
"After returning to Golden Continent, you must write a letter back to the Ming Dynasty and ask the headquarters of the trading company to transport a large number of mirrors, porcelain, and silk to Golden Continent, and then transport them from Golden Continent to Europe."
"A small mirror as big as a palm can be sold for thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver here in Europe. This kind of full-length mirror is a priceless treasure."
"There are also spices. These Europeans don't like bathing, and spices are fatally tempting to them."
"Sugar is also a good seller. A pound of sugar can be sold for dozens of taels of silver. They don't know how to make sugar, and they like to eat sweets."
"But these Europeans are very smart and their navigation technology is also very advanced. If you want to make money, you must seize the first few years."
Zhao Houhou was constantly summarizing in his mind, and had already thought about what to do next.
