Columbus looked at the sailors and the area where the crew gathered. It was very dirty, messy, and poor. Compared with the orderly and clean Penglai City, people really had no intention of going here to see it.
Looking at the people from the Ming Dynasty here at the pier, they were all dressed cleanly and neatly, like gentlemen. He immediately understood why the people from the Ming Dynasty did not allow these people to enter the city.
"Colster, my friend, welcome to Penglai City!"
At this time, someone came over and said to Kolster.
"Jiang Liang~"
Kolster's eyes lit up slightly when he saw the person coming, and then he opened his arms.
The last time Jiang Liang went to Europe, he took Corster's ship, and the two of them established a good friendship and relationship on the ship.
They learn each other's languages. Jiang Liang can speak Spanish and Kolster can also speak Daming dialect.
"Let me introduce to you, this is Mr. Columbus, the Governor of the Spanish Empire in America. He is our first European hero to discover America."
Kolster introduced Columbus to Jiang Liang very enthusiastically.
"Welcome to Penglai City, Mr. Columbus~"
Jiang Liang smiled and expressed welcome.
"Sorry to bother you~"
“This Penglai City is really beautiful~”
Columbus smiled and praised Penglai City.
"Thank you Mr. Columbus for your compliment~"
"Please come inside~"
Under the leadership of Jiang Liang, Columbus and Kolster entered Penglai City.
Although Penglai City is not big, it is extremely prosperous. The streets are very spacious and there are a large number of shops on both sides. Since the news spread to the Ming Dynasty, ships have arrived from the Ming Dynasty to the Golden Continent one after another.
People from each trading firm worked non-stop to transport goods to Penglai City, where they traded with merchants from Europe.
Although people have been restricted from entering Penglai City, businessmen from Europe can still be seen everywhere in Penglai City. They are constantly bargaining with people in shops, sometimes the sound is so loud that it can be heard on the streets outside.
"Oh God, you are really vampires. This candy in your Ming Dynasty only cost one tael of silver per catty, but now you are selling me five taels of silver per catty. You are so shameless~"
"Sir, you also know that in the Ming Dynasty, we transported thousands of miles to Penglai City to earn five times your price. It is not expensive at all. If you transport it to Europe, you can sell a pound of sugar for five times.
Two gold pieces, you earn more."
"No, no, although I also make a lot of money, I also take a lot of risks. If I encounter pirates, I will lose all my money. So your price is still too expensive. If it is cheaper, I will take four taels of silver."
Already."
"Sir, this is already the lowest price. No matter where you go, you can't get a lower price than mine. Besides, I only sell you 1,000 catties. There is no way I can sell you 10,000 catties."
"God, I can give you five taels per catty for the price, but please sell it to me in the quantity I need."
"There is really no other way. The quantity of sugar we have shipped is limited, so we cannot sell it all to you. You want it, and you don't want me to sell it to others."
"You Ming people don't even make money if you are really rich. One thousand catties is just one thousand catties~"
"..."
Listening to the sound of bargaining coming from the store, Columbus also fell into deep thought.
The profits from trade with the Ming people were very high.
Not to mention anything else, the Ming Dynasty's snow candy alone is very popular in Europe and is a necessity for the nobles and royal families of various European countries.
When entertaining friends or holding a banquet, it would be very classy if you don't have this snow candy.
Placing a bowl of snow candy next to a large amount of food and drinks is not only a way of hospitality, but also a symbol of strength and respect for guests.
This kind of snow sugar from the Ming Dynasty has a pure taste, no trace of odor, snow-white color and fine particles. It is the top condiment and is deeply loved by European nobles and royal families.
Europeans like to eat sweets, but they cannot produce sugar themselves. Even if they do, the output is very small, and the quality is not good.
This has resulted in the price of sugar being very high in Europe. Only the real nobles and royal families can enjoy it. Ordinary people cannot afford sugar at all.
These snow candies from the Ming Dynasty are extremely expensive compared to gold in Europe.
But in the Ming Dynasty, the price of snow sugar was very low. Shipping a ship of snow sugar from Penglai City back to Europe was enough to make someone rich overnight.
"If we in Spain can monopolize trade with the Ming Dynasty, we will really make a fortune."
Columbus's eyes turned slightly red.
He came to America for nothing else. The purpose was simply for gold and silver. When he first explored new routes, he also wanted to reach the Ming Dynasty and India, so as to obtain Ming Dynasty porcelain, silk, Indian spices, etc.
Ming porcelain, silk, cloth, spices, sugar candies, glass products, etc. are all very popular in Europe. You can make a lot of money by transporting them back from Penglai City. It is so simple and does not require any technical content.
The only thing that needs to be done is how to monopolize trade with the Ming people and deal with those disgusting pirates.
Under the leadership of Jiang Liang, they quickly arrived at the city lord's palace. Tian Erniu warmly entertained them with delicious food, fine wine, and fragrant tea. Columbus couldn't help but admire that the people of the Ming Dynasty were really good at enjoying themselves.
Food, accommodation, facilities, everything is so exquisite.
After arriving here, Columbus felt as if he was a countryman entering the city, and he felt as if he was very backward.
"Mr. Tian invited me to Penglai City this time. There must be something to discuss, right?"
On the top floor of the City Lord's Mansion, everyone was sat down together, having a pot of tea, some sugar, and looking at the Golden Bay and the busy port in front of them. It was really a kind of enjoyment.
Columbus looked at everything in front of him, and it was very beautiful.
"Since Mr. Columbus asked so readily, I will tell you directly."
Tian Erniu smiled, then pointed at the ships in the port and said, "Don't you think there are too many ships coming to Penglai City? Too many?"
"The Portuguese, French, British, Dutch, Romans, plus you Spaniards, almost all merchants from all over Europe have come to Penglai City."
"Mr. Tian, what does this mean?"
When Columbus heard this, he thought about it carefully, his eyes lit up slightly, and then he asked.
"My point is very simple. Too many people come to the Golden Continent and Penglai City. This is not in the interest of our Ming Dynasty. The entire Golden Continent belongs to our Ming Dynasty. After they came to the Golden Continent, they came to the Golden Continent without our consent.
Establish a colonial stronghold here on Golden Island."
"And look at those people. They are dirty and messy. They are all a group of bandits, posing a threat to our Penglai City. Last time, there were pirates who wanted to loot our Penglai City."
"There are too many people and it's too complicated. We hope to reduce the number of people and only do business with a few people."
Tian Erniu smiled and said.
"Mr. Tian, do you mean to expel some people?"
Columbus became slightly excited. Tian Erniu's meaning was already very clear. It seemed that it was not impossible for the Spaniards to monopolize trade with the Ming people. As long as the Ming people were willing, everything was possible.
"What I mean is that our Ming Dynasty only trades with a few people. Our goods are sold to anyone we sell them to. We want to find some long-term partners so that we can be more worry-free and better protect our Ming Dynasty."
Interests."
Tian Erniu said calmly.
"Mr. Tian, our Spanish Empire has always respected the Ming Dynasty very much, and we were also the first to contact the Ming Dynasty. Presumably Mr. Tian should also be aware of the strength of our Spaniards at sea."
Kolster said with some excitement: "Please also hand over this trade right to Spain. We can increase the price appropriately. There is no problem."
"Yes, please ask Mr. Tian to give us Spain this trading right. We are all old friends, and we will never treat our old friends badly."
Columbus also said excitedly.
"There is absolutely no problem in giving you Spain the right to trade, but Spain must recognize our Ming Dynasty's sovereignty over the entire Golden Continent. Of course, our Ming Dynasty also recognizes that the place currently occupied by Spain belongs to your Spain."
Tian Erniu smiled and said, indeed he took the bait. As long as these Spaniards are willing to cooperate, there will be no problem at all in cleaning up the influence of other Europeans in Golden Continent.
At this time, there is no doubt that the Spanish power at sea is definitely the most powerful presence in the entire Europe. Even here in the Golden Continent, the Spanish power is also the most powerful.
After hearing what Tian Erniu said, Columbus and Kolster thought deeply. America is very big. The places they have surveyed so far are still small, but they are already much larger than the whole of Europe.
The Ming people have always publicized that America belongs to them, and they used it to exile these Indians. They also say that they and the Indians are actually the same ancestors.
There is a lot of gold and silver in the Americas, but it is not easy to find it, and you have to dig it yourself. If you can exclusively enjoy the trading rights with the Ming Dynasty, then there will also be rolling wealth flowing to Spain.
For Spain or Europeans as a whole at this time, their overseas maritime colonization was not actually for land, but to obtain gold, silver, spices and other wealth.
So if you think about it carefully, there is nothing wrong with acknowledging the Ming Dynasty's ownership of the Americas. Anyway, Spain does not have that many people immigrating overseas, and the total population of Spain is only a few million.
The Ming Dynasty was different. They had a large population. It is said that they had a huge population of more than 10 million, so they needed a lot of land to settle their huge population, and they valued the land here in America very seriously.
After thinking about this clearly, Columbus smiled and said: "We in Spain have always respected the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty in the Americas. Our colonies are also very few, only limited to some islands in the Caribbean Sea."
"If the Ming Dynasty is willing to hand over trade rights to Spain, we in Spain are also very willing to recognize the Ming Dynasty's sovereignty over the Americas."
"And we can also guarantee that we will not establish new colonies here in the Americas in the future and infringe on the Ming Dynasty's right to rule the Americas."
"Haha, that's great~"
"If you are willing to admit this, then we will hand over trade rights to Spain alone from the Ming Dynasty. As for the price and quantity of goods, we can conduct separate negotiations every year."
When Tian Erniu heard this, he immediately laughed happily. Regarding the issue of sovereignty of the Americas, although the Ming Dynasty had always declared it to the outside world, it also shamelessly regarded these natives as relatives.
But the Europeans don't admit this. America is so big, how could it be possible that you, the Ming Dynasty, could be advantaged?
Everyone is not a fool, everyone wants to get rich here in America.
Of course, the most important thing is that no one knows how powerful the Ming people are.
On the east coast of Golden Continent, the Ming Dynasty was not strong. The most important thing was that it did not have powerful ships to pose a threat to these Europeans.
So as for the Ming Dynasty, everything depends on you.
They swarmed to Penglai City, and then built colonies in Golden Bay and the Caribbean coast to facilitate trade with the Ming Dynasty.
It is good that the Spanish are now willing to recognize Ming's sovereignty over Golden Continent.
As long as the two parties sign the agreement, the entire Golden Continent will be nominally owned by the Ming Dynasty. If Europeans want to rob it again in the future, they will not be able to stand.
As for whether everyone recognizes this agreement, the key depends on the comparison of strengths between the two parties.
If Ming Dynasty becomes powerful, they will admit it even if they don’t admit it.
If the Ming Dynasty were weak, these Europeans would not even dare to attack your hometown, let alone the Golden Continent.
The reason is so simple, the key is to look at strength.
But sometimes, it's important for someone to admit it.
Because in this way, you can capture the great righteousness, and if you are strong, everything will fall into place.
"Great~"
Columbus and Kolster clenched their fists excitedly, but soon his eyes turned to the numerous merchant ships in the port.
So he frowned and asked: "But other countries will definitely not give up willingly like this."
"They have to give up if they don't want to give up."
Tian Erniu said calmly, then thought for a while and said: "I heard that there are many pirates in the Caribbean recently and they are very rampant. This has seriously damaged the interests of our Ming Dynasty and Spain."
"I wonder if you are interested in joining our Ming Dynasty to eliminate the pirates here in America?"
“Pirates in the Caribbean?”
"Purge the pirates in America?"
When Columbus and Kolster heard this and thought about it carefully, they immediately understood what Tian Erniu meant. They wanted to join forces to eliminate people from other European countries from the Americas.
"Haha, yes, of course there is. We in Spain have long hated those pirates~"