The ship sailed for another three days and arrived at Hirado, a trading port in the northwest of Japan.
Hirado is an island and the territory of a Japanese vassal named Hirado Domain.
Before the Nova entered the port, two small boats came out of the port. In addition to the boatmen and sailors, there were also three Japanese samurai and two Japanese translators standing on the small boats.
The boat drove to the Nova, and the Nova lowered the rope ladder, allowing the samurai and translator to climb up.
Those who boarded the ship were the inspection envoys and translators of the Japanese Hirado clan, who came to check the route of the ship. Li Zhi asked Zheng Kaida to take these warriors to check.
The three Japanese samurai were very happy to see that all the people on board were from the Ming Dynasty. They chatted with Zheng Kaida for a few words and were extremely enthusiastic.
The three warriors checked and confirmed that they were Ming ships, so they took the boat back to the port. A quarter of an hour later, two more boats came out of the port. On each boat stood a shaved Tsukiyo.
At the head, there were samurai wearing ordinary haori uniforms. The two samurai could speak the Ming Dynasty Mandarin, shouted loudly in the Ming Dynasty Mandarin, and guided the Nova into Kawauchiura, the port of the Hirado Domain.
When the Nova entered the port, it used a paddle wheel, which shocked the samurai who were guiding it. However, they all thought that the paddle wheel was turned by the sailors inside the ship, so they didn't ask any questions.
Entering Kawauchiura, the port of the Hirado Domain, everyone saw a very prosperous trading city.
I saw that Nagang Town has a radius of more than ten miles and has about 40,000 to 50,000 residents. Hanoi Puli is full of black-tiled and wooden-walled businesses, shops, inns, samurai houses, and entertainment venues, all in rows. They are no better than simple civilians.
As for residences, the architectural structures in this port town pay attention to their appearance and look very prosperous.
Various races of people walked among them, including Chinese in Tang attire and Tang crowns, Japanese with shaved hair and sideburns, and Dutch with blond hair and blue eyes. The largest number of them were Chinese, at least half of them were Chinese. Li Zhi got off the boat.
, walking with everyone in the market, I kept hearing people speaking Ming Dynasty Mandarin.
It is mid-July now, when ships from the south are sailing downwind to Japan. At this time, there are hundreds of ships of various colors moored at the pier. There are thirty or forty multi-deck ocean-going ships, most of which are low-front and low-stern ships.
There are tall Chinese-style fortune ships and spacious and pot-bellied Dutch merchant ships.
There was a large amount of goods piled on the shore of the pier. The clerks in various shops were busy organizing and transporting them, and they were busy shouting one after another.
Li Zhi walked around the market and returned to the pier. He found that there were already more than a dozen Chinese and Japanese businessmen gathered around his boat. Seeing Li Zhi approaching in a crowd, those businessmen knew that this was the captain.
When they came back, they crowded around to solicit business and asked Li Zhi to sell the goods to them.
Li Zhi looked at the steward on the ship and asked, "How do you sell these goods?"
The manager said: "Originally Mr. Cha had a store in Hirado, and he would sell the goods there slowly. If you do business in Hirado for a long time in the future, you'd better build a store."
Li Zhi thought for a moment and said: "Send for the lord of the Hirado clan and tell him that the Ming Dynasty's Zuo Dudu is here and wants to see him. We will meet him on the boat."
The general manager nodded and said: "Okay, Grand Governor, I will go find the Lord of the Hirado Domain right now."
Li Zhi sent the manager away and inquired about prices with the merchants who gathered around him. Many of those merchants were Chinese and could understand Li Zhi's words. Even Japanese businessmen could communicate with translators.
Li Zhi first asked about the market for soap. After asking around, he found that all these merchants knew the uses of soap. It seemed that some people had sold soap to Hirado before. Li Zhi tried to bargain with the merchants, and finally paid thirty-five cents a piece.
I sold two boxes of soap for the same price.
It seems that soap is a best-seller even in Japan. Calculating this, if a box of soap is shipped to Japan and sold, the profit is a hundred taels more than if sold domestically. A box of soap weighs a ton, and the new star is full of soap.
It can hold more than 300 boxes. If Li Zhi's ship is fully loaded with soap to come to Japan in the future, the profit will be more than 30,000 taels per trip.
Li Zhi showed the Li family fine cloth to these merchants. The merchants touched and looked at it carefully, and finally gave a price of one, two or three yuan.
This price surprised Li Zhi. This Li family fine cloth only sold for one tael of silver in Tianjin and Beijing, but when sold to Japan, there was a price difference of three taels of silver.
Those merchants said that Japanese cotton cloth generally retails for one to two five cents, or one to two six cents. The quality of Li Zhi's fine cloth is good, and the sales will not be bad. Merchants can buy it for one to two to three cents, and resell it for one to two to four cents for wholesale.
It was profitable. Li Zhi sold 10,000 pieces of fine cloth to the merchants at a price of one, two or three yuan, which made the merchants very happy.
Cloth is very light, and if the Nova is loaded with cloth, it can carry 100,000 pieces of cloth. If the Nova is loaded with cloth every time it goes to Japan in the future, then the profit of one trip will be 30,000 taels of silver.
Li Zhi asked again about the price of raw silk, and the merchants all quoted a price of 200 taels, or at most 210 taels. It seems that the competition in the raw silk trade is too fierce, and there is no profit anymore. If Li Zhi's ship carries all raw silk to Japan
, one ship has a profit of 20,000 taels of silver.
Li Zhi showed the Li family fine steel to the merchants. The merchants gathered around and looked at it with little interest. I don’t know whether it was because these merchants didn’t know the goods or because Japan’s demand for high-quality steel was not high.
Li Zhi also asked about luxury goods such as glass mirrors and transparent glassware, and found that the prices were similar to those in Daming, and they could only be sold slowly, with limited sales. Li Zhi thought about it and felt that this should be the case. These luxury goods are not
It takes up space, and if the price difference is large and the demand is strong, other maritime merchants will already come to Japan.
Li Zhi inquired about the price with the merchants, and then returned to the poop of the ship to wait for the lord of the Hirado clan.
After an hour, Li Zhi saw that the crowds on the dock were moving to both sides, and dozens of Japanese warriors rushed to the port on fast horses. The warriors were all riding tall horses and wearing silk feathers. Surrounded by these warriors
Next, a middle-aged samurai with a shaved Tsukiyo rides to the side of the Nova ship and jumps off his horse.
The person who came was the Lord of the Hirado Domain. He walked skillfully onto the ship from the gangway and led two guards to the poop where Li Zhi was.
When they arrived at the poop, two guards stood outside the poop, and the Lord of the Hirado Domain walked into the poop alone.
At this time, Li Zhi put on the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty and was sitting there with his translator, drinking tea. The Lord of the Hirado Domain was surprised to see that Li Zhi was so young. However, he quickly regained his composure and handed over his hand in the same manner as the Han people.
He bowed and shouted something in Japanese.
The translator said: "The Lord of the Hirado Domain, Matsuura Jinnobu, met the Left Governor of the Tang Dynasty. I heard that the Left Governor defeated the Jurchens. I admire him very much! I didn't expect to see the Left Governor in Hirado."
There were many maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty in the Hirado Domain. Matsuura Jinnobu often came into contact with the maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty and basically knew all the major events in the Ming Dynasty. When Li Zhi saw that Matsuura Jinnobu knew about him, he laughed and said, "Okay, Lord, sit down!"
Matsuura Jinshin sat down on the chair, and Li Zhi said: "Lord, I will have several ships come to Hirado every month for business, and the business will be more and more."
Matsuura Zhenxin was stunned and asked: "Every month? How can the ship sail if the monsoon is different?"
Li Zhi said: "My ship does not use wind, it is driven by machines!"
Matsuura Jinshin thought for a while and didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions. Anyway, if Ming merchants came to Hirado, Matsuura Jinshin would be able to collect taxes and make money, which was what he wanted. Even if Li Zhi's boat was rowed there with an oar.
, he also welcomes it.
Li Zhi said straight to the point: "The purpose of my looking for you is to set up a business store in Hirado. Do you have a suitable place to sell to me?"
Songpu Zhenxin thought for a while and said: "Yes! Li Guozhu, the governor of the left of the Tang Dynasty and a merchant of the Ming Dynasty, decided not to engage in sea trade. During this time, he has been looking for someone to sell his business building. His business building has more than fifty houses.
There are two large warehouses with a large area and a good location. It is the largest store in Hirado."
