Chapter 1371 The Conversation between Jihano and Craveyo (2)
"North? Well, I'll note it down. When I go back, I'll tell the navigators at home to try to explore the north." Quijano kept in mind what Claviyo told him.
"By the way, what did you just say? The Ming Dynasty discovered a vast continent to their east?" He seemed to have just heard this and asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"How big is this continent? Are there any indigenous inhabitants on the land? Is it rich?..." Quijano asked like a barrage of questions.
"I have just said that the area of this continent should not be smaller than that of the Ming Dynasty. There are indigenous inhabitants on the land, but they seem to be relatively backward. Whether it is rich or not, there should be no rice or wheat on that continent, but there are some in Eurasia.
Crops that have never been seen on the African continent; that continent is very far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, and a one-way journey takes at least three months. As for the other ones, I don’t know much about them," Caravieyo said.
"It is no less than the mainland of the Ming Kingdom. There are backward indigenous residents and crops that are not found in Eurasia. It is very far away from the mainland of the Ming Kingdom." Karaviyo murmured a few words, and suddenly turned to Karaviyo and said:
"Do you believe that the earth beneath your feet is a sphere?"
"I have no idea."
"I don't know? What's the answer?"
"I just don't know." Calavio said: "In the Ming Dynasty, many people also debated this issue, but to no avail; I remember that Europe also had disputes about this. Unless someone can reach the border of the world or circle the earth, otherwise
There is no way to prove the truth or falsity of this question."
Quijano did not say anything more, but lowered his head and thought for a while, and then asked Calaviyo again as if the conversation just now had not happened: "Since the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty supports war and trade, there is no obstacle at the central government level. The Ming Dynasty
Does the prince who was granted a title to Central Asia have any decrees regarding the conduct of trade?"
He asked this question not because he was worried that Shang Bing would refuse to trade with them. Trade is beneficial to both parties, and he should not refuse; but Quijano was worried that Shang Bing would be like the big cannibal, relying on his knowledge of the supply of goods.
The monopoly of the country wildly raises the price of goods. For people in European countries, opening up this trade route means very little. After all, the route of this trade route on land is too long, and the cost is higher than what they did in Egypt or
It would be much bigger and uneconomical to transport the goods back to Europe after the big cannibals in Syria get the goods. The significance is probably just to bargain with the big cannibals.
"Alonso, don't worry, King Shang Bing will not do this. The Ming Dynasty completely let the business go, letting the merchants do it themselves. The state is only responsible for collecting taxes. They will not be controlled by the state like the Venetians or Genoese.
When setting the price of goods, we will not allow one big businessman to dominate the market, and the price will definitely be lower than the price of goods provided by Big Eater." Calaviyo said very optimistically.
"That's good." Quijano breathed out. To make this trade route valuable, the Don-Volga Canal must be dug. This requires upfront investment, although the workers digging the canal are all captured slaves.
, it can also allow the Golden Horde to provide food, accommodation, materials for digging canals for these slave workers without spending much money, military expenses for the army to suppress slave uprisings, bribes to Golden Horde officials, etc.
Expenses cost money, and if the final profit is too small, the businessmen will want to cut him into pieces.
"In fact, it is not necessary to dig a canal." Calavio said: "Two years ago in Yiwu, before you left the Ming Dynasty's ruling area and led your entourage back to Europe, didn't we hear about the tramcar invented by the Ming Dynasty? Railroad carriages were invented by the Ming Dynasty.
Although the transportation capacity of horse-drawn carriages is far inferior to that of sea transportation, the transport volume is much larger than that of traditional land transportation. More importantly, the initial investment of using rail-carriages is smaller than digging a canal, which is completely feasible.
Build the tram first."
"That's right!" Quijano slapped his head: "I actually forgot about the tram!" Before Yiwu was received by Yunxi, he had discussed this kind of thing with Calaviyo after hearing about the tram.
How valuable is the transportation capacity? But because the rail carriage only went to Xingxingxia at that time, he did not see the real thing after all. After returning to Europe, he had too many things to be busy with, so he forgot about the rail carriage.
"I want to send someone to notify Gomez Ortega immediately! He is the director appointed by Prince Ferdinand in the Black Sea-Caspian Sea Trading Company jointly established by Castile and the Italians. He must be informed immediately.
Postpone the construction of the canal and first build a track along the explored canal route to pass the tramcars." Quijano immediately said anxiously. Building the track before building the canal will not only reduce the traffic on this trade route.
The initial investment can also reduce the cost of building the canal in the future. After all, materials and workers can be transported by railcars. Therefore, Gomez Ortega must be notified immediately to postpone the construction of the canal to avoid increasing costs.
Of course, a very important reason why he is so anxious is that his family has invested a large amount of gold coins and owns 5% of the equity of the Black Sea-Caspian Trading Company. One of his is the seventeenth heir to a certain viscount.
My cousin was sent to this company as a director. But there was no need to tell Calaviyo about this.
But in fact, he could have guessed it without mentioning Calavio. The Quijano family is a very powerful family in Castile, and Alonso has been to the East.
Damn it. And if even the Quijano family, whose members have been to the East, is unwilling to invest a large amount of money to connect this trade route, it means that this is a scam. The Venetians and Genoese will not invest money. These two
Although businessmen in wealthy republics have a lot of money, they are not stupid.
"Gómez Ortega should be in Eastern Europe. The fastest way to notify him is to pass the news to King Shang Bing's land through the Ming Dynasty's post system, and then entrust someone to send it to Eastern Europe." Calavio
Putting aside the thoughts that flashed through his mind, he said.
"Then quickly pass the news through this line! And this news cannot be entrusted to people from the Ming Dynasty. I am not worried. I will send an entourage to Eastern Europe." Quijano said anxiously.
"It's impossible. Whether the Ming Dynasty will allow you to deliver this news through the post system is still unknown. It is absolutely impossible to allow your attendants to go to Qin Fan, the fiefdom of King Shang Bing, through the post system. Moreover, the Ming State's post station will deliver the message
The fastest speed is 600 miles a day, which is about 190 miles. You should be able to hear how fast this speed is. In the process of using this fastest way to deliver messages, horses need to be constantly replaced.
, but if the rider is not changed, people without special training cannot bear it. Although your attendants are all qualified knights, they cannot bear it." Calavio said again.
"Then, then write this news into a letter and tell the people of the Ming Dynasty the most important point: postpone the construction of the canal and let the people of the Ming Dynasty deliver it. Find the Ming Dynasty official responsible for this matter immediately." Quijano was still a little flustered and very anxious.
said.
"No official dares to agree to deliver news to foreign countries, not even the Minister of Industry and Industry, the highest official in charge of the post station. Only the emperor of the Ming Dynasty can make the decision."
"Isn't it okay to bribe this minister of the Ministry of Industry? I am willing to pay one hundred, no, two hundred gold coins, as long as he agrees to deliver this news through the post system."
"The wealth of the Ming Dynasty far exceeds that of Europe. Although two hundred gold coins are a lot, it is only three years' salary of the Minister of Industry, and does not include other income he can get from this official position. He will never do it for this
I agreed for two hundred gold coins."
"Even if you increase the amount of the bribe, he won't be able to agree. Even if the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty agrees to you using the post system to deliver messages, he will not be satisfied with the Minister of Industry making an unauthorized decision. He may be dismissed from office. This will not be good for him
He said that the risk of delivering this news is too great and the benefits are not too much, so it is impossible to agree." Calavio shook his head again and said.
"Then, hey." Quijano sighed. He wanted to say, 'Then immediately ask the emperor of the Ming Dynasty to ask him to agree to this matter'. But at least he still has sense and knows that the country of the Ming Dynasty is so powerful.
, would not care about him as an envoy from a distant and 'weak' country. The Ming Dynasty would definitely arrange the time for him to meet the emperor according to its own regulations, and would not accept his opinion, even if it was a bribe. He was in Samar that year
I had already experienced this when I rarely met Tamerlane.
"I have a way to let the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty know about this as quickly as possible. But I'm not sure whether he agrees." Calavio suddenly said.
"Are you going to bribe his most trusted eunuch? I'll pay how much it costs," Quijano said immediately.
"Not an eunuch." Calavio said: "This Ming emperor seems to have an unusual interest in Western culture and technology. He opened a school called the 'Five Cities School' that specializes in training the children of nobles.
Tianfang scholars who were captured from the city of Samarkand with the Ming Dynasty served as teachers in one of the courses called the 'Western Class', teaching them knowledge about Europe and the Middle East."
"Of course the administrator of such a school is someone whom the Ming Emperor trusted very much. There is no board of directors in Wucheng School, but only one principal named Chen Ji, who used to be the secretary of the Ming Emperor. Although he is no longer an official, he still
He has the authority to enter and exit the palace. I can tell him about this matter and he will convey it to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty."
"How much does it cost to bribe him?" Quijano asked directly the most important question.
"Here, two hundred gold coins." Calavio hesitated and said.
"Okay, I'll give you two hundred gold coins right away." Quijano agreed without hesitation. Of course he knew that part of the money was embezzled by Karawi, but as long as the thing can be done, even if he has to give two hundred more gold coins.
He is willing too.
"Let me say it first. I can only guarantee that the matter will be conveyed to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but I cannot guarantee that he will definitely agree." Karavio said again.
"As long as it can be conveyed to the ears of the Ming Emperor," Quijano said.
"Hurry up and find the principal of the Five Cities School and ask him to tell the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty." He immediately urged Karaviyo.
Calavio glanced sideways at the timer and saw that the time had not yet reached 11 noon. Seeing how anxious Quijano was, he stood up and agreed, "I'll go find Chen Ji right now."
"This is two hundred gold coins." Quijano called an attendant, took out a bag containing two hundred gold coins, and said to him: "I don't know if the gold coins of Castile can be directly circulated in the Ming Dynasty.
.But even if it cannot be circulated, he should understand the value of gold. You should not need to go to the Goldsmiths Bank to exchange it." He didn't even want to waste time exchanging gold coins.
"I know." Calaviyo agreed, took the bag full of gold coins, straightened his clothes, said a few words to him, found the official of the banguan, borrowed a horse, got on the horse and galloped away
go.
"We must ask the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to agree! This is a matter involving hundreds of thousands of gold coins." Quijano muttered silently.
After saying this, he remembered something again and said to the attendant: "Go and call Master Brunelleschi."
After a while, a man about thirty years old with black hair and green eyes walked in, saluted him and said: "Your Excellency, you called me?"
"Master Brunelleschi, you are from the most famous architectural family in Italy. From Shanghai to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, what do you think of the Ming Dynasty architecture you saw along the way?"
"The architecture of the Ming Dynasty is very beautiful, but it does not seem to conform to European architectural rules. I am not talking about aesthetics, but architectural knowledge." Brunelleschi said concisely and comprehensively.
"Then I hope you can show your talents in the Ming Dynasty and let the people of the Ming Dynasty know your style as a master architect." Jijano said.