For the Spaniards, in their impression, the Ming Empire in the Far East was actually very wealthy, just like the previous Inca Kingdom.
When the Spaniards were still in Mexico, they heard from the local Indians that there was a country in the south. The people there used to eat and drink utensils made of gold. The gold there was just like what you brought.
It was as cheap as iron. Even later, the southern country seemed to be a mythical land, with gold caves everywhere, and the king wore a new coat decorated with gold sand every day. He was simply a gilded king.
As a result, the adventurers among the Spanish began to advance southward. After ten years of exploration and colonization, they finally conquered the Inca Kingdom with a population of more than 4 million.
The same goes for the Ming Empire. Silk, raw silk, porcelain, etc. are the most sought-after products in Europe. Especially in the rendering of Marco Polo's travels, it is also a country full of gold.
The reason why Europe started the Age of Discovery was because the land road to the rich Eastern Empire was monopolized by the Persians, who tried to open up a new road from the sea.
Europeans have always coveted the wealth of the Ming Empire.
The Spanish colonists in Luzon, their governors, bishops, etc. jointly wrote a letter to the then King of Spain, requesting that they send an expeditionary force of 10,000 people to occupy this huge empire.
In that letter, the plan was very detailed, including how to rule this huge empire.
It's just a pity that the king at that time was very moved, but it happened to be the end of the Thirty Years' War in Europe. The powerful Spain was already in obvious decline, and even Europe had difficulty coping with it, let alone sending an expeditionary force.
However, the King of Spain was indeed moved and even prepared for it. All senior leaders in Spain knew about this.
The governors sent by Spain to the colonies were all in competition with the big nobles because they were fat jobs. The governor of Lima, Avgeni, was no exception and knew about this.
Now, the merchants from the Ming Empire came to visit him. He was very moved and wanted to see the reality of the Ming Empire. In addition, the other party gave a big gift, so he immediately agreed to the request of the Ming merchants and allowed them to go ashore to do business.
Business, of course, must be under their watch.
These Spanish colonies can be said to be similar to pirates. If you can rob, you can rob. If you can't rob, you can do business first. When you get stronger, you will get stronger.
As for the Zheng family, they were also made up of pirates and merchants, and they became the dominant force on the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. The Dutch, Portuguese, and even the Spanish were charged protection fees, which was also not a good thing.
When the three large ships docked, Zheng Zhibao naturally made arrangements to show off the force on board, but not excessively; it meant that the fleet had the ability to protect itself, and if he thought of any evil intentions, the price would be very high.
At the same time, with the endorsement of force, Zheng Zhibao kept his attitude very low. Whenever he met white people, he gave gifts of varying sizes according to their status, which immediately won the favor of the Spaniards.
Later, Zheng Zhibao, escorted by a group of brothers, attended the reception banquet hosted by the Spanish Governor. It can be said that both parties, at least on the surface, looked like they were enjoying themselves.
After three drinks, the Spanish Governor Avgeni asked Zheng Zhibao with a smile: "I wonder what kind of business you want to do when you come to my place, so far away from me?"
After seeing Zheng Zhibao's display of force, he was still a little worried. Could it be that these people were colonists from the Ming Empire? Because they seemed very similar to when they started colonizing.
Jiang Shouxing must have been by his side, acting as a translator.
After hearing this, Zheng Zhibao did not hesitate and immediately gave out the excuse he had already thought of: "My family wants to expand business and earn more wealth, so we found out that our emperor likes different flowers and plants very much.
, therefore, the family sent me out to look for flowers and plants that I have never seen before. If the Governor has any, we can exchange them with silk, tea, porcelain, etc.!"
Upon hearing this, Avgeni couldn't help but be a little surprised, and then he was overjoyed.
These merchants from the Ming Empire are not here to make gold and silver! As long as they have flowers and plants that are not available in the Ming Empire, doesn’t that mean they are going to get rich?
At this time, the Colony of Lima included the entire central and western parts of South America, and had not yet been divided into several viceroyalties by the King of Spain. Therefore, the jurisdiction of Evgeni was very wide.
In such a vast place, those flowers and plants that were not available in the Ming Dynasty are definitely worthless here, but they can be exchanged for oriental specialties. What else can this be but trying to make a fortune?
For him, it only takes a few words to give him casual instructions and ask the Indian chiefs from various places to deliver them, and wealth will be available to him!
While he was overjoyed, he could also understand why the businessman in front of him traveled thousands of miles to come to such a far place.
In fact, when he originally competed for the position of governor, he chose the favor of the King of Spain and paid a considerable price to grab the position.
This businessman from the Ming Dynasty wanted to please their emperor in exchange for more benefits, so he naturally wanted to collect as many rare treasures as possible, no, strange flowers and plants.
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a little emotional. Is it because the Emperor of Ming Dynasty was rich all over the world and had too much wealth to count, so he already looked down on ordinary wealth and liked some strange flowers and plants?
There seems to be no logical problem with this.
Thinking of this, Avgeni laughed loudly and said: "We are friends, and I will satisfy your request no matter what. In this way, you can just stay here, and I will have someone collect what you want."
How about you don’t have to go somewhere else to get your stuff?”
This was simply wealth that came to his door. Naturally, he was reluctant to let Zheng Zhibao go to other governor-general areas, such as Mexico, or even the territories of the Portuguese and the Dutch.
After Zheng Zhibao heard this, he also wanted it, but he didn't show any willingness. Although he was not as sure about it as his elder brother, he was not far behind!
So, the Zheng family fleet stopped in Lima. While doing business, it was inevitable to maintain the ships and repair them.
In the western part of South America, as the Spanish Governor's order spread, almost every Indian tribe knew the news.
For these Indian tribes, they don't know what flowers and plants are unique to South America. They just try to exchange all the things they think are special, useful, beautiful and so on.
Just like that, almost all the Indians in South America have caught wind of it. For them, the flowers and plants on the roadside can be exchanged for wealth. Although it is for the Spanish governor, it is still very positive.
First of all, the Indians who were close to Lima used various methods to transport flowers, plants and other things to Lima.
The Zheng family set up three points outside the city for trade.
The reason why there are three points is because there were only three people who had the opportunity to see the treasure in the emperor's hand.
The reason why Zheng Zhibao wasn't the only one watching was because he had come all the way and, to put it bluntly, if Zheng Zhibao did something bad, at least there would be other people who knew what he wanted to collect and take back.
The three trading points were all watched by Spanish governors who collected taxes.
Of course, the merchants of the Ming Empire were very generous, and all they collected were worthless local things. Therefore, this tax was collected not from the Ming merchants, but from the Indians.
In other words, if the transaction is successful and the Indians get the special products from the East, they will basically be taken away by the Spanish governor's people, and then they will be rewarded casually, not even a reward. It's so awesome!
The cinchona tree was the national tree of Peru in later generations. It can be seen that it is very common here, and the Indians were the first to know what diseases the cinchona tree could cure. Therefore, among the flowers and plants they exchanged, there were small cinchona trees and
Seeds and the like.
There is also the rubber tree, also called the weeping tree, which naturally cannot escape.
In short, the flowers and plants sent by the Indians for trade are definitely not just random flowers and plants, but have some kind of effect, or are particularly beautiful, or particularly strange, in short, they can say something.
Among the things that Emperor Chongzhen gave Zheng Zhibao to collect, he collected more than half in just half a month, which made him very happy.
Regarding key species, such as cinchona trees and rubber trees, Zheng Zhibao would pretend that these might win the favor of the Ming Emperor, so he would ask for more. The Spanish colonists didn't care, as long as they could get oriental specialties.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that during this period, although the medicinal effects of the cinchona tree had been discovered by the colonists, they had not paid much attention to it. According to the original historical development, it would take some time for the cinchona tree to spread to Europe before it would be recognized by the Spanish royal family.
Attention, thus monopolizing this cinchona tree.
During this trade process, the Indians who came to trade were also very surprised.
Because they discovered that the people of the Ming Empire actually looked similar to them. However, whether it was in terms of clothing or conversation, they were similar to the noble Spaniards, which simply refreshed their understanding.
This made them very surprised and curious about the Ming Empire in a distant place. Similarly, they were also very curious about Zheng Zhibao.
It's just a pity that because the Spaniards were watching, they didn't have the opportunity to talk to the people of the Ming Empire in private.
In less than a month, even the distant Indians did not have time to arrive, and the things Zheng Zhibao collected could no longer be packed.
At this time, he made a request to the Spanish Governor Avgeni.