Chapter 13: Moon port
Yue Port, located in Zhangzhou, Fujian, was a well-known foreign trade port in the middle and late Ming dynasty that was "the sea of ships, merchants gather together", "agricultural trade, travel like a city, day and night are seas, and drunk are all produced".
From the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century, with the development of foreign trade between the east and west coasts of our country, Yuegang once became a foreign trade port where "sea ships gather and merchants gather together". , Quanzhou Houzhu Port in the Yuan Dynasty and Xiamen Port in the Qing Dynasty were also known as the "Four Major Commercial Ports" in Fujian.
In 1567, Emperor Longqing ascended the throne and decided to implement the New Deal. The governor of Fujian, Tu Zemin, hoped to "remove the law of selling barbarians" and give the green light to maritime trade activities, allowing the shipping giants at that time to "sell goods from both east and west". At first, Zhao’an Meiling was chosen as the opening of Daming Customs, and later it was changed to Haicheng. From this month, the port became the only legal port of departure for maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty.
a large Ming empire used her huge production capacity to carry out foreign trade through only one port, and one can imagine how rich it is.
Close to Yuegang, Yan Changwu noticed that it is located at the entrance of the Jiulong River, and its port road "connects with the sea tide outside and the mountain stream inside", named after it resembles a crescent moon.
The fellow Zhang pointed out: "The water there is shallow, and big ships must be towed to enter the port at high tide. This place is a dangerous place for pirates to be easy to defend and difficult to attack. The bandits dare not rush into the Moon Harbor basin. , Because the tide of entering Hong Kong is too strong, they can ride in the tide, but they can’t get out of the whole body when they need it.”
"Moreover, many of the shipowners of Yuegang are pirates themselves."
Interesting, this month port protects them from the same kind of people.
When Yan Changwu entered the port, he saw hundreds of huge transoceanic ships lined up in a bustling manner, and his lucky ships were like mosquitoes passing through the giants.
Manila galleon!
These ships are as tall as city walls, with their masts erected to support the sky!
Generally, the load capacity ranges from several hundred tons to thousands of tons. The ships are tall. They mainly traffic the raw silk and silk of the Ming Dynasty at low prices and good quality. They also transport the Ming Dynasty commodities from the Moon Port to the Port of Acapulco, Mexico, America. After the sailboat arrived at the port of Acapulco in Mexico, it held a grand fair there for sale in exchange for American silver.
Choose what you need, the transaction volume is huge!
A port can control the flow of more than 30-40% of the world’s newly issued currencies (silver coins). This is the world’s trade center!
There are 7 piers in the Yiliduo Port on the river bank. The east bank is an affiliate of the Government Rates Hall and the Tax Hall wharf that collects commodity tax. On the west bank are six commercial piers for ships, namely the Lutouwei Wharf and the Zhonggu Wharf. , Rongchuan Wharf, Dianziwei Wharf, Agobo Wharf, and Xiwei Wharf. Among them, the Agobo Wharf is also used as a military wharf, and the water supply division is stationed. But when it comes to the water division, it has long been decayed and turned into scum. Any use.
There are many commercial cities in Haicheng County (Port City, Jiuqiao City, Xiamei City, Xiankou City), which are extremely busy and developed.
How do you see?
Walking in the business market, there are locals, foreigners, all Chinese, and high-nosed and deep-eyed Hong Maofan (this is a standard name, there is absolutely no mistake, but their clothes and accents are different), Dark-faced black slaves and Baotou Asan, as well as a large number of Japanese renounced the market, many of them, who speak Mandarin smoothly, are deeply suspicious of their nationality.
But you must not go to the bottom of the question, there are everyone in Yuegang! This is a paradise for adventurers, full of maritime merchants (sometimes part-time pirates), pirates (when they are ashore, they often appear as maritime merchants), villains and swindlers!
The goods are so numerous and diverse that it is hard to describe them. The streets are full of dazzling arrays of products from various countries, and the crowd is dazzled.
The goods of 月港, only you can't think of, you can't find it without it!
Seeing this situation, Yan Dashao put away his proud and high tail: "This is the big scene! My own situation is still too small!"
...
He is not eager to find the three major silver accounts to settle the accounts. Instead, he wanders around to see the scenes of the world's major commercial ports, but he is not aimless, mainly looking for cane sugar, wine and arms!
It turned out, the answer was so satisfying that he whistled!
At the grocery store in Old Bridge City, where the grocery store gave the price.
Hong Maofan receives a large amount of sucrose, mainly white sugar and rock sugar (sucrose products). (Here is a reference. In the ten years of Ming Chongzhen, the British East India Company purchased 13,028 dans of white sugar and 500 dans of rock sugar (a 100 catties) around Guangzhou.
Hong Maofan is used for re-export, personal use, and no worries about sales. UU reading www.uukanshu.cóm
Liquor is a universal commodity. There are many alcoholics. Yuegang shops will accept all alcoholic beverages. Liquor will be sold to Chinese alcoholics and wine will be sold to Hong Maofan!
munitions not to mention, profiteering goods, good munitions are in short supply, he just got a bit of a mouthful, and said that if he wants a cannon, the two groups of red hair fans are ready to duel in order to get his order!
One is Captain Baker, an Englishman, and the other is Mr. Burke, a Spanish businessman. The two glared at each other like cockfighting!
Don't blame them for being anxious. Those who dare to order cannons are definitely local tyrants.
At that time, Chinese people often referred to Western artillery as the Hongyi Cannon, also known as the Red Cannon. It was a type of artillery made in Europe in the early 16th century and flowed into China at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The barrel was long and thick in design, from muzzle to stern. Gradually thickened, it can be called a big country heavy weapon. It is a front-mounted smoothbore gun. It is 3 meters long and weighs more than 2 tons. The effective range is 1500 meters, and the distance can reach 2500 meters.
Weapons like this can be regarded as the heavy weapon of the great power at that time. It can be imagined that its value is high. In the business of selling guns, it can be said in business that "don't open for three years, and eat for three years!"
Seeing these two red hair fans behave like this, Yan Changwu's mouth snapped, and Uncle Zhang stepped forward and talked with them in Spanish and English respectively!
"Our distinguished young master said that he needs artillery, who can provide him with high-quality artillery, and artillery casting technology, the business is his!"
"Our distinguished young master said that he needs battleships, who can provide him with high-quality battleships, and battleship construction technology, the business is his!"
Hearing his words, the two ghosts said in unison: "Russian God!"
They were trembling with excitement. If this is not a big business, what else is it!
The eyes of the two redheads were flushed, and they looked at each other with unkind eyes.
